Carolyn Westbrook Home: Reality Check

So, I have been dying to go see that new movie, "Julie and Julia." The critics gave it a C+ in the Dallas paper, so I was sure that it would be good. Finally, Victoria is finished with heading up her retreat, so she went with me. I loved it. It is my new favorite, right up there with, "Somethings Gotta Give." I love the house in that movie and I love Diane Keaton. She actually came shopping in my friend Gina's store. Anyway, have hit the rewind button a hundred times looking at the house in that movie.
This movie was adorable. I laughed, when they were talking about a book deal, and maybe the advance would be a hundred thousand dollars. I remember when I thought that authors became rich from their books. Maybe if you are Mary Higgins Clark or Danielle Steele! I love to watch cooking and they showed Julia living in France, and it made me want to be there. I could totally move there, it is that fabulous. The attention to detail is not missing in Paris. They never gave up on gorgeous packaging and attention to detail, like we have here. My girls shop at the "Pink" store in Victoria's Secret, and I am convinced part of their success is due to the fabulous bags and tissue paper. It is like opening a present, which who doesn't love that?

I was watching this sweet movie and noticed that the apartment, where Julie lives, is not super clean. In fact, there was one scene where I noticed the light switch plate in the kitchen was dirty (like mine gets from teenage handprints). I came to a realization. I spent yesterday out in the heat, plucking grass from the front walk, that had somehow managed to grow up through the concrete. How's that even possible? We have dead spots in the yard, since the huge oaks were torn from the ground during the tornado, so the grass is now in full sun, but it manages to come up through the concrete and thrive. Anyway, just started me thinking...part of the charm of a home, is to be enjoyed and lived in with all of it's imperfections. The things that sometimes drive me crazy, I would actually miss if I moved into a new home. Seeing this in the movie, the handprints were actually charming. Sometimes I forget that the best part of our home is that it is filled with family, from the dogs that leave stray hairs on the stairs that look like they always need sweeping, to the toothpaste oozing out of the tube on the counter... and how I will miss all of this someday. So, going to try very hard to see the charm of my house and all of it's imperfections, because it really is what makes a house a home!

XOXO Carolyn