The end of summer.

It creeps up so quickly upon us. Suddenly, vacation has passed, the Great New York State Fair is here, and Purple Loosestrife lines the sides of roadways. We spent the last week on the beach in the Outer Banks. It was a very lazy, sun drenched, salt-watered vacation. By the end of the week we even got Maybe to dip her toes in the ocean. This took much coaxing, and probably most importantly, her attempting to keep up with her new friend, Dude. Dude is a sweet, yet reserved Airedale Terrier, who mostly wants nothing to do with Maybe. Several times he tells her, in not so many words, to piss off. She of course does not listen. At one point during the week he actually engages her in play. Success! Anyway, on Friday we found ourselves again at the sea shore, Maybe in tow. Seeing Dude trod straight into the crashing waves was enough to get her to take her chances with the rolling white foam that crested on her ankles. A little splash here, a crash there, all was good, as long as I was not far away. When all else fails, hide behind Mom.

All that sun and salt water makes everyone tired, even on a lazy vacation. With all the extra sleep I found myself having dreams about designing the guest bedroom. Of course I wake up in a tizzy, feeling inspired, but also flustered because of course, even in my dreams I can't make up my mind about anything. Sometimes I wished I just liked one style, it might be easier to make final decisions. But I like so many things, so many different things, and I'm afraid if I don't censor myself it will turn into a disaster. One of my big design motto's is if you fill your house with things you love, it will all come together nicely. I would tell this to clients, and usually peoples tastes fall within a range of similar tastes so that it rings true.

Yeah, not so much for me. I like modern, I like vintage, I like just about every color under the sun, I like everything. Maybe I'll just let go. No censorship. Hmmmm...

For us, extended time in the car eventually leads to conversations about the house, to-do lists, timelines, budgets, what if's.

Should we set the dining room on fire instead of trying to get the rest of the wallpaper off? Possibly.

Can we re-drywall the half bathroom ourselves? Only if we plan to re-tile the floor.

How much does one of those vanities cost anyway? A lot.

Can we start to take down the wallpaper in the hallway yet? Only when we finish the dining room and half bath.

Lists. In my head, in my notebook, in my Blackberry...

In the meantime, more vacation pictures of Maybe...