Becoming Cleopatra

Sorry, it's been a few days. Things have been crazy around here with Halloween creeping up! In the midst of all that is scary this time of year, I encountered the scariest thing of all yesterday....the ugly green-eyed monster!! Yep, I admit it....I'm officially house jealous. Now, it's not even really about the house (although don't get me wrong, I'm sure if I thought about it--it could be), but it's about the home-maker.

One of my favorite hottie friends (we'll call her Cleopatra since she made a fabulous one last night) had a little get-together last night (ok, it wasn't that little...good thing she's the Hostess with the Mostest who can handle that kind of event because I'd probably pee my pants a little). Cleopatra is ridiculously PERFECT. She's gorgeous to the max, an awesome teacher, a great wife, friend, and every other title she carries....but not only that---she's a sickeningly amazing homemaker. Seriously, her house looks like it's straight from a Martha Stewart magazine, except with a modern/homey feel. The worst part of it is...she doesn't even know how amazing and talented she is or how perfect her house is. It's decorated to the T, and she even finds great discounts. I mean, I saw the green-eyed monster popping up the second I stood on her door stoop. Yep, even her 3' by 5' stoop is better decorated than my ENTIRE house!! How bad is that?? She always has said that if she stops teaching, she should be an interior decorator. And you know what I think??? She should. Better yet--she should start with my house pro bono. :-)

I guess I'm just not "girlie" in that sense. I'm not a natural homemaker, by any means. I don't love to cook. Although I'm not a bad cook, I don't have a natural sense of food, tastes, etc. (good thing Darling Dearest and I were raised similarly where dinner wasn't a big deal and neither of us are foodies--we may actually be food bores). I don't love to clean...but I think people who actually enjoy it are on something (sorry to my OCD friends-you know who you are). :-) I'm not a cutesy decorator. My house looks okay, but would you actually walk through it and say, "Wow, your house looks great!"???? HECK NO! Unless of course you're a worse homemaker than me (while that may be possible, you'd be in bad shape if that was the case). Sorry, Mom! hehe!

So lately I've been down on myself about my lack of what is stereotypically a girl's thing--something that should come naturally, right?? I mean, making your house cute and homey is what girls should be able to do...according to the stereotype. Well, if that is the case.....I'm the worst. I think a good amount of it is because I'm cheap (financially forced to be cheap...did I say I'm not working yet??), and never EVER go shopping for things for my house. I also don't really watch all those home shows (I'm too stuck on mind-erasing reality shows), even though I do love them when I stumble upon them. I guess I just wish someone (namely, Cleopatra) would come do it all with me (translation: FOR me) and tell me what is cute, what is not, what goes with what, etc.

So I've decided to turn a new leaf. Instead of letting the ugly green-eyed monster creep up on me again, I'm going to learn to be a homemaker. I'm a teacher and a self-professed nerd. I'm an academic perfectionist, so why can't I study a different type of subject?? I'm going to buy cute, girlie magazines (not the ones on make-up and clothing like I usually do). I'm going to watch decorating shows for inspiration. Shoot, if I can't naturally come up with my own cute ideas, I am not above stealing someone else's!!! I'm going to become THAT girl. I'm going to become Cleopatra (and several of my other best girls who have the same talent--ugh! Am I the ONLY one bad at this stuff). Hopefully, she'll give me some tutoring sessions and take me under her perfectly put-together wing. Hey, you never know...I may go wild in my effort to become a lady. I may actually stop biting my nails, updating my chipping toenail polish (and by "chipping" I mean that there may only be a few remnants of color actually ON some of my nails...GROSS!), and I may even start DOING my hair! So here's to becoming Cleopatra and fighting the green-eyed monster, so he can go creep up on someone else when they enter MY house!!

Oh, and here are a few pics of Bug, etc. @ Cleopatra's party. Wish I would've taken some pics of her gorgeous house so you all could be envious with me.