How Blogs and Other People's Houses Make Me Hate Mine

In case you were wondering, you didn't hear from me at all last week because I was visiting the fam in OKC for a few days. It had snowed in the days before my arrival, so it was nice to leave the dull, leftover brown of autumn in Northern California to spend a few days in a winter wonderland.

On my first day there, my stepmom and I had the opportunity to go on the Mesta Park Holiday Home Tour. Mesta Park is a historical neighborhood in OKC, and the tour featured eight homes.  In some of them, you had free reign to explore the house, talk to the owners or docents about the history of the home and the renovations and updates that had been done, and then hate yourself for not having a Craftsman house decorated to the nines for Christmas.  Oh yeah, and one of the houses had cider and hot chocolate.

Unfortunately, I felt weird about taking photos of the interiors of people's homes without permission, so I don't have many to share on this post.  However, one house was so magnificent, I told my conscience to shut the heck up, and I snapped a few hurried (and therefore blurry) photos.

This house was straight out of a design blog/magazine/Pinterest board.  The worst part?  The homeowner did everything herself, with no professional decorating services.  I kind of want to be her best friend, but that's a little Stalky Stalkerston, so I won't pursue that.

Here are some of the run-by, blurry photos I took*, and the thoughts I thought.

Oh, butler pantry, how I wish you were mine.  I hate my kitchen. And that I don't have a butler pantry.  Or an espresso machine.

Upstairs attic bathroom, you are so fabulous and amazing with your Orla Kiely wallpaper and schoolhouse sink and subway tile that I want to punch you in your face out of jealousy.  I hate my bathroom.

Adorable baby's nursery with your quaint branch mobile with handmade flowers suspended invisibly from the ceiling in front of adorable wallpaper and ruffled curtains, I wish  I had a reason to covet you.  I will die alone.

There were more photos, but they turned out way worse than these.

Then, I got home from vacation, and checked my Bloglovin' feed, only to see a roster of posts of people's insanely gorgeous and elaborate Christmas decorations.  I felt immediately inadequate.

Why isn't my living room perfectly lighted like that?
Why didn't I get a live garland for my fireplace that day like I wanted to?
Why didn't I jump on the "faux chalkboard prints of Christmas messages" bandwagon?
Why don't I have Christmas throw pillows/covers?
Why does my house still need so much work?

Et cetera, et cetera.

It's amazing how reading blogs like Oh Happy Day and Little Green Notebook and I Heart Organizing and A Storied Style (to name a few of my favorites) can make a person feel like a worthless waste of humanity.  These bloggers are talented, have resources, and really, this is what they DO.  It's hard not to compare myself to these uber-talented gals, but it's also hard not to feel inspired!  Seeing photos of gorgeous interiors and seasonal decorations makes me sweat glitter and want to go into a frenzy of making things pretty.  But ain't nobody got time for that.  I really need to let up on myself and just enjoy the Christmas season, for goodness' sake.

On a lighter note, here are some other photos I snapped on the tour:

Yard of the Month = award I will never receive.

Walking down the street, it felt like being in a movie.

This was the "refreshments house." They literally rolled out the red carpet, and served cookies and hot drinks in the foyer.  Not surprisingly, a senator lives here.  Also, that's my stepmom in the picture.  She's great.

I hope you enjoyed this look into my neurotic mind mini-tour of Mesta Park!  Stay tuned for my next post on Christmas decorations.

*Disclaimer: I'm not sure if I should credit the homeowner/s on my blog or protect her/their privacy, so I'm erring on the side of privacy - but if she/they should stumble across this blog and get mad at me, I will gladly credit her/them!