My Favorite Project (Nothing Compares 2 U)

To be honest I didn't actually complete anything in 2010.  After two years of being up to my elbows in house choices, everything from brick and stone to toilet levers and light switch covers, I was toast.  I had every intention of dropping my bags on the floor and calling it a day when we finally moved into this house last Thanksgiving.  But there is one thing that I just added and I'm so pleased with it, I'm gonna tell you a little story.

* * * * * * * * * *

This story is about a girl, let's call her Belle, who fell head over heels in love with a light.  This light was a shimmery shell chandelier and her name was Jenny.  Jenny was oh so lovely and beckoned to Belle time and again from the pages of many a glossy shelter magazine. 

Alas, Jenny was flashy.  Jenny was clearly high dollar maintenance.  Belle resisted. 

Then, in the heat of the moment on a late September day, with burly building contractors breathing down her neck, Belle plunked down a wad of cold hard cash bright, shiny credit card and sent for Jenny. 

And the long wait began.

Indian summer turned to fall.  No sign of Jenny.  Fall gave way to Christmas.  Still no Jenny.

Belle made frantic phone calls to the nice man in a faraway land called California, trying to find someone who could tell her where Jenny was.  But it was not to be.

Belle's heart broke a little more each day as she and her family moved into their new cottage without Jenny.

She moved on with her life.  The memory faded.  Belle resigned herself to a life without Jenny and cancelled her order.

AND THEN THINGS GOT UGLY.

Jenny's owner, the evil Mr. Oly, didn't want to honor the promise to deliver Jenny within the six week time period and wanted to charge Belle almost $400 for the privilege of having waited three months for her love with not a word from anyone. 

Belle pitched a hissy fit. 

Belle's husband roared.

Jenny finally arrived and her crate was unceremoniously dumped in the back of a dusty warehouse.  Belle refused to gaze upon all that loveliness and ordered her husband to mark Jenny "Return to Sender."

Belle feared that if she kept Jenny, she would forevermore be reminded of a love gone sour.  And $2500 is just a wee bit too much to pay for such painful memories!

So, for the next year, Belle's foyer sat in dark emptiness.  Belle tried feebly to comfort herself with new lamps, and went out often searching for Jenny's replacement.  Nothing compared.  Nothing felt right.

Until that fateful December day when Belle was visiting New Orleans with her parents for, of all things, a football game. 

Belle was wandering about in the back rooms of a tiny design shoppe and there, just waiting for her to claim him, was Aidan Gray, in all his clean, simple, rustic chicken wire glory.  It was love at first sight.

The skies parted.

The angels sang.

The warm winds of heaven blew.

Belle immediately professed her love for Aidan Gray and brought him, lovingly wrapped in bubbles, home from New Orleans herself.  No cold crates, no dusty warehouses.  They sat side by side in the back seat of Belle's Chevy on the long journey home, holding hands from time to time.

In the blink of an eye, Belle's daddy had Aidan Gray shining brightly for all to see in the gallery.

Belle was pleased that she had stood her ground in her conflict with Jenny's owner. 

Belle was really pleased that Aidan Gray only cost $329!!!

AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

The moral of this story?  Nothing compares to a simple Southern boy!!

Linked to:

 Southern Hospitality.  Thanks Rhoda!

and

The Lettered Cottage's Favorite Room Re-do's.  Thanks Layla.