Window Treatments Before and After

This was worth a hellish trip to Target. The red curtains filter the afternoon light in a most pleasing way. But what is it about going to Target that brings out the worst in people? (I'm not singling out Target per se; it's just more or less the only big-box store I go to.) For some reason, people are never as aggressive with their carts, and their children are never as obnoxious, at, say, the supermarket. If anyone knows of any sociological findings on this phenomenon, I would be interested.

The good news is that we won't be going to Target for a while because... we have no money! We had to declare a Buy Nothing Summer after charging one too many plane tickets to the Visa. Of course, immediately after declaring Buy Nothing Summer, we thought of exceptions, like books (needed for research!), thrifting ($3 pants can't count, right?), yarn (to make inexpensive baby gifts), and gelato (mmm, gelato...).

Let's fact it, we're huge consumers. But I don't want this to be a blog about Buying Stuff for the House. I was recently intrigued/horrified by flipping through Real Simple magazine in a waiting room. On the one hand, they suggest using mismatched socks as dustcloths rather than throwing them away. On the other hand, they advise "making your own" wall clock—with a $45 kit. I guess any magazine with that many ads can only afford to take the simplicity concept so far.