It’s not from lack of want or need, but I can’t sleep.  The last time this happened to me was around Christmas…nearly 6 months ago.  I had visions of a house to clean, yummies to bake, and gifts to wrap.  This time, there is no real excuse like Christmas to be losing sleep over.  This time I am thinking of decorating and organizing and that’s really all.  With the exceptions of a few emails I should send, it’s a pretty benign reason not to sleep, don’t you think?! 

You see, I stumpled into Pier 1 the other day looking for a small round coffee table to plant between my cozy chairs in the living room.  Low and behold, my eyes lit up and my mouth dropped when I walked into the store.  I hadn’t been in for…I don’t know…maybe 2 years?  It’s out an out-of- the-way store in a run down shopping strip.  But inside….not run down!  New fall arrivals had made their way.   Everything was “my” color: warm earth tones.  Lots of good reds, rusts, browns, and golden yellows.  And Tuscan. 

How I love, love, love Italy!  I would pack up my bags and move there in a heartbeat.  I could eat delicious food, live in a Tuscan villa and write books all day long. 

So, I’ll settle for transforming my Aurora, IL home into a Tuscan villa.  It’s already pretty Tuscan, mind you.  It’s just that it needs a little updating.  Maybe.  Probably not.  Thanks to the marketing at Pier 1 it does now.  I didn’t find my coffee table, so I trekked off to Kirklands.  No table there, either but a giant framed Tuscan print with the villa where I would be writing surrounded by a field of bright red poppies and the warmth of the sun.  Could this be heaven?  I snatched it up.  On sale for $99 I felt it was a steal.  What can I say…it drew me in.  I felt compelled to buy it. 

And now…where to hang it?  If I hang it where I want to, it will mean updating the accessories in the room.  Perfectly good accessories that I do like, but have grown a bit stale.  We had them at the old house in Minnesota, some we got them for our wedding.  Some were first “married” purchases.  It’s hard to let go of  sentimentality.  Right?  But in some ways, I suppose it’s okay to update.  Our lives have transformed since then.  Why not our decorating? 

And that, is why I am losing sleep on this perfectly good Wednesday morning.  It’s 5am now and after a restless night of sleep, I am wondering if I dare go back to bed for a few more winks or just stay up to beat the girls?