When To Be Quiet

Ok people I need some advice. I am a very outspoken person. If I have something on my mind I am going to say it. Now don't confuse me with those trashy Housewives who don't have a filter. I have perfected speaking my mind and saying it nicely - most of the time anyway. But there are times in life when you just need to give someone a bitchy reality check and tell them to get off their high horse. In this instance I don't know if I can. It's not a friend or my own family member who needs a reality check, it's someone else's family member who I am fairly close with. Some could even say we're going to be a family (if you catch my drift wink wink).

When does it get into "crossing the line" territory? This person has been so self involved ever since I've known them and it's really getting old. If you have good news, they have to top your news. If you have bad news, they have even worse news. If you're not talking about them, they either don't pay attention or make it so you have to talk about them. When am I allowed to say enough is enough? I am constantly fighting this war with myself because normally I would rip them a new one but now, I'm afraid it will cause an even bigger argument then what it's worth. I've tried making jokes about it and dropping extremely subtle hints but they are either so oblivious or so into themselves it's not working. One day I'm just going to explode and it is going to be a disaster.

I've tried talking to my "friend" about it but they are honestly no help. They just keep making excuses for them or giving them the benefit of the doubt or just changing the subject completely. I understand they are your family but come onnnnnn. If they're annoying me this much and I hardly ever see them, how can you not be stabbing your eyes out with forks! I feel like I'm stuck in a lose-lose situation and no matter what I do, it's never going to get better.

Has anyone else had to deal with something like this before? Did it get better or worse for you?

With love and pearls,
Ashley

The Perfect House

Ughhhhh! Can I just start off saying that house hunting is an awful, awful thing?! Now that Jay and I are "grown ups" it's time we start looking to buy a house. We have gone to a few open houses and found a few houses that we really, reallllly liked. But they were in awful neighborhoods, or had a tiny kitchen, or didn't have a finished basement, or didn't have everything that I've ever wanted in one house. I know that last statement is a ridiculous wish that will only come true when we become millionaires and can build our own house. But it's still really hard to find important, necessary things in one house. We plan on living there for a while, having children and maybe moving if the house feels too small for our growing family. We want to find a house in a great school district because there is nothing worse then changing schools (trust me I've done it!). We want a nice backyard for our dog and kids to (eventually) run around in. We want something with a lot of parking so when we have dinner parties or holidays, people won't have to park around the corner and down the block. We want a nice, somewhat updated kitchen so he can teach me to be as great of a cook as he is. We want a finished basement so he can make that his man cave and not put his ridiculously ugly sports memorabilia anywhere where people can see it :) So far, we've found places that have some of these things but not one house that has enough of them that we would be willing to make sacrifices to call it our home. Damn you Pinterest for making me think houses like this actually exist:

Amazing kitchen/dining area

Of course a 2 story closet is necessary!

An entryway like this would be amazing

You would think a wine room would be on the top of my list for as much wine as I drink!


With love and pearls,
Ashley