I began this blog over six years ago. In that time I’ve posted about wants and dreams and pie in the sky ifs. I’ve also covered disappointments and the danger of having unrealistic expectations. I’ve discovered one of the keys to happiness in the element of surprise, and I’ve learned that what I crave isn’t always what I really want. All along the way, I’ve been called materialistic, shallow, self-centered, and I’ve owned up to a lot of it. But one thing I’ve never apologized for is dreaming. Big. Fantasizing a fanciful life keeps me moving forward. Every once in a while, though, there’s some spring cleaning to be done, where I step back and reassess my assembly of ambitions, giving them an occasional upgrade. It’s time to trade up.

Images from Better Homes and Gardens: Kitchen Bath Ideas

In grammar school, I drew idyllic landscapes on construction paper. Homes with garden beds and shutters on windows. Sometimes they included a white picket fence, usually a lone tire swing hanging from a bear of a tree, with a red front door, like Elizabeth Arden. I loved imagining the home I’d one day occupy. I still do. Only now, because it’s happened to me—on this blog, wishing for homes with dimmer light switches and steam showers, a husband, a baby, to make it as a writer—I believe in the power of putting it out there, and of upgrading. Of dreaming bigger, no detail too small. My most recent wish list needs a once over. No, not needs, wants an overhaul. Because dammit, it’s fun to dream, to escape, to imagine tangible ifs. It’s why people buy lottery tickets, just for a chance to play the what if game. What’s your what if, today? (I’m still working on mine)