Ok, Ladies, I need help, and I need it FAST! Anybody married or even not married, but has some good advice, I am having a crisis! Recently I acquired something, for an absolutely amazing $20 bucks. It is very old, I am guessing early 1900's. I saw an ad on craig's list for a mannequin form, the picture was really bad, and it had no info at all. It was about an hour and 30 minute drive away, and I just kept it in the back of my mind, until the other day, when I happened to be driving thru that area. I contacted the seller to find out if it was still available , and could I come take a look. It was a very sweet young girl, going to the University, and she was moving into a new apartment and needed to sell her treasures to make the rent money. I felt bad for her, but I guess we have all been in that position one time or another. I walked into the other room with her and my jaw dropped when I saw what she was offering me for $20 bucks.....
Tattered and torn, surely to have lived a meaningful and historical life, this beauty was about to be mine. One Problem. One two hundred and fifty pound, size fourteen shoe, I am the bread winner, PROBLEM. He actually didn't say anything until we left the apartment and got into the car. This is how the conversation went.....
"What the h#$% is that thing?" he asks emphatically.
"It is a vintage dress form. Isn't she beautiful?" I say, adoration in my heart.
"No.....you are going to sell that thing on your website, right?" He says more telling than questioning.
"No....I hadn't planned on it." I say with certainty.
"What are you going to do with it then?"
I can tell he is thinking it would be useful as fire starter. I begin to panic.
"Well, I thought I would put it in the bedroom and hang jewelery on her." This is not going well, I am thinking.
"You mean OUR bedroom.....? That thing is freakin' scary!"
"She is NOT!!!!!"
"Yes it is, and quit calling it HER! It makes me think it's alive or something!"
Ok, at this point it really isn't a fight, I just think he is too manly to admit this is a thing of beauty. He is just protecting his masculinity. I can accept that. I need to find another approach.
"Honey, you know, the more foofy our bedroom is, the more manly you are."
"What?!?" he asks puzzled.
I am beginning to grab at straws at this point.
"Um, yeah, honey, you know, because only really manly men have really girly wives. So the more girly and foofy I am, the more masculine it makes you!" Ok, I thought, this is starting to sound good, I think I can roll with it.
"WHAT?!?!?" he says again. "I don't get that theory, hun. In what world does that scary dress thingy make me appear more masculine?!?!?
Again, I panic. I feel as though I am on a sinking ship. I can't lose this new found treasure, I love her already, and I haven't even named her yet! I decide now is not the time to ask input from him about what I should name her, even though that is where my mind starts to wander.
I stop talking, thinking at this point that is my best and probably only option. I let a few moments pass by as we continue to drive thru the city, then I sheepishly say
" Honey, I think there is a sailboat shop up the road, you want to stop? I don't mind."
Hee hee hee....use the old, I got something you hate, now let's go get you something I hate tactic. Usually it works. He doesn't say anything, but as we make the next turn I notice it is not towards home, but towards the sailboat shop. Seems like crisis averted.....for now.
However, now that I have gotten my vintage beauty home and glamourously decked out, I hear him growl every time he walks by her. I know I am pushing the limit here, and I need help! Please ladies, if you have any advice on how you get your manly husbands to live with this "girly" stuff, I need to hear it! How do you convince your men to live in this realm of beauty? Of course, I want to continue to buy and furnish my home with girly things, so I am desperate! I really don't want to see Nadia in flames in our backyard fire pit anytime soon!
Yes, it seems as though I have named her "Nadia". My alter ego. Maybe I should go ask my husband what he thinks of the name?........
xoxo, Tiffany
Post Script : to read parts two and three of this story, and to see the show, click below.
