One of these things is not like the other. As it turns out, however, no two things have ever said more about my personality than those two.
It was actually my dad's observation. My parents came up from CT to my sister's again this weekend and I stopped by to pick up a few things from them. The items that I picked up from my parents were things that were being passed on to me now that I had use for them...
A punch bowl that belonged to my grandmother (to use for B's bridal shower)
And a vise that belonged to my grandfather (for my basement work area)
To over-simplify: tools + pretty things = happy Karen.
The older I get, the clearer it is how I turned out the way I did. When my dad told me I could have his extra vise (because don't all dad's have multiple extras of pretty much every tool? or is it just mine?) he also told me he cleaned it up for me and repainted the original logo and details. To quote an e-mail from him: "I was thinking as I was doing it what a complete waste of time it was and that you are one of the few people who would appreciate the effort. Besides it was fun." That's Handy Dad for ya.
I should also point out the stenciled table runner that I used as a backdrop. Custom hand-made Christmas gift from mom. (See, she's Handy too!)
And that's why I am who I am.
Any questions?