Reality Check: Cupcake v. Life . . .

Recently I shot a picture of a delicious pumpkin cupcake.  It was a glorious photo with shiny frosting, perfectly placed toffee crumbles and just the right amount of focus versus blur.  I wanted to lick my computer screen.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I thought I’d share what the rest of the kitchen was doing while this photo was being taken:

Do you see the lone cupcake sitting by the natural light of the window amidst all the dirty dishes, baking supplies and dishrags strewn about. Yep. That’s how I roll. 

In order to get the great shot I had to move all of my random utensils (blocking the light) then take the dirty dishes which I hadn’t done out of the sink (kept sneaking into the shot) and wipe up the crumbs of the cupcake I’d eaten and the frosting I’d spilled so the counter would look clean in the photo.

Man, it’s a lot of work making a cupcake look good. Never mind what it takes to have a clean kitchen.

This photo shoot is an analogy for my house.  When people come to the door they see the first two rooms – our piano room and dining room, sparkling clean, dusted, every item in its proper place looking so lovely. These rooms are the cupcake alone in the photo.

But if they were to step into the back rooms {kitchen, family room} or go upstairs {bedrooms} or heaven forbid, head downstairs {playroom, craftroom and teenager room} they would see that my house is quite lived in and very untidy much of the time, not unlike my kitchen during the cupcake photo.

The cupcakes were delicious. So is my life. But the reality is that a lot of life is messy, gooey, crumbly and so, so yummy. And I’m totally okay with that.