Autumn - mmm...aah!

Autumn is my favoritest season. I love the chilly air and the bright foliage. Before Bath & Body Works stopped making it, this was the time of year when I'd go out and treat myself to one of their spicy nutty pumpkin-scented candles. This is the time of year when I seriously contemplate baking some cookies to warm my apartment; skipping work one day just to drink some hot chocolate with full fat whipped cream in the middle of the afternoon; maybe even spending the day on a light hike through Fairmount Park's Wissahickon trails.

These were among the many delightful warm thoughts that floated through my mind when I entertained myself with another charming fall activity: browsing through Pottery Barn's autumn catalogue. I can't afford jack from that store, but it's still a fun little game I play: to decorate my home with their pretty wool rugs and rustic dining room tables. On this particular occasion, I was browsing through their website having clicked through a promotional e-mail sent to my hotmail account. All those lovely images in my head disappeared in a flat second when I saw this:

FAUX MICE
Large Mouse $5.00 Small Mice, Set of 3 $19.00 SPECIAL $15.00
More charming than alarming, these velvety critters will lend a folkloric feel to autumn decorations. Each is handstitched, from whiskered nose to curly tail. Small: 3 x 1.75" hLarge: 6 x 3" hStore / Internet Only

I kid you not when I tell you that I gasped and nearly threw my computer mouse across the room when I saw this picture - it was a moment of pure disgust. Ok, what moron with the privilege of working for Pottery Barn chose this item to be a part of their catalogue? Most healthy folks spend their entire adult lives avoiding these suckers. Why in the world would you knowingly want fake rodents decorating your home? That's not charming - that's dirty!