Camping Adventures

This summer we've had the opportunity to test out our tent trailer which we bought last year. It's been so fun to spend time together, relaxing, playing games, riding bikes, cooking our supper over a campfire... It's the stuff family memories are made of!

I'm looking forward to many more Drysdale adventures!

Why I Broke Up WIth Young House Love

It was the mid 2000's and I was starting to look at buying a house. I was certainly taking more interest in my decor than I had before as I was moving out of college-shabby-chic and into a more mature-adult-phase of my life. I would search the world wide web for tips on decorating and I happened upon John & Sherry's blog - Young House Love.

They had lots of great ideas for DIY projects to do on the cheap but looked good. Also tips on decorating, furniture placement, etc. Things I needed to learn. So, I followed along. So did my friend Jodi, so we would talk about their latest project as if they were friends of ours.

When they put out a book, I dutifully bought it! I even got it signed. They were such an inspiring success story - turning simple DIY projects into a money-making blog. When I bought my first house, I used many tips and projects from Young House Love. They were around my age and stage of life, so it worked well.

Somewhere along the line, my following trailed off and I heard they "took a break" from the blog and disappeared from the internet. You could still look up old stuff on their blog, but they were nowhere to be found otherwise. Then, they came back. They started a podcast. They bought a beach house to renovate. They stopped DIYing and hired a contractor. They became a "home makeover" blog rather than DIY projects. Obviously they were making bank and bought a duplex beside the beach house so they had more content to share. And share they did. Instagram was on fire with posts of their progress.

At first, I found it kinda fun to follow along. The before/after pics were neat. Sherry's voice irritated me on the podcast and the content seemed pretty shallow, so I didn't bother subscribing. And the more I paid attention to what they were doing, the more disheartened I became. The CONSTANT "swipe up" on Instagram was my first clue that they were falling out of my favour. A couple that previously boasted a tight budget, cooking at home for a birthday, economical ways to make your house look great and chemical-free cleaning products for the home/personal care suddenly became the couple that was constantly showing off what they ate at a restaurant, complaining that meal kits are too much work, and as I mentioned earlier - hiring out many of the projects. Sherry became a fashionista - despite her claims that she has a "minimalist" wardrobe and constantly brags about it, she links to her favourite jeans, shoes, bathrobe, tank top, jacket, etc. multiple times a week. (ie: she gets money from other people buying stuff that she's flogging). For someone that claims to be ultra low maintenance, she's giving tutorials on Instagram on using fake nails, fake eyelashes and what kind of mascara she uses.

In fact, I don't even think they care about home renos anymore. Clearly they can make uber money by swiping up and she can do that from the comfort of her couch or walking down the street. Out of curiosity, I checked Instagram before writing this and she was showing off a pair of shoes she found at a thrift store. Now, you can't link to an online site that sells these shoes because....they're from a thrift store. Not to worry though.... Sherry found a similar pair from Nine West and linked them so you can "swipe up" and have your very own pair so you can be just like Sherry.

I can't say I've ever felt the need to write about another blogger before but I've just reached my max of how annoying this couple is. And what really irritates me is that they keep making money from all the people that click and swipe the stuff they''re pushing.

I'm done with the Petersiks. They need to go and get a real job and join the real world.