Does anyone collect Pottery Barn catalogs?

Do you? Don't laugh but I do! I remember the first time I received one in my mailbox. I was hypnotized by the glossy pictures. After work, I settled down with a cup of tea and the catalog. As I slowly leafed through the pages, I realized I didn't long for the pieces of furniture. I didn't want to run out and buy the Stratton bed or the Chandler dining table or even the Rhys or Alexander occasional tables, beautiful though they were.

It was the elegance and timeless quality of life they suggested that held me spellbound. I read the appointments on the calendar, Puppy school on Tuesdays, Dinner at Nana's, Golf Tee off at 7am. There are no people shown on the pages- they are busy at the Wine tasting or at Golf with Jane and Tom at Clairmont. Or maybe they are out buying art supplies for their next masterpiece (brushes, ochre, sienna, paper, thinner). Fulfilled men and women lived here. They bought Pottery Barn furniture, loved their children (whose pictures hung everywhere, framed artfully), had successful careers, found time to collect seashells and display them in white shadowboxes and did it all effortlessly- no mud, no mess.

My fascination with the catalog has lasted a long time.