My mom has always, with only the greatest love and affection, referred to me as The Princess and The Pea. Not because I whine or complain (she raised me better than that), but because I can't help but be sensitive. When I saw this print by Heather Ross, I melted a bit. The princess' hosts have gone to such trouble, and she doesn't want to make a fuss, but there is a pea in that bed and it's going to keep her up all night, no matter how many darling rose-strewn mattresses there are.

Just look at her there, pouty and flushed and sleepless, wringing her hands over how to handle an awkward situation. She would rather die than offend her hosts, but she would also like to sleep. Regardless of any affection I might have for this fairy tale, this print is enchanting. I love all the different mattresses, especially the roses, the orange crosses, and the patched-up one near the top, and the fact that she's wearing her sleeping crown, having thrown her daytime crown on the floor with her slippers. The juxtaposition of the giant stage-set curtain and the skinny, rickety ladder is particularly charming as well.

If the princess was brunette, I would definitely buy one for my bedroom, as a reminder that there will always, always be something that could annoy me, and that it's time to just relax, and sleep.

Image: "The Princess And The Pea" by Heather Ross