Too Pink? LD's new look

In search of books to bring on my vacation, I took a trip around the blogosphere. And it made me feel like a small-town schoolteacher at New York Fashion Week. I have to admit, I don't really think much about the look of this blog. I think about what I'm going to write on it a great deal, but I don't give a whole lot of thought to how it all looks.

Some people have really beautiful pages. I would love to know how people did the scanned-in lacy sidepanels and richly textured backgrounds. I don't think mine will ever be that nice to look at. But I at least dug out a new template. Why does blogger only give you like seven options?

I want to work harder at making it look nicer. That's one of my goals for when I get back from vacation. If anyone has any advice for me, I'd love to hear it.