I’ve added an outdoor living room to my outdoor office. This is where I sit to read magazines, browse catalogs, text people, and drink tea while watching my dogs play. I try not to do any work in this area, wanting it to feel leisurely. If I need to write, study, pay bills or work on websites, I go sit at the nearby outdoor patio table instead.
Are you enjoying your summer? Making the most of it? Going on long walks, eating dinner outdoors, picking berries, going to the lake shore or beach, going to outdoor concerts, stargazing?
QUICK THINGS TO DO TODAY:
- – Do as few chores as possible if you’re home this weekend. Let’s enjoy our four day weekend and do projects on another day. Perhaps just empty or fill the dishwasher, empty trash bins, refresh a bathroom and call it good?
- Do something you consider fun that you don’t normally have time for. Experiment on a new dish in the kitchen? Read a book or magazine? Watch a movie? Try on new makeup or a new way to do your hair?
- Fill your car with gas if needed, and grab cash at an ATM for a bit of pocket money.
- Need to rent movies at a Redbox, or return some of your Netflix discs? Or does everyone just stream from Netflix nowadays?
- Find one way to quickly pamper yourself, whether it’s getting a manicure (or giving yourself one), taking an extra long shower, napping in the afternoon, or sneaking a naughty ice cream treat.
TODAY’S PROJECT: Bathroom Touchups
I feel like lazily lounging around today, reading and watching television. I don’t want my entire house to go to pot though, so I’ll do just a couple chores. I’ll spiff up both of my guest bathrooms – especially after having a crew of seven men here this week painting the house and using the bathrooms repeatedly!
It shouldn’t take more than ten minutes per bathroom (mostly because I’m skipping scouring the tubs and showers, since the guests didn’t use them). I’ll do a quick bleach and swish in each toilet, a wipedown of the toilet tanks, I’ll empty the wastebaskets and rinse them out, I’ll swap out used hand towels for freshly laundered ones, and I’ll launder my and bathroom rugs.
Next I’ll work on my bathroom counters, sinks and mirrors. I’ve been doing very well at keeping them nicely uncluttered. I’ll finish by quickly mopping my three bathroom floors, which won’t take long because my bathrooms are so tiny.
LOVELY BLOGS: Keeper of the Home
Recent posts on this natural living blog with multiple contributors include Edible Landscaping, Fresh Green Salad Recipes, and How to Make and Use a Plaintain Poultice. My hippie former mother-in-law would totally love this blog, I should send her the link!
http://www.keeperofthehome.org/
LOVELY FRAGRANCE: Sage & Thyme Market
I know that some of you prefer not to use any chemicals or fake fragrances around your home. I sure enjoy using them though – especially with two dogs, a cat, and two of my cousin’s dogs who visit often. I’m not ready to jump into fall by spraying pumpkin or spice scents around the house, so I was excited to see Glade’s new limited edition collection of fragrances at Target this week. I skipped out on Red Apple Bakery for now, but also picked up Woodside Library.
LOVELY HOME: Cherry Red Retro Cooler
I’m cutting all kinds of deals with myself, trying to talk myself into why I’m allowed to buy this awesome retro cooler. I think it will get a lot of use, but I admit summer is almost over. I can afford it (if I go without some other thing I wanted to purchase) and I think I have storage space for it when not in use (next to my picnic basket in a cupboard under my stairs). I’m imagining it could come in handy even in wintertime – bringing cold egg salad sandwiches over to a friend’s house for lunch, I tell myself.
Cherry Red Cooler, at Cost Plus World Market
LOVELY KIDS: The Ginghams Paper Dolls
Do you remember these charming paper dolls from the 1970s? My mom would let me get a box (79 cents!) every time we went to Long’s Drugstore in our hometown of Bonita, California. I so loved playing with these! My best friend and I even traced and colored our own homemade extra dresses for the dolls. We set up all the dolls’ boxes like a little village, and took turns visiting each other’s shops. All this reminiscing is making me want to go get a box or two of these out of storage and play with them a little while today. I think I will!
The Ginghams: A Visit to Grandma
LOVELY LINKS FOR TODAY:
The Allure of Imagined Meals (The New Yorker)
Big Brewers Betting on Apple-Flavored Booze (Fortune)
Candy Apple Flavored M&Ms Exist for Some Reason (Consumerist)
Caramel Apple Oreo Cookies (Spoil Your Dinner)
5 Little Known Ways to Save Money on Amazon (Consumerist)
Hazelnut Pumpkin Spice Truffles (The Spice Train) High Tech Frozen Yogurt That Comes in Edible Packaging (Wired)
Is Owning Possessions Overrated? The Rental Economy Rises (NY Times)
Lay’s Cappuccino Flavored Potato Chips Review (Brand Eating)
Panna Cotta with Poached Pears and Almond Toffee Crunch (The Orgasmic Chef)