Life is Simple

"Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple,and the simple thing is the right thing." -Oscar Wilde

I'm not perfect and I definitely won't claim to be an expert in the simplicity movement but I try, and each year that goes by I acquire a few new tools under my belt. I struggle sometimes, and some days life seems like it's got me by the reigns instead of vice versa. When I stumbled upon the above quote I was inspired. Life is simple, we make it more complicated. It's the whole reason I started this blog in the first place.

Here are just a handful of things that I practice daily in an effort to live a more simple life, I hope it will inspire you to do the same.

*Practice gratitude for each big and little thing you are blessed with.

*Take time to arrange some flowers or flip through a favourite book, be in the moment.

*Some days are not as good as others, but hang on and remember all will be well, bad days will pass. Be gentle with yourself.

*Happiness can be a learned habit just like anything else, practice it or if you have to, fake it till you make it.

*Whatever you focus on you attract, thoughts become things, simple as that.

*Rituals of simple self care can be restoring, I take time to sip a cup of tea each afternoon while I watch a favourite show. Even a simple 15 min habit can restore your soul.

*Surround yourself in beauty, discover what you love. What calls to you?

*Continuously seek balance, revaluate what works in your life and what doesn't. Let things go.

*Forgive.

*Love freely and Love deeply.

*Delight in all that your senses have to offer.

Have a simple day,

Things I love

Long Naps

My Collection of Vintage Kitchenware

Shabby Chic Decorating
(photo: unknown)

Repurposed Home Decor

(photo: etsy)

Red Velvet Cupcakes

(photo: martha stewart)

Flea Market Style

(photo: french larkspur blog)

Striped Socks

(photo: Kate Spade)

Robins Egg Blue

(photo: flickr la belle avenue)

Aqua Ball Mason Jars used as Vases

(photo: etsy)

Affordable Luxury...Fresh Flowers

"Simple Abundance is not about deprivation. Nor is it about spending more than you can afford in order to make yourself feel better."- Sarah Ban Breathnach

Okay, so it's true, I have a taste for luxury. I love the finer things in life, I delight in gourmet food, even if I can only get it a couple times a year. I love diamonds, fine wine, the feel of 800 count bed sheets on my skin. I always have. I get that inner hunger to taste the sweet life, and oh, budget check...I'm dreaming. The truth is, I can't always afford the luxuries my soul is driven towards. Fresh flowers however, I believe to be an "affordable luxury," and one of the ways that I pamper and take care of my spirit. The local farmers market in my neighbourhood, sells 3 bunches of your choice for around $10. Which lasts for almost a week, sometimes longer. I love when a flower of one type is bunched together, it brings colour and a simple elegance to any room. The grocery store bouquets can easily be rearranged for less than $10 and voila, instant beauty! The obvious place for fresh flowers are on your dining room table, but I like to share the love so to speak. Even just a simple rose blossom in a tea cup in the kitchen, or a small vintage glass bottle in the bathroom with a single gerbera daisy. I also enjoy, a bouquet on my entrance table, it's a great way to say "Welcome." Perhaps you are lucky enough to have fresh flowers in your garden outside that you can cut and bring indoors, and then this becomes a very affordable luxury! I have fresh lavender growing outside in my garden I like to cut the lavender and put a bunch in small glass bottle beside my bed, it looks pretty and it's a great way to add some aromatherapy to your bedroom, as lavender promotes relaxation. Use flowers to add colour to your decor, find flowers that help you celebrate the seasons,declare that it's okay to buy yourself flowers instead of waiting for a significant other to bring them to you.

These beautiful roses, given to me by my friend Jenny, in my favourite pitcher.

Beautiful Sunflowers at my entrance way, given to me by my Aunt Les and Uncle Joe

Yellow Daisies in my other favourite turquoise glass vase, brightens up my living room

Can you tell I love daisies?

Fresh Tulips in the spring!

"I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck." ~Emma Goldman

A Vintage Housewife

In my online searches for unique Christmas presents...I've come across some beautiful vintage pieces that I just adore. There's something appealing about a simple vintage apron and a classic milk glass cake stand. It got me thinking about the items that I am finding so charming and joyful and what they represented from the time that they originated. Although, I find a cake stand charming to put on a shelf there was a time when the cake stand had a cake on it, and the apron was worn daily. I did some research about the "50's Housewife" and realized that I'm not alone in my attraction towards this era. I've heard many of my close friends say that they wish they had been a housewife during this time. What is it that makes us long to be a "vintage housewife"? I think it represents a simpler time for women because there was less to juggle. Women today are expected to work, take care of children, the household and husband. When I imagine my life as a vintage housewife I have visions of polka dot aprons and jello molds and "Hi...honey I'm home..." Images of this 50's housewife show her as a domestic goddess in which she is always smiling, husband standing proud and well taken care of, children in smocked dresses that obeyed, house smelling of cake made from scratch. There were litte choices for her to decide upon besides...pot roast or tuna casserole. She wears pearls while baking and spends her free time getting her hair set in curlers. She sews, she knits, she gardens.

photocredit from top left: 1. vintage milk glass cups-countryliving.com 2. white and green cabinet-countryliving.com 3. vintage milk glass buffet server-etsy.com 4. polka dot apron-etsy.com

So in my research to find out what exactly was the role of the 50's housewife I came across some rules. Here's a few points from the "Good Housewives Guide" from housekeeping monthly 1955:

1. Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favourite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.

2. Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.

3. Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

Okay, so maybe it's true that my husband does like it when I'm a bit "gay" when he gets home, ...however maybe it is for the best that a woman's role has evolved since 1955. There's nothing wrong with donning a charming apron if it makes you happy or admiring a few vintage cake stands on your shelf. You can still hold your feminist values and still find joy from baking up a great heirloom recipe from scratch or taking pride in your home by ironing your pillow cases or setting a beautiful table. It is nice that in todays world we actually have the choice to "play" housewife when we are feeling like it and go through the drive-thru when we don't. Yes, it's easier when we have less choices but we are blessed to have them. The 50's housewife would have delighted in the microwave and frozen entrees, it would have made her job of having dinner ready and then being " a little gay and a little more interesting for him" a whole lot easier. However, let us not forget the simple pleasures that come from stepping in the vintage housewives shoes every once in a while.

Joy Blog...Pleasure Journal

"The secret to happiness is simple: Find out what you truly love to do and direct all of your energy towards doing it. Once you do this, abundance flows into your life and all your desires are fulfilled with ease and grace."-unknown

Sarah Ban Breathnach swears by a gratitude journal in her book "Simple Abundance." I agree with her when she says "the more you have and are grateful for the more will be given to you." So it is suggested that after each days end you reflect upon your day and consider all the things that you have to be grateful for that day. For me personally, gratitude is great for days when I'm feeling negative or in a slump. The days when I feel my life is a total mess, my relationships are a disaster, my finances are a sad state. Basically, on the days when I feel hopeless. Being grateful for the big things helps me to feel hope and remind me that my life is more abundant than I can remember at that moment. When I say being grateful for the big things I mean:

*My children

*My partner

*My health

*The health of my family

* Our house

*Our 2 cars

*My friends

*Our jobs

Those to me are the big things in life I am grateful for and most days even if I'm angry at the children and husband or I'm hating my house because it is "too small" I can recognize them as blessings, even through a negative filter. The big things convince me keep going...
A pleasure journal convinces me that life is filled with joys that make life worth living. Now, like I said, you can't be in a mood as discussed above when you sit down to write this. This is for days when I'm are feeling okay, or the days when I am feeling happy! Its appreciating the little things that bring me pleasure and focusing on those things in my day.

I like to consider all 5 senses (or somedays 6 senses) when I sit down to write in my pleasure journal. Here's an example of an entry in my own personal journal:

*Sipping strong hot coffee, along with my journals, my favourite books in the early a.m.

*Hearing Alex say "I love you" spontaneously

*Using colourful markers for anything possible

*Hot lemon water before bed

*Playing with Jalen and Ruby while they giggle hysterically

*Chatting up market vendors on Saturday morning.

*Buying my first pair of skinny jeans

When you begin to focus on these pleasures you realize what you should have more of in your life, like love and laughter and coffee out of polkadot mugs and you realize that if you brought more of these simple pleasures to your everyday life you would feel more joy. And isn't that what we all ultimately want...happiness.