Archive for category: Inspiring Books

 

Photo by Rikonavt on Unsplash

Good Friday Afternoon,

What a week it has been. This election…. geez. I will say this I always, always pray for whoever the new President is. I believe that since they are the leader of our country we should be praying for them. Also here is the thing, if they do well then we all do well. I always pray for our presidents. Always. 

Okay, let’s dive into the last portion of Chapter 3 in Living a Beautiful Life. I have already started Chapter 4 but as I was reading the “Grace Notes” portion of the book I felt like some of Alexandra’s tips needed to be shared. I hope you agree.

* Use hand towels as generous lap napkins. (great idea!)

* Place fresh flowers in water in an extra sink or in a bucket and just leave them there until they need to be placed around the house. (what a fun idea!)

Photo by Guillaume LORAIN on Unsplash

* Store candles in the refrigerator; they’ll burn longer. ( I have never heard of this before)

* Serve green grapes with Roquefort cheese on hard pumpernickel rolls. (Sounds like a wonderful treat!)

* Decant olive oil and wine vinegar. (I am sure many of us do this already)

* Use an old Welsh dresser, English baker’s cabinet, or French armoire in the kitchen to store dishes and silverware. (Ahh I really want to do this!)

* Grate fresh parmesan cheese on a spinach salad. 

* Marinate chicken cut in quarters in freshly squeezed orange juice and fresh sliced ginger root, then bake slowly for two hours at 250 degrees. (This sounds sooo good!)

Photo by Alexandra K on Unsplash

* Call a busy friend and make a date to meet for an early breakfast visit, to catch up. (Last month we took my brother in law out to brunch for his birthday. We had a great time!)

* Sprinkle parmesan cheese on popcorn. A healthy, low-calorie snack – I picked up the idea from Jane Brody.  (This sounds delicious!)

And the last grace note from Alexandra….

* Retrieve a set of those pretty plates you have hidden away in a kitchen cabinet, and hang them on the wall for all to see. A good hardware store will have plate holders in several sizes, designed for hanging. (I have been wanting to try this for some time now)

Photo by Chance Anderson on Unsplash

I hope everyone has enjoyed this chapter of the book. I do adore these “Grace Notes” at the end. It’s like a beauty checklist for living. This weekend I will be working on my Christmas decorations. I purchased some flock spray earlier this year from Amazon. We will be spraying some of my trees with it. I sure hope it turns out okay. I will let you guys know. I have been wanting a flocked Christmas tree for some time now. I just didn’t want to spend a fortune on one and I have about 6 Christmas trees in my garage that I could use. 

I will be sure to let you guys know how it turns out! Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Good Afternoon,

The middle of October already. I am trying to plan out how I am going to get my early voting done. I hope you all are ready to vote or have accomplished it already. No matter who your party is vote. I am one who supports freedom. It doesn’t matter to me who you vote for. It is your freedom! 

Well, I had a wonderful weekend. I got my grocery shopping done, went to the nail salon, and got my gel nails back (yay) and we got to have dinner at the Cake Bake Shop!

It is so quiet. Our dinner was delicious and our server Brian was fantastic! It was not crowded which we loved. I will share some photos below. 

Today I wanted to share this week’s Living a Beautiful life post. I am in the middle of Chapter 3 which is “The Kitchen: Enhancing the Flavor of Good Eating”. 

Alexandra said, “The more carefully we plan our meals, the less tempted we will be to overdo in quantity. Meals are small acts of great importance, moments set aside for conversation, reflection, and communion. I think there should be a high concentration on the ritual of eating. Beauty has no calories and yet it improves your health.” 

Well said! Beauty has no calories and yet improves your health. It does! There are countless times when things around me have helped pull me out of a dark cloud. 

She goes on to say that there are “three basic elements in interior design that bring atmosphere and charm into your kitchen: Keep it simple, make it appropriate, make it beautiful. It sounds so easy-simple, appropriate, and beautiful- yet you need to be watchful to accomplish it. “

I understand the watchful part. Sometimes with the day to day life schedules clutter can creep into your kitchen and dining area. My husband is a “pile keeper”. He will keep piles of crap everywhere if I let him so I have to be mindful. 

I hope you guys enjoyed these beautiful tips from Alexandra today. I will be sharing more kitchen tips next week. Now on to my Cake Bake visit and photos!

These new fairies were a new addition too! I hope you all enjoyed this post filled with home inspiration and great dining. The Cake Bake Shop is always a magical place! Thank you for reading! And this blog post today marks my 1,000th POST!!!! I can’t believe it! Wow, thank you to all of you who continue to read my blog. 

(photos via Pinterest & Mrs. Shockley)

 

Good Morning,

We are in the first week of October. October already…. I have been pulling all of my autumn and winter inspired candles to the front of the cabinet. I can’t wait to use them. I also ran some errands this weekend. I finally found the perfect faux leather skirt at Target. You can click on the size to change it to yours but I went and picked up my size and tried it on. I love it! It’s not too short and hits me at the perfect length. It is going to look very chic with a sweater this coming season.

Now time for this week’s inspired post from Living a Beautiful Life. I hope everyone has been enjoying the snippets that I have been sharing from this book. It has been a lovely evening read and a way to end my evenings. 

This week’s inspiration is…. “Coming home and shutting the door on the outside world is an experience I look forward to, and I celebrate with something refreshing.”  

“Having a soft drink, fruit juice, or a cup of tea or coffee as I prepare for the rituals that will follow, both symbolize coming home and uplifts me. And while I prepare my refreshment, I anticipate having it in a favorite glass, cup and saucer or mug, in my own place. We remind ourselves, as we pause, that being home is a real treat”. 

Being home is a real treat! I cannot tell you how working from home has given me such peace during this time. I look forward to the holidays. I am enjoying even the cold days that we have had this week. I am loving the rain and crisp air. There is something about the autumn months that gives me peace. Truly it does. 

photo credit Charisse Kenion 

At the end of Chapter 2, she mentions her “Grace Notes” and one of them was “when you’re just about ready to throw away your cologne, put the bottle in your lingerie drawer to give you and your clothes a lingering fragrance.” What a wonderful idea? Have any of you tried that? Let me know in the comments section below. 

I hope you all enjoyed this week’s beauty inspiration. Here is the first week’s and here is the second week’s inspiration from the book. 

Here is the link to Alexandra’s newsletter. 

Have a great Monday!