Day 26: Simply the Best: Fall Fragrance

 

 

 

Oh how I love a sweet smelling house, especially this time of year.

These are my favorites.

Orleans Cinnamon Orange Candle

I first discovered Orleans Cinnamon Orange candles at a Christmas Shop in Plano, while visiting our youngest daughter who lives in Dallas.

I almost swooned.

That’s a great word, isn’t it?

After all, my nickname, originally given to me years ago by my friends JB and Debbie,

is Laura Belle-

or Belle for short.

Swooning is my game.

Slatkin and Co. Leaves Candle

This is my all-time, bar none, favorite candle.

I bought this at Bath and Body Works, which I always want to call

Bed, Bath, and Beyond.


Oh my…

The scent is pretty strong, but I am not really into delicate…

Pier One’s Asian Spice

This is an all-time favorite.

My friend Anna and I can have an entire conversation about

Asian Spice.

You must try it ( particularly the room spray).

It is also affordable.

Claire Burke’s Original Vapourri

I love this room spray because my mother used this.

It makes your house smell wonderful.

You may not recognize the packaging shown (I didn’t), but it is still the same fragrance.

A few minutes before a get-together at my house, I like to open the front door and spray outside.

I kid you not.

Then people smell it as they reach the front door.

Clinique Elixer

This perfume is not new or modern but once again,

I love it because my mother wore it.

In fact, for a long time after she passed away,

I wore her robe because it smelled like her.

It smelled of Clinique Elixer.

Aromatique’s The Smell of Christmas

I can’t live without this.

I stockpile candles, room spray, and bags of potpourri at after Christmas sales.

I am hoarding some small bags of simmering potpourri, which they apparently don’t make anymore.

I am desperate.

It is bagged in tiny cotton sachet bags.

If you see it anywhere, just email me.

***

What are your favorites?

Day 23: Dear Daughters, Contradicting Day 22

My Girls and I at my Retirement Party May 2008.

 

 

 

Dear Daughters,

Don’t stop reading.


Yes, I am going to contradict what I wrote for Day 22 (yesterday’s post).


Here is why.

I love you, and I know what it is like to work full time and want to have everything perfectly organized for all of us, and sometimes it just didn’t happen.


I was exhausted , and one too many students had given me the hairy eyeball that day, or the state of Texas felt like more testing was a good idea, or someone punched the hot lava button in my big toe,  or something as simple as my feet hurt caused my train to jump the rails.

So we had Church’s chicken that night.

When you work outside the home, and you have a family, and you enjoy seeing your friends, nothing listed in yesterday’s post is going to ruin your life if it doesn’t get done.

Here is where organizational experts might disagree.


Whatever.


Having said that , however, (please stop rolling your eyes)- 


isn’t it the ‘want to’ that counts?


Isn’t it the ‘want to’ that leads us to do a little daily organizing- even if it is cleaning out your purse waiting in a drive thru line at Chick Fil A?

It is the ‘want to’ that makes it work.



Food for second thought.

Love,

Mom

Day 21: Limes, One of Life’s Simple Pleasures

One of the many pleasures found in South Texas where I live is fresh citrus, specifically limes.


This is not about baking folks.

This is about drinking.

Here are three of my favorites -in descending order of preference-



*A tall glass of iced tea on a very hot day of gardening,  filled with crushed ice, iced tea , and squeezed wedges of lime -


*A homemade margarita at one of my teacher parties- fresh limes and laughter are two key ingredients-


and my favorite…


* Cerveza Vestida       (dressed beer)

Here is how you do it.


Take an ice cold long neck beer.

Before you open it and after you have rinsed off the top, roll it in freshly squeezed lime juice.

Then dip the top of the beer in margarita salt.

Open the beer, place a wedge of lime in the neck of the beer and enjoy!

This is enjoyed best on my patio , at about dark-thirty, after that long day of gardening.

Play your favorite music and relax!

Day 20: “Teach Us To Delight In Simple Things”

When I was teaching, there was always a time in the lesson, or the week, or the chapter when I knew we needed to make a connection.

I am sure there is some sort of 2014 educational term for such a method.


When I started teaching high school English in 1975 at Van Vleck High School in Van Vleck , Texas, that method was based solely on instincts.

I just knew we (the teacher and the students) needed to pause for a moment and re-group.

And so I followed that instinctual system for the next 32 years of my career.


So where are we today in this process of writing for 31 days?

Is the message still clear?

Everything I write at White Spray Paint conveys one simple message:  finding and enjoying simple things.


Rudyard Kipling said it best.                  "Teach us to delight in simple things."



For the four years I attended and graduated from Saint Mary’s Hall in San Antonio, this quote as the school’s motto, was everywhere.

As a 14 year old girl , I mistakenly thought enjoying simple things was a goal, or something you learned.

Why else would it be the motto at a boarding school?


I was wrong.

Enjoying simple things, whatever they may be, is a state of being- not a goal.


In my experience, I can’t make that happen.


The paradox is that even though I can’t make that happen,  I can achieve it quickly and easily, as long as it is

a feeling I PREFER – over all of the busyness and seriousness of life.


I hope that is the message you hear here- in all of the quirkiness and ‘you’re not going to believe what happened to me’ things I share.   




 

Day 16: Dear Daughters, Simple sleep

Dear Daughters,


You come from a long line of nap takers.

Papa has taken a nap every single day since forever.


And now guess what?  Research shows that getting enough sleep is essential to good health.


You may also remember that many years ago, after a long day of teaching, I often collapsed for a short little nap before it was time to cook supper.


The point?


You have to have enough sleep.

This is not to say that it is something to add to your list of worries- there are so many other things the world does to cause worry.

You can be intentional about getting enough sleep with a simple method my college friend and roommate Debbie always suggested.

Go to bed by 10 pm.


I love you ,

Mom
 
 

Day 15: Simple Birthday Celebration

 

My family is nothing if not socially efficient.

We usually take our own cars to events, in case we need to leave.

We sit at tables with our backs to the wall, in the event we need to fight our way out. (just kidding…maybe…)

And all of my life, my father was the perfect guest.  He did not dally. He left when he needed to.



This afternoon at 5:00 pm we (my husband and I, one of our daughters, my brother, and my father)were at Luby’s (his choice) in McAllen to celebrate his 88th birthday.

We were there about 30 minutes.

In route he opened his gift (another efficient use of time) and thanked me for the millionth long
sleeve shirt I have given him in my lifetime.

His short comment of, “Sister, you always give me the prettiest shirts,” will forever be etched on my heart.



So the point is it doesn’t have to be complicated.

It doesn’t have to take hours and hours.

We all ordered what we wanted, and we laughed.  Boy did we laugh.



Having said that, I can now say that sometimes it DOES need to be complicated.

When most days you opt for what is simple, you’ll know when to complicate things.

And that will be worth it too.

Day 14: Fall Tablescapes

 

 

 

So many things in my house change every year.

 
Fall tables in October for birthday group celebrations,

and the ever important Thanksgiving table rarely stay the same each year.


I try to use things I haven’t used in a while, and I also shop the house for more ideas.

Periodically, I will find an inspiration piece at the flea market.

I have also used curtain panels as tablecloths.


I have already started planning for an upcoming October celebration.

If you are like I am , you may have forgotten to photograph all the tables you have done.



Are you planning for upcoming tablescapes?

Day 13: Simple Signs of Fall

In the interest of full fall disclosure, it is still in the 80’s and occasional 90’s here in South Texas.

What the weather really is and what it is supposed to be has never been a seasonal deterrent for me.


Fall is fall, and certainly by October, it SHOULD be fall.


Does that make sense?
So I am going on about my business pretending it is.  


How do I do that?

As is the case with most simple things, I just begin.

 

Here is how I celebrate fall:



* By making Caldo de Pollo or simple Vegetable Beef Soup.

* By planning special ‘football’ food, like Queso Blanco con Espinaca,  for all of the upcoming college football 
  Saturdays.

* By moving all of my white pants into the guest room closet.  I know, I know.  This is old school.

* By beginning my search for caladium bulbs, which are hard to find where I live.

* By thinking about Thanksgiving and what I am going to cook. 



After doing just a few of these things, it really is fall in South Texas.

How do you know it is fall?



 

 

Day 12: Simple Skincare, Part II

 

So this is what I did.

I started watching You Tube videos on aging skin care.


And can we pause just a minute to give You Tube a shout out?

I took notes and watched and picked a regimen that I could afford to try, plus

one expensive serum-  Skinceuticals CE with Ferulic Acid.

I use that twice a day.

Morning Routine:

In the morning I wash my face with a non-foaming cleanser (because I learned foaming cleansers are not good).

I then apply the Skinceuticals serum and after it dries, I apply Walgreen’s Alpha Hydroxy cream.

I then apply Bobbi Brown’s 50 SPF skin cream, followed by a light moisturizer.

Evening Routine:

In the evening I remove my makeup with a makeup remover wipe.

I then wash my face again with the same non-foaming cleanser.

Three times a week I am using my Clarisonic to exfoliate.

I then apply a small dab of .05% Retin A (which hasn’t changed a thing).

After that I apply Rosehip Oil to soothe things a bit.

Finally, I follow that with a night moisturizer.


Here’s what I think:

I must accept that I am doing this to slow down what has already occurred.

I own my wrinkles.  Apparently, they like living on my face.

However, my skin texture has changed.

Doing something positive for myself is just as effective as great visible success.


And, more importantly, I am enjoying the simple act of doing this. 

 

Day 11: Skincare, A Simple Necessity

It was a long hot summer.

It was all about acceptance and life on life’s terms and fun and loss, and temperatures of at least 105, and trips to the flea market in the morning sun, and watering my plants..

In fact, after a late August trip to see our youngest daughter and to do some grandkid watching,

I looked it.

I looked “ridden hard and put up wet”.


My Mother warned me all my life about my skin.

She even warned me to not crinkle my forehead because wrinkles would form.



Her skin care regimen was simple and effective.

She cleaned her face with Merle Norman cold cream and a damp washcloth.

She then used Ski Breeze as her astringent.

That was all followed by a cream called Formula 405, that she ordered at Fred’s Pharmacy in Falfurrias, Texas.

She followed this daily routine with a periodic application of Merle Norman’s Miracol.

She had beautiful skin.


What did I do?

In high school at St. Mary’s Hall in San Antonio, my friends and I laid out by the pool using a concoction of baby oil and iodine.

Tanned skin was the rage.

I took my eye makeup off with Baby Oil and splashed water on my face afterwards- and followed that , maybe- with a scrub with Noxema or Dove soap.

I mainly pretended I was Scarlet O’Hara and I’d think about it tomorrow.

As an adult I periodically bought regimens that friends recommended, or I bought whatever someone was selling in the teacher’s lounge.


I even bought La Mer once and of course it worked.

I am a practical girl at heart though, and I just couldn’t do it.



So on that return trip home back in August after a long hot stressful summer, I panicked.

 

Mercy.  My face was moving and creating hills and valleys that no primer was going to fill.

Maybe sleeping on my side for a million years wasn’t such a good idea,


What did I do?


I started watching YouTube videos on aging skin and makeup.

I kid you not.


We will talk about THAT tomorrow!

 

What skincare regimen do you use?

Day 9: Learning to Read

 

Source

 

I am a word lover from way back.
Not the crossword puzzle kind, but rather the words rolling around in my thinking kind.

To this day, tossing words together on the page is one of my simplest pleasures.


This love of language began for me in first grade at Ricardo Elementary in Ricardo, Texas, with my Toni home perm and my Mary Jane shoes.


It was in first grade that I learned to read , and I tried with all my might to master handwriting.


We didn’t learn to read phonetically.


We just learned to read. 
 

And even though I didn’t realize it at the time, it was there that I learned that reading is connected to writing
and if you are a strong reader, you have a better chance of being a strong writer.


I didn’t learn vocabulary from word lists.

I ‘figured out’ what words meant in the novels I read in the back seat of my mother’s car, as she drove 45
miles from the ranch to the nearest HEB.


I ‘figured ‘more words out in the same back seat on car trips to visit relatives.


And later , as a high school English teacher, I tapped dance as fast as I could to reach my students and to
encourage them to think for themselves and to write that way as well.


In desperation I coined a statement that I said to my AP students often:

”An educated person can manipulate his or her own language.”


And I still didn’t always get through.


So young parents, here is a bit of advice.

Your children need to read- daily- and not in a punitive way or just for accelerated reader certificates.

And if there are gaps in your child’s reading fluency, you fill in those gaps.

You teach them to read- the old fashioned way. 




Oh dear…

I may have gone a little overboard…

I tend to do that.

Day 8: Dear Daughters, Simple Safety

 

Dear Daughters,

As I have shared many times, growing up on a ranch, I was taught to watch for snakes.

I may have been driving a jeep, with a standard stick shift by the time I was 10 , but that didn’t seem as

treacherous to Papa as being snake bit or having my horse Honey Child run away with me.


Nonnie worried more about swimming too soon after we ate lunch or the undertow at the beach.


The message in all of this is love and care, and as a result , part of that message is the care and watching we do. 


I know.

I probably burned my safety lecture bridges with you when you were at Texas A&M.

I warned you about EVERYTHING.

And yes, I remember warning you about someone cutting your Achilles tendon while you were unlocking

your car in the student parking lot.

That may have been a bit extreme.


But back to the message. 

It is about the watching.

In the photo above Dad is watching Harrison fish because the edge of the lake is a straight drop into the water.

  

And maybe Harrison didn’t exactly feel like he needed watching, but Dad needed to watch him.

Does that make sense?


Drive carefully tomorrow on your way to work.

Oops. 

I did it again.


Love, Mom

Day 7: Simple Blogging

 

                                                                                                                       Four Years of Blog Posts




The week before I came out of blogging hibernation and started The Nester’s 31 Day Writing Challenge for October, the roof leaked.

On October 1st, the day I started blogging again, there were workmen here removing and patching and painting and playing loud music and basically talking to each other in a loud shout all day.

And my topic is Enjoying Simple Things.

 

I am laughing as I type.

So that acceptance and enjoyment of life on life’s terms is how I fondly remember my early years in blogging.

It was the best of times.

My blog posts became those conversations you have with friends that begin with

‘you’re not going to believe what happened’,

or ‘you’ve got to see this’,

or ‘I know how you feel’.


I wrote from my thinking and from my heart.


And then I began to analyze and over think things .


That is a breeder of discontent, isn’t it?


I got all jammed up when I read that you are always supposed to write for your reader. 

I never got the hang of SEO friendly wording .

I read that people don’t really want to read about personal things.


I started to look at how unread my blog posts were, rather than thanking the people who did read them.


I even wrote blog posts about blogging.

The list goes on.


And so my interest waned, and blogging breaks became more frequent.


So here is what I learned. 


Blogging is a simple hobby that feeds us all in different ways.

It shouldn’t be that complicated, and the good news is it doesn’t have to be.


Blog when and how you want to.  Your posts are pieces of you that you are sharing with others.


How cool and heart generous is that?

 

I said it best here, in a post I titled C.S. Lewis and Blogging .


And remember tomorrow when it is time to write your post-

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another:

What! You too?

I thought I was the only one."

 

C. S. Lewis

Day 6: Simple Grocery Shopping Method

Source

 

This feels silly.

I can’t believe I am including this.    


But in the spirit of embracing and enjoying simple things, I must mention how I like to shop for groceries.


Here’s my method:


I go between 6 to 7 in the morning.

Why? 
Because I am up at that time,  very few people are shopping at 6:00 am, Chick fil A is open by then for my favorite coffee, there is always a parking space by the door, and I don’t have to look ‘dolled up’.

I try to only buy for the week.

Why? 
Because my grocery bag unloader at home may not be awake and not able to help, and if I have forgotten something, I can always go back.

If I do have to go back to the store during a busier time, I try to enjoy it.

I know. This may sound like I am stating the obvious, but it is very important to me.


How do I do that?

I stop by the cosmetic aisle and look at things I recently saw on YouTube makeup videos.

I check the magazine section to see if the new Christmas magazines are out yet.

And I enjoy seeing families from all walks of life buying groceries together.

On a return trip on a Sunday afternoon at the grocery store in South Texas where I live, families have on their favorite NFL player jerseys (usually for the Dallas Cowboys or Houston Texans) and their baskets are full of food they are going to prepare.

I enjoy seeing things like that.

Music is playing in the meat market section, and I can dance a step or two if I want to.

If I hear a song I like but don’t recognize, I can use my Shazam app on my phone to get the title in order to add it to my IPod.


I entertain myself.
I smile and greet people.

I enjoy it.

Day 5: Ranch Recipe # 15 Simple Acorn Squash

     My Parents, 1950         Tecalitlan, Mexico

Ranch Recipes, which I share here on my blog, are memory laden dishes from my childhood, growing up on a ranch in South Texas.

Ranch Recipes can also be special entries that are too good to omit.

This is just such a recipe.

Always on the lookout for a side dish to serve at Thanksgiving that is delicious and semi-healthy.  My daughters and I created this several years ago.
It’s a keeper and it is simple.

print recipe

Easy Acorn Squash

by Laura October-5-2014

side dish to serve at Thanksgiving that is delicious and semi-healthy.

Ingredients

• individual acorn squash
• pat for each acorn squash butter
• sprinkles cinnamon
• sprinkles sugar
• Instructions:
• 
  

Take the number of acorn squash you need (each squash will be cut into 4 pieces) and poke a hole into each squash and microwave them for 10 minutes. If they have not softened, keep microwaving them in 3-4 minute intervals. Remove the squash from the microwave carefully. They will be VERY hot. Slice each one in half and remove the seeds. Slice each half in half. Place these halves on a cookie sheet. Place a pat of butter on each serving. Sprinkle each serving with cinnamon and sugar or sweetener. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

I hope this made sense!  It really is simple and easy.  It is the perfect fall recipe.

Enjoy!

Day 4: Staying Home

Fall Mantel 2014

 

I am a searcher, a treasure hunter, an explorer, a flea marketeer, a person who loves nothing more than making a round.

In fact, everything on the mantel above was found at the flea market or at a thrift store.


I enjoy doing all of those things very much.

Being out and about is fun and entertaining.


But the real answer for simple living for me lives in being in my home.

And HOME really is where my heart is.

One positive thing is more likely to lead to another when I stay home.

 

Since I enjoy being there- that gives me the time to get things done (or not) - which makes life simpler for me.


Do I procrastinate, and put things off, and go to Ross Dress for Less far too much?  Yes.

Is the garage cluttered right now?  Mercy, yes. 

Do I always know what we are having for supper?  No.

Do I ever throw my hands up in the air and think I need to get out of here?  Yes.


There is no perfection here -which is probably why I enjoy it so much.

 

**********

For the month of October, I am participating in The Nester’s annual 31 Day writing challenge .
Enjoying simple things or laughing about the trials life brings happens to be one of my favorite topics at my quirky lifestyle blog White Spray Paint.

Day 3: Knowing What you enjoy

 

It’s time for a disclaimer. 

I am not living life in any kind of perfect zen-ness.

I fight the same things you do.

It is so easy to fall back into complicated living and especially complicated thinking.


I do have more moments than not, however,  when I feel a sense of peace and gratitude that I enjoy simple living.

I truly enjoy it.


I know what that looks like , and I know you do too. 

That in itself simplifies things, doesn’t it?

So your homework today (yes, I said homework- see Day 1), is to write your list.

What do you enjoy?

What gives you that sense of peace and calm (and fun!) more than anything else?

Here are a few things on my list:

Watching college football on television with my husband.

Planning what to cook for college football watching.

Doing things with my daughters- especially exploring for treasures.

Sitting in a ballpark watching my grandsons play baseball.

Saying ‘whatever you want’ when they ask me what’s for breakfast.

Going to the flea market with my trusty cart and a cup of Chick Fil A coffee.


Now write yours!

Day 1: 31 Days of Enjoying Simple Things

Welcome to

31 Days of Enjoying Simple Things.

For the month of October, I will be participating in The Nester’s annual 31 Day writing challenge .

Enjoying simple things or laughing about the trials life brings happens to be one of my favorite topics at my quirky lifestyle blog White Spray Paint.

Scroll down to see other posts. 

Day 1:  31 Days of Enjoying Simple Things

Day 2:  Dear Daughters,  Listen to the Yearning

Day 3:  Know What You Enjoy

Day 4:  Staying Home

Day 5:  Ranch Recipes #15, Simple Acorn Squash

Day 6:  Simple Grocery Shopping Method

Day 7:  Simple Blogging

Day 8:  Dear Daughters,  Simple Safety

Day 9:  Learning to Read

Day 10:The Beginning of Ranch Recipes

Day 11:Skincare, A Simple Necessity

Day 12:Skincare, Part 2

Day 13:Simple Signs of Fall

Day 14:Fall Tablescapes

Day 15: Simple Birthday Celebration

Day 16: Dear Daughters, Simple Sleep

Day 17: Simple DIY Projects

Day 18: Circling Back

Day 19: If We Were Having Coffee

Day 20: Teach Us To Delight in Simple Things

Day 21: Limes, One of Life’s Simple Pleasures

Day 22: Dear Daughters, Simple Priorities

Day 23: Dear Daughters, Contradicting Day 22

Day 24: Simple Fit Throwing

Day 25: Procrastination

Day 26:  Simply the Best: Fall Fragrance

Day 27: Simply the Best:  Songs

Day 28: Friendship and Makeup

Day 29: Simple Fall Porch

Day 30: Simple Birthday Celebration

Day 31: Enjoying Simple Things, At Last

**********

 

Day 1:

This is not a new message. 

We have all been encouraged to seek out simple living experiences and the pleasure and peace that brings.

I can’t tell you how many times, when I was younger, my wise mother encouraged me to do just that.

But I was sooooooooooo busy (and just a tad martyred). 

During that stage of my life, I usually had a color coded calendar of our 3 daughters’ activities in one hand, and a bag full of senior English papers to grade in the other.

How dare she suggest such a thing?

I became accustomed to hearing statements of wonder like ‘how do you do it all?’.

And now many years later, I am here to tell the tale.

I survived it.

And I learned something about this art of living simply and enjoying it that I want you to all memorize right this minute.

(Yes- I said memorize. I am a retired high school English teacher!)

You do not need a self- help book, you do not need a new planner (don’t bother, I tried them all), you do not need to re-invent every wheel in your life.

Ready?

You already know what to do.  The yearning is in place.

What a relief, right?

Let’s have fun talking about it, shall we?

Each day I will link a new post on the directory below. 

I promise it will not all be hair shirts and gnashing of teeth.

Simple enjoyment really is good news- no high definition needed.