Hello!
Happy Week Ten in Quarantine! If you’re new here, welcome! Thank you for subscribing, and I hope you find something useful, inspiring, and meaningful to take away from this page. If you want to learn a little more about me and why I started this blog and newsletter, you can read that right here. Take a look around, catch up, and enjoy a healthy dose of family, food, fashion, and fun!
This week my friend, Kim Wheeler, did a little interview with me and posted it on her blog, Northern California Style. Kim has created a beautiful site filled with everything from stylish decorating and entertaining ideas to a fresh perspective on making every day meaningful. We have had a great time getting to know one another and exchanging ideas about all of the above. Her questions really got me revisiting and exploring my own personal decorating style, and where that inspiration comes from, so I thought I would elaborate here. I also thought I would share a little bit about Mother’s Day, some beautiful moments worth sharing in case you missed them, and what we’ve been doing around here to pass the time while STILL sheltering in place.
So here are the latest ways we’ve been staying sane and seeking inspiration in the newest phase of quarantine.
“Travel.”
Don’t get me wrong, I am not encouraging going against the current state and county orders to leave your shelter, but the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay was open for business, so they made it so right to be just a little bit wrong by bending the rules. The week before Mother’s Day, we all reached the point where we needed a change of scenery and decided to head to the beach for a few days. We holed up in Half Moon Bay and had the most enjoyable, relaxing reset that did us all right. Check out my post here, where I explain the “why” behind our quasi controversial decision to jump over the hill to the coast.
Gardening.
After we returned from the beach, the weather had officially turned the corner into the spectacular, and our yard was in full bloom. The new patio table, chairs, and umbrella arrived, and everything seemed to scream “summer.” It felt so good to get the yard cleaned, pots, and hanging baskets planted with fresh flowers, and vegetables started in the garden. We have never checked all those boxes before Memorial Day (or even Mother’s Day), so we have quarantine to thank for being so on the ball this year.
Decorating.
I am a constant mental decorator, so I decided to pull the trigger on some real projects that I’ve been toying with for a while. When you spend more time than usual in your own space, you begin to notice things you didn’t before- a paint color that needs refreshing, a rug that’s frayed, or maybe an entire room you want to redo! One night I spontaneously decided to purchase some significant pieces I’ve been eyeing for a while, which goes entirely against my code of decorating ethics. Wish me luck and stay tuned for the outcome on this one.:)
Reading.
From novels and magazines to gardening and coffee table books, these last few weeks have allowed for plenty of time to revisit old favorites and uncover new inspiration. Assouline makes the most beautiful books covering everything you can imagine- wine, travel, fashion, interiors- and they are stunning collector pieces with price tags to match, but gorgeous works of art nonetheless.
Sitting Still.
I do not have a difficult time relaxing or taking a day or two to play it slow, but actual stillness is a bit of a challenge for me. I’m not into meditation because I like a side of distraction with my stillness, so prolonged lapses of time looking at nothing but the inside of my eyelids is not my idea of enlightenment. So after a couple weeks of restless and inconsistent sleep, my meditation loving husband suggested I start seeking some. Well, that didn’t happen, but I did try to stop and carve out conscious moments of stillness each day, which has proven to be my variation on mediation. Whether admiring the beauty in some Trader Joe’s peonies or watching the fog roll in over the hills, making an effort to stop, be still and absorb everyday moments of beauty has helped me feel settled in an otherwise unsettling time.
I hope you are all finding ways to put beauty in your everyday lives by remembering to smile at simple things and honor those epically small moments.
Be well,
Xo. klm
