Category: Relaxing

Add a Little Note – a Grace Note!

In music, a grace note is one that is an extra note added as an embellishment and not essential to the harmony or melody. Writers, too, use the phrase. To them it means using a single elegant word – a grace note – in otherwise straightforward prose. Are you already imagining what a grace note might look like in your life?

I think of it as something that isn’t needed, but having it (or doing it) can make a simple thing elegant. A plain thing whimsical. A boring thing interesting.

If you read my piece on what la bellitude is, you read about one of the grace notes in my life. My cooking candle and my desk candle. I can cook and write without them, but there is a completely different feeling when they are lit. I add a bit more to them with my choice of matches (Frida Kahlo on the box). Not expensive. Any candles will do, even Dollar Store candles. 

For me, another grace note is my companion book. I am always reading something. And it goes with me almost everyplace. Why? Because you never know when you might get a chance to read. Waiting for a medical appointment is not bothersome when I can read the book du jour. Waiting for anything, in fact, doesn’t spoil your day when you have your book. And by the way if you don’t have a library card, get one! They have so much to offer. Books, of course, but much, much more.

Possible grace notes you might consider:

  • ★ Keeping some plant life in your home at all times. Maybe flowers you buy, but maybe those you pick, or maybe stems of leaves, a dish of acorns, grasses that you clipped by hand. Whatever it is, it will add interest, life, color, and/or fragrance.
  • ★ Handkerchiefs! Yes, real reusable handkerchiefs. They are easy to come by at vintage shops, and there is a little nostalgia as well as elegance that comes along with them. The ones I love the most are those that were embroidered by someone long ago. 
  • ★ A custom blend tea. Experiment with combining several types you like, and keep trying until you find the perfect combination for you. Give your blend a name. Keep it on hand and share it with others. You could probably do the same thing with coffee.

You may already have grace notes in your life but you know them by a different name. If you do, please share them! And if you don’t, I hope you will create one for yourself. It can make a very big difference.


Porch Perfect

One of the best days of the year for me is the day that we put the rug, the furniture, and the other essentials back in their places on the front porch.  It is a second living room/den/dining nook for us from the first warm day in April to the last almost-warm day in the fall.

Pittsburgh is blessed with many old and healthy neighborhoods with porches on almost every house.  Big, small, wraparounds, screened, fancy, or plain, each of them is just asking to be the site of someone’s next sit down.  And it amazes me how few people take advantage of them.  Porch-sitting is relaxing, interesting, and a great way to meet neighbors.  You see your home and your world differently from the porch than you do from the inside.

The basics for a good, livable porch are simple.  A few seats and a table or two to hold drinks, snacks, books, phones, and other necessities of life.  And of course, as many plants as you can muster.  But to really make the most of your porch time, it pays to go a little farther.

A rug is the first thing to think about adding.  I don’t bother with the indoor/outdoor versions.  If I pop out for a porch moment when I’m shoeless, I want to feel a nice soft rug, not woven plastic. If your porch is covered, the rug will last for about 4-6 years*, fading a bit more each season, but that adds to the beauty.

Great Place for Reading or Greeting

Next, a table lamp.  You may not want to end your porch sitting when the sun sets, and a small, inexpensive table lamp will provide a much nicer feel than an overhead porch light.  

A soft throw or an old quilt or blanket should also be on the porch with you.  It might get chilly before you are finished reading or talking or whatever, and having it right there is much better than having to go in search of one in the house.  Once in, you might not even come back out!

pup on porch
Asta Likes to Be On Top of the Quilt

And on the other side of the coin, a fan is an essential for hot afternoons.  If you have a ceiling fan, that’s great.  We do not, but we found a great little retro table fan that makes the porch a comfy place even when the temps are high.

Okay, now we’re getting into the lesser items, but I must confess that many of these are absolutely essential to me as well.  Here’s a list to get you started:

  • Comfortable cushions
  • Waterproof tablecloth 
  • Treats and water for the dog
  • Charging places for our devices
  • Candles and matches
  • Scissors
  • Pens or pencils
  • Paper
  • Bug spray
  • Speaker
  • Plant snippers
  • A water-resistant lidded box to hold most of these items
  • Broom
  • Watering can
  • And a tuffet

I realize that not everyone has a porch, but the joys of “sitting” can also be had on a patio, a balcony, a deck, whatever you have.  But if you have a front porch, I highly recommend that!

Tiny Back Porch Can Be Cozy Too!

*NOTE: Rugs, other textiles, and small items should be removed in the winter.  Leaving the furniture out might be fine depending on the type of furniture you have.


Candle Culture

Almost everyone has at least a few candles.  And they are often not used or lighted only on “special” occasions.  But they are opportunities for La Bellitude.  Let’s think about candles more carefully.

When shopping for chunky, pillar candles, make your selection for the container, quality,  AND the fragrance.  Graciously consider the tastes of others who will partake when selecting a fragrance.  My kitchen candle is sometimes fresh cut grass (which I love), pine, or sunflower.  Not too floral, not only because of my partner’s aroma tastes but because perfume and beef stew don’t really go that well together.  And selecting a beautiful container means that you can spread that elegance into another use or place when the wax is gone.  The perfect container can mean a decorative vessel that you will turn into a planter or nut dish, a simple glass that you can use for a storage purpose, or a bit of a smile that will hold cotton balls in the powder room.  Just think when you choose.

Keep one special candle in the kitchen and one at your desk, studio. or other work space; light them when you are cooking, creating, or even laundry folding.  They will calm you and keep you company.  Use your candles.  And buy candles with a high stearin content.  They cost little more (and at IKEA, no more) than other candles and they last longer with no drips.

Buy a decorative box of 4” matches to light these companion candles.  A decorative box that has something fun on it or that makes you happy when you look at it.  They can be found at gift shops and online.  Here are the pluses: 1) They will always make you smile.  2) You can buy refills for the 4” matches (in any color you like) on Etsy at a great price, enough to last for years.  3) The long stick can be held and burned down if you are in the mood for a wood fire smell, or it can be extinguished and used to spread glue in tiny places and other small craft needs.  I have Frida Kahlo boxes in the kitchen and the studio, and they make me happy every single time I light the candle!

Frida Keeps Me Smiling

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