Tidying Up!

I may not be able to cook very well but I can clean like it's no body's business...I love to clean! Maybe it's my OCD, maybe it's that it's always been oddly calming for me, whatever the case may be I really love to not just make things clean but organized too!

All of my nail polish is in a drawer organized in stackable plastic bins by color...

 The funny thing is I don't really care what I'm cleaning, it's the act of taking something dirty or disorganized or both and being able to make it neat, tidy and fresh that makes me satisfied.

My "daily" drawer has all of my essentials...I used small mercury glass votives from Pottery Barn to separate and organize my hair ties, bobby pins and hair clips...

I washed my face the other evening, and happened to have been wearing make-up. You would think I would wear makeup far more often than I actually do, but typically I go sans makeup. I've been using Dermalogica's pre-clense for years to take off my makeup, and like any other evening I used it to wash my face. I finished washing my face and didn't bother to wipe the counter clean (I thought it was just water) and so I went to bed, only to awake to multiple dark stains on my pretty gray granite!!!

My pre-clense was the culprit but it made me realize that I also need to be careful with my Moroccan Oil as well...

Thanks to Pinterest and Google I quickly learned that the best way to remove an oil stain from granite is to make a pumice out of acetone and baking soda. I know this sounds crazy, but let me tell you it really works. I should know, because while attempting to clean the original stains I managed to stain my counter three more times. So let me just tell you, I've really put this one to the test.

My life savers!

Many tutorials advise against using nail polish remover as it may not be pure acetone. This one happens to be pretty pure and worked well for me. After allowing the mixture to sit it would sometimes look darker than before so I simply covered it in a pile of dry baking soda and allowed it sit and it pulled up the stain and whatever remained EVERY time. 

Hope this might help you too!

xo, 

To Love, Laughter and Friends...

Today I was surrounded by love. 

It was a quiet love, the type that is unspoken but simply present. There have been a few great men in my life and today it was an incredible gift to be surrounded by those who have always been there for me. After an early afternoon with family my GH (gay husband) and his BF joined me at our house for an evening of love, laughter and friendship. 

My GH, the third generation of some truly incredible gentlemen and gentle men...

A simple but sweet afternoon...

...

I have many loves in my life, these however are some of my greatest...

Nap time...

The greatest compliment a guest can pay me is to demonstrate that they feel at home in our home. I just love when people can relax enough to really enjoy themselves and I truly mean it when I say, "Please make yourself at home!"

I feel so privileged to have such incredible men in my life. My sweet, amazing actual husband joined our posse after work and my day became complete. I hope your day was also filled with love laughter and friends. 

xo, 

An Afternoon of Fun

My "gay husband" produces events around the world for some really incredible clients. At a recent event with Anthropology they had the adorable activity of creating miniature succulent gardens that guests were able to create and then take home. If you follow me on Instagram you know I'm just about useless in the garden, but I've always thought succulents were cute, and I've always been drawn to their varying textures and colors. Not to mention my GH told me they are nearly indestructible. 

What we began with...

We've been talking about creating some miniature gardens of our own for several weeks now and just hadn't found the time. As time went on we decided this would be the perfect activity to surprise my mom with as she loves gardening and I knew this was something she's never done before! And so on an unassuming Tuesday, with what my mom thought was a BBQ dinner at our home my GH came and surprised her with this little project. 

First step, make sure you have good drainage...

Add soil nearly to the top...

Make sure to get the proper type of soil, a mixture made especially for cacti, succulents and desert plants will make your succulents happy little plants. 

Be creative and have fun as you plant your micro-garden!

 GH helps Mom to neatly pack her gravel...

Use the remaining gravel to fill in the gaps between your succulents.

Make sure to give your new garden a hydrated start...

The succulents will only require a few teaspoons of water a couple of times a week! Check the texture of the leaves to know if your plants are thirsty, they'll loose their firmness when they need water. 

My boy and I were great helpers throughout the process! 

 Hope you enjoy!

xo, 

Onward & Upward!

It's been a while...a long while since I've posted anything of substance and there has been a very good reason as to why. My privacy and my family's privacy were violated. 

Obviously, I fully understand that when blogging any information one chooses to share should essentially be considered public. To this day I have no regrets about anything I've posted. 

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect or even consider that the content of my blog would be used against my family. What would have appeared, and what I am sure did appear as a typical and seemingly innocuous post was used as fodder against my family in an outrageous and totally inappropriate way. This malicious act was committed by a couple of very close family friends, and I'm truly disappointed in them.

My decision to take a brief break from blogging was an easy one, you simply do not hurt my family. The good news is that I've never lost faith in my blogging family. After giving this blog a lot of consideration over the past several months, I have made the decision to begin blogging again!

Why?

Because I have truly missed blogging and it is something important to me. 

I don't let people keep me from what I love and I am certainly not going to begin now. 

And, while I have always known that I was awful at keeping a journal I came to realize that this blog quickly became a beautiful way for me to chronicle my life, interests, travels, friends....

To my friends and family who have supported me, thank you! 

To my fellow bloggers, I am sincerely sorry if we've lost touch, I truly look forward to reconnecting! 

And so with love, gratitude and perspective, I look forward to what's next.