Making your House Feel like a Home this Fall

Posted on by admin

Life can throw some curve balls, but with a little faith even the wildest adventures can turn into our biggest blessings. One moment you’re making Sunday dinner in the home where you’ve started your family, then neatly packing up memories into moving boxes. Or perhaps you’ve just married your best friend, anxiously gearing up for the bliss of finally sharing a home together. Fall is one of the busiest times for new homeowners. When you embark on this new adventure, it can be difficult to make your abode feel as welcoming as the last. You don’t have to spend a fortune or wait years to make you house feel like a home. Creating comforting ambiances, gracious attitudes, and new memories are sure ways to bring familiarity into your loving space.

Bring coziness into your space

source: Pixabay

As the sweltering sunshine of summer fades, crisp and breezy sweater weather becomes the perfect inspiration for a fall makeover. Bringing warmth into your space helps to convey a welcoming feeling, which can encourage bonding time. The best way to make a house a home is to make it feel lived in. Creating a cozy space that you and your loved ones can’t wait to spend time in will drive that loving, at-home vibe.

 

Coziness doesn’t have to be exclusive to colder weather. Bring Hygge into your home to make cozying up with your loved ones a year round lifestyle! Hygge (pronounced Hoo-gah) is a Danish lifestyle philosophy advocating living in the moment. The Scandinavian practice is used to place emphasis on intimacy, bringing people closer together through spaces and actions that bring about relaxation and mindfulness. Incorporating muted, earthy colors, chunky knit blankets, or textured pillows into your living spaces will create a low-stress environment for bonding. Soft lighting and organic touches like candles in natural scents or succulents will create a comforting ambiance fit for cozy fall nights.

 

Bring Memories into your Space

source: Pixabay

A house that has been lived in is one that feels like a true home. After all, what made your last space so warm were the memories made within those walls. Each room had been blessed by wonderful moments shared with people you love. Those memories no longer have a physical place in your house, but that doesn’t mean they will be replaced as you create new ones!

Once you’ve gotten your home hygge-fied with cozy hues and textures, carve out time in your hectic balancing act of home, life, or parenting to host a well cooked family dinner. Whether it be an intimate gathering of just your household or a buffet spread to feed your entire extended family, filling the rooms with laughter and good conversation will make your home come alive. Even after the commotion has quieted down, the sense of company will linger from the sink full of dishes, fridge of leftovers, and a living room slightly out of place.

A living room should be more than a collection of furniture perfectly unworn and worthy of a Martha Stewart catalog. A living room, apart from the dining area, is a place for loved ones to unite and strengthen their bond. As fall brings around cool nights perfect for snuggling under covers, turn the living room into the perfect family getaway. Designate time for a game night or transform the space into a private movie theater for you and the kids. There are lots of wholesome family movies  to choose from that will truly emphasize the importance of quality family-time. Go ahead, let the room get a little messy with movie night memories.

 

Bring grace into your space

source: Pixabay

A loving home is one founded in positivity. Working to develop a space that prides itself in having respect, admiration, and gratitude for all who enter is one that will surely transform your new house.

Go beyond just the attitude you have when existing within your home by incorporating gratitude into its decor. Splash the walls with framed photos of your loved ones as constant reminders of the life you’ve lived, the memories you’ve made, and the individuals who make your days special. Research inspirational phrases that serve as encouragement to intentionally practice gratitude and show appreciation for family-time. Get crafty and incorporate these words into the room, applying them to walls as decals or getting them as prints to be framed!

For options that are customizable day by day, get a chalkboard or or cork board to display in a part of the home with lots of foot traffic. The kitchen or hallway leading to the front terrace are great options. Utilize this board to post daily messages of gratitude for your family. Display general thoughts of thankfulness or more direct gratitude towards specific members and their actions.

 

Be open, stay patient

It may take time to let go of your last home. The place you created for yourself and your family was not done overnight. However, being intentional of bringing coziness, gratitude, and memories into your new house will certainly do the trick. With repetition, you’ll eventually begin to feel your house turn into a home radiating love and familiarity.

The heartbeat that keeps the home alive and so loved is the “family unit”.  Making time for one another builds a sense of closeness and warmth. Building your home always start and ends with the family unit.  Having a healthy family unit built on Love, Trust, and Faith brings the home to life, bringing forth hospitality to all who enter.  Let no one leave without a smile on their face and a full stomach. A little hospitality goes a long way in making a lasting impression.

What you wear says a lot about you

Posted on by tracy

A $2800 dress from Barneys is quite an investment or just plainly stated, out of the budget for most people.  How then can a person that decides to open up his/her wallet and make this huge purchase justify his/her spending?  Is it for pure pleasure that  they love fashion or is it because they believe that the dress is worth the investment since the fabric is made of the utmost quality and will last and sustain in their closet for years to come?  Which reasoning would you agree on? Well it depends on which social class you belong to that will give you the answer to this question. If looked through the lenses in this perspective, our habits, characters, and actions can do us no wrong in justifying what we deem is true and correct.  

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was something universal that can cross all social class and allow each of us to express our habits, characters and actions in the same way?   There is such a thing.  It does not require us to open up our wallet but we can wear it and it can say a lot about us.  The act of “Smiling” is a universal language and expression that is recognized in many culture and country throughout the world.  Clothing is highly dependent on your culture, social class and biological features which requires change and reinvention every couple of years,  which is why we always feel the need to buy a new outfit/wardrobe.  Smiling is unconditional, and is not dependent on all these factors.   It will always stay the same, in its meaning and expression , which is why “Smiling” is the most important thing you can wear, and best of all it will not break your bank but will be worth a fortune in the long run.

 

It has been known that smiling relaxes the facial muscles and calms the nervous system.  It releases chemicals called neuropeptides that influence our brains, body, and behavior which in turn helps us feel positive by changing our mood, resulting in a decrease level of stress.  Smiling also helps the brain release these “feel good” neurotransmitters like dopamine, endorphins and serotonin that help reduce heart rate and help to calm our nervous system. (D’Arcy Lyness, PhD)

Smiling is a great intrinsic tool we all have that is already built inside of us.  If we learn to wear it well each day, it can increase happiness and joy in us and those we surround ourselves with.  Learning to flex and exercise these facial muscles to form a “Duchenne smile” (sincere smile) can be a trait that is highly valuable. It shows how sincere we are and can be an influential tool in creating trust,and positive reinforcement (wikipedia.org) with others.   Ending a text with a smile emoji is a great way to create positive reinforcement.  When there is trust, happiness and joy will always follow.  By smiling more often, we can start to create wellness in our life and in our communities

[bctt tweet=”Wine Not make someone “Smile” today. Flex those muscles and wear a SMILE 🙂 and make it infectious.” username=”hansonellis”]

Put a Smile on a loved one’s face this season.   Get a head start on their holiday wish list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Valuing What Is Free

Posted on by tracy

The time honored essence of gift giving can never be lost even in today’s technologically based society where we can instantly be gratified by simply buying ourselves something online.  We don’t have the need to wait anymore for any special occasion or reason to buy, instead we buy just because we feel like we deserve it. How can we still honor the notion of gift giving when we can choose to buy and give ourselves gifts whenever we feel the need to celebrate any milestone no matter how small?   We can say in this day and age, we spoil ourselves to the point that gifts from others just don’t matter as much as gifts we buy for ourselves. True, material gifts have lost it’s value these days because it is no longer a scarcity to receive them, instead we now must look beyond the material gift giving to really appreciate the real sentiment of the concept of Gifts.  

The value of the gift is not so much in the actual gift itself but more on the giver who gives the gift.  If the giver is pure in his/her intentions and is characterized by goodness, the value of the gift increases.  When the value of the gift is so great that it surpasses any dollar amount, it then becomes priceless and timeless.  It is when the gift reaches this level of value, it will never lose it’s essence but will be passed on and be remembered.  The most valuable gifts given to us without us putting in a cent are the gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, humility, and fear of the creator.   If we come to appreciate these gifts we can use them to its full extent, making life meaningful and beautiful because their usage and understanding are universal, not predicated on any trend, gender, race, or class.  These gifts will be passed on for generations to come and will never be devalued. It is only when we lose sight of whom we received these gifts from do we begin to devalue them.

courtesy pixabay

When we begin a marriage and start a family, we must remember to include these valuable gifts in every stage of married life and family life in order to help us thrive and be able to sustain through the ups and downs of this world.

Enjoy a Free gift that will help you thrive and allow you to weather through the tough times, when hope may seem lost.  It surpasses judgement and will become an invaluable gift that provides calmness and gentleness in a chaotic world.

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What is your bounce back rating?

Posted on by tracy

It has long been studied that our mind and brain are two separate components, dating back to Philosophers such as Rene Descartes. Our mind is centered around laws of reasoning versus the brain which centers around laws of physics. With this notion of a dualist view of our mental construct,  many of us have been lead to believe that as we age, we become more rigid and set in our ways of thinking and doing things. We become inflexible and and have difficulty changing and adjusting.

In recent findings in Neuroscience, we have realized that as adults we can have the capacity to learn and grow due to brain plasticity. New pathways and connections can be created and formed when certain tasks are performed and when certain environmental stimulus are presented to us.   This revolutionary discovery gives us more control to change the way we react and respond to our world. No longer we can say we are wired that way as an excuse not to change ourselves because change is possible.

Knowing that we can change brings hope when we are going through something difficult.  This hope can make us be more resilient to hard times and situations. It is ultimately up to us to choose to be resilient when faced with challenges.  To improve our resilient muscle, we can improve our neurogenesis growth rate (the growth and development of nervous tissue).  Factors affecting neurogenesis rate, either increasing or decreasing it are our diet, ,toxins in our body, stress level, amount of exercise we do, water, and last of all if we are enjoying what we do (Kim Kwik, Kwik Brain).  By increasing our neurogenesis rate, our ability to recover and bounce back is shorter and quicker.

Too many of us in society are under stress and are quick to judge and react.  We feel that change is needed but we don’t know how. It all begins with ourselves, the ability to be resilient in our own lives can then cause change in our environment.  Practicing resilience in all areas of our lives brings forth hope and a type of renewal. Instead of just using doubt as a fuel to move us forward, we need to use hope to move us forward in our lives.

Need help with boosting your resilience?  

Bath salts with aromatics can evoke a sense of calmness and well being that will help relax your body and mind.

Our Sleep Lavender Bath Salt  is great for the skin by helping to act as an antiseptic agent for certain skin conditions such as acne and also can reduce inflammation. It also helps relieve muscle aches and pains and the lavender scent helps reduce headaches and gives you a better night’s sleep.

Composed of a blend of Pacific Sea Salt, lavender essential oil, vitamin E, and Aloe Vera.

 

Usage

  • Relaxing bath
  • Therapy soak
  • Kids bath
  • Shower exfoliating scrub
  • Pedicure soak

 

Our Citrus Mimos Bath Salt is great to give a little boost and rejuvenate you during the work week.  Made from a fine/medium grain blend of Pacific Sea Salt, it has a light citrus scent that helps to invigorate and boost your mood.  Contains vitamin E and Aloe Vera to help soften the skin.

Usage:

  • Rejuvenating bath