Happy Heart Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day! This day always brings back such fond memories of writing out all of my Valentine’s for my classmates and bringing them to school in a brown paper bag. Candy stuffed envelopes, an extra special outfit and so much excitement in the air! As I got older (middle school and high school), friends or ‘crushes’ could buy roses to be delivered to you in class. All the popular girls and boys loved that!

Now that I’m an adult, I still love to celebrate the day and make it extra special for my kids and I. Even though I don’t have anyone special in my life, I still find it uplifting to celebrate the holiday. We can just celebrate LOVE in general right? There is no rule to what you can and cannot do on Valentines day! At times it can be a struggle to get in the right frame of mind to decorate, but once I'm in it and I’m done it immediately puts me in a better mood and I’m feeling lighter and brighter in my home. I tend to want to clean up the rest of the house so everything looks beautiful. Creating beauty to me is very intentional and I use it to help lift my moods.

This is a choice I make daily for myself in changing the feel of my home, my environment. My kids are special to me and it’s fun to make them smile and feel special on a day that is all about love. Creating a beautiful table to break bread over is a favorite of mine. Setting a beautiful table for my family to sit around, is more than just a pretty table. It brings us together. We say loving things to each other and toast to wonderful futures amongst other wishes and intentions we set free to the universe over twinkling candles. How easy it would be to just go to our rooms and eat privately while watching Netflix?!

Growing up the dinner table was a place to hear the good and the bad of each family members day. Laugh, discuss, eat, drink and always asking if anyone would like the last piece before taking the last piece. With four kids in my family, there weren’t many leftovers! No matter what we were eating even if it were grilled cheese sandwiches, Mom always had us set the table. Dad and Mom got ice water and the four of us milk. Mom always had a center piece even if it was just one flower. I never really realized how much that meant to me until I moved away from home. Somehow things didn’t feel settled to me at the end of the day if I ate on the sofa watching TV. It’s kind of the same feeling as when I get up and don’t make my bed. I’m just a bit off kilter for the rest of the day. I loved holding hands with my parents and siblings no matter how mad we were with each other, our voices lowered as we calmly recited: “God is Good, God is Great. Let us thank him for our food. By his hands we are fed. Give us Lord our daily bread." A prayer, a ritual that was comforting to me and brought my family together even if it was for just a minute.

So yes, setting a table to me is special. A lot of love goes into it if you want it to, but it can also be so very simple with total abundance in rewards.

Creating a space that you love is one the best things you can do for yourself. Many people, I find, don’t put much thought into where things go and how things look and how you want to use certain spaces, how you want to ‘feel’ in a space. Many people I believe absolutely don’t know what they are missing until you give it to them and show them and move them emotionally. Yet, our homes and work spaces are where we spend so much time! How can one over look such an important aspect of your life, your recovery, your transformation?

Getting back to my Valentine’s table, I did a poll on my Instagram asking everyones favorite table cloth or table runner for the week leading up to today. Then I created a table scape from the winning table runner. And it was a home run for this particular table runner! I think only one person picked the light blue and pink table cloth.

Creating this table and focusing on the color Pink was really fun! Not to mention, I wanted to use what I had around the house to show you that it’s not about having money. You can create beauty out of anything. It’s all perspective. The table runner I got from a friend. The gold chargers I’ve had for years. The small gold etched salad plates I got at Goodwill and same with the water glasses and retro gold champagne glasses. I used gold plastic stemware so my table sparkled (really didn’t want to use my silverware from the kitchen as it just looked boring) and the red napkins I’ve had for years (bought those for Christmas, but use them for so many other holidays and table themes). The point is to have fun with it! It doesn’t need to cost a lot! I cut my straws in half so they worked in my water glasses. Do we need straws for my water? Absolutely not, but I had them tucked away for years- yes literally years and finally broke them open for this table! Look for colors you love together. I will use anything and use it for whatever the need. If I like the color of a bathroom water glass -onto the kitchen table it goes with a flower in it. I can always put it back in the bathroom after, right? Have fun and look around at your home and start using everything!

I have to say I wasn’t surprise that my Instagram friends chose this table runner to use on my Valentine’s table. People are drawn to pink because it makes you feel good!

In color psychology, pink is a sign of hope. It is a positive color inspiring warm and comforting feelings, a sense that everything will be okay. Pink calms and reassures our emotional energies, alleviating feelings of anger, aggression, resentment, abandonment and neglect can really change your mood. And to top it off this color is just wonderful for the complexion! My parents had a bedroom at one point that was pink and black and so sophisticated! I have always loved pink! I hope you enjoy my pink retro table.

And just an FYI, those darling gold champagne/wine glasses are from the 1950’s. I ordered them for my parents 50th wedding anniversary and when they arrived we just started laughing! It’s the size of a shot glass! This was not going to work so I ended up finding them 50 1950’s champagne flutes that were more a 'normal' size. But, I kept these just for this type of occasion. They make my table sparkle against the pink! Look how small they are! That, right there says so much about us needing things bigger and faster in this day and age! And yes, I know many of you who don’t drink are gasping at the fact that I drink out of cocktail glasses, but I will never change. I’ve always been a sucker for beauty and beautiful packaging. And these are beautiful and fun to drink my sparkling lemonades or Pellegrino’s out of.

To me the most important thing to remember in your home is not to wait for that special time to use the pieces you love the most. Some people wait a lifetime and it’s never the right time to pull out the china. It’s very sad to me. Again, my mom not only was a great designer but she was realistic and designed things to be used, not to just look at. If we ever wanted to pull out the china and set a beautiful table to surprise my Mom and Dad we were always given the green light. I’ve heard of plenty of brides who never used their wedding china- ever. How sad it that?

So, yes. If you’re missing connection in your life, a quick way to get connected again is to start sitting at the dinner table with your family and friends. And if you’re going to be sitting at the table why don’t you put a little effort into it and sit back and enjoy! I hope today finds you in love, loving deeply, feeling loved, wanting to love and spreading love. For it is what all of us long for no matter where we are in the world is to be loved. Spread your love today and everyday to leave your imprint on the world. Cheers!

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