“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
Marcel Proust
Well, it’s been more than 6 months since I published my Favorite Summer Products blog in 2020 – are you kidding me? Six months already? I can hardly believe this statement. COVID has slowed time down in so many ways – and sped it up drastically in others. But, I digress, I guess I’m feeling that it’s time to check in with you again with some new, at least to me, special things that I want to share… so here goes…
1. Food:
Let’s start off the list with a subject that is near and dear to my heart (and my stomach): food. As a matter of fact, Bruce teases me all the time that I have a hollow leg, because I am so in love with food. So food it is to, start off my favorites list for Spring 2021.
Of all the recipes that I have tried recently, and there have been a lot, this one, Cabbage Bowls from Delish.com, is one of my absolute favorites. You can whip these cabbage bowls up in minutes (another plus). They are super tasty, and served over rice with a nice glass of wine, they are satisfying as well. The dish, in essence, is like the inside of an egg roll, minus the deep-fried outside. Cabbage, carrots, onion, ginger, soy sauce, sesame seeds, sriracha and a bit of ground pork (or turkey or beef, if you’d rather) and you have one yummy meal on your plate! Click the link above for the recipe.
2. Fashion:
I have skinny legs. In fact, I would say that my legs are the only truly “skinny” thing about me. So I love skinny jeans, leggings and the like. Then, along come wide leg pants. When this trend first starting showing up on the runway, I was like “Oh my gosh, why?” But now, having given wide-leg pants a ride around the park, I’m loving the look. So #2 on my favorites list for Spring is the wide-leg pant. I’m not saying to give up your skinnies or your leggings, but maybe just try one pair of a wider leg trouser. They work well for lots of shapes, but the key is to balance them with something closer to the body on top to balance the proportions. You don’t want voluminous bottoms and voluminous tops in one outfit. That would be… well… YIKES! I bought a tan, canvas pair from The Gap, and I wear a close fitting sleeveless turtleneck with them. It works and it’s a nice change-up from all the skinny pants and jeans. Try it… you may like it.
3. Free Time:
I readily admit it, I don’t watch a lot of TV. In fact, yesterday was the first time I turned on my TV in a week (I wanted to watch Persistence land on Mars – WAY COOL). I get my news online and find that I’m just too busy most nights to get into anything on TV. When I do watch, however, it’s often a movie or a major binge on some new Netflix series like Virgin River. One show I do consistently watch though is Home Town on HGTV. Erin and Ben Napier, the stars of this show, are too cute for words. She’s the designer; he’s the contractor. They renovate houses for people in their Home Town of Laurel, Mississippi. House Beautiful has coined her style “Grandmillennial” for her use of “old school” features, vintage pieces and more traditional fabrics. A lot of people are doing this look, but she’s doing it better and with more originality than most that I’ve seen. So have fun checking out favorite #3… in your free time.
4. Flavor:
OK, so my daughter Charlotte thought this one was going to be , in her words, “gross,” until she tried favorite #4: Prosecco Rose’. Yes, you read that right, Prosecco Rose’. It’s Rose’, but it’s bubbly. It’s Prosecco, but flavored like Rose’. It’s light and airy. It’s the perfect drink for Spring. And the best part is, unlike maybe the way you feel about expensive Champagne, with a price point under $20, you do not have to be celebrating to make this a drink of choice, any random Tuesday evening will do!
5. Fun:
My Dad used to do the crossword puzzle in the newspaper every day. He said it kept his mind sharp and “the Alzheimer’s at bay.” Now that he’s gone, my Mom does it… every day… without fail. I think it’s one of the little connections to him that keeps her going. I don’t get the printed newspaper myself, but I subscribe to the digital version of my state’s biggest paper, The Providence Journal. I imagine that there is a way that you can do the crossword puzzle through their app, but for for whatever reason this does not appeal to me. The writer in me, however, has been having a lifelong love affair with words, so word games have a real appeal. So my #5 has two parts: Letter Hive and Wordzee, which are two word apps that I have been playing with recently (also read as wasting time, I know). Letter Hive is a pangram app where you make as many words as you can from a daily group of letters that always have to contain the center letter of the “hive.” Wordzee is much like Scrabble, but with the points of the tiles going up with each of the five words you make. It has the strategy of Scrabble with double and triple word and letter scoring, but it’s only head-to-head and each game lasts under 5 minutes. Both are fun, they keep my mind sharpish (well, sort of) and are hopefully “keeping the Alzheimer’s at bay!” My Dad would be happy.
What Else Is Good About My Favorite Things?
If you haven’t heard of even one of these things, you have something new to try. In the crazy days we are still living in that makes today a good day…
And Now For a Little Music Before We Go:
“My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.”
Steve Jobs
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