Giving is Glorious

Oh my!  I really love this friend of mine because she never fails to use her thinking cap to come up with unique gifts  this Christmas.  In fairness, she is known for her good fashion sense  and taste.   Last year, she gifted my family with a luxurious table lamp and this year it was outdone by giving us an ideal white faux fur throw which I’ve been wanting to own to complete the total look of our bedroom.   She might have known that lately our master’s bedroom had undergone  make-over and it was so sweet of her to put so much thought on her gifts.  For all I know, she purchased it on line at The White Company London where you will find wide array of luxurious, gorgeous and high quality bed linen collections that we all wanted to be around in our bedroom.

bed linen collection I raved about…. and got it as Christmas gift!

Such a coincidence that the bathroom mats and towels that I gave her were also purchased on the same on line store.   Does it mean, I have good taste too?

Nail art is the ” in”  fashion these days and I really admire nail technicians who have the patience and creativeness in designing nails.  It requires hours of putting designs of choice and I am in awe everytime I see nails come alive with different color and textures.   But lately  this nail art no longer pleases me.  Why? It only make my daughter including her cousin lazy because since they want to protect and extend the life of their pricey nails- the bottom line is they don’t want to do even simple house chores.  Everything is up to me to do so I have this feeling of  resentment towards this nail art.

Yesterday, I’ve spotted both cousins were giggling and excited over their nails.  Oh no! not again… I hate it!    The dishes are still in the sink, the fridge defrosted and who else  is going to do all of those but me.   Though, I appreciate nail arts but I hate it for making my daughter untouchable (meaning she won’t dare do the dishes, cooking and laundry).

Wahhhhhh.. I can cry a bucket now!

… the nerve to post their  nails

I just don’t know why all of a sudden I wanted to be a minimalist (if that would be the correct term)… Hubby was quite surprised to see our house almost empty (not so.. exaggerated him!) because our sofas, closets and few side cabinets  and other stuffs will either be given or thrown away.  I wanted to simplify my living environment  so last week I started out with general cleaning and I vigilantly cleared out clutters that piled up for years and empty our cabinets of things that I don’t use anymore.   While cleaning, I have realized that I’ve done mindless purchases and I had shopped for clothes (especially during SALE season) which to date has not been used.  Good that we have big empty boxes always on stand by and I stashed all of them inside it and later, I will sort them for donations to someone who will find it useful and well, as hand me downs to some relatives too.

I am almost halfway, in fact, our living room is already devoid of unnecessary pieces of furniture as  I have thrown away one set of sofa.   No worries, our visitors will still have something to sit on because 2 sets still remain.   Friends thought we are moving out because the house is clear and more than 6 big boxes are ready to be shipped back home.

our living room before….

and after…..

do you think I did the right thing? (actually the sofa stays)

But I will go easy on throwing things because I might use them one day… Oh no!  I think I am beginning to go back to my old ways of keeping things because of their sentimental value and because I just wanted to collect and keep them.  I will work hard to avoid too much consumerism and hubby will surely agree.. that will end my mindless shopping for a while so that I won’t be bringing in stuffs again now that I have cleared most things in the house.

I am now a minimalist (hope so…)

My hubby is one for keeps (and rightfully so!)…. He is an engineer by profession, good family man, a leader and he is a handy hubby.  I would say that he is one type of man who would not mind doing household chores.  In the house, he is our handy man- whether electrical, plumbing, communication, fixing things…. But aside from his expertise on those things, I can proudly say that he cooks very well (better than me!), he irons well (better than me again!) and do the laundry (as often than me!).  Lol… maybe you will wonder, what is left for me to do?   Well, I would say that our work here in the house is give and take… I believe that is one ingredient that last us for almost 24 years.. in fact our silver wedding anniversary will be this coming May….

my handy hubby in action

He is not afraid to shed his macho image.   And he is not to be told of what to do around the house.   If he sees that the laundry basket is almost fill to the brim, he would head to our laundry area and in no time at all our washing machine is in action.

I know he won’t mind my posting this pic while he is busy hanging clothes

Cooking is his expertise so I never worry on what to cook…my expertise is baking and pastas compared to his favorite regional dishes.   And hear this!  He is our IRON man… because he loves to iron… he hates creases especially on pants that he would sometimes ask me not to schedule our weekly helper to come for ironing.  According to him… he irons better than her.   So, what can I ask for?  He is such a darling…( but he is no saint) he too has his moods but tolerable ones….

he really loves to cook so I let him be (good for me!)

I hope he will always be in the mood to do the cooking, laundry and ironing… What a good life for me!