Carnations

I never cared for carnations. Whenever they showed up in the mixed supermarket bouquets or in corsages and boutinneires I'd always think that a nicer flower could be used. I guess I considered them too common. More recently I realized carnations are a treasure! They last quite a long time, are inexpensive, and come in a variety of colors. They are perfect for home decor. I've been purchasing a few bouquets to use around the house the last couple months (I've only purchased 3 bouquets in the last several months - they last that long!). I keep some on the kitchen table as in the above photo. I like to group them together by color and trim them short so they just peek over the top of the container.

I've also been using them on my fireplace mantle. The green bottles are plain old Pellegrino bottles (Jeff really can't stand that I'm using them as decor but I'm quite happy with them). I think the pink carnation resting on top gives it a perfect pop of color.

This is a full view of the fireplace. I've given it a face lift of sorts. The icky brick still remains as Jeff is quite opposed to painting it. I don't think I'm going to win this battle and I've toyed with the idea of painting it while he is out of the house and then SURPRISE! when he gets home but I think he would freak out. He has floated some ideas for changing the mantle and adding trim along the sides and perhaps tiling over the brick. I'm open to all of these ideas. Now just finding some time to do it is another thing...

I decided to simplify a lot of the accessories in the house. With all the baby stuff and toys I'm feeling the need to clean up the accessories to have less visual clutter. I've noticed my decorating mood changing to more of a modern clean look. The two white candle sticks were originally brass, just gave them a good coat of glossy white spray paint. On the other side are my remade birds. I'd like to change out the fireplace tools, perhaps when the rest of the fireplace gets a makeover. We had a log holder that I really didn't like and wanted to replace years ago with a basket from Crate and Barrel. I was overruled on that one too but when I saw this basket at Target a few weeks ago I jumped on it. Luckily Jeff likes it too. Score!

Naturally!

This is a photo of a few of my new best friends. These past few months I've really started to realize the power of the body to heal itself with help from natural goodness. I think there is so much that our traditional doctors do not know or do not want to tell us. This isn't to say that I turn my back on traditional medicine - not at all. But I do think there needs to be a balance between Western and Eastern styles of medicine. This has been proven to me these last several months. I have been battling a stubborn skin ailment. I've been to the doctor several times. Because I am still a nursing mama I can't take certain medications. The antibiotic I was originally prescribed did seem to work but a week or so later, I was back at square one. I went back to the doctor and I wasn't satisfied with the course of treatment so I took to the Internet and began to research.

Now, I tend to be a bit OCD and research the heck out of everything but I'm also a person that doesn't take something at face value and I always look at alternates, most especially when I don't like the original answer. So I carefully began some research, bought a few books, found a few web sites and put together my plan of attack: probiotics, garlic, apple cider vinegar, tea tree oil, pomegranate concentrate, coconut oil, Vitamin C (via Emergen-C - a product I've loved for years) and a new one one me: manuka honey. I also drastically reduced my intake of white sugar. It has been a week and my skin issues are almost a thing of the past! I had faith in these items but even I am surprised by all they are doing for me. The good thing is that these are all natural items that have many health benefits and I will continue to use these to strengthen my overall being. For example, the coconut oil has helped clear breakouts as well as heal my overwashed hands and the pomegranate concentrate and probiotics have helped with years long stomach concerns.

This blog is not about preaching or all kinds of alternative medicines but I did want to share my experiences with going a more natural route. Allowing our body to heal itself and treating the route cause and not just the symptoms is an amazing and healthy lifestyle change that I'm happy to be making.

Lonny

LonnyIssue-4
Have you all heard about Lonny? It is a fabulous online design magazine. It is such a great concept. You read and flip through it right on your computer screen and when you see something fabulous that you want more info on - you just click and are taken directly to additional info. Best of all - a subscription is free!