Sundays are for lounging...

...and it is better than shoes!

Boy, have I been crazy busy! I’m sure you have noticed the absence of reporting “better than shoes” stuff; it has not been due to lack of those, it has been due to lack of time to report them! About a month ago, and since just working on my day job was not challenging enough, I decide to make changes around the house. What was in the beginning just the decision to buy a new sofa and get rid of the old one and its bad energy, became a whole project involving also a new bookcase, an additional bookstand, painting walls, changing lamps, putting new pictures on the walls, creating an amazing light installation (yes, I have what looks like the starry sky in my bedroom now) which exhausted me but at the same time gave me immense joy!

It all went well, all is done the way I wanted and it was so worth the time, the effort and the expenses that I think it was the best decision I made in a long time! I come home now to a place that is totally me, totally welcoming, totally cosy and inviting and warm and beautiful! The sense of accomplishment alone is so fulfilling! Plus, I have a newfound respect for house painters, their job is hard! And the plan is to share my “new” pad with my loved ones, yes, invitations are already out, I’m open for business and ready to receive my darling ones and be hostess of the mostess!!

So, last Sunday, after everything was finished and for the first time having some time to rest over the weekend, I enjoyed one of those lounging days I haven’t had in a long time! Yes, a full day of lounging, eating, watching “Ru Paul’s Drag Race” (thank you Netflix for making available the first 5 seasons! I have been in heaven!) and napping on my new sofa! For years I have been apologising for falling asleep on the sofa, well, f@@k that! Now I have the perfect sofa for falling asleep on and I’m loving it! No more apologies, no more nap-shaming! Long live the sofa naps and Sunday lounging and dear friends coming over to enjoy my home! The sofa is so big, they can nap with me on it if they want 😉

chicken soup...

I’ve been sick as a dog for three days now... today, adding insult to injury, has been a glorious sunny day, a rare treat mid-winter, and I have been mopping around at home, in my pyjamas, from bed to sofa and vice-versa, sipping tea, cursing my stuffed nose and sneezing unstopably... a veeeeery sexy image indeed! I at my best... not!

But in the midst of all this misfortune, or, who am I kidding, real tragedy to say the least, the universe granted me a miracle last night: I found some chicken in the freezer! Hallelujah!! This meant that today I could have myself some chicken soup, the de facto panacea for all ailments, physical and emotional (and to be honest, my emotional health has not been tip top lately either...), the only thing that can cure, yes cure, the common cold! Better than shoes? You bet!

So, all sniffles, always in pyjamas and in a reasonably bad mood, I put on the stove, boiled the chicken in beaf stock (yep, this is my secret ingredient, you are very welcome... do not forget the allspice, a couple of those will do, don’t ask why, just do it...) and when the soup was ready, I prepared some fair trade, wholewheat noodles and added that in my bowl... mmmmm... sheer delight!! Pure magic! The first spoonful put a smile on my face!

Of course... I have no taste whatsoever.... or smell or hearing for that matter... but I could taste how wonderful my soup was from memory! Seriously! It’s either that or I’m hallucinating... hum, what can you do... and even if it is pure placebo effect, I have started to feel better already! Or... will very soon... gonna make myself some more tea...

a smile...

...can sometimes shine brighter than the sun! Can warm up your heart, can make you feel all fuzzy and twinkly inside, can stir desires you never knew existed or you suspected they existed but were afraid to acknowledge or were even trying to forget... a smile can be the absolute highlight of an otherwise grim, hectic, borderline panicky day... a smile can be your company for hours, days, weeks... it can chase the loneliness away, it can make the bad feelings disappear, it can light up the dark, it can be all and everything that you need to go on another day...

A smile... the kind that makes one’s face brighten up, that extends to the eyes that smile along with the mouth, that paints the most beautiful of pictures and that lets the joy of the encounter show without any shame, without holding back, without masking it... a sincere smile, an honest one... a smile that makes you reciprocate because you simply cannot but reciprocate, that holds your gaze captive and your mind hostage as you try to walk away but you sort of can’t... a smile that you might just glance for only the tiniest of moments but might feel like an eternity...

A smile can be better than the most gorgeous shoe ever made by man... I’m talking Manolo, here, people... a smile can be immeasurably better than his masterpieces!  Yes... a smile can be all that... if it’s the right person smiling at you... So, when you get such a gift, open it up and enjoy it as if you were a kid on Christmas Day! Just... stay in that moment, stop your brain from thinking and just feel! For everything else around it may be just stuck, may be complicated, may be painful and scary and confusing and troubled but the smile... the smile tells the truth and the truth is all that matters 😉