styled living simply achieved by Jacqueline deMontravel
Halloween is definitely spooky this year with a real live pandemic to threaten our tradition. Nationwide towns are advising against trick or treating. Okay, challenge time! So what do we do when presented with Halloween’s version of a bah humbug? Amp up the determination to make the entire day a fun and safe celebration despite the news. Here’s some ideas for a socially distant holiday…
If you’ve been experiencing stress with food lately, and we’re not talking about that comforting pint of mint chocolate chip but from what to feed your family, there’s a simple solution. Weekly meal planning with healthy, fulfilling dinners keeps everyone well fed and all within a budget.
The one day when everyone can get behind wearing a mask is Halloween. In the year we saved Halloween, which could be the title of the next Tim Burton film but our current reality, we’re planning a fun and healthy holiday that follows safe COVID-19 guidelines.
While your Halloween costume cannot replicate an actual face mask as a precautionary safety measure from the coronavirus, riding a bike solo is a great way to dress up and be seen.
While no studies have been performed, speculative evidence suggests that there has been a dramatic increase in homebodies. Imposed time at home to practice social distancing, thereby saving lives and staying healthy, would be a fairly strong indicator of the spike. Now that the general population is versed in habitual domestic life, the typical tendencies of a homebody have shifted. Binge watching addictive television with nutritionally-challenged snacks, the most energy exerted from twisting legs Indian style, is so pre-March. To keep the mind and body engaged, maintain regular breaks from social media, snack healthfully and avoid watching manufactured acting on reality shows. What is recommended is enlightening activities that is both mentally stimulating and enjoyable, enough to rival your BC life. (BC: Before COVID).
Essentials for the healthy homebody: cultivating a music list, nutritional snacks, art, reading and aromatherapy.
If your 2020 agenda is to come out of this Orwellian experience without excessive weight gain and good health, we hear you. If you would like to be stimulated with lifelong benefits for you and your family, read further. In fact, reading is this narrative’s hero. Books have been more valued than ever and not just because you get to mentally escape to places and periods during this travel-deprived moment, stories also take you to a time prior to bulk supplies of sani-cloths and customary interrogations on whether you’ve left the state.
Reading can stimulate long days at home with a more positive end game than constant eating and screen time.
Occasionally you may catch yourself having a conversation with someone while wearing a mask. It doesn’t feel right in every sense. Our mothers cringe and not just because we are in a pandemic. Masks alter rules instilled from a proper upbringing, restructuring etiquette in the spirit of being safe and respectful in a broader sense–saving lives.
Face masks are now available in every style trend. These light cotton Indian block print versions by Pacific Rose have a colorful boho vibe.
This fall, spiral notebooks and insulated coffee mugs aren’t the only needs on the back to school and work list, face masks are this year’s metal straw. My son’s elementary school is currently considering a fall return with the requirement that all kids bring two masks. From the amount of gloves we’ve lost through the years I can see why.
Staycations may bring to mind kiddie pools and an excuse not to dent your household budget over a dollar-drenching theme park destination but now it’s a necessity. Thanks again COVID-19. The summer’s safest travel option is to remain home and practice social distancing.
Make an ice cream outing a regular part of your Staycation agenda.
If we were to create a line of fragrant candles, the first scent would be coffee. That sharp, aromatic scent of chicory dominates in the best of ways. Coffee is more than just a drink, for some, it’s a dependency. If a day doesn’t begin without that caffeinated jolt, the result could be limited productivity and overall grouchy behavior.
Forget wearing a mask and practicing social distancing while waiting for a cup of coffee, brewing at home is a safer, tastier option.
When we dress, we put everything into it. From the clothes to the shoes and all those accessories you bought on those click-happy pop up ads–you want to be noticed. Design is the same way, you just live with the vignette a bit longer. It’s also interchangeable, as you don’t have to style a table once the way you did with the coffee table you grew up with from elementary school till college. (Our moms evidently did not have click-happy pop up ads to feed shopping whims.)
Summer coffee table with no-fail accessories like a candle, books and tray.
Instead of rags and a desperate need for a manicure, this Cinderella story features a small, lackluster closet with a faint scent of cedar chips. Makeovers always inspire, and are a preferable narrative over a woman in the clutches of a sinister step family. Seriously, couldn’t Cinderella simply escape? Get a job? Turning something from nothing to compelling was the impetus of this half bath, especially since the bedroom already had two closets.
With the help of a contractor and plumber–along with the right materials, hardware, accessories, meticulous planning and a week of construction–a valued powder room addition upgraded the master bedroom experience.
