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…
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.
There once was a time when I’d attend events that necessitated eating high protein snacks all day in order to fit into a sexy dress over warding off pregnancy queries. Since the glamour of a life lived once children are asleep is suspended, styles have shifted to fit today’s lifestyle. Clothing and decor not only have to be beautiful but comfortable.
Sneakers elevated to dress shoe status by LAMO.
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.
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.
Happy July 4th! Here’s some thoughts that keep me up before I return to stories on makeovers and inspired trends. Black lives matter, police lives matter, LGBTQ lives matter, llama lives matter, the life of the guy on the fancy bike who almost ran over me this morning—his life matters—lives matter. I support a united environment. We have an election in November, our amazing country was founded on equal rights, you have the freedom to vote. The number of likes is irrelevant, it’s the quality of the relationship behind the like.
There’s the dad who threw their kids in the deep end of the pool to teach them how to swim to those who did a background check on any guy you dated. They embarrass, enlighten, support and demand what seems unachievable because they know you can do it.
Father’s Day ideas in the year of being at home more with family.
In the year of COVID-19, Father’s Day gifts that relate to the quarantine experience is this year’s theme. There has been a rise in purchases for sporting goods, men’s skincare and niche cooking accessories. The kind of gifts that make them feel good, look better and elevate simple experiences–sort of like what our dads do for us.
“2020” could be the title of an Italian opera. One of the darker ones with unrequited love, pounding arias and tragic loss. Instead of falling into the drama, we’ve found ways to pivot from the challenge, the proverbial when life gives you lemons. It begins with the feet or, more specifically, toes. As salons begin to open, at-home treatments offer a safer option and it’s a lot easier to relax without gasping through a mask.
