Sundays

I begin planning the perfect Sunday probably the week prior on Thursday night. During the week, I have gathered and made mental lists of everything I would like to accomplish. Yes, the list is long, but my New Year Resolution was not to get stressed out about finishing the laundry, cooking the perfect meal, baking enough fresh bread even grinding my own coffee. Cleaning the cupboards and polishing the silver.

*Winter in full swing, I love the sound of the radiators starting up. Clank, clank & hiss*

Opening my eyes on a Sunday morning, legs heavy from a good night’s rest and the light from the window keep reminding me to get up with the sun.

*Oh, but it’s nice to wake on a Winters Morn, but it’s nicer to stay in bed. Designers find the best linens.*

*Comfort begins with a touch of Velvet. Velvet by Cowtan and Tout*

So, I rise as I do every Sunday.

There are never enough throws and blankets lately. — *There are never enough throws and blankets lately*.

7:00 AM: Walk Summer (while I’m simultaneously achieving my morning caffeine intake at Starbucks. Summer meets with his friends and I mine—that quad skim latte, no foam.)

9:00 AM: Clean nearly every surface in the house. *Note to self, use vacuum near Miss H’s room if not yet awake.

*The finest manufacturer of textiles. Making the house a home via Holland and Sherry.*

11:00 AM: Take a rest. Watch Ina Garten make Jeffery the best brownies known to man. Consequently, make the best brownies known to man for myself later this afternoon.

12:00 PM: After going to the market and putting brownies in the oven, take a quick nap

*Exhausted cake stand By Bespoke Global*

4:00 PM: Am currently in a food comatose state due do chocolate indulgence.

6:00 PM: Think about dinner and watch the news.

*Nothing better than A collection of Hotel Silver. Planning dinner*

*Perhaps a good book or a quick game, Comfort all around*

8:00 PM: Check Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram to see what I have missed during my day off.

Historic Influences. Details

Every Sunday, I participate in this self-made ritual and take a great deal of time enjoying the moment spent at home. It somehow recharges me for the hectic week ahead of unknown surprises and the expected appointments.

Like I do every weekend, take time to enjoy Sunday for yourself. You’ll be amazed at all of little adventures you’ll discover, both domestic and outdoor.

Breathe

It's time to put down the iPad and step outside. With the new season comes another opportunity to contemplate our lives. Now, I'm not saying that we all have to follow in Madonna's dramatic footsteps of reinventing ourselves. However, one idea is key for this transformation: family. Over the winter months we've forgotten that there's more to life than work, than surfing the internet, and checking Facebook. We've forgotten how to simply... breathe.

More often than not, it's the simple moments with family that can inspire and catalyst the most profound changes in our lives. For me, given on a particular day, this feeling can be discovered by an afternoon at the beach. The first spring day exciting all of the senses with freshness in the air, and the sun recharging my exhausted and thinly spread life. Even repainting the living room wall, buying a spontaneous bucket of paint with my daughter and bringing the outdoors in. Whatever the case may be, the time has come to make the home the center of your life again. The time has come to take charge, turn up the music, and get to it!

Capturing this sense of relaxation and ultimate content may sound as impossible as catching lightening in a bottle. Yet, it's not only vital for your mental health, but it's as simple as deciding what to wear in the morning. No matter what outfit you end up choosing, it's completely and utterly you. With that in mind, reflect on what graces your home. Do the walls and rooms truly reflect the ideas and moments that you cherish the most? Personally, the color blue has followed my family for decades. It's always let itself be prominent in the memories that I hold most dear. From my brother's desire to become a member of the Air Force, planes contrasting against the sky, to my daughter teaching our Portuguese waterdog not to be afraid of the waves that hit the shore line- blue has always been a part of the story. And with my desire to continue that legacy, I place hints of the playful color in almost every room. It's become a permanent guest in my home.

So, we must return the basics, there we'll uncover what inspires and motivates. Don't complicate the idea by over thinking every little decision. Follow your instincts. It's time to frame that old photo of grandma, repaint the office, reupholster that family heirloom that's been sitting around, and emphasize those little family quirks that make a house a home. After all, we shouldn't feel like guests in our own home. We should always have the time to breathe, celebrate family, home and a new season.