Celebrate and Savor

22/01/2025

Celebrate anytime!
I had intended to decorate a gingerbread house with my daughter before Christmas, but schedules filled up with other activities. In order to have more joy and less stress, I needed to take a few things off of my Christmas To-Do List. Looking at my list, it hit me -- WHY are some of the activities thought of as just for Christmas?? We can decorate a cookie house ANY time, so we made plans to do it in January, when the weather is freezing and we're looking for more things to do indoors.
Instead of gingerbread, we baked a chocolate chip cookie house. Happy January!

(This post is part of the 30 Days to Celebrate and Savor series.)

19/01/2025

Real talk – I've had plans for fun meals, or at least what I thought would be fun. I thought it would be interesting to eat with different utensils, like tongs and toothpicks. Or there was the day that I laid a big foam mat on the floor for an indoor picnic. But my 3-year-old is gearing up for a growth spurt, as is evidenced by how she's hungry every hour. She nearly had a meltdown when I suggested a picnic, which is something that she would have loved a month ago. At this stage, she needs consistency. Rather than celebrating, we're slowing down to savor, as there's something special about routines that you can depend on, when you know what to expect and can settle into them. After a day of chaotic growth, having a dinner without big surprises, without extra stimulation, is like taking a moment to release that breath you were holding, to relax and unwind.

The simple idea for today is to notice the routines that you have in place – the comforting habits that you've formed – and to take a moment and savor them.

Photo: Baking together is a routine that we've formed, and we're doing more of it at the moment.

(This post is part of the 30 Days to Celebrate and Savor series.)

14/01/2025

What could you easily add to your meal times that would make you smile?

Idea #6 is to adjust the setting. Add or change something that can uplift your mood. This might be as simple as using your favorite plate or cup (even if it's mismatched), buying a fun salt shaker for the table, or playing suitable music.

One thing that reminds me to enjoy my meal is our handmade placemats. My daughter loves to paint, so I gave her paper and colors that matched the dining room, and we laminated the results. I'm planning to include inspirational or funny quotes on our next set.

(This post is part of the "30 Days to Celebrate and Savor" series.)
Photo: Placemats painted by my daughter when she was a toddler.

08/01/2025

Idea #5: Destress by adding laughter to your meal or meal prep! Group games are an option, but if you're eating alone or just don't feel like talking, I recommend listening to a comedian. My current favorite is Josh Johnson. He's clean enough for work or around family, and he's known to put an entertaining spin on various news stories.

Who are your top comedians?

https://www.facebook.com/JoshJComedy

(This post is part of the 30 Days to Celebrate and Savor series.)

Stand up comic & Emmy-nominated writer. Listen to The Josh Johnson Show Podcast.

07/01/2025

Idea #4: Manage your perspective.
We have a saying in our home: "There's always a mess with the bless." No, it's not grammatically correct, but it works for us. 😆 It means there are always problems or messes that come with the good things. The joy of a baby also means dirty diapers and sleepless nights. Being suddenly rich would change interactions with people around us. A new job that starts early in the morning means we need to say no to late-night fun. No matter how good a blessing seems, there will be some type of frustration or difficult change that comes with it (whether we notice it or not).

When I was irritated daily by the dirty dishes, I needed a change in perspective. I put this sign in my kitchen: "What's the bless that led to this mess?" Again, not grammatically correct, but the rhyming of bless/mess is what helps me remember it. It helps me remember that the dishes are because I have a wonderful family to cook for and eat with, and we have multiple options of food to cook. I'll take dirty dishes any day if it means I have that. Sometimes though, I need to consciously take a deep breath, relax my tense shoulders, and remember why the mess is there...the blessing behind it.

(This post is part of the 30 Days to Celebrate and Savor series.)

05/01/2025

Idea #3: Rose, thorn, and rosebud.
This is one of my family's most common conversation starters over dinner. Each person tells about 3 things that are going on in their lives.
🌹 Rose: This could be something good that has happened recently, something you're enjoying, something you recently laughed about, etc.
🌹 Thorn: This involves a problem that you're facing, something difficult that you're dealing with or have recently dealt with, or an area of frustration.
🌹 Rosebud: This is something that you're looking forward to in the near future. It could be something that is expected to happen or simply the potential of an idea. Maybe it's something that you're looking forward to watching "grow," like what a new relationship will become or the result of a job interview.
✏️If you eat the majority of your meals alone and don't need conversation starters, this can make for an interesting journal prompt for yourself.

Photo Credit: OleksandrPidvalnyi on Pixabay

(This post is part of the 30 Days to Celebrate and Savor series.)

04/01/2025

Idea #2 - Fancy Friday! It doesn't take much to turn a simple meal into something fancy as a way to kickoff the weekend. In my case, a couple of candles do the trick. Other options could be using the "good" dishes, changing out of your work clothes, or putting a vase of flowers on the table.

What would make a meal at home feel fancier to you?

Product spotlight: Electric Rechargeable Lighter. My daughter can light the candles all by herself (with my supervision), which is extremely exciting for her. Found on Amazon: https://a.co/d/6bduxtu

(This post is part of the 30 Days to Celebrate and Savor series.)

03/01/2025

Idea #1 - Change up meal expectations! It's easy to get stuck in the mindset that meals have to look a certain way, such as some foods are just for breakfast 🥞 and other foods are just for lunch 🥪 or dinner 🍗. Or dinner has to be a main protein with at least 2 sides. My question is, "Says who?" In reality, any food can be eaten any time of day, and you can have as much or as little variety as you want.

My daughter and I enjoy baking together, and when it's just the 2 of us for dinner, we'll frequently bake something that only we enjoy. Muffins are on the menu for dinner about every other week, and it excites us both every time.

How do you "think outside the box" when it comes to foods that you eat?

(This post is part of the 30 Days to Celebrate and Savor series.)

02/01/2025

What if our meals were consistently more than just fuel? For the next 30 days, I'll be sharing ideas to celebrate and savor meal times, whether they're alone or shared, full of silly fun or quiet contentment. For the start of 2025, I'm finding joy in the everyday!

31/10/2024

How early is too early to put up the Christmas tree? 😂🎄
Getting in the holiday mood for baking lots of holiday treats!

27/10/2024

What do you grow that deer leave alone? (See all of the deer at the top of the photo?)

Between our new dog and a couple of local hunters, I'm hoping there won't be as much damage from deer in the garden next year. Just in case, I'll also be pivoting to grow more plants that deer don't like.

22/06/2024

What a way to spread joy!

I recently posted a photo of “Carrot Man” and realised after reading the comments that not everyone knew about him!
Well, here is the original story I posted 5 years ago….Enjoy!

“I have seen this man before, I mean how do you miss a man carrying a giant carrot?! But i’ve never been able to catch him! Today I did and what a legend he is!

“I have to ask, why do you always carry a giant carrot around?”

Nathan

“To make people smile… You see, one day I went to an op shop and I bought a giant turnip. I was carrying it home and noticed how much it made people smile. That made me feel really good!
So I decided to try carrying other giant things around. I carried a giant octopus and a giant squid… then I made the giant carrot and carried it around town and I noticed a big difference. The diversity of people smiling and the number of people smiling was much greater. So I just kept carrying the carrot around because it was the most successful thing at making people smile.
Personally I would have loved to keep carrying the squid but it was the carrot that everyone loved…
I’m on a disability pension, you see, and this is my way of giving back. I’m a part of the community, putting smiles on people’s faces.
Like today for instance, I was at home watching a DVD, and I just thought, ‘Nah, I’m going to go out and make hundreds of people smile instead with the carrot.’
Last year there was a big protest at Parliament, right wing people and anti-racism people and I was at home watching it on TV thinking ‘how awful, this could end up in a riot.’
So I picked up my carrot and wandered down. It worked so well, people started smiling when they saw me and the carrot and I think it helped calm them down.
I try to get out as often as possible but you have to be in the mood to do something like this… today I’ve been out here for about an hour and a half and I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of smiles. This is what’s so good about it, if I want to do something good I just grab the carrot and head on out.

Keep on carrying that carrot Nathan!
You make Melbourne a better place.”