In my zealous pursuit of the life I’ve always dreamed of, it’s only natural that I start a new series on the blog – one focused on highlighting life’s simplest pleasures. To have a deep appreciation of life should be the goal of every upstanding woman, which I’m taking the liberty of assuming that you are. Personally, I hope that through the regular challenge of curating engaging and inspirational content for you, I too will be able to grow as a person.
Yes, we’re always talking about savoring every moment and finding beauty in the everyday, but I more than anyone need a regular reminder that there are so many seemingly ordinary, but oh-so-lovely things all around me for which I need to be thankful.
I recently read a very inspiring quote whose author, unfortunately, I cannot remember. Frankly, I don’t even remember the quote, but the idea behind it was that if your happiness is based on a materialistic stipulation then you’ve set yourself up for a miserable life. However, if you find joy in a good book, a ray of sunlight, a loved one’s touch, then your chances of living a meaningful life are far greater, than, say, the person living for a bigger paycheck, or a nicer car, or the latest handbag.
So, if you haven’t guessed already, today’s simple pleasure is treating yourself to flowers. Besides brightening your space and instantly improving your mood, flowers are also a visual reminder to leave all worries to God: “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you?” {Luke 12:27-28}
Here are my slivers of knowledge when it comes to treating yourself to flowers: To enjoy this simple pleasure without breaking the bank {after all, isn’t that the point?}, opt for large flowers, like peonies, mums and gerber daisies. You’ll only need a few for a luscious bouquet, so don’t be alarmed by the price per stem. Also, I want to go on record for saying that if you’re waiting for someone else to buy you flowers – boyfriend, husband, friend, whatever – you’re missing out on life.
Unfortunately, the idea of flower arranging can be quite intimidating for people, so oftentimes, the natural tendency is to buy a bouquet, place it in a vase, and call it a day. Please, for the love of flowers, never do this again. First of all, flower stems must be trimmed before you place them in the water. The fresh cut helps the stem absorb water, making the bouquet last longer. Also cut off all leaves that are below water level.
Speaking of trimming, if your vase is 6 inches tall, and your flowers are 12, do not be afraid to trim the stems much, much shorter. The rule of thumb is the flower head should be about half an inch above the vase rim.
Place your flowers in unexpected places. Yes, the coffee table, kitchen table or bedside table are all nice and dandy, but how about the kitchen counters, bathroom sink, breakfast tray, dressing table or on a bookcase? Imagine primping and getting dressed in the morning with a delightful teacup full of blooms on your dressing table. The thought alone makes the morning that much more exciting!
Your turn: What are your favorite flowers? Share photos of your arrangements in the comment section.
PS. I found the quote I mentioned earlier. Enjoy!
“For most of life, nothing wonderful happens. If you don’t enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the chances are you’re not going to be very happy. If someone bases his/her happiness on major events like a great job, huge amounts of money, a flawlessly happy marriage or a trip to Paris, that person isn’t going to be happy much of the time. If, on the other hand, happiness depends on a good breakfast, flowers in the yard, a drink or a nap, then we are more likely to live with quite a bit of happiness.” – Andy Rooney
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Hi Oksana, You are seriously very beautiful and amazing. I like your picture…Your color, your face, your height, your body, hair….Everything is so amazing….This is like every lady should be. I am pleased to see that with so much beauty you are also a very good blogger. What you have written is so interesting, as I always believe some little activities are so important for our inner peace and joy.
I buy myself flowers on a bi-weekly basis! (mainly because they tend to last that long!) I love adding them to my vases and and I take the old flowers and let them try out. I then cut off the heads of the “prettiest” flowers and add them to this vase of “long gone” flowers that I’ve been collecting :)
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I saw that my previous comment published but without the picture, so I edited it with the image’s URL, but that comment doesn’t seem to be awaiting moderation. So, just in case it disappeared, here’s what I remember saying…
I *love* that you’re doing a Simple Pleasures series!
My favorite flowers to arrange in a vase are roses. So classic. I happened to be given flowers for my April birthday, but I only treated myself to them once this past spring. Even though I had an assorted bouquet in my hand at the grocery store, I traded them for these gorgeous dark pink roses: http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/1b/a7/5c/1ba75cb21600d9a4a7d0c070a588ee2f.jpg. I don’t believe I saved a photo of the whole thing, vase included, but it a tall clear blown glass one. Tulips are another springtime favorite. I adore sunflowers during the summer. I plan to move to a city where I can access florists and markets more easily. When I move back to Philadelphia, I could visit the Reading Terminal Market’s flower stand and select a few of my favorite stems for a simple arrangement. I do like a tall gladiolus in a bouquet for some height. They remind me of my grandmother.
Hi Michelle! First, let me just say I hope your Paris trip was everything you hoped it would be! I cannot wait when I finally have a bit of free time to catch up on your Paris recap!
Also, thank you oh-so-much for your enthusiasm and support of the Simple Pleasures series! I hope to see you chime in in future discussions!
Tulips are one of my favorites as well. In fact, we used them in our wedding, and since then I have always thought of that happy day when I see them blooming.
Bonjour! My Paris trip was amazing. It was exactly what I wanted for my 30th birthday. My travel buddy Elizabeth now speaks of future trips. I think she was bitten hard by the travel bug too! Have fun reading all those posts; there are weekly posts over like two months!
I think enjoying the little things in life is truly important and should be discussed!