Good Sunday midday friends, hope this finds you well. We are back in NY and it’s always nice to be “home” but a part of me definitely is back on my beautiful peaceful porch in PB:) The weather has been unusually cool with too many gloomy, rainy days for my taste. All those house projects have yet to begin so today I am hoping to make some headway. Two closets are begging to be organized and a huge box of thousands of pictures needs sorting through. I have a stack of books on my nightstand and a battalion of movies titles I would love to watch so hopefully today will be a balance of work and play:)

Definitely requires some adjusting getting used to this new life. I realized lately how much I miss little things like getting up and dressing to go into my office, surrounding myself with all my beautiful things, getting my creative energy flowing, seeing friends, making plans, going to a theater, traveling, so much to miss! There is almost this weird mourning that I feel like I am going through. Not to mention my out of body experience yesterday at the market, so much that it brought me to tears, (thankfully I had my mask to hide them behind). It’s a whole new world and yes, it’s overwhelming. I am trying my best to take it one day at a time but when life in general feels canceled it’s a lot to take in.

Yet, I am fully aware that I am one of he lucky ones in all this. We are healthy, together have a roof and food. There are so many who don’t. I thank you for your suppose in helping me make a nice donation to Meals on Wheels and No Kid Hungry. Working on another campaign for next week.

Then those true warriors, the front liners who wear so many hats from doctors and nurses to truck drivers and store stock clerks. So many putting their lives on the line. I just hope this all ends soon, this degree of suffering is heartbreaking and hard to watch.  All I can do is cling onto hope and pray. OK switching gears, onto this Sunday post for a pretty little break, which I think we all need.

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1 SETTING THE TABLE I decided that even though we are home every night and eating casually I would start setting a pretty table mostly because it just makes  me happy and everything tastes better when you get to sit down at a gorgeous table.

Plus it gives me a chance to bring out all my favorite things and USE them. Not saving for a special occasion but just enjoying them NOW. Here are a few recent table settings. Found the white flowers at my local supermarket, got what I could find!

Above is our new wicker flatware, click here and new monogrammed ginger jar napkin, click here (plates are from Blue Canton and chargers are from Juliska) Tablecloth is the Chloe from my shop (click here)

And here is another night where I had a reservation in my dining room:) Used my favorite tablecloth, favorite Mottahedeh plates, our gorgeous new silver scalloped flatware (click here) and chargers (click here)

2 AN EASY AND INCREDIBLY YUMMY BOLOGNESE SAUCE! When I was in PB, I started having to brainstorm  to create easy but delicious dinners. One thing I had not made in ages was a good Bologneses sauce. We have an Italian specially shop in NY where I pick up fresh made marinara. So I decided to try my hand at one without my “go to” sauce. And surprisingly this came out AMAZINGLY good.  I sauteed ripe tomatoes with garlic and onion as a base then added the Rao’s jar sauce. That is the only jar sauce I like. Here is what I did-

one medium onion

4-6  gloves garlic

one large carton fresh tomatoes on vine

olive oil

one large jar of Raos Marinara

Fresh basil

Lean hamburger meat (I buy 90-93% lean)

About 1/4 cup of white wine

Freshly grated parmigiano  (to taste, I personally LOVE it)

Olive oil, sea salt, pepper and garlic salt

Sauteed the garlic, celery and onion until well done.

Added tomato cut in half and sautéed together, then added 3/4 of the fresh basil chopped.

Put it aside and browned the hamburger meat well.

Added salt and pepper.  Added hamburger meat to tomato sauce mixture. Added Rao’s sauce. Cook for about an hour on a low heat, stirring occasionally.

Serve with very al dente pasta (as it will continue to cook when the hot sauce is placed over it) and of course fresh parm and a few basil leaves chopped…bon appeitit!

3. INTERESTING ARTICLE ON MENTAL HEALTH DURING THE PANDEMIC I know most of us are dealing with a gamut of emotions from being scared, overwhelmed worries, anxious and all those can manifest themselves into real physical symptoms..trust me, I know:) I found this article reassuring and interesting, in case you have a hard time sometimes grappling with this new reality. Read more here

4. A SNEAK PEEK AT NEW PRODUCTS.  Despite  several glitches with incoming shipments due to the pandemic, we shockingly got part of a huge accessories shipment and our new gift wrap.

You cannot imagine what a wonderful surprise it was, it practically had me doing cartwheels! And our new pastel Staffordshire dogs are arriving either tomorrow or Tues. It’s like Christmas in April and at a time where we all are so grateful to have something to get excited about, BELIEVE ME!

Here is a look at the new Staffordshire pastel dogs which I soo love-

And a look at the gift wrap!! I love it so much., my favorite collection yet. Did not take professional shots yet so these were taken on the fly in not very good lighting but it certainly gives you the idea!!

We will hold an arrival sale sometime this week on gift wrap and the dogs above, so stay tuned! Just love these papers, best part is they are all reversible to an equally beautiful coordinating pattern-

These first two were patterns that I did as part of a collaboration with Giddy Paperie This is the topiary/ginger jar signature print with reversible pink trellis…LOVE this. Such a beautiful way yo give a gift.

This is the previous pink spring pupa paper which also reservers to a beautiful trellis floral, such a stunner! The green ribbon is a little strong I would opt for a softer green but it still shows how fabulous this paper is:)

Then there is our topiary and navy trellis paper, adore this and the combination of blue/white/green!

6. INSTAGRAMS OF INTEREST Absolutely no theme whatsoever just whatever struck mt fancy, a little bit of this  and a bit of that….

7 SUNDAY’S SURVEY OK, so this is about our current state of affairs. Granted life is far from normal. I know for us that out of body reality is more extreme than others, depending on what state we are in. The “opening” of states which in and of itself sounds funny, is a precarious dance, and is unchartered waters for all of us. I know some states are easing restrictions and allowing certain types of business to open. Why the rush for a tattoo parlor to open,  escapes me but whatever:)

I have been thinking lately that even when things do open in NY,  and from the sounds of things it’s going to be a while, with definite changes in place to be sure. I am not sure so sure how eager I will be to go into a restaurant or any public space where there would be large crowds. I am thinking there will probably be a return to people hosting friends in their homes…the old fashioned dinner party. I think  for me at least, it will be that way for a while.

So here’s my question,  how long do you think its going to be until things truly feel normal (even with some small changes in place)? Shops fully open, restaurants, all services back to normal, etc……curious as to what you think.

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Well friends, that wraps this up for this Sunday. I hope you are doing as well as can be expected. We are due to get more rain today…not quite what I was hoping. I may spend the day going through umpteen boxes of pictures I have that need sorting in a desperate way. Doing that always put a smile on my face because its so cathartic and brings back such good memories.

Also will have all three of my boys home today which is a treat so will make a favorite dinner. Trying to focus on doing the good and positive things and to keep as busy as I can within the confines of my home:) I hope you are staying safe, are well and healthy. Hope everyone is staying home and practicing social distancing so we can get our lives back…I known everyone is anxious to reconnect with the world again. Take good care, until next time….

P.S. TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS-

One is we announced our Tabletop Love contest, and are already half full! So don’t wait too long to send your entries in (directions below on how to enter)

Click here for full post

Everything site wide is 20% off until tonight! Nothing held back, use code save20. Click here to visit shop