Sanctuary

I don't know how your house works, but in my home, there are places that I like to keep ultra clean and there are places where I just shrug my shoulders and say, "Well, that'll have to do for this time in life." I mean, I have two small children. This is my life at the moment:

(I tried saying "No" to her, but she looked so very happy. And she made me giggle. So I let her empty the entire box. Just this once.)

I've lived the life of religiously cleaning and decorating every part of my house so it is company-ready at any given moment. And I really liked how organized it was. But I missed out on other things.

Over the years, I've also been very blessed by friends who invite me over even when a pile of laundry is in the middle of the living room floor. It shows that they care more about me than appearances. Squalor is a different story... squalor is scary. But a little mess here and there... that's living, baby.

That being said, I do try to find a few places that are out of the reach of little hands for decorating so that I have places of sanctuary, a little bit of peace and beauty.

Months ago I realized that when I left my bedroom every morning, I saw a long, dark, blank hallway. Boring. But wait... what's the beautiful touch of green I see? (Okay, yeah so ignore protective gloss coating on carpet... It's from the laundry room project... still in process. I like to keep it real. :) )

Keep your eye on the green...

My, my. It's a tropical plant. In Chicago. In WINTER.

I snatched this puppy up at Costco for $25 this past year.

It was a live plant, not fake.

And, get this, it thrives on neglect. Hooray!

For twenty five bucks, I have fresh greenery in my house year round. Cheaper than fresh cut flowers. (Though I'm not dissin' on flowers... if you're reading this Dan...)

And speaking of flowers...

Here is a looksie into my dining room. I'm keeping it real with the baby gate and the cardboard house that Morgan made. But I'm also making a bit of sanctuary with... an Amaryllis!

I bought this Amaryllis from Costco this year also. It keeps blooming, it doesn't smell badly, it's very colorful and it doesn't require much work at all.

Perks my gray Chicago day right up.

I see it often from the kitchen and love that it's out of reach from the little munchkins. It's the little things, isn't it?