What is Luxurious ?

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Gigi in Life Style, My Style 3 Comments

“Stuff”

Luxury does not have to be a label or be expensive. In our consumer driven society we are encouraged to accumulate “things”, the latest model car, or the “it” bag, or a pair of those “red bottom” shoes…I have been guilty of all the above, but I know these things are not the key to a luxurious life. Time is a luxury, savoring a moment is the ultimate luxury. It is so easy to get caught up in the rat race, rushing from point A to point B, never taking a break.

“Luxurious” is a state of mind, it is the manner in which you go about your day to day activities. Every other corner now has a drive thru Starbucks, yes, they are convenient, but luxurious? NO. Waking up a little earlier and making your own coffee or tea, using your china, and sitting down for 5 minutes or so, that is luxurious. Taking a bath with a nice fragrant oil, instead of the rushed shower, or putting pretty lingerie under your outfit, are simple ways to turn up your luxury dial. Write a letter on some nice stationary and send it to a friend or lover instead of shooting another cryptic text or email. Basically in our “light speed” life…SLOW DOWN! What is the real benefit of rushing? Let me know…

21 Ways to add a little luxury to your life:

1. Fresh Flowers-make your own arrangement, from your garden, the flower mart or pick up a few from Trader’s Joe-

flowers are everywhere in Italy…these were sold from the back of a truck

2. Spontaneity- be flexible-don’t be so rigid- don’t think about it- just do something out of your comfort zone

3. Unplug. Shut it Down. Look across the table and make eye contact without a device in your hand or on the table

4. Prepare a meal from scratch- not something you made last week and stuck in the freezer, but something fresh

5. Have a dessert and savor it-

6. Plant a garden, it can be a little herb garden- just grow something that you can harvest

my garden

7. Invite friends over instead of “meeting” at a place

8. Sleep in, preferable in something pretty…or nada.

9. Appreciate where you are in your life.

10. Get a massage.

11. Photograph a moment through your eyes- take the time to capture something you find beautiful-our phones now have amazing cameras

12. Listen actively.

13. Play dress-up…put on a gown and go to the store-and see the reaction.

Gigi

14. Dance.

15. Music.

16. Burn decadent candles

17. Sustainable lifestyle-live in your “lane” but do it well- nothing worse than living on the edge- been there, not fun.

18. Always work on your body- inside and out

Gigi yoga

19. Cultivate your friendships- it is not the quantity but the quality–learned this one the hard way.

20. Take time to smell the roses…

Roses

21. LOVE YOU AND NEVER STOP- BE YOUR OWN BFF

Happy Friday! Have a Wonderful Weekend.

XOXO,

GIGI

START SUBTRACTING…

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Gigi in Aging, My Closet, Well-Being 7 Comments

Quote

Came across this quote today, and really thought about how it applies to my life. For me the message was SIMPLIFY! “Start Subtracting”, get rid of the junk that is taking up space, both physically and mentally.

In a couple of weeks I will celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary and my 55th birthday, I really wanted to have a celebration/party of some sort, but as I began to plan it started to feel like a heavy weight was hanging over me. Some of my dearest friends were going to be traveling on the date I selected so that was a bummer. I received an invitation from another friend for a birthday party dinner cruise on the same day. My guest list was growing and getting a bit out of control, since it was going to be a birthday/anniversary celebration, there are so many that have touched our lives that I wanted to include, so my little house party was becoming an “event”. My day to day life right now is pretty crazy, with all the driving I’m doing taking my son to all of his obligations, I had no time to properly plan anything, so I made the decision not to have a grand celebration and I feel great. I have no idea what I am going to do, other than it will be something simple, meaningful and intimate.

Normally this time of year I make my rounds to all the mid summer sales scoring deeply discounted treats, perhaps I’m maturing or I’m questioning how much stuff does one person need, but for some reason the desire is not there. A few months ago I downloaded this app Stylebook, basically it is a closet organizer that keeps track of your “stuff”. You take pics of your items and put them in categories etc., by doing this I discovered how much stuff I have accumulated and that I need nada, matter of fact I have been getting rid of stuff and focusing on my lifestyle and what really serves me…photographer most days, and for shoots I wear black, and of course I need my workout clothes, jeans, and I love dresses for when I go out and pretty shoes, the rest I don’t need anymore. I have not worked in an office environment in over 5 years, so why do I have suits and work pumps taking up space? Why do I have things from 20 + years ago? Why do I have shoes that hurt, life is to short to walk around in shoes that cause pain.

Gigi

Once good thing about driving all over southern Cali everyday, is I am able to go to the gym in between appointments, perhaps I will “subtract” a few pounds, which is always good. I find the older I get, working out is not an option, and the mental peace I get from my yoga practice is priceless. I am able to clear my mind, subtracting distracting thoughts and focusing on the future, working on my goals, personal and professional.

The next area I need to attack is being “connected” 24/7. Start having “time outs” from my i phone, i pad, laptop, kindle, fitbit, i pod, facebook, instagram, pinterest, and any other devices I may have forgot–so much time. The mystery of being unavailable is gone…I remember the days of a “dial” phone, and no call waiting and only a couple of area codes and how can we ever forget the “busy” signal? Yes, time to unplug a bit.

So think about subtracting “junk” from your life, once you start it is not that difficult, the letting go is so empowering!

Gigi

Happy Thursday!

XOXO,

GIGI

Time Goes By…

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Gigi in Thoughts Comments Off

My life is full, but I feel as though it is zooming by at the speed of light. Most days there are not enough hours to do everything, always something hanging over my head. There are those never ending projects like going through all my pictures from the pre-digital era or deleting 1,000’s of emails and of course we can’t forget the dreaded garage.

I sometimes think about how I am starting a new career at an age when most of my contemporaries are retiring. No, I won’t get rich from what I am doing, but my work nourishes me, is always challenging and there is never a dull moment.

work

photographer Gigi

It has been a journey discovering my real self. At 54, I know my limitations, the past year I have had many reminders of the importance of living life to the fullest…enjoying every moment. I take time to laugh out loud and find simple pleasures that put a smile on my face. Sometimes I wear my “after 5” duds during the day, just because and wear non-sensible shoes more often than I should.

I find that balance is the key, knowing that on any given day I do all I can without sacraficing “me” , knowing when to take a break and start fresh again . Accepting that it is OK if I don’t make that deadline and “work in progress” is good.

Where are you in your life journey? Do you ascribe to markers of where you should be in life? How do you balance? I’d love to know your secrets.

XOXO,

GIGI

RANDOM

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Gigi in Inspiration, Quotes, Well-Being 7 Comments

I feel as though I am playing catch up, from the weekend, the late nights are catching up with me, and it is times like this that I feel all my 54 years. Fall is here, Scandal will be back on Thursday, and there are not enough hours in the day to do all the tasks I need to do before the year ends. I have a little bit of traveling in the next few months: DC, New Orleans, NYC and Italy. I have learned to pace myself and do what I can do each day and always make time for simple pleasures, such as taking a long bath with fragrant oils, having tea ie. brewing loose tea leaves, teapot, china tea cup etc., a little piece of chocolate basically finding pleasure in something every day. Came across this quote and really like what it says, our environment and the things we choose to surround ourselves with is so important and contributes to our well being.

Quote

Love this, after 25 years of living in the same place I have accumulated a lot of items, some which are not useful or beautiful and I am slowly editing or repurposing them. I no longer have the need to hold on to everything, freeing the clutter enables me to think clearly and focus, and speaking of focus I finally have a logo for my business and I am happy to have “it” debut here:

my logo…

Thanks to my friend Kim Jones owner of Kgrafix Creative Design, (949 500-0090) for her patience and understanding me, when I could not find the words to explain what I wanted the logo to look like.

October 1 is the perfect day to start a fall workout plan, I like to switch up what I do, to keep it interesting and challenging my body. I need to bump up my cardio so i’m looking for something fun to add to the mix, maybe revisit bootcamp. Do you like to change your workout? Or do you have a tried and true plan that you stick to?

Reinvent

So friends, do something pleasurable today and if needed start editing things that no longer serve you…

Xoxo,

Gigi

QUOTE

lifestyle

What is Luxurious ?

Related articles

START SUBTRACTING…

Related articles

Time Goes By…

Related articles

RANDOM

Related articles

Follow