Make it better
Make It Better
I remember arriving home from a great trip years ago and immediately plunging into a re-entry funk. I managed to pull out of it by focusing on what I could do to make my every day better. It wasn't about the macro. We all have to work and have responsibilities, unlike our carefree vacation selves. It was more about making small improvements. I now apply that method to my life in general. What can I do…to make it better? If the macro is a stressful day at work or the grande macro of the world going to shit, I go micro. Small actions and tasks, head down, doing what I can within my power.
Little better
I have a pack of tissues and a pen in every one of my bags.
I have a basket filled with singles (no, not those sorts of singles, even though to be able to grab one when needed would be great). So I always have tip money for deliveries on hand.
I bought this amazing planner/to-do list pad. I keep it on my dresser and add tasks as soon as they come to mind. I LOVE crossing things off my list so much that I will write one down, knowing I'm about to do it.
-This is so major in a minor way. But our new Louvini phone straps (in-store only but you can call to order) life changing! No more yelling across the store “Has anyone seen my phone!??”
-Someone I have a mad crush on gifted me a bottle of rosewater ( similar) Every morning and evening, after removing my make-up, I close my eyes and spray the rose water on my face. At that moment I’m transported to a beautiful Persian garden. It's a moment but an important one to me.
Read something beautiful. Be moved and inspired. Even for a few minutes in your day.
Much better-
When I was a Real Estate Broker (yes..for 16 years), I received a great tidbit of advice for staging an apartment. A broker told me to always include coffee table books of exotic destinations. The theory being that when people see the apartment it should feel like a manifestation of their goals and desires for themselves. I take that philosophy in decorating my home. I live in a walk-up building and my apartment has some great and not-so-great features. Part of the magic of living in NYC is that you stop seeing what you don't want to see. However, I decorate in the same way as I do putting together an outfit. Who do I want to be? Being in an inspired environment does affect one's sense of self. Something as simple as fresh cut flowers, or in my case creating a 70’s Italian vibe. Just call me Sophia. It can be accomplished with a throw, candles, and accessories. Or even a great mirror. And a pleasure to come home to. After catching my breath from three flights of stairs, that is.
Speaking of fresh-cut flowers…you've heard me go on about my love for the flower district. Go one morning to Dutch Flower Line and buy yourself a HUGE non-deli bunch of flowers. Or just walking the aisles of the other beautiful plant stores on the street is an escape. Oh, and this place for dry Flowers (second floor) and this place. Having flowers in the house just elevates everything. Ask Senora Sophia.
Romance yourself. Sure, that way too but in this case I often think of a scene that inspired me in Eat Pray Love, in which Julia Roberts is living in an amazing Italian apartment, wearing a silk slip she had just bought and she prepares herself a gorgeous Mediterranean lunch. You feel the self-love in that moment.
A Lot Better
Making it better may mean no longer ignoring certain truths. Those truths can be found in small signs around you that are your choice to take note of. In the case of my close friend, it was a little less subtle. One evening she happened to see her (lyin’ & cheatin’) ex walk past her at a bus stop. Twenty minutes later, as she was walking the final block home, she fell and badly hurt herself. It felt like a sign to her. The universe echoed what she already knew about that person. How many witches and goblins are there in your lives that you are better off removing? To make it better.
I love the idea of a life coach—an additional team member in our support group of friends, family, and beloved therapists. The fantastic, gorgeous Luca Torregiani, whom you may have had the pleasure of encountering in the store, is an amazing Life Coach. The store is a fun side gig :). I encourage you to email him to subscribe to his weekly newsletter. Each one resonates with me so deeply and magically appears exactly when I need to hear it.
Making it better comes to our appearance. I'm not referring to bloody weight and dieting. I am still waiting for the healthy diet pill (oxymoron?). I had a wonderful customer a while back who was in a true rut. Just across the board. Now I'm often helping customers find a new style of earring or necklace. To maybe awaken a forgotten or dormant part of themselves. The right hoop earrings can make one feel sexy, silver is a vast change from always gold, and the ‘I wear them everyday studs’ come off for a pair of drop earrings. And just witnessing their transformation in the mirror is one of the highlights of my job. However, in her case, I pushed her harder and urged her (okay made her) to make an appointment to chop off her too-long hair. She came back in, looking gorgeous and It seemed like the cut was a lightning bolt into her life. Letting go
of those inches, was like letting go of unwanted baggage. She came back lighter and happier. And then we tried on earrings.
Travel. Travel, travel and travel. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea. I also know that it's not cheap. But sometimes I feel we spend so much money on such bullshit. My appetizer at the not-fancy restaurant last night was $18!! But the joy and memories of travel stay with me forever—the planning, something exciting on the horizon, and then the trip. I went to London and Paris a few months ago for work and to find new collections at the shows. Yes, I selflessly did it for YOU :) Metier, Maria La Rosa, Louvini, Untitlededition (restock arriving soon) this collection and a papier mache home collection coming soon. I still carry around the joy of that trip. I come home, as always, slightly altered. A better version of myself.
I discovered my first slimming mirror years ago during a stay at a very bougie hotel in Italy. It made my stay so much more pleasurable. And the voice in my head telling me it was not real was in Italian, so I couldn't understand it. Che cosa? Years later I bought a floor mirror for my bedroom that turned out to be very slimming. And once again I was transformed every morning to my 10lb slimmer self. Now there were some issues with this alternate reality. It had me so convinced that I would get indignant in clothing stores at their terrible mirrors. So for my recent round of make it better, I had to get rid of my beloved mirror. I bought a new mirror and felt very righteous. However… it’s SUCH A FATTENING MIRROR that I use it only as wall art and have to go into another room when getting ready every morning. But as much as I miss my old mirror, as we do things that aren't good for us, I know I’ve made my life better without it. I think.
Love,
Ruth
xox
