Making every day moments feel beautiful brings me a lot of joy, and it’s no wonder because science is proving the mental health benefits of aesthetics.
During my day job, I’ve become familiar with the concept of neuroaesthetics — the neuroscience of beauty.
This research shows that when people view something they find beautiful, reward pathways are activated in the brain.
Memorial Day weekend poolside spread with my thrifted bamboo tray and snack plates from TJ Maxx.
Meaning the beauty you witness makes you feel good and prompts you to continue seeking out that feeling.
The science is backing up something kinda obvious when you think about Martha Stewart’s decades-long success.
So, making every day, small moments in your life beautiful is something worth doing — it makes you feel good in a brain nourishing way.
We’ll eat outside a ton this summer now that we have our fan on the lanai.Saturday’s al fresco meal with thrifted bowls and a centerpiece from Trader Joe’s.
This weekend, I decided to make a visit with our cousin beautiful by bringing out a few collected items to enhance a simple snack spread.
Candle holders and blue dessert plates from Goodwill, Vintage floral plate from The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach, Gorgeous table runner handmade from Stone Button Studio in Northwood, Pink serving platter thrifted and gifted from my MILI can’t get over these napkins from The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach.
I loved pulling it together, which was a brain reward, but then our cousin noticed the beauty and the effort to create the moment, which brought its own reward.
Double. Doozie.
Slowing down enough to make small moments beautiful has big benefits — and brings a lot of joy, in my (and also science’s) humble opinion.
Baby girl worn out from her entertaining duties
We visited our Airbnb with new thrifted decor pieces over the weekend, and I think the place is looking a lot better.
First stop – pick up the truck from Home DepotOne of the bedrooms with the trunk thrifted from Goodwill for added storage and a wall hanging I’ve had for years from Stone Button Studio in Northwood.We found the new couch on Facebook Marketplace, and it brightens and airs out the space. We’ve been told we need to reconfigure the placement and swap the chair and couch. We also need to move the rug further under the furniture (and potentially add a new rug?).My mom thrifted this table from Goodwill and it was in our guest room for a while. Now it’s a sturdy side table and I’ve added a basket to hold the remotes and some new artwork from Goodwill. I’d love to replace the coffee table — keeping my eyes peeled in the shops! I found all the couch pillows at Goodwill.I’d also like a few new lamps for all the rooms in the house. This little bedroom table had an ugly canvas basket on the bottom shelf so I replaced it with a thrifted basket. We’ll continue to make incremental updates as I source things.
Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:
Tank top, pants, and tote from Goodwill West Palm BeachDress from Goodwill West Palm BeachLove the bow ties!
Our cookie cutter 2020 home has all the amenities of modern living — a garage, a laundry room, and ample closet space.
All things we didn’t have in our first home, which was full of historic charm but had little convenience.
When we chose to leave our first family home, I was initially devastated to sacrifice the charm, but quickly grew accustomed to not having roof leaks, rats in the attic (a horrific chapter of my life), roots growing through old pipes, etc. etc. etc.
Smiling faces in our new home
New build homes have their own version of charm — the charm of a lifestyle devoid of constant home repair.
At least, not major ones. *raps knuckles against forhead*
As new build home owners, we quickly learned of the term “builder grade” and its true meaning when the appliances that came with the house started falling apart, along with the cabinets.
So, we’ve found ourselves in a state of constant cabinet repair. Which is not as big of a deal as rats in the attic, so it’s okay.
This last repair round, we decided to finally add knobs to our cabinets!
New kitchen knobs and drawer pulls Bathroom knobs
I have no explanation for why we didn’t have knobs for six years. This is a safe space, I know you’d never dream of judging me.
For someone who cares deeply about design and aesthetics, I was oddly pretty hands off with the knob choosing. Vince wanted knobs that could be delivered next-day, which limited our options, so I picked out of a set of Amazon links he provided and I think they look great!
While we were at it, we installed a fan on the lanai (fancy word for porch) and added shelves to the boys’ room due to our increasing number of house plants that need surfaces to live on.
I shall not provide photos of the boys’ room — you’re welcome.
The knobs might be six years late, but they’re an example of how incremental tweaks over time make a house a home.
While I still miss the charm and character of our first home, I certainly do not miss squeaks that echo in the night or the scrabble of taloned paws overhead.
For now, I’ll happily take my builder grade cabinets, Amazon knobs, and structurally sound roof, and I’ll layer the charm on with my thrifted wares.
Speaking of thrifted wares, I finally styled some of my finds around the house last weekend:
I found the small pressed flower art on top at Goodwill recently; I’ve had the butterfly pressed flower art for several years and found it at American Thrift in West Palm BeachI purchased this crocheted garland from The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach and layered it over a garland purchased at World Market in our loft. I hung this sconce from The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach in our entryway and placed beach treasures on it. Everything in my entryway is thrifted – the antique chair, pillow, table, and lampThese shells and sea fan remind me of beach days in the Bahamas. Another sconce from The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach, now holding more beach treasures and resting underneath a gorgeous needlepoint piece I found at a garage sale in West Palm Beach
Last Week’s Thrifted ‘Fits
Dress secondhand from a friend, sunglasses from Goodwill West Palm BeachDress from City Girl Consignment Top from Goodwill Denver, Tote from Goodwill West Palm Beach
The crowd faves at my daughter’s birthday party were Goodwill finds.
As you might have gathered by now, my baby girl is a princess. She wasn’t really given a choice – my husband had it decided long before she was born.
The moment she arrived he stuck a bow on her head – perfectly coordinated with her outfit, of course.
As she grew and became more aware, she leaned right into the princess role with ease and it was reflected in her clothes, accessories, and attitude.
She dresses the part as often as possible and has drawers stuffed full of princess dresses – some passed down from her older cousin, but most found during my thrifting trips to Goodwill.
Elaine’s birthday party wasn’t princess themed, but of course we knew she’d want to wear one of her dresses for the occasion.
I decided to bring our collection of thrifted princess gowns, tiaras, and a vase of little wands (also found at Goodwill) so other girlies could be princesses too if they wanted.
We found this gorgeous Belle dress at Goodwill in West Palm Beach
As the kids arrived, before exploring the museum (which is a dream, by the way, Palm Beach County parents — run to take your kiddos if you haven’t been!), they immediately beelined straight to the rack of princess dresses.
It was a blast to watch how much joy this brought to the party — and it was such a simple add-on.
I thrifted the vase of wands and the basket holding the tiaras – don’t tell Elaine I gave most of the wands away to her friends! Fingers immediately in cake.
When it came time to sing the happy birthday song, in true princess fashion, Elaine interrupted the festivities to announce to the room that she did not want anyone taking the wands home and they all needed to end up back in the vase. lol.
That’s our girl!
Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:
Bag and sunnies from two different Goodwill stores in West Palm Beach; Chintz necklace by Sarah Bray Bermuda Dress from Poshmark, Kate Spade bag from Goodwill Palm Beach GardensShirt made from a vintage tablecloth; found at the Rust Market in Lake Park; Elaine’s little skort is from Goodwill West Palm BeachShirt from Goodwill West Palm Beach, Jeans from Goodwill Boca RatonDress and belt from Goodwill West Palm BeachTop from Goodwill Ft. LauderdaleDress from Goodwill West Palm BeachSunnies from Goodwill Ft. Lauderdale
I re-styled my guest room and in a word it’s giving: vibes.
My mom stays in this room several months out of the year, so she has collected most of these pieces.
I don’t know where this came from — is it Gen Z terminology? My algorithm? — but now I just say, “vibes” in response to most things.
I say it so often that Vince asked me to stop.
Rude.
Sadly for Vince, this verbal tick is here to stay and now a core part of my personality *shrug*.
So, as I was saying — the room is v, v vibey and (naturally) full of thrifted finds. Here’s how it’s laid out:
My mom lives in this room several months out of the year, and there’s only one small closet, so coming up with storage solutions for her stuff has been tricky.
She found this gorgeous dresser at The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach last month which has been a total game changer. It’s just missing a handle on the top drawer, so she’s on the hunt!
My mom was worried this piece would crowd the space, but placing it against the wall near the head of the bed has actually made the room feel less crowded to me.
We have more than 60 house plants at this point, so we’re in a phase of coming up with creative ways to place them and make sure they’re getting enough light.
This little macrame hanging shelf does the trick in this room.
I love styling with books and stack them everywhere, much like our house plants. Mom’s old yearbooks and a few others are leaning against the chair in the corner here.
Mom found this chair and pillow at separate thrift shops. The chair previously lived at The Breakers Palm Beach.
Baskets are utilized as clothing hampers and extra storage.
The artwork was gifted to my mom from our neighbor in Columbia, Missouri. We have lots of this artist’s pieces throughout our home.
The tassel pillow is from a local thrift market and the crochet throw is from The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach.
My mom almost got rid of this little dresser because she thought it would be too heavy in the space across from the other larger dresser she found.
I convinced her to keep it for more storage (it now holds her purses) and also because I’m obsessed with it. The stud detailing and color is perfection — we found this piece at Quantum House Thrift in Jupiter.
The basket tray keeps tabletop items tidy and is sourced from Goodwill, the mirror is from Stone Button Studio in Northwood, and the matching pair of lamps is from The Nearly New Thrift Shop in West Palm Beach. They originally came with old fashioned lampshades so I replaced them with these modern gray ones I found at Home Goods years ago.
My favorite thing in this room is the macrame hat organizer I gifted to my mom for her birthday last year. It’s so practical but also feels like art.
I love the use of trays to organize surfaces. Mom found this tray at a local garage sale and I styled various thrifted and gifted items inside. The gorgeous shell box next to it is from Stone Button Studio.
This room is the only one in the house with so much gray. I tend to stay away from “millennial gray” but the cool tones in this room feel refreshing rather than bland.
Let me know if you want to come visit, the room is ready for ya. 😉
In other news, I wore a $15.99 Goodwill gown to a Gala over the weekend and truly felt like a million bucks.
I felt like a princess!My super comfy shoes are also from Goodwill.
I fear this is the type of dress you can only wear once, which kills me because it’s perfection.
I forgot to snag a photo of the back — it’s sheer!!
The only good full length photo I got of the dress. Here we are with our handsome cousins!
I found this gown a few weeks ago while shopping with my mom and remember telling her, “When am I ever going to wear something like this?!” I debated over it and decided the price was too good not to take it.
Who would have thought a last minute gala would plop onto my calendar?!
Goodwill comes through in all life’s moments, friends. Have I turned you into a thrifter yet??
Last week’s thrfited ‘fits:
Button up from Goodwill West Palm BeachDress and Bag from Goodwill West Palm Beach
My baby girl turned four over the weekend and, though I’ve never considered it before, I’m starting to wonder about the meaning of her star sign.
The world of horoscopes has always been beyond me, and I honestly didn’t know where she fell on the zodiac chart until strangers began to inform me.
Elaine is an Aries, a sign associated with traits like boldness, ambition, energy, confidence, and natural leadership.
Apparently a tendency toward firey anger is associated as well.
All traits are extremely spot-on for my little girl.
In fact, when she was born we used to refer to her as “passion baby” because she often became overwhelmingly passionate and insistent on having her way, far before she could even speak.
If she didn’t get her way, she would dramatically throw herself backward, sometimes nearly out of our arms and sometimes hitting her head, which did not stop her from continuing to throw herself in rage, to our dismay.
Vince says we can all find things in each star sign that apply to us and doesn’t give it an ounce of credibility, but I’m wondering if I should start paying attention to astrology.
To celebrate Elaine’s brithday, we took the Brightline to the Aventura Mall with her besties / our neighbors to visit Bluey’s Backyard.
In preparation for the Brightline ride, I took her to the Dollar Store to pick out a few activities to entertain her and her friends, and as we perused the coloring books, this little book popped out at me — coincidence???
There were no other star sign books on the shelves.
How crazy is that?!
Anyway, if you have any insights on Aries, let me know. We’re currently in a screaming phase so, holding on tight as we ride that not-as-fun-as-the-Brightline train.
I think I’ll google some tips for Gemini moms raising Aires daughters as I white knuckle this speedrail. 😉
Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:
Linen Set from City Girl Consignment, Bag from Stone Button StudioSandals from Goodwill West Palm BeachSweater, Maxi Dress, and Tote from Goodwill West Palm BeachTop and Linen Pants from Goodwill West Palm BeachSandals from Goodwill West Palm BeachT-Shirt from Goodwill West Palm Beach
One of my proudest accomplishments in life has been converting my husband to thrifthood.
Vince is known for his bougie nature and has historically paid full-price for brand new items, but over our 13 years together, I’ve whittled away at his resolve and he is now willing to visit thrift stores with me.
He actually shops quite well and finds treasures!
Wearing a v expensive, non thrifted shirt. To be fair, it was a gift from me. 😉
Try as he might to embrace my lifestyle as his own, though, he has always struggled with the Goodwills, friends.
Perhaps it’s the general odor, the flavorful clientele, or the fluorescent lighting. Whatever the reason, he tends to avoid a Goodwill trip.
I did, however, drag him into a Goodwill in Wellington on our way home from lunch with his aunt recently, and I want so badly to tell you the visit changed everything and he’s now super comfy with my favorite store.
Though he did find and purchase several pieces without my guidance or prompting, this trip only solidified his prejudices toward my precious GW.
*le sigh*
Unfortunately, friends, the spicy patrons of this particular Goodwill were wild and ready the fateful Saturday I dragged Vince in.
We actually *almost* made it to the check out line when the incident occurred.
As we stood taking inventory of our cart near the dressing rooms/making final decisions on things we’d keep, we began to hear a low gasping sound.
That gasping, which was coming from a dressing room stall, turned into loud wailing interrupted by bouts of what sounded like retching.
I wondered if we should grab an employee to assist!
My eyes, the size of dinner plates, looked into Vince’s unmoved and unsurprised face.
“We’ve officially outstayed our welcome,” he said. “This is why I don’t come to these places.”
Oooof! Goodwill!!!! We were so close!!!
Turns out, the person in the dressing room was a middle-aged man who was not ill or injured — he just thought it would be funny to scream like a woman in distress.
He was chastised by the staff and Vince escorted me to the car, never to return to this store again.
In a happy twist, Vince did accompany me to my friendly neighborhood Goodwill last weekend. Thrift haul coming to Instagram and TikTok soon!
Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:
Scarf from my Sip, Shop, Swap brunch!Dress from Goodwill West Palm BeachPumps from Goodwill DenverSecondhand necklace from a nonprofit show room (my toddler broke it later that day)Top from Goodwill West Palm Beach, Skirt passed on from a friendSunnies from Goodwill West Palm BeachSundress from Goodwill West Palm Beach
This is my hobby. 