Nouvelles

News and Opinion from Anne Barone to Keep You Chic & Slim

|| 19 July 2015

Celebrate Small Successes

I love my AnneMail, the email that you readers send. Recently Debra in San Antonio wrote:

Bonjour Anne—

Just a quick message to wish you a Happy Bastille Day and to let you know how much I am enjoying the new version of “Armoire, Boudoir, Cuisine and Savvy.” Thank you so much for your continued work on the Chic & Slim series. I have recently moved into a new house so this book arrived at the perfect time.

Moving to a new home will be easier if you do a pre-move clean out. Then in the new place, install new systems in your new home. Lots of good advice for those new, efficient systems in Armoire Boudoir Cuisine & Savvy.

A word of advice not mentioned in ABC&S: When you are packing for a move, don’t make a mistake I did. On my last move I got the “brilliant” idea that I would use my winter wool socks as wrapping for breakable objects for more efficient use of the space in the packing boxes. One sock of two of my best pairs of wool socks are still missing. After six years I have finally decided that they must be in one of those not-yet-unpacked boxes of Great Aunt Sudie’s Spode china.

Keep the socks with the socks. Wrap the china in packing paper or bubble wrap. And label boxes Very Specifically.

debra's lavender

Debra continued her email:

I am always amused by your tagline “Far enough in the country to grow eggplant, apricots and lavender. But close enough to Dallas to make the sales at Neiman Marcus.” I thought you might enjoy the attached photos of the lavender I was able to grow here in San Antonio in a porch pot (photo from last November). Not a huge amount, but those five little sprigs were very dear to me!

Best wishes, Debra in San Antonio (faithful reader for twelve years now!)

Anyone who has struggled to grow a plant in a less than an ideal environment can understand Debra’s delight and pride in her five sprigs of lavender.

An analogy here to weight loss. Those media articles about people who shed 100 or more pounds are always impressive. But if you have managed to get your weight down even a few pounds (or kilos), that is good reason taking pride in your success. Just a five pound lost can have a positive impact on blood pressure. Your clothes will fit more attractively.

Celebrate small successes — in whatever you do. Small successes lead to bigger accomplishments.

be chic, stay slim — Anne Barone

image: Debra's lavender