Spring Launch

February 26, 2016 by Amy Christensen in Spring, Spring Cleaning, Spring Colors, Pantone

I decided to use this day on Fluff to let you know what is coming up in March. We all think about spring this time of year. For many of us our desire for spring is one of desperate anticipation for sunshine and warmer temperatures. Others are looking forward to being able to break out their warmer weather clothes and maybe take advantage of those new colors put out by Pantone earlier this year. You can see the new colors here. For some of you, spring means cleaning, throwing away and getting a fresh start.

I love the fact that we celebrate Easter in the spring. After all, didn't Jesus give us the ultimate fresh start? Isn't spring when we look forward to flowers blooming, trees budding and birds singing? I think they do those things because Jesus rose from the dead! Oh I know, there are real physical, scientific reasons that flowers bloom, trees bud and birds sing, but humor me.

For the month of March we will be focusing on a spring theme Blog wide! The faith page will focus on identifying sin, confession, a sacrifice of praise and renewal. The fashion page will be all about those spring colors. You'll see the Pantone palette come to life in outfits I pulled out of my closet. We will also have a special bonus on the fashion page on cleaning out our closet. You'll find tips for what to get rid of and how to organize and I'll be looking for your comments on how you accomplish your closet clean outs. On the family page I'll focus on reordering our priorities in our families with questions like, "Who am I neglecting?" and "Who have I offended?" I'll also post ideas for celebrating Easter as a family and starting over. On the friend page we'll spend some time talking about "toxic" personalities and asking ourselves how we are influenced by our friends. We will also be encouraged to pray for friends as well as make new ones. Finally, the fluff will spend time looking at our homes. We'll talk about cleaning, organizing and just trying to make our homes ready for the summer months of sun and fun.

I hope you will join me. Be sure to like and share my post on Face Book with your friends. This helps me get a wider circulation. Have a great weekend and I hope you'll come back next week.

Feeling Comfy?

February 19, 2016 by Amy Christensen in Comfort, Layering, SAD, Chicken and Biscuits, Books, fluff

Midwest winters can get long. By mid to late February many of us are feeling like becoming snowbirds would not be a bad idea. I get tired of layering, tired of wearing heavy coats, thick scarves and gloves and tired of clouds. Having Seasonal Affective Disorder (described here) makes winter, not just an inconvenience, but an actual walk through a valley of shadows. While there are goods ways for dealing with SAD, like light therapy, melatonin and other medications and physical exercise, I often revert back to just doing something to make myself comfortable.

So, ladies here is another list. These are some of the things I do for comfort:

1. Curl up with a good book.

2. Watch something happy, silly or exciting. Absolutely, no sad movies during these cloudy months. (That's me. Others might feel a sad movie actually makes them cry and thus feel better. I prefer Gilligan's Island reruns.)

3. Take a nap. (I don't do this as much because as I've gotten older I have a harder time sleeping, but if the mood strikes, especially if I am fighting sickness, a nap is lovely.)

4. Go shopping. (If you are like me and love to shop, this is a real pick-me-up, but if you have a shopping addiction, this may not be the best choice for you. I try to go to one or two stores and have something in mind that I am looking for. But just walking the aisles, seeing spring colors and fashions lifts my spirits.)

5. Put on something baggy. What! No, you did not hear me say that! Well, once in a while, if I am going to be staying home, I do it! Hello sweat suit! Just to be fashionable, my black pants have fake rhinestones on them. (I'll post a picture of me with it on soon!)

6. Have English Breakfast tea in a fun mug.

7. Eat something comforting. Yes, I know, this is an issue for so many of us, and if you read the article on SAD, you know we crave carbs and overeat! However, not everything we reach for needs to be bad for us (although, let's face reality, bad food makes us feel good, at least while we are eating it.) I grew up with a dish my mother used to make several times during the long, snowy Buffalo, NY winter called Chicken and Biscuits. Part chicken pot pie and part stew, the smell and the warmth of the oven as it baked made me feel....well....cozy! It was an act of love on Mom's part as it took all day to boil the chicken, cut up the carrots, potatoes, onion and celery, put it all together and finally bake it 45 minutes then put the homemade biscuits on top to cook some more. But it was worth it.

Photo Credit: Rebecca Trumbull, Hands of my son in law.

I'm sure you all have your own ways of getting comfy. Let me know a few in the comments section below. And hang on, Spring will come, it always does.

Movie List: My Favorite Things

February 12, 2016 by Amy Christensen in Movies, Romance, Date Night, Fun

I thought it would be fun since it is Valentine's weekend to post a list of some of my favorite romantic movies. Old, new, black and white, musicals, comedies, dramas....romance is everywhere.

It Happened One Night - Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert (1934)

The Sound of Music - Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer (1965)

While You Were Sleeping - Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman (1995)

The Lake House - Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves (2006)

Gone With The Wind - Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh (1939)

Pride and Prejudice - Kiera Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen (2005) or Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle (1995)

The African Queen - Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn (1951)

The Princess Bride - Cary Elwes and Robin Wright (1987)

There are so many good, romantic movies out there and these are just a few of the ones I like. When I watch a movie I want to be drawn in. I want to leave this world behind and be in the world on the silver screen. All of these movies do that for me. Clark Gable and his snappy dialogue, both with Colbert and Leigh, not to mention his good looks, keeps me watching. The dance between Andrews and Plummer and the following dialogue and song in the dark gazebo are moments to be remembered. From Bill Pullman "leaning in" towards Sandra Bullock to Cary Ewles saving his "true love", these are movies I love to watch over and over.

In the comments section below tell me what your favorite romantic movies are!

So What's the Fluff?

February 05, 2016 by Amy Christensen

Welcome to the Fluff section of my blog. My eldest daughter, Rebecca, (who is also my main photographer) came up with the idea of a junk drawer. That's the place you toss stuff that you are not sure where to put. However, junk drawer starts with a "j" not an "f", so Fluff came into being. I mean, I couldn't have Faith, Fashion, Family, Friends and Junk drawer! It would totally ruin my writer's need for alliteration. This will be the page where you might find recipes, book reviews, music recommendations and all sorts of other things.

After all, an actual woman can't survive without her junk drawer, or her fluff for that matter.