Who Loves Ya, Baby? (I do.)

It's a few days before Thanksgiving, and in addition to planning out the menu for the Big Day in my mind, I'm also thinking about all the things I'm "gifted" with. I do this every morning, so Thanksgiving is an added prompt, but let me give you the rundown: the fact that I have transportation, shelter, and nutrition, of course. There's good health and good fortune (and the ability to cope when the fortune is not so good!). And in this moment, for this post, I want to focus on my family and friends...because I have the best, most loving, funny, kind, quirky, soulful people in my life.

There's a term I just learned about—"ubuntu"—that is supposed to have originated long ago in South Africa. I've seen a few definitions for it that are all lovely, such as "connection, community, and mutual caring for all," "human kindness," or "I am; because of you." The one I love best is a variation on that last one: “I am what I am because of who we all are.”

It also mirrors one of my very favorite quotes, that has become a guiding principle in my life. From George Eliot: “What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?” We're here to make each other better, to learn more, to do more, to grow our souls and hearts and minds. 

Thanksgiving is a time for us to take stock of what we have—and who we have!—that makes life so remarkable. It's also a time for us to ask what we can do for someone else; to ponder some changes we can make to ease someone else's journey; to consider how to raise our game to be a better friend, spouse, parent, sibling, child, relative, citizen, employee or employer; not just for a month or two, but for the rest of our lives. 

I know that I am who I am, that I have what surrounds me in material goods, that the level of  intelligence and humor and compassion I have reached is because of the people whose paths I have crossed, or who have walked beside me for a time. I share with you the concept of ubuntu in this holiday season, and thank you for the part you have played in my life: I am what I am because of who we all are. 

 
 

© 2014 A Bit of Brie/Anitabrie

Are You a Clothes Whore?

Some years ago, I complimented my young co-worker, M, on her wardrobe. Every day, she was perfectly dressed, head to toe, and I always marveled at the consistent and appropriate fashion sense in one so new to the workforce. She shared with me later that she called her mother and said, "Mom, this woman from work, who I always thought was so nice, told me I'm a 'clothes whore' today." Her mother said, "M, do you think she meant 'clothes horse'?"

Well, I'm starting to think M was right the first time she quoted me. Having recruited a friend to help me pare down my closet recently, and in turn, having just helped another friend do the same thing to hers, there is some deep promiscuity inherent in the way we cannot be faithful to the clothes that suit us best. (I didn't mean to be punny, but hey... if the shoe fits, buy it in every color and heel height.)

I know what looks best on me. I KNOW. But I can't help buying things that are my fantasy wardrobe. (Ah, now I get it, guys! If you could put any group of players together, even though you know it's not humanly possible, that would be your dream. And if I could wear half of the clothes in my closet, even though I know it's not humanly possible, that would be MY dream.)

So every couple of years, I have to do a purge and get rid of the things that I bought for the taller, trendier, riskier Anita.  I sure like her clothes better than mine. But they've got to go, because she's taking up most of the space in our closet, that clothes whore.

© 2014 A Bit of Brie/Anitabrie 

Coffee: It's Not Just for Drinking or Mulching or Bug Spray or Pot-scrubbing Anymore

I'm sitting in a comfortable spot, nice and quiet, surrounded by the smell of coffee. No, I'm not at Starbucks. I'm in my own house, and that coffee smell is coming from my skin. Well, what am I supposed to do after reading about how you can make a great scrub from coffee and sugar and coconut oil?

Apparently, I'm way behind on the stuff you can do with coffee and its leftovers. I've known about putting the grounds around growing things since I was a young'un, when my mom would send me sprinting down the rickety back porch stairs in my frayed white Keds with a dented silver metal saucepan full of coffee grounds, with instructions to sprinkle them in a circle around one plant or another. But some of this other stuff is new to me, like mixing it with orange peel to keep bugs and animals away from your garden,  putting them in the refrigerator to absorb odors (hey, if you don't like coffee smell, will the coffee grounds soak that up, too?), to make parchment dye, or to clean out the fireplace (you don't clean with the grounds, you weigh down the ashes with the grounds so they don't fly up...so this one is a little misleading). And there's one more:  to clean pots. Now, this one you DO use the grounds for, as an abrasive. Which makes me wonder what the heck I'm doing to my skin if coffee grounds are scrubby enough to clean a pot.

Anyway, I must say they work pretty well as a skin scrub. Here's the recipe:
2 cups coffee grounds, used or not
1 cup sugar, to taste (Hahaha! I was just kidding. Don't taste this! Your teeth will look like you just ate Oreos and didn't have any milk with them!)
Approximately 1/2 cup coconut oil, liquidated
Mix it all together and put it in a container with a tight lid. Then, when you are taking a shower, scrub yourself with this mixture. Be sure to get it all over your shower curtain, the walls, and the bottom of the tub. Make sure some of it stays underneath your arm, too, and between your toes, and on your head, so that you spend 30 minutes getting rid of all the grounds in your bathroom and on you. Then dry off, put on some cozy clothes, and go sit in your living room. If you feel like a hot beverage, have some tea. Because you're going to be smelling coffee everywhere for a very long time, and you will want a little variety.

© 2014 A Bit of Brie/Anitabrie