SUNDAYS WITH CELIA VOL 81
Hello and welcome to Sundays With Celia Vol 81. I’m so happy you’re here! HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY! So just when I thought spring had sprung and I might be able to start some seedlings in my greenhouse this happened!
But the good news is Lake Arrowhead is full for the first time in 6 years, the Irish sun is shining today, and I do believe Spring will show up sometime soon. Hope springs eternal. At least I believe it is human nature to always find fresh causes for optimism. It’s what keeps us going…
My Frozen Vegetable Garden
Last Minute St. Patrick’s Day Ideas
While I do have some Irish blood in me and green eyes as well, I haven’t dedicated much to the Irish holiday of St. Patty’s Day on this blog. Except I did publish this post where I shared 25 Pinteresting Saint Patrick’s Day Ideas that are sure to get you in the spirit. Check it out by clicking here for some fun last minute ideas…
A Wedding Snippet On Sunday | The First Look
So, the latest practice with weddings nowadays is for the groom to meet up with the bride for a “First Look” prior to seeing her walk down the aisle. This is done for practical purposes, to allow for a photography session before the wedding. This way the bridal party can go directly to the reception instead of taking photos after the ceremony. As you can imagine, the first look is a romantic and touching moment for the couple. For their First Look, my son and his beautiful bride made plans to meet in a beautiful spot near our home, a spot that overlooks Lake Arrowhead.
This private moment, shared only with the photographer at the time, now brings happy tears to my eyes as I see the look on my son’s face when he sees his bride for the first time. Can you tell they are madly in love and so happy to be getting married after a 7 year courtship?
Sharing A Secret On Sunday
World Sleep Day was Friday, March 15th. It’s an annual event, intended to be a celebration of sleep and a call to action on important issues related to sleep which I admit I get far too little of. And if truth be told, to help me in my effort to get more sleep I’m admittedly kind of a snob when it comes to the quality of the sheets I sleep on. Once one sleeps on high-quality, high-thread-count, natural-fiber sheets there’s no going back. So when Brad and I purchased our Restoration Hardware Bed a couple of years ago, we also got a few sets of their very expensive sheets.
Well, those sheets have finally worn out and needed to be replaced. So I started looking around because the 600 thread count sheets I recently purchased from Costco.com for my father were expensive and really disappointing. So on Amazon, low and behold I discovered a line of high quality sheets from a company called California Design Den.
I ordered their 600-thread-count-sheets for the unbelievably low price of $69.99 for the King Set. I had paid $350 a set for my 600 thread count Restoration Hardware Sheets! When I unzipped the package from California Design Den and felt them they were SO soft. I couldn’t wait to get them laundered and on the bed to try them out.
So it’s a bit embarrassing to admit this little secret, BUT, my husband does the ironing in our family. He actually enjoys it, finds it relaxing, and it gives him an excuse to watch golf as he irons. So, not that the sheets really needed ironing, but, he likes to iron our sheets (and who am I to object) so he started ironing our new, 100%Cotton sheets and even he went nuts over them! Last night we slept on them for the first time and we both actually like them equally as much as our 600 thread count Italian sateen sheets from Restoration Hardware. I just wanted to let you in on this little secret because it really is worth sharing. These sheets also come in 1000 thread down to 300 thread count, and are available in 13 colors and 6 sizes! Check them out by clicking here.
My Sunday Gadget Crush
My husband is a bit of a gadget lover, me on the other hand, not at all. When we were first married he would buy me all kinds of kitchen gadgets, thinking that because I loved to cook I would love every imaginable kitchen gadget. For years those trinkets piled up in a drawer unused. Finally I got the courage to tell him that all I really wanted were high quality pots and pans like All-Clad, or Le Creuset enameled cast iron & stoneware, or Shun Knives.
The right tools for the trade make all the difference! I was thinking about this because earlier in the week I got a question from someone who was preparing my recipe for Spanish Style Chicken Fricassee and wanted to know if he must cook it in a Dutch Oven? The answer is YES! For a good outcome you need the proper tools.
Well in any case, my husband finally caught on and stopped giving me kitchen gadgets. HOWEVER, he has started giving me techie type gadgets. BUT I must say, he has hit a couple of home runs recently with 2 things that I’m really, really liking. The first is my Wireless Charging Stand.
This thing is FANTASTIC! No more messy cords on my desk. No more lost cords, no more plugging in cords! I just set my phone down on the Wireless Charging Station and it automatically charges! Now my phone is always 100% charged, it sits upright so I can Facetime while it sits there, I can also talk on the speaker phone while it charges, and it charges right thru my phone case. The best part is it’s universal so it works on my IPhone as well as my husband’s Android. So I have one on my desk but we have put several of them around the house as well that we share. Plus it sells for only $16.79.
The next techie gadget that my husband gave me that I’m crushing on is my Tessan Power Strip with 3 USB ports and 3 plug Outlets.
We purchased a bunch of these guys. I have my computer plugged into one on my desk. We placed them on the night stands in our guest room so our guests have a handy charging station for their phones and can plug things in by their bedside. We also each carry Tessan Power Strips in our suitcases and use them every time we travel. Trust me, there are never enough power outlets in hotel rooms or in cruise ship cabins, where I don’t know what we’d do without these power strips. They sell for $17.99.
Speaking Of Travel…
As our upcoming transatlantic cruise is drawing near I’m finishing up last minute travel planning details. Planning a trip for me is half the fun, and in fact we will be stopping in 2 Irish ports of call: Dublin & Cork. In planning the trip I logged onto a website I follow called CruiseCritic and they had just published their 2019 Cruisers’ Choice Awards where they ranked the cruise lines on the following criteria…
They broke the rankings down further by ship size. So, one can see the rankings based on the size of the ships from Large, to Mid-Sized, to Small-Mid, to Small Ships. Our favorite cruise line is Oceania, and we will soon be traveling on their Mid-Sized ship, the Marina.
We sailed on the maiden voyage of Marina’s sister-ship, the Riviera, and I blogged about that voyage here. So it was exciting to see that the Riviera was just ranked the #1 Best Overall Mid-Sized Ship by the 2019 Cruisers’ Choice Awards.
The Riviera also came in 1st in the category of Best Overall Dining on a Mid-Sized Ship. No surprise there, as we ate very, very well on The Riviera.
And her sister-ship Marina was ranked #1 Best Mid-Sized Ship Cabins, with The Riviera coming in #2. It’s funny because the two ships are virtually identical. Below is a photo of the award-winning Penthouse Suite we will soon be occupying. I’m getting excited.
Are you making plans to travel? If so, you might want to contact my trusty travel agent for assistance. It costs you nothing more, could even save you money, and often gets you extra benefits:
Lori Seeley
Innovative Travel Concepts
Lori@innovativetravelconcepts.com
941-312-2584
Have You Got The Luck Of The Irish?
Earlier this week I published a blog post entitled, “A Distinguished Gift For Any Man In Your Life” where I shared with you the beautiful wood JORD timepiece I gifted my son. And just in case you missed it I wanted to give you an opportunity to enter the contest I’m conducting where I’m giving away a $100 Gift Certificate toward the purchase of a JORD watch. Please click here, scroll to the end of the blog post, and enter to WIN! Good Luck!
So there you have it: SUNDAYS WITH CELIA VOL 81
Thanks so much for dropping in!
Express Yourself!
No blog post is truly complete without a word from you. I’d be so delighted if you’d leave a comment below.
All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are the original property of Celia Becker @ www.AfterOrangeCounty.com and may not be reproduced without specific permission. Wedding images via Apartment 3 Photography. This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. It’s what helps to make this blog possible. Thanks very much for your support.
