How to ease into your Monday gracefully
While many people dread Monday, I find that it's Sunday that often has me a bit unravelled. Technically it's still the weekend, we're often anticipating and preparing for the week ahead. As, parents we're never truly "off" and many of us spend this day doing chores around the house - changing sheets, organizing schedules, planning meals and grocery shopping - if we're not busy driving the children off to their various sporting ventures or playdates and get togethers. Most of us don't have to be up at the crack of dawn and can enjoy leisurely mornings and generally speaking, we don't have to rush off to the office or work, but we're most likely gearing up for the week as well. Sunday is that one day that bridges the weekend (Saturday) to the beginning of the work week. I really think we ought to petition for 3 day weekends!
As I sit and write this piece I have all three of my three children with me in the family room. I have one in pajamas - he has a terrible cold; 2 of them are on their iDevices and one is doing homework. My daughter and I went to see Cinderella which was wonderful and if you have young children, or medium children, or even big children, you should go. My middle boy was given a few chores to keep him occupied while we were out. In addition to babysitting his younger brother, he had to hang and fill the bird feeders, remove the white metal Christmas deer which had been standing waist-deep in snow until just recently, as well as the Christmas lights that hung on the bushes and bring in all the extension cords. I spent the morning doing laundry. We decorated our Easter eggs late in the afternoon and early evening I started dinner.
Each weekend, usually on Sundays, I get my groceries for the week. I also pick up some flowers for myself. Lately I've been on a tulip kick. And while I love all tulips I've recently been drawn to peaches and oranges - bright vibrant tangerine colored oranges that illuminate the room. They make me happy. They brighten my mood. Now when I run all my Sunday errands I look forward to getting my flowers every Sunday. They're the first thing I see when I come into the family room on Monday morning where I sit with my coffee and quietly await the sun to rise and my day to start. Flowers and coffee - they're just what I need to ease into my Monday gracefully.
A vase of red and white tulips, my morning cappuccino and my favorite Nest candle (Bamboo) help me to ease into my day quietly, peacefully. Image Jessica Gordon Ryan, via iPhone 6.
Pastel peach and lavender tulips add warmth and softness to my mantel. Image Jessica Gordon Ryan via iPhone6
Are the tulips more of a peach color, or might you call them Ballet Slipper? Image Jessica Gordon Ryan via iPhone6. (Pottery Barn Hurricane vase)
Fresh tangerine tulips and some of the remaining lavender tulips from the week before- Both vases from Tiffany & Co., Elsa Peretti Candle Snuff for Tiffany & Co. I switch vases all the time. I love to use glass pitchers for my flowers as well.
White hydrangea sit in a heavy metal Nambe vase that was a wedding gift nearly 20 years ago. It sits on a table beneath a beautiful oil painting of an angry Maine seacoast. A pretty but inexpensive rectangular plate that I picked up from Pier 1 last winter (simply because I loved the colors and pattern) serves as the perfect vessel for 3 flawless clementines. Note the hydrangea - they're not real! They're silk and from Pottery Barn and at least 15 years old. I'm not one for fake flowers, but every once in a while I spot a perfect fake flower... And these do the trick! If you haven't any fresh flowers at home, I might suggest you pick some up on the way home. I guarantee they'll make all the difference.
Below are some images I've just pulled from my Instagram - Images of the many flowers that have brought me so much joy on Monday mornings and all the other days during the past year.
The red tulips looked so pretty and crisp next to the silver and white. It was just after Christmas time and the ornaments and decor had just come down. These tulips were all that was left of it all... Image, Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone6
Photo Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone6
Image Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone6
Ok, so I do not tend to treat myself so lavishly, these beauties were a gift. Image Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone4s
Ah, more lovelies I received as a gift. Image Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone4s
Orchids from last year's Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Gardens. They too were a lovely gift. Image Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone4s
There's just something about the crispness and simplicity of a white flower - especially tulips. Image Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone4s
I had trimmed down these beautiful roses after the bouquet they were in started looking old and droopy. I was taken by their beauty and the detail of each petal. It reminded me of a Georgia O'Keefe painting. Image Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone4s
I adore hydrangea and I'm so fortunate to have a small but lovely bush in my backyard. I also love Bonne Maman jam jars and they make for lovely containers for wild flowers. Image, Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone4s
Recycled bottles and jars make wonderful vases. They don't always have to be fancy ones. I found the old green bottle half buried in the ground last spring. My daughter was appalled and embarrassed when I started to dig it up. It's flask shaped and I knew that it would look beautiful when cleaned up. Image Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone4s
My children love Orangina bottles. I love their pear-like shape. Wrapped in twine they have a charming, country, seaside, rustic feel to them - perfect on the windowsill in my kitchen. Image, Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone4s
I also have lovely rhododendrons in the Springtime. They looked particularly lovely in this dark green glass vase tied up with a pink and green ribbon. Image Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone4s
It was the dead of winter. These yellow tulips instantly brightened up the room and my mood. Image, Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone4s
A few weeks later I decided to cut down some bare forsythia branches and bring them indoors. After about 5 days they started to bud. Yellow, really is the happiest of color, isn't it? Image, Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone4s
I cut down part of a larger bouquet to salvage the flowers that were still living. A small jar filled with water and cranberries fit the seasonal tone of our home. Image, Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone4s
Lilies are my absolute favorite - their color, their aroma - everything about them. I love the way my home smells when they're in bloom... fresh and like springtime. Image, Jessica Gordon Ryan - iPhone4s
My ritual of Sunday flowers started about a year ago. They make my Monday mornings brighter and lovelier - and they continue to do the same through the week. If you haven't any fresh flowers at home, I might suggest you pick some up on the way home. I guarantee they'll make all the difference.