Fancy Thirty

Today I am thirty, and although I thought I would be at work today, instead I am home in an ice storm and therefore able to share my birthday here a little bit. I've been thinking lately about how much I like small things that make me feel fancy. We live on a very limited budget, and I think that keeping these little luxuries around helps me to be quite content with our income level. Yes, my dirty little secret is that I really like fancy things. There it's out. And I'm not alone, right? So here are a few of those little fancies....


Cloth napkins. Cheap. Pretty. Good for the environment. We have a lot of them, and we use them at every meal. And my kids think that paper napkins are strange. And voila, I have raised fancy, eco-conscious kids.

Olive oil in a glass bottle. Just makes me feel like a good cook to look at it. And if you can fill it with decent olive oil, even better.

Pinchable salt. Good coarse salt in a little bowl that you have to put your fingers in to. Sanitary? No. Fancy? Oh yes.


And because we are in an ice storm, I'll finish with my favorite today. Tea in a little glass. It may burn your fingers a bit, but just to look at the glass is so satisfying. So I know that it's my birthday but why don't you go treat yourself. Grab a juice glass, fill it with tea, and feel the fanciness....