Beauty is seasonal, always. And so is pleasure for that matter. It’s always to be found in the world right around us. It behooves us to look around. I can help with that, ladies... ;)

Spring? Spring is all about Uplift. Uplifting our spirits, our energy, & our minds. What better way to do it then to freshen up our lives with new ideas, new tastes, and new action? Let me help you get started with a list of some of my Spring favorites.

1. Delicious cups of coffee outside.

As soon as the weather warms up head outside for that first cup of coffee and morning journaling. Nothing in the world can give you a lift like sunshine and birdsong. So take advantage of it.

2. Find a signature color for Spring.

Whether it’s the perfect green for you, the yellow of a narcissus, robin’s egg blue or blushing cherry blossom pink. Find a color to love for the season.

Add it into your wardrobe in drops, a scarf, a belt, a nail polish, a lipstick, a sweet little lacy underthing. Use it on gloomy days when you need the jump, or on sunny days when your soul is already singing.

3. Go flower scouting in your neighborhood.

You’ve heard of bird-watching yes? Why not Flower scouting? Take a stroll, in your neighborhood or a nearby park and see just how many flowering spring bulbs, and trees you can count, lilacs, cherry trees, forsythia, magnolia, Daffodils, tulips, hyacinths… So many to count and see.

Soak up all the color you can. Take photos for your social media. Encourage everyone in your feed to do the same.

4. Read in a Cafe on a rainy day.

Pick up a real book, all paper pages and new book smell. Make it a delicious one… a romance, some chick lit, a cozy mystery, whatever floats your boat. Here’s a few of my favorites to get you started:

The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro

The Red Notebook by Antoin Laurain

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

Now find a cafe or little place to sit and have some tea. Grab a seat by the window, hopefully while it rains. Drink tea, order something delicious, read and check out the scene outside. It’s fun to people watch in the rain, who runs, who saunters? Who strolls? Who has an umbrella, who uses the newspaper? Who has rain boots, who has stilettos? Let your mind daydream.

5. Try on a Spring scent.

Spring is a great time to explore a whole new family of scents. Think green, think fresh, think delicate flowers. Why not try a perfume from the Fougère family, full of crisp green lavender, fern, soap and oakmoss?

Or perhaps a scent from the citrus family, like a zesty lemon laden perfume to remind you of that visit to Capri you’ve been meaning to take? Or check out the green, sharp and earthy note of Vetiver in a perfume. It’s a classic green note.

Here is great place to start: www.luckyscent.com You can search by note or family.

6. Buy yourself flowers, Spring Flowers.

A blue and white chinoiserie crock brimming with bright yellow daffodils? An elegant vase of frilly tulips in green and pink? Or maybe apricot? Do yourself a favor and buy a bunch. Make up an excuse to do it if you must, but do it. Tell people it’s your half birthday. Or the anniversary of your first kiss.

7. Slow down to linger over the sensual delights of a good rain storm.

The sound it makes plunking on a roof top, the boom of thunder. Open a window or go outside. The cool way it feels on your hands or face, that incredible fresh smell during and then the earthy green smell after. The rainbows. Make it a point to take in all the sensual delights of a good rainy day.

Bonus points if you have someone in your life you can pull into enjoying it with you. There’s nothing like a slow kiss in the rain, or holding hands, and then laughing after.

8. Make the switch to Rosé.

There is winter wine, and there is Spring and Summer wine. It’s time to make the switch and lighten up. Whether, that means going for a lighter red, pinot anyone? or from Chardonnay to Sancerre, do it! It’s time. For me, Spring means breaking out the Rosé. That color, the lightness, it sings of Spring.

9. Find a new favorite Heroine.

Pick up book or a documentary about a woman you admire and dig in, from Dolly Parton to Diana Vreeland to Isak Dinesen. There are so many fabulous women who’ve come before us! Have fun finding out about one of your personal Heroines and imagine all the interesting conversations you’ll now be able to have at dinner, regaling people with delicious bon mots from your hero.

10. Get your hands dirty.

Start a garden. Whether it’s a tiny herb garden, a container veggie garden, or acres of summer bulbs for summer, getting your hands dirty has proven benefits to your mind and mood. Find some of those studies here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6334070/

11. Revamp your coffee table for Spring.

You know all those luscious photo books you have on gardening? Or Spring time in Paris? Or flower arranging? Now is a great time to red-do your coffee table with your favorite Spring time topics. Make a beautiful display.

Why not add that gorgeous framed pressed flower you have on top of your birdwatching book along with that book vintage botanical flower etchings? Or put out that book of love letters, and the book of Mary Oliver Poems with an orchid that’s flowering?

12. Discover a Fresh New flavor.

After all that winter food, warm, savory and a touch heavy, I think what we’re all craving is something Fresh, Light and Zesty! Why not expand your horizons and try a new recipe for something in season: artichokes, asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb, lamb, peas.

How about a citrus and fennel salad? My favorite come from this season cookbook by Diane Henry: “Change in Appetite.”

13. Send a card or letter.

Pick out a beautiful sheet of paper, gorgeous stamps, a lovely card and handwrite someone you love a letter. You’ll brighten their day and yours. Ask for a letter back. It makes going for the mail, and flipping through bills and magazines so much better.

14. Relive a childhood favorite.

Try a cereal or treat you loved way back when. Pick up that strawberry lip smacker you adored as a tween. Turn on the songs of that boyband. Or head to a park and hit up a swing or a slide when nobody is looking. Splash in a puddle. Re-read your favorite book as an 8 year old.

Who did you want to be as a kid? Where did you think you’d be? What country did you want to visit? What we’re you obsessed with as 10 year old? Nothing can re-invigorate us like going back in time for a laugh. Spring is the time to act silly when no one is looking.

15. Take a class in something new.

Learn to throw pottery at your community art center. Sign up for an Italian cooking class. Go to a wine tasting. Or a Tea Ceremony. Find something new to refill the well. Something fun and frivolous.

16. Flirt with yourself.

Is there a new style of make up or fashion you’ve been toying with? Bold brows? The Fox eye trend calling to you? Ever wonder what you look like with classic French Red lips? Or a scarf? Has it been a little while since you updated your jeans and their silouhette?

If you’re wondering, could I pull that off? There is only one way to find out. Now is your moment to play, so pick a day and try it out when no one is looking. Keep playing till you get it right.

17. Make Mondays Fun days.

And this one comes from one of my favorite people, favorite blogs and mentors, Tonya Leigh. Mondays can be such a drag, right? Let’s celebrate them instead, and institute Champagne Mondays. Pop a cork and feel the love for a brand new FRESH week. ;)

And you don’t have to break the bank to quaff a great bubbly. Here’s some of my favorites:

https://winefolly.com/tips/sparkling-wines-that-wont-break-your-budget/

18 Buy a pretty umbrella, or colorful rain boots.

Umbrellas come in wide array of shapes and colors, from polka dots to stripes. A stylish umbrella can make trudging it around infinitely more fun. It’s way more stylish than a hood.

19. Have a conversation with someone outside of your comfort zone.

Talk to a child in your life, or someone older. Seek out people who don’t look like you, don’t come from the same neighborhood as you and start up real conversations about life and love.

We often get stuck in a rut because we only hang out with people who look like us and think like us. Getting out of our lives and into the world, means talking about all the good stuff with lots of different people. Talk about wine, books, travel. Keep it light, but meaningful.

20. Organize and decorate your entryway.

No, not that one. The one you actually use. That back door, the one near the garage, or in it. The one right by where you park? Go take a look at it with fresh eyes. It can really collect all of the ephemera of our lives.

What a lift it can give you every time you enter to get it organized, cleaned up and edited. Then add something to it. Pretty paint. A framed piece of art. A mirror to bring in more light. A bench to put on shoes. Make it pretty. You deserve to feel refreshed every time you enter your abode.

21. Host a tea party.

Have a theme. Japanese modern tea service. Gardens. Favorite authors. Mad Hatter. Have a strict dress code. ;) Insist on cocktail dresses, mad hats or have people bring their favorite author’s book…. etc. You get the gist.

Put out your prettiest teacups. Have a few trick questions up your sleeve to keep the party going… Ask guests to chime in on what they think is the ugliest flower a garden can have. Have a lively discussion about overrated authors, or places you’d personally never want to visit… etc.