Latest Life's Little Luxuries

Since I basically menu planned yesterday, looking to squeeze every morsel out of my March grocery budget, I thought today I should move away from my whole  tightwaddery topic. I like nice things as much as the next person. I just find them nicer, and I appreciate them more when I don't have them all the time, or use as part of downtime. Despite my penny pinching,  even in the last three months, I've splurged on a few things that give me a sense of indulgence, and dare I say perhaps luxury. Some might think these are fool hardy expenditures and others might laugh that I call them indulgences. But to each of us, we have our own inner definition of luxury and indulgence. We only have to feed our own taste. 

Nourishing facial masks: These two beauties were bought for $2.49 each at Target and are single use. I splurge at least once a month on these after discovering them in one of the Fab, Fit, Fun boxes. While  the Target ones are not even close to the retail price of the brand  in the subscription box, these are pretty darn close to the same quality. I like the quiet time while it sits on my face and the softness it leaves behind. 

Tresemme Shampoo and Conditioner: Now I an really showing my lack of upper class style, but  we have now started to buy Tresemme at over $5 a container compared to shampoos 1/3  to 1/2 less and I am not going back. Some say shampoo is just the same, and conditioner is not needed, but I would disagree. I try to get on sale, or at least when  at Target I can get the extra gift card for future use. It reminds me of the same quality of my Nexus days, when my Father-in-law the Barber, would get us ample supplies. I mistakenly was buying cheap shampoo for too long, and my lifeless hair was not happy. Would I start buying product in salons? Perhaps more luxury than this thrifty person could take.

Lindor Truffles: I've been savoring these since Christmas as I got a bag from my future niece-in-law as part of my gift. We had so much candy and treats for a month after, I didn't even break into these until February. They are nearly gone now, and I plan to replace, keep in the refrigerator and enjoy one every now and then and feel like I've actually had a treat instead of mindlessly popping various miniatures into my mouth, because that's what I do with an open bag of Reeses Peanut Butter cups. 

Fresh ground coffee and real cream: Coffee drinkers, do I need to say any more? I just realized I haven't been out for coffee at all this month yet, but my home grounds have been keeping me quite satisfied. 

Candle light from a good quality candle: This one is Garden Flowers scent and soy, so will not leave a stinky after burning smell. I actually bought this a while back on my sisters shopping day at a pop up barn craft/consignment shop only open a few weekends a year. It was a luxurious bargain at $10 for a homemade candle. Give me a quiet night watching a good movie, enjoying a glass of wine with a candle burning  and I say it is a good night.

Avocados-all to myself: I did not grow up eating avocados. This was not an item my mom ever would have bought, or known what to do with. I think I had guacamole for the first time after high school. Most often these babies run upwards of $2.49 a piece in my part of the country. However, despite the relatively high price point, indulging in these on occasion, more often if they are on sale, feels decadent, while being healthy. The environmental impact helps me keep my indulgence focused on occasion as well since they consume a lot of water to grow and must be transported. Maybe it's the pretty staged avocado toast pictures displayed in magazines, but I get a sense of luxury when eating on for breakfast or lunch, and not sharing with anyone. 

Goodness. I am a real suburban/small town bumpkin. Still, if these are the things that add a little spot of decadence in my life, I'm not complaining that they are simpler than other folks definition. How about you? What do you occasionally  indulge in? Have you changed to a more expensive, but one you feel is worth the added expense, product?  Does anyone have some extra truffles and coffee brewed and want to invite me over to talk about this? 

Lean and Lush Latte

I want to do a plug for a terrific site called The Lean Times written by Viviana.  Lush Living  Her motto is Lush living made simple.  The Lean Times is one of the first bogs I stumbled across before I ever knew what blogging  was.  The message is simple- living lean does not have to mean living always without a touch of class and splash, and occasional indulgences.  She writes weekly menu plans, ensuring little waste, but has some really delicious recipes made with simple fare. She writes about dressing with style-not trends. She's not at all a fashion or food "snob", but she does highlight how sacrificing all the time makes life pretty dull.  As other  writers have said frugal living, simple living, and priorities are all relative to an individual. I like a good deal, but not at the expense of others-whether that be cheap clothing from questionable sources, or food loaded with unrecognizable ingredients, or from animals kept in squalid conditions. I'd rather have less things of quality, than more of crap, at least in theory, but so hard to sometimes stay true to in practice when trying to stretch a budget. It is about intentionality with our money, and aligning the money with our own values.  But I digress.

What I really wanted to write about is how I think there is nothing more lush than a rich and frothy latte, being sipped from a generous sized mug, with great music on, and a good book in hand. Earlier this week there was a story link going around the internet on how to make a Latte or any other espresso drink at home without the expensive machine and gadgets. I tried to find again, but couldn't find the same one, but there were a dozen others. While  I love a good coffee, I am not a fan of the high coffee house prices for the specialty drinks. On vacation last spring, our hotel had a Nespresso pot in the room, and every day housekeeping filled it with  new pods.  It was so delicious and creamy, and as the only coffee drinker, all mine.  It probably saved me over $100 in coffee house expense over two weeks of mornings. If you haven't seen it, the hot water  pours through the pods and it creates a  creamy coffee drink that  looks and tastes like espresso made with steamed and foamed milk.  I never remember what is a latte,  cappuccino, café au lait, or café Americana.  Whatever it should be called, it was awesome, except for the little pods. I looked on line, only way I could buy them at home, and not only are the pods pricey, but the single use container is wasteful.  I guess they can be recycled at Sur La Table stores, but no multi use alternative.  My hubby bought me a Keurig a couple Christmas's ago, and there are a variety of reusable filter baskets.  I love the Keurig for getting that quick cup, so using it with my own bagged coffee, I set out to make my version.

Here is my Keurig, with the little red basket for holding my own coffee.  I used clearanced $1.48 bag hazelnut. A couple months back I scored 4 at that price at Target.

 

Next was getting my milk ready.  The article said to use 2%, but I only had skim.  I forgot I did have 1/2 and 1/2 so could have put a little in to give some fat. The directions called for shaking the milk up-I have dandy covered glass tiny bowls for this, until foamy then heat in the microwave. 

 

I brewed on the 10 ounce setting to get a nice strong cup.

 

Here is the steamy frothy milk, and the strong rich coffee.  I simply poured the  bowl of milk probably a 2:1 coffee to milk ratio, into the coffee mug.

 

The finished drink had the nice caramel color, and the foam did stay on top.  If I had used some fattier milk, it would have been foamier and richer. I would say not quite Caribou or Starbucks, or Costa, but pretty darn  lush. 

To estimate cost, I'll use about  $ .10 for coffee, and $ .25 for milk, so $ .35  latte. If using a coffee house premium full price bag of coffee at $8.00 a bag, still under $1.00 compared to $4.00 prepared by a barista.  I think from start to finish, including clean-up was under 5 minutes, so beats the clock compared to waiting in line.  There are many recipe's out there if you want to try some variety.  A women at work squirts Redi-whip on her break room brewed coffee and calls it cappuccino. I'm pretty plain Jane-just milk or cream with regular coffee most days, mostly because I am a multi-cup a day consumer.  But for a change and a little special treatment,  this was a fun little test to see if a home concoction really could compare to coffee houses. While not quite the same in taste, I think my reading nook in my living room has more ambience in which to sit, sip, and indulge my caffeine fix.

 

What about you?  How do you reframe saving pennies in ways to add richness and lushness to your life?

 

Revelling in Luxury

My daughter and I had the excellent fortune to not only get a reservation for Saturday night in the beautiful Mayflower Renaissance Hotel, right off the Farragut North Metro stop, under budget through an Orbitz booking, we got there before 1:00 p.m. and they had a room ready and let us check-in early. Looking at the regular rates, my family has spent about that much on a small suite room for all 5 of us for a week in Florida. While not quite record breaking heat, it hit 94 and the humidity was so thick in Washington D.C., we were pretty drenched from sweat just in the walk from earlier hotel, through the metro stops, and to this one. We had thought we were going to just leave our bags to explore the Dupont Circle neighborhood, but the extra two hours, meant we could cool down, clean-up, and look human again before heading out. While our room was one of those tucked back off several hallways, we opened the door to complete luxury. Marble floors, a bathroom with double sinks and brass and porcelain handles, two fluffy queen beds, a sitting area, coffee amenities, and windows all around. Now the view was the inside area-tops of maintenance buildings and boilers. We ignored the view, but concentrated on getting the lovely light through the windows.



Ours was in a disposable cup but just as nice!

We did pull ourselves out the door, but the heat and humidity, lost us. Despite stepping in and out of several book stores, boutiques, and a couple name stores, and a patient wait for a couple Frappuccino’s at Starbucks, we headed back to the room for another relaxation break. Speaking of Starbucks, we would have much rather found somewhere more local, but I was surprised that we really didn't pass anything remotely independent, with the exception of the crowded coffee room in the book stores. Yet, there were three Starbucks in our 10 block walk, each backed almost out the doors with customers. I was disappointed that the streets and the little green space that surrounds the Dupont Circle wasn't crowded with city life-everyone appeared to be in Starbucks. Last year on this same business trip, I had a few hours to kill before having to be at the airport and spent them reading on a park bench, surrounded by people, barely being able to see the grass because of all the locals lounging on blankets and elbows. Even those that live regularly in warm weather have to succumb to the heat and humidity. We were greeted in the hotel lobby with a complimentary honey Jim beam and lemonade and an assortment of candy. It was a nice little touch on the afternoon.

Yum, tiki masala and na'an.

We ate at an uncrowded Indian restaurant; for the first 20 minutes, we were the only dinner customers. The food was delicious, and I can attest to anyone that doesn’t think vegetarian cooking will be hearty enough to meet their appetite, they only needed to see me waddling away from the table, having left food still uneaten. Spinach paneer, tiki masala, vegetable fritters, na'an, and sambosa's-I'm still full this monring. We got a brief reprieve from the humidity, as during dinner, the weather finally broke and it rained hard for about 45 minutes. We had a nice walk back to the hotel, though ended up walking a bit further, stopping for a beer that we both really were too full to enjoy. We were ready to call it a night, and headed back to the hotel, called home, and enjoyed the comfort of the room.

I'm sharing our day because in much of the reading I do about simple living, or decluttering your life, the impression is often left that simplicity means you should no longer or never enjoy some finer things in life. A little guilt steeps into the phrases used, and stories shared about how when the writer experienced something of luxury and splendor, they had to justify it as for a good cause, or they were a guest of a spend thrift friend that didn't get it, or when they arrived home, they would pay a toll by eating nothing but oatmeal for breakfast for a week. Simplicity should not be martyrdom. I do want to streamline everyday living, but not to taut a higher than thou zen like existence, but to better appreciate what I have, and who I spend my time with. This hotel and that dinner is not my normal life. I also have not had 24 hours of together time with my daughter in over a year-so that needed to be celebrated. The little splurging we've done was planned for, and we'll be back tomorrow in our norms. Today will be a last day of museums, snacking on street corner pretzels, and packing a couple granola bars to go with our complimentary beverage for the flight home. But for now, I'm going to kick back with all four pillows on my bed, sip my coffee, with real cream, and enjoy my morning.