Listen To A Whole Album

image from Pixabay

The other night my husband and I watched the making of American Idiot - the musical.  For those of you who don't know,  it is a musical based on an album by Green Day.  We got to talking about really good albums.  (I'm showing my age by calling them albums.)  These days we listen to Pandora or songs on iTunes on our iPhones.  We rarely listen to whole albums.

image from Pixabay

It got me curious to see if American Idiot won a Grammy for album of the year when it was released.  It didn't - Ray Charles won.  Looking back at the list of album of the year was fun.  Here are some highlights:

Links take you to YouTube videos of the whole albums!

1972 - Tapestry - Carol King - definitely worth listening to the whole album
1978 - Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
1979 - Saturday Night Fever - Bee Gees
1981 - Christopher Cross beat out Pink Floyd's The Wall - not sure how that happened.
1984 - Thriller - Michael Jackson...Synchronicity - The Police was also nominated - one of my favs!
1988 - The Joshua Tree - U2
The 90's are a bit of a wash for me except for  Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette
2003 - Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
2012 - Adele - 21

Simple Pleasure -Flowers

This week my suggestion is that you buy flowers.  I don't do this every week, but I know I feel better on the weeks that I do.  It is one little touch that can make your life feel not so ordinary.

My ordinary person/realistic tip is to buy alstomeria.  They last forever!  I used them as my wedding flower for this reason.

http://photographyatelier.net

What are your favorite flowers?

Simple Decor - Blending Old With New

Photo by Melody Augustin

One of the nicest compliments I ever got was, "I have never seen antiques displayed so tastefully, before."  My husband and I both love antiques, but the danger comes in having too many.  I think the key to displaying antiques is to choose your favorites, then mix them in with new items.

Photo by Melody Augustin

In this picture I mixed an old bottle with a simple, modern vase.  I love the trend of displaying old windows, but they can look too beat up.  The window I have displayed is from Target.  I found it in the frame section.

Photo by Melody Augustin

In this picture you see a piece of old crown molding.  I got my husband to add some hooks and hang it above our bed.  I made it look more up to date by hanging pennants from it.

Photo by Melody Augustin

We love using old chests as tables.  It looks like our cat does, too.

I leave you with this challenge.  If  you have all brand new decor, try mixing in an old piece.  If you have lots of antiques, try editing a few pieces out.

Simple Pleasure - Candles - Tea Lights

Photo by Melody Augustin

"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness."

 Eleanor Roosevelt

Sometimes after a stressful day, it can be calming to just light some candles.  Candles can get expensive and messy, though.  My tip is to buy tea light candles.  You can switch out scents,  rather than wait for a larger candle to burn out.  Tea lights are also cleaner than votives.  My current favorite scent is from the Threshold brand at Target - Eucalptus.  What are some of your favorite scents?

Photo by Melody Augustin