Marriage Chronicles: Backyard Date!

Hey everybody! Is it just me or is this year ZOOMING by? I cannot believe it’s already July. Where has the time gone? Well, my family just had our summer staycation and I certainly wish it was much longer. Be honest, if you have children, does it seem like your vacation is still just WORK? I mean I adore my (big) angels but cooking and serving folks don’t really seem like a vacay to me. To get away, the hubby and I frequent our backyard where we hang out until the weee hours in the morning in a screened tent strung with bistro lights. Basic yes, but I swear it seems to transport us. We have the best conversations there and I’ve grown to long for our Friday Nights in the tent.

While on vacay, we went to two restaurants and I must say I was extremely underwhelmed by the food. I don’t know if being on lockdown and preparing our own “restaurant” food at home has something to do with it but I found myself constantly tweaking the food and service in my head. Soooooo one day I decided to just plan a nice date night in our backyard to provide the service I think we both deserved in our favorite Friday night location.

I used items I had on hand at the house to pull off this casual chic tablescape. It was crisp enough to feel special but so laid back and comfortable. White cotton tablecloth, ivory and black napkins, black candle holders and black stoneware dishes. If you asked for one tip to romance -up a table, I would tell you to use candles. Candles are special.

We began with some light nibbles and cocktails. I grabbed some mozzarella and cheese wrapped in prosciutto, olives and cut up a baguette loaf for dipping. Just enough to enjoy before and after dinner.

Hubby had a craving for fried fish and grits so we added some asparagus to shuzh it up a bit. I also added chopped scallions to my grits for drama. lololol. This is backyard comfort food at its finest!

We finished our meal with a champagne toast and some cheesecake, then we talked until the candles burned out.

I really enjoy his company and I’m so glad we have our sweet Friday nights. I know I’m going to do dates like this more often because we had such a nice time. My goal going forward is to create a home and a life I don’t need a vacation from. One step at a time.

Until next time,

-K

Bath & Body Pop-Up Shop!

Hey everybody,

Seems like I haven’t chatted with you all in a while! My oldest son graduated this month and now that we have finally gotten all the celebrations done, I can focus on my new baby. Well this baby is actually a toddler now but whatever! My new baby is not an actual child, its my bath and body treats.

I love taking recipes from pinterest and tweaking them to make them my own. I have been making things for several years now, but never did I think of selling anything. I usually make them for myself or gifts for others, but never retail. This is a brand new area for me. My dear high school friend said to me “Where is your product line?….the packaging and the label are perfect! I would totally buy it!” I sat back and thought hmmmm. She may be onto something. So I took it to my hubby in a joking manner highlighting my known flakiness when it comes to my long list of hobbies and side hustles. He knows me best. He knows I love people but only in small doses. He knows I will love something and then put it down for a while after I get all the real life experience out of it. Expecting him to not be on board, shockingly he said “ Just do a Pop-Up shop! Make a set amount and when you sell out that’s it!!” Omg! That’s brilliant!! He’s Brilliant!!! And off I went to create my little empire.

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I love all my hobbies but this one allows me to rely solely on me. Not someone else’s ideas, budget, judgement, just me. I love that. My friend Ashley said “Kim, let me ask you a serious question. Will you stick with this after the pop-up shop? How do you see this going?” And I thought, let’s just see how this goes and I’ll tell you later. Although my knee jerk reaction was YESSSSS! ABSOLUTELY! I have learned from my other hobbies that you don’t know what you don’t know and its best to just go with the flow. So! That’s the back story. Now own to the fun part!

POP-UP SHOP DETAILS

Launch Date: Monday, June 7th

Time: 12:00 Noon EST

Where: Online - www. thegracioushostess.com - There will be a tab labeled Shop!

Payment: Paypal Only (at the moment). Of course you can message me for cashapp, zelle, etc.

Delivery: There is a shipping charge, but I do offer free local Savannah delivery

PRODUCT DETAILS

The products we’re offering this go round are bath truffles, bath salts, body wash, body butter, soap, shimmer oil, healing butter, and beard balm. I’ve included a few of my favorites below.

Green Tea Body Wash

Strawberry Bubbly Bath Truffle

Berry & Rosewater Soap

Bronze Shimmer Body Oil

Lavender Grapefruit Bath Salts

Oatmeal Honey Soother Soap (Eczema Friendly)

I hope you find something you like and thank you to everyone that has oooohed and ahhhh a photo for me throughout this whole process. You will never know how encouraging you really are! Who knows? If this goes well, maybe we can make it a permanent thing! Here’s Hoping!

Until next time,

-K

A Change of A Dress

Hey everybody! I tell you, the first quarter of the year is always a whirlwind for me. Jam packed with birthdays and anniversary celebrations. We had even more to celebrate this year with the birth of my grand niece and my oldest son’s upcoming graduation. Now that the dust is slowly settling, I can get back to myself and all things girly.

I wanted to take a moment to reflect on all the things I love about my femininity. I’m all for equality but I completely adore all of my womaness. Our softness, our tremendous strength that isn’t normally reflected by the size of physical muscles, our ability to create more with anything we’re given, our flexibility, creativity, and most of all, our CURVES. It shocks me to this day to remember how much of a tomboy I was growing up. I still am to a degree but nowadays, its more like a refined tomboy. Seems fitting for a mother of two boys.

Its so easy to step out of my tomboy mindset though with a simple change of a dress. My love affair with dresses happened just a short time ago. It’s a complete outfit in itself! One piece and done! My second favorite thing about dresses is that you can choose something as comfortable or as structured as you prefer. Especially the ones that make your curves sing! Today we’re checking out my more recent spring additions to the dress family and the relaxed mood they reflect.

Crisp White Linen

Dress - H&M, Earrings - Ginen Wrap , Bracelets - Amazon, Shoes - Jessica Simpson

Calming Blue

Dress - H&M

Burst of Color

Dress - Target, Hat - Forever 21

Earthy Olive

Dress - Venus

Terracotta Eyelet

Dress - Old Navy

I’m loving all the beautiful sundresses in the rich earthy tones. My vibe right now is elevated comfort. I’m not interested in wearing any form of spanx right now. So if you’re with me, give me a Yassss Honey!

Until next time,

-K

DIY Saturdays : Bath & Body Products

Hey everybody! I know it seems like its been forever but I have been totally consumed with all things baby. My grand niece Ellarhi was born in February and I must admit, every ounce of my free time has been spent with her or doing something for her. She is so incredibly adorable and I’m enjoying every minute of seeing her cute little face. My hubby tapped me on the shoulder and said, Mrs. Kim, you gotta come up for air. He’s right.

Sooooo since I needed to get my niece Nygeria something to celebrate for her new role as Mommy, I thought why not make some bath and body products I’ve been itching to try from pinterest! What a great idea and the act of making the products was so therapeutic for me too.

The three products I chose were a Green Tea Body Wash, Body Shimmer Spray, and Strawberries & Champagne Body Butter. Like I said, the original recipes were from pinterest but of course I tweaked them to suit me better. I always scout for super easy recipes because I’m into instant gratification. How about you? Lolololol.

I’ve included my recipes below so you too can get in on the DIY fun. All my bottles and products were purchased from Amazon and the cool minimalist labels I customized and downloaded from an Etsy template (please forgive my typo there on the label, I wasn’t into perfect that day). You should give these a try and let me know what you think.

Green Tea Body Wash

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp Green tea, leaves (finely crushed)

• 1 1/4 cup Honey, raw

• 1 1/4 cup Coconut oil

• 50 drops Essential oil (Your choice)

• 6 tbsp Shea butter

• 1 1/2 cup Liquid castile soap

Instructions

1.       In a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil and stir in the tea leaves (finely crushed). Let simmer on low for 20 minutes.

2.       Add the shea butter and stir until just melted. Turn off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

3.       When the mixture has cooled slightly, add in the remaining ingredients and whisk everything together.  I used a regular hand whisk.

4.       Pour into a soap dispenser or lidded jar. Shake before each use.

Body Shimmer Spray

Ingredients

·         1 60ml glass perfume bottle

·         4 teaspoons alcohol-free coconut witch hazel

·         10 drops essential oil of your choice (optional)

·         4 teaspoons fractionated coconut oil

·         2 teaspoons gold mica powder

·         2 teaspoons distilled water (approximately to fill)

Instructions

1. I used a random empty jar to do my mixing.  Add 4 teaspoons of coconut witch hazel, 10 drops of essential oil, then pour 4 teaspoons of fractionated coconut oil into the mixture and swirl.

2. Next, slowly scoop 2 teaspoons of the gold mica powder into the mixture.  Then Swirl it around to combine.

3. Transfer your mixture to your perfume bottle and fill the bottle with approximately 2 teaspoons of distilled water.

4. Place the spray top and cap on the bottle. Then give it a good swirl to combine.  

Note: The mica powder will settle to the bottom when not in use. Simply swirl it a bit before each application.  I also learned that to control the placement, I sprayed it in my hand first and then rubbed on the desired spot.  Be mindful that shimmer will transfer to other items at times.

This was my most favorite recipe because I cannot believe it actually smells like Strawberries and Champagne. Perfect for all things romance. (Please forgive my typo there on the label, I wasn’t into perfect that day.) 

Strawberries & Champagne Body Butter

Ingredients

·         1 cup coconut oil

·         5-6 drops Vitamin E oil

·         1 teaspoon strawberry flavoring oil

·         10 drops Champagne flavoring or Extract

·         Optional – pink soap colorant

Instructions

1.       Add the coconut oil, Vitamin E oil, strawberry oil and Sparkling Wine flavoring to a medium mixing bowl. (The coconut oil must be in a solid state before whipping.)

2.       Beat with an electric mixer on medium high speed until light and fluffy.

3.       If you love the pink shade, add a drop of soap colorant to the mixture. This is totally optional.

4.       Transfer to an airtight container for use up to 3 months.

 Well there you have it folks. This was so much fun and my boys even commended me on how well they turned out. Be sure to let me know how yours turn out!

Until next time,

-K