My husband and I were both very busy with work. We hardly had time for each other because I would get home late from work and he would leave very early in the morning. So for our anniversary this year we decided to take a few days off and go out of town for the weekend. We found a cozy inn facing the lake where we could stay.

As I packed for our trip, I bought a soy candle, some new lingerie and massage oils. I preferred a soy candle over other scented candles because they are organic and environment friendly.

Furnishing a baby girl room will probably be one of the most enjoyable projects that you will embark on. It is as if you are decorating for yourself, if only you had the chance to do it as a baby. Personally, I’d prefer a baby girl’s room to be a bit shabby chic. I’d put in a lot of whites with patterns that mimic early fabric designs. Floral designs in pink, salmon or peach will be my choice.

The blankets and sheets will be of the same colors. I will incorporate soft lace on the baby girl bedding; the kind that are made of cotton so it will not irritate the baby’s skin. They will, in fact, become softer the more you wash them. This will be the kind of room that I will have if I had my way as a baby. I hope this new baby will like it as much as I do.

Make a toast to the past wonderful years together on your wedding anniversary. Cook a nice dinner for your husband and ask your parents or in-laws to look after the kids overnight. Decorate your home to create a romantic setting when he comes home from work. Dim the electric lamps and light some candles instead.

Chill the champagne glasses and wine in advance. Don’t forget to prep yourself up to look your best. Plan this surprise in advance to make sure that there will be no hitches on the night of its execution.

Generally females regardless of age always find time to bond with their girlfriends. First there was the “girls night out” wherein girlfriends dine out, bar hop or both. Now, we have a booming “girls night in” craze that is generating its own ardent followers. “Girls night in” is a pajama party can be spiced up into thematic bonding that includes but not limitted to the following:

~SPArty – spa treatments in the comforts of a girlfriend’s home, a pottery pitcher full of green tea lemonade and carrot sticks;
~Awards Nights – watching the Oscars/Golden Globes/SAG together.
~Chick Flicks Marathon – DVD watching: He’s Just Not That Into You, Mona Lisa Smile, Ever After, Now & Then, Mama Mia, 27 Dresses, Pretty Woman while having lots of nachos, salsa and jalapenos too!
~Cranium Nights – a battle of the wits over Cranium game, plus cappuccino and pastries.
~Videoke/Karaoke Fest – with the ever reliable magic sing, bottle of wine and some feta cheese.

As always, girls just wanna have fun!

Let your mementos take center stage in your chosen rooms of the house. House them in decorative wall shelves that are great embellishments in themselves. Mix and match collectible items to achieve the most attractive look. Decorative wall shelves all offer a finish look to complete the pretty picture you want to show.

Decorating using wall shelves is one excellent design solution. This is particularly effective when you need storage in tight spaces. Wall shelves also help break the monotony of bare walls. Find a great selection of these decorative wall shelves available in a variety of designs, colors and materials.

I got married in September of 2006. My wife and I got our share of fine china as well as decorative glass plates. Since I love to cook, I appreciated any gifts that had anything to do with food. When it was time to register for gifts, I was the one who picked the china, knives and cookware. What I didn’t get as gifts, I bought after I got married.

I first learned how to cook by watching my mom. She would volunteer to cook every time there’s a family gathering. Sometimes we even cooked for a hundred people. She would put the food in decorative glass plates that made it more appetizing. Everybody loves my mom’s cooking. I also learned that no matter how good your food was, it always helped to place them nicely on beautiful serving plates. This made your food look like it could compete with restaurant food.

Some people say that most women resort to shopping as if it is some kind of therapy. No wonder we now have a breed of women referred to as shopaholics. However, there are also activities at home that can make you unwind and de-stress. Tending the garden, making a scrapbook of tattered photos, preparing jams and sauces, re-applying lacquer paints to candle wall sconce, fixing ceramic vases and tidying up the Christmas decors are among those many activities that gives a sense of serenity and relaxation to some women.

For some men, being engrossed fixing car engines and mowing the lawn gives them a sense of calm. Some finds peace by simply walking the dogs or tidying up a room. Thus, whenever you’re stressed and needs to calm down, engage yourself into simple household chore that gives therapeutic effects. Adorning your home with décor will not only put you in a relax mood but will likely give you a sense of achievement.

I love looking at old houses. I find ancestral homes interesting. The furniture and the layouts of old homes are nothing like the modern homes we have now. I visited an old house last week in the province. At the entrance there was a wrought iron coat rack for the men to hang their coats in.

Inside the house, there was massive furniture all over. The dining tables were huge and the living rooms looked like mini ballrooms. There was also a basement that was used as a storage area. Most of the visitors were asked not to touch anything. At the end of the tour, we went to get our coats from the massive wrought iron coat rack at the entrance.

In more advanced countries, electric or automated dishwasher is a permanent kitchen appliance in every household. In the Philippines though washing dishes the traditional way is not yet a thing of the past. Most Filipinos still prefer to clean their dishes using a sponge and dishwashing soap. However, folks in some provinces especially those with meager income, uses the remnants of their laundry detergents to wash their dishes. While the urban dwellers, who patronize popular dishwashing liquid soap, are now trying natural dishwasher detergent that are beginning to sprout in the supermarkets.

Another household item that is still common in the Philippines is soft brooms or ‘walis tambo” in Filipino. The “walis tambo” is made from tiger grass or “talahib” bundled together and then attached to a 2-ft slim wood that serves as the handle. It is a permanent cleaning gadget present in every Filipino household. Whether in wooden floors or tiled pavements this soft broom is convenient to use in sweeping dusts, paper wastes and similar litters.

There are reasons why feather or down is sought after in bed accessories. Feathers are soft and excellent at trapping heat. Thus, they are favorite fillers for winter clothing, sleeping bags and quilted coats. We know them more as fillers for high end beddings that include pillows, blankets, comforters and duvets. Feathers have a great loft, or the ability to expand from a compressed state and trap large amounts of insulating air. Feathers vary in quality, the most sought after being those taken from Eider ducks from Iceland.

There is a wide range in the quality of down beddings available. There are those made from a combination of feathers and down, those made from down alone and those made from synthetic down alternatives. A synthetic micro fiber thermal insulation material that was developed for the US Army is an alternative goose down insulation which is effective even when wet. Today, a down alternative comforter set is widely used. It provides warmth in cold weather but is reasonably priced.