Ramblin' Rose

I've always said I want to live in the kind of home that when folks pass by, they have the feeling that hot tea is on the stove, and really good cookies are an easy find in the kitchen. I love warmth. And sugar. And company.

So it's humorous to me that my current home is a glass box in a high-rise building. But I love lots of light and clean lines just as much as I dig cozy.

When I moved last year from a little bungalow to this condominium, I wrote in the sales contract of the first home that I wanted to take with me just two things...and it wasn't a chandelier or mirror. Rather, it was two specific rose bushes that I just couldn't leave behind. I transplanted them into pots on my condo balcony, and one in particular - the scrawniest little fighter - has begun to produce the fragrant, apricot-colored, full and drapey blooms that so warranted its inclusion in a real estate contract.

Most folks wouldn't consider roses a likely landscaping element in a modern environment. But love often trumps the status quo. And I tend to jump up and down when that happens.

Like me, this old-school rose lives happily in a modern container, and delights in the sunshine and breeze and constant construction to be found in the city below.

Normally, this blog tells you about people, places and things that I think are worth your time and cash to experience. Today, however, I'm encouraging you to buy you. Allow yourself the kind of zing that comes from embracing your soul's clearest requests - no matter how insignificant seeming, or different from everyone you know. You'll like who you see in the mirror afterwards, I guarantee it.

And following your heart goes great with hot tea and cookies, so that's a lovely way to celebrate.

Love,

Melinda