The little things

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

Not that you would know it to look at me, but I'm really not a gal who like flash. I'm not a big fan of "stuff" and the saying "He who dies with the most toys wins" is foreign and absurd to me.

I think I've always been this way but it was truly cemented when I saw how horrible and bitter the estate battle got after Chrissy died. Her parents went to war over her stuff and spent thousands and thousands of dollars on lawyers. All over physical possessions which I know in life made her happy but she could have done without.  To see them attack each other over and over was jarring especially since I know both these people to be level headed and extremely bright.

A long time ago, Mike and I decided that we didn't want "stuff" we weren't going to spend our money on material things but we wanted to do things, go places, have experiences.

That is exactly what we've done. Our apartment has almost no furniture, what we do have are hand me downs, I don't go for designer clothing or accessories and most of our shopping is done on EBAY.

We do however take 4 trips to Disney each year, we go to Hershey for Halloween, the kids and I go to the Berkshires, Mike and I take as many overnights as we can. I always have my camera and I'm always taking pictures wherever we go.

For me, it's always been the smaller quiet gestures. The simple, unfussy gifts that make me most happy.

When Mike and I were dating early on, somewhere I'd mentioned that I LOVE Swedish fish.  Months later he came to me bearing a bag of Swedish fish telling me he knew I loved them.
I was blown away. That he had remembered a throw away comment made in a long forgotten conversation about a favorite candy meant more to me than if he had presented me with a diamond ring.
It meant he went out of his way to find something that would make me happy. That in itself is an amazing gift.

For my birthday, a friend got me this wonderful flouncy apron with skulls all over it. It's very girly till you get a closer look. She said she saw it and immediately thought of me.
Another very good pal got me a gluten free pastry cookbook. She said she thought of the Lion with my attempts to do as much of a gluten free diet for him as possible and my love of baking. She had remembered conversations we had had, saw something and it made her think of me.

Chrissy & I were forever doing that for each other. We would often buy very small items that made of think of the other at random times. It was our small way of saying "I love you and I'm thinking about you"

Mike went to DC this past week and he fell in love with the city. He sent me some photos from his phone:

These were places, things, moments that made him think of me. Places he wanted to share with me. Enough to take a picture to bring home to me.

He came home with a bottle of blue glitter glow in the dark nail polish for me. He saw it and thought of me.

That means more to me, knowing that in his busy day he took the time to think of me, that he saw something that reminded him of me.

You can keep your furs and diamonds and name brands. Give me the small powerful gestures. The personalized moments and things.  Those are the things that make me most happy.