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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 30 – What Our Feelings May Be Telling Us
May 19, 2020 Day 30 is titled “Focus On Creating Your Own Beautiful Life” in 30 More Chic Days by Fiona Ferris. In this chapter, Fiona discusses that not-so-delightful feeling of envy that can occur when we start comparing our life, activities and/or possessions with someone else’s life, activities and stuff. Fiona mentions this dynamic in her first book, 30 Chic Days, (which I reviewed here.) In this chapter, Fiona approaches the topic of envy from a slightly different angle. She writes about how she started comparing her life with someone else and felt that her own life seemed a bit boring. She began to feel unmotivated and that everything…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 27 – Our Strengths Can Help
May 16, 2020 Day 27 is “Choose To Look and Feel Amazing” in 30 More Chic Days by Fiona Ferris. Fiona writes about her efforts to make the habit of healthy eating feel fun and exciting. She also wanted to find a way to make eating junky food much less attractive. She used several mental tools to accomplish her goal: reframing, creating a positive future vision for herself and leveraging an already developed mindset. “Choose to look and feel amazing” is a good title for today – I write this tongue-in-cheek – because I do NOT look nor feel amazing right at this moment. My hair is pulled back into…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 23 – Those “Grey” Days
May 12, 2020 “Know How To Lift Your Mood” is Day 23 in Fiona Ferris’s book, 30 More Chic Days. Fiona discusses how to approach those “grey” times in our lives when we don’t feel dreadful, don’t feel good, just feel sort-of “blah.” We’re not struggling to survive WW2 and we’re not feeling that “singing in the rain” buoyant joyfulness. We’re not battling clinical depression (that’s something much more serious) yet the day seems to be just dreary. Everything seems like a bit too much effort and who really cares, anyway? When our friends ask us where our positive spin on the world has gone, we are more likely to…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 9 – Channel Chanel
April 28, 2020 “Have a Closet Like Coco” is the title for Day 9 in Fiona Ferris’s book, 30 More Chic Days. Fiona writes that Coco Chanel can give us a few pointers for living the chic life of our dreams. Coco created a unique, specific style vision for herself and she lived according to that vision. What the rest of the world was doing and wearing was not important to her. Coco’s style was comfortable, distinctive and timeless. Her color palette was flattering and consistent. She created a style that suited her preferences and her lifestyle and stuck with it throughout her life. What can we learn from…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 30 – A Feast of the Senses
“Immerse Yourself In Sensuous Beauty” is Day 30 in Fiona Ferris’s book, 30 Chic Days. In this final day of the book, Fiona asks us to mentally step out of our preoccupations and step into the physical world. By paying attention to our senses, we become more appreciative of the world around us and feel happier and more connected to our lives. We accomplish this by focusing on our individual senses. Fiona gives examples of different ways we can enjoy our different senses in our everyday life. She lists beautiful ways we can provoke a sensory moment through sight, sound, feel, smell, and taste. She introduces two more senses: intuition…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 28 – More Chocolate, Please.
In Fiona Ferris’s book, 30 Chic Days, Fiona calls Day 28, “Think of Your Home As If It Were A Boutique Hotel.” She gives a collection of really good ideas to get us up and moving to keep our space in a lovely condition. Fiona’s idea is that when our personal space is tidy and clean, we feel happier, more relaxed and can engage with life in a more positive way. I do agree with her. A lot, in fact. You wouldn’t be able to deduce that, however, from the state of my apartment today. Yes, my lovely, chic Paris apartment (that I share with my husband and our two…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 27 – Create!
Fiona Ferris, in her book, 30 Chic Days, labels Day 27 “Embrace Creativity and Enjoy the Benefits.” In this chapter, Fiona writes about the fun and freedom that she experiences when she loses herself in her creative crafting hobbies. She finds that she feels better – both calmer and more resilient – when she keeps her creative time a high priority in her schedule. Fiona asks us to think back to when we were about 10 or 12 years old – what did we love to do? Whatever it was, the key parts of it are probably the things that we still enjoy doing today. When I was around 10-11…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 26 – Making Magic in Ordinary
“Make Every Day Magical” is the title for Day 26 in Fiona Ferris’s book, 30 Chic Days. Fiona encourages us to notice this day and this moment. There is some part of today that is special right now. She writes that sometimes we can become so “big occasion” focused that we miss out on the many magical moments that are happening all around us. Fiona writes that paying attention to the little good things in her day as well as having small and medium-sized occasions to look forward to increases her overall enjoyment of life. Fiona’s experience is echoed by Gretchen Rubin in her book, The Happiness Project. Gretchen writes…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 24 – Feeling Luxurious in Everyday Life
“Live a Life of Luxury” is the title for Day 24 in Fiona Ferris’s book, 30 Chic Days. Fiona writes about how she brainstormed a list of what she considered her dreamiest “luxurious life” features. As she looked at her list, she realized that many of them she could implement right then – she didn’t have to wait for that someday, one day winning lottery ticket! In Fiona’s experiment, she saw that time to devote to her favorite pursuits was one of her most luxurious-feeling treats. Well, we all get 24 hours (1440 minutes) in a day. Nothing more, nothing less. Fiona saw where she could modify a few of…
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A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 17 – Self-Care, Community & Video Conferencing
In Fiona Ferris’s Book, 30 Chic Days, the title of Day 17 is “Take Exquisite Care of Your Grooming.” In this chapter, Fiona discusses some ideas and tips on skincare. An interesting point that she makes is that when we take a few moments each day for simple acts of self-care, we reinforce our own knowledge that we are worth spending time on. The meaning behind the few moments in the morning to reach for the skin lotion which also contains SPF, or, in the evening, to apply the night-time extra moisturizing cream not only enriches and protects our skin but also enriches and protects our self-view. So, whatever…