4th Day in a Chic September

For the month of September I plan to document daily steps I have taken towards a chic, elegant and healthy life. My goal is to keep uppermost in my mind the kind of life I want to live. I will be focusing on the small things I do each day that lead me towards my goal, rather than away from it.



Here are today’s mini-chic accomplishments:



Aired the house out by opening every single window, upstairs and down in the morning, and closing them before it started cooling down to preserve heat mid-afternoon. At the same time I lit my vapouriser and burnt a French essential oil blend by Gault (‘Extrait Aqua 1’) given to me as a gift from my sister.



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Made my own spray-and-wipe all purpose cleaner from the following (I refilled a 500ml spray bottle).



Mix together:

1 tablespoon baking soda

2 drops dishwashing liquid

10 drops of tea tree oil

2 cups water



I’ve been through a few bottles and it seems to work just as well as chemical store-bought ones and the fragrance is a lot more natural. I shake it each time I use it just in case it has separated but I don’t know if I need to (the bottle is a dark colour). The only small issue with it is that there is a slight powdery residue, but I just wipe over with a teatowel when it’s dry.



I also want to try this one from Anthea Turner’s book How to be a Perfect Housewife, but first I have to hunt down laundry borax.



Mix together:

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons laundry borax

2 cups water

3 drops each of lavender and tea tree oils



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Continued with my healthy eating, and am now enjoying a glass of water rather than a brandy or wine, which I usually have on a Sunday. It's a shame, but I'm much more productive without a drink. Even one makes me not do anything.



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Tried a new recipe for twice-baked potatoes which was in today’s Sunday paper. I tweaked the recipe to make it healthy, so the filling was mashed with light cottage cheese, a little butter, grated Edam cheese and salt and pepper. We had them with crumbed and baked chicken pieces and coleslaw. Yum!



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If you feel like you want to make September a chic month for you as well, please join me. You are welcome to share your mini-chic accomplishments for the day (or the previous day if you read in the morning) in the comments section. It would be lovely to have you along for the ride!



Image from Martha Stewart Living