Five Simple Pleasures From September

September is always a busy month for me. I'm usually clearing out a house or two in preparation for sale. I'm often setting clients up in their new homes. I fit in my smaller ongoing clients, my own family's needs, AND schedule everything around the Jewish High Holidays. Simply put, September can get hectic. Not that I'm complaining! I've learned that I often do my best work when my back's against the wall.

In looking back, I have identified five things that made this busy month pleasurable. For no other reason, other than I thought it would be fun, I am sharing my September list with you!

Here goes!

1. Oven Fried Chicken Wings

I've been making chicken wings for a while, but nothing hits home like being stressed about dinner, then remembering that I have three packs of party wings in the fridge ready to be transformed into an easy dinner. Oven Fried Chicken Wings wings were worth their weight in gold in this busy September! We made salt & pepper chicken wings. We made lemon pepper chicken wings. We made orange sesame chicken wings. Sometimes I simply coated them with a spice rub, drizzled them with olive oil, and tossed them in the oven. Easy Peasy! I like to serve the wings alongside a platter of crudités, or a tossed salad, or creamy coleslaw. Whatever I have in the fridge! Check out @wholekitchensink and @nomnompaelo on Instagram for recipes and ideas!

Whole Kitchen Sink Salt & Pepper Wings https://www.wholekitchensink.com/

2. Liquid Refreshment Breaks

Along with being a busy month, September is generally a hot month. "Fogust" is over and the Bay Area begins experiencing the higher temps of Indian Summer. If you follow me on Instagram Stories, you'll know that Madeline, my incredible assistant on my larger jobs, and I started a practice of making afternoon pit stops at the nearest Peet's for Iced Green Tea. Oh my goodness! This is THE MOST refreshing beverage ever created! I get happy just thinking about it! Stop in and try one. You won't be disappointed!

Peet's Iced Green Tea

The other drink I became obsessed with in September is all of GT's Living Foods fruit sweetened kombuchas. I don't drink kombuchas with cane sugar, but there are a several fruit sweetened ones that are all delicious! I like to drink my "booch" on afternoons when I'm coming home from the grocery store and need to refresh myself before putting away the groceries and making dinner. Yum!

My favorite flavor!

3. Mixing My Favorite Makeup Base With My Favorite Tinted Sunscreen

I waxed poetic a few months ago about my love for It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream. What I haven't talked about is my equal love for CoTZ FACE Natural Tinted sunscreen. Both have high SPFs, but one gives a bit too much coverage for daytime, and the other doesn't give enough. So, in early September I got the bright idea to mix them half and half - and I'm still patting myself on the back! A cosmetic match made in heaven! Perfect, natural-looking coverage that protects me from sun exposure, evens out my skin tone, and doesn't look greasy!

4. Fall-ish Lip Colors

I bought two new lip colors in September to welcome the change of seasons. One is a nude, and the other is a little deeper. I feel like I'm too old for a major lipstick moment, especially matte lipsticks, but I have been loving the newer sheer lipsticks that I've been seeing at the drugstore. The two I picked up are L'Oreal Paris Colour Riche Shine Lipstick in Glossy Fawn, $7.99, and Maybelline Color Sensational Shine Compulsion Lipstick in Taupe Seduction, $5.99. Both lip colors give a a pretty wash of color, not too much, not too little (which now that I think about it, seems to have been the theme of September, lol) and have an almost balmy feel!

5. The Life Changing Magic of Getting Rid of Your Crap on NextDoor

After Yom Kippur, I found myself with the time, space, and most important, the ENTHUSIASM to do some work around my own home. The situation here is often like the cobbler's children who go barefoot. But I woke up on a Saturday and realized that I had two days to do garden clean up and tackle the garage. And for some crazy, inexplicable reason, I was actually psyched! Seriously, I was a woman with a mission! Day one I cleaned up the front garden and dealt with the flotsam and jetsam that was hanging around the front of my house. I puttered around, then put a bunch of garden related itmes on my curb. It suddenly occurred to me that I could snap a photo and list a curb alert on NextDoor. So I did. And I kid you not. Within 15 minutes it was all GONE! The next day, I cleaned out the garage. I kept putting things out on the curb until I had enough to take a photo and list it on NextDoor. This time it took a few hours for most of the stuff to be snapped up. By the time I got up the next day, everything was gone! I have a few good tips if you'd like to try this for yourself. List your curb alert earlier in the day on a weekend day, always add a photo or two, and give your curb alert a title. I used "Garden Supplies" and "Organizational Items." Honestly, the ability to get rid of my crap without leaving my home feels like magic!