I often complain about not having enough time. But perhaps I am just not appreciative enough of the time I do have.

In an effort to be more optimist about the time I do have, I am writing this post to illustrate how I can and do appreciate it.

The most luxurious luxuries of all is time.

Sunday is the one day of the week where I have that luxury. And so I love to spend all that luxurious time allowing myself to indulge in other little luxuries, since, well, I have the time to do so!

Sunday for Chéri and I starts with a nice long sleep-in until around 11:00, then breakfast in bed with a pair of folding trays that we received for Christmas from his parents. (It was my favorite gift, believe me!)

We usually watch Jon Stewart on streaming to make sure we are kept up-to-date with American politics.

Once we have had our fill of yankee humor, soft boiled eggs, toast, jam and mariage frères tea (currently we are sipping their “black magic” blend), we allow ourselves extra time in the shower which offers me the chance to enjoy things like fancy bath gels. I am using up a little bottle of lilac, rose and geranium mix by Abahna that we found in a lovely boutique on a recent weekend trip to Brussels. This lovely bath essentials company excels in creating products for the “ceremony of bathing” as they call it. I save the bottle just for use on Sundays so that I can enjoy the scent and the lather to its fullest.

The afternoon is filled with Internet browsing, blogging, snuggling and grand plans to go out to the cinema in the evening (that we often thwart in favor of remaining cozy in our happy Sunday cocoon at home. This is what the winter can turn us into! But then how can we resist the delights of afternoon tea : I am crazy about Pierre Marcolini’s cocoa infusions. I have the cocoa/cinnamon blend and it is to die for! Especially for a dairy intolerant person like me! You get all of the taste of a cinnamon hot chocolate but without the calories and the pain of digesting dairy. It is a fantastic Sunday luxury for the cold dreary months in Paris. There is also a rose flavored one which I need to try, and I would love to see him create a cocoa and bergamote flavored infusion….
If the weather is nice we like to go stroll, sometimes in the Marais, sometimes in the warm months we head to the bois de Vincennes and maybe take a paddle around the lake on a row boat. But we take it easy and enjoy our time together without the rush of work and life.

These little luxuries are how we take care of ourselves after a long and fatiguing week packed full of rendez-vous and meetings, long work days and the mental stress of whatever is currently trying our patience, be it career related, finance related, life related, family related… It doesn’t have to be much or wildly expensive the, these small ways of taking care of yourself. But it is highly recommended to find your own little ritual to resource yourself and find a way to stock up happy endorphins in order to face the week ahead.

How do you treat yourself on Sundays or on your day to relax from the week (and the world)? What do you do with the time you have for yourself?

.

Project Optomism is an effort launched by fellow bloggers, and you can see my first post in my own optimist series here where I explain what it is.