shimmer, shine, and glow!

Isn't it lovely?
I've spent a good portion of the day beautifying my couch and loveseat. First, I gently cleaned and conditioned the leather of the seat cushions, allowing ample time for each to dry before continuing. Also, I cleaned and conditioned the leather on the back of each piece of furniture, as well as that on the inner portions of the sides and front. The wooden armrests, outer sides, and front bottom were then cleaned and polished using the specially treated cloth, fresh from its protective bag.
I did all of this using the Guardsman products supplied with the furniture...back in 2003.
No worries, I have plenty of the liquids still! You see, I probably haven't done this in six years.
That was the last real party I had here. Yes, indeed, back in February of 2008. I had invited quite a few women to the house, some family and close friends, others who were on the fringes of my social circles.
Why?
Well, "a woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do", to quote my BFF. And to do what she's gotta do, a woman needs the proper tools.
(wink, wink, nudge, nudge!)
Yes, my first social event as a divorced woman was to host one of those parties! Pure Romance was the group that my friend Amy had recommended and, after perusing their online catalogue to check out their selection, I agreed. It had been many years since I had shopped for toys, but I well recalled what I had liked back in my single days.
I had wanted to make a good impression on my guests, so I had spruced up the house.
Now, I was hosting the December Family Gathering, as I am calling it, and I feel the need to spruce up the house again. Admittedly, I tend to let things slide in the housework department. Sure, I sweep and wash dishes and do laundry and change the air filter every other month... but not much else.
Honestly, with just me here, the house doesn't suffer from neglect except for an occasional build-up of shed hair in the hall.
I have good habits to minimize the need for constant cleaning. My shoes usually come off as I enter the front door, so that keeps down the dirt input and the tracking-in off outside components. I wipe up spills as they occur, so no unsightly or sticky puddles are left to stain the floor.
There isn't even much dust! I'm generally the only one here to shed skin cells and I have no pets.
So, I'll be going through each room and spiffing it up prior to the pre-Christmas Gathering in three weeks. I probably won't do much with the pantry, but I don't expect folks to hang out in there, n'est-ce pa?
But the living room is ready and waiting!