Drink, Smell, And Be Well

Every once in a while a random thought triggers a blog post and then hours/days pass by and it goes unwritten. Gone are those days of wonderfully inspired, thoughtful posts. I guess it's just the season of streamed (un)consciousness I am in these days.

I'll just roll along with the few free minutes I have and go with it. We're wrapped up in this beautiful, wonderfully good season of Advent (my favorite) and I'm trying my best to take in what I can.

Let's just call these my current top 5 things that have rocked my December. Ready?

Sure, call me living-under-a-rock. Or call me a Minnesotan who hasn't a Dunkin' Donuts near her. My trip out east in October brought about a great enlightenment to the wonder that is Dunkin' Donuts. It may not be Starbucks, but to this hometown gal it's a step up from my el-cheapo coffee and my tastebuds are in heaven. It has become my 'splurge' item of which I delight in a cup both morning and afternoon. Add in my flavored creamer of the week and it brightens my day. What can I say? I'm easy to please.

Another enticing drink that found its way to my home last weekend was the Apple-Ahhh-Rita. Have you tried these little treats yet? I had found the Straw-Ber-Rita late summer and not being a beer drinker, but a fan of margaritas, I gave it a try. Oddly, I liked it. I see that the apple variety is a fall limited edition, but it's still in my local store. I also see they have a Mango and Raz (among other flavors) that I may need to taste test in order to choose my favorite. (Patty, I highly suggest heading to your nearest wet county and trying these)

Let's talk winter, shall we? With the onset of dry winter air and being indoors most of the time with the furnace running, we've entered dry skin season. Being that I have sensitive skin, I am especially prone to notice these changes. Literally, in the span of a day my facial skin suddenly dried out like crazy dry. I searched online for something that would quench my parched skin, but being that I also have oily skin I had to be picky on what to try. I found several recommendations for Nivea Creme on your face at nighttime. I found it at our local Walmart and decided to try it out. I'm happy I did! I slather it on after my nighttime face washing and it makes my face ready for the morning without making it overly greasy. I was fearful at first since it appears oily on the skin after application, but after working all night it's completely fine.

I even tried it on the cracked heels of my feet (I am almost always barefoot) and saw great improvement just over a few days.

What would winter be without cold and flu germs swirling about? I was convinced this fall that we were not going to fall stricken with any of those nasty germs this year. 2014 started out with nearly a month of colds/hacking coughs that wouldn't go away and I wasn't about to revisit that. I decided to stock my natural arsenal survival kit with essential oils to use topically as well as in our Fan Fuser diffusers. While we did just suffer through two weeks of that same early 2014 crud (might as well finish the year the way we started), the oils did help us to some degree. I think that being more on top of these things with consistent use will help build up our immunity. I found a bunch of the oils online at Amazon for a good price. I have been looking up their uses when symptoms pop up and the diffusers are mainly used at night in the bedrooms. Eight hours of natural oils should help build up that immunity and push aside at least some of those germs. I also found that I must be going through sinus issues and eucalyptus has become my new friend. A drop of it on rubbed around the edges of my nostrils a couple times a day and at bedtime has worked wonders for me.

Lastly, a wonderful smelly feel good scent in my kitchen, aside from the Christmas baking. Last Christmas I received a wax melt plug in and it has been one of my favorite gifts. Ever. I enjoy changing the scents and trying warm, homey smells all year 'round. I generally get the inexpensive ones that fill shelves at Walmart. Last week in the holiday section I had a hard time choosing just the right blends of holiday scents. I threw the Sparkling Berry Garland one in the cart and hoped it was a goody. It's definitely a keeper. With the right mix of evergreen and berry, it is my new seasonal favorite. I also see that it's a Limited Edition for 2014 so it seems I will need to stock up for future use. 

I hope that your Advent has been a peaceful one and you are enjoying this season of preparing our King.  May you find many ways to Rejoice this week.