Fabulous Friday #13: Lush

As if relaxing baths aren't fabulous enough by themselves, baths enhanced with Lush products are even more so. I was introduced to the fabulousness that is Lush last week while shopping at Penn Square Mall with my dear friend Shawna. We were on our way to Victoria's Secret (semi-annual sale, you know) when Shawna suddenly stopped short. "I think we need to go in this store," she said, pointing to the newly opened Lush. "I think I've been there before, but in London. I didn't know they had them here, though." That, and the wonderful fragrance emanating from the store, was enough to pique my interest. The super friendly salesgirl confirmed Shawna's suspicions that we were, in fact, standing in a store that sold the very same products Shawna had fallen in love with across the pond.

Since I was a Lush newbie, the sweet salesgirl showed us around the store, letting us sample new products and tickle our noses with floral, fruity, and all-around fabulous scents. I was a bit overwhelmed at the massage bar station; I wanted them all. There's one with cinnamon and aduki beans, one shaped like a honeycomb, and a glittery one shaped like lips. But the one I ended up with was a strawberry-shaped and scented bar called Strawberry Feels Forever.

The massage bar does just that---gives a light massage---but also moisturizes. This is great because applying lotion after a shower is the main reason I dread getting in the shower. But enough about that. If you visit Lush (and you must), you should definitely check out the massage bars. They will change your life.
Besides that, though, I also found a birthday gift for my best friend, and Shawna bought me a Rose Queen bath bomb. The bomb fizzed on impact with the water, turned my bathwater a pretty pink color, and released beautiful rose petals.

Can you say best bath ever?

Seriously, if you're looking for a great gift for a shower, birthday, or any holiday---or if you just want a nice, relaxing, midweek getaway---head to Lush. Be prepared to feel fabulous!

Doggy Don't

As of late, I have had a few cooking mishaps, most involving my dog. You remember my dog? The one I adore, the one I devoted an entire Meet and Greet Monday to? Well, in recent weeks, I haven't been too happy with my usually loveable pup. Allow me to explain.

Mishap #1: For our office Secret Santa, participants were supposed to make or bake something for our Secret Santa rather than spending a lot of money on buying a gift. For this reason, we each filled out a questionnaire listing a few of our favorite things (now you're singing the song, aren't you?). My Secret Santa (I'm not sure that both parties are called Secret Santas, but I have no idea what the recipient would be called [other than a recipient], so just go with it) indicated that she liked raspberries. I can't craft to save my life, so I immediately thought of baking her something. And I knew just the thing: raspberry thumbprint cookies.

I had never made them before, but I found a recipe on Pinterest (where else?) and set about making them a couple nights before we were to reveal our made and baked gifts. The cookies aren't hard to make, but the dough does have to chill for an hour before the cookies can be baked.

Luckily I had another batch of cookies to make (for another office holiday party) and my friend Shawna to keep me company while I not so patiently waited for the dough to chill. Fast forward an hour and some-odd minutes, and all the cookies were baked and cooling on the counter. I had separated the SS cookies from the ones I would keep and stupidly left the SS cookies closest to the front. [note: I separated the cookies because many (way too many) of them didn't really look so good.] Shawna and I realized we needed something for a Christmas gift we were making and ran to Walmart.

Upon our return, Shawna immediately noticed that some of the SS cookies were gone. Deuce was sitting innocently on the chair, looking rather satisfied. After a thorough examination of the remaining cookies, I deduced that Deuce had eaten a dozen raspberry thumbprint cookies. I promptly sent him to my bedroom to think about what he had done and then realized that I would have to whip up another batch. Needless to say, I was quite unhappy with Deuce Wayne. (Yes, he has a middle name; it comes in handy for times such as this, when he's being a brat.) In the end, it worked out for me because the cookies were absolutely delicious and I ended up having many cookies all to myself, once I finally got the proper amount of decent-looking cookies for my SS.

Mishap #2: My dear friends Shawna and Laura bought me a mini-pie maker for Christmas, one that I had been eying for months. I finally got the chance to try that bad boy out a few days ago and was so excited that my mini apple pies came out looking exactly like the ones on the box. That never happens to me, so I was expecting a pie fairy to swoop in and give me an award or make me Pie Queen for a day. Sadly, that never happened.

But back to the pie-making process. I actually remembered to take pictures as I went because I planned on blogging about my wonderful Christmas gift that keeps on giving. I got a picture of the four dainty circles of pie dough just waiting to be put in to the pie maker. I got one of the scrumptious apple pie filling. I did not get one of the filled pies waiting for their top crust because by that point the pie maker was already baking the bottom crust. I didn't figure I had time for one more photo and just thought I'd wait until the (hopefully) gorgeous pies were finished baking. [note: I did not include the pictures I did manage to get because this post is already getting long enough.]

About ten minutes later, I removed said pies and set them on a baking rack to cool. They were golden brown and flaky, and it was all I could do not to tear into one right then and there. But I was taking them to Laura's and wanted her and Shawna to see the fruits of my labor. Once the pies had cooled, I put them on a plate (yet again on the counter) and went to my room to change and get ready. Big mistake. I realized too late that Deuce was not curled up on the bathroom rug, under my feet, and ran to the kitchen, only to be met by the sight of him with his front paws on the counter, licking his chops.

But what was even worse was the sight of the lone half a pie that remained on the plate. Telltale crumbs were also scattered all over the couch. So apparently he had time to steal one mini pie at a time, take it to my couch, and enjoy it there before going back for another...and another...and half another. He was punished yet again, and I made a mental note to remove all foodstuffs from the counter when he is unsupervised. That darn dog!

Mishap #3: Sunday night I was in the mood to bake. And I knew just what I wanted to bake: brown sugar cookies. Before you ask, yes, I got the recipe from Pinterest. Ever since I pinned this recipe a couple months ago, I have wanted to make them. So Sunday night I just went for it. I even made an extra trip to the store because I didn't have enough butter. When I got back home, I got out all my ingredients, mouth already watering. The recipe started out easy enough: cream together the butter and brown sugar. Then I added eggs, vanilla, and the dry ingredients. I then got my first indication that something wasn't quite right. The recipe said it made two dozen cookies. There was a LOT of dough in my mixing bowl. But I thought, What the hey, and just continued on.

My second indication of just-not-rightness was when I realized how soft the dough was. It was not firm at all and just sort of spread when I dolloped the cookies onto the baking sheet. Once again, though, I just decided to go with the flow. Five dozen cookies later, I knew something was wrong. The cookies looked nothing like the picture.

At that point I figured I would just see this thing through to the end, and I began making the browned butter frosting. It seemed easy enough to make: butter, powdered sugar, and milk. I think where I went wrong, though, was in the actual process of browning the butter. Looking back, I don't think mine ever browned. The recipe said to let it melt until it became a golden color. To my knowledge, melted butter always looks pretty golden, so it was difficult for me to tell when it was done. The recipe said it would happen quickly, though, so I waited just a couple minutes, and when nothing much seemed to be happening, I just took the pan off the heat and added the powdered sugar. I whisked the butter and sugar together then added the milk. Then it was time to frost the cookies.

As you may have guessed, I was only able to frost about two dozen cookies. And to be honest, the un-frosted cookies taste better to me than the frosted ones. Probably because the frosting tasted mostly like butter. You live and you learn, I suppose. You may be wondering where the "doggy don't" comes in to play in this story. Alas, Deuce did not get ahold of these cookies. I kind of wish he had, though.

On Forming Habits

As previously mentioned, I'm challenging myself to read 52 books this year. I thought it was only fitting that I start off the new year by reading Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. In this book, Rubin details her yearlong happiness project, for which she chose one resolution to keep each month of the year---remember love, make time for friends, and pay attention, for example.
This book got me to thinking about what twelve resolutions I'd like to work on and keep this year. I currently have eleven (gotta figure out just one more) and have decided to call them habits rather than resolutions. Some of the things on my list aren't life changing, such as make my bed every day for a month and forgo retail therapy for a month. But others will have a lasting impact on my health and life in general, such as focus on good posture for a month and refrain from eating out on weekdays and weeknights for a month. Some will be more difficult than others, of course, but my ultimate goal is to make these twelve things habits so that I continue to do one thing even when starting the next and so on until, by the beginning of 2013, I will have filled my life with twelve good habits.
I'm under no delusions that I'll be able to give up fast food and shopping altogether, of course (nor do I particularly want to), but I do hope to slow down these bad habits.
All this is to say that I have chosen and been following January's habit: leave the TV off every night. I know this doesn't seem like anything major, but for me it represents a couple different things. First of all, I used to sleep with my TV on as a sort of security blanket. When I moved into my house, it was too quiet at night, so I had to sleep with the TV on. Even with Deuce in the room with me, and now Chance living with me, I couldn't seem to shake the habit.
But I want to do so in order to conquer my fear, save on my electricity bill (although I know it won't be a noticeable difference), and get better sleep at night, which is the other reason I made this a habit of 2012. With the TV on at night, I was more inclined to stay up later to watch (or actually listen, since I'm blind as a bat without my contacts) Frasier, a basketball game, or The Golden Girls. So even if I got in bed at 10:00, I'd be up an hour or so watching/listening to the TV. In addition, the light and noise from the TV would often wake me up a few times a night. So by keeping the TV on at night, I was forfeiting good sleep.
I have seen improvement since I began sleeping in complete darkness and silence. I fall asleep faster, I haven't woken up in the middle of the night yet, and I do feel more rested in the mornings. I will certainly be tested on nights that Chance isn't home, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Stay tuned for the rest of 2012's habits!

Fabulous Friday #12: Naps

Yep, I said it---naps are fabulous. I actually just woke up from one. Apparently, though, naps make some adults feel guilty. I first heard about this in college (a time period when I took daily naps). A professor mentioned that naps for grownups was considered taboo. Rather than argue on the side of the AWNs (adults who nap), I slid down in my seat and fought to keep my eyes open. It was an 8:00 a.m. class, and yes, I went home after my next class and promptly took a nap. I don't remember much about the nap, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say I didn't regret it.
Now, naps for me aren't usually as energizing as they are for most people, but that doesn't stop me from taking, on average, two naps a week. What I mean by that is I almost always wake up from a nap with a headache and am just as tired or more tired than when I lay down in the first place. But the thought of sneaking in a couple hours of nap time during the day is too darn tempting to resist.
And it turns out, my professor was wrong...about the nap thing anyway. She really was quite smart and qualified to teach the classes she taught.
But anyway, there are obviously benefits to catching a few Z's during the day. According to a study (actually more like a Google search I just did), some of the benefits of naps are:

• relaxation
• reduced fatigue
• increased alertness
• improved mood
• improved performance

The website I consulted [read: quickly looked at just now] also gave the downsides to napping. I think it's telling to note that there are only two:

• sleep inertia
• difficulty sleeping at night

I do suffer from sleep inertia (previously mentioned symptoms of headache and grogginess) when I take naps. But I never have trouble sleeping at night...or any other time. So I'll gladly take the sleep inertia on those days when I can take a little cat nap during the day.
So all you AWNs out there, nap often and nap proud. My extensive [read: not extensive at all] research proves that the benefits of napping greatly outweigh the consequences.

New Year, New Me

Okay, I know everyone says this every year. I probably do too. I just can't remember from one year to the next. But this year, I mean it. I mean, I really mean it. I've made some resolutions for myself that I know I can stick to, even though they'll require hard work, time, and discipline. But by the end of the year, I'll be able to say that I finally stuck to a New Year's resolution, and I know I'll feel better about myself for having done so.
I don't really remember what my resolutions for 2011 were, but I did accomplish a few things I'm proud of. But I want 2012 to be even better.

What I did in 2011:

• read 31 books (outside of work)
• went to Mardi Gras
• got a promotion at work
• celebrated my one-year anniversary with a great guy
• paid all my bills on time

What I will do in 2012:

• read 52 books (again, outside of work)
• go to England
• teach a Zumba class once a week
• lose 10 pounds
• triple my savings

Looking back at the last year helps me see that good things come to those who work. Did I have to work to read 31 books after reading all day? You betcha. But I love reading and have a massive list of books on my to-read list, and I'm going to knock at least 52 of them out this year.
Did I have to work to go to Mardi Gras? In a way, yes. I had to work to save up the money to go, of course. While vacations are fun and often relaxing, the amount of work and preparation that must be done beforehand can seem daunting. But that won't stop me from going to England this year.
Did I have to work for my promotion? Of course. That one goes without saying.
Did I have to work to celebrate one year with a great guy? Not very hard, actually. Randel is an amazing guy, and a relationship with him never actually seems like work. But, as all couples do, we have our ups and downs. Luckily for us, the good dramatically outweighs the bad. But I do know that the downs will eventually come and we'll have to work to make it work.
Did I have to work to pay all my bills on time? Most definitely. I had to work in the literal sense of working to have money, of course. And I had to work to stay organized and on top of things, which has never really been my strong suit. But writing each bill's due date on my kitchen calendar and keeping a list of each bill website's username and password made the incredible task of paying bills easier to manage.

Because of how much work last year's accomplishments took, I know that I'll have to work even harder this year. I may have to schedule daily time to read, I'll have to be diligent about saving and exert some willpower over too-good-to-be-true sales, I'll have to eat better and eat less, and I'll have to keep myself accountable to my Zumba class by showing up each week and making class fun. But I know it can be done, and you wanna know why? Because I said so! (Taking one from Mom's book with the dreaded phrase that every kid who asks why he has to clean his room hates to hear.)