Tipsy Tuesday: Uses for Essential Oils

These are from Amazon. I bought mine on sale from Whole Foods (the 365 brand).

Initially I bought peppermint oil to make scented candles.

Then I bought eucalyptus oil because I like the scent and realized how much a bit of scented oil can make my house/self smell and feel awesome.

Here are how I've used essential oils:

1) candle making
2) scent + Dawn dish soap + vinegar + hot water = clean, awesome, fresh hardwood floors
3) detox baths (Not sure if it actually does anything, but eucalyptus is a really good refresher for a tired, stuff-up body. I hear it's a natural antimicrobial. Plus, your skin gets all hot-cold.)
4) a couple drops in the corner of the shower makes it feel like a spa.
5) similar to 2, but I also use it for dusting
6) a few drops with some salt make a nice body scrub.
7) foot soak

And sometimes I just like to open them up and smell them - which could be the 8th benefit. I think I'll add rose oil to my collection next. Or bergamot.

Do you use essential or scented oils at home?

Thoughtful Thursday: Free Box Economics

By Sara Gilbert on Get Rich Slowly

"When I think about it back at home, this chair — and the others at my kitchen table — are pretty radical. I’m rejecting the idea that I must buy a new chair from IKEA or a furniture store, one that’s made in a factory by workers who earn a wage (living or no), and purchased at a retail store whose workers are also paid. I brought it home on my bike, oil companies and American car manufacturers be damned. I did not create any new demand for new things.

But I saved an inestimable amount of future costs, from the disposal of the old chair to the environmental costs of manufacturing and shipping, to the health costs of workers who manufacture and ship these products, right down to my own feelings of well-being and not-argument. I don’t have to ask my husband for money to buy a new chair; we won’t argue about money, today."

Source: sfgirlbybay.com via Emily on Pinterest

Flip It Friday: Little White Lies

I'm a liar. My Pinterest bio says so.

I lie to myself all the time to get through things and keep thinking positively.

My calves don't hurt. Keep running.
If I complete this project on time, I'll be thanked. I'll get me noticed.
Act like you need to be there at 8 instead of 8:30 and you'll be on time.

Last night the Mr. was dealing with a cable bill issue, some stupid work issues that spilled over into the evening and cat issues (cats have issues in general, no surprise - amaright, folks!) and spun off onto a complaining tirade.

I do it too, I'm not picking on him. He just had the most recent example.

I suggested we play the "silver-lining game". Every time he wanted to complain about something, he has to follow it up with a positive about the same situation.

At least we can afford cable.
At least he has a job and the issue at hand doesn't threaten that.
At least the cats aren't dead (although that could be another negative, depending on who in our house you ask!).

Abe Lincoln gets it:

Source: woofimaunicorn.tumblr.com via Tamara on Pinterest

Tell me, do you ever lie to yourself? Do you ever have to force yourself to be positive? How do you handle downward spirals into negativity?

Writing Requires Some Degree of Apathy

When I write to a fork in the road, I get the urge to pick one at random or turn right around. Taking  careful thought and filling your choice with reasons, arguments is the hard part. Anyone can take up chance or take up giving up. But to defend yourself!

Once choosing, I either love it or hate it. I'd rather erase the whole page and start fresh or erase nothing and stand behind misplaced comas and vague words. Stubborn, take-my-pen-and-go-home game.

Writing requires some degree of apathy. You have to care enough to keep going, to keep in what's really meant there. And, more importantly, you have to be willing to slash with a machete and a sweaty palm what is common, cumbersome or cliche redundant.

Why You Should Fall Asleep In a Sea of Pots and Pans with a Handful of Marbles

"Thomas Edison was one of the most prolific inventors in history—a true creative genius. Edison noticed that his mind was most creative in the moments just before drifting off to sleep. However, it is not feasible to write down ideas while one is sleeping. Edison solved the problem and took advantage of this fertile period in a most remarkable fashion. Before settling into his chair for a nap, he positioned metal pans on the floor on either side of the chair and held ball bearings in his fists. As he hovered in the zone between consciousness and sleep, his muscles relaxed and the ball bearings dropped into the pans. The resulting noise roused him from his slumber, enabling him to capture his thoughts—which sometimes contained brilliant ideas!" 


From the 10 Commandments of Creativity

Advice to other bloggers: Stop apologizing

"I'm sorry I haven't been around lately, I've been:

a) sick
b) busy
c) sick and busy working - it takes me 3x as long to post because I can't see through the allergy tears and the NyQuil makes my head womp-womp when I try to read
d) lacking motivation/creativity/personal stories to share."

All excuses are boring and telling us what keeps you away is making us wish you just went away until you had something awesome to contribute.

I've been guilty of this too.

And my rant is equally irrelevant.

I'm not apologizing.

What I am doing is giving you this - some non-boring blog-goodness to get you through Monday:

She's never boring. I'd like to be her friend. Or her live-doll.

This is interesting. I found it here first. Do you know what you are putting on YOUR skin?

Good for a nerdy laugh. And they post several times a day, so go getcha some.

Spent some time window shopping here and here this weekend. Surprisingly not all that expensive. And by window shoppin' I mean that my fingers did the walkin'.

via

And maybe this evening you can get a bunch of children together and make Gertrude Steins and have a puppy party. Always a good choice.

Happy Monday. Don't be boring.

Thoughts for Thursday: Don't Get Defeated/There Will Be Swearing/FIVES

This image is from Pinterest, but I saw it first on & Everything Nice.

This inspires me.

When people tell you you can't, but you are confident that you can, who do you believe? Is silence worse than a tear down?

I've been faced with the revelation that maybe not everyone has faith in me. Let that sink in. I used to think that I was capable of nearly anything (you know, within reason) and that everyone understood who. I. was. But my font line seems to have pulled back a few paces.

Now before anyone leaves an encouraging comment or denounces their involvement in this self-esteem blow, stop. I don't need your sympathy.

(*Puffed chest. Cape waving in the wind.)

Any man who's one thing is a boring thing. Fives to those who are multifaceted. To those who use both their left and right brains. To those who can sing and do math. Do a Rubik's cube and design an outfit. Write poetry and form an opinion on the economy. Big ol' FIVES.