Hope your July Fourth was a "blast." We spent a quiet day/evening at home and away from crowds. We needed some downtime, so July Fourth helped with that. We had picked up a few random sets of fireworks and we all enjoyed our own little street show. It was a good evening. Two days before on July 2, we headed to the beach, not to surf this time, but to walk along the sand and enjoy the ocean from afar. It's nice to spend some time at the coast just being there instead of in the water. We had a great two days bringing in America's 246th declaration birthday. Hope your Fourth was just as special.
Video calls with Jeff are either hit or miss when he is at work. Sometimes the distortion makes for a good laugh. This week it seemed we had more distortion and dropped calls than decent ones.
5. These Edibles.
Still trying out new and familiar edibles. Micro dosing of THC has really helped me keep my anxiety and, especially panic attacks a little less severe.
We celebrate this guy every day, but make it special each Father's Day just because. He is a solid in both Skylar, and my life. Our little "family" is just the best! Happy Father's Day, Jeff. We love you!
Jeff enjoys bodyboarding when we hit the waves and this week his flippers and fin socks came in. He was more than excited to try them out ASAP.
4. This Breakfast.
Haven't been feeling 100% lately and have been hanging in, or around my bedroom a lot. My bed is sort of like my go-to place when my mental health issues hit, or not having the best day. Jeff and Skylar always make sure I'm taken care of when those moments hit and without them, I just don't know. I don't like to think about that part, but I do like to think about the positives and how great they tend to me when my worst days are happening. These two plates of breakfast are proof that I am, indeed, taken good care of when I need it the most.
5. This Oops.
I pressed five gallon instead of three-gallon water when filling this container. Watching all this water go away really bothered me this week. I thought about it a lot, but on a positive note, made a mental note to never hit the wrong button again. Hopefully, this moment won't repeat itself.
Positive affirmations this week:
Reducing your sugar intake does a lot more than just a way to watch your calories. I've notice that since cutting back on sugar that my anxiety and panic issues are a bit less. It's not a cure-all for anxiety, depression, or panic attacks, but it does help in keeping them from being triggered from food intake. Eating a whole grain, healthy diet also helps a great deal with your mental health. My skin also clears up, I feel better about myself, and I get better sleep. These are the things that I noticed right away when cutting out excessive sugar intake. The infographic below is a good way to remind yourself that not all sugars you consume benefit you. But, don't forget to reward yourself on self-care days, or just because when you feel yourself not feeling rewarded. As long as you keep it in moderation, it actually because a reward and your mind will thank you for that.
These are the summer time "Sometimes Wants" that have caught my eye lately.
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I've been looking at more vintage jewelry lately and most of the best pieces are sold on Etsy. I've taken a liking to the unusual pieces and this brass nautical calendar replica caught my eye. It's an amazing piece and even though it's a replica, it's still a conversation piece that's functional and unique. I'm also loving this Victorian nail file.
It seems with every change in season there's always a reason to moisturize and summer is no different. I've tried to find a good substitute for Burt's Bees, because once they sold to Clorox, I haven't felt the same about them and not only that, but the fact that "Burt" that was behind Burt's Bees passed away, it just hasn't been the same for me. I raised Skylar on Burt's Bees, so making that cut with them was hard, but I've found a great alternative that I feel comfortable about. Badger is a great company that offers pretty much anything you need to keep your family healthy. And, I highly recommend this lip butter trio. There's sweet orange, cool mint, and unscented and they all are great and keep your lips moisturized. I use them mostly at night and wake up with soft lips and no dryness.
Was on a hunt recently for a good, solid cutting board that would hold up under us cooking more at home and came across this bamboo one by Bambusi. I have a smaller bamboo cutting board, but the size and weight of this one was perfect for us.
As far as looking for better lunch options over single-use plastic containers, or even plastic lunch bags, we've found these. Of course, we've been using steel containers for a few years now, finding the smaller sizes is always a nice addition to our collection. These nesting trio containers with their LDPE #4 plastic lids are perfect for summer picnics, camping, or the impromptu road trip. They come in 16 oz. 9 oz. and 5 oz. sizes.
Always on the hunt for lightweight summer shirts and United By Blue had just what I was looking for. This organic cotton gauze shirt is light, airy, and almost feels like it isn't there. I love the way it feels and I especially love that it's made responsibly. It comes in the foxglove color pictured here and also in white and cypress, and the sizing is XS-XL. I am in a medium, and it fits true to size. Other items I am enjoying from United By Blue are these organic wide leg jeans in indigo and in white, organic workwear coverall in midnight and in cream gold, and the linen tie jumpsuit in black.
We've been seeking a filtration system for our bus setup and we are looking towards this under the sink system. Some of the best water you drink should be filtered through reverse osmosis. We fill up our water containers through a filtration system that is hit with UV light and put through reverse osmosis and have not been disappointed. We are hoping to have this setup in our bus by the end of summer. If you're looking for something for your home, office, or by chance a bus conversion, we recommend this setup from APEC Water Systems.
In our efforts to reduce waste we've switched to pour-over coffee makers instead of drip, or single-use coffee makers. We've had the same mesh coffee filter for about six years now, and the mesh lining is starting to tear. I recently found this gold titanium-coated filter sleeve and it works like a charm. It saves on paper waste and a quick dump of grounds in the compost and a simple rinse under hot water means it's good-to-go for the following day.
We've been saving as much of our scrap veggies to make our own vegetable stock and it's a hassle trying to hold open the bag with one hand and stuff vegetable trimmings in with the other, but I found these bag stands. Seems like such a simple contraption that does a lot and they come in a set of two in black and white. When we aren't using it for an extra set of hangs to hold open the bags we use it to help dry our jars out before refilling them with something new. They are the tiny, useful item you didn't know you needed.
Looking for more eco-friendly office and school products I came across these ball point pens made from recycled plastic. With two people in our household in college now, we feel like the little impacts of even pens is a big deal. These pens from Pilot are part of their bottle to pen line and refillable and come in a variety of colors.
In a quest to have one binder for all things we plan, projects we're in the middle of, and everyday routines and schedules I recently came across the company Cloth and Paper. Their spiral-bound planner is the stuff of dreams and it helps keep everything in one place instead of several different binders. I love Cloth and Paper's planner accessories, too. Definitely looking forward to the 2023 planners coming out soon. If you sign up for their emails you can get 15% off your first order. I'm still a die-hard Orange Circle Studio lover, but I will be adding the two together in the coming years.
Life at a "Swell's" pace is a lifestyle and travel blog chronicling the life and travels while living in Oregon's beautiful Willamette Valley. It is mostly written by Shelly HW. Click the image to learn more»
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