April 2017
- emopines
- May 1, 2017
- 5 min read
Here is a list of things that have brightened my day this month.
CHARCOAL & PEPPERMINT SOAP
So I messed up. I had heard about charcoal soap and decided I wanted to give it a try as a face wash. I was at TJ Maxx, saw a bar that looked nice for about four bucks, and figured, sure, why not. I went home, threw away the packaging, and started washing my face with it morning and night.
And I. Fell. In. LOVE. The charcoal makes my face squeaky clean, but the charcoal is mixed with an essential oil (I’m almost positive it’s peppermint) that not only invigorates me in the morning and soothes me in the evening, but it makes my whole bathroom smell AMAZING.
But, like I said, I didn’t think that much about my purchase when I bought it, so I don’t know the exact bar or brand. I’ve been back to TJ Maxx since to see if they had more in stock – because I was literally going to buy them all – but they didn’t have anymore. From what I can remember of the packaging, I’m pretty sure the brand was Soap-n-Scents, but I’ve been all over their website and I can’t find any charcoal and peppermint soap. Maybe they’ve discontinued it; maybe I’m wrong and it was another brand. Either way, I’m heartbroken.
Luckily I have a ton of the soap left, so it should last me a few more months. When the evil day comes when I finally run out, I’ll see if I can find another brand, or I may just try to make some homemade. I’m not usually the DIY type, but, in this case, I might make an exception.
CALM MEDITATION APP
I believe one of the worst things anyone can tell a woman is that she thinks too much. It’s demeaning and Gaston-esque, and what a woman does with her own brain is her own business, thankyouverymuch. That said, I think too much. (I can say it about myself. You can’t.) I think too much, and my thoughts start to spiral, so I end up getting trapped in my own head, which leaves me feeling anxious, and it’s just a mess.
I know meditation is supposed to help with calm whirlpool thoughts, so I’ve given the practice a few half-hearted tries in the past. Nothing ever came of it, and I just assumed I didn’t have the kind of brain that could be still. Recently, however, my thoughts had been getting especially dizzying, so when I heard about the Calm meditation app, I figured it couldn’t hurt.
It did the opposite of hurt. This has helped so much. And I don’t know what it is – if it’s the background music, or the lady’s voice who does the guided meditation, or if I’m just in a place right now to receive its benefits – but I can meditate. Don’t get me wrong, I suck at it, but I can still do it. I take ten minutes a day to focus on my breath and clear my head of thoughts, and when I’m done, I feel like I do right after I’ve gotten a deep tissue massage or when I wake up after an especially good nap. It’s so good.
Also, the ambient noise is perfect to listen to on my headphones when I’m out reading in public. That’s not something that the app in any way was made for, but it does the job and it does it well.
There are in-app purchases if you want to get advanced services, but for right now, the free stuff is more than enough for me.
NATURE’S VALLEY SWEET POTATO CHIPS
Nature’s Valley is Food Lion’s “healthy” store brand. They have these sweet potato chips, and, in my home, they have come to be known as the “crack chips”. We will buy a bag, and it will be gone by the end of the day. They’re sweet and salty and have a weight to them that regular potato chips just don’t. They are junk food, but they are junk food I can feel good about, and really, what more can you ask of from a bag of chips?
TRAILER MUSIC LIFE
I’m pretty bad when it comes to music. I have no idea how people find new – not even new new, just new to them music – music. My favorite singer is Nat King Cole and has been since my Mom introduced him to me in 1994. So when I hear people talking all the time about this new band they just discovered and are obsessed with, I just shrug because I don’t know who the heck anybody is or what they’re singing.
On the very rare occasions I have had my musical tastes widened, it is almost always because I heard it on a commercial. But it’s hard for me to always catch the lyrics and remember them well enough to google them, and, even then, I might be directed to a different cover than the one I heard on the commercial. It’s all too much work.
But then I found Trailer Music Life.
I watch movie trailers constantly. Now, whenever I watch one, I immediately rush over to this YouTube channel and see what the song sounds like in toto. Sometimes I’m disappointed. Sometimes I find a new epic song, and I can follow the artist down the rabbit hole of their discography. I’m very grateful to the people who do this and help the musically-challenged, such as myself.
THE FLASH SEASON ONE SOUNDTRACK
Yes, yes, I just talked about how I can’t find music and now I’m talking about music I found. The irony is not lost on me. Just shut up and let me talk.
In addition to watching movie trailers all the time, I also watch a lot of movies and a lot of TV. I am particularly fond of the CW’s The Flash. I knew, obviously, that movies have soundtracks, but it never occurred to me that TV shows did until a few weeks back when I was reading a recap of Arrow and the reviewer mentioned that she appreciated how season five’s leitmotifs had been updated to match this season’s more hopeful thematic tone. I went to Spotify to find Arrow’s soundtrack, found it, and just beneath it discovered The Flash’s.
The music is familiar (as it should be, considering I hear it once a week from October thru May), cheerful, and mildly epic. It’s perfect writing music, and I’ve been making good use of the repeat button this month.
LIBRARY BOOK SALE
I love books. I do not love buying books. Partially because I’m a fairly miserly person, but also because I really dislike hardbacks. (You may not see the connection between hardbacks and book-buying, but I do. It would be too long and complicated for me to describe that connection. Maybe I’ll explain someday, but for now, just trust me). If I do impulse buy, it’ll most likely be a second-hand book. There are charity shops, and used books stores, and the used section of my local independent bookstore, and, perhaps most magically of all, there is the library book sale.
This April my local library hosted their annual book sale. Not only did my small contribution go to help fund the library I love and use incessantly, but, because I got to the sale near its end, I got to fill a whole cardboard box with as many books as I could fit and I only had to pay four dollars.
FOUR DOLLARS. For close to fifteen books. One new hardback can cost close to thirty dollars. I got historical fiction and translated fiction and classics and biographies and books I normally wouldn’t have thought to look at but because they were nigh-free I grabbed them up. It was an afternoon surrounded by fellow book-lovers from my community. I didn’t talk to any of them (have you met me?), but it was nice to have them near.
All in all, a great day. Ten out of ten, would recommend. I can’t wait to go again next year.
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