Kinda Everything: Daily Life + Design

This past week just about did me in mentally and physically. To top it all off, my dog Lou decided to sample a few mushrooms from around the yard… He’s a frenchie, and the second you go after him he bolts, so there was no chance of getting whatever was in his mouth out. So I spent my weekend playing watchdog, monitoring every move and cleaning up his combo of diarrhea and throw up, while my fiancé enjoyed peaceful hikes in the woods. Lucky him, right?

On top of all that, I had my monthly massage and we went to town on my upper neck and right arm—especially my right wrist. My day job is basically “hands-on” to the extreme. I’m always pulling boards down, rearranging the showroom, typing emails and orders nonstop, so my poor wrist takes the hit to the point where it looks like I’ve got a baseball wedged between my wrist and arm. After the massage worked some of that out, it honestly felt like the inflammation just packed its bags and relocated to the rest of my body. Ah, the quirky little things of autoimmune life.

Luckily, today is Sunday, which means its “reset your body and mind” day. I decided to try a new tea called Everyday Detox (lemon) by Traditional Medicinals, and so far all it’s done is give me severe stomach cramps—so that’s fun. I’m crossing my fingers that it’s just my body kicking out all the nonsense it doesn’t need and not, you know, my worst decision of the weekend.

I’ve also been getting my skin ready for self tanner, crossing my fingers that this round doesn’t leave me looking like a lizard. You really do have to exfoliate and moisturize! Yesterday was a full head-to-toe scrub day, and today was all about slathering on the moisture. I tried out my L’Occitane body oil wash that my mom got me for Christmas, and it definitely left my skin feeling softer. With all the autoimmune stuff, my skin gets so dry it actually cracks, so most products I use help just enough but never feels like quite enough. All that to say, after all the moisturizing I did today, I’m finally ready to test out my new 10-minute self tanner. I’ll report back here with the results so you can see the before and after!