#selfcare Archives - Northern California Style

Today we had actual real weather in California. We had a night and morning of raging winds so strong even my usual Tuesday tennis was cancelled. The courts were covered with detritus and the air howled when the gusts hit.

I headed home and the internet and phone service were both down. It was so cold, I hated to leave my warm car, so I went inside grabbed a mug of green tea and went back to the car and finished listening to a public radio show in my driveway. It was cozy and warm in the car, and I thought I should really do this more often.

Later on, since I couldn’t really work or waste time checking the news, I took the opportunity to find a spot on the couch to finish the wonderful book, Wintering, I have been absorbing. This book, by Katherine May, is about embracing winters in a literal and figurative sense. We go through many winters or hard times in our lives, and like real winters, we need to slow down, do less and listen to our bodies and find healing in these times. It’s a beautifully written and descriptive book and it has me savoring these January days and giving into the impulse to stay in and stay cozy. Rather than wishing for warm weather and spring, I am instead trying to appreciate the gifts only the cold season has to offer.

I embraced this chilly day and had some old fashioned Lipton noodle soup from the box, as my mom would make for us kids on winter days. If that wasn’t in the pantry, we had egg noodles slathered with margarine… and sometimes grilled cheese sandwiches too. My mom grew up in Wisconsin, and knew how to make the most of cold days. Just that red soup box brings me back to blustery winter days eating lunch in our blue flower wallpapered kitchen overlooking the big front yard sycamore that would rattle with the storms.

After lunch, when we were small, she would make us take naps. Mom was a lifelong devotee of naps, even as a young girl and being an anxious person, I think they were a kind of meditation for her and a way to calm herself and get through the day. All my life, whenever I was tired or stressed, mom would say, ‘go get on your couch for a while and take a nap’. Most of my life, I resisted that. Today I took a nap, belly full of soup and enjoyed the coziness of hearing the storm from the warm couch under a blanket. I realized I don’t take advantage of an occasional nap on a cold winter day. I don’t make the buttered noodles enough or the soup. I vow to do it more.

What I took away from Wintering, is that we need to be kinder to ourselves and this is never more true than years like we are in now. We should use this quiet and more isolated season to take more time for reflection, sleep, winter walks in nature, pampering, enrichment, reading, crafts, cooking and whatever fills our tanks. The new body, fitter self and perfect home and wardrobe is not what is going to bring us joy. It’s the parts of each day that we fully live in the moment that will help us get through this next part of the pandemic and the strife of now.

If you want a balm for the times we are in, I love Katherine’s book. It’s a little history, part healing and encouragement, as all of us have a winter of some kind in our lives. She reminds us it’s cyclical and we go through rough patches many times throughout life and become stronger because of them.

Also, I will add, that we should listen to our moms and take more naps and enjoy soup or butter noodle days when we need a little cocooning.

Kim

Thank you everyone for the kind notes and messages about the last post. I’ve added a six more ideas on how to help at the bottom of that post. Everyone has been so great brainstorming and thinking of more ways to do good in our communities for each other. It’s very inspiring.

We are trying to care for everyone in our community right now, but let’s not forget about our own health as well. Many people are getting worn down by domestic work and caregiving. A lot of us are doing a whole lot more cooking, cleaning (disinfecting!), loads of wash, helping with kids’ school, shopping for extended family and more. I told my husband the other day I have never felt so busy in my life and I don’t go anywhere! To stay healthy right now, we have to be good to ourselves too. This post is just a few tips to help you treat yourself a bit. Don’t let yourself get rundown, it’s not good for the immune system.

I was feeling and looking haggard a week or so ago. I’m not a huge high maintenance person, but I am weeks past my highlight to cover my grey and could seriously use a pedi/mani. My face has looked super dry too and my hands! Yikes.

Make sure you are eating nutritiously as you can, take vitamins and drink plenty of water right now. I realized I had fallen off the wagon a bit with all that. I got back to my routine of drinking two big glasses of water as soon as I wake up. That kind of sets the stage for a hydrated day. A squeeze of lemon in that water is nice if you have it. I fill a big carafe just for me of ice water and try to drink it through the day. My goal is to finish it by dinner. After my coffee, I have an EmergenC in my water with this pandemic going on. I figure the extra zinc and vitamins might not hurt. I also take Calm gummies if I am feeling anxiety and two to three before bed help me sleep easier.

I made some time last weekend to do nail care, mask, deep condition the hair. One thing I’ve been meaning to purchase for a while is a proper makeup mirror. I had my eye on this one by Simple Human and it went on sale so I bought it. It has been excellent. This mirror is 5xs and has a 10xs piece that is magnetic you pop on it to do brows, lashes, etc. It’s seriously good and also slightly frightening, but you need to know what is happening with your face. It has smart capabilities so you can change the light by your phone. I don’t know how I was managing before it.

Are your hands pretty bad from all the alcohol sanitizer and excess washing? I think the only thing saving me now is this soap from A La Maison. These French soaps have argon oil in them and one pump lasts a long time even with my crew. I love that they leave a little moisture on the skin. We have used almost all the scents as they are very light and subtle. The White Tea is my favorite, but we have also had Cherry Blossom, Sea Salt and I like Rosemary Mint for the kitchen. Once you try these you can’t go back to regular soaps. Sometimes I find it at Whole Foods, but they’ve been out lately and so I’ve been ordering online.

If you haven’t tried Skin Food by Weleda then this is the time with all the hand washing. I could not cope without this and just a few times a day makes my hands so much prettier. I rub this into the cuticles well and use it on my feet at night as a treatment. It’s wonderful on elbows and even so pure you can use it on the face, as I have when skiing. All the Weleda products are plant based and super pure. The key to this stuff is using the correct amount which is a small dab on the backs of your hands and work it in as it’s extremely rich.

I stumbled upon these Lumene products from Finland at CVS recently when I was out of my face wash. I first just bought the Cleansing Balm. I am crazy about this product, which you work into your skin at night and it becomes more liquid as you massage. It really feels like a facial and the massaging is so good for your face tone. I remove mine with a warm washcloth and my skin fees like I’ve been to the spa. I now also have the Sleeping Creme and the Eye Treatment. The quality of these products is excellent and I like that they all have vitamin C, arctic cloudberry, hyaluronic acid and are vegan. If you are needing something now and feeling a bit dehydrated, these work. I have sensitive skin and rosacea and they’ve been great.

I also love this whole line, Grown Alchemist which is a line created by two Australian brothers and is based on improving the health of your skin cells. The Gentle Cleanser and the hand creme and body creme are such good products!

Anthropologie carries a good variety of fun sheet masks like this variety pack of Korean ones which are always so good and these Patchcology Eye Patches. Put on some soothing music or a book on tape and do a mask! These are so hydrating.

You probably haven’t had your nails done for a while, but you can do a lot at home actually. I love working on my nails in the yard in a sunny spot.

The natural look is hot, so try removing all your nail polish for a week or so and let your nails breathe a bit. Shorter nails are not only more chic and modern, they have the advantage of being more sanitary too- kind of a big thing now. Bare nails may look terrible at first if you aren’t used to them, but after a week of no polish you’ll see a shine when the natural oils come back. One trick to look polished is to push your cuticles back after every shower or bath and use a loofah on the skin around your toenails. Rub some olive oil into them afterwards. If your cuticles are really bad you can make a scrub of white sugar and olive oil. Let it sit for a bit and then scrub away. Here’s a mask just for your hands..

When I paint my own nails, I like to have a fresh bottle – or at least something not gloopy and thick. I recently ordered this Chanel polish. I think their polishes always come in the most beautiful colors and last.

It comes in a pretty white color I love for a pedicure.

How’s your hair? I’ve heard a lot of friends thinking of trying out the grey they keep colored and letting to grow. I am going to see how long I can go and what I look like. Right now mine is a few inches out. One of the things I miss about coloring is the coating of my hair, which gives it luster and a thick feeling. This keratin shampoo can help used every once a week and also a hair mask will too. I also splurge on this Oribe shampoo occasionally which always makes my hair look better. To help the contrast of the roots not be too stark, keep the blowdryer away from your root, and alternatively let your hair air dry and you’ll see they aren’t nearly as noticeable.

This Bobbie Brown brow gel/ root touchup they can be used in the interim near the front of the face. I would use it to cover some very white strand that can make me look like I have a bare patch on the front of my scalp. I’ll let you know how I do on the grey. You can see from the top photo, it’s becoming a greige kind of color on top. I do think this is a fun opportunity to try something new and see how we look without so much maintenance. So far I haven’t attempted to cut my hair, but there sure are a lot of tutorials out there. I think I’ll see how long mine can get until I can see my dear hairdresser Abby. You can also contact your hairdresser and some are making custom mixed home kits for your color if it’s a root touch-up. (Consider pre-paying for a service by your hairdresser to help them out now. My hairdresser sent us a link to prepay for a deep conditioning to use later and we could PayPal her. You could do the same with your nail technician also. It’s a nice thing to do to support them during this!)

Other little things that you should be doing are time for yourself -escaping with a book or a relaxing hobby is nice. Take a block of time each day and mark out down time just for this and then do it. Make sure to turn off the news and turn on some music when you can. I can feel the difference in my mood and blood pressure just by playing music instead of the nightly corona report. Walk around your neighborhood to appreciate the spring flowers or listen to bird songs in the sun of your yard if you have an outdoor space. Another thing that is good is to escape into a podcast while you do chores or cook dinner. I have even just appreciated a drive to the post office by myself listening to the radio right now. A cup of herbal tea in your favorite corner is always healing. Take time to cut some flowers if you have any and if you have the space, this is the best time to start your own garden. Nothing is more rewarding and good for the soul.. More on that soon.

I hope these little tips help. Please share any thing you are doing to pamper yourself a little during this stressful time. Books and podcasts you recommend are appreciated too.

Hugs,

Kim

P.S. The blouse I am wearing on the top is from Loft and is on their sale now. It’s one of the last things I bought before we were all in.

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