Sunday, December 23, 2012

Bath, Brew, Read

Me-time is very important. I constantly schedule myself to do something "productive" or "new," if I didn't take some "me" time, I think I'd spontaneously combust. 

To alleviate some of the damage done by my recent Christmas shopping, I've picked up about 15 extra group fitness classes to teach over the next month. I'm going to be busy and sore, but it's definitely a necessity to make up the money difference. 

This weekend, I taught my regular spinning class on Friday, picked up a Spinning class Saturday morning, plus my usual Saturday afternoon BodyPump class, and then picked up a Spinning class this Sunday morning. 

This schedule (on my days off, mind you) means two things: TEA and BATH TIME! 

Bath time seems to be the only time I can really take it easy. Probably because I'm sopping wet in a tub. I suppose I could run around the living room, kitchen, and bedroom like this, picking things up and putting things away, but would that really be appropriate? 


Last night I popped "A Gold Star" Lush bubble bar into the tub. 
This yellow and gold star sells for $7.95 and is only available online at Lush.com I usually pick up a few "online only" products when Lush offers a free shipping promotion.
 

The website says the scent is frankincense and sandalwood, it basically smells like lemon. The scent was nice, but not my favorite on from Lush, by far. I'm more of a floral/lavendar fan. 

Golden glitter/confetti bursts out of the star as you crumble it, leaving your bathtub with a pretty golden glow. I'm not the biggest fan of Lush bath products containing glitter and confetti. They make for a pretty bath time, but when I have to spend 3 days cleaning up little starts from the side of my bathtub, I quickly lose any sense of calm that I had earlier. 

On the plus side, the yellow color did not leave a yellow ring around my bath tub, like some Lush products are known to do. 
Overall grade: B ; nice, but I probably won't buy it again.


I also brewed myself a cup of Adagio Candy Cane Tea.
This is my new tea obsession. I love Adagio teas, and this limited edition black tea brews full of flavor with actual bits of candy cane mixed in. Adagio Candy Cane Tea is by far the best candy cane/peppermint tea I've had. Because I'm a tea snob, I brewed it in my Breville tea maker  at 212 degrees for 3 minutes. 
 Overall Grade: A+ ; LOVE IT!

What was I reading? 
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. I read "Norwegian Wood" last year by Murakami, and loved it, so I figured I'd pick up his newest book. It follows two stories, one about a male author hoping to re-write a story written by a dyslexic, enigmatic teenage girl, and the other about a female assassin who finds herself in an unusual time.

I'm loving this book so far. I really enjoy reading Murakami's books. Although he's a Japanese author writing about Japanese characters, I have no trouble relating to the people and situations he creates. His writing is poetic without being flowery, and provides a solid amount of mental stimulation - more than chic-lit fluff, not as incomprehensible as philosophy. 

A good choice if you want something to think about.  

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