DIY Peppermint and Lavender Foot Scrub (plus more holiday gift ideas)

I remember my first pedicure dearly. Not because of the scrubbing and scraping that was happening on my feet, but because of that chair. Have you ever gone to get a pedicure just to sit in their massaging chair? No? Yeah, me neither...

While pedicure visits were never a regular thing for me (I like to do them at home), I did love to sit in that massage chair and watch as flakes of dried skin went flying all over the place. My sister had some really dry feet. We mostly went for the experience -- to just step away from life for a moment. But we left with so much more. We put on our little plastic flip flops and stepped out of the salon with smoother feet, a relaxed back, and a whole new outlook on life. (Well, at least the relaxed back part.)

Eight Natural Remedies for Insect Bites and Stings

Last week as I was walking to my car, I felt something bite my neck. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a vampire. The sun was out. So my next guess... a mosquito.

As I was driving, I reached in the bag next to me and grabbed my lavender oil (don't ask why I had a bag of oils next to me...probably planning to make something). I put a drop on my now throbbing neck. Instant relief. (Tea tree oil works just as well.) Though I usually tell people to use apple cider vinegar or coconut oil for everything, there are some other options. The following are some that I've used and/or researched for providing relief for insect bites and stings.

Gelatin: Its Many Benefits (with personal experience) and Ways to Consume

I went a little off track this past week. Most weeks I eat probably 100% real food. If you don't, no judgment. This just works for me. I also typically eat about 90-95% paleo. I don't really pay attention to an exact percentage, I just know I eat some non-paleo foods when I want them and it ends up being rare. So, as for going off track...unexpected stress combined with unpreparedness will do that. It happens. I drank one too many Starbucks lattes. I ate a Chick-fil-A chicken nugget and a fry. Yes, one. One of each. I stole them from a child. Don't worry, it wasn't a random child. And I don't even really like Chick-fil-A that much. I probably shouldn't say that out loud.

Plus, I ate chips with interesting ingredients, especially considering they were only "salt and pepper" chips. And last, I consumed MSG (monosodium glutamate) in several items (including the nugget which I didn't realize).

In case you didn't know, Chick-fil-A's nuggets are full of gluten, MSG, and all sorts of stuff that should not be in chicken nuggets. Check out The Domestic Man's recipe instead.

I made the choices to consume these foods I do not typically consume. I don't feel guilty. I don't believe in feeling guilty over food consumption, no matter what you eat. When it happens, I learn from it and move on. For me to feel my best, going that far off track is not a good idea. My skin broke out, my digestion suffered, and I felt very blah. Just blah. And then, there was my knee. I had a bad knee (maybe arthritis since it runs in the family) for as long as I can remember -- until I went paleo. With paleo there was no pain. This week it came back with a vengeance.

DIY Apple Cider Vinegar Facial Toner

Once you make the switch to real food, inevitably you will start looking at your beauty products and checking the ingredients as you do with your food. Maybe you won't/haven't gone a little crazy like me and start tossing everything. Then you stare at your pile of moisturizer, wrinkle cream, toothpaste, plus all those extra products you never use and obviously never really needed, and you realize you can't wash your face or brush your teeth.

Luckily some of these things (like this body scrub) can be easily made from products you might just have in your kitchen. (Or ones that you should have in your kitchen. Hint. Hint.)

Natural Sleep: Herbal Sleep Pillows

How many of you get at least 8 hours of sleep a night? More like 6? Or maybe you have trouble getting to sleep in the first place. Or maybe you have a child. A loving child who, at bedtime, suddenly needs to use the bathroom or is dying of thirst or is scared of the monsters under the bed.

As for me, I've always been a night owl. If there was an overnight shift available, it was mine. Not necessarily because I wanted it, but because they knew I wouldn't complain. And they knew I would have no problems staying awake.  Sleep has always been the one avenue to good health that I refused to take.

I didn't want to sleep. I wanted to stay up and do important things. Fun things. Just anything. Because if I didn't sleep, I had more time. You can sleep when you die, right? But I don't want to be a night owl anymore. I want to sleep. And I want to wake up with the sun and not be tired (at least until I have a baby). I always thought if I didn't sleep, I would be more productive. I would have more time to do things I needed or wanted to do. But I've been lying to myself. After years and years of living off 5 or less hours of sleep, I haven't gotten any more accomplished than the people sleeping 8 hours a night. Maybe I've been accomplishing less, because I'm so tired all the time.