The Weekly Roundup Netflix Bingeworthy La Roche Posay Takenaka Bento Bowls Lockdown Edition

How are you, my friends?  I do hope you are not just surviving but finding a way to thrive during this new normal.  I think we are all discovering new ways to fill our spare time at home.  My love affair with Netflix has ebbed and flowed over time.  There is a huge array on offer but that means it takes a fair amount of sleuthing to sort out the gems.  I've had a soft spot for Scandi noir ever since watching "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy and my search on Netflix dug up "The Valhalla Murders."

I binge watched this series from Iceland with glee.  Yes, a grim murder mystery might seem like strange viewing right now but the stunning shots of Iceland in Winter and the plot twists and turns were exactly what I needed.  It wasn't on the same level as "The Bridge" but it definitely came close.

I ordered this bento bowl by Takenaka from Chapters.  It has two compartments and has locking clips on the side of the lid.  Yes, lunchboxes and the like aren't really in high demand right now but hear me out.  It is BPA and lead free, made in Japan  so it is a bona fide bento bowl and the bowl without the lid is microwave and dishwasher safe.  It really isn't that easy finding containers that are made in a "reputable country" without paying a premium price tag.  This will be going to a family member who relies on junky restaurant takeout containers for storing her leftovers and has a birthday coming up.  The 50% off price tag made it an easy decision.  My order arrived within a few days which was a surprise as I have heard of very long delivery schedules from the likes of Amazon and Sephora.

I picked up this sunblock SPF 50 by La Roche-Posay at Shoppers.  Father's Day is coming up and mine lives in Nevada.  Even though he has been sheltering in place for months, he does have a back yard.  The Anthelios XL SPF 50 cream comes with a free 50 ml tube which makes it a really good value.  I always find men, especially when they are your aging parent, incredibly difficult to shop for.  They are at an age when they don't really need or want anything.  I do find that simple practical things tend to go down the best.

What have you been doing at home these days?

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April Monthly Favourites Lockdown Edition La Roche-Posay Facial Roller Facial Masks Office Organization

Hello lovelies, how are you all doing?  I hope you are not just surviving but have found a way to thrive as well, notwithstanding the current circumstances.  I thought I would do a Monthly Favourites, the Lockdown Edition, as I haven't done a monthly favourites in..well...months, really!  So let's do this.  First up is La Roche-Posay's Cicaplast Levres (Lips).

I have always had a lot of issues with lip balms.  Despite claims of being hydrating and moisturizing, they tend to dry out my lips and cause massive peeling and flaking.  I hate anything that has mint, spearmint, chilli extract, lemon extract or any type of lemon derivative in a lip product.  These ingredients, while they cause an initial cooling effect, actually trigger an inflammatory response that just worsens the condition of your lips.  La Roche-Posay's Cicaplast Levres is a holy grail product.  It is paraben and fragrance free and contains all the good things like lipids that your skin needs to repair itself.  I picked mine up at Shoppers for $10.95 CDN.  La Roche-Posay, which is a French masstige brand, is usually available at the pharmacy.  Right now, with department stores closed, the only place to go for skincare is the local pharmacy or the grocery store. I am sure that, like myself, many of you are keeping a sharp eye on your budget.  La Roche-Posay isn't astronomically priced like other luxury French brands and it isn't cheap as chips either but for a made in France quality product I would say it is good value for the money. I noticed that the cosmetics section at Shoppers was closed off but, thankfully, the masstige skincare section wasn't.

Next up is a new addition to my skincare routine which is this jade roller.

Can you believe that I picked this up at Dollarama (Canada's version of the Dollar Store) for a bargainous $4??  Who knows if it is made of real jade but the cooling effect is the same.  And yes, Dollarama is still open because it sells food albeit the canned and packaged, long shelf life sort which is what everyone is racing around to find anyway.  There is something so soothing and meditative about using this roller.  Believe me, I have been rolling away like mad.

If, like me, you are working from home, you have had to quickly figure out how to set up a home office.  My home office area has become a bit of a bomb site but this handy gadget has really helped to bring in a degree of organization.

The cable organizer was spotted at Dollarama for an inexpensive $1.25.

Lastly, I picked up a selection of facial masks (and no, not the surgical kind, I haven't seen those around in many weeks) at Shoppers.

They were on offer for well under $3.00 each so I picked up a few to put into care packages to mail away.

Stay safe! Stay healthy!

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Comforting Things To Do When You Are At Home

How are you?  I have realized that no one has actually asked how I am doing whilst sheltering in place.  I have been inundated with exhortations to Be Thankful!  Be Grateful! Smile! Cheer Up!  but no one has actually asked me how I am really doing.  Maybe this is you too?  Maybe, like me, you are feeling anxious, stressed, wondering if you are going to have a job at the end of all this,  when will the end come, what will the world look like and so on.  I had to go through a range of emotions akin to the stages of grief.  I realized I was grieving for all those deaths around the world and many more to come and also for the loss of our way of life.  There has been a loss of innocence that strikes right at the heart of our existence.  Those days of blithely spending hours in a crowded restaurant or cafe are long gone.  One day, we will go to a restaurant again but I think there will always be that niggling sense of worry and fear.  Can you even imagine trampling through a horde of people on Black Friday or Boxing Day?  The very thought makes me break out into a cold sweat.  

As the days and weeks passed, I began to settle into a semblance of a routine and to find ways to keep myself occupied at home. I have realized how important it is to nurture one's health with nutritious food and there is nothing more nutritious and comforting than homemade chicken soup.

Break out that fine china and cutlery that you only use a few times a year.  You can easily make each meal an occasion by using the fancy china that you have been saving "for good."  I have a set of Denby cutlery that I rarely use because the handles are made of the famous Denby pottery.  In the above photo, you will see a Denby spoon.

I did a stock take of my kitchen cupboards and came across a tin of Ghirardelli hazelnut hot chocolate.  I truly cannot remember how I acquired this tin but am so glad I discovered it.  It is amazing!

It is so creamy and rich.  The hazelnut flavour combined with the dense chocolate goodness is so satisfying. Diet, you say?  What diet?

I also did some baking.  I had a set of silicone cups that I had never used.  In the spirit of making do with what I had on hand, especially now that grocery shopping is so arduous and flour has disappeared off the grocery shelves, I whipped up some oatmeal and applesauce muffins.

I must say that, in these times, it is important to not just be kind to others but to be kind to yourself as well.  It is okay to feel what you are feeling.  Lean into those emotions.  There is no need for you to come out the other end as the next Mother Theresa or with a degree in astrophysics.  Let me know how you are doing as I truly want to know.