- Blistex lip balms. My favorites are Herbal Answer and the Cold & Allergy Lip Soother. They’re both shea butter-y, long-lasting, feel great on mah lipses, and smell good. Most recently, I’ve gotten Herbal Answer from drugstore.com (it's apparently not available in stores, despite what the Blistex website says) and the cold/allergy one at Family Dollar.
- A bottle of water near me. Even if I don’t drink it (and I can be bad about staying hydrated), it makes me feel calmer knowing it’s right there. Just tap water, even though I know I should drink filtered.
- Monk (the show, not a religious guy). I’m nowhere near as OCD as Adrian Monk, but seeing Tony Shalhoub so perfectly embody the discomfort his character feels simply existing gives me some peace and makes me feel better about the days when I avoid leaving the house because PEOPLE and THINGS. (Apparently I fear nouns.)
- Sabra hummus, the pine nut flavor. I know I could make my own hummus for a lot cheaper and I am denying canned and dried chickpeas their dippy freedom, but fuck it, I prefer store-bought hummus. It makes a great snack or meal and makes me feel healthy-ish, especially considering the crap I’ve been known to call food. (I’m looking at you, Taco Bell.)
- A comfortable bed with soft, heavy, swaddling-ish linens and firm-but-squishy pillows. I don’t actually own this bed yet but a friend of mine does and whenever I stay at her house, she lets me sleep in her room while she bunks down elsewhere. I’m a big fan of feeling safe, warm, and protected (who isn’t, though?) and sleeping in her bed gives me being-in-the-womb comfort. I’m just guessing. I don’t actually remember my first residence, although the realtor referred to it as cozy and near the water.
- Pixar movies. My favorites are Monsters, Inc., Toy Story (all of them), and Finding Nemo. So far the only one I haven't been wild about is Cars, although I'm not really sure why. It's just... just... meh.
- Nag Champa incense. I like it even better knowing I can get a knockoff version of it from a local health food store that sells delicious samiches and smoothies that make me feel Hulk strong.
- A good, long, hot shower with scrubby bubbly body wash or homemade soap or a squeaky-clean hair washing. Whatever has coated me in suds and been washed away, leaving me all supple and sexy feeling. Shower to be followed by big, soft towel; leisurely application of lotion or oil; and unspecified amount of Naked Time. I look forward to taking this kind of shower again. I currently have a shower stall and hate it with a passion I normally reserve for Republicans and people who drive too close to me. My current showers are short, water sprays everywhere in the bathroom, the curtain often gets stuck to me because of the big girl/small space combo, and I don't always feel properly rinsed. You know it's bad when you'd rather shower at the Y than at home.
- Netflix and, she somewhat begrudgingly says, Hulu Plus. The latter has allowed me to catch up on shows I would’ve otherwise missed and only sets me back $8/month, just like Netflix. Except that I keep letting my Hulu Plus subscription lapse, mainly because it only takes about 30 seconds to sign back up.
- My cats. Even though Gizmo is an everlovin' spazz and George has become guardian of the porch or something and no longer comes in to eat. I take food and water out to her but it's silly because she can still get in the house. Not sure what that's about. Numbskull.
- Blueberry Pomegranate Frozen Greek Yogurt from Peapod. OMNOMNOM.
- My Teva flip flops. Totally worth the $50 or so they cost. I wear them pretty much every day and only switch to Chucks or boots when I have to. Fucking winter.
- Milkshake therapy. It's totally legit, yo.
- Browsing on Etsy. Pretty pictures make me happy. I’ve bought some seriously amazing homemade shit, including square-bottom reusable grocery bags, lotion, and goddess statues. I've also picked up earrings for Queen S and tintypes for King V.
- Rain and thunderstorms. Love listening to them and lying down for a nap when they’re in progress.
- Singing, even though I just now realized I am doing less and less of it now that I don’t have a daily commute and music to listen to. I don’t always like singing at home because of my all-too-close neighbors. If I can hear my upstairs neighbor moaning when she and her boyfriend have sex for the bajillionth time, they can probably hear me singing. I suppose I could serenade them. Never tried that. I did applaud one time when they finished.
- My iPhone. I recently upgraded to the 5 and I love it, even though it’s an expensive little bastard. My original iPhone was slow, old, and about ¾ broken, so I’m unbelievably happy to have a phone that actually works.
- Friends DVDs. I recently watched the entire series all the way through, convinced there was at least ONE episode I hadn’t seen (nope!) and cried at the end like it was 2004. Good writing always holds up.
- Biolage shampoo and conditioner. I am out of both and only have some bastard knockoffs I got from Great Clips. What? They were on sale and I am a whore.
- Swimming/water aerobics. I believe wholeheartedly in water therapy. See also: Good showers; rain.
- IMDb. One of my favorite things to do after -- or even during -- a show or movie is to look up trivia about the show and more info about the actors. I think it's silly to be in the presence of anyone who says, "Where do I know him from?" and not pull out the phone and find out. C'mon, son. It's the Internet age!
- Cantu hair cream. It's a line of ooey gooey hair products for women of color or anyone who has thick, curly, dry hair, etc. I happened to pick up a tub at Target for $5 once, assuming I was about to spend more money on some hair crap that didn't work, and was pleasantly surprised to find I was wrong. I've found it at the dollar store too. They have all kinds of products I haven't tried yet, but I'm a low-maintenance gal with high-maintenance hair, so I should.
- Drawing in Paint. Over the years, I shared a bunch of those drawings here and then, for some reason, deleted them because I was going to be a "serious blogger." In some ways, I feel like my blog is still finding itself, even though I've been at this for... seven years? Off and on. A lot more off than on recently, but still.
- Rice cooker. As someone who doesn't really enjoy cooking (similiar to my occasional smoking habit, I enjoy the romance of it* more than the actual act), being able to dump some rice and water into a pot and come back 20ish minutes later to food is a fucking MIRACLE. It also stopped me from mercilessly burning pots of rice on my infernal electric stove. My kingdom for a home with a gas stove!
The romance of it: I like aprons. Mise en place. Cookbooks. Cutting boards. Shiny knives. Mixing bowls. But standing over a pot of simmering something and waiting for the magic to present itself? Yawn. I've probably seen too many cooking shows where the mixed-but-uncooked product is put into the stage oven and the *omgwow!* finished meal is pulled out seconds later. I've gotten mad at recipes I've read that mention on step 10 or 15 that all the work you've just done needs to set up in the fridge overnight.
I'm not going to type out the romance of cigarettes because doing so will make me want to smoke. Although I won't go out for cigs because it's 2:30 a.m. and I don't feel like being murdered. There's an anti-smoking campaign for ya, marketing folks.
In "How's your life, Max?" news, I'm still looking for work. I keep getting turned down for things I think I would be perfect for. I submitted an app this week for a marketing gig and one for a writing job. Hopefully I can at least land an interview. Hired would be better, of course, but I can deal in baby steps. The right gig will come along at the right time. I just didn't think it would take more than seven months to get there.
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