a good night's sleep

ryan and i keep odd hours.  our schedules are ever changing and inconsistent.  waking up feeling rested is easier said than done and i'm the type of person who really requires sleep.  therefore doing what we can to get a good night's sleep is important to us.  whether we're getting only a few hours or a long night's rest, we try to make sure we're set up for optimal sleep.  here are a few simple things we added recently that have made a difference . . .

1. serta absolute comfort 2-in-1 pillow - we loved the pillows we had been sleeping on, but they were older than i care to admit and had completely broken down.  when we decided to purchase new pillows, we searched high and low, looking at every brand and style imaginable.  we finally settled on the serta absolute comfort pillows.  they are made from memory foam and are considered 2-in-1 because one side is soft and the other side is firm.  i find that i tend to use the soft side a majority of the time, but it is nice to have the opposite firm side as an option when i need it.

helpful tip: no doubt, these pillows are expensive.  we found that our local kohl's store carried them.  we waited until they went on sale and then used a few coupons on our purchase to get them down to a reasonable price.

2. calm sleep stories - ryan sometimes has a hard time falling asleep, other times he's out within minutes.  for those nights when his brain won't shut off, he started listening to sleep stories on the calm app on his iphone.  the app has a bunch of different bedtime stories for adults to choose from, some free and some paid.  since he has started using this app, he hasn't made it all the way through one of the stories yet.  he always falls asleep before they are over, so i guess they are working.

helpful tip: to save money, we just listen to the free stories.  ryan has also found a bunch of bedtime stories for free on youtube too.

3. pure spa oil diffuser - for months, ryan has been asking for an essential oil diffuser.  after a lot of comparison of different types, we purchased the pure spa oil diffuser and we are obsessed.  we both love the wood-look finish on the outside and the optional color-changing light rim around the middle.  it lasts up to 10 hours and covers 250 square feet.  it's also an ionizer and we can sleep comfortably knowing that it never gets hot and has an automatic shut off.  we love the smell of peppermint oil in our diffuser, and recently added lavender and eucalyptus to our collection too.

helpful tip: this diffuser can be purchased online, but we found it for a deep discount at our local marshalls store.  we also saw them at t.j.maxx and they come in other color options too.

4. aura cacia peppermint essential oil - even before we started using the oil diffuser, we started using essential oil, specifically peppermint.  we put a little dab behind each ear before we go to bed and it really helps us fall asleep.  ryan says he notices a difference on nights when he forgets to put it on.  a plus is that it smells great too!

helpful tip: when buying essential oil, not all are the same.  make sure you are purchasing 100% pure essential oil. 

love, laurie

*please note: this is not a sponsored post, these are products we have used and loved.

award winning kitten nap

last night i sat down to watch the grammy awards which i had recorded sunday night on our dvr.  leko rarely misses an opportunity to cuddle and curled up on my lap on a blanket to watch with me.  i always laugh at the cute positions he gets into whenever he is on our laps.  i just couldn't resist taking pictures on my phone to show ryan who was at work.  this kitten sure gets an award for best nap positions.

love, laurie

lunch in the 1950s

ryan's parents came up for a little bit on saturday, and we grabbed lunch at a 1950s-themed restaurant in our area.  ryan and i were only there once about 7 years ago, so it was nice to go back.  the whole restaurant is themed so cute and the food was really good.  it was like stepping back in time for a little bit with the jukebox playing and a poodle skirt-wearing waitress.

love, laurie

hooray for friday!

today started off with me waking up thinking it was saturday, spilling my cereal, and slamming my middle finger in a door.  we're off of a great start.  but, it's friday and there's this guy who makes everything better!  (including the fact that i placed my clothes for work this morning on the bed, went into the other room to brush my teeth before getting dressed, and then came back to find that leko had claimed my sweater as a nest for the day.  needless to say, i had to find a different outfit to wear to work today!)

have a great weekend

love, laurie

5 products we are currently loving this winter

this winter has been an odd one.  temperatures and precipitation have been all over the place.  all of the back-and-forth with the weather leaves our skin aggravated.  three winters ago, i shared my top 5 winter skin care must-have products.  we still use and love all of those, but since then we have added a few more to our routine which have become favorites too.  here's what we are currently giving two thumbs up . . .

1. everyone 3-in-1 soap in citrus mint - ryan came across this in the grocery store and we decided to give it a try based on the way the bottle read and the fact that the smell was great.  this soap is a shampoo, body wash, and bubble bath, but we just use it as a shampoo.  every time we use it we feel like we are at a spa.  the smell is amazing, it has a nice tingle, and it cleans our hair without leaving any residue behind like other shampoos.

2. yes to paper face masks in cucumber calming - i first found these face masks a few months ago in ulta beauty and decided to give them a try.  ryan and i both fell in love with them.  the first one we used was the cucumber calming and it was the perfect way to give our dry skin a moisturizing boost in the winter.  it was like having an inexpensive 10 minute facial at home in our pjs!  since then, we've tried other scents too.

3. tom's of main deodorant in north woods - in an effort to stay as natural as possible, ryan gave tom's deodorant a try.  he was surprised how much he liked it and how great it smelled (like lavender)!  i tried it too and fell in love with the smell.

4. the post lip butter in peppermint - my mom first discovered this lip balm which is made by a local company in our area.  she liked it and bought it for us for christmas this year.  we have been absolutely loving it and it's ingredients!

5. aveeno daily moisturizing body wash - in an effort to change up our body wash routine, we tried this body wash to help moisturize our dry winter skin.  it works great and the smell is so nice and mild.

love, laurie

*please note: this is not a sponsored post, these are products we have used and loved.

lunch date

over the weekend, after running some errands we ended up at a new-to-us seafood restaurant for some lunch.  we shared a grilled fish sandwich and grilled fish tacos.  both were so good.  it was a nice little weekend lunch date together.

love, laurie

the "lion" in our living room

last night we had a little bit of time to sit down and watch something on tv after work.  we came across the documentary the lion in your living room and couldn't resist.  it was cute and we learned a few things too.  leko joined us to watch all about house cats and he liked learning about his ancestry (especially the part about ancient egyptians worshiping cats)!

love, laurie

saturday festivities

saturday was a packed day.  we started off the day with a cpr / aed training class for our theatre stagehands union and ended the day with a party for one of our stagehands who has retired after 55 years in the industry.  i didn't take many photos on saturday, but i did get two snapshots on my phone of the ice sculpture and the cake from the party.

love, laurie

snow day cuddles

tuesday and wednesday brought us a nasty snow storm with a ton of ice and snow.  it was gross.  work was cancelled on wednesday for the first time in a very long time because the weather was so bad.  i didn't complain because it gave me time to cuddle at home with leko.  he took full advantage of it and kept warm by curling up on my lap on a fleece blanket.  i think i wore him out by having him help me take down the christmas tree and ornaments earlier that day.

stay warm and have a great weekend!

love, laurie

blast from the past

recently, ryan was sorting through a bunch of old clothes from high school and college that he had stored at his parents' house.  among his college t-shirts, he found a shirt we both got when we participated in the "make a difference day" service day in college.  he brought it home to show me because he knew that i wear mine frequently.  it's one of those t-shirts that has been so well worn and washed that it's so comfortable.  when ryan brought his home i pulled mine out of the drawer for comparison.  we both stood there in disbelief looking at the two shirts.  i knew that mine had been certainly well worn, but ryan's looked like it was preserved in a time vault!  i actually didn't even remember that the shirt was originally that dark blue!  ha!

it's really hard to believe that these shirts are 14.5 years old!  we just couldn't resist taking a comparison picture because the difference between the two shirts was so crazy.  what a blast from the past!

love, laurie