Lift your spirits!

See what I did with that title? I bet I got your attention with this first photo. It's all pretty random, I know! That pic is a little summary of what I've been reading/getting into lately. I realize now how funny it is to have the "Stress Relief" oil on that book. So, first off, let's talk about the most noticeable thing here: Of All the Gin Joints. This book was another one of those library finds where I just walked into the library and was led to a shelf. Try this some time. With no plan whatsoever, just walk into a library and see where you go. I think I have a library angel because I keep getting led to good stuff!

This book is the most entertaining thing I've read in a while. It's a collection of stories from the boozy old days of Hollywood. The real old days; we're starting with the silent pictures here. I'm about halfway through the book, but I'm willing to vouch for it. You won't even believe the stuff you read. Just, wow. You get a whole new perspective of what was going on with these movie stars. Some of it is hilarious, some of it is sad in the way where you truly see alcoholism as an illness, and some of it (most of it really) makes me glad I didn't have to be around these people. But you won't want to put it down! There are some fairly unflattering illustrations, like this one:

Joan's story is about as crazy as you'd expect. And there are drink recipes to go with each story too. Like this one, with a page worth reading if you're able:

Intrigued to read the book yet? ;)

So, on to a different kind of "stress relief" and a much healthier one at that!

I ordered this blend on Amazon after realizing it included a lot of the stress relief oils I was planning to get anyway. There are other blends out there but this one actually smells good, mostly like oranges. There's one out there that's supposed to work as well as an anti-anxiety medication: Nexon Botanics Anxiety Relief. But I just wanted a general calming mix that wouldn't knock my nose out. So the one I chose has Ylang Ylang, Geranium, Lemongrass, Tangerine, and Blood Orange oils in it.

I got a second bottle, which again included a mix of oils I was wanting to get anyway. I wanted a mix to make me smell like Christmas cookies. This is headed in the right direction for sure. It's very spicy. I might end up adding some vanilla in with it. I ended up scoring this half off since probably most people aren't thinking about Christmas now. I think this could work as a fine, spicy autumn mix too.

So you can see in the little illustration there that this one includes Orange, Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Cardamom. Mmmm.... it smells so good you guys. I know scent is subjective, but this works for me! I like spicy scents. So I actually mixed a little of this with the other one last night and they went together great.

I tried a trick I read about where you take some really hot water and put it in a glass bowl. Then you add a drop or two of the oil to the water. This is like an old school diffuser. Oh, does this ever work! Forget air fresheners, this filled the room. I put it on my dresser, closed the door and walked out. I forgot about it for an hour, came back and woo! Yeah, that fills a room.

So in other essential oil news, a shout-out to Alison who kindly passed the author of this book on to me:

As you can see, I have several bookmarks in it. There is so much to learn here. So many techniques and oil descriptions. I think basically every malady, mental or physical is in here. It's really great. That's where I read about the anti-anxiety stuff. I think oils are more potent and powerful than I realized.

And lastly, this was probably the part of the first photo where you went "Huh?" So I was at Dollar Tree today looking for some stuff to add in with these oil recipes and found what I think was probably a pretty good deal on 16oz of Pink Himalayan Salt.

I picked this up because I read that you need to mix some Himalayan salt in with oil and water sprays. Because, you know how oil and water don't mix. I guess this helps them to mix. I picked up some distilled water at Walgreens today too, because I also read that water in oil mixes must be distilled. So I'll be working on some little oil/water/salt sprays and smelling like orange and spice!

Have you guys tried eating Pink Himalayan Salt? I just tried it today and liked it. It's more flavorful than regular salt, in a way that's hard to describe.

OK, so that's a little of what I've been into the past several weeks. If you want to talk boozy celebrities, books, oils, or salt in the comments, that would be fun. :)