Do even remember trying to sleep as a kid?  Probably not because it was completely natural, as grows older, sleeping gets tricky.  I have a few tricks that can help:

1.  Understand that sleep comes in 90 minutes cycles, so when you stay up late and know you will get little sleep, try and time your sleep for 1 1/2 hrs, 3 hrs, 4 1/2, etc.  You will feel more rested if you sleep within this cycle.  Even 3 hours is enough, but 3 1/2, doesn’t work, 4 doesn’t work either.

2.  Eat a baked potato before you go to bed.  The potassium somehow calms the body enough to get a little sleep.  Oh, no butter,or anything else—just a plain baked potato.

3. Don’t drink anything after 6pm, or your body will keep reminding you to get up and go.

4.  Read in bed….let the whole house fall quiet, and just read—something very easy.

5.  If you just can’t sleep, get up out of bed and do something.  Your body knows what it is doing.  By the time you go back in about an hour and a half, you will fall asleep easily.

6.  Lavender, it’s a cliche, but it does help…if you soak in the tub with Lavender, even better.

7.  Always remember, your body is a machine.  It will sleep when it’s really tired, ask for food when it’s really hungry.  If you trust your body to take over, and not think about it—you will find the rest you seek.

There is a new trend in hospitals that I think is very cool.  I am calling it a recognition of the patient and family. Let’s face it, nobody wants to be in the hospital in the first place, but say you have to be there for some reason.  Well, checking out and getting home to your own bed is not all that easy.  First all the papers to fill out, just to get out, then getting out the front door and then getting to the car.  Oh, then there’s the stop at the pharmacy on the way home, and maybe grocery store.  It’s a lot before you can breathe easier and get back to home base.  It’s exhausting.

El Camino Hospital has something new….they built a spa, conveniently located right across the hall from the pharmacy.  This means you have a really relaxing place to sit while waiting for your medications…and maybe even get a massage, or just listen to nice music.  It smells delicious too.  And there are all sorts of wonderful gifts that feel good—creams, bath balls, aromatherapy, anything you need to make a gentle exit from hospital to home.  It’s like exiting through a nice tropical forest, which is so calming, and so much more gentle then just wheeling out into a parking lot.

I think this effort is a smart idea.  It seems to connect with the person instead of the patient.

I have a thing for cherries, and that’s a fact.  Maybe because my grandparents lived on a cherry farm near Flathead Lake in Montana and we ate them till we got sick every summer.   Maybe because my mom loved cherry pies? I even have a huge painting of a bowl full of cherries hanging in my house.

Bowl full of Cherries Oil Painting

I never noticed the pattern in myself until recently—even though I’ve been living with me all my life. Cherry cokes, cherry life savers, Cherry Garcia ice cream, and now this! A cherry candle, by Point a la Ligne, has made it’s way to CAREBOX™.  I suppose it was just a matter of time until I found it. But now that I have, I am thrilled to offer this sweet gift—more than just THE cutest candle….it’s the cherry on top!

The cherry on top means a lot of things.  It’s good news, a great day, the perfect sunset, a day off, a parking place in front of Macy’s during a sale, a sunset, a new friend, an A on an exam…whatever it is that just makes the day extra nice.

But I like that it’s a way to say, I love you…you are just…the cherry on top!

It’s now part of the Build a Box collection, and ships direct from us to you or, whoever…

http://www.carebox.com/index.php/gift-build-a-box-custom-care-package.html

There was a time when we had complete faith in our doctors, and did whatever they told us to do.  Right?

Both my parents were completely loyal to their doctors, they never checked around—never got second opinions, never doubted a word they said.  The truth is though, hospitals, doctors, nurses are all really busy, and very tired—they are human, not the super-humans my parents believed them to be.

House isn’t always around….so what do you do when you, or a loved one gets sick?  You need to become your own advocate and best friend, you need to run the show from your bed or bedside, as hard as that is to imagine.

And get this wonderful book by Martine Ehrenclou….it gives questions to ask, terms to know, and pages to take notes.  It’s like a super journal that guides you through the medical jungle.  I wish I had it when my parents got sick—it could have condensed the learning curve by a mile.  And it is an EASY guide to follow.  Highly recommended!

Isn’t this funny?  A candle in the shape of peas in a pod?  And it really is a working candle that lasts about 20 hours—and a little bigger than real peas too.

I discovered this line of French candles (Point a La Ligne) many years ago in Paris, so it was almost predetermined that I would bring them to the USA one day.  They can be found in my Build a Box section (http://www.carebox.com/index.php/build-a-box.html). Check them out.

They remind me of my mom and me, because we were like two peas in a pod…her and me, me and her.  I will be lighting my peas at the end of this month when I celebrate my birthday.  I think she’d like that, don’t you?

Dream a little Easter basket for a friend or two.

These fancy French marshmallows are all the rage.  They are long  (12″), thin, and come in three flavors—lemon, raspberry and violet.  It’s very important to try all three flavors because what would one be without the other?  Wrap them together for a fun Easter gift.  (PS  Men like them too)

And then there are always mini lavender bath ice cream balls by MeBath!  A bath Easter box would be the thing for me, with lots of different flavors to fill up the whole house.

What if you gave a candle Easter box? With strawberry and chocolate candle cupcakes. It has been proven that nobody gains weight with candle cakes.

Happy Easter Dreaming!

I mean, really cold!  But I have a nice solution called a CareNeck.  The thing that’s so great about them is that they are long, and can be worn in at least 10 different ways. Moisture is drawn away from skin, so you keep warm.  The colors are brilliant, Blue, red and black.

I took them over to Stanford Hospital the other day, and zip, zip, zip, they were sold out in 90 minutes! It’s not often that you run across a good product for a very good price ($14.99)—so it was discovered quickly, and disappeared just as fast.  Luckily I will have more of them by Wed.  Give me a call, and you’ll be warm (and very cute) the entire winter long!

CAREBOX™ is proud to be a part of the exciting Wish it-Win it-Give it promotion which starts today!  Here’s the scoop:

http://www.wishpot.com/user/65204

CAREBOX Entry

New York, NY 7 December 2009 – Want your wishes to come true this Holiday season?  Not only can you get what you really want with social shopping pioneer Wishpot’s wish list service, now you also have the chance to Wish It, Win It and Give It this December! Wishpot’s Wish It, Win It, Give It promotion will feature approximately 37 brands giving away one item to a lucky winner, then donating a second to a charity of the winner’s choice.  Participating brands and their donated items will go live on Wishpot’s home page December 9th, while giveaways will begin week of December 21st.  With Wish It, Win It, Give It, winners will not only have their own wishes come true, but will be able to spread Holiday cheer and grant someone else’s wish in the process!

Wish It, Win It, Give It allows Wishpot users the chance to win gifts from their favorite brands simply by using their own Wishpot wish lists.  In order to enter, members must add the participating brands to their wish lists through either Wishpot’s landing page or the brand’s own website.  The more items added from any particular brand, the more chances users have to win!  For example, add ten items of x brand, receive 10 entries into that brand’s giveaway.  Users can enter into as many giveaways as they like!  Winners will be selected through a draw all week long beginning December 21st. Total prize value comes to approximately $2800, from indie fashion and accessories lines to nationally established brands.  Fabulous prizes will be given from VistaPrint, Tahiti Street, Sea Babe Jewelry, Wicks ‘N Candles, Babeland, Simply Soles, Ladybead, Affinitas Intimates, Soak Wash, N-Fini Shape, Lady Bead, Zazzle, Royal Drama, ShopGoGirl, CAREBOX and many more!  Each brand will generously donate two products; one to the selected winner and the second to a charity of the winner’s choice.  Donated items include Affinitas Intimates’ popular Samantha Chemise, a special gift set from Soak Wash, and N-fini Shapes’s Hi-Rise Capri Pant.  In addition to being featured on Wishpot.com, both brands and the chosen charities will receive additional exposure through Wishpot’s social media channels to maximize visibility.

So how exactly does Wishpot work? It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.  1 – sign up.  2 – download the Wishpot button to your toolbar.  3 – go shopping!  The Wishpot button allows users to add items found from not just one site, but from anywhere on the net.  While browsing your favorite sites, simply drag and drop items you like into the Wishpot button on your toolbar. The items will be automatically added to your list, resulting in a centralized, one-stop-shop location for all of your favorite things.  Set price alerts, then send to your family and friends! Are they overseas?  Shop international!  Drag and drop items found on any international e-commerce site and with the click of a button, your family in London, Paris, Dubai, Tokyo or anywhere else in the world will be able to easily purchase your gift.  Prefer contributions over gifts?  Wishpot has a special contributions feature that makes it easy for your family and friends to send monetary amounts or chip in on a particular item.  What are you waiting for?  Start shopping, storing, sharing and saving (and wishing, winning and giving!) with Wishpot!

http://www.wishpot.com/user/65204

Finally, after five years of hard word and a dream, Carolyn Luu, better known as Akimi Hair Gallery in San Francisco, has done it!  She has created a wonderful hair product that is different than all the others—made especially for your hair, it is customized shampoo!

I tried it several months ago on my hair and it was so interesting.  It’s made from a carob bean, and a bunch of natural ingredients that make your hair feel so light and good, and somehow different—in a great way.

Check it out at:  http://www.seedbyakimi.com/

She is offering a 20% discount on first time buyers, you can get both the shampoo and conditioner for less than $40.

My other new favorite idea for the Holidays are grown up one piece PJs for adults.  Aren’t these terrific??  They have the drop down behind, like when you were a kid, they come in a fleece or jersey cotton and lots of colors.

Check then out at http://www.bigfeetpjs.com/#home-page

Yes, they are less than $50.  High quality.  And apparently very popular with the movie star crowd.  I guess they are all wanting to go back to the comforts of childhood too.

One of the easiest ways to escape from a hectic day is to slip into a bath and plan to spend about an hour entertaining your senses.  It’s a nice habit to acquire. One of my favorites is a lavender bath—I turn to this one when I need to relax after a long day.  I like the water hot, and infused with lavender “ice cream.”

In that water, I am no longer in control—my senses are.  The smell fills up the air, and my body is enveloped in warmth as I slip into the tub. The color relaxes my eyes, and all I can hear is the swish of the water.  I can’t recall the day when the relief of a good bath is at hand.

For my face, I use something special—European egg white soap.  I cover my face with suds and let it dry—and forget botox because my skin is always perfect when I use this soap. You can find it on Amazon.

I have a million other bathing solutions, but this one is best for relaxing and forgetting the day—and getting to sleep is a breeze.  I think I will go take one now.