Dec. 14th prompt:
These are a Few of Our Favorite Things. e.g. to wear, smell, see, do, enjoy, best purchases, most used gift received, most used purchases, something crafty you made.
GirlXOXO
Okay, last year, my best buys post was bananas. This year, I want to focus on quality over quantity–and not just because I didn’t buy nearly as much but because I want to talk about the things that have had the greatest impact on my well-being. I will note that I finally (finally!) bought a properly fitting coat and bathing suits this year, I finally replaced my laptop battery, and, I finally made my way to The Wizarding World at Universal Studios Orlando. Oh, and I bought a wick trimmer, which is very fun. However, the following greatly impacted my quality of life.
1. Custom Fit Inserts from Dr. Scholl’s (also available on Amazon)
As previously and briefly mentioned, when I was at Disneyland in February, my feet gave up on me. The pain was bad enough that I went to the doctor and got the official diagnosis of “overuse,” which basically just means that my feet were exhausted. A day or two after my feet had given up but before I went to the doctor, I went to CVS to pick up my prescription and saw something I had never seen there before (but that I’m sure had been there the entire time): this huge machine from Dr. Scholl’s that said it would figure out which inserts worked best for your feet. I stepped onto the machine, got the reading, and promptly forgot about it.
Then I went to Disneyland again and couldn’t make it through the day even after buying new shoes that were supposed to be good for foot pain and walking long distances. So I ordered the inserts (3/4 length). And let me tell you that the next time I went to Disneyland, I made it through the ENTIRE day with minimal pain. I say minimal because I’ve had a wonky ankle for a long time, so that did start to ache a little, but I took some ibuprofen and was fine. I made it through the fireworks and everything. And then I went again, and made it AGAIN. I used them when I went to Universal and made it through that day.
A few weeks ago, a woman in my tap class was asking our teacher about orthotics, and we were talking about how insurance may or may not cover them, and they can be pretty pricey but are totally worth it, so I told her to try the Dr. Scholl’s inserts as a stopgap until she can get the ones from her actual doctor, and she told me the next week that she had gotten a pair and they were awesome because she made it the whole day without any pain for the first time in a long time. So all I’m saying is that these things are magic.
FYI: The podiatrist told me that if the over the counter inserts give relief, the custom made orthotics from the podiatrist’s are even better. I have had both so know that to be true, generally speaking, but again, if you need relief RIGHT NOW, the Dr. Scholl’s are affordable and get the job done. I’m going to look into custom ones next year, but in the meantime, these will do just fine.
2. Eye massager
As I have mentioned many times, the past few years doing everything on the computer have been terrible for me, mostly because I am already prone to chronic eye fatigue. And as much as I would like to be a person who consistently does screen-free weekends, I sometimes can’t or am not willing to. In one of the group chats I’m in with some colleagues, one of the women mentioned that she had an eye massager. This summer, after getting a gift card for my birthday, I asked her for the link and bought one.
The eye massager is LIFE-CHANGING. Seriously. For one, while using it, I always think it’s not going to work, but every single time I have used it, I have felt better immediately. My eyes will stop hurting, my vision will stop being blurry, and/or my tension headaches–that I don’t know I have until the massager starts kneading my temples–will go away. One time, it even helped clear up my sinuses. I am not joking. It has worked every single time I have used it without fail.
The only downside is that because it’s a massager that you wear on your head, the noise from the motor is right there. But! If noise sensitivity isn’t a thing, it becomes more white noise than anything. I’m not saying it’s not annoying, but I am saying that it’s a small price to pay to the massage gods for the sweet, sweet relief that accompanies it. Also, I have been on the phone with someone using my (wired) earbuds while using the massager and they never mentioned the noise.
If you suffer from tension headaches or eye fatigue, it may be worth investing in.
There are a bunch of different ones on Amazon that probably all work about the same, but I linked to the one I wound up buying.
Okay, let me start by saying that my daughter has used one of these cases for years but somehow it never registered how awesome the case is until she left for her internship.
Basically, the reason why this has improved my quality of life is that–because of teaching–I am constantly having to move my wallet between two or more bags, and with this, I already always have the four most important things I need (phone, license, work ID, debit card) without having to decide how I’m going to carry them. Also, sometimes I have to stop at the store or something after work and figuring out what to do with wallet, phone, and keys was always a pain. With this, I can just clip my keys to the wallet and have everything in one hand. It’s magical.
Obviously, I am sad that I can no longer use my super cute phone case(s), but honestly it’s still worth it.
Also, this may sound like a sponsored post, but it definitely is not. I don’t even have affiliated links on Amazon. These are just things that have genuinely helped me at various times over this past year that I love and therefore consider my best buys.
The Englishist 