A few weeks ago, my boyfriend and I decided to visit the local (read: 40 minutes away) Filipino store to stock up on Filipino goods (read: ensaymada). Among other things, we picked up ube extract, something neither of us had used before but were excited to try out, especially because I’ve been experimenting more with baking.
Around the same time, we were craving cheesecake, so we picked up a big block of cream cheese and graham crackers to make one. We reviewed the recipe we would be using and realized that we could substitute some of the vanilla extract for ube – so we decided to try it out!
I spent the end of 2020 tossing and turning in my bed every night. This wasn’t new to the end of the year, or new to this specifically stressful year. I’ve had trouble going to sleep and staying asleep since I was a teenager, and even wrote previously about the sleep hygiene habits that I’ve learned keep over the past few years.
However, despite my best efforts, I’ve slacked in these habits, and my sleep has suffered for it dearly. This was especially true during that magical week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, when I didn’t have to be up early for work and I retreated back into my late-to-bed, late-to-rise ways.
As I transition back to my day job and a “normal” 9-to-5 schedule, I’ve decided to use the New Year as an excuse to fix my sleeping habits. I’m hoping that it will increase my general energy and help keep me focused on whatever I’m doing when the sun is out.
(I love the sun! I hate being tired and grumpy when the sun is out, OK!)
Stepping Away from Screens/Stress
I completely thought this said “Good night”… oops! (image from unsplash.com)
Two days ago, I naturally stepped away from my computer around 11PM. I cleaned the kitchen and picked some clothes off of the floor of my room before getting ready for bed, and was under the covers and reading at 11:45PM. And I slept like a baby afterwards! It was great!
Yesterday, at 10:50PM, instead of repeating my previous night’s routine, which obviously worked, I decided to stay on my computer until 11:50PM. I tried to reproduce some of the wind-down, including still doing the dishes and tidying up before wrapping things up, but I realized that the extra time away from my screen the day before had made a huge difference! I hate to admit it!
Moving forward, I’m going to force myself to be more strict about my wind-down period. I’ve proven to myself that it works, but I often don’t have the willpower to go through with it every single night and, without doing it consistently, it won’t stick.
To help motivate myself to stick with it, I’ve identified things that make me happy and am starting to save them for the end of the day – holding some long, juicy stretches; doing the dishes, because, while I hate doing dishes, I love having a clean kitchen; and writing in my journal, even if it’s just a page of things that I was thankful for that day. I’ve found that temptation bundling has worked for me in the past, so why not try again?
I wrote about melatonin briefly in my last blog post. In general, I have a complicated relationship with over-the-counter sleeping aids, mostly centered around my fear of becoming overly reliant on them. In a perfect world, I’d use them as indicated on the label – for a few days, to adjust my circadian clock to a new bedtime – but, from experience, I know that it’s not always that simple.
Because of this, I’ve begun to be more mindful of my melatonin use. (That word again! Mindful! Meditation really does work guys, I swear!) I look at my schedule for the next day to see how “on” I have to be, and how early. I take stock of my general mood and sleeping patterns over the past few days. At the very least, I see how sleepy I feel that night and if I need any help.
In short, I have found taking melatonin to be extremely helpful in getting restful sleep, but don’t want to use it every night. I’m vowing to not go on autopilot, and re-asses my situation every night before taking it.
As the temperatures drop, my sleeping environment changes, and as my environment changes, I need to make more adjustments!
Oddly enough, I never understood the point of adding more humidity into the room until I spent every waking moment in my apartment with the heater running every moment of the day. Especially within the past month, I’ve found myself waking up in the middle of the night with a dry throat and my nostrils and sinuses feeling dry as a desert. I would chug water to make the discomfort go away, only to continue tossing and turning until I inevitably had to go to the bathroom a few hours later. Curse you, hydration!
I got a small humidifier last weekend and have found that it has fixed this one, little problem for me. I’m grateful! Of course, owning a humidifier comes with its own set of worries – I swear, it needs more maintenance and care than most of my plants – but I am willing to take them on, especially now, with my abundant free time at home.
I love coffee! I love the smell of it, the ritual of making it, the taste, the warmth (or the cold, in the summer), the buzz… I can’t give it up entirely!
However, I am learning that I can’t drink it every day, as much as I’d like to. I’ve been branching out to different types of teas – black, green, and matcha – on days when I can afford to be a little more relaxed but still “on.” This habit is still very much in the experimental phase, but I am excited to try different types of teas and how they affect my body. I’m hoping to fall in love with another type of beverage soon!
(If you had told me a year ago that I would be writing in my blog about the excitement of trying tea… I would not have believed you!)
My love for Survivor has been well-documented on my blog in the past, and I’m happy to hear that other people are getting into it thanks to Netflix adding two seasons (two of the best!) to its catalog.
In the spirit of sharing the love, I’m recommending a few more seasons that Survivor newbies should definitely check out! As far as I know, all seasons up to 34 are available on Hulu, while every season is available on CBS All Access and for individual purchase on iTunes.
A few important notes for these picks:
I am personally drawn to Survivor primarily for interesting characters and storylines, with great gameplay coming in as a close second. Because of this, I’ve split my picks up into two separate lists: all-around great seasons, and seasons with great characters where the gameplay isn’t quite top tier. I enjoy seasons in the second camp just as much as those in the first camp, but I think it’s helpful to know if the gameplay will be sub-par going in, just to know what kind of ride it’ll be!
My recommendations for newbies purposely do not include returnee seasons! I am a big proponent of watching as many first-timer seasons before jumping into returnee seasons for the sole reason that a lot of the players’ chemistries, reputations, and storylines rely heavily on their past seasons. While I’m sure it’s still possible to enjoy a season without watching the preceding ones – I’ve heard of people enjoying Heroes vs. Villains as their first season ever, which is baffling to me! – I’m almost positive that they don’t hit as hard!
I am happy to give suggestions for returnee seasons, though! Some of my actual favorite seasons are returnee seasons but, as I mentioned before, part of their appeal is following individual characters’ arcs. I can even suggest seasons-to-watch-before-you-watch-another-returnee-season if you want!
I am going to keep these summaries pretty spoiler-free, which unfortunately means that there’s not a lot to say! I’ll try to include as much as I can without giving away too much, but my preference is to not spoil anything about the season – even my favorite characters! – before letting you jump in.
The first two seasons that came to mind to recommend were Kaoh Rong (32) and Millennials vs. Gen X (33). These were actually two of the first seasons that I watched live, and they did not disappoint! There are fun moments, great villains, spicy drama, and a handful of players that return for future seasons.
This is also one of my favorite challenges ever! (image from truedorktimes.com)
Digging a bit deeper back, my older recommendations are Cook Islands (13) and Tocantins (18). It was tough to narrow this list down, but I feel like I can stand by these two! Again, these two seasons include some of my favorite characters, many of whom return for future seasons, and have some really great overarching storylines, both heroic and villainous, that unfold over the entire seasons.
(I will concede that some themes – Cook Islands’s race-based tribes and Millennials vs. Gen X’s eponymous theme – are kind of cringeworthy! A lot of Survivor themes are! I encourage you to simply push through, as the theme never really carries past the first couple of episodes anyway.)
Finally, I do love recommending Borneo (1), The Australian Outback (2), and Africa (3) to newbies after they’ve watched a few seasons. I loved going back to these to see just how different things were in so many different ways – production-wise, gameplay-wise, even player-wise! The latter two are especially interesting to watch because the show hasn’t revisited them as locations, so they’re worth watching even if just for change of scenery.
Great Character Seasons
I included the disclaimer about embarrassing themes above because one of my favorite seasons ever, Amazon (6), is originally organized as a men’s tribe vs. a women’s tribe. The men’s tribe talks a lot of trash and ends up losing the first (very physical) challenge! It’s great! There are some great characters (emphasis on the character), funny moments, and the setting is definitely unique. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it as someone’s first season, as the gameplay is fairly standard and nothing to write home about, but it’s a ride!
See! Sandra can do a challenge! (image from facebook.com)
My final three recommendations – Pearl Islands (9), China (15), and Gabon (17) – are grouped together because, in my opinion, they are completely character-driven. I could talk your ear off about specific contestants on these seasons, but I am currently completely blanking on any specific strategic moves, especially ones that are purely strategic and not personally-motivated. Not that the winners don’t deserve their wins! This is just how I remember them, and I don’t think anything less of them because of that. (China and Gabon were also not set on beaches, and are both beautiful to watch in their own unique ways!)
Anyway, hit me up when you’ve watched – I’m dying for more people to talk with about Survivor!
(Maybe I will dust off my very old, never published love letter to my favorite player of all time…)
Trisha Serquina 