Month March 2022

I didn’t think I needed a Tea Kettle… UNTIL I saw this!

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Recently, I was out shopping. Imagine my amazement at seeing so many tea kettles in one place. I haven’t had a tea kettle in years. I was brought down memory lane. I remembered having a blue Chantal tea kettle in my 20s. It had a loud whistle when water boiled.

What happened to that tea kettle? When did I give it away? I was thinking it must have been around the time that Nespresso coffee machines were “the craze.” I remember walking into Sur La Table in California. They had so many Nespresso machines to choose from.

Specifically, they had the Pixie in beautiful bright colors. I was drawn to the Lime green one. They gave a demo, I was sold on the ease of use and bought one. NO MORE TEA. So, that must have been how my Chantal tea kettle was given away.

Lately, I’ve been drinking a lot of tea. When I boil water, I use a pot. I admit, easy to use, but feels like I am camping. When my daughter went to College in Ireland she learned quickly that EVERY house has a tea kettle. Drinking tea is part of their life. It would be like the Italians. Every Italian house has an espresso machine of some sort.

As I looked at the tea kettle display I thought. Should I buy one? Is it necessary? They do whistle, my pot does not. Looking at the choices, I was drawn to the kettle with cherries on it. Made me think of a farm house.

While I didn’t buy a tea kettle that day. The display still has me thinking. Isn’t that the point of a retail display – THINK, then BUY. BRAVO!

Do you see what I see? YES, a cherry tea kettle on my stove!

FANCY–> Non-alcoholic drinks… FINALLY!

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I just read an article in the February issue of Travel-Leisure, “No Hangovers Here.” Music to my ears! It talks about how more and more people want alcohol free drinks on the menu. I’m one of those people. I don’t drink on a regular basis. Why? I’ve never had a taste for it.

Wine, beer, a cocktail — nothing excites me. As we get older, who wants the dreaded hangover. Well, I do like a slushy margarita. I admit if a friend brought that to the table, I’d gladly accept.

Apparently, Hyatt Hotels Corp launched the Zero Proof, Zero Judgement Initiative in August 2021. They noticed a market for this as more consumers are focusing on health and wellness. So, Hyatt had their restaurant and bar teams come up with creative non-alcoholic drinks they have added to the menu. Great idea!

Around the world, alcohol free drinks are being offered. The Ritz Paris says one in five guests orders non-alcoholic. In Ireland, The Merrion Hotel is distilling its own nonalcoholic gin. Cruise ships have added alcohol free drinks to their menus too.

So, YES, when I say, “FANCY drinks, FINALLY!” I mean its great to see a drink I can order off the menu that’s alcohol free versus whispering to the waiter to bring a club soda with a lime on the side.

Health and wellness are a priority these days. I’m curious to give these NEW drinks a try. I hope there is a big plant close by in case I have to spit it out. Not sure how it will taste!

Here’s to ZERO PROOF, ZERO JUDGEMENT — I look forward to that toast!

Hopefully, as a joke, my friends don’t seat me at the grandkids table! THAT would be FUNNY!

Happy St Patrick’s Day!

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Have a GREAT St. Patrick’s Day! YES, the Chicago River did go GREEN this weekend and we had many parades. It was nice to be back to normal. Although, I hear there are COVID spikes in Europe again. SIGH – let’s pray our new found mask freedom is not short lived.

FOR TODAY — GO IRISH! The University of Notre Dame – Fighting Irish won their basketball game after 2 overtimes. Yes — THAT is something to celebrate! The crowd went wild!

Have a great day!

BAD Hiking socks!

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I like walking/hiking. This year, I needed some new hiking socks. Due to COVID restrictions, I was lazy and did not go to a sporting goods store. I was at Costco in November and I was in luck. They had these great looking bundle of socks, 4 in a pack, great price. As you see from photo, they looked like a good quality pair of socks and the color was pleasing. So, I bought them. They’ve been comfortable.

Fast forward three months. This is how my socks look now. Really worn out. I thought if I need to see a foot doctor, I would just show him the bottom of my sock. He could determine from that how I am walking, and where foot pain is coming from.

In the past, I leaned toward Smartwool and Darn Tough brand of socks. They are very pricey, no question, but they last for years. Personally, I think the Smartwool run a little narrow.

Well, this year I’ve learned a valuable lesson. Quality of socks does make a difference if you want to use them for walking/hiking. These socks from Costco are nice socks, but they were meant for every day minimal walking.

So, GUESS where I am headed today? YES, Smartwool shopping!!

Spring is here, ready to get back out there and walk. The weather is finally warming up. I’m also searching for some good podcasts to listen to as well. Any suggestions, please share.

Happy Spring!

Fitness – The dreaded HIP pain!

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Well, I was over zealous in my squats. For a few weeks now, doing squats was fine. No pain. I take that back, I mean, I had some normal “exercise pain,” which means our routine is WORKING, but no severe pain. UNTIL a few days ago. Walking was fine, but stairs…*#!&

Holy Moley, I suddenly felt like a 90 year old woman. Where did that left hip pain come from? I had obviously aggravated something. I immediately knew I had to stop the squats, but I have been on a rhythm. It’s always annoying to be in a routine, get an injury, and then either be side lined or have to refocus a workout in a different way.

I decided I would walk more, that should be OK, right. WRONG, I was fine until mile 3, when I got to the start of mile 4, my hip was on fire! It was saying, “What the heck are you doing?” I did chuckle to myself. OK, ok, I’ll ice YOU (the hip) when I get home.

On to YouTube for hip pain physical therapy. There are a lot of great videos on stretches that target the outer hip. Also, I liked one guy’s take on this. He said that doctors always say REST. His opinion was that stretching is critical to lengthen the muscles and tendons for quicker recovery. I agree. If we become sedentary, then one day turns into 6+ months of inactivity.

So… I’ve been BENCHED for a little bit!

Next time I’ll take those squats SLOWER! Lesson learned!