Monday, August 25, 2014

Dear Diary....

Once again, I find myself appalled at the time that has elapsed since my last real blog-post. You'd think that, by now, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm horrible about maintaining any sort of regular posting schedule when it comes to my own personal blog, but I still tend to send myself packing on a guilt trip when I log on and realize just how very loooong it's been since the last entry. This is why I tried multiple times to keep a journal and never actually maintained one with any degree of success. No one's beating down my door to hear my thoughts on things, so why would it matter if I let things fall by the wayside? 

Really, though, what sort of self-expression and self-exploration do we rob ourselves of when we shrug off the thought of writing those words? What chapters in our lives are we letting slip by, without record? While I wouldn't want everyone to know every thought or feeling that goes through my mind, I do sometimes look back over the trajectory of my life and wish I could recall things more clearly...and had I kept that journal, I might actually have that bit of insight. For some reason, though, we seem to think of "journaling" as a time-suck or a frivolity, rather than a beneficial way to connect with ourselves. We're too busy with other things, and so the pages stay empty––clean and white and going to waste. The journals collect dust, just one more prettily bound book whose spine was never cracked. i'm too guilty of that. But really, isn't that empty journal just a metaphor? We don't take the time to get to know ourselves. We're too busy with other things. I'm not suggesting navel gazing and becoming me-focused. I'm talking about getting to know yourself and what drives you, to finding out what makes you unique and worth getting to know. To becoming whole and healthy and happy as an individual so that you can have a full relationship with yourself, but also with everyone around you. The journal pages might just be a start, but they're a good one. 


Don't Stick on Me

If you're like me, you're always looking for ways to avoid having to actually wash a cookie tray or baking pan when you use one,  and the traditional roll of aluminum foil tends to get the job of playing ombudsman between you and the actual cookie tray. Still, even that doesn't always suffice––especially when it comes to things that have the tendency to stick to said aluminum foil. And so, when I finally came across the ingenious invention of reusable cooking sheets, I was in love. The COOKINA Cuisine Reusable Cooking Sheet is an especially great one, 100 percent non-stick and PFOA free. It's a multi-purpose mat of magic! Instead of busting out the hazardous tube of aluminum foil, parchment paper, or wax paper (and cutting your thumbs on that wicket saw-blade box edge!), unroll the COOKINA cooking sheet and revel in the fact that you saved not only your ten digits, but also that whatever latest baking expedition you've been on will be easily cleaned up––sans the worry of that random scrap of stuck-on aluminum or wax paper that inevitably results. This sheet is reusable, reversible, easy to clean, and can easily be trimmed to size. For more info, visit www.cookina.co