Serious question, friends: where did May go? It feels like it went by in a flash, but I guess that’s not any different from any month. One day you’re noticing all the It’s Gonna Be May memes and Star Wars movies on TV, the next you’re scheduling appointments for June and thinking about the month’s Favourite Things.
I have an interesting variety of things to talk about this month – and they are not all garden related!
Or iris related, despite the iris photos.
Irises are definitely a great part of May, but what I want to talk about today are things that are powerful and energizing on so many levels. Life changing things, as it were.
Nicole’s Favourite Things: The I Got The Power Edition
I’ve Got The Power!
A while ago I posted about trying branched-chain amino acids to combat perimenopause symptoms, after hearing about it on a podcast, and I had said it was difficult to tell if it was helping because I am absolutely a Placebo Effect person. I decided to give it several weeks and a full menstrual cycle (yes, I do still get my period – every three and a half weeks, thank you very much, no one needs such frequency) to determine the impact of adding amino acids to my life.
Friends. I cannot overstate how much this has changed things for me! I used to get so fatigued the week before my period; my body would ache and my sleep would be off, and my energy would be low. And no, I am in no way a medical or nutritional professional, this is anecdotal evidence based on a sample size of one, but wow. Wow! I have been sleeping really well, I have not been experiencing any kind of fatigue pre-period, and in fact my period took me by slight surprise, with no symptoms other than slightly sore breasts. No sadness, none of the soul-crushing despair that hits us all before Aunt Flo arrives, not even the cravings for sugary treats or salty snacks. The difference has been astonishing. My resting heart rate is lower, and did I mention the sleep? I go to bed, fall asleep, and wake up seven and a half hours later. Every night! What even is this magic.
Again, not a doctor. Sample size of one. Only five weeks usage. But my husband suggested that due to my plant-based diet for so many years, perhaps I had been missing amino acids this whole time. It does make sense. Will it work for you? I have no idea. But it feels magical to me, that I have Jack Russell terrier energy the whole month through.
I’ve Got The Shower (Cap, For My Food)!
I have long been a fan of beeswax wraps for food, but the ones I bought a decade ago are starting to look a little worse for the wear. I also feel slightly icky when it comes to cleaning them off, as hot water makes them melt. They never get as clean as I could wish them to be, as I don’t like to use harsh cleansers for things that could come into contact with my food. Basically, I wipe them with warm water and dish soap and hope for the best.
So I decided to splurge and buy a set of bowl covers that are easily washable – in hot water – and they are referred to, in our house, as shower caps. I now have a number of them in different sizes and produce-related patterns.
It’s a perfect solution to single-use plastic wrap, which I still do use for meat because that is my line in the sand. Still, a small step towards less plastic is still a step!
I’ve Got To Scour!
Speaking of cleaning, I love this scouring product from Mint. I loathe a gunky sink, but I’m also – see above – not willing to use harsh chemicals in the kitchen. I found this product at the eco-friendly store my friend Joy works at (HI JOY), and it’s wonderful. It’s a scrub – think Comet, but with a minty-fresh smell – and it’s made by two women on Vancouver Island. I love supporting small local businesses, especially those run by women!
It works great at getting the sink shiny and clean, and it smells fantastic.
I’ve Got The Flowers!
May is the month for flowers, and while my perennials and bulbs have been popping, I want to talk about annuals. We have annuals in the pots beside and around the deck, and so far they have not been eaten by deer. Hopefully I didn’t just jinx myself and won’t wake up to deer on our deck. Perennials are so fun to see pop out of the ground, but there is something wonderful about the instant colour of a pot of annuals.
The last photo features flowers that were a free gift with purchase from Superstore, which I love. The purple clematis climbing up behind it – obviously not an annual – was planted last year and is insane! The flowers are huge, they are significantly larger than the palm of my hand, and I have gigantic hands.
I’ve Got The Eyebrow-er!
My eyebrows are naturally a dark brown, but lately many, many of those dark brown hairs have turned pure white, the unhappy result being very patchy-looking eyebrows. I certainly cannot pluck the white hairs, because that would lead to eyebrow bald spots, and I have enough to worry about in the bald spot department, I do not need to add to it.
I love Maybelline products, as you likely already know, and I think their BrowFast Sculpt is genius. It’s like a mascara, but for eyebrows, and it works like a gel for errant hairs while also colouring them. Warning: it’s really really easy to go overboard with this product and then look startlingly like Uncle Leo.
I usually wipe the wand on the side of the tube to get the excess product off, and then I apply with a VERY light touch.
Outfit of the Month
Friends, two things of shopping significance happened this month: I bought a new sweater, and that new sweater was NOT black. Look at me, colourfully peacocking around.
It’s from Lululemon and is advertised as being the Sweater for Summer, which garnered raised eyebrows from me. A sweater? For summer? I’m not in Calgary anymore, people, that is UNNECESSARY. However! I am here to tell you that it is an absolute dream to wear; light and airy, and a perfectly comfortable fit. I probably wouldn’t wear it in temperatures over 20 degrees, but it’s a lovely addition to the shoulder season wardrobe.
The jeans are my favourite brand, Silver, and they are the “Beau” style – the so-called boyfriend jean. Shoes are Skechers, and the tote is from Rome! The latter fact is something I would like to work into more conversations, but alas. There are only so many times a person can mention it.
Last week I was having my coffee and preparing for my yoga practice; I looked up to see this amazing sky. What a reward for being an early riser! It faded quickly, which made it feel all the more special. I hope you have all had a month filled with special treats and favourite things. I’d love to hear all about them. Tell me everything. xo
I love color on you, Nicole! That sweater looks very French and + the tote from Rome, the whole ensemble gives off a very Mediterranean vibe ;).
Aren’t flowers glorious?! Thanks for sharing your irises–you do have so many colors!
I’m with you in the where-did-May-go camp. But (at least for me) three of the best reasons for teaching are coming right up. (June, July, August 🙂 )
Ooh la la, thank you Maya!
I think we have eight or nine different colours of irises! Isn’t that amazing?
Oooh!!! I’m very intrigued by all your favorite things, and want them for myself. The only thing I’m not going to do is plant flowers, although I love yours so much, because mine would just whither and die. But I’m VERY intrigued by those BCAAs- I’ve never tried them (maybe I should- I’ll look at them and see if all the ingredients fit my very specific needs, sigh…) I want those bowl covers, something good needs to happen to my eyebrows soon, and I LOVE that sweater!!! I think down here it would be a great “winter sweater.” You look so cute in that photo!
I’ve accepted the fact that every month OTHER THAN JANUARY is going to speed by way too fast. Yes, I can’t believe we’re looking at June.
I just have to lodge a small protest that this was a Rex-less post- but other than that I loved it! : )
JENNY!!!! Rex IS in one of the photos!
I heard about the BCAA on Hit Play Not Pause, the interviewee was a triathlete who had so much fatigue she couldn’t get out of bed! And I thought, well, why not try – my husband happened to have some on hand in our huge shelf of workout-related nutrition. I think that you and I with our plant-based diets might be missing some key component, it’s worth a try anyway. I have no idea how it would work with your current diet, but it’s worth looking into!
Your flowers are gorgeous.
I like the food shower caps, too. We just got some glass containers to replace some of the plastic ones we use.
Whoa, a navy sweater. Going crazy there.
Lol I AM A WILD WOMAN NOW
I am slowly trying to do that as well, with more glass than plastic. Although…I do feel weird about just throwing them out, which means I have a giant drawer full of glass AND plastic!
So many things I can relate to here, except for Aunt Flo because that visitor has long departed. I’ve never heard of branch-chained amino acids, but will look into them. I too have old beeswax wrapping that I keep washing (never in hot water) and am looking for replacements. And I NEVER use them for meat, strictly veggies. Brow sculpt. Yes, I am going to look into that as well. Love your flowers. Have yet it get my annual pots and here we are at the end of May already!
Thanks Pearl! I love the idea of beeswax but they aren’t super practical when it comes to cleaning. I like these a lot because they can withstand hot water with no issues.
Not the Seinfield brows – I’m DYING!!!! LOL
OK – I need to look into the amino acid powder… how do you take it – does it bother your stomach?
I’m also so intrigued about the bowl covers. I LOATHE plastic wrap with a passion. Did you make those or get those somewhere?
Rebecca, it’s a powder that dissolves in water, it tastes weirdly like a melted popsicle, but not in an offensive way. It doesn’t bother my stomach but I have a stomach of steel, so I might not be the best person to ask.
I bought the bowl covers! I can’t make anything – I am SO bad with anything crafty – if I tried it would just be a clump of material and a puddle of tears.
Thanks for the BCAA recommendation! I’ve ordered blue sharks! And I will always take a light sweater recommend! And stripes! That’s so me!
I love stripes and hardly ever wear them! But I sure love this sweater!
This BCAA and the AMRAP ones are two that I tried that I love. My husband ordered me one from My Protein and it just does NOT dissolve well. It is chunky and weird to take. So I don’t recommend that company!
I did have a month full of special treats, which I’m posting about tomorrow. I’m totally envious of that mint scrub! I’d like to find something like that here. Also, how cute are those reusable covers?! I swear to you, I just bought socks at Aldi that are in those patterns!
I love a summer sweater and yours is adorable. Every place I go seem to overkill with the A/C, so I travel around with a sweater everywhere I go.
Bijoux, one thing I noticed when I used to work a job that had me frequently travelling to Houston is how high the AC was! It was so jarring to go from the hundred degrees or whatever outside to freezing inside! I noticed that as well in Las Vegas and Orlando, the other two hot-US-climate places I’ve been to more than once. Brrr!
In general, I have had a very inconstant month. The highest of highs (birthday! anniversaries! graduations!) and the lowest of lows. So it was good for me to have to sit with this question and not let the lows overwhelm my highs.
1) 17 years with my dude all married up and legal
2) My oldest niece’s graduation
3) We’re doing a software rollout for a software that doesn’t really work at work. But for reasons that escape me right now (this is a lie: I was practicing AVOIDANCE of the real problem), I was focused on getting different colored Post-It notes for an activity with our first years. We only had yellow ones in our office. I asked my husband if we could have some from his office (we work in the same college!!), but he said NO because it came out of his department’s budget. Well, I waited until this morning (Friday) when no one was in his department and I STOLE FOUR PADS OF POST-ITS from his department. WHAT’S HE GOING TO DO?
4) One of the first students I started working with when I first took this job graduated! She was a difficult case, but I had so much fun working with her and she got straight As the whole time she was here. I got to call her and congratulate her and send her a note (snail mail!).
5) We did a lot of fitness classes outside in May and it was so lovely to be working out next to the river and seeing all the ducks and geese and boaters.
Lolololol am dying at the stolen post-its. Dying! I am a sucker for pretty stationary. I love how stealth you are!
I also love all other four of your points – especially the student who graduated, yay!!! I mean, I love ALL of your points, but that must be a really rewarding thing to witness.
The pink/orange color of the sky is the color I thought happiness looked like when Elisabeth asked us last week! So pretty! And your flowers are gorgeous, too! Our yard could really use some landscaping help but I am assigning that task to future Lisa, like 3-5 years from now maybe.
I’m curious about the amino acids you tried and will probably give it a shot. Every day after work when Phil drives us home from work, I complain about how freaking tired I feel. I usually perk up once we’ve picked up the kids because low energy isn’t great when kids are involved. But I would like to have more pep in my step and better sleep. I’m not in perimenoopause yet, but have some of the systems so maybe this could help. I also need to schedule an appt to get the Mirena because my cycle is all over the place and can be extremely heavy. So this is a good solution to manage that for the next several years.
Let’s see – the highlight for me this week is NOT TRAVELING. It feels good to just have normal days. Plus it’s been a bit quiet at work which I am trying to enjoy. We have some fun plans in June including a 1:1 trip to Chicago with Will!! He was not happy about not coming to DC with Paul and me last October so it’s his turn to get a solo trip with mom. Chicago is extra fun in the summer so I can’t wait! He’s probably most excited about sharing a bed with me. Lol.
The colour of happiness! I love that!
Lisa, how is your ferritin/ iron? If you are having heavy periods I’d definitely examine that. But also, you might be tired because you’re literally the busiest person I know. Travel, work, kids, always doing fun things on the weekend…plus you have RA! But hey, there is no harm in trying the amino acids. I don’t know if they will work for you but they worked a hot damn for me (I haven’t said “hot damn” in…maybe ever, but I think it’s a good saying to bring back. Channeling my inner Elvis. The non-pervy, non-weirdo Elvis. What is even with me right now. NOT DELETING!)
I’m so excited for your solo trip with Will! I have never had a solo trip with either of my children!
I’ve had low iron in the past but not when I have been tested recently. But like you said, it is probably just a side effect of a really full and at times tiring life! And I love the phrase Hot Damn. Now I want to bring that phrase back! Lol.
This will be my 3rd solo trip! I took Paul to Arizona and DC – both trips were to visit my sister. We will also see family in Chicago but will do some sightseeing. I have so many Marriott points so the hotel stay is free (err paid for by the many nights I spent away from the kids). I like traveling with the kids more than Phil does so I think these solo trips will continue. And I’m debating taking both boys to DC to visit my sister next April when they have spring break as Phil can’t travel during that month. They will be 5 and 8 so those should be pretty great ages for travel!!
Since losing my period, I’ve had no energy. But it didn’t go away all at once—it’s been a slow decline. I know there are probably other things zapping it too (grief, COVID…), but I really miss the energy I had when my body still had estrogen. That said, I still don’t miss having periods. So… something to look forward to, right?
Your flowers are absolutely beautiful! What kind of weather do you have up there? It seems like almost all your photos are taken on sunny days—it gives off total San Diego vibes. Like 65 and sunny in spring and summer.
Also, I’m such a sucker for eyebrow makeup. I don’t wear a ton of makeup, but when I do, it’s always brow stuff. I’ll definitely check this out. 💜
Kari, the weather is glorious here! Temperatures in spring are in the teens/ early 20s, and it’s often sunny. Generally I do take photos on sunny days though, so that might give a little bias to the photos.
I do wear a ton of makeup but I will say it’s only in the past 3-4 years or so that I’ve started doing eyebrow stuff, and I think it “wakes up” my face quite a bit!
I love all of your photos! My clematis is post blossom, but its flowers were smaller than I wanted them to be. I wonder if I gave it some fertilizer, would it bloom again? I can never remember if it’s a once a year thing or not.
That amino powder sounds like gold. I was on the pill when I went through menopause, which I think mitigated a lot of symptoms for me.
The first 2/3 of May was super busy for me, but almost all of it was fun. The last bit has been slower and welcome actually.
I feel like when I had clematis in Calgary, it bloomed for a long time but only once per season. Of course, the growing season is so super short there, maybe it didn’t have a chance! I’d be interested to hear if yours blooms twice. This is only this clematis’ second year, so I don’t really know what its bloom cycle is yet. I’ll keep you posted!
Flower power!
I can see adding some food “shower caps” to my kitchen lineup. Most of my mixing bowls have lids, but a few of them don’t and it would be really handy.
I’m in awe of all those wonderful flowers, not just the irises, but the fact you have a balcony garden already. I had planned to get mine done this weekend but, once again, we’re forecast rain. Ugh!
Shower caps, I remember as a kid we use to sew light elastic into cotton rounds to make decorative (and functional) covers for various pots, jars and dishes. Why do we not do that anymore?
You’re definitely rocking that outfit. Now I have a hankering to check out Lulu Lemon.
All the pretty flowers!!! Oh wow, you have such a beautiful yard – and the gnomes! What a delightful place for gnomes to live. I never knew there were so many colors of irises. Everything is so gorgeous.
I’m obsessed with your bowl covers. What are they made of? I need some ASAP. They’re so cute!
I’ve been hearing so much about all the forest fires in Canada right now. How scary that fire season has started so early, and I’m praying that everyone stays safe.
First, WHERE did you find those shower caps for your bowls? I need them in my life right this minute. Second, thank you for sharing your irises, mine have come and gone far too quickly for my liking. Third, color becomes you and I love that sweater! And I think I have those exact same shoes.
Oh, I love seeing photos of your garden. Do you have a vineyard?
I was using a hydration mix with BCAAs last year but only occasionally, but I didn’t realise they can help with Peri-menopausal fatigue, maybe I’ll give it a try.
That BCAA trick is interesting – I should look into it. My periods have gotten HORRIBLE lately and the mood swings have been awful.
One thing I don’t like about having cats is that I can’t have beautiful flowers in my home anymore. I used to love picking up a bouquet at the store just because. But so many flowers are toxic to cats and it’s just not worth it, wah.
I have to fill in my eyebrows or else they are non-existent. SIGHHH. I use NYX’s eyebrow pencil, which I swear by.
I love that sweater! Like Jenny said, that would be great for a Florida winter by which I mean I can wear it for 6 weeks out of the entire year.
I love sunrises. I like sunsets too, but there is just something magical about being up before everyone and enjoying such beauty in peace and quiet. Like it feels more special since there are less people seeing it or something.
I have no eyebrows (I mean, I have hair, but it is very light) and so I have never had eyebrows and I guess I am just used to it! If I drew mine on, similar to me wearing lipstick, I would just be shocked every time I passed a mirror (like Uncle whatshisface!) I kind of feel the same way when I paint my fingernails… oh my God there is a huge bug in my peripheral vision! Oh no, that is just my painted nail flailing around.
That sweater could be partially merino (?) because you can wear it all season long if it is the right blend! I love it! Also, that one sure is cute. I am a fan of stripes!