Holiday Swellness: Happy New Year!

Wishing you a sparkly, delicious and, yes, a super swell 2013! K xo

(Photo: Glitter 2013 DIY project, Joy Ever After)

1 Comment December 31, 2012

To do: take vacations often

Yes, we already know that short, frequent vacations are better for us than one longer vacation a year. But now in the new issue of the journal The Psychologist is an article in which doctors share that despite that fact that the rejevenation we experience from a vacation are short-lived once returning home, it is still a good idea to get away often to help maintain overall health and well-being.

Now if only this article could count as a prescription that’d get us out of work….

(P.S. The beach above? It’s in Mallorca, Spain. I want to go to there. And lucky me, I am!)

Leave a Comment July 29, 2011

Be happier — by looking forward to a vacay

I’m dreaming of getting away from this dreary grey weather and the daily grind. And so I was particularly intrigued by a new study published in Applied Research in Quality of Life that found that it’s in the time leading up to a vacation that those going away are happier than non-vacationers. Once you’re back home from vacation, your happiness isn’t boosted — although there is a slight rise in your happiness levels for the first two weeks your back home if your vacation was particularly relaxing.

And so I’m throwing myself into planning a vacation in the next month or so. The pic above is now the wallpaper on my computer, and here are just some of the travel essentials I will be packing.

1. Sennheiser‘s brand new PXC-250 II improves on its patented NoiseGard technology to cancel out ambient noise, helping you drown out that crying baby seated behind you on your four-hour flight. (Plus, I think these headphones would be mighty handy escaping the surroundings on public transit every day, too — dude next to me on the streetcar yesterday was drinking a 40-oz beer. For real).

2. And what will I be listening to on my PXC-250 II’s? The new This American Life iPhone app is just $3 and you get access to all of their archived episodes (dating back to 1995!), not to mention view sample clips of the TAL TV show. A girlfriend and I were chatting about how we are both majorly crushing on host Ira Glass, he’s just so everything — funny, intelligent, witty…sigh.

3. I often don’t pack beauty tools like tweezers when I go away…and then inevitably find myself with a broken nail or that one errant brow hair that glares out at me whenever I look in the mirror. My Tagalongs Handywoman’s Kit ($12) solves both of these problems. It comes complete with scissors, knife, tweezers, nail file, toothpick and pen, all packed into a kit barely bigger than a credit card.

4. Somehow tweezers seem too fussy to bring with me on a trip, and yet I do make space in my luggage for a candle — just makes the hotel room a little homier. My new favourite? The Citrus Verveine travel candle ($20) from San Fran-based company Elizabeth W. Could be because I’m a little Vampire Diaries-obsessed lately…although the verveine would keep Damon Salvatore out of my room — maybe I should consider a different scented candle. 

12 Comments February 22, 2010