Ciblek Mania

For the past few weeks I've been reading the wonderful gift guides on so many of your blogs and discovering so many treasures.  Yet because of work and life and chaos, there seems to have been little time to really sit down and think about what to give my family and friends.  This week reality has set in that I have next to no time left - and suffice it to say panic is in the house.  Usually my Christmas/Holiday shopping is complete by the 1st of December, so this is unfamiliar territory and I don't like it.  Today when my mother asked me what I was hoping for all that came to mind was a blank slate.

So tonight I gave some thought as to what I would be happy to find under the tree - and also what I would like to give to some of my girlfriends.  This may be the only "gift guide" I do and it's not in fancy format, but if even one of these treats appears on Christmas morning it will be great...and thankfully I've already picked a couple up for friends.

Do you ever have those days when you walk by the mirror, happen to glance up and immediately think (and sometimes exclaim out loud), "What in the hell was that?!"  Sometimes I have to stay up late getting projects and updates prepared for the following day.  Other times I am so wound by bedtime that I put on the Felicity DVD's and float off to wonderland for an hour or two longer than I should (and then there's those Nancy Grace re-runs that happen at midnight...) only to wake up swatting the nightstands when the alarm goes off in the morning.  Stress and lack of sleep can take a lot out a person.  Aging is not much fun, either - and believe you me I am doing my best to fight that mother off with a fierce, but realistic, determination. 

The truth of the matter is we are going to age - and there is no reason not to do so gracefully and naturally.  To me, that means taking realistic preventative measures along the way to care for my skin and body in general.  Injections are not something I'm interested in (seriously.  did you catch the real housewives of beverly hills last week? it scared the hell right out of me).   The idea of injecting a foreign substance into my skin defies logic.  Who knows what the effects are going to be in 15-20 years when all that stuff starts to run its course.  I would much rather do simple things like get proper amounts of rest and exercise - as well as indulge in copious amounts of tea.  

Do you have any idea how good tea is for you??  Here are just some of its many benefits:

• Tea contains antioxidants that slow down the aging process by helping cells to regenerate and repair.
• Green tea, in particular, neutralizes free radicals (still not sure what those are exactly, but I know they're not good!) and helps to reduce fine lines and wrinkles.  Sign me up for 10 cups please!
• Black tea reduces cortisol - a stress hormone that your body produces - thereby helping you to process stress easier.  No wonder I've been so zen lately.  
• My dentist swears by it.  She asked me on one of my first visits if I was a tea drinker - which entirely freaked me out because I thought she was going to say my teeth were stained.  Nope.  Instead she said that tea drinkers have less cavities because it fights off plaque.  But you should rinse with water after drinking tea.  
• My acupuncturist is always ripping on me to drink more tea and not so much water.  She was an M.D. before becoming a Licensed Acupuncturist, so I listen to what she says more readily.  According to her, tea keeps you hydrated without flushing your body of nutrients.  I'm still drinking water, but I've replaced at least 3 glasses a day with tea. 

Fortunately for me I grew up in a family of tea drinkers.  I remember my first sip of my grandfather's English Breakfast.  Everyone chuckled thinking I'd run off...suckers - I sipped away at the whole cup!