Fall Break Update and The Panic/Anxiety Scale

This week is a break, and a well-needed one at that. Schoolwork, extracurriculars, and letter of rec packets have literally made me sick last week, with a fever, stomachache, clamminess, and other general discomforts. I missed 1.5 days of school on Wednesday and Thursday, but since I used those days to sleep all the time and down about a gallon of chicken soup and tons of vitamins, I was able to go back to school on Friday to catch up everything that I missed. Unfortunately, I also passed it on to Diana who sits next to me in art (sorry!), and she ended up out for the rest of the week.

Break has been quite uneventful thus far, and I like it that way. I did nothing on Saturday, but it was mostly unproductive resting. I like to distinguish between "productive resting" and "unproductive resting" because sometimes, just doing nothing doesn't really contribute to feeling more relaxed. Productive resting (especially in a clean, quiet environment), such as making nice things to eat, sitting comfortably in bed reading, leisurely cleaning up and organizing, or focusing on music and only music, leaves me in a distinctly more peaceful state, while also helping to get some things done.

On Sunday, my productive resting activity was candle making; I found some old candles pieces and holders, and decided to tackle the DIY project of making them into new functional candles. I might go into detail later about it in another post, but since I didn't take pictures during the process, it might not be a step by step guide (it is easier and harder than you think at once). If I am aware of it, I make an effort to do productive resting, but sometimes it's very easy to fall into the activity of unproductive resting.

Still, despite having plenty of time to work on things, there are so many things to do (more letters of rec, college apps, speech writing, SAT prep,) and I guess I'm getting anxiety over those things, but sometimes it feels like the anxiety just pops up for no reason. Today I finally tackled a four page bio packet, which should have taken forty minutes, but ended up taking at least four hours because I found it so hard to focus on the work. Tomorrow I'm going to be painting Homecoming skit backdrops, an activity that I enjoy, and that will hopefully relieve some stress. Starting Wednesday, I want to go to the library to work on all of the other things, and be done with it by Saturday in order to have another day to rest on Sunday.

#obsessed: Stay High (Habits Remix) – Tove Lo ft. Hippie Sabotage

One of the little things I enjoy when my family is out for the day is being able to play music from the little radio/alarm clock/speaker device I keep on my chiffonier. The sound quality isn't the best, but the music fills the room and still feels distant and mysterious at the same time. I came upon this song in my art teacher's classroom, and later again through Spotify radio.

Food Friday #006 – BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse

DIY Exfoliating Face Scrub

As much as I am intrigued by bath and beauty products such as the bath bombs and body scrubs from Lush, I regrettably do not have the time nor money to go out to buy them. So instead of waiting for a free day to come by to go out and shop, I decided to make my own.

#obsessed: Rather Be – Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynn

I know I just made a #obsessed post not to long ago, but I've literally, in the most literal sense of the word, been listening to this song on loop all weekend, nonstop. There's been so much good music lately, from Taylor Swift's new single "Shake It Off", to Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj's "Bang Bang" (honestly so catchy, I'm definitely doing a post about it too, soon). However, for now, I'd like to focus on this one because it's a bit of an older song, released at the end of 2013, but I've only heard of it now. The violin is insanely catchy, and whole song just radiates a clean, clear, crisp quality. I like it a lot, and hopefully I'm not the only one hopelessly obsessed with everything about it.


◊