Over the last few years I have developed a habit of sleeping with a humidifier running on my nightstand- not a bad habit to develop. I started using one because it was a particularly dry winter and I found myself getting nose bleeds at night. I figured I’d try to start using a humidifier and now I hate sleeping without one running.

There are a lot of benefits from using a humidifier at night but the benefits I’ve noticed the most is that I feel like I breathe better when I wake up in the morning and my skin seems to lose less moisture at night.

The humidifier I started with was a basic and inexpensive one from Target. It worked fine, but when it broke I knew I wanted to replace it with a Canopy bedside humidifier. I knew I wanted one from Canopy because they make it so easy to clean. Humidifiers are prone to developing mold and Canopy has designed their humidifiers to prevent that. It was also appealing that it is dermatologist recommended.

I’m really happy with the humidifier because it has lived up to all the reasons why I purchased it. Most of the components are dishwasher safe so it’s super easy to clean. It does contain a filter that you have to replace every 6 weeks. I don’t mind having to replace the filter, because of it’s design it’s preventing mold and bacteria build up. I ordered the filters in bulk so I saved some money and don’t have to reorder them for a while.

Compared to other humidifiers, I have not noticed a difference in my skin with Canopy. Like the other humidifiers it seems to help prevent my skin from losing moisture at night.

I could see the sound of this humidifier being off putting to some people. The bedside humidifier has three setting. The first setting is very quiet and I can’t imagine the sound would be bothersome to anyone. The second setting is a little louder but it doesn’t seem too loud to sleep with it on (I keep mine on the second setting). The third setting is what my husband refers to as “the jet engine” because it is extremely loud.

Overall I’m super happy with this humidifier. I feel like it has made an improvement to the quality of my life and sleep. If you live in a dry climate like I do, I think having a humidifier is a must.

Tee Jeans Knit Jacket Boots

Dress Cardigan Shoes Bag

Top Hat Pants Shoes

Mother’s Day is just about a month away. From personally experience, it’s really hard to get a reservation at some places on Mother’s Day so it might be a good idea to do that now. In addition, it’s time to start thinking about what to get her. Flowers are always a great Mother’s Day gift, but sometimes it’s nice to get something more personal. Below are some Mother’s Day gift ideas.

Happy Indoor Garden Book This would make a great gift for a mom that loves to garden but maybe doesn’t do much indoor gardening. This would also be great for someone that would love to garden but doesn’t have outdoor space.

Facial Steamer I’ve had a facial steamer for about 13 years now and I still love it. It’s a skincare tool that would benefit someone at any age, with any skin type.

Beach Towel With beach season coming up, a beautiful beach towel would make a great gift they’ll be able to use in the upcoming months.

Pitcher I definitely fall into the school of thought that you can never have enough serveware. This etched floral pitcher is stunning and would look great on a tablescape for Spring and Summer.

Garden Basket Garden baskets get beat up and dingy pretty quickly so it could be a nice gift to upgrade or replace one. This would also make a very cute gift if you include seeds or other gardening supplies in the basket to make a gift basket.

River Sing Me Home If you have a mom that is an avid reader I highly recommend getting her this book. At the core, this book is about motherly love and it’s deeply moving.

Sometimes these meals are referred to as nourish bowls, buddha bowls, macro bowls or power bowls. Whatever you wish to call them, they are usually healthy and nutrient dish. These bowls usually consist of a protein whether it’s plant based or not, and a variety of side dishes that can be mixed together to create more of a salad or eaten separately. I love these meals because it is typically easy to make a large batch to meal prep (like the recipe below). Over the years I have developed a few go-to recipes for these types of meals that have become household favorites. One of our favorite’s is the Greek inspired bowl.

Ingredients

Rice (any rice of your choice, as a T1D I personally like using this rice alternative)

3 Tbspn chopped Parsley

Juice from 1 Lemon

1 Tbspn Olive Oil

Flaky Sea Salt

Greek Chicken (I like to use this marinade recipe)

Olives of choice

Cucumber

Pickled Red Onions

Feta

Tzatziki

Instructions

Marinade the chicken the night before. I like to use chicken thighs for this recipe and cook them on a grill or in a grill pan. If you are pickling your own red onions you will want to do that while you prep the rest of the bowl. This is my favorite recipe for making my own pickled red onions.

Cook your rice of choice according to the package instructions. Mix the rice with olive oil, parsley, lemon juice, and flaky sea salt.

Thinly slice the cucumber into rounds. I like to use a mandoline for this to get uniform pieces.

Assemble the bowl with olives, chicken, cucumber, tzatziki, and rice. Top it off with the pickled red onion and feta.

I’m back with more budget friendly outfits. I love this outfit below because it’s affordable but looks put together. It has elements that remind me of Gucci- like the horse bit detail and bamboo.

Dress Sandals Clutch

My husband and I bought our first home back in 2019 and since then it has been a complete love affair to decorate it. It’s a project that on one hand I want to bask in it being finished and perfect, but on the other hand I never want the process of decorating it to end…luckily homes are never ending projects.

We went from living in a small one bedroom apartment that didn’t even have a dining room to a home. We had a lot to do upfront like installing a yard, getting window covers, and appliances. We moved in the week before Thanksgiving and proceeded to host Thanksgiving and Christmas with out of town guests, so it was a mad rush to get some furniture. After that, I took my time furnishing it. I’m at a point now where we have the house effectively completely furnished and we are going through the process of replacing furniture that we bought when we couldn’t afford higher quality pieces (some of our furniture we’ve had since college). When it comes to furniture I like a timeless look because I want to invest in pieces that will outlive me, and that I love enough to have the rest of my life. Since most of our furniture is timeless it also tends lacks personality. Recently I’ve gotten into antiques because I feel like they add so much personality to our home. Whether they are actually antique, or they just look old world, these pieces feel like they have lived a lifetime before me and have a story to tell. Below are some antique pieces and new but antique looking pieces I feel could add so much character to your home.

Antique Cut Crystal Frame I have a similar cut crystal frame to this that I love. They make for really sturdy and beautiful frames. I find cut crystal frames to be really easy to style with other decorative items or other picture frames.

Baroque Style Clock This baroque style clock is gorgeous. It’s a bit pricey but I think it’s worth the price because of the size of it. It’s easy to exclusively stick to paintings for wall art but it’s more interesting to fill an empty wall space with something other than a painting, like this clock.

Brass Bath Trio This bathroom accessory is so unique and practical. The website has it shown styled with flowers in the cup too. This would be great for a bathroom with limited space.

Wall Mounted Candle Holder There is something incredibly romantic about using candle lighting in different ways. I can picture this wall mounted candle holder mounted on each side of a headboard above a nightstand.

Silver Tray I am such a sucker for silver trays. If you have a lot of chachkies, or collectibles, grouping them on a tray can give a sense of organization. I’m not really into bar carts but we do have a bar area on the buffet in our dining room that I use a tray in that area to group together some alcohol and glasses.

Antique Butter Dish This is such a special piece. It’s an antique butter dish dated around 1852-1898. I personally wouldn’t use it as a butter dish but rather put individually wrapped candy in it.

I think a streamline looking loafer can be one of the most versatile and understated elegant shoes in your closet. With chunky loafers being popular right now, it can be difficult to find a more timeless looking loafer. I’ve had different variations of a nude color loafer in my wardrobe for about a decade. When the last pair needed to be replaced, I finally decided it is time to replace it with a higher quality version. My search for a high quality, elegant, neutral color loafer lead me to The Gia flat from M.Gemi.

The Gia flat is a beautiful loafer style flat with a pointed toe, hidden wedge, leather sole, and is hand made in Tuscany Italy. The Gia is priced at $248, which in my opinion is a fair price for the quality and versatility of this shoe. From my experience the shoe does run true to size. The website suggests that if you have a narrow foot to size down a half size.

I bought mine in the tan tumbled calf leather option but it comes in various color options and leather options.

I’m on the shorter side, so having a pointed toe shoe is most flattering on my body type. The hidden wedge also aids in the illusion of longer legs. This is the type of shoe I can wear with any bottoms (dressy pants, jeans, skirts, or dresses). The style of the shoe and color lends itself to being an all season shoes.

My only complaint is that the sole does not have the best treading so I might take it to a local cobbler to add a rubber half sole to the shoes. These shoes do take some breaking in. It took a few times wearing it for a few hours each time to fully break it in.

I find the shoes to be comfortable for a typical day but if I were to take them on vacation, or plan to do a lot of walking in them, I would add an insole just because I have a very high arch.

I’m super happy with these shoes. I know they will be in my wardrobe for many years to come. I will likely buy it in more colors at some point.