Louis CK, He Gets It

Have you seen this?

Immediately after watching I wanted to post here about it's simplicity and profoundness. No words came to me though. All I could think was, "Man, Louis CK... he GETS it. Am I right?!"

Then I saw this post from Yoga Dork, by Kelly Barrett. 

Kelly recalls her yoga training after watching the clip:

I think the biggest lessons we all learned in that [yoga] training were about ourselves—how we experience pain, loss, frustration, boredom, joy—and how we work through those moments by actually experiencing them, not avoiding them. And most of all, I think we learned how it’s actually a beautiful thing to experience all of that. 

 ...

It’s not reasonable to expect we can all live without cell phones and really that isn’t the point. But what yoga gives us the chance to do is to spend more time hanging out with ourselves. It gives us the chance to question if we’re reaching for our phones for something we already have inside us.

Exactly, Kelly. 

Taking in the sunset right before yoga class... with my phone.
Whoops.
Namaste.

Read the full post, On Putting Your Phone Away and Being With Yourself. 

Cold, Refreshing Ice Cream

Saturday was beautiful with cool breezes, scattered clouds, and a radiant sun. Intense heat seems to be behind us. Sincere happiness washed over me. I desperately embraced it considering I was nursing a a wine hangover. Can I get a hallelujah?! 

To make the afternoon even sweeter I hazily stumbled in to the newly opened Sweet Rose Creamery in Santa Monica. In big sunglasses and clothes from the night before I'm sure I was a sight for sore eyes. My friends have been touting Sweet Rose's gourmet flavors like Sweet Corn and Salted Carmel. For about a month I followed the stages to the grand opening on Eater LA with great anticipation. 

Ta da! Salted Carmel & Caffe Luxxe

For a hyperhidrosis sufferer the cold sensation of ice cream oozing down the core of your body is so satisfying. Holding a cold cup of your favorite flavor might even ease the sweat of your hands. A cone may be a little more difficult to manage potentially causing the dough to crumble. Hell with the cone! We don't really need those extra carbs anyway. 

The service at Sweet Rose was welcoming. They were excited to finally have their doors open and were ready to answer any questions we had. Clean white walls coupled with small splashes of color, and beautiful steel ice cream barrels the shop is a delightful addition to the neighborhood. Despite the service and scenery being everything I had hoped for I chose the absolute wrong flavors for my hangover pallet. Two scoops of Caffe Luxxe Coffee and Salted Carmel were an explosion of intense flavor that did not agree with me. If I was five I probably would've sobbed from flavor frustration. I continued to eat it hoping my taste buds would adjust. I nearly ate the entire two scoops-- I paid $5.50 for it after all, but was not sold on the taste. 

I'll go back to Sweet Rose no doubt about it. Next time I'll ask to try a few more flavors before diving in. Another lesson learned.

How was your weekend? Any refreshing lessons to share?

Friday Roundup

Happy Friday! Looking for something to read over the weekend? No? I don't blame you. I too just want to shut off.

Come Monday morning if you're desperate for some interesting content easily clickable on the world wide web, here are a few things that caught my attention this week:

Sad Desk Lunch

I'm not alone!

101 Cookbooks - Orange Pan-glazed Tempeh Recipe

Drool city. Trying to incorporate more soy in to my diet.

How Yoga Helps You Fake It Until You Make It
Namaste!

How to Get Flat Abs, Have Amazing Sex and Rule the World in 8 Easy Steps.
It's not what you think.

Your Friend's Coworker Probably Has Hyperhidrosis

My new apartment has no cable nor a working television. Being deprived of basic entertainment has translated to long conversations with my roommates on our uncomfortable couch. You know, talking and catching up. Just enjoying each others conversation. I'm not a chatty person so I'd prefer to feast on Bravo reality but I'll adjust. 

Living with three girls is like an SNL skit sometimes

Last night after yoga feeling sweat free I sat with one of the roomies. Not only was I not sweating but I didn't need to wear socks. When it was clear we were going to hang out I scurried to my room to find a pair of socks. There wasn't a pair handy. Ruffling my bed I hoped a pair might fall out. No stray socks to be found. I walked back out to the living room in a daringly without socks. 

After yoga I generally have about an hour window or more where I don't sweat. My body must be so tapped out of sweating that it needs a break. Read more about my yoga recommendations. 

Back to the point. Roomie and I got to talking about our health issues. Turns out I had never told her about my hyperhidrosis. Like everyone else I've told she had no idea and never noticed. We worked together for about a year. She saw me five days a week. How could she have not smelled my sweaty self on those days that the air conditioning broke in our office?

We continued to swap insecurities with our health issues. She is very open so I already knew a bit of her medical issues but I assured her I would have never caught on had she not told me. She then told me her boyfriend's coworker had hyperhidrosis. I remembered another friend had told me her coworker has hyperhidrosis. Where were these people when I was a teenager? I could've used examples of real people within my social network. Sure I will probably never meet these coworkers but THEY'RE REAL. 

I shamefully adore watching Bravo's Eat Drink Love

The more you start chatting the smaller the world gets.  Here I am having real conversations instead of judging my life against stupid reality TV shows. Imagine that. 

More chatting less TV. Don't be fooled into thinking I will give up TV completely. I'm currently binge watching Breaking Bad on Netflix (OMG that show makes me so tense). 

Feeling a Bit Foolish

I write about happiness a lot on this blog. In fact, shameless plug, I wrote a short piece for Excessive Sweating Tips on the matter. There are a lot of things that make me happy. However, BIG however, I constantly forget that happiness and self fulfillment is a very active pursuit. Happiness is a whiny needy baby. You have to nurture that sucker. 

I was presented with an opportunity to interview for a new position with a company that I strongly believe in and think would help put me on the career path of my dreams. The stars seemed to have aligned. I read my horoscope and according to astrologist Susan Miller the planets are all saying "YOU'RE THE BEST!". OK not exactly but my negotiating power was supposed to be strong. I went in to the interview with the confidence of a gorgeous Wall Street jock. I was there to crush it. YEA BRO!

The email came today that I didn't nail it. They've found someone else. It's amazing how one email with just a few short cordial sentences can deplete your self confidence. I've gone from jock bro to a bratty teenager. What am I going to do with my life?! 

Time to refocus on making myself happy. Here I am writing. Tonight maybe I'll sew. 

I'm fortunate yet feeling foolish humbled today. 

The Worst Infographic You'll Ever Read

I have google alerts set for "Hyperhidrosis" and "Excessive Sweating" hoping that I will stumble upon the latest on both topics so that I can share them with you. I'm sure you've noticed I haven't shared much. Big surprise there isn't much to share. 

Today I was ecstatic to read, "Infographic explains excessive sweating statistics." AWESOME. Via Sweat Shield Undershirt.

Right?

No.

OK... to be fair, they did try and that's more than anyone else can say. The truth is though, what do we care about statistics? It's a jumble of numbers that don't speak to us. It lets us know that we're not alone. That's cool. 

You can see the infographic below. If it resonates with you please leave a comment. I'd love to hear your positive perspective. Also, their product may be great. Who knows? Not me. 

Working in the world of marketing I know how hard it is to make information sexy, easy to read, and resonate with the reader. I laugh at how this inforgraphic completely misses the mark. I want to buy the person who was put up to the challenge to make this and buy the poor soul a beer. They were probably given very limited resources and no real background in marketing to us sweaty folk. 

My level of patience is wafer thin. It's Friday. Perhaps I need a drink.

Cheers!

That Time I Got Shingles

You read the title correctly. A few weeks ago I got shingles. A skin infection I thought only people over the age of 70 could catch. If you've had chicken pox you have a chance at getting shingles. The chicken pox virus lays dormant in your system and if it flares up again later in life it is referred to as shingles. Yuck.

WARNING: I don't mention hyperhidrosis in this post. This is simply a share.

After some web based research, "Mom, there is a chance I have shingles."

"Sara, you do NOT have shingles. Oh my god. You would know if you had shingles." 

"I don't know mom, I mean I googled 'Itchy skin with no sign of rash' and the internet is telling me I have shingles." 

"Sara. Oh honey. You can't possibly have shingles. I've seen 75 year old patients where there are dark blisters all over. You would know if you had shingles. I mean, as a nurse, that's not my expertise, but I can't imagine at 27 you'd get shingles."

There have been plenty of moments where I wanted to prove my mother wrong. Crush her with reality that I am the queen supreme of right-ness. This was not one of those times.

Four days straight I had painful itchy skin. I blamed a synthetic dress I wore cursing the material for my fiery pain. And on the fourth day there was a pink spot right above my right hip. A friend of mine who had shingles a few months prior just happened to call me that day.

After we had caught up for a bit I shyly asked, "When you had shingles... what happened?" She explained that a rash doesn't appear until the fourth day. Yup. I've got shingles.

Thank GOD I was finally had health insurance after six months without. That's whole other diatribe about health care in America, oy vey. Anyways, I called Kaiser's very helpful hotline to talk to a nurse on Sunday night. The next morning I had an appointment to see a nurse practitioner.

The icing on the cake was when I drove to work the next day and my car broke down. I burst into tears feeling absolutely helpless. I was in pain, I had no way to get to my appointment, and I barely have two pennies to rub together. Furthermore, I didn't want to tell my hypochondriac coworkers that I had shingles. I lied saying that my appointment was for a sinus infection. My mom came to my rescue and took me to the appointment. I felt like a kid again relying on my mom to help, but fuck it, that's what family is for. How lucky am I that she lived close enough to help? I'll stop whining.

My shingles have been treated and are now gone. Woo drugs!

So what caused this? I can't say for sure, but the only conclusion I can come to is stress. I stopped doing yoga for a month, was planning a move, my mother has been ill, and I'm unsure of my career choices. I've been in a depressed slump. In all my worry I stopped taking care of my health. 

So the lesson I hope to pass on to you is take care of yourself! You deserve it. If not, you might just get some crazy rash.

Moving: Eastside v. Westside in LA

After two years living in Hollywood my roommate and I decided it is time to move. He is taking a leap further into adulthood by buying a condo and moving in with his girlfriend. I am looking to cut down on my hour commute. Driving has become an extension of me. I'm beginning to fear that I've developed a rounder booty and podcasts have become my friends. [If you're in to comedy and nerdy pop culture check out the Nerdist). Hash tag: obsessed.]

As I am making my decision on where to call home I've entered the Eastside v. Westside debate. In LA this is a thing. It makes me uncomfortable. Which side is the best side?

via KCRW (my choice radio station)

I'm drawn to the Eastside's live music culture and DIY appeal. The Westside has a cleaner safer appeal and very walkable streets. They both offer amazing restaurants, shops, and I have friends that live on both ends of town. There was no one thing that could help me decide. Or was there? As summer approached it dawned on me. There absolutely is. The weather.

LA is so expansive that the difference in weather can change by 20 degrees. 20 degrees makes a difference to whether or not my hyperhidrosis is going to kick into high gear. This is where the Eastside loses every single time. My current place has air conditioning, but when it's hot I deplore the idea of walking to the grocery store. Walking uphill back in the heat means I will be drenched in sweat. I avoid my neighbors and pray no one else needs to get on the elevator to experience the humidity I radiate. Sorry Mother Earth but I will be driving to pick up my organic kale. 

All things considered, I've forked over my deposit to the Westside. A short bike ride from Santa Monica I welcome the foggy dewey mornings. The Westside rarely peeks over 80 degrees. The flat streets may not offer insane city views that the hills of Hollywood or Silver Lake can but they will offer peace of mind when I walk to get coffee at the local slow drip coffee shop sweat stain free.

For those moving into college dorms this month how is that going? Please share your tips or questions in the comments.