Bath & Body Works

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Sometimes I want to buy all of the things, which is counter to my desire to own less stuff in general. And sometimes it makes me really happy to get new stuff even though I really don’t want to be that way.

In any case, here’s what I got at Bath & Body Works today after I learned their rewards program is changing on Wednesday, July 20th. Instead of getting a free item after spending $75, you’ll now have to spend $100, and I was only $7.50 away from $75 so I wanted to snag my free item before they moved the goal post.

Therefore, last night I placed an order online for in-store pickup since the soaps were on sale for $3.25 each (and it’s a good thing I did since the sale ended yesterday). I got two White Tea & Sage and one Kitchen Lemon since both scents are neutral ones that can be used any time of the year. I also had a coupon for a free body care item $15.50 or less. Of course one of my favorite scents, Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte, was $16.50 so I couldn’t get that. Warm Vanilla Sugar will have to do, then.

I got a text this morning at 8:39 saying my order was ready for pickup. That didn’t seem right to me, so I called the store. Surprisingly, an employee picked up, but they confirmed what I already suspected – they weren’t open yet. Luckily I thought to confirm that or I’d have been pissed showing up to a closed store. I guess they prepped the pickup orders early which prompted an automated text/email. They really should add some verbiage to them saying to check to make sure the store is open first, or program the system to delay sending the notification until the store is open.

I got there at 10 am when they opened and saw that Halloween stuff just came out. After picking up my order, I refreshed my app a few times until it updated with my free item reward so I could get this cute glow-in-the-dark skulls candle holder.

Skulls Candle Holder

I’m pretty sure this is the first home décor item I’ve purchased this year. Wow, I made it an entire six months without buying a decorative item. Halloween stuff always gets me, though!

I also picked up a new wallflower scent – wicked vanilla woods – to try. I hope it’s good! I had to smell the body lotion to get an idea of the scent and sometimes the wallflowers don’t end up smelling the same. I already have two wallflowers I want to take back and exchange for a better scent once the fall ones are completely out.

Here’s my total “haul”.

I spoke to a very nice employee who helped me with the free reward situation (I wasn’t sure if it would appear immediately or whether I could use it right away) and let me know my favorite scent, Honeycrisp Apple, should be showing up in stores next month.

This place really knows how to drive demand. Every single day it seems there’s a new limited-time sale, and they restrict scent availability to certain times of the year so you can’t stock up on your favorites in a single shopping trip. If you like seasonal scents they have a guarantee you’ll be shopping there at least 3-4 times annually. Who else does this? I’m pretty sure you can get any Yankee Candle scent at any time of the year.

It’s my fault for giving them my business, though. I can’t help myself, especially when everything I get is actually free thanks to gift cards I get via Discover’s cashback bonus rewards. I have a problem.

Sofi Tukker

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Last night I watched a stream of a full Sofi Tukker set from June 16th @ The Greek Theatre in California. It was soooooo good! I only wish it was longer. Their sets tend to be just over an hour most times. I’ve been spoiled by The Cure’s 2-3 hour sets.

Needless to say, I had a very suggestive dream about Sophie last night. Yes, I said Sophie. She is H-O-T and no worries, Joe knows how I feel about her. :)

Anyway, I just realized I never wrote about their newest album, Wet Tennis. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first but it quickly grew on me and I love it! When it first came out I was playing it over and over nonstop on Spotify while waiting for my pre-ordered CD copy to arrive.

I was even able to snag a signed copy for ordering so early!

I just love their vibe so much. They come across as genuinely nice and caring people. We don’t see enough of that in the world, particularly these past few years.

Jumping Spider & Moth Buddy

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One thing I’ve been seeing on Tiktok lately is people keeping jumping spiders. They are super cute! We get the really tiny ones in the house frequently, which we’d get in my childhood home too. I nicknamed them zebra spiders growing up, although based on some research they might have actually been called that. Anyway… I’ve never actually seen the larger jumping spiders before. That is, until recently.

Back on June 4th Joe spotted one on his car in the garage. He was shy, so I couldn’t get a photo of him, but he basically looked like this:

How cute is that?!? I wish we’d see them more often!

On July 5th I was out on the patio watering flowers and a moth decided to land on me and hang out. I brushed it off before going inside, or so I thought. I was at the kitchen sink when I felt an itch on my head, and when I brushed at it, I saw the moth fly away. It disappeared so quickly, I had no idea where it went and quickly forgot about it.

The following morning I was grabbing towels from the guest bathroom and the moth was there. I was able to capture it in my hand and let it loose outside.

On the 9th an identical looking moth decided to hang out on the patio door screen for half the day.

Could it be the same one, and if so, why was it so obsessed with me? I love nature.

No Lemonade or Tomatoes

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There’s a reason I rarely go shopping by myself – I hate it. Joe is the cart guy and I can focus better when I’m not worried about the cart at the same time. That being said, Tuesday I decided to make a trip to Aldi to grab a few things for dinner. I kept my shopping list short so I wouldn’t have to bother with a cart.

On the way home I stopped at Starbucks because they are offering 50% off iced drinks every Tuesday in July. I ordered my favorite – iced green tea lemonade. Imagine my surprise when I got home and there was NO lemonade flavor at all.

Tasted like an iced green tea instead. I checked my mobile order and the sticker on the side of the drink and both said iced green tea lemonade, so I don’t know if the barista forgot the lemonade, or like Dunkin, Starbucks is being stingy with the flavoring now.

Needless to say, I had to add some powdered lemonade mix to make it taste better. Since I already have Starbuck’s tea, what was the point of even going there? I originally planned on going every Tuesday but I’m not going to bother now.

Also, the tomato I bought at Aldi disappeared. The bag didn’t tip over in my car, but I checked all over just in case and it wasn’t there. I didn’t find it anywhere in the house either, so I guess I somehow left it in the cart the cashier threw it in after scanning it?

Too Much D In Me

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Ever since I’ve been getting my vitamin D tested, it’s always either been deficient, or at the low end of normal. When I was sick in 2019 I was taking vitamin D drops with added vitamin K for better absorption and it went up to 45, but dropped back down last year when I wasn’t taking it anymore because a single bottle was $32. At that time I decided to try the vitamin D3 drops from Vitamin Shoppe because they often have a BOGO offer – I get two bottles for $22 and each bottle lasts a month or two, depending on dose.

During the winter I was taking 5000 IU daily but dropped to 3000 in April and then changed it to 4000 IU in mid-May.

Late last month I went to the doctor for my annual exam and she ran some bloodwork. Everything came back normal (including cholesterol), except for my vitamin D level which was through the roof.

Yikes! Luckily I wasn’t feeling any affects of vitamin D toxicity. However, my doctor, understandably so, told me to cease any and all sources of extra vitamin D so we could recheck my levels in three months.

I was fine stopping the drops, but I was apprehensive about quitting my other supplements that also have vitamin D in them (which I hadn’t considered when I determined my drops dose). In fact, I hadn’t even thought to check whether the Emergen-C I was taking had any D in it, and of course there was 1000 IU in it.

Florastor, which I take every night, recently added 400 IU to the pills they sell through Costco (which of course is the cheapest way to obtain them).

That being said, I did stop taking everything two weeks ago and as expected, my acid reflux has been worse, so I ordered some Florastor from Amazon that doesn’t have any vitamin D in it.

One other interesting development is that the soreness I’ve been experiencing in my cheeks and jaw for months has all but disappeared. I knew it wasn’t related to my nightly teeth grinding because it would develop over the course of the day, whereas most people wake up in pain. I was willing to consider getting a $3000 mouth guard from the dentist, however, if it kept up or got worse, so I’m glad it’s feeling better now. It could just be a strange coincidence anyway, so only time will tell.