#they’re incredibly difficult to deal with and it doesn’t mean you’re gross or a pig or a slob

[mars-ipan]

i feel like giving unsolicited advice so i’m gonna give you my tips and tricks for something i’ve struggled with for a while and am finally improving on!! hygiene. dental hygiene in particular but i will also have some general hygiene tips in here. ok let’s go :)

get an electric toothbrush. oh my god they are so useful. they do the actual brushing for you and automatically stop after 2 minutes so all you have to worry about is moving the brush to get it to all of your teeth. it’s so so useful and has made brushing my teeth a lot less exhausting. they can get kind of expensive but there’s also cheap ones (sonicare is the best brand but lots of ‘em work well)

if you’re like me and your hygiene issues stem from a lack of motivation, find ways to “cheat.” keep a toothbrush by your bed. the motion of brushing your teeth does more for you than the toothpaste (which provides extra protection for your enamel), so even just taking a dry toothbrush and using that can help your teeth. get a dry shampoo too. that way you can still go out even if your hair’s greasy and you don’t have the energy for a shower

if you’re bad at forming and keeping habits like me, then find some sort of excuse to get started. mine was getting my wisdom teeth out- i have to brush twice a day so my sockets don’t get infected. your reason may be smaller, something like “my teeth are really sensitive and brushing well will prevent that.” give yourself a reason and stick to it as best you can

ok this one is hard and i’m honestly impressed with myself for following it so far. Do Not Skip Days. i know. a lot of the time you’re very tired at night and you just wanna go to bed. but if you skip one day you will then skip two days. then three. and you will not pick up the habit again for a while. this is another way the “cheating” can come in handy. if you’re low spoons then a dry brush is still better than skipping

baby steps. my first step in hygiene improvement was actually a big one- i went straight to brushing twice daily for two minutes (plus cleaning my nightguard every night). that’s a big improvement for me. next i wanna add floss to the mix, but if i did it now i’d get overwhelmed. so i’m gonna wait until the twice daily brushing becomes a normal routine, and THEN i’ll start flossing

be patient with yourself!!! the amount of times i have nearly forgotten to brush my teeth in the morning is insane. sometimes i don’t remember until like mid-afternoon. don’t beat yourself up for stuff like this. just say “okay, i’ll brush my teeth now then” and call it a win. you still did the thing! that’s what counts. if you’re very forgetful you may wanna set alarms to remind you.

gingivitis and tooth sensitivity SUCKS. real bad. i love sour foods and ice cream but i have to be really careful when i eat them because i wasn’t taking good care of my teeth for a while and eating them can hurt really bad. caramel hurts so bad i actively avoid it, and i hate chewing with my canines because as soon as i drink water afterwards they scream at me in pain. my gingivitis is still very minor and i’ve actually caught it quite early. my dad did not, and now he’s considering getting all his teeth pulled and replaced because his enamel is so thin and his gums are so swollen that his teeth are loosening. it is like scary. and expensive. trust me gingivitis hurts you don’t want it

hold your toothbrush at a 45 degree angle when brushing your gums. by the way make sure you’re brushing your gum line. plaque can build up there and it’s mainly what causes gingivitis to begin with. clean up there

do you hate traditional string floss? get flosspicks. not only do they make flossing easier but you also have a bunch of toothpicks in case food gets stuck in your teeth. so damn useful for popcorn in the molars

if you hate mint you do not have to use a mint toothpaste. you can get a bubblegum toothpaste if you want. or a watermelon toothpaste. kids’ toothpaste is just as effective as adult toothpaste and i promise you the cashier does not care enough about what you buy to judge you. use whatever toothpaste you want

if you have a chew stim sometimes chewing on a stim toy too much can move your teeth out of place. you do not want this. if your teeth are sore or your jaw is locked from using a chew toy or even if you just want more variety i’d suggest chewing gum. icebreakers gum is my personal fav (grape flavor is the best) but plenty of ‘em work. not only is it way softer and not gonna misalign your teeth but chewing gum after eating helps reduce cavities AND it stimulates your digestive system which, for me, helps me with appetite issues i struggle with. free bonus

some whitening toothpastes can damage your enamel. activated charcoal has this issue too. if you have difficulties brushing your teeth regularly i wouldn’t use tooth whitening products if you can avoid it- sensodyne is a good brand for rebuilding enamel and lessening sensitivity if you want to whiten your teeth eventually, and i absolutely recommend it to those of us who can go days without brushing.

if you do use whitening strips or anything like that DO NOT LEAVE THEM ON TOO LONG. your teeth are gonna hurt super fucking bad to the point where air or your tongue just sends waves of pain through your jaw. if you ever keep a whitening strip on too long you need to rub some toothpaste on your teeth (sensodyne works best) and let it sit there for a good while. while that sensitivity is temporary it also hurts really really bad so you’ll want to remedy it asap.

don’t brush too hard. brushing too hard on damaged teeth and gums can actually make things worse- this is part of why an electric toothbrush that does it for you makes things easier. if you’re brushing really hard and your gums bleed every time or seem to be getting worse i’d recommend you brush lighter. the clean is less about the amount of force you give and more about the amount of time you spend

brush your tongue!! if ur gag reflex is like mine and you can’t really do that, then at least make sure to swish your toothpaste around your mouth and over your tongue before you spit. a lot of bacteria sits there and causes both the bad taste in your mouth and bad breath. once you’ve cleaned off enough of that bacteria your mouth is gonna feel fresh for longer and you’re gonna actually feel your motivation improving. i brushed my teeth over an hour ago and my mouth still feels minty fresh, that’s awesome

#i think that’s all i got for now #oh!! if you want to you can try to gamify your hygiene #maybe each hygienic thing you do correlates to a certain amount of points #you have a quota of points to earn each month or week or day #as you get better you need more points. etc etc #oh also. don’t feel guilty for having hygiene issues #they’re incredibly difficult to deal with and it doesn’t mean you’re gross or a pig or a slob #that being said they can also be very dangerous- dental hygiene especially can quickly become a medical issue #do your best. be patient with yourself. you’ve got this <3

[ropedropnet]

Initial Thoughts on New Things (and things that are new to Us)

John and I are done with our trip down to WDW for the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon weekend, and I am the one putting together this Quick Hits post because John is driving (and blogging while driving is probably not that safe). Here are some of the “new to us” items:

Small World Dress!

The Dress Shoppe @ Cherry Tree Lane. IT IS THE BEST AND I WANT ALL THE DRESSES! They aren’t free though, so I only bought one. I got the Small World pattern and love it. I tried a bunch of them on and they’re all really cute. I wish they’d had the Orange Bird one in stock. Cast Members said they’d been told much more stock would be coming in summer. Hopefully Disney recognizes the demand and we get even more patterns and styles.

BB-8 Meet & Greet. Droid please. He’s really cute and we thought this was a positive experience. One thing that’s different about the BB meet is you’re the only ones in the room with him; at most character meets, there’s a family or two behind you watching/waiting their turn. They brought us in to him alone. He’s a nicely attentive droid too – even though he doesn’t roll around, his head swivels and you can see him looking around based on where voices are coming from. The chirps are the cutest.

The Polite Pig. MEH. As North Carolinians, we have pretty high expectations for BBQ/southern food, so it’s a bit of a tough sell. The fast casual concept of ordering and then sitting down might be nice if they figure it out. When we went, they had clearly not ironed out the wrinkles in that system. When we initially got in the main line, which was pretty long and didn’t seem to be moving quickly, the CM handing out menus told us we could sit/order at the bar if we didn’t want to stand in line. So we went to the bar, where the lone bartender was clearly overwhelmed (both sides of the bar were almost at capacity). It took almost 10 minutes for us to even get water, but we stuck it out and ordered. I got mac & cheese and John got the brisket sandwich. John liked his sandwich okay. My mac & cheese just made me wish we’d gone to Homecomin. We both agreed that if we’d just gone to the bar at Homecomin, we could’ve gotten a better tasting meal in about the same amount of time though at a slightly higher cost. I don’t think we’ll really need to go here again, but it would be okay if sitting at the Homecomin bar is not an option for you.

Geyser Point. Beautiful views, not so beautiful food/service. When we sat, it took a while for a waitress to even acknowledge us. She gave us drink menus and seemed mad when we asked about food. Apparently, you are supposed to go over to the quick service counter (not clearly visible from the Geyser Point entrance) to get anything aside from 3-4 appetizer type things. Given that there’s a giant menu at the Geyser Point entrance showing all the options from the quick service counter, I’m sure lots of people walk in expecting those options. Yet, when we asked about them she huffed and acted like it was a giant hassle, so we just ordered drinks. John ended up just going over to the quick service counter to order some food. The food you get is definitely Disney quick service. That doesn’t mean it’s gross, but it’s replacement level. The food from Territory Lounge is much better. The views at Geyser Point are really pretty though, so I can see us getting some stuff from Territory to go and posting up at Geyser Point to eat it and enjoy their drink menu. *Note that you can only get food discounts (like AP) if you order directly from the quick service counter.

Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno. What we had of the new menu was good – John had the King Triton breakfast calzone and enjoyed it. I had the Tower of Pancakes, which were thick and fluffy. Each table gets a skillet of breakfast pastries when they sit, and the pastries are themed to Rapunzel & Ariel (the two princesses you meet). Character interactions were solid. Flynn Ryder comes out first, then Rapunzel, Eric, and finally Ariel. While each character meets tables individually, the two couples do dance around the restaurant a little together, so if you’re in a good position, you could get a photo of Rapunzel with Flynn and Ariel with Eric, they just don’t come to your table together. Overall, the breakfast was fun, but it was a little bit of a bummer, because we really liked the old Trattoria breakfast. It was a great option to fuel before heading into International Gateway at World Showcase opening. Now, the breakfast is more expensive (because of the characters) and some of our favorite menu options are gone. We may end up at the Bon Voyage breakfast again, but not as often as we went to the old Trattoria breakfast. 

Il Mulino. This restaurant is by no means new, but we’ve never been so this is new to us. The disclaimer is that the purpose of this dinner was to have a mild, carb-y dinner before Saturday’s 10k. If it were a normal meal, we may have ordered different things. The atmosphere was nothing to write home about. It was pretty enough, but there certainly aren’t any exciting views. The wine list looked nice, but we stuck to water like good little runners. We both ordered pasta dishes – I got a linguine in a “spicy” red sauce. It was not spicy, and I probably wouldn’t order it again. John got the pappardelle dish and really liked it. I can’t see us choosing this over Tutto Italia unless we’re staying in the Swan or Dolphin and simply don’t feel like going into Epcot.

Paddlefish. Food was pretty good and a decent value. We had the lobster corn dogs from the appetizer section and those were quite tasty. Everything else was fine too, but not significantly memorable. You won’t have any trouble getting a table and it’s certainly not the type of restaurant to rush you through your meal, so I think Paddlefish is a good option if you want a longer/lazier meal at Disney Springs. If you get a window seat you can wave to the Amphicars.

Tiffins. OMNOMNOMNOMNOM. Seriously lives up to the rave reviews we’ve seen elsewhere. We were there on the Rivers of Light dining package, which means we got more food than we probably would have otherwise. The package includes an appetizer, entree, and dessert for each person. To start, I got the octopus and John got the lobster soup. John’s summation of the soup is that it was good, but he prefers traditional lobster bisque. We both really liked the octopus. I could’ve eaten 3 or 4 of those. For entrees, I had the Waygu pasta dish, which was delicious, and John got the Waygu beef and short ribs. This is one place where you don’t have to worry so much about Disney overcooking – the beef was insanely tender and tasty. We both got the chocolate dessert because chocolate. It was so good and now I’m seriously craving another one. After dinner, the waiter brought our Rivers of Light tickets along with a GLOWING LOTUS FLOWER POPCORN BUCKET. It didn’t have any popcorn in it, but it only cost $1.50 to fill it at any of the popcorn stands. The only negative from Tiffins was that our waiter told us they were out of Kungaloosh. We were both shocked since they only have 3 beers on the menu, but John audibled and got the Tempting Tigress instead. When we went to Nomad almost immediately after Tiffins, John tried ordering the Kungaloosh again and it was available. Not sure if they got a new keg in or if our waiter was misinformed/playing a cruel joke.

Rivers of Light

Rivers of Light. I tweeted this, but I seriously don’t understand how people are unimpressed with this show. It was beautiful. Even though it was kind of windy and you could see where the water screens were rippling, it was delightful. The shadows during the preshow were entrancing and the glowing animals during the show itself made me so happy. The synchronized water effects were incredible. I also really liked the cast members on the boats dancing and contributing through the shadow puppets. I do think they need to make the narration louder or put in more speakers, because there were definitely parts that were difficult to hear, but overall I really enjoyed it. John definitely will not go this far, but now that Celebrate the Magic is gone, this is my favorite nighttime show. I’m not really a fireworks fan though, so you can take that with several salt grains.

Additional thoughts from the trip:

We watched our last Wishes. Here’s hoping that Happily Ever After is a suitable replacement.

Ample Hills being open to 11:00pm is a good thing. Frankly, it should be 24 hours, because duh.

Uniqlo has awesome deals and is a great option if you forgot to pack some essential piece of clothing.

The race expo was a little underwhelming compared to prior expos, and we may post more about the race stuff.

Territory Lounge has a new spicy watermelon margarita that I loved.

There is a dumb waitress at Sanaa who kept insisting she was bringing me the bread service sauce I was requesting, even though it was clearly the Tomato-Date Jam instead of the Red Chili Sambal. So I sat there with four of the WRONG sauce until another table’s waitress noticed and brought me the RIGHT sauce, explaining that they had been mislabeled, but she could tell the difference by looking at the sauces instead of the label (AS COULD ANYONE WITH EYES). Our waitress never apologized. She’s the worst. I was right. I’m not still bitter about this or anything.

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