I hope you enjoyed the last two recipes I gave you for Bath Salts. It’s nice to take some time and soak in the tub. It relieves stress and put moisture into your skin. You especially need that moisture when the weather turns cold. I know that a lot of people like to take bubble baths, yours truly include, so I have a couple of recipes for you today. The first one is Rose Bubble Bath. This is silky to the touch.

Kathy Zengolewicz

Here is what you will need to get started:

• 1 tbsp of glycerin
• 15 drops of rose fragrance oil
• 2 drops of red liquid coloring

Gently mix all of the ingredients until well blended.

As you can see this doesn’t take a lot of time or energy, but wait until you feel the richness on your skin.

Sea Bubbles Foaming Bath Oil

This recipe is great for dry skin. The mixture will separate in the bottle, so shake it well before using.

Kathy Zengolewicz

Here is what you will need to get started:

• ½ cup of liquid soap
• 2 drops of blue liquid coloring
• 1 tbsp of glycerin
• ½ cup of sweet almond oil
• 20 drops of spearmint fragrance oil
• 6 drops of sage fragrance oil
• ½ tsp of white pearl mica powder

Gently mix all of the ingredients until well blended.

Taking a long relaxing bubble bath is just what you need at the end of a hard day whether you’re coming home from work or from a hard day of shopping! Enjoy!

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Foaming Bubble Baths

Autumn is here and winter is on the way. It is time to make sure that we take care of our skin and body. Bath salts are a great way to do just that. You will be getting two recipes for a refreshing, relaxing bath soak. The first recipe is for Lavender bath salts that will refresh you and melt away any stress that you have been feeling. I don’t always get a chance to soak in a tub, but when I do I love the scent and feel of lavender on my skin.

Kathy Zengolewicz

Here is what you will need to get started:

• 2 cups of Epsom Salts
• 1 cup of baking soda
• ½ cup of dried lavender buds (or 10 extra drops of lavender oil)
• 2 Tbsp of glycerin
• 10 drops of lavender fragrance oil
• 5 drops of rose fragrance oil
• 5 drops of red liquid colorant
• 3 drops of blue liquid colorant

Mix all of the ingredients together and put in a pretty container. Shake the container daily for about a week to mix the ingredients.

Shimmering Body Soak Crystals

Kathy Zengolewicz

Here is what you will need for this bath soak:

• 2 cups of Epsom Salt
• 2 tbsp of glycerin
• 1 tbsp white pearl mica powder
• 10 drops of tangerine fragrance oil
• 5 drops of lime fragrance oil
• 5 drops of peppermint fragrance oil
• 5 drops of grapefruit or citrus fragrance oil

Mix all of the ingredients and place in a wide mouth container. Just use a scoop in a tubful of warm water for a relaxing soak. One more thing, leave the world and all of it’s stress outside the bathroom door.

These two recipes are just what you need for a restful soak at this stressful time of year. So, be good to your body and it will be good to you. Enjoy!

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Bath and Body Care

Image by Alejandra Mavroski

Have the same “me time” schedule everyday. What if you declared 2.00-3.oo pm everyday as your own time? Just as you schedule doctor’s appointments and parent-teacher meetings, schedule a date with yourself. The hour is all yours and nobody should bother you. Whether it’s soaking in the tub or going out for coffee, this will be something you can look forward to everyday.

Hire a babysitter or leave the kids with their grandparents. Once a week, go out and enjoy the day or night by yourself or with your partner.

Go to the gym. It’s time away from home and time for yourself, your body, your health.

Take a class. What are your interests? Determine what they are then look for classes near your area.

Create an area that’s all yours. Whether it’s a reading nook or a whole room all to yourself, let this be your oasis when the day gets a bit too overwhelming.

Make time. All the above aren’t worth anything if you don’t exert effort and really make time for yourself. If you need to talk to your family about it, do so.

Remember, your household is important, but so are you. Do things that are important to you. Take good care of yourself, and you’ll take even better care of your household that way.

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Budgeting Time for Yourself

That being said, sometimes your man just needs to be taken care of.  I obviously don’t want to set women back, but sometimes I think it can be a positive aspect of a relationship to feel comfortable and confident enough to pamper your boyfriend or husband.  Just like women, men can get stressed out and overwhelmed by whatever life has dealt them.  Maybe it’s a hard week at work, too many all-nighters spent studying, or sudden financial setbacks that have caused your lover to lose his mojo, but you can help to bring him back.  Set all of your preconceptions about traditional women’s roles aside and put forth some effort to take care of him.  Do the grocery shopping, cook him his favorite meal, do the dishes, draw him a hot bath, give him a massage, and just take care of all of the household responsibilities for one day to let him relax and regain perspective on his life.

I wanted to write this post because I know that a lot of men and women are going through difficult times related to unemployment and financial troubles, so I want to propose that maybe you can offer a special relaxing day for your husband or your boyfriend to let him know that you love him and you are there for him as he goes through this difficult time.  Hopefully he will understand and regain strength and offer the same to you when you find yourself in a similarly challenging life situation.

Image: sxc.hu

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Sometimes He Needs Extra Attention

Amber said, “This sounds like a book that could put a smile on my face and help me appreciate what I have in life instead of stressing about the small stuff.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself! Thanks for your comment, Amber, and enjoy your book!

Image: sxc.hu

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Winner of the Simple Pleasures Book

In fact, a few years ago, when a guy I was crazy about gave me a self-empowerment book for my birthday, I nearly cried. (And not with elation. Seriously, it was proof how little he knew about me.)

That said, Love Well is a tasteful, guided imagery/self hypnosis approach to re-igniting passion.

Narrated by Janet Montgomery, this CD is not remotely as crazy and new age as you may think – it’s soothing and pretty darn thoughtful – using “guiding imaging” and Jeff Gold’s relaxing instrumental music to really help you to, well, help yourself.

I’m trying out the CD now – there’ s a free sample on their site, you should as well, and tell me what you think!

Image: Live Well Series

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Hypnotize Yourself to Passion

That’s it! Relaxing…that sums it up. I did nothing all week except read and make dinner, read and make dinner…and drink wine.

(Anna Quinland’s “Rise and Shine” and Steve Martin’s HILARIOUS, “The Pleasure of My Company.”)

I did a lot of self-reflection as well, but because I was in such a state of calm…most of what I came up with about myself is so dull and angst-free, I would end up being charged with the crime of boring you to death.

We are in a position to take elaborate and action-packed vacations, as it’s the two of us and the dog. But one of the great things about spending a holiday at the seashore is that there really is nothing to do: no airport travel (read: no decisions about what you can and CANNOT pack), no fear of being ostracized in other countries for being American and my favorite…no sight-seeing!

The closest thing to sight-seeing is keen ocean obervance…I knew hurricane Ernesto and later Florence…were coming up the coast way before they were even identified by the nim rod weather people: all you have to do is watch as the Ocean churns…the patio furniture rattles for no apparant reason in the evening…or if you really want to predict if a storm is coming…read the fishing reports. Apparently, some species flee and hide in the canyons off the coast when a hurricane is on its way.

That’s it, aside from watching the heart-wrenching ceremonies on Sept. 11th (which they really need to stop televising)…

…the week was the definition of relaxation.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled work mania…my husband even had to warn me about not tackling my over-flowing Pet Set messages.

I’m not sure when I’ll be able to take another family vacation, but when I do, I sure hope it was as lovely as this one.

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The Art of A Fabulous Vacation.