Thoughts
This post is sponsored by GSK Flonase.
Our noses are running constantly and tiny tears drip out of our eyes, evidence that the early spring pollen has struck again. Tis the season for itchy eyes, runny noses, and scratchy throats.
The pollen may have caught us by surprise yet again this year, but that doesn’t mean we’re giving in that easily. Allergies are no fun and I refuse to let them get the best of us and drag us down when the weather is finally turning gorgeous, so we’re doing everything we can to keep them at bay.
Super clean
Seriously boring, but makes a huge difference. We change all the air filters, vacuum approximately a million times, and wash all our sheets, pillowcases, and blankets in steaming hot water. For once I remember to change the sheets consistently so there’s no time for extra pollen to accumulate. Showers, baths, and hand-washing all the time for everyone, too.
Shoes at the front door.
There’s no way I’m banning going outside, even if that’s where all the pollen is, so shoes are relegated to the front door so pollen isn’t tracked all over the house. Same goes for any jackets or blankets or toys that go outside. The less pollen trekked all over, the better.
Exercise outside based on pollen count.
It’s seriously the best time of year to exercise outside – except for your lungs. Morning walks or runs happen early in the morning and if the pollen count is too high, it doesn’t happen – it’s not worth it. Continuing to exercise, however, is important too, so inside it is.
What do you do to help with allergies?
Flonase® Allergy Relief (fluticasone propionate 50 mcg spray), now available over-the-counter, is changing the way allergies are treated by delivering original prescription strength treatment without a prescription. Click here to learn how you can #BeGreater than your allergies.
Disclosure: GSK compensated me in connection with the statements in this post. Compensation was provided by GSK Flonase via Mode Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of GSK Flonase.
Thoughts
This allergy post is sponsored by GSK Flonase.
Allergies may not sound like a big deal, but if you’re an allergy sufferer you know how annoying and disruptive they can be. It can be hard to face the sunshine, as beautiful as it is after a long, dreary winter, knowing that what comes with it are blooming flowers, pollinating trees, and growing grass – all contributors to seasonal allergies.
I used to hide inside waiting for the season to pass, but here in NC that season doesn’t seem to ever want to end. I’d wait for the pollen to stop collecting on the cars and pooling in the sidewalk after a rain. I’d wait until the rain was pouring down to venture outside, hoping it’d keep some of the pollen at bay, instead of in my nose. But with an allergy season that seems to drag on and on here, that just isn’t possible.
So I make the best of it and don’t let allergies stop me from doing what I love – being outside, running in the fresh air, and playing in the grass with my son. The trick is to avoid peak pollen times, and treat daily when symptoms start.
To prepare our family for fighting allergy season, we keep our sheets, towels, and rugs extra clean, leave our shoes close to the door so we don’t track pollen in, and make sure we keep up our intake of fruits and veggies so we stay as healthy as possible.
To make sure we can fit in our outside time without paying the consequence for too much pollen, I check the pollen count on my weather app before heading outside. We usually stick to early mornings (especially if it’s for a run) when pollen count tends to be lower around here. If it’s an extremely high pollen day, we opt for an indoor activity or something that doesn’t keep us outside for too long. As soon as we come inside, we rinse off – washing hands and faces to help keep the pollen at bay.
Flonase® Allergy Relief (fluticasone propionate 50 mcg per spray), now available over-the-counter, is changing the way allergies are treated by delivering original prescription strength treatment without a prescription. Click here to learn how you can #BeGreater than your allergies.
Disclosure: GSK compensated me in connection with the statements in this post. Compensation was provided by GSK Flonase via Mode Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of GSK Flonase.
Fun
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of ZYRTEC®.
This morning I “woke up” to my two year old perched on top of my belly, peering closely into my face. He was poking his chubby little toddler fingers into my eyes, prying open my eyelids. “Wake up eyes, mommy, wake up!”
The last thing I wanted to do was open my eyes. Not just because it wasn’t quite yet six o’clock in the morning, but after an evening spent at a party on an outdoor patio, my eyes were heavy with leftover pollen and puffiness. Ahh, spring. Love it/hate it. Mostly love it. Except for ALLERGY FACE™.
If you succumb to pollen like I do, you know what I’m talking about it. The itchy, watery eyes. The puffy eyelids. The red and swollen nose.
I naively thought I’d escaped allergy season this year as the husband sat sniffling and blowing his nose in the early weeks of spring and I sat there perfectly happy and normal. Then a week later, it hit me. Full-force. And hasn’t stopped yet, though I can hardly imagine how there’s any pollen left after the massive onslaught we had in April – the type of never ending piles of yellow dust that even a good rainstorm can’t wash away.
Even when it eases up a bit, I’m still left with puffy, watery eyes in the morning. Even if you’re not trying to competely hide the effects of ALLERGY FACE™ {I mean face it, sometimes there’s no point}, it can still be tough to wear make-up when you’re battling allergies. Celebrity makeup artist Jamie Greenberg pulled together some tips for ZYRTEC® on how to combat allergy face and still look your best. With tips like sporting bright red lips so you don’t have to worry about watery eyes ruining your mascara, using a highlighting concealer to distract you from the redness, and using cat-eye style liner to demphasize puffy under eyes, Jamie has some great and simple solutions. You can find the six “ALLERGY FACE™” looks she developed here.
Join ZYRTEC® on Twitter Tuesday, June 3rd from 6-7pm for an ALLERGY FACE™ Twitter party. Participants will be entered to win up to $500 in Sephora giftcards, perfect to use towards combating your allergy face. {Simply use the hashtag #AllergyFace to participate.}
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of ZYRTEC®.
Roundups
Happy Mother’s Day to my momma and all my momma friends out there!
I didn’t share any links with you last weekend because I was too busy attending derby parties and birthday parties- not a bad reason to step away from the computer, right?
Well this weekend I’m going to keep it short and sweet because my mom is here with me {yay}!
So here you go:
Reading
This recipe completely intrigues me. Although adding my favorite wine to anything is a win in my book.
Combine 3 of the best tastes and put them into one drink… YES PLEASE.
These sound right up my alley. Although I would completely defeat the purpose and at least double the recipe.
Perhaps my favorite read of the week, 10 Things I Really F’in Want For Mother’s Day. Sorry I never got you any of these things, mom. Husband, it’s not too late…
Writing
The life of an allergy mom.
Can you really get fit with just 3 minutes of exercise a week?
The chicken and the egg: weight & personality
One thing you may not have thought of when you were house hunting.
Colic & migraines?
How many miles is that cheeseburger?
Don’t forget to enter my Albion Fit giveaway!! It ends tomorrow at midnight.
Also, tomorrow I have a really, really cool campaign to share with you- I’m so excited to be participating and can’t wait to fill you in and tell you how you can participate too.
Happy weekend!
Food thoughts
I love cinnamon rolls.
Man, if I had a dollar for every time I’ve written that on this blog, I’d probably have…a couple dollars.
But I do. And nothing makes you miss you’re favorite breakfast/snack/dinner {don’t judge} than not being able to eat one of the main ingredients. All of my favorite cinnamon roll recipes are already dairy free, but gluten free they are not.
As it turns out, the babe likely does not have a gluten allergy, but it’s so hard to pinpoint things. Every time he refluxes I worry it was something I ate. So while I don’t think gluten is the culprit {dairy & soy ARE}, I’ve been trying to keep my intake to a minimum and saving the gluten-eating for the really important things, like pumpkin beer.
I’ve been experimenting with my favorite cinnamon bun recipes and my new collection of gluten free flours. I’ve yet to find THE magic flour blend that gives that chewy doughiness I love in a cinnamon roll.
I am far from an expert on gluten free baking. Far. So this post is fairly useless. Here are some of the flours I’ve tried so far:
Gluten free all purpose baking mix {Arrowhead Mills}: Easy 1:1 sub but lacks the density of whole grains (too starchy for me)
Sorghum Flour: easy sub, lacks “chew”
Garbanzo Bean flour: provides density, but has a rather off-putting smell/after taste. Not for the faint of heart.
Gluten Free Oat Flour: one of the easiest to sub, probably because I’ve used oats/oat flour in so many recipes before.
Millet Flour: probably my favorite so far. Light but not starchy-light. I know, highly technical terms here. Holds in moisture well.
Brown Rice Flour: seems to be the standard gluten free “whole” grain.
Buckwheat Flour: great for pancakes, a little strong for lighter baked goods like cookies.
As far as starches go, I’ve been using mostly cornstarch and tapioca starch. I haven’t noticed any differences between the two, although I do prefer less starch-heavy blends than most combos call for.
I know most gluten free flour substitutes work best in combinations, but I’ve yet to stumble upon a tried and true favorite.
So there you have it. I have no idea what I’m doing. And thus my cinnamon rolls continue to suffer…
Gluten-free folks- what’s your favorite flour/combo?!
