Inglath Cooper's Blog, page 16

Lavazza Love

I love coffee.

I love great coffee.

And I’m picky about what kind. I mean specific. My daughters call me picky, but I recently revised that to specific. It sounds much nicer.

For me, coffee is an experience. That first cup of the morning is one of the best moments of the day. And for me, one of the best parts of a great vacation is getting room service delivery for my morning coffee. Ah, the good life.

I am a coffee fanatic. Once you go to proper coffee, you can’t go back. You cannot go back. – Hugh Laurie

When I’m at home in regular life mode, I still like to make it an experience. I bought a pretty wooden tray on which I serve myself my morning coffee. I make it in a French press pot and have these really pretty white cups and saucers from Williams Sonoma that look like the nice kind in good hotels. I even use a stainless pitcher and sugar bowl. Don’t laugh, but this is what pulls me out of bed in the morning to write. We all have our methods.

So on to my most recent great coffee discovery. It’s Italian, and it’s wonderful. Lavazza. A premium house blend, it has that wonderful smooth flavor found in great restaurants and five-star hotels. My favorite is the Premium House Blend. Not too bold for a first cup of the day but strong the way I like it.

I actually discovered Lavazza in a gourmet grocery store where it was about $12 per container. Imagine the smile on my face when I found it on Amazon.com in a pack of 4 for roughly $25. I added it to my ever-growing list of Subscribe and Save items and now receive it once a month. I store what I’m not currently using in the freezer and never have to worry about running out and having a bad coffee day!

Once you’ve fallen in love with a good coffee, there really is no going back!

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The links provided here are affiliate links to Amazon.com. I only write about and recommend products I truly love and believe others like me will love, too!

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Kindle Paperwhite: A Reading Delight

Don’t get me wrong. I love my iPad. I have a laundry list of uses for it, including the Kindle app on which I have a library of books waiting for me to read.

Here’s my problem. I am constantly distracted from pleasure reading on my iPad because my brain keeps sending out little pleas for me to just really quickly check Facebook. Haven’t looked at email in a couple of hours. There’s that app I’m using to practice French. Oh, and Netflix.

You get the picture. Shades of focus difficulties.

But then I tried reading on the Kindle Paperwhite. And my brain instantly accepted its lack of distractions and settled onto the page in front of me.

I love this little reading device!

It’s barely noticeable in my purse. I can read on it at night after I turn off the lamp. And there’s something about the screen that makes it feel more like the pages of regular books.

I love, too, that it syncs with my phone, iPad or whatever I last opened the book on. I really don’t think reading has ever been more of a pleasure. I’m not exclusive to digital in my reading habits, but who can deny how wonderful it is to have this as an option?

Not me!

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The link provided above is an affiliate link to Amazon.com. I only write about and recommend products I truly love and believe others like me will love, too!

 

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Encounters

Thinking about a short conversation I had this morning with a very nice man while waiting in line at my favorite juice bar. He had ordered a shot of wheatgrass and was getting ready to down it when I remarked on it. He said, “I have stage 4 cancer and I have one of these every single day.” I was more than a little shocked because he looked incredibly healthy and I told him so. He said you should have seen me last year. At some point, he went to the Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach and learned all about eating raw foods and juicing. I was struck by his positive attitude and by how great he looked.

It’s amazing how we can be so greatly impacted by a short interaction with another person, and I was by him. I do believe that food choice is huge when it comes to protecting and enhancing our health. He certainly reinforced my determination to keep learning, keep listening and keep working at it.

Remembrance

I am drawn to Holocaust stories, movies, books.

Part of me doesn’t want to step into that world, but another part of me is still looking for some glimmer of understanding as to how such atrocities come to be.

But the truth is there is no understanding to be found. The story told in Remembrance is another reminder of this truth. Hannah Silberstein and Tomasz Limanowski are imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. They fall in love, and it is Tomasz who saves Hannah’s life. But they become separated and both believe the other to be dead.

Their story is told between present day and the past. This is a can’t look away film that will touch your heart and soul.

Watch it on Netflix.

 

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Download yours now!

Be Wise and Moisturize

I could be a walking test market for most of the products that have touted their benefits in major magazines and on TV.  It’s hard to resist those hooks – makes fine lines and wrinkles disappear, smoother skin overnight!

I’ve found plenty of lotions and creams that I like, but I finally found one that I love. Coconut oil. Just regular old made by nature coconut oil.

I had read about some of the benefits of coconut oil in nutrition books and articles over the years.  But I hadn’t thought about using it for skin care until I ran across a jar in a health food store labeled for skin and hair and decided to give it a try.  Coconut oil at regular room temperature is a solid like Crisco.

Every winter, my skin gets a case of the extra dry blues.  Still, it seemed like a crazy idea.  Straight oil?  But the first night I rubbed it onto my face, I could almost hear my skin sigh.  It soaked right in, and my face didn’t look like I’d just globbed oil on it.  It looked. . .nourished.

And so I used it again the next night.  And the next.  I kept thinking I would reach a point where my face would say enough, but that wasn’t the case.  I now use it every night as my main heavy moisturizer.

At some point, I decided to try it as an overall body moisturizer and bought a big jar for the tub.  I apply it while in the bath, and it chases Winter dry off with a big stick.  Just be willing to towel the tub clean of oil when you’re done.

Sometimes, the most effective products aren’t always the most expensive.  A nice size jar of coconut oil is about $12.  And I love the idea of feeding my skin something that I would also eat!

To read more about coconuts and their oil, click here.

On Being There

Sometimes, all you can do is be there. Just don’t let them convince you they don’t need you. They do. And they will.  - Jane Austen Girl

I Really Mean It

Maggie is the prettiest pouter I know. And also a player of the first order! She’s one of my rescue girls and all the proof I’ll ever need that dogs end up at shelters through no fault of their own. She brings joy and smiles to our house each and every day. I’m thankful for the day she “rescued” us!

Four-legged Friend of Mine

Love dogs? I sure do! But then how can we not? They love us without reservation or complication.

Have you ever considered adopting a rescue dog? Some of my best friends in the whole world are rescue dogs. Breed, age, size – none of that matters when it comes to what they give in return. If you’re looking to add a true forever friend to your life, visit your local rescue or adoption center. You’re sure to find them there.

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I love books! From my earliest memories, I loved being read to and then reading practically every book in my elementary school library. There’s something about taking a little trip into a wonderful story that is its own unique pleasure. Over the years, my favorite authors have provided me with glimpses into worlds I would never have known had I not picked up their books. From Beverley Cleary to Lavyrle Spencer to Jodi Piccoult to Anita Shreve and so many others, I am grateful they chose to become storytellers. A great story has the power to move, change and shape its readers. To me, that’s an honorable calling and a task I aspire to.

Inglath

Self-Sabotage

Self-sabotage. What we do to ourselves when we think deep down that we aren’t really deserving of the rewards that come from our hard work. If this is you, you are deserving. Hang in there.

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Click here to subscribe to my mailing list and get a FREE ebook!

I love books! From my earliest memories, I loved being read to and then reading practically every book in my elementary school library. There’s something about taking a little trip into a wonderful story that is its own unique pleasure. Over the years, my favorite authors have provided me with glimpses into worlds I would never have known had I not picked up their books. From Beverley Cleary to Lavyrle Spencer to Jodi Piccoult to Anita Shreve and so many others, I am grateful they chose to become storytellers. A great story has the power to move, change and shape its readers. To me, that’s an honorable calling and a task I aspire to.

Inglath