Top Ten Thursday - Self Care

Welcome back to Top Ten Thursday!

Today we're listing the top ten things we did for ourselves in the past couple of days or weeks: for our physical or mental health, for our silly joy, for our further education, whatever we could think of! 

1. Hair appointment - isn't that #1 of female self care? That is, if you can't afford to shop for a new purse, which is the case for me because I have to save for #4
2. After working off my butt for preparing, I thoroughly enjoyed our St. Patrick's Party. It involved sparkling wine and baked goods!
3. PJ / Blogging Day, I covered my birthday, St. Patrick's Day, Top Ten Thursday Photo Scavenger Hunt, Five and the A-Z Theme Reveal.
4. Dentist's appointment - while certainly not fun, it's necessary to resolve my root canal issues and therefore contribute to my overall wellness. Unfortunately it prevented me from observing my personal training session. Can't have it all!
5. Healthy meal prepping for office lunches - they also work for home! I usually roast chicken breast and toss it with sweet corn, cherry tomatoes, avocado dice and chipotle BBQ sauce. Those are the basics. I add black beans, cucumber, roasted peppers or edamame, depending on what I have on hand. It takes a while, but there's usually enough for 3-4 meals. Every month or so I also make cauliflower patties that I keep in the freezer for easy defrosting and baking.
6. Drinking water - this is probably the healthiest thing I keep doing on a daily basis. Some people have a hard time remembering to do this. I don't. Of course it results in multiple trips to the bathroom, but that's part of the point, right?
7. My iPhone kept crashing and generally being a pia to me, so I had to get a replacement. Colin and I did so on a sunny - yet busy - Saturday and made it a day out on the town, complete with pizza and toy store.
8. One of my new year's resolutions was to reconnect with old friends. 15 years no see certainly qualifies for a coworker with the ice cream company I met last week for coffee, right? Boy, had we stuff to catch up on! PS: unfortunately I had to find out that another old friend who is dear to me actually deleted me on FB. I found out when I wanted to post happy birthday on their page and couldn't - because obviously we're not friends anymore. I sent a message to ask if this was a mistake, and the answer was "no, I did in fact delete you. Looks as if you didn't want to keep in touch." Ouch. A separate post may be warranted for this one.
9. Swiss ice hockey playoff semi-finals started last night. Even though my team was eliminated in the previous round, I still enjoy to watch. It's actually more relaxing cause I don't care so much ;-) Hubby was away for business, so Colin and I put on our PJs right after dinner and made it a sports night. It was a school night, mind you. We went to bed at 11pm!!! My little man is cool like that. He knows full well there's no whining gonna be allowed the next morning.
10. One of these nights I actually slept through. For a lot of people this is a given, not for me, though, so I'd like to mention it, even though I didn't do it "on purpose" so I don't know what caused it. I just enjoyed waking up surprised and refreshed!

This was a tough topic for me. I kept confusing stuff I have to do with stuff I love to do just for myself.

The other day I got a newsletter from JoAnn. She asked:

My last true break was two years ago when I got to go to California and Seattle for a friend's wedding. Hubby, along with my mom and a couple of dear friends, took turns taking care of Colin. Of course I prepped as much as I could, and it was after the hockey season was over, so they actually got off easy, but hey, I didn't complain. I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

So here's my picture, and I encourage you to find that opportunity to break away, too!

So what are you doing for yourself? Today, this week, on a regular basis? Let me know in the comments down below or link up your own post using the linky-tool.

During the month of April I - and others - will be posting every day for the 2018 A-Z Blogging Challenge, so we'll be taking a break and resume Top Ten Thursday on May 3rd. on which day let's to a spring post! Top ten things you love about (this) spring! What is it, flowers, Easter eggs, cherry blossoms, walks in the park,..? Go! Sign up here.

May 10 it's time for another Mother's Day post. Last year we talked about our shifting roles as the kids get older. This year let's list the top ten things a Mom and / or significant other wants on the other 364 days of the year that make her life easier. Sign up here.