#kate our useless fruit

[incorrect-bishova]

Yelena: I'm so happy, I could kiss you!

Kate : Um...Neat.

*later*

Kate , lying face down on their bed: I said "Neat," Wanda. Who the fuck says neat these days? It's not neat to say neat but I said it anyways because I'm fucking stupid.

Wanda, reading a book: Don't beat yourself up too much, Kate . Everyone gets nervous sometimes. Remember what I did when Nat confessed their love for me?

Kate : Didn't you thank her?

Wanda: *closes the book and looks at the ceiling* I fucking thanked her.

[twinkiefairy]

Who wants to read a snipped of my Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Lost fic? The actual thing isn’t ready to share yet but this part was really fun for me to write so! Enjoy. 

CW: food mention

Spoilers: Not really, but this is set around Season 1, Episode 18-19ish if you want to be extra careful. 

In the fic, you play as 16-year-old Carolina “Lynn” Bonnet, a Lost fan who found herself on the island along with the rest of the survivors. This is just one scene from it!

Find it below: 

“Do you know what day it is?” The voice sounds angry, urgent. 

“Huh?” you look up from the book you’re reading to find Cooper, a middle aged man who lives a few tents down from you with his wife, Amy. 

“I said, do you know what day it is?” he repeats. 

Why does that matter? “Uhm. No, sorry. I haven’t really been keeping track.” 

“Exactly!” he yells out, victorious. “You don’t! No one does! So explain to me why my wife is so upset that I didn’t realize it was our anniversary?” 

Yikes. 

“Fuck October 30th. I’m never doing a fall wedding again,” Cooper mumbles under his breath and stomps off, apparently deciding to rant to someone else. 

You snort. Again? 

Then his words hit you. Did he say October 30th? 

You have to double check this. But how can you? You don’t have a calendar with you, and even if you did, it would be useless if you hadn’t been crossing off the days since the crash. Someone must be keeping track, though. But who? 

Looking around, you find your answer. 

“Rose!” You call, bounding up to her. She’s kneeling in front of a makeshift water container, scrubbing laundry. “Rose, what day is it?” 

“You too?” She asks, sounding peeved. “What’s going on with everybody today? I just had Cooper here asking me the same thing. Don’t tell me you forgot your anniversary, too.” 

You laugh. “No, no. But I heard Cooper say it was October 30th. Is that right?” 

“By my count it is,” she answers, still doing laundry. “Why?” 

“Don’t you know what this means?” You say, getting excited. 

Rose looks at you expectantly, eyebrows arched. 

“It’s Halloween tomorrow!” You exclaim. Isn’t it obvious? “We have to do something!” 

Rose is amused. “You wanna go trick-or-treating?” 

“I don’t know,” you say, already coming up with ideas. Obviously there isn't much candy to go around, but… “We could have a costume party!” 

“Honey, I’ve washed every single piece of usable clothing in this place,” Rose says, not unkindly. “Twice. I’d know if there were any costumes around.” 

“If I find you a costume to wear,” you offer. “Would you come to the party?” 

Rose stares you down. “Just don’t dress me up as one of those Sexy Rabbits, you hear me?” 

You laugh, and the deal is made. 

***************

“And we’ll need food,” Hurley is saying, excited. “And music. I can get Sayid to fix the batteries on my CD player. Maybe even get some speakers. That’d be mad cool.” 

It didn’t take much to convince Hurley to help you plan the Halloween party. He took to the idea with enthusiasm as soon as mentioned the words “Halloween party”, almost as if he was waiting for you to ask. 

“What should we do for costumes?” You ask. “Rose said there weren’t any on the plane. We’re gonna have to provide them for people if we really want this to be a costume party.” 

Hurley thinks about it for a second. “We could do hats,” he suggests, at last. “It’s much easier than trying to figure out shirt sizes for everyone.” 

That gives you an idea. “Crowns! We’ll make it like one of those fancy balls, for royalty and stuff,” you suggest, excited. “Crowns are easy to make out of paper. And we can even make some flower crowns, too, if I can find someone to teach me how. We can make a bunch, then people would pick one for themselves as they come in.” 

“I have an old comic book we can use for paper,” Hurley offers, warming up to the idea. “I can get Charlie to help me cut out the shapes and stuff.” 

“Perfect,” you say. “You take the paper crowns. Let me take care of the flower crowns. I know exactly who to go to.” 

*****************

 “Hey, Claire!” You greet her cheerfully. “Whatcha doooooing?” 

She chuckles, doing that little side-glance that she does when she’s amused but doesn’t really know what’s going on. “I’m just… Watching the waves, I guess.” 

“Great,” you say. “Now listen. I have a very important question for you.” 

She frowns quickly, but she’s smiling. “Okay?” 

“Have you ever made a flower crown?” 

Claire grins. “A flower crown? Sure. My friends and I made them all the time in school.” 

You clap excitedly. “That’s perfect! Come with me. I need your help.” 

“What’s going on?” She asks, carefully getting up. 

“It’s Halloween tomorrow!” You explain. “Hurley and I are planning a costume party for everyone. We’re making crowns for people, so we can pretend it’s a royal ball. It’ll be fun!” 

Claire bites her lip, smiling. “I know exactly where we should go.” 

*************************

Claire leads you through the forest into a wide clearing. Every inch of the ground is covered in flowers of every color, shape, and size. 

“Woah,” you say, breathless. “How did you find this place?” 

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Claire smiles. “I found it on one of my longer walks.” 

“It’s amazing,” you agree. 

She smiles at you. “Come on,” she says, grabbing you by the hand. “I’ll show you how to pick the best flowers for crowns.” 

The two of you spend hours among the flowers, calling to each other whenever you pick an especially beautiful one, and weaving their stalks to make wreaths fit for any head. It’s relaxing and peaceful, and the two of you giggle about nothing at all until the sun is about to set. 

You make so many crowns between the two of you that you struggle to carry them back to camp without flattening the petals, but you manage— not without a healthy dose of laughter. 

*********************

Hurley is excited to see you, and gushes over the flower crowns. 

“Dude,” he says. “They look amazing.” Then he starts, as if remembering. “I have something to show you, too.” 

He takes you to an area of the beach that has been sectioned off for the day for Hurley’s crafts. On an elevated piece of metal from the plane are rows and rows of colorful paper crowns. Some of them sit a little crooked, but you have to admit that using the comic book was a fantastic idea— the colors are bright and strong, and so varied from page to page that each of the crowns has its own unique personality. 

“Hurley,” you say, genuinely. “These are amazing.” 

“Pretty cool, huh?” He beams with pride. 

*********************

The party is absolutely wonderful. More people show up than you really expected— word must have spread quickly around camp. There’s a great assortment of fruit, courtesy of Kate and Sun. People seem to take to the crown idea eagerly— almost everyone around you is wearing one, including yourself. Claire’s is specially beautiful, one she made herself to make her light eyes pop. Hurley is smiling more than ever, offering people food, helping them pick a crown that fits their personalities, and making conversation with everyone— a perfect host. The music makes the atmosphere feel extra special— thanks to Sayid, who fixed up Hurley’s CD player— and the light from the nearby fire adds a warm glow to the air. 

Sawyer refused to join, retreating into his tent and claiming he had a massive headache. But you left a paper crown near the entrance of his tent earlier, and when you walk by sometime later, it’s gone. 

People dance. Walt, in particular, has a way of energizing the dance floor in a way that surprises you, for such a relatively quiet kid. Sayid and Shannon are inseparable, especially during the slower songs. Rose, true to her word, waltzes around, a crown atop her head. Charlie knows all the lyrics to all the songs, and mimics playing the guitar or drums as he mouths the words. 

Sun and Kate sit to the side, content to just watch, until Claire drags Kate into the makeshift dance floor despite her protests that she does not dance. From a distance, you can see Kate refusing the flower crown Claire offers her, and Claire, unbothered, reaches for a black-and-blue paper crown instead. This time, Kate surrenders, and Claire carefully places the crown on her head. 

It’s beautiful, all of it. 

[misssophiachase]

For @klarolinefallbingo - “I am thankful for...”

Thankful (terms and conditions apply)

There’s no love lost between famous models Klaus Mikaelson and Caroline Forbes publicly but when they decide on a mutually beneficial arrangement and subsequently spend Thanksgiving together to sell their fake relationship will things between them move past all the pretence?

Mariott Hotel Downtown, Syracuse, NY - Thursday AM

“Reports have surfaced over night that models Caroline Forbes and Klaus Mikaelson were spotted together in Upstate New York.” 

The sound was blaring from the television. Half asleep still, Klaus groaned placing the nearest pillow over his head hoping he could try and block it out. 

“We know Caroline grew up in Syracuse but, given it’s Thanksgiving, all signs point to a new, celebrity couple alert.”

“He wishes,” she muttered, shaking the bed for extra effect. Klaus was suddenly aware of her close presence, wondering how she came to be there.  

“How are you suddenly in my bed? You know if you wanted me that badly all you needed to do was ask, love.”

“Calm down, Romeo,” she drawled. “You got the room with the TV and I was bored.”

“Is this the part where I admit I don’t watch much television? Especially the ridiculous, gossipy kind.” Klaus admitted, discarding the useless pillow and finally opening his eyes. The invading sunlight was streaming in through the blinds but it didn’t stop his gaze from lingering on his bed mate.  

Caroline Forbes was gorgeous in front of a camera, that much he knew, but fresh-faced, first thing in the morning dressed in tartan flannel she was absolutely stunning.  

“How do you think I feel? My family is going to see this,” she hissed, throwing the pillow back so it hit him squarely on the jaw.  

“Ouch, Forbes.”

“That did not hurt you big baby.” She poked her tongue out at him for extra effect. It was clearly juvenile but Klaus would be lying if he thought it wasn’t kind of adorable. 

“I thought this was the whole point of playing pretend? You want people to think we’re together because you can’t keep your hands off me.” 

That wasn’t the case obviously, they’d both decided it was the best way to keep the press off their backs and constantly speculating about their love lives. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time but now it was probably too late to change course.  

“If only that pillow could stifle that ego,” she growled, rolling her eyes. 

“Is there a reason for this unwanted wake-up call, love?”

“I told you we need to prep before lunch with my family and don’t call me that,” she muttered, pulling on the quilt so he was completely uncovered. Klaus couldn’t miss how her blue eyes lingered on his bare chest.

“I get it,” he smirked knowingly. “You’re upset I’m wearing boxers because you really wanted to see me naked.”

“Tell yourself that if it makes you feel like a man,” she drawled. “And stop changing the subject.”

“Look, I’m all for being prepared.” She gave him a look which plainly said she didn’t believe him. “But I know everything about you so it’s not necessary.”

“Oh really?” She asked, arching her left eyebrow curiously.

“Dad is Jeff, mum is Kate, dog is Lassie...”

“Yeah just like the dog in the movies,” she scoffed. “Clearly you haven’t been listening at all. I really should have known, Mikaelson.” Now, she was on her feet pacing up and down like a caged animal. 

“And here I was conscientiously memorising your brother Elijah’s penchant for suits, Rebekah’s love for fruit salad as long as the melons don’t touch and Kol’s need to carry a baseball bat around with him for no apparent reason.”

He felt an unfamiliar shortness of breath, almost like her words had affected him more than expected.  She remembered all those unusual things about his siblings? Klaus was up in an instant, his hands finding hers and stopping her pacing. He felt immediately warm from her touch but decided to blame it on the heating system and nothing else. 

“I was joking but clearly need to read the room better,” he offered sincerely. “Trust me, love, I remember everything you’ve told me. Your dad Bill loves to tell everyone childhood stories about you no matter how embarrassing and he likes to spoil the ending of every movie you watch but for some reason that only endears him to you. Your mum, Liz, is your role model not to mention the sheriff and if I forgot that it would be a mistake given she carries a weapon. Your dog Lucy is a golden retriever who likes to chase her tail but I’m sure she could rival Lassie in the rescuing stakes. Oh, and there’s a cousin who I need to stay away from because she gets a little touchy feely after a few glasses of wine.”

What he wasn’t expecting was for her to hit him in the chest quite so forcefully. “You ass.” 

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he teased. 

“Her name is Hayley and I expect you to keep at least a few seats between you.”

“Sounds like someone is jealous.” The slight pink tinge on her cheeks was telling Klaus she was. And for some reason it made him the happiest guy in the world. 

“Just checking you’re familiar with all the traditions.”

“Like eating a lot?”

“Well, of course, and we say what we’re thankful for before we eat.” Klaus had heard about that tradition but figured given he was a bit of a foreigner when it came to the festivities he didn’t have to partake. 

Although he was doing well career wise, Klaus had never really experienced much family bonding from a young age. His mother had died and his estranged father was a tyrant. He loved his siblings for all their quirks but they weren’t exactly close either. 

“Maybe I can take a pass on that?”

5 hours later...    

“Klaus, since you’re our guest, how about you tell us what you’re thankful for first?” Liz had that sweet smile but underneath her interrogation skills clearly knew no bounds. 

Klaus had done the perfect boyfriend routine up to this point, even eating those weird, candied yams, but the increasing tightness in his chest and dry mouth was a sign his act was close to derailing. 

All because of one tradition. 

Caroline placed her hand in his under the table, something unexpected but at the same time comforting in the best possible way. 

“Mom, leave Klaus alone, I’ll go,” she insisted, squeezing his hand affectionately. “I’m thankful for...”

“No, let me,” Klaus interrupted, squeezing her hand back. Nothing felt as right as it did now. “I’m thankful for your amazing daughter. For a kid who didn’t know much about affection growing up I’m so thankful to have someone who is so kind and caring and loves me for me.”

Caroline was quiet, almost like she was trying to collect her thoughts. Had he gone too far? They were supposed to be pretending after all. 

“Now he’s a keeper and if you don’t want him...” drunk cousin Hayley offered breaking the silence. Caroline clearly wanted to kill her given the look crossing her features. 

“Thank you, Hayley,” she replied through gritted teeth. “But I, uh, do want him and, have another wine.”

Lucy barked at that moment, she was sitting underneath the table clearly waiting for scraps but Klaus figured she was most probably an ally. 

“So, do i go next?” Hayley asked, clearly perplexed.

“No, it’s my turn,” she said hurriedly. “I’m thankful for you, Klaus. You challenge me, inspire me and remind me that every day is another adventure. I’m thankful that you love me and am so excited for our future.”

The table seemed to go quiet, even Hayley. Klaus felt like he’d probably overstepped the mark but hearing Caroline he realised maybe they were on the same page.

Given it was Thanksgiving, Klaus didn’t think it was a bad time to share their unrequited feelings. So much so that he proposed on the same day a year later and at the same table and she agreed to make him the happiest guy in the world. 

The fact the tabloids cared didn’t even factor into their decision.

[aurum-fidei]

Teen!Maximoffs/Clintasha AU - Part 1 - Home - Chapter 1

The Avengers all carefully followed Clint towards the farmhouse that stood in the middle of a field surrounded by nothing. Clint was carefully supporting Natasha as they climbed the steps up the porch.

“What is this place?” Thor said quietly to Tony.

“A safe house.” Tony responded

“Let’s hope” Clint responded as he opened the front door with a creak.  He walked into the house and led them into a living room and called out “Katie-Kate? You in here?” They all heard a bang indicating the slamming of the back door closed.

The men standing behind Clint were all shocked to see a large golden retriever-with only one eye- bound into the living room from the kitchen.

Thor was the first to react and pointed at the dog with his hammer saying “Dog” Steve looked at him in exasperation.

Clint grinned widely as he removed the arm that was on Natasha’s back and began petting the dog “Lucky! I missed you too boy!”

“That… must be a bomb sniffing dog…” Tony said. The dog had begun wagging his tail as he received a pat on the head from Natasha.

“Clint! Did I seriously see a freaking quinjet land in the field?! Good Lord you are so lucky we do not have neighbors for miles.” Came a snarky female voice as a girl who could not be more than 19 years old walked in. She had on faded blue jeans and a simple purple t-shirt, her black hair was pulled back into a long ponytail and she held a bow in her hand and had a quiver slung across her shoulder.

Clint rolled his eyes as he pulled the young girl in for a hug.

“And that must be an Agent. A really weird Barton-esque female Agent.” Tony said.

Natasha rolled her eyes as she leaned onto the arm of one of the armchairs.

“So… Are you going to explain where we are exactly? And who this is?” Steve crossed his arms as he looked at Clint squarely expecting an answer.

“Ooo, you’ve never told the other Avengers about this place? Or me? The BETTER Hawkeye? I don’t know if I should be impressed at your secret keeping skills or offended you didn’t brag about me.” Ponytail girl said with an edge of sarcasm.

“The better Hawkeye? I thought he was the ONLY Hawkeye…” Tony looked completely confused.

“Oh, Stark, you haven’t seen anything until you have seen me in action.” She winked before turning and sauntering into the kitchen. “I will pull together some refreshments for our guests Barton, while you explain yourself.” She called over her shoulder.

Tony was opening and closing his mouth in shock.

Natasha rubbed a hand over her face as Lucky came and placed his head deftly in her lap, she gave his ears a good scratch before looking across the room at Clint “Better explain before Starks head explodes Clint.”

Clint reached up and ran a hand through his hair “Right… So. Yea, this is my home. It’s my childhood home and I kinda kept it a secret from SHIELD. This place doesn’t exist to them. I would like it to remain a secret. The dog… is Lucky. He’ll answer to Pizza Dog though. Don’t ask, it’s a long story… Kate… is Kate! I took her on as my protégé probably when she was around 15. So she initially was my sidekick and she patrolled the streets of New York. Now that she is better than me and all she is my equal she is the other Hawkeye in more ways than one.” Clint was rubbing the back of his neck

Natasha snorted “If that isn’t the truth.”

“Not helping, Nat.” Clint cut his eyes at her

“Wait… You knew about all this didn’t you!” Tony was now looking at Natasha in an accusing matter. No one noticed Thor and Steve slip out the front door.

Natasha rolled her eyes “Of course I knew. I am his partner.”

At that moment Kate came walking back in with a tray that held glasses of what appeared to be lemonade.

“Lucky for you, Mrs. Carlson from down the road knew you were away so she dropped by the other day. She left me with some fruit some eggs as well as a few gallons of that lemonade of hers.” Kate said to no one in particular

“Oh, I love her lemonade…” Natasha said as she quickly grabbed one of the glasses before Kat could set it down onto the coffee table.

Bruce smiled at Kate as he moved forward from his position and grabbed a glass “Thank you”

“Sure thing, Doc.” Kate smirked.

At that moment Steve came back inside and looked around. He took note of the tray that had glasses of lemonade.

“Thor left. Said he was going to try and get some information. Information he couldn’t get here.” He explained.

All the Avengers nodded in understanding.

They all began drinking their lemonade. Natasha was continuing in her petting of Lucky. Clint had sat down on the couch where he was soon joined by Bruce and Tony. Kate and Steve both remained standing. Kate fiddled with an arrow she had withdrawn from her quiver until a thought came to her.

“Soooo…. Clint…. Were exactly are you expecting everyone to sleep? I mean this house is only four bedrooms and we only have one couch… Or did you and Nat start sleeping together and forget to tell me?”

“KATE!” Clint yelled as his ears went pink. Natasha looked unfazed.

Tony gave a devilish smirk “You, I like you, Hawk-Girl.”

“Hawkeye, Stark.” Kate rolled her eyes as she corrected him but smirked back at him. “So, you gonna answer me or you gonna keep looking between me and Nat expecting her to rescue you from me?”

“Definitely like her” Tony whispered to Bruce. Bruce simply shook his head.

Clint glared at Tony before looking at Kate yet again “No, Kate. Nat and I are not sleeping together. But she is taking my room. I am going to bunk out in the barn.”

At that Nat cut her eyes at Clint. Without a word she got up and stalked up the stairs.

“Aw shit…. “ Clint got up “I am going to go and make sure she isn’t too pissed at me… Probably make sure she is doing better after everything as well. Please everyone make yourself at home. Kate think you could throw a few frozen pizzas in the oven?”

Kate nodded as Clint lumbered up the stairs after Natasha.

When Clint disappeared into the upstairs hallway Kate began bustling about. She grabbed her bow and took her quiver off her back and then proceeded to toss both into a nearby closet. She then went into the kitchen and dug out three pizzas and turned the oven onto the appropriate setting. She then walked back into the living room where the other Avenger all sat looking mildly uncomfortable as they looked around the room.

“So. Tell me. Are they still being ridiculous and refusing to admit their feelings for each other?” Kate said bluntly as she sat down on the ground in front of them, her legs folded up underneath her.

“Wait, what?” Bruce asked confused. Tony laughed.

“Clint and Nat.” Kate looked at them all expectantly “You know they have the hots for each other. Have had ‘em for years. They just refuse to admit it.”

Steve look bewildered “You think-“ Kate interrupted “I don’t think I KNOW” “That Clint and Natasha… have feelings for one another…”

Kate nodded “Well, yea. I mean do you see the looks they give each other sometimes? Half the time she looks at him like she wants to jump his bones right then and there.” Bruce looked as though he was about to pass out.

“Yes! I totally see it!” Tony was grinning widely. “But unfortunately yes they are still not admitting anything to each other.”

“Not cool.” Kate rolled her eyes “Maybe I can trick them into doing something while you guys are here…” She looked thoughtful for a moment when an alarm sounded alerting her to the fact that the oven was done pre-heating “Nice chat, Avengers! I’m gonna go stick dinner in the oven.”

The three men exchanged glances as Kate went into the kitchen.

Barely five minutes later, Kate was back with a pitcher of lemonade to refill their forgotten glasses. “Oh, by the way, Stark, our tractor broke down a while back and Clint is useless and that kind of crap so you think you could take a look?”

Tony look surprised but nodded as he sipped at the lemonade that was given to him.

[inexchangeforyoursoul]

... I fucking forgot to put it on here, too, didn’t I.

(Why this chapter took so long in comparison? Apart from tests, I started adding to some fragments... and wrote at least two other chapters' worth of material. For way later. Kate pls. (aka tfw you have no idea what to insert between two much more planned-out scenes and leave the vague part rotting until further notice)

The rest of the afternoon slips away unnoticed and Kat starts yawning with the darkness setting in. Those damn lamps on the wall make her think of the drowsy winter nights she spends sitting in her window. Also, it's still really hot in here.

Law has been sitting next to her after finishing up another sheet of paper and fiddling around with some stuff in the many drawers of his bureau. Which is rather annoying, because he's yet to say a fucking word. Combined with the stupid task and exhaustion, it's driving her crazy.

Kat's patience is at the end of its tether at last, which manifests itself in a series of quick finger snaps as the pocket watch flickers around. After the last one, the paper tower with the object on it tilts to the side and stops in a precarious angle.

"ARGH, that's it! I give up," she groans, flinging her arms into the air. The practice blocks follow the motion and stretch out alike to a harmonica; some of that paper is indeed just wood fibers and dust by now.

And he stays silent still.

"You really could try and help me out somehow, you know?" she grumbles to him, then decides to arrange the stuff in the suspended garbage towers so they remain more stable once reassembled.

"That's the thing... I can't help more," he sighs, leaning back on his arms. "I already said everything you'd need to know... you get a feeling for it and it happens, eventually. Didn't take that long for me."

"Well, then... riddle me what happens if it doesn't happen?" she asks, poking the ground paper out of the stack. It's kind of annoying this way around...

He shrugs, checking back on what she's doing. "We kidnap you, I guess."

She lifts her brow. Instead of getting rid of the garbage, she moves everything remotely intact to the side instead. Much better, and much easier. "Excuse me?"

"If you need more than two weeks to do it, we'll just take you with us," he states.

"Pfff, as if. Can't catch me, your legs are longer than mine," she scoffs as her fingers do dozens of minute movements and the layers settle in an orderly manner one by one, until the watch finishes it all. The paper block on the right is shorter than its pair now.

He can't quite suppress the laugh upon hearing that. "Touché." Having said that and returning attention to the settling scene as she drops the useless dust and shreds as-is, he sighs. "It really would be easier if it was possible with this technique... you are damn good at it for a beginner."

"It's just easier for me to think with... shapes, rather than space." Being done with practice, she leans forward to rest her head on her hands. "Betcha there exists a way to telekinesis intangible shit back to where it belongs."

"Good luck figuring it out," he says nonchalantly, then flops on the bed.

"Also done for today, huh?" she asks, peeking back towards him.

"Could barely sleep yesterday... and your body can't keep up, so yes, I'm done," is the reply. Then he lowers the hat, which he had on ever since going out to eat for god knows what reason, onto his eyes .

Kat yawns. "No wonder it can't handle it... honestly, do we have to sit in here for this? I'm dying from the heat... gonna catch a cold as soon as I leave."

"Hrm..." he grumbles, then pulls up one leg to loosen the shoelaces. "This is the only place where we definitely won't get disturbed, unfortunately. My crew can stay quiet for a few hours when told so, but," deepest sigh she's heard as of yet, "Nico-ya said Strawhat was already questioning where the hell I was... just imagine him crashing on us." He kicks off one shoe, then switches legs. "Nope."

Kat bobs her head in silent agreement. The other ship's captain was clingy enough at breakfast; needed to be reminded four times that she's not Law. "Fair enough." She pats his knee and stands up.

"Eight again tomorrow?" she asks, yawning again.

He grunts something that's a very likely yes; she gives a similar sound upon leaving the room, as a ways to say bye.

Having waddled her way up to the Thousand Sunny, -and being fast at that, too, because it's gotten cold outside,- she enters the girl's room again, where she's met with way too much brightness compared to the submarine.

"Holy fuck, if I was a vampire I would have disintegrated the moment I opened the door," she says, rubbing her eyes.

"You mean Torao is no vampire after all?" Nami asks to both Carrot's and Kat's amusement. Judging by the voices, they are sitting somewhere to the far left.

"Infiltration of water cave successful, lacking evidence as of yet," she plays on while running into one of the chairs with eyes squeezed shut. Carrot was already laughing harder at the answer, but her going mole has her in stitches; Nami has joined in, too. Can't see shit, but this is music to her ears.

"Apparently I've become blind as a bat, though..." she continues while taking a quick, squinty blink at her surroundings. "Anyway, yet to see him leave at daylight without a hat on. Further investigation need-ow!" That must have been the leg of the other chair she just rammed her foot into... goddamn.

"Do you guys actually need anything more than a nightlight for what you're doing?" she says, suppressing a hiss with moderate success.

"Nope, on my way," Nami says calming down; this is followed by a few knocks on the strip floor, then a click with the stinging brightness subduing. Finally, she can see again. Her eyes still kinda hurt, though.

"Thanks," Kat breathes in relief as she drops on her cover pile, then poofs the pillow a little.

"Tired?" asks the navigator while walking back to the vanity desk she's been sitting at.

"Yeah," she sighs, settling down. "Using this devil fruit is rather draining... not to mention that his room is as hot as a volcano. Though you've probably been around there already, no?"

"I've only been as deep as the dining room," is Nami's answer. "Carrot did help with something down there, though- right?" she asks, turning to the rabbit girl.

"Yeah, been to the engine-room once," comes the excited reply. "The motor itself is bigger than our submarine!" the mink adds, spreading out her arms to illustrate. The point of the original question is forgotten.

"Makes sense..." Kat muses. "It is a pretty big... shipmarine, after all." She yawns, then shudders upon hitting the cold blankets; her lair is chilly, which is unwelcome after the hours spent in the heat. Kat pulls the dedicated cover over her shoulder. Thinking about it, though... these guys also have a submarine? What?

"Should we leave you alone?" asks Nami, putting the hairbrush she's been fiddling with away. Carrot bounces to the closer end of the bed to check on Kat's cocoon.

"Nah, it's fine... I doubt it's all that late, anyway." She... really has no idea about the time. The sun went down around eight yesterday. It must be about one hour before her normal bedtime at worst... she's probably exhausted enough to fall asleep with people talking nearby regardless. And without lying sleeplessly for up to an hour before losing consciousness; that's why she makes sure to go to bed between 10 and 11 in the first place.

"Well," starts the redhead as she takes a look at the clock inside, "it's twenty past nine. You did go to sleep not much later yesterday."

Was about half an hour off... oh well. "I see... do what you like, then," she mumbles, already half-aware of her surroundings. The blankets are getting nice and warm.

"If you say so," sighs Carrot, already getting up. She surveys the corner pile for a few seconds, then turns back to Nami, flapping an ear. "Out cold like salad. Shall we check on the others and the thing they were excited about? That flier seemed interesting."

The other nods, and tiptoes out with the fuzzy girl in tow.

It's not until the 6am bell toll that Kat wakes, but there was little rest she could get. Like earlier in the afternoon, she has seen a legitimate nightmare. It kind of felt like any other really drawn-out dream with lots of running around, except those don't cause her to wake with every bit of hers shaking and sweating. They never do that. Instead of getting chased by a faceless anxiety monster that she shakes off over and over, getting lost in a magical labyrinth loaded with traps, or riding an unruly dinosaur through a never ending library, it was all just so... cold. Plain. And unnaturally unchanging, and depressing.

She doesn't know who the man in the feather coat was, but hell if she wanted him to leave.

Then, he did anyway... and there was fire again, and she woke in tears and with a lump in her throat. It took a few seconds until she noticed that the pain she felt while sleeping clung onto her and manifested itself back in reality, just like before. This time, however, it was not just her side- half of her body felt as if it was trying to murder her. The entire torso was either stiff or throbbing with pain, if not both, as was her left arm. A good portion of it didn't subdue within a few minutes, either. By the time Nami, Robin and Carrot woke up, most of the stiff, stabbing pain in her chest moved deep under her clavicle.

"Say, Kat... you don't look well at all," notes Nami in the doorway as they move out as the last ones. "Are you doing alright?"

"It's... nothing big, I just got up with the wrong foot; or shoulder. Guess sleeping like this has its downs, huh." Except she was lying on her right side and you can't do that with what's likely your internal organs... no idea what else it could be, though, except maybe overheating. Which she's perfectly willing to blame. Damn, does she feel like shit, though... it's tolerable by now, but her ribcage and arm are still aching and this fact is apparently not subject to change. The next round in the sauna will be the icing on the cake. Although... she remembers the cooler weather that was promised for the day; based on what Shachi said about the temperatures, it might be bearable this time. She sure hopes so.

"Eugh..." Nami reacts as if she just felt a pang herself, pulling her neck in; "That's always bad... do you want a massage? Robin is really good at it, let's catch up with her."

"Really...? I don't know," Kat says, pondering. She should probably take on the offer, but it still doesn't feel right. "I guess... I'll pass for now... maybe in the afternoon? If it still hurts. It probably will, though... These tend to stay for a few days."

"You sure like to go for compromises," Nami sighs.

"Well..." Yeah, she does. She scratches her neck- a bad move that's immediately punished by a pang right above her shoulder blade. Her face twitches and she lets out a small moan. Alright, while she has a mystery torture service going on, she also may, in fact, have slept on her neck, because no other part of this bullshit reacts to movement.

"... painkiller?" asks Nami, raising a worried brow.

"Definitely down for that," she grumbles.

Shoving down one crescent roll (and Luffy away) at the table just to swallow the pill in an appropriate manner is quite a chore, though; normally she wouldn't eat a thing until at least 10, getting nauseous from the food otherwise. Which, surprise, she does; double the fun until the painkiller kicks in.

As she pretty much tiptoes down the metal stairs, -and resists the vague urge to throw up,- she decides to hum a tune. That usually distracts her from ills. Even helps with pain, as she's heard- inclined to believe that. At least she feels a bit better afterwards. Let's see... Drunken Sailor sounds fine. And is also kind of appropriate at the moment.

Humming along, she picks up a light echo of what she's doing and... wait a goddamn minute.

Going a little higher or deeper... everything sounds just fine with minimal effort. Kat's steps pick up pace, and she practically kicks the door onto Law, ignoring the extra neck pain it comes with.

"You!" she shouts basically as it slams open. Law's heart attack counter: 2. "You can sing," she whispers with leery eyes.

The look of utter terror creeps onto the face of the man as he gets over the initial shock. A face she soon can't resist laughing at.

"Oh my god," Kat starts as soon as she cannot keep herself from cackling anymore, the vibrations of which release another chain reaction of stabs in her shoulder. Can't decide which sensation the tears are caused by. "is... is this *cough* your most closely guarded secret, or what, because... your, hhhh- owowow... your face, man...!" she slowly collapses into a squat of joyful misery.

"First of all," he stammers in angry embarrassment, "you better keep this to yourself...!" She looks back up at him. Didn't know her face was capable of getting that red, whether it was from anger or shame.

All in all, a bad move as she needs to laugh harder, which... really is more painful than anything else. A little pain in the abdomen reappears, too, though it may just be the regular stomach ache caused by laughing too much. She hisses and squeezes her locked hands to redirect attention. This would be more effective if the left hand would still hurt... but that's one of the parts where the pain started to subdue by now.

Taking note of her display of anguish, Law sheds every additional emotion and puts on his usual serious demeanor. "... what's the matter?"

"Slept on my neck," she whimpers. Sticking to this half-truth for now; the stuff she just took should care of the rest, anyway. "Asked for some painkillers already, though."

"... those probably won't do," Law states after short consideration, then turns back to beeline for his bureau.

"What do you mean?" Kat asks, peeking up carefully as to not strain any of the afflicted muscles. He's rooting around in the upper right drawer.

"Let it suffice... that my body has developed a resistance against weak agents," he says with more monotony than what she's gotten used to.

It seems he's especially crabby today. Regardless... that means he's drugging himself regularly. Why, though? It's... hmm. She puts a hand on her left shoulder where receptors demand attention from deep below the skin again. There's... an inkling. Sad thing, if true, regardless of cause.

A second later he picks up a little paper bag, shakes its sole content out, and crumples the rest. "You've eaten something, I assume?" he asks, stepping back up to her.

"Yep, ate a roll," she groans as he's helping out with the feat of standing up. "Which in turn also makes me wanna puke. I don't eat a thing so early for this very reason..." she breathes. Good news: the additional lingering pain in her chest disappeared after laughing. Bad news: some of the pain returned to her stomach, and she's got the faint feeling it has nothing to do with said activity. The averaging of it all ends in a 'vaguely better than before,' though.

"Not a good practice, but I see your point," he says, holding out the pill for her to catch.

"What part of me is healthy or a good practice?" Kat asks, taking it with a big gulp of water from her cool bottle after he drops it into her palm. Speaking of cool water, the room is as warm as... a room in winter with a nice fire going, which must mean about ten grades less, thankfully. Then again, it's eight, not ten o'clock, so that's subject to change. Where was she again? Oh, right, health. "I'm a stick figure with zero stamina and atrocious circulation. And god knows what else has been flying under the radar."

Crossing his arms, Law takes a deep breath. "Your circulatory system is... not exactly good, I'll give you that. Blood pressure might as well belong to a corpse, as does the temperature in the end of your limbs because of that. The fact that your joints crack frequently is enhanced by that and insufficient exercise. Get someone to treat them or you'll face quite a few painful problems in a decade or two. Then... ah, yes, the mucous membrane is a little more active than it ought to be, but that's no issue. You also might wanna get -0.5 reading glasses, brush your teeth more often if you don't want to visit the dentist in a few months, and honestly? Stop scratching your neck and shoulders, it's full of scabs and wounds which could get ugly infections in harder to reach places." He sure did just say that without thinking and in one go. Having finished the monologue, he looks back up and considers quick whether he left out something. "I found nothing else when I did the checkup."

"Uh..." She's not sure how to react here. Won't be able to stop the scratching just like that, and she's aware of the toothbrush- god, why the toothbrush again?!,- problem. Now she has motivation to keep it in mind, too. Either way, Law did just spare her a long overdue trip to the local doctor. "Thanks?"

"No need to," he nods.

"What's up with you, though? You are being so... tense. Even more than exactly 24 hours ago." She tries to keep him in sight as she carefully cramp-walks her way to her semi-official bed seat for training.

Hearing that, he... Kat's not sure how to describe the reaction. There's definitely a nervous, if not shameful streak to it, though. "Nothing you should concern yourself about."

Okkkay... he's definitely hiding something. It's likely nothing she has any stakes in, though, so... leave lying dog(tor)s be.

Having settled down with minimal pain at last, the still higher than average heat gets noticeable. She pulls at the shirt to get some air going. Raising the cloth, though... it's almost stuck to her. Gross. Oh bother...

"By the by... I feel... it's time I asked for fresh clothes?" Kat would love to punch herself for feeling bothersome, but it hurts her trapezious muscle just to think about it. It's not as if she also gave half of her wardrobe away, or anything...

"Oh... sure," he responds with a little delay, shaking off the unknown shadow that's been looming over him. "The chest of drawers should have anything you need at the moment, pick what you like," he says then, pointing to her temporal working station.

She sighs... getting up again? Ugh. "Alright..." Will need a bath before changing, though. That will be fun- especially with all this soreness. The pill should start working in about half a hour... until who knows when. Will need to time it all. Or... wait a sec. Can't she just...

"Is something the matter?" asks Law as the epiphany hits her.

"I just realized that I won't have to bother getting up the traditional way," she says, lifting a finger; with that, she rises from the bed, then adjusts the angle and stretches out her legs to meet the floor again. Unfortunately, the wooziness is heightened by the action; she's not doing that again until the crescent roll in her stomach is gone.

"That you did," Law notes with a half-smile.

"It's... kinda different, though," she notes, stepping forward to the piece of furniture. "I moved stuff... relative to myself thus far, I mean." Crouch down... slowly...

"It is really disorienting when you multitask, so generally I just don't bother. Neither with this circus act, nor relocating myself. Though, that one is a useful strategical tool so I'll do it in a pinch." He joins her in front of the messy desk-wannabe, pulling out a small drawer over her head, then drops fresh underwear on latter.

Oooh... "You sayin' there's built-in teleport?" she peeks up to him from beyond the drawer again in wonderment, which is punished by another stab at the shoulder. As is reaching for the piece of clothing. Fuck.

"Yep." With that, he slams the drawer back in and sits onto the corner of the hard wood surface.

"... if I didn't suck at it and risk drowning in the ocean I'd sneak out to my house to shower right now," she sighs turning back more carefully, then picks a fresh t-shirt.

"... look at that. You just made me feel relieved about sucking badly at the skill we severely need, all because it guarantees that you wouldn't even attempt something foolish like that." Seeing how her body's legs don't reach the floor, he starts swinging them a little. When even was the last time he could sit on a piece of non-giant furniture and do this...?

"At your service," she smiles. Nudging the big drawer in, she slowly works the bottom one out to get the pants (that's what must be down there by rule of elimination, no?) she's missing. "Jokes aside, I've been sweating a lot and everything is sticking to me. On a sidenote, how often do you bathe, just to clear this up?"

Law scratches his head. When will questions like these just... end? Considering the state of affairs which he alone is responsible for, not any time soon. He sure hopes she won't mind him skipping every other day at least. Wouldn't be able to keep up a daily shower system. "I bathe up to four times a week if I need to... When there's nothing happening, it drops down to two."

"Okay... I'll just go for the average and keep up my usual three, then," she says while ascending at a leisure pace, aaand... successfully attained standing position.

"Sounds fair, will do the same," the man remarks. She's not that cleanly, thank god... speaking of which, though: "You might as well use the bathroom down here while this lasts."

"Down here?" she raises an eyebrow at him; the structure is not big enough for two bathrooms... she doesn't put it past him to have a secret door right in his room, though.

"The last door on the engine side, just past my room," he explains, swinging his legs a little more. "Was a random little pocket without function right below the showers, so... I had one installed," he shrugs.

Pff, that's so lazy. She bets noone's ever used it other than him. "Sounds like you're hogging the warm water to me... is that where you sing?" she asks with a sly smile as she leans against the piece of furniture, too.

"Oi," he snaps back, "keep it shut! How did you even notice?!"

Kat shrugs a tiny bit, too. "I sing myself now and then, duh. Was humming a song on the way down here and the staircase echo gave you away." As it happened, to a T.

Law sighs. That's just great; he sure hopes nobody was around to hear. "Either way, please, don't tell anyone. I get nagged about random bullshit all the time already, something like karaoke would be the cherry on the shitcake." Took him long enough to get Bepo, Shachi and Penguin to stay silent...

"... shy, huh?" she cocks her head. Considering her muscle problem, this could have been a terrible idea.

"The word is 'tired'," he corrects her, then leans on a hand all sullen.

Being responsible for a ship full of people would be really stressful, honestly. However... "I'd be inclined to believe you if it weren't for your reaction following my, um... 'entrance,'" she notes with a smaller smile.

Law sighs. "Get the fuck out and don't show yourself till clean," he grumbles while dropping off the dresser.

"Gladly~" Kat sings, making her way out.

She's about to wonder whether it would have been more sensible to sit out the day before, but then... then she sees the object in the back, which fits in no way whatsoever to everything else.

"Good lord, so extra," she snickers. The tap, mirror, towel rack, every object in the room is as puritan as it can get... then there's that fancy tub, which barely fits inside. Not a single millimeter between it and the walls surrounding it. He must have operated it in himself, quite literally. Because there's no way it fit through the entrance... has legs and everything, too.

Yep, there's no way anyone else comes in here, ever.

With a deep sigh, she drops the fresh clothes onto the chair. No time to laugh at him, she's... gotta do what she has to here.

"Wow... this is a tattoo, alright..." she muses once (painfully...) having gotten rid of the brave double-drenched shirt that's served her thus far. A heart... or at least something in the shape of it. Kinda cute, actually. Taking a better look at it in the mirror, she also notices ones on his shoulders. He knows his theme; can't decide if he was trying to be edgy with it, though, because the cartoon shape is everything but threatening. 10 bucks on him having something on his back, too... this was not worth the neck pain, but yep, bullseye in the shape of a jolly roger.

Normally, she would be capable of wasting up to half an hour poking at herself in the mirror before and after taking a long-ass shower, but she can't feel at ease goofing off like this right now. Someone's waiting, she's at a foreign place, in a foreign body... would love to be at home right now. Preferably as her own self. Sigh. The people around here are too sociable, she has no time to recharge. At any rate... she had better pull herself together and just get over with the rest.

[middlexico]

Wednesday 8th January 2020

We all woke up on and off as the bus stopped a few times presumably for the driver to take a break. Then somewhere in the middle of the night the driver swapped at one of our roadside stops. We all slept reasonably well but still felt pretty rubbish when we pulled into San Cristóbal de las Casas or SCDC. Rather than negotiate getting a taxi we decided to walk the 1.1 kms to the hotel. The cobbles were not all that good for it but also SCDC was more rustic and down home country. Suddenly, we were seeing some real poverty up close and personal. However, when we turned onto our street the Real de Guadalupe with the festive overhead papers lining the street and cute pedestrian areas with cafes and boutiques it felt very upmarket. Again some pretty huge contrasts. After what seemed like far more than a 20 minute walk we arrived at La Tozi Hotel. It was a cute little hotel built over 3 levels and around a courtyard, our room had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a sitting/dining room and kitchenette. However, there was not one single piece of cutlery, crockery or glassware and so even though it was better appointed than the Suites Floresta it was going to be equally useless. Luckily breakfast was in the room rate so we showered and went up stairs to the cute little roof cafe where the delightful but definitely Spanish speaking Alejandro awaited. We finally had some good coffee. Tony and I had red and green chilaquiles respectively. Hayley had hot cakes and Kate yoghurt fruit and granola. The food was all lovely but took a while to arrive. As we walked down the stairs after breakfast we could see why as a tiny mami was in an under stairs kitchen more like a broom closet. It was now time for one of my infamous walking tours. Up to the end of our street and then we climbed 79 stairs to the church of Guadalupe. We took the pictures and decided a church from 1834 was too new to be exciting for us. Then on to the Na Bosom museum founded by a German couple in the 1930s to study the Laucandona indigenous people. The whole set up was very Indiana Jones. The two of them doing incredible work discovering treasure and documenting the tribes of indigenous people. Then we walked on and through the Mercator Viego which was a warren of little alleys selling all manner of food and tat. The vendors there had no interest in us whatsoever we were obviously foreign and unlikely to buy anything. Next stop the Santo Domingo Church and the craft market. Here we got a little interest from the stall owners but we made no purchases. However, on the corner of the market we finally got our smokey roasted street corn with chilli salt or locally known as elote. We walked back to complete the square at the Plaza de la Paz and the San Cristóbal Cathedral. The gold and red church making a very photogenic back drop. Finally back down the Real de Guadalupe with a little bit of window shopping. By this stage it was 3pm and we all decided to put our feet up and have a quick nap.

Feeling restored we headed a block down the Real Guadalupe for dinner at La Lupe restaurant, recommended by both TripAdvisor and Gabriel. It was a very tasty menu with lots of local dishes and amazing fresh criollo corn tortillas being made in the corner over a wood fired comal. We washed it down with an icecream from a cute store across the road and called it a day, a very long day!

[theblondegoesabroad]

Day 167

Saturday 2nd November 2019

Another cold day in Belgium. Paul was in Stavelot and Joelle in the south of France so Benoît and I were in charge of the markets run. We were motivated by the promise of waffles at the market. I headed to the cheese shop to order our cheese and bread for the week and Benoit started at the markets. Getting the seasonal fruit and veges. Apparently the day was too rainy and grey to motivate the waffle man to come so we missed out on that unfortunately. We quickly headed home to watch the rugby World Cup final. South Africa England and what a good game it was. Very exciting and very tense right up until the last few minutes. A good final. Bring on 2023! Then we headed back to town to pick up our bread and then off to go climbing. Benoit and I spent a day working on our endurance and tripled the routes. So instead of climbing it once we climbed three times in a row. Very tiring but we managed to do five routes like this (Benoit did 6)! After a good work out we headed home. Benoit did a bit of uni work and I did some stressing over work permit-visa requirements situations. I didn’t learn much as all the embassy sites are so useless but I will get on the phone on Monday and try sort it out! This evening Benoit and I decided to go out! We went to a restaurant that Benoit has been telling me about since I came here, a burger bar with unlimited chips. It was pretty good. A delicious burger and a very decent amount of chips! We left very full and then headed home for a movie and fire. Very cosy. Definitely enjoying this part of winter! Love Kate xxxxx

[theconservativebrief]

While serving as a guest speaker during a dinner thrown by the Economic Club of Washington, Amazon CEO and noted rich person Jeff Bezos shared one of the secrets to his success: lots and lots of sleep.

“I go to bed early,” Bezos said. “I think better, I have more energy, my mood’s better.”

It makes sense that the world’s wealthiest person puts such an emphasis on his beauty rest. Sleep is now a luxury pastime, and one that’s evolved into a bona fide economy. In the sleep economy, products are developed with scientific fervor, materials are upscale, and the technology is sophisticated, slick, and supposedly effective.

This industry, which now includes high-end pajamas, moisture-wicking bed linens, and extravagant gadgets, makes anywhere between $30 billion and $40 billion annually, according to the consulting company McKinsey. BCC Research believes that when you calculate the profits big pharma makes off medication, sleep products will earn $76.7 billion globally by next year.

Sleep has been around since the beginning of time. But the category that set off the sleep boom was mattresses — specifically direct-to-consumer mattress companies like Casper, Leesa, and Tuft & Needle, which has had McKinsey proclaiming that “there are billions of dollars stuffed into the mattress!”

Mattresses are a $15 billion industry alone, and there are now more than 178 digital mattress startups that come delivered in a box. (Amazon, never not one to sit out on an attempt to take over an industry, just debuted a mattress line of its own.) Casper is largely responsible for kick-starting this mattress-in-a-box craze. It’s made more than $600 million in revenue since its 2013 debut and even has industry giants like Mattress Firm filing for bankruptcy, as it struggles to compete with a nimble business model like Casper while Mattress Firm’s is bloated with 1,300 stores.

But Casper is ready to move beyond the mattress. The company knows a mattress isn’t something a customer purchases very often. The ability to sell sleep, on the other hand, is seemingly limitless.

The sleep economy has expanded past our wildest dreams. Companies are now successfully cashing in on “turning the bedroom into a sleep sanctuary,” as McKinsey referred to it. Customers aren’t just spending money on sleep products to sleep better — they’re spending on them so that they will live better. Or so they are told.

Deep in San Francisco’s Mission District, inside a warehouse that’s home to Casper’s product development center, there’s a giant bin of disheveled neck pillows.

Jeff Chapin, one of Casper’s co-founders and chief product officer, is rummaging through the bucket one summer afternoon, trying to find the one that aggravates him the most.

“These pillows make absolutely no sense,” he says, holding up a blue velvet one to demonstrate, wrapping it around his neck. “They don’t give you the neck support that you need, and they kind of just sit there, doing nothing.”

Casper’s team has just spent the past few months developing a travel pillow, and in the process, they reviewed every sort of terribly useless pillow shape on the market. The fruits of their labor are the Casper Nap Pillow: a miniature square white puff that comes packaged in a cute cardboard tube. The pillow, which sells at Casper stores, on its website, and on the Target site for $35, frankly looks like a pillow chopped in half — and that’s because it basically is.

Casper is rolling out furniture, like bed frames and night tables, as it looks for new ways to make money off sleep. Casper

“The team of engineers working on the project were stumped until one decided to cut a pillow and work from there,” he says.

Casper has about 50 engineers of all flavors working inside this warehouse, testing out products both practical and obscure as they attempt to find Casper’s next big thing. The company started selling pillows, blankets, and sheets in 2015, and it’s constantly tweaking these products. It recently debuted furniture. The company plans to open 200 stores across the country this year, and Chapin says the company is developing “sleep tech and other important gadgets that affect the ambient environment.”

“There are so many products that can use new thought, from sheets to bed frames to the environment of sleep,” he says. “We’ve always been a company that’s been focused on sleep, and mattresses were our foundation. It’s a good place to start, from a business point of view, but sleep is so much more interesting than just mattresses.”

Casper has plenty of muscle for the type of research and development that goes on inside this warehouse. It’s received $239.7 million in funding to date. But it’s not the only one with its eyes on conquering the sleep economy. In fact, even with all its name recognition in the mattress space, Casper is hardly the first choice for selling sleep accoutrements. These days, there are countless brands looking to elevate the mundane pillowcase and bedsheet set, according to the research firm NPD.

There are countless brands looking to elevate the mundane pillowcase and bedsheet set, which has led to customers spending an annual $13 billion on bedding

Brooklinen, a “luxury bedding” brand that was started by husband-and-wife duo Rich and Vicki Fulop as a Kickstarter in 2014, now makes over $25 million annually. The company started off selling Egyptian cotton sheets with high thread counts (king sets sell for around $258), but the company has since expanded to blankets, towels, and candles.

Parachute, another big bedding company that launched in 2014 and that Instagram loves, now including plush bathroom linens, baby products, and laundry detergent sets. The company has several stores, and ran a branded hotel in California at one point, which charged $600 a night (it’s no longer open).

There’s Boll & Branch, another bedding startup, which promises “the world’s most comfortable sheets and pillows” and is opening stores around the country with zero inventory. Coyuchi, a 26-year-old San Francisco bedding brand, recently launched a Netflix-esque model for bedding; it wants customers to pay a monthly fee to get new bedding every six, 12, or 24 months.

Linens are just the beginning. As McKinsey notes, part of the success of the sleep economy is that these brands encourage people to buy things that will build out the entire sleep experience. Pajamas — or, as the industry would prefer you call it, sleepwear — are another piece of the overall lifestyle. Shoppers now spend $7.8 billion on sleepwear, an 8 percent annual increase, according to NPD. Companies these days hawk high-end sleepwear as a necessity for better rest. Sleepy Jones, a luxury pajama brand started by Andy Spade (husband of the late Kate Spade), for example, has developed such a following, it’s been dubbed the Lululemon of the pajama industry.

While Sleepy Jones makes $200 cotton pajama sets, other contemporary sleepwear brands are appealing to customers by debuting innovative fabric. Lusomé, a Canadian luxury sleepwear company, uses fabric that it says has “innovative moisture management technology.” Its $80 nighties, for example, are made of Xirotex, a new fabric that fights moisture, bacteria, and odor and is said to be good for menopause. Last year, Under Armour teamed up with Tom Brady for sleep-boosting pajamas that help athletes “recover.” The British sleepwear brand Recliner makes nighties that look exactly like your dad’s oversize tee, except it can charge a premium because it’s made out of Japanese satin, which is machine-washable.

Ashley Merrill, the founder of the California-based sleepwear brand Lunya, says fabric innovation in the sleep space is very real. Lunya’s latest “sleep cooler” collection, for example, is made of proprietary Pima cotton that’s woven with TransDry and XT2 fibers, which are said to dry up sweat faster.

Merrill points out that her brand launched before the “Casper explosion” but admits that “there’s an incredible opportunity in sleep. All of our fabric innovation is to serve our customer in ways she’d never dreamed of, because people are finally realizing that sleep is worth celebrating.”

Tech, of course, has been eager to cash in on the boom: Sleeping apps dominate the app store, like SonicSleep, which sells an AI sleep assistant for $19.99 a year, or Calm, where you can listen to soothing bedtime stories, or Bob Ross’s voice.

Sleep gadgets have an entire universe of their own. The Motiv ring is a “stylish” fitness and sleep tracker that sells for $200. Beddr’s SleepTuner, a $150 sleep tracker coming out this October, is the size of a stamp and is worn on the forehead; it’s already been listed by the FDA as an item that understands sleep. Fitbit’s wearables now track sleep and pledge to diagnose issues, and Apple’s iOS gives the iPhone several ways to track sleep too. (Last year, Apple also quietly bought Beddit, a Finnish sleep tracking hardware company that makes a $150 sensor you place under your mattress.)

At this year’s annual Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas, one brand debuted a robot that breathes like a baby, which you can spoon, for $549. Another introduced a $150 bedside lamp, the Aromarest, that releases melatonin and aromatherapy. Over the summer, Bose debuted wireless sleep earbuds, which play soothing sounds into your ear for $250. Arianna Huffington has emerged an evangelist on how of sleep is important and accessible to everyone; her company Thrive sells a bed for your phone, for $65.

Like a true luxury category, the agenda of the sleep economy is to sell things you never knew you needed. And a key component in why shoppers are spending, a report from CB Insights notes, is because sleep is now “hailed as a new frontier for holistic wellness.”

“The consumer’s definition of living healthy has expanded,” Joe Derochowski, a home industry analyst with the NPD Group, tells Vox. “Years ago, consumers would say to be healthy, they need to eat more fruits [and] vegetables, exercise more, and eat less processed foods. Today, they expand beyond exercise and eating to add sleep.”

In her 2017 book, Goop Clean Beauty, Gwyneth Paltrow talks about “clean sleeping,” which she describes as making sleep the utmost priority in health and wellness, above fitness and diet.

“There’s no substitute for good sleep in terms of how well rested you’ll feel and look. That’s because sleep is a magical time for your body — it’s when some of the body’s most important repair and revival work happens,” the book says.

Goop might have been wrong about those jade vagina eggs, but accredited, science-based organizations actually side with Paltrow on this one. The American Psychological Association cites sleep as “essential” to well-being, and found that 60 percent of adults have sleep problems a few nights a week. The National Sleep Foundation believes that 45 percent of Americans suffer from poor sleep as a result of their daily activities.

Parachute, a direct-to-consumer bedding brand, makes about $30 million annually selling the dreamy, minimalist, Cali-cool vibe. Parachute

This research also coincides with a change in how society talks about the need for sleep. In the business and tech world, getting little sleep used to be something to boast about, an attitude University of Pennsylvania professor Alan Derickson coined “manly wakefulness” in his 2013 book Dangerously Sleepy. President Trump has boasted about only needing four or five hours of sleep a night, and Elon Musk openly talks about how low of a priority it is to him (which doesn’t seem to be working out all that well for him).

Culturally, this attitude is shifting.

“We are seeing less of a machismo culture, where people don’t brag about not getting sleep,” Chapin of Casper says. “The cultural current is telling people to care about sleep and treat it like wellness.”

Although the rebranding of sleep as wellness wasn’t caused by the mattress boom (and its subsequent sleep economy), the timing worked out impeccably. In turn, the sleepy industry that digital mattress brands helped awaken assisted in making what could have been a fringe concept go national. People are always willing to spend on things that are “better” for them. As these mattress companies made it easier to buy into sleep with the click of a button, shoppers became more prone to spending on sleep accessories — especially when national icons like Huffington and Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg sang the gospel of its wellness benefits.

And while the National Sleep Foundation suggests free or low-cost ways to get better sleep — sex, exercise, changing bed linens often — the sleep economy, in the good ol’ American way, isn’t about working with what you have to improve sleep. It wants you to buy in.

Plenty within the older demographic might catch on to the fact that sleep isn’t exactly wellness, that pajamas don’t need patented fabrics, and that expensive bed linens won’t guarantee a better night’s sleep. CB Insights notes that the sleep economy largely relies on the purchases of millennials. We are, after all, the ones who gobble up any wellness category; we drool over the aspirational interior design photos on Parachute’s Instagram; and we appreciate the beautiful and airy atmosphere of Lunya’s boutiques in New York and California.

Shoppers in their 20s and 30s are the most powerful consumer demographic. But it’s not like the industry is preying on them. Leo Wang, the founder and CEO of Buffy, a sleep brand that sells duvet comforters out of recycled, down-alternative materials, says the demographic is genuinely interested in the category. In case you haven’t heard, staying in is the new going out. There’s a booming economy of merchandise dedicated to proud homebodies. Wang says industry research shows that shoppers in their 30s want to invest in their home as a method of self-care.

In case you haven’t heard, staying in is the new going out

“We see [the home] as a place for ourselves, a place that represents us, who we will be in it and how we can care for it,” says Wang. “That’s why bedding has blown up and has merged with wellness in such a meaningful way.”

The story that Buffy and the rest of these new brands in the sleep economy are telling, he says, is about how customers can take better care of themselves with the products. They also happen to look nice for the ’gram.

“We are telling consumers they can expect more from their cotton, from their thread count, from their price point,” he says. “It’s more than just foam and coil in a nicely shaped box. We’re selling the underlying premise that we are bringing meaning and well-being into the space.”

Like all things that are fancy and expensive, sleep is now a status symbol. The New York Times wrote last year that sleep is more like “a measure of success — a skill to be cultivated and nourished.” As sleep has made its way up the food chain of priorities, the bottles of sleep water you drink and the weighted blankets you lie under demonstrate that there’s real prestige to spending on all of it.

Today, you might score the chicest, most comfortable sleep of your life — but only if you can afford it. The brands capitalizing on the sleep economy are setting the price tags at a premium. Lunya sells cotton sleep dresses for $108, for example, while Parachute wants $79 for its linen baby crib sheets; Goop’s special nighttime blend of bath salts will cost you $35.

Certainly, these products are packaged with a prestige factor. But they also ignore the fact that those who need sleep the most are often the ones who can’t pay for it. Studies have found that white, wealthy populations sleep longer and better than black Americans. This poor sleep contributes to the cycle of inequality. It’s no surprise when Chapin admits Casper’s customers are largely middle-class.

“A lot of our customers are in the demographic that wants to spend on it because it’s a luxury they can afford,” he says.

As the Guardian wrote in March, “sleep is a social justice issue, requiring social solutions.”

“You cannot buy sleep itself, but you must pay for the circumstances likely to induce it,” the Guardian writes. “Overcrowded, noisy, cold or unsafe housing makes sleep harder. So does shift work — especially if it is casualised and unpredictable. Poor nutrition and stress also take their toll. We fret about reaching for our smartphone at night, while those making the devices sleep on hard beds in shared dormitories with coworkers clattering to and fro.”

The sleep economy continues to thrive for those that can afford it. Equinox, the luxury chain of gyms, now offers “sleep coaches,” where members pay $500 for six sessions (on top of the already-pricey gym membership). A good night’s sleep is now a perk for million-dollar apartments, according to the Washington Post, which reported on a luxury condominium building in Denver whose units will include air filtration, lighting, and sound attenuation that’s dedicated to sleep.

This concentration is extending to the next generation too. Harvey Karp, the famous baby whisperer who empowered parents of all incomes to facilitate good sleeping habits for their babies with his 2002 book The Happiest Baby on the Block, has turned baby sleep into a big business. He now wants parents to purchase his luxury bassinet, the Snoo, for almost $1,000.

The baby sleep coach business is on fire, too, with parents more than willing to cough up fees of $7,500 for 72 hours of baby sleep techniques; Instagram director of fashion partnerships and former Lucky editor-in-chief Eva Chen swore to her social media followers back in February that hiring baby sleep coach and author Suzy Giordano was almost essential.

Casper’s dog beds start at $125 and went through 460 hours of lab testing. Casper

What’s the next frontier of sleep? It could soon be about a different type of baby — the fur baby, America’s favorite category to spend on.

And that, it seems, is already very much in the works. One of Amazon’s top choice of products is a bag of dog bones infused with chamomile, which supposedly facilitate deeper sleep. Chewy, the digital pet retailer owned by PetSmart, sells an eye mask that helps with dog anxiety and sleep. There’s FitBark, a $70 device that attaches to a collar and monitors fitness and sleep levels. Casper’s got skin in the game too, of course: Its dog beds start at $125, were designed with dog sleep studies in mind, and were subjected to 460 hours of lab testing.

From our sleep habits to the sleep of our kids and pets, the only thing that won’t rest in this economy is our wallets. We might never, ever (ever, ever, ever) step into the type of wealth Jeff Bezos has. But if we spend enough on the necessary sleep accessories for ourselves, our children, and our pets, perhaps, we, too, can sleep like a gajillionaire.

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Original Source -> Upscale pajamas, luxury bedding, spooning robots: how sleep became commodified

via The Conservative Brief

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The Murphys Versus The Zombies

A few years ago, on a Sunday in December, I watched “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” followed by an episode of “The Walking Dead.”  It got me thinking about how interesting it might be if a white bread suburban family were living in a zombie apocalypse.  I worked on the screenplay for a while, but after “Fear The Walking Dead” came out, I decided to abandon it.  Here are some fun highlight moments.  Enjoy.  

FADE IN:  INT.  SUBURBAN KITCHEN - DAY

The camera weaves through a sunny, pleasant suburban kitchen.  No one is home.  A sign reading “Bless This Mess” hangs over the sink.  Happy family photos are attached to the refrigerator with plastic fruit-shaped magnets.  It’s a nice kitchen, one suggesting a nice family living a nice life.  

After a moment, the phone rings.  The answering machine picks up.  The recorded voices are perky, friendly, carefree.  

BILL:  You’ve reached Bill. KATE:  Kate. AMANDA:  Amanda. DAVEY:  And Davey.  And we’re- ALL FOUR:  The Murphys!   KATE:  Leave a message.  

After a quick beep, we hear grotesque sounds of monsters groaning, chomping, screams, mayhem, police sirens, the end of the world.  

MAN:  It’s the zombies!  They’re everywhere!  Everywhere!  Get out!  Get out while you still can!  GET OUT BEFORE THEY-  

The man suddenly screams in pain!  The connection is abruptly cut off.  The sound of the ring tone continues as we dissolve to the title:  

                     THE MURPHYS VERSUS THE ZOMBIES

Cut to:  

EXT.  HIGHWAY – DAY

A wood paneled station wagon sits stalled out on a highway road, the only car for miles.  It is surrounded by four ravenous zombies.  

INT.  CAR - DAY

The family inside is freaking out, screaming, terrified.  BILL (46), a congenial suburban dad is in the driver’s seat.  Next to him is KATE, his perky wife (42).  

In the backseat are petulant teenager AMANDA (16), nerdy tween DAVEY (11) and the mostly useless, mildly disgusting GRANDPA (71).  

The zombies press their faces up to the windows, hungry for brains.  Inside the car, it’s pure chaos.  Everyone is talking all at once.  Bill attempts to get the car started.  

KATE:  Just drive, Bill!  Drive!   BILL:  Don’t you think I’m trying, mother?!   GRANDPA:  They’re getting closer!   DAVEY:  Shoot the fuckers!   KATE:  Davey, language!  

A zombie attempts to reach through the window to get at Amanda, who struggles desperately to roll the window up.

GRANDPA:  Quick!  Roll it up!   AMANDA:  I can’t!  It’s stuck!   KATE:  Everyone just calm down- BILL:  Panic isn’t going to solve anything-

One zombie has reached through the window and has managed to grab a hold of Amanda’s hair.  The girl begins to seriously freak out.

AMANDA:  NOW IT HAS MY HAIR!!  

EXT.  FOREST – DAY

Later, Bill and Kate sit, relaxed, at a picnic table.  They talk to an (off-camera) interviewer.

KATE:  Raising a family in a zombie apocalypse is a challenge.  No question about it.  

EXT.  FOREST CLEARING - DAY

Family mealtime.  The Murphys sit together on a blanket on the ground, quietly saying grace.  Each person has a single can of ravioli in front of them, the lid crudely hinged open.    

KATE (VOICE OVER):  I’m Kate Murphy.   BILL (VOICE OVER):  And I’m Bill Murphy.  I used to be in sales…  

INSERT SHOT:  Photo of an awards banquet, where Bill is receiving a plaque.  

BILL (VOICE OVER):  I was regional number one in sales, three years running.  

EXT.  FOREST - DAY

Amanda stands alone, filing her nails, bored.

KATE (VOICE OVER):  And we have two lovely children.  Amanda is sixteen.  And Davey is eleven…  

After a moment, Davey approaches, hiding something behind his back.  

DAVEY:  Hey, sis?   AMANDA:  (annoyed)  What? DAVEY:  BLAH!  

He suddenly thrusts a disembodied arm at her.  She screams, and he roars with laughter.  

KATE (OFF CAMERA):  Put that arm down this instant, young man! DAVEY:  (whinny)  Aw, but mom… KATE (OFF CAMERA):  No but’s, young man! BILL (OFF CAMERA):  Listen to your mother!  

EXT.  ROAD – DAY

The station wagon travels down a small town road.  There are no other humans present. It looks like a war zone.  Homes have been abandoned.  Trash is everywhere.  A car sits parked on the sidewalk, on fire.  A zombie crawls slowly across a lawn.  

BILL (VOICE OVER):  We’re always on the go.  A day here.  A week there.  We keep moving. KATE (VOICE OVER):  We’re hoping to find the safe zone.  A place where survivors are.   BILL (VOICE OVER):  Or just find any other human survivors…  So far, nothing.  Nada.  Zip.    

INT.  STATION WAGON – NIGHT

The exhausted family rides along, depressed, tired, silent.  They all wear “snuggies.”  

BILL (VOICE OVER):  In the meantime, we’re committed to our normal way of life.  

EXT.  CAMPFIRE – NIGHT

The Murphys sit in a circle around the campfire.  Davey plays a song on his trombone.  They listen politely and applaud when he finishes.  

KATE (VOICE OVER):  Absolutely.  We want to preserve our way of life as much as possible.  

EXT.  FOREST - DAY

Bill and Kate are interviewed.    

BILL:  I mean, sure.  You have to make some adjustments.  No doubt about it.   KATE:  We’ve been home schooling the kids.  

She laughs.  

KATE:  Well, naturally…  There are no schools.   BILL:  There’s no more people, mother.   KATE:  I mean, I tell the kids, just because there’s a zombie apocalypse, that’s still no excuse not to learn fractions.  

INT.  KITCHEN - DAY

Kate and Davey sit together at the kitchen table.  They are reviewing his math homework.  

They pay no attention to Bill, who is fighting off a pair of zombies at the kitchen sink.  Just another day for the Murphys.   Bill grabs a rolling pin, the kind used to make piecrusts.  He swings it at the first zombie, knocking its head right off its shoulders.

BILL (VOICE OVER):  We had found a house that we thought we could stay in…  Turns out we couldn’t.  So we’re on the move.  Again...  

The second zombie jumps at Bill, who stabs it in the head with a Mickey Mouse-themed spatula.  Down the creature goes.  

EXT.  REST STOP - DAY

Handheld shot of Kate showing various items she has collected in a cardboard box.

KATE:  These are Hallmark cards.  People would give them to each other for birthdays, holidays, what have you.  And this is a catalog from Williams Sonoma…  My Jell-O molds…

She reviews what else is inside the box.  

KATE:  I don’t want all of western civilization to go to H.E. Double Hockey Sticks.  And to that end, I’ve taken it upon myself to collect and preserve important artifacts from our way of life, for future generations and what not.  

She holds up a DVD of “Love, Actually.”  

KATE:  My favorite!...  Here’s some more.  “The Notebook” on DVD...  A menu from the Olive Garden…  These books have the artwork of Mr. Norman Rockwell and Mr. Thomas Kincaid…  

EXT.  FOREST - DAY

Davey sit at the picnic table being interviewed.  

DAVEY:  How old am I?  I have no idea...  I think I’m twelve now.  We’ve sort of lost track of the days.  (He shrugs.)  Maybe I’m still eleven…  

EXT.  FOREST - DAY

Bill and Kate are interviewed.  

KATE:  We realized that poor Amanda never got to have her high school prom.  Because everyone died.   BILL:  We felt bad.  About the prom.  And all the death.   KATE:  So we decided to throw her one.  

EXT.  FOREST CLEARING - DAY

A section of the forest has been crudely decorated for a makeshift prom.  Cardboard decorations have been attached to the trees.  

Amanda approaches, apparently coming back from a walk.  Bill and Kate go to her, excited.  

AMANDA:  What’s going on? KATE:  It’s your prom, honey! BILL:  Surprise!   AMANDA:  I don’t get it.   BILL:  You never got your high school prom.  So we’re throwing you one!   AMANDA:  I- KATE:  And here’s your handsome prom date!  

Amanda turns to see old Grandpa standing nearby, waiting, smiling at her.  He wears a black tuxedo jacket over his normal clothes and holds a random selection of flowers in his hand.  They were apparently put together from whatever was available.  

He’s smiling, attempting to pour on the charm.  But he’s just as off-putting and disgusting as ever.  Amanda looks like she’s going to be sick.

KATE:  Welcome to your prom!   AMANDA:  Mom, Dad, I don’t think-

Kate turns to Davey, who stands off to the side, trombone in hand.  

KATE:  Play some music, Davey. DAVEY:  Like what? KATE:  A nice waltz.  Something romantic.   DAVEY:  A what?!   KATE:  A nice waltz.  You know… DAVEY:  I don’t know any. KATE:  Well, just play what you know.  Play anything.  

After a moment, Davey begins playing “The 1812 Overture” on his trombone.  

Grandpa hands Amanda the flowers.  She looks down at them, unsure of where to put them or what to do.  After a moment, she shrugs and tosses them indifferently on the ground.              

KATE:  OK, kids.  Time for the first dance.    

Amanda and Grandpa begin to slow dance awkwardly to the music.  The whole thing seems too bizarre for words.  Still, Bill and Kate are very pleased.  They watch from the sidelines, satisfied with what they’ve created.

AMANDA (VOICE OVER):  I’d be lying if I said that this was how I always imagined my high school prom would be.  Grandpa smelled, for starters…  

EXT.  FOREST - DAY

Amanda is interviewed alone, later.  

AMANDA:  …But then I saw something that really surprised me...  

EXT.  FOREST CLEARING - DAY

As Amanda dances, she looks over at her parents, watching from off to the side.  Bill and Kate are standing together, holding each other, smiling and watching, very happy.  

AMANDA (VOICE OVER):  It was the look in my parent’s eyes…  They were smiling.  And I hadn’t seen them smile like that in a long time.  A very long time…  

SOUND:  Davey’s trombone music fades down, slowly replaced by a lush orchestral waltz.  

Bill and Kate continue to watch, very pleased.  They don’t notice how struck Amanda is by their reaction.  

AMANDA (VOICE OVER):  They went to so much trouble.  I guess they wanted a moment when things were normal.  For all of us.  For me.  It was their gift to me…  

Amanda turns back to Grandpa and smiles, trying to make the best of it.  

AMANDA (VOICE OVER):  And so I decided that my gift to them would be to enjoy it.

Bill and Kate look on from a distance, very satisfied.  Finally, the Murphys are enjoying a moment of normalcy, of happiness, of togetherness.   Amanda and Grandpa continue to dance.  Camera pulls slowly back and up.  A moment passes.

DAVEY (VOICE OVER):  …What do I miss most, now that the world is over?  That’s a hard one...  Not church!...  Video games, probably.  That, and the Disney Channel...  

KATE (VOICE OVER):  …My Kenmore dryer…  And my washer.  Both of them, actually.  Those were quality appliances, yes sir...  And the bread maker...  

BILL (VOICE OVER):  …The Electoral College…  Ha!  Just kidding!...  I guess my answer would be bowling every Thursday night with the Petersons…  My blue Prius…  NPR...  

AMANDA (VOICE OVER):  …Going out with my friends to the mall.  And my friends.  And malls…  

Amanda and Grandpa continue to dance.  

DISSOLVE TO:  

EXT.  FOREST ROAD - DAY

The Murphy’s wood paneled station wagon (seen from the back) sits parked, empty.  On the back is a fading bumper sticker with an image of a zombie in a circle with a line drawn through.

BILL (VOICE OVER):  What does the future hold?  Who can say?  It’s my hope that one day, we’ll find the safe zone…  

After a moment, the Murphys appear.  They slowly approach the car, tired and silent.  They get in and close the doors.  Bill starts up the engine.  

BILL (VOICE OVER):  And then we can rebuild society.  Until then, well, we have each other.  We’re the Murphys.  And we endure.  

The car heads down the road, into the distance until finally it disappears from view.    

After a moment, about half way down the road, a lone male zombie appears from the forest.  He stumbles across the road and then slowly disappears into the trees.  

FADE OUT.     

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Take a look at the Beauty Chocolates that Lena Dunham

Chocolate has many advantages. But can it make you prettier?Ingesting chocolate has been linked to coronary heart health, decrease blood pressure and reduced stress. However Whitney Tingle and Danielle DuBoise, co-founders of the plant-based totally meal program Sakara Lifestyles, trust an everyday indulgence can supply visibly plumper, greater younger searching skin.

This month, Sakara is introducing Splendor Sweets. Supercharged with 70 mg.

Of plant-based totally, collagen-promoting phytoceramide, the crew said a daily dose is clinically demonstrated to deliver visibly plumper pores and skin.

The Beauty Candies are Sakara’s today’s addition to its existing collection of Clean Boutique merchandise and plant-based totally meal application, which turned into released in 2012 out of the co-founders’ The big apple City kitchen. Considering that it’s founding, Sakara Lifestyles has mushroomed right into a multimillion greenback commercial enterprise, transport more than 50,000-plus food national and gaining superstar attention from the likes of Lena Dunham, Chrissy Teigen, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Hudson.

Sakara Existence centers at the philosophy that food is medicine and, therefore, what you positioned into your body paperwork the constructing blocks for the rest of your Life. DuBoise and Tingle preserve their “meals as medicinal drug” conversation with their loyal following of “Sakaralites,” on S-Existence, they are online mag, as well as across diverse social media platforms — their private money owed included.

Sakara’s Splendor Sweets be a part of Sakara’s lineup of Beauty-

Promoting ingredients including their Splendor Bars and Beauty Waters. “Splendor food is a category in which we plan to continue to convey the first-class elements to guide Beauty and anti-aging. We want to make it smooth, amusing and enjoyable to the consumer,” stated Tingle.

In addition to the inherent benefits of chocolate (cacao is a superfood), the candy turned into a no-brainer. “I’m a chocoholic,” joked DuBoise. Getting more severe, she stated she is captivated with growing the Splendor food class because of her very own enjoy looking her mother’s era awareness on weight loss program for waistline in place of for the nutritional fee. Furthermore, within the beyond, the treatment for stunning skin has exclusively been topical creams or make-up — in no way meals, she said. Sakara seeks to trade that belief of Beauty by using focusing on the improvement of Splendor from the interior out.

Enhance Your Beauty With Organic Beauty Products

Nowadays, more and more human beings are seeking out organic and natural beauty merchandise. A good sized majority of beauty aware people like to pick those over different cosmetic merchandise for numerous reasons. The principle cause is that these products do now not use any chemical or inorganic element in those so as to decorate your beauty. It takes natural care of your splendor without giving any facet impact.

We use the term “natural” to intend that the products were made from the things that had been alive once. There is a huge kind of organic products to be had inside the marketplace for taking herbal care of your skin, frame, hair, and many others. Except, a few products are used for herbal make-up and keep humans from special varieties of external assaults like daylight, moisture, fog, and dry wind. Useless to mention, there are a few organic anti-growing old pores and skin care products that help you hold your teens for a longer time period. these varieties of objects are regarded for their beautiful aromas.

Using natural splendor merchandise is absolutely secure for each person.

Having no harsh or harmful chemical compounds in any object, everybody affected by any ailment can use it with a bit of luck. organic beauty merchandise not simplest deal with your beauty but also treatment many pores and skin illnesses permanently. Furthermore, these merchandises are less costly and use natural substances derived from plant life, animals, and different herbal elements. A lion percentage a part of those gadgets are made from vegetation, fruits, leaves, skin, herbs, and many others. Uses of those natural things are growing daily. To satisfy the growing call for and Furthermore to make this stuff without difficulty to be had for all, many online buying portals have come to the scene.

On the ones purchasing websites,

You can have a plethora of product options to pick out from. those on-line shops sell sunscreen, pores and skin care, frame care, and natural make-up gadgets at decrease prices. As a tremendous range of them permit you to enjoy cash on transport options. It manner you can pay for your selected items when you acquire those at the doorstep. those eCommerce websites (on-line stores) are exact for saving it slowly, cash and labor. you may order from your drawing-room and acquire the same at your doorstep in step with your convenient time and location.

The Effects Of Chocolate On The Emotions

It is common notion that chocolate is a temper elevator although a few humans believe that it causes headaches and migraine. Even though It’s miles widely regular that chocolate impacts our moods, the research on this are nonetheless in a fluid country. Every competition is fiercely debated. We are able to speak various approaches that chocolate influences our moods and feelings, consistent with the present set of ideals.

Chocolate impacts us each negatively and positively. a few human beings, when they are sad or depressed, revel in a craving for chocolate. On ingesting chocolate they file that their temper is accelerated and that they sense better. This elevation in mood is brief Even though and when this effect wears off, they once more revert to their preceding state of thoughts.

There are many fitness blessings which can be attributed to sweets.

It is good for the coronary heart. It increases the responsiveness of blood vessels which is beneficial for stopping heart disease. It additionally will increase glucose tolerance. Chocolate additionally contains some materials that have an antioxidant impact. this is helpful in preventing most cancers.

Chocolate is suggested to cause a headache, weight problems, rectal itching, heartburn and emotional troubles like irritability, confusion, anger, and depression.

Chocolate is rich in carbohydrates, which boom the price with which tryptophan enters the brain. This increases the extent of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates moods, growing a terrific feeling.

The addictive property of chocolate is also well documented.

This is evidenced via the truth that some human beings while looking to surrender alcohol, rely upon chocolate to satisfy their cravings. This drug-like belonging is attributed to caffeine, anandamide’s, phenylethylamine and magnesium which are present in chocolate. The presence of caffeine and magnesium can make a contribution to a feeling of yearning for chocolate. Anandamides affect the mind in a similar way to marijuana, Though research on this area remains debated.

There are greater than 350 chemical compounds in chocolate. Some of these are believed to motive hypersensitive reactions. a few scientists consider that phenylethylamine and theobromine should motive changes in moods. Phenylethylamine reasons blood pressure and blood sugar to upward thrust. It generates a sense of alertness and contentment as a consequence developing a sense of properly being. But, a quick duration of emotional high is observed by means of a duration of emotional low. Theobromine is observed clearly in cocoa and acts as an anti-depressant, However, has been acknowledged to be toxic to animals.

What To Look For In A Defence Vehicle Manufacturer

Today, you can hear incidents of security threats here and there. As a result, each public and private security forces are gearing up with military-grade motors that they can use for clinical assistance, safety and protection, and even other unique obligations like engineering and healing in instances of catastrophes.

Buyers of military armored vehicles on the market are very plenty privy to how vital it’s miles to investigate the functions, version and make of the vehicle prior to making a purchase. Other than finding out the traits of the vehicle, it is also very important to inspect the seller or manufacturer. A crucial part of the car buying technique to get the maximum out of your investment is appearing a history take a look at on the manufacturer.

Critical Considerations While Deciding on The Satisfactory Defence vehicle producer

Industry Experience – You want to test in the event that they had been operating for a long time already or if they simply starting. Of course, you need to opt for veteran players as this guarantees honed technical abilties and in-intensity know-how. Other than Industry Enjoy, you can also choose a producer recognized for imparting high pleasant products.

Flexibility – You want to test their in-house layout functionality in addition to their contemporary production centers. Decide if they’re capable of accommodating customisations you’ve got in mind. Ask additionally if they are able to integrate features in order to make the car greater suitable in your wishes.

Included Logistic Help – This can make certain that the military automobile will keep performing properly in the course of its practical lifespan.

In-depth Testing Application – When the automobile has been tested very well, you’ll get the assurance of great features and functionalities and stable overall performance. you may individually witness Whilst all the claims concerning such motors are true.

User Schooling and Protection Application

Be sure that the manufacture has a properly-installed Schooling and Maintenance Software for the users. it is very critical for companies and producers to have such in the region as this ensures right running order always, most especially in the course of missions. Basically, the producers must cover Education and schooling on how to properly function the automobiles as well as on how to properly hold it to reap the car’s premiere performance.

Buying a car is amongst the most important investments you can have. To get the maximum out of your funding, make certain to appearance not simplest on the car however also on its producer. In the end, they are ones who created the experience you need to buy.

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Take a look at the Beauty Chocolates that Lena Dunham

Chocolate has many advantages. But can it make you prettier?Ingesting chocolate has been linked to coronary heart health, decrease blood pressure and reduced stress. However Whitney Tingle and Danielle DuBoise, co-founders of the plant-based totally meal program Sakara Lifestyles, trust an everyday indulgence can supply visibly plumper, greater younger searching skin.

This month, Sakara is introducing Splendor Sweets. Supercharged with 70 mg.

Of plant-based totally, collagen-promoting phytoceramide, the crew said a daily dose is clinically demonstrated to deliver visibly plumper pores and skin.

The Beauty Candies are Sakara’s today’s addition to its existing collection of Clean Boutique merchandise and plant-based totally meal application, which turned into released in 2012 out of the co-founders’ The big apple City kitchen. Considering that it’s founding, Sakara Lifestyles has mushroomed right into a multimillion greenback commercial enterprise, transport more than 50,000-plus food national and gaining superstar attention from the likes of Lena Dunham, Chrissy Teigen, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Hudson.

Sakara Existence centers at the philosophy that food is medicine and, therefore, what you positioned into your body paperwork the constructing blocks for the rest of your Life. DuBoise and Tingle preserve their “meals as medicinal drug” conversation with their loyal following of “Sakaralites,” on S-Existence, they are online mag, as well as across diverse social media platforms — their private money owed included.

Sakara’s Splendor Sweets be a part of Sakara’s lineup of Beauty-

Promoting ingredients including their Splendor Bars and Beauty Waters. “Splendor food is a category in which we plan to continue to convey the first-class elements to guide Beauty and anti-aging. We want to make it smooth, amusing and enjoyable to the consumer,” stated Tingle.

In addition to the inherent benefits of chocolate (cacao is a superfood), the candy turned into a no-brainer. “I’m a chocoholic,” joked DuBoise. Getting more severe, she stated she is captivated with growing the Splendor food class because of her very own enjoy looking her mother’s era awareness on weight loss program for waistline in place of for the nutritional fee. Furthermore, within the beyond, the treatment for stunning skin has exclusively been topical creams or make-up — in no way meals, she said. Sakara seeks to trade that belief of Beauty by using focusing on the improvement of Splendor from the interior out.

Enhance Your Beauty With Organic Beauty Products

Nowadays, more and more human beings are seeking out organic and natural beauty merchandise. A good sized majority of beauty aware people like to pick those over different cosmetic merchandise for numerous reasons. The principle cause is that these products do now not use any chemical or inorganic element in those so as to decorate your beauty. It takes natural care of your splendor without giving any facet impact.

We use the term “natural” to intend that the products were made from the things that had been alive once. There is a huge kind of organic products to be had inside the marketplace for taking herbal care of your skin, frame, hair, and many others. Except, a few products are used for herbal make-up and keep humans from special varieties of external assaults like daylight, moisture, fog, and dry wind. Useless to mention, there are a few organic anti-growing old pores and skin care products that help you hold your teens for a longer time period. these varieties of objects are regarded for their beautiful aromas.

Using natural splendor merchandise is absolutely secure for each person.

Having no harsh or harmful chemical compounds in any object, everybody affected by any ailment can use it with a bit of luck. organic beauty merchandise not simplest deal with your beauty but also treatment many pores and skin illnesses permanently. Furthermore, these merchandises are less costly and use natural substances derived from plant life, animals, and different herbal elements. A lion percentage a part of those gadgets are made from vegetation, fruits, leaves, skin, herbs, and many others. Uses of those natural things are growing daily. To satisfy the growing call for and Furthermore to make this stuff without difficulty to be had for all, many online buying portals have come to the scene.

On the ones purchasing websites,

You can have a plethora of product options to pick out from. those on-line shops sell sunscreen, pores and skin care, frame care, and natural make-up gadgets at decrease prices. As a tremendous range of them permit you to enjoy cash on transport options. It manner you can pay for your selected items when you acquire those at the doorstep. those eCommerce websites (on-line stores) are exact for saving it slowly, cash and labor. you may order from your drawing-room and acquire the same at your doorstep in step with your convenient time and location.

The Effects Of Chocolate On The Emotions

It is common notion that chocolate is a temper elevator although a few humans believe that it causes headaches and migraine. Even though It’s miles widely regular that chocolate impacts our moods, the research on this are nonetheless in a fluid country. Every competition is fiercely debated. We are able to speak various approaches that chocolate influences our moods and feelings, consistent with the present set of ideals.

Chocolate impacts us each negatively and positively. a few human beings, when they are sad or depressed, revel in a craving for chocolate. On ingesting chocolate they file that their temper is accelerated and that they sense better. This elevation in mood is brief Even though and when this effect wears off, they once more revert to their preceding state of thoughts.

There are many fitness blessings which can be attributed to sweets.

It is good for the coronary heart. It increases the responsiveness of blood vessels which is beneficial for stopping heart disease. It additionally will increase glucose tolerance. Chocolate additionally contains some materials that have an antioxidant impact. this is helpful in preventing most cancers.

Chocolate is suggested to cause a headache, weight problems, rectal itching, heartburn and emotional troubles like irritability, confusion, anger, and depression.

Chocolate is rich in carbohydrates, which boom the price with which tryptophan enters the brain. This increases the extent of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates moods, growing a terrific feeling.

The addictive property of chocolate is also well documented.

This is evidenced via the truth that some human beings while looking to surrender alcohol, rely upon chocolate to satisfy their cravings. This drug-like belonging is attributed to caffeine, anandamide’s, phenylethylamine and magnesium which are present in chocolate. The presence of caffeine and magnesium can make a contribution to a feeling of yearning for chocolate. Anandamides affect the mind in a similar way to marijuana, Though research on this area remains debated.

There are greater than 350 chemical compounds in chocolate. Some of these are believed to motive hypersensitive reactions. a few scientists consider that phenylethylamine and theobromine should motive changes in moods. Phenylethylamine reasons blood pressure and blood sugar to upward thrust. It generates a sense of alertness and contentment as a consequence developing a sense of properly being. But, a quick duration of emotional high is observed by means of a duration of emotional low. Theobromine is observed clearly in cocoa and acts as an anti-depressant, However, has been acknowledged to be toxic to animals.

What To Look For In A Defence Vehicle Manufacturer

Today, you can hear incidents of security threats here and there. As a result, each public and private security forces are gearing up with military-grade motors that they can use for clinical assistance, safety and protection, and even other unique obligations like engineering and healing in instances of catastrophes.

Buyers of military armored vehicles on the market are very plenty privy to how vital it’s miles to investigate the functions, version and make of the vehicle prior to making a purchase. Other than finding out the traits of the vehicle, it is also very important to inspect the seller or manufacturer. A crucial part of the car buying technique to get the maximum out of your investment is appearing a history take a look at on the manufacturer.

Critical Considerations While Deciding on The Satisfactory Defence vehicle producer

Industry Experience – You want to test in the event that they had been operating for a long time already or if they simply starting. Of course, you need to opt for veteran players as this guarantees honed technical abilties and in-intensity know-how. Other than Industry Enjoy, you can also choose a producer recognized for imparting high pleasant products.

Flexibility – You want to test their in-house layout functionality in addition to their contemporary production centers. Decide if they’re capable of accommodating customisations you’ve got in mind. Ask additionally if they are able to integrate features in order to make the car greater suitable in your wishes.

Included Logistic Help – This can make certain that the military automobile will keep performing properly in the course of its practical lifespan.

In-depth Testing Application – When the automobile has been tested very well, you’ll get the assurance of great features and functionalities and stable overall performance. you may individually witness Whilst all the claims concerning such motors are true.

User Schooling and Protection Application

Be sure that the manufacture has a properly-installed Schooling and Maintenance Software for the users. it is very critical for companies and producers to have such in the region as this ensures right running order always, most especially in the course of missions. Basically, the producers must cover Education and schooling on how to properly function the automobiles as well as on how to properly hold it to reap the car’s premiere performance.

Buying a car is amongst the most important investments you can have. To get the maximum out of your funding, make certain to appearance not simplest on the car however also on its producer. In the end, they are ones who created the experience you need to buy.