004. Zizia Botanicals, Four Things

and Letting Go of Order

A special thanks to Cortney from Wildcare, who introduced me to this beautiful herbal brand. The two have collaborated on a product too, called Honey Up!

If you follow me on Instagram, you may remember I picked up a Zizia (@ziziabotanicals) tincture to help me sleep a few months back. This is my second tincture ever and the first one I've taken on its own. I reached out to Abbe, creator and herbalist, asking for a bit of guidance, and her response was so fast and detailed! I really appreciated her help and got myself the Sleep Tincture ($32, 2floz | 59ml).

Towards the end of last year into early this year, I was having a lot of trouble sleeping and staying asleep. I'd wake randomly throughout the night and have a tough time going back to sleep. It doesn't take much for me to feel any sort of medication (herbal or not). So I erred on the small dosage side to slowly build up towards the suggested amount (1–5ml before bed). I started with 0.5 ml, and wow, did I instantly feel it. I should note the feeling I got was similar to whenever I drink any type of alcohol: an instant climb in body temperature and a bit of lightheadedness. Since moving from NYC to the PNW, I've cut out alcohol completely from my daily life (exceptions are holidays, or a drink maybe once per two months). Thus, losing all tolerance I had built up over the years. I'm also likely allergic to alcohol. I always get a pulsing, needle-like pain inside my ears whenever I consume it (eventually, it goes away since I power through it).

All this backstory is to say that I instantly felt warm and relaxed, and before I knew it, I was asleep within 30 minutes. And, I stayed asleep the entire night through until my alarm the next morning! It felt like it'd been forever since the last time this happened. For the next couple of nights, I took roughly the same amount (up to 0.75ml) for restful sleep.

In the following week, I thought I'd just up the amount to see what happened, so I took around 1.5ml. I didn't notice much difference in sleep (still restful sleep), but I did notice that my body didn't feel great the next morning. I slept through the night but was feeling a bit too heavy. It's tough to explain, maybe something akin to groggy? I decided to skip the next few nights to see if I'd revert back to disrupted sleep. To my surprise, I didn't.

Since then, there has only been one other time where I felt the need to take it. I take this as needed, and I'm happy to report I've been getting restful sleep, and it feels great.

But here's a note on the method of taking this tincture. You can do it a few ways: directly (by mouth), with some sparkling water in replacement of a nightcap, or in drop doses throughout the day (to ease anxiety). I've tried the first two ways and definitely prefer to take it directly. However, it's something to get used to! It's incredibly fragrant when you open it, and it definitely tastes like strong alcohol. I've yet to try it during the day to reduce stress only because I react so strongly to it. I'll keep it in mind for the next week when I'm sure to feel the pressure at work!

Since then, I've browsed to the ends of her site and was immensely intrigued by her powders. Then I saw either an Instagram story or post from the brand on their Cactus Hibiscus Hydrating Powder ($39.99, 4.83oz | 136.92g). Husband and I are always randomly talking about supplements and herbs, so I brought this up, and he was on board! We got it and have been adding it to our smoothies, and I'm in love. From day 1, there was a noticeable difference in how our smoothies made me feel. I felt I retained water better and didn't feel as dehydrated and thirsty as I usually do. Fast forward to just over a month later, and I've also noticed how it calms body inflammation. We are perhaps two-thirds of the way through, so a jar probably lasts two months with almost daily use. 

Aside from adding it to smoothies, I love mixing it with (sparkling) water whenever I'm feeling a bit parched and want a boost. I'll mix half to a teaspoon full into sparkling water and add a lemon twist or wedge (both snuck into the one shown here).

The lemon twist, as I learned from husband, gives it a light floral quality without the sourness, which is why it's used so often in cocktails. The lemon wedge, of course, packs more punch with its acidity, but I love putting lemon into my water, so I didn't mind. It's such a refreshing and cooling drink this way!

I learned from Abbe that you can even use this as a hydrating face mask. (I must admit, I love this so much mixed into drinks that I can't bear to use two teaspoons worth on my face! So I haven't tried it this way…yet.) Just mix with a bit of plain yogurt and raw honey, apply to cleansed skin for 15–20minutes, then follow with skincare. Speaking of skincare, she also offers a skincare line! I was lucky enough to try a sample of her Face Serum. I'm about halfway through the sample, so I will share full thoughts soon. Hoping and wishing to try the rest of her line soon!

And you can bet I'll be repurchasing a jar soon. I'm eyeing the Reishi Astragalus powder as well!

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I've been taking mental (and physical) notes of random things I've been enjoying lately. There's nothing that ties them together besides me, so I've decided to include them in this section of 4 things I've consumed this week!

Pretty When We Win is a series that seeks to reconceptualize pretty by draining it of its negative power. This first iteration highlights inspiring stories of entrepreneurs who identify as women; it hopes to encourage contemplation of the word pretty and explore how we use it in our daily lives. —Shobha, Mocha Minimalist

Many of you I'm sure already follow Shobha, the amazing woman behind @mochaminimalist on Instagram. We became fast friends bonding over our love of photography, makeup, skincare, and TV. As soon as I realized she had a blog, I added it to my RSS feed (do people still do this?). Her writing and attention to detail are as prominent in her words as they are in her fantastic imagery. I was beyond honored when she asked if I would be a part of her new series called "Pretty When We Win."

Shobha and I have had many conversations outside of Instagram about business and entrepreneurship. I've always admired her work ethic and willpower when it comes to business and career, so I immediately agreed! Little did I know she would really come with the hard-hitting, loaded questions! It really forced me to quiet myself and ponder carefully. It just published yesterday, and I've been overwhelmed by the positivity and love you've shown for it! You can find it here on Shobha's blog. This is just the first in her series too! From what I hear, there are plenty of amazing women to come, and I can't wait to read them all.

You guys already know that I've been watching HBO's Insecure Season 4. The show makes me laugh, feels familiar, and each season features new and great music. They never fail to instantly make me want to groove. A fantastic combination of funk, hip-hop, chill-hop, and rap. I listen to this during work when I have a bunch of deliverables I need to get out and need to be in a flow with the right type of energy. Here are a few favorites thus far:

Sticking with dancing, I realized I missed World of Dance Season 3. I'd been waiting for it to come back on Hulu (like Seasons 1 and 2), but now with NBC's streaming platform, it doesn't seem like it will happen anytime soon. However, almost every other episode is available to watch directly on NBC's website!* So I've been catching up on what I can. If you need something to inspire, uplift, and get you hyped, there's nothing like watching dance crews annihilate the stage (and their competition). *Warning: the site is super buggy, so ads are playing over each other, segments of the show will replay the past 30 seconds, etc. Alas, beggars can't be choosers.

Even though husband and I don't travel often, we love dreaming about going and reminiscing on our past travels. Since lockdown, we've been watching a lot of travel YouTube featuring the best part of travel: food. We came across a YouTube channel called "Dancing Bacons," which first of all, what a strange yet great name. Second, it includes a library of videos traveling all over Asia documenting night markets, vending machines, and loads of jiggly cake. Here’s what we watched recently:

1. Taiwanese Street Food Ruifeng Night Market (made me miss my family and our honeymoon)

2. Malaysia Street Food JB Ramadan Bazaar (we got so hungry after and regretted watching after dinner)

3. Durian Season in Singapore (one of husband's favorite fruits)

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As much as I love freelancing, a tough part of it will always be scheduling. I work in an industry that, unfortunately, still uses an archaic booking system. That means sometimes I don't know that I'll be working until the night before or even day of. This results in a lot of hiccups with scheduling Tender Forms too. I love interacting with you daily, but when I'm working my regular job, it makes me anxious that I can't respond, and I'll miss so much during a workweek! This past week was particularly intense, and I've been working on letting go of order. Life is filled with unexpected and chaotic moments. Trying to ease myself into the flow of things instead of rigidly standing my ground has been extremely helpful. Being in the moment and just taking things on one at a time is a much more sustainable way of living for my overactive brain. So many of you are so understanding when I finally get to respond to comments or messages. I just want to thank you again for your patience and kind words. I miss you, and I'm hoping to come back strong after this week!

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Thanks for reading! For those looking for the ZeroZeroZero recap, it will be returning in either next week’s or the following week's newsletter. They take a lot of time and effort, and I couldn't swing it with work this week. But know they will be returning soon! And as always, meet me in the comments and let me know what you've been enjoying this week!