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 issue 155 ~ week of February 7, 2020
Note from the Editor

TGIF, <<First Name>>!  

Question for you: How’s your sleep hygiene these days?

Sleep is so important and yet…sometimes it’s so damn difficult to get enough of it. Most days, I 100% feel like this meme when I get into bed. THUSLY, I have a pretty involved pre-sleep ritual (that my fiancé sometimes makes fun of me for) when I’m really serious about catching some sleep.

Here’s what I do:

  1. I drop lavender essential oil into my diffuser that sits on my nightstand and turn that on.
  2. I use a thick, creamy body lotion (also lavender-scented) and slather that all over my legs and arms.
  3. I ALWAYS, always have a sleeping mask on. This is important!! If you haven’t joined team sleeping mask, I highly recommend it. We get a ton of light in our bedroom in the mornings, which is the worst for staying asleep.
  4. If I’ve got a lot on my mind and need my brain to enter into more of a “quiet mode,” I’ll do a 10-minute meditation exercise on the Calm app that focuses on deep breathing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Meditation is really personal in that way. 
  5. Lastly, my favorite part of my sleep routine is having bedside reading material. Reading books is my preferred way to fall asleep. I use this little book light (seen on my night stand below) and set a mental timer of about 15-30 minutes to read before bed. Sometimes, reading itself puts me to sleep. Other times, it just helps quiet my buzzing brain.

Truthfully, I haven’t gotten great sleep over the past few days, so I’m excited to hop back into my strict sleep-hygiene-routine this weekend. I'm especially pumped about my pre-bed reading routine (who else has a toppling pile of books by their nightstand?) and excited to participate in this #ReadtoSleep challenge by our partners at Penguin Random House*. You'll receive lots of expert tips on how to build this habit, can set a number of minutes to read each night, plus there's a snazzy (or sleepy?) prize to boot if you also sign up. If you're looking for a no-brainer thing you can do for yourself this weekend, this is it.

Happy snoozing,
Alisha Ramos, Founder at GNI
Follow me @alisharamos on Instagram


*The #ReadtoSleep challenge is sponsored by Penguin Random House.

this week's picks


what our team is loving this week
from the nightstand of @alisharamos
  1. Stirring the pot with this Cauliflower Bolognese from Bon Appétit. 🍝 "I made this on Wednesday night and it was a delicious meat-free dish. My tip is to not skimp out on the lemon zest, and if you love tomato sauce, consider adding even more tomato paste than is called for." - Alisha 

  2. Setting a modest goal to read before bed for a few minutes each night. 😴 In an effort to switch out our screens for something a little kinder on the eyes, we're taking this pledge to spend a little time reading before bed (and you can too!). The best part is it comes with helpful tips on how to reduce stress and clear your mind each night. Take the pledge with us because good sleep really is *that* important.  #SPONSORSTHING
     
  3. Finding the pan that fits jusssssst right. 🍳 "We've been looking for cookware that checks all our boxes on the functionality front (nonstick! Teflon-free!) but also looks nice, and we landed on the Large Fry from Great Jones. It's somehow both dreamy and effective which is now making me consider their dutch oven next (it just came out in a color called ~Marinara~ which has me like 👀👀👀)." - Tyler 
  4. Trying a new approach to better sleep with this white noise sound machine. 🧘‍♀️"The biggest thing for me is that I can pretty easily pack this with me when I travel, which is when I need it most!" - Olivia 

  5. Considering this Out Of Office message approach. 💌 You should never feel pressure to provide a reason when you're out of work, but this was a necessary reminder that we all experience grief sometimes, and it's okay to acknowledge that. 
     
  6. Celebrating Black History Month by sharing some of our team's recent favorite books by black authors: American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson, The Street by Ann Petry, the Well Read Black Girl anthology by Glory Edim, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Becoming by Michelle Obama, and Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid. 📚
sponsor spotlight: Penguin Random House

Always tired? This can help. 📚😴

When someone's chronically sleep deprived, stress hormones are found at higher levels in the body—meaning they're constantly in “fight or flight” mode.

Sound familiar? How you spend the precious minutes before you drift off to sleep is important. If your eyes are on your screen, your sleep quality is likely to reflect that intense stimulation. 

That's why we're taking the #readtosleep pledge with our publishing friends at Penguin Random House to spend a few minutes each night disconnected from our phones, and reconnected with our to-read list. 

Plus, when you take the pledge, you'll be entered to win a dreamy Parachute bedding set and 25 books of your choice (!!), perfect for building out your own personal library of favorites. 

 

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

smart reads of the week


from the GNI Team
frames on the floor: a lifestyle (via @oljaryz)

You know that feeling when another woman pumps you up? 😍 There's a word for that now: meet Feminamity. If you're not buying the theory that there are a finite number of emotions (and that we've already named them all), you might enjoy this exploration of 78 new feelings, from lenniness (the overwhelming desire to pick up a cute and tiny thing and hug it) to premoji (the act of looking for an emoji that doesn't yet exist!) and more. 

This is your brain on sped-up podcasts. 🧠😱 Cruising through life at 1.5x speed to get through the latest episode of The Daily or a new favorite audiobook? Turns out speeding up audiobooks and podcasts could be contributing to feelings of anxiousness and trouble retaining information (okay, maybe that really isn't all that surprising). The good news: "If you’re dedicated to listening in the fast lane, all is not lost. Research suggests you may be able to train yourself to process speech at faster speeds by dedicating more brain space to the endeavor." Sounds like you'll have to make this call for yourself. 

Where were you when you learned that not everyone has an internal monologue?! 😳 Okay first question: When you sit down to think, do you hear your own voice in your head, do you visualize words, or is the experience completely different from either of the above? Turns out people tend to fall into the "internal monologue" or "no internal monologue" camp and maybe we haven't been talking about this enough?! 

This is a masterclass in boundary setting. Janelle Monáe is teaching it.✨ Over the past decade, Janelle Monáe's art has transcended labels, genres, and mediums. She's still somehow been able to set boundaries for what she will and won't share with the world through her art. This interview with Roxane Gay (a must-read!) puts it best: "There is an interesting tension in her work: She creates music that allows people to feel seen while maintaining firm boundaries around how much of her truest self we will ever really see." We're taking notes. 

Trying to eat less meat? 🥕 Trader Joe's can help with that (is there anything they can't do?!). The popular food shop stocks a variety of meat-adjacent items, and thankfully the kind folks at Healthyish taste-tested and ranked them. Here's a complete ranking of all the Trader Joe's meat substitutes (and yes, we have our eye out specifically for the soy chorizo and meatless meatballs.) Here's to hoping. 🤞

Bonus read: You too can take yourself on the best date of your life. 💃
 
 
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heading into the weekend like...

 
that's MY Mrs. Maisel (via @rachelbroshnahan)
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