monday pick-me-up :: banish your winter cold

last week, i was stuck at home with the worst cold i think i've ever had. i couldn't breathe. i couldn't sleep. i couldn't move. i could not stop blowing my nose!! it was horrible... but honestly, made me really thankful for my normally good health, which i've realized i take for granted.
i don't normally take anything when i'm sick, i'm one of those people, i guess. my mom always turned to home remedies whenever us kids were sick, and they always worked. so i've carried that with me - i drink lots of water, eat homemade soup, rest rest rest, and i'm usually better within a couple days. not this time. by day 5 of feeling like i had been kicked in the face, i finally decided to help my body out. with a hardworking husband in crunch mode with a recording project and a mom hundreds of miles away, i picked my pitiful self off the couch and went down to the store to get some drugs. ugh, i even hate saying that... but i was desperate.
i made my way to the odwalla case, grabbed a few bottles, then headed to the Emergen-C and Airborne aisle and... i... couldn't do it. i couldn't resist turning the box over and checking the ingredients. it sealed the deal... i couldn't bring myself to buy something that had fructose and natural citrus flavor {which i hope you all know, is NOT natural at all, it's sneaky wording to hide unnatural flavor enhancers... think about it, if they used real orange, they would boast about it... ok, getting off my soapbox...}. so i put the Emergen-C box back on the shelf and went straight to the vitamin section. i studied the bottles then finally chose one and headed to the check-out.
as soon as i got home, i threw back a bottle of odwalla, ate some soup and took the vitamin supplement. i'm not joking, within a couple hours i was feeling better. i wasn't ready to run a mile or anything but i felt noticeably better... even the husband noticed a change in my sickly appearance. by the end of the night, i could finally breathe through my nose; the next day, i didn't blow my nose once, i didn't feel achey, and i was feeling well enough to clean the kitchen {mostly}.
so i thought i would just list a couple things that helped me get on the road to recovery, in case you're battling the same thing. :)

1. lemon + fresh mint leaves makes a simple but great tea to help ease those congested sinuses 2. odwalla superfood  {which aren't from concentrate, don't add sugar, or any sketchy ingredients - it's truly natural! and so delish}... look for it on one of the aisle end caps. 3. classic chicken soup {super easy recipe at real simple's site} 4. b-complex {which has most, if not all, the same cold-fighting vitamins as Emergen-C}

wishing you a healthy monday! :)