![sanuk grateful dead dancing bears sanuk grateful dead dancing bears](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f8/6c/31/f86c31af78285560fb86c9f701fc4f86.jpg)
I realize this is a weird one, but I struggle with mental illness and one day I had urges that I was really afraid of. I owe that guy behind the comic counter more than he’ll ever know. Sandman is my Catcher in the Rye and it saved me from a dark place by showing me I wasn’t alone. He had me start on book 4 (Season of Mists) and I devoured it and reread it 20 times until I could save up enough to start from the beginning and collect them all.
![sanuk grateful dead dancing bears sanuk grateful dead dancing bears](https://sunshinejoy.com/image/cache/catalog/Products/Tapestries/72110/grateful-dead-dancing-bear-tapestry-wall-art-1000x1500.jpg)
The guy behind the counter looked at me as if to size up my worthiness and after a few seconds came out to introduce me to Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. I’m a voracious reader and could probably write a million paragraphs on all the books you should read, but I’m most grateful for the day (a million years ago) I went into the comic shop and was disappointed to find the latest issue of Strangers in Paradise hadn’t arrived yet. Also, when it’s really hot you can make a laundry basket full of shaved ice, put on your bathing suit, and have snowball fights in the yard. My favorite is Amaretto and Chamboard when we’re flush, or Strawberry Hill when money is tight. We don’t buy the syrup because it’s expensive but we eat them plain, or with fruit juice, or with booze drizzled over the top. It’s pricey at a little over $200 but we’ve used ours almost every day for years and years. It’s okay to pee in the pool if you’re standing near those people. (You can sometimes get this cheaper on ThinkGeek.) The awesome things about this is that when you’re at the pool you can tell all the cool, slightly nerdy people who will be fun to sit by because they all go “OHMYGOD, I WANT THAT.” The other people look at you like you’re a total dork. Two towels in one list? Who needs that many towels? Me and Douglas Adams. I have one every few nights and my insomnia has gotten slightly less horrific. I have no idea what’s really in it but it makes me sleep better than rum, and that’s saying a lot.
![sanuk grateful dead dancing bears sanuk grateful dead dancing bears](https://i.etsystatic.com/23612901/r/il/f94279/2672397260/il_1588xN.2672397260_4h3y.jpg)
(You can usually get it way cheaper at Target.)Ī bath sheet. It’s like a towel, but bigger, and when I dry off I feel like I’m at a fancy hotel drying off using the duvet (until laundry day when my two bath sheets are in the wash and I have to use a beach towel.) I’ll know that I’ve finally “made it” when I can afford a whole set. It’s the only thing that doesn’t disappear immediately on me. I have super dry skin and this exfoliates with sugar and then the shea butter stays on your skin. Watkins Coconut Sugar and Shea Body Scrub. I also told her she could use that as a blurb. She sent me a copy and I literally shot juice out of the hole in my stomach from laughing so hard. Her blog is fantastic and free and she has a book coming out in a few months which is wonderific. So, things I love that are worth spending money on or that are totally free anyway:Īllie Brosh. If you live somewhere that doesn’t have Amazon I’ll just paypal you the amount.) Also, I’ve been given absolutely no compensation to write this and the people and products I’m writing about have no idea I’m doing this and some might actually be sad for having been linked back to such an irreverent band of misfits, but they can just suck it because I love them anyway. But to make it up to you I’m giving away a gift certificate with enough on it to buy pretty much everything I’m going to talk about. Mostly because every time I use these things I think “Holy shit, I’m so glad I have this and I wish I could give this stuff to everyone in the world.” I can’t though, but what I can do is tell you the stuff that I’ve been happiest about finding and you can do the same thing in the comments and then we can all find awesome cheap or free stuff that we love. I was thinking of doing the same thing, except instead of things that millionaires love, it would just be things that make me happy that I spent an extra few dollars on. I’m not sure if she still does it, but Oprah used to do a thing where she picked all of her favorite things for the year and then did a show about them.