The Sparkled Life - Holiday Gift Guide

omg I havent used this blogger platform in FOREVER.  feels like old times.  so cute.  holiday gift guide...let's do this.

if you're anything like me, the holiday gift season is the most opportune time to ask for all those "adaptive and sick and fabulous tools" that just dont make it in to the budget during the year.  so many people will ask "where did you get this fun tool?", to which I very kid like respond: "SANTA!". 

but for real, whether you're building a list to give to santa for yourself, or looking for gifts for a sick and fabulous loved one, below are a few tried and true fabulous gifts that I'd highly recommend. 

the amazon holiday gift guide 

(click here for the full list)

the bike, the ice roller, the LOVED BY EVERYONE ICE PACK, you cant go wrong with anything on this list.  

everything on this list I own, have used for years, and are worth the investment.  I included the shower wipes because theyre actually (not surprisingly) the most popular item in the community.  literally, theyre amazing.  dont skimp on them!

just the comfys holiday list

bombas socks.  the little compression in the regular socks feels like a hug on your feet.  its gentle and rewarding. 

if you want something more compression-y, highly suggest their compression socks.  I wear them almost daily.

SOMA!!! omg there isnt another brand I love more.  

their cool nights pjs are amazing all year long - theyll keep the night sweats away while also keeping your body temperature regulated.  they are the only brand Ill wear to bed.

the bra - i know a bra for the holidays really? yes, really.  its the perfect bralette - its comfortable, easy to put on (key!!!), and attractive.  I own more pairs that I should admit.  theyre truly amazing.

the small business guide

(I know I probably forgot some good ones but these are my 5 go tos I use almost daily)

koldtec - the wearable ice pack.  it's a classic.

the embr wave - who doesnt know temperature regulating technology? the cold feels like an ice cube to the wrist and the warm (my favorite of the two) feels like warming your hands by a heater/fire.  

releaf pack - they're cute, they mold to what hurts, and they stay freaking cold. I sleep on these (legit, under my head) every night.

yuyu bottle - i have two of these, the hot water bottle and the sport ice bottle.  damn, I just love them.  the hot water bottle stays warm for 5-6 hours and is much safer than a heating pad! the sport ice bottle - again, another thing I sleep with every night.  I keep it in bed by my feet just in case they are burning.  it stays cold throughout the night.  its amazing. 

the extras

things you cannot go wrong with when buying for your sick and fabulous friends: the gift of convenience.  I use both shipt and instacart every week. you can gift someone a subscription for a year of free delivery.  let your loved ones stay home away from germs and do all the shopping from the convenience of their phone.  

Instacart referral link:

https://inst.cr/t/RmpET3QzcWZD

Shipt referral link:

http://share.shipt.com/37wMft

and then of course, any starbucks giftcards, delivery.com, grubhub...they may seem basic but any reason to just order something instead of having to make it is a little miracle to us.  really.

thank you for reading all these! here's hoping for a lovely holiday seasons!

MS and Relationships

(I wrote this in November 2018 for a third party...re-posting here for valentines day because it still holds true.)

I had had Multiple Sclerosis for 6 months.  It was a hard 6 months, with months of hospital stays and relearning how to walk, talk, use my hands/arms, and navigating a new life.  We all needed a break.

My brothers, dad, and long-time boyfriend had decided to ride the Bike MS: City to Shore ride, that went from Philadelphia area to my childhood home town of Ocean City NJ.  It was a true expression of love as they were to ride over 100 miles in my honor and fight with MS.  

It was a blast of a week and a joyous occasion.  And yet, it also was a realization that I was not getting better - that this MS thing was big, and life consuming. It was a realization of what now was to be real life. And that Sunday, one of the main men in my life, my boyfriend, realized it was just too much and left.  This man, whom I had committed myself to making a life with, someone who I had built a future with, drove away that weekend without me. 

I couldn't blame him, and I still don't today.  Because he fell in love with the career driven, power house of a boss babe.  I wasn’t that girl anymore. I had retired from my career, I was a power house but in overcoming hospital stays not boardrooms, and I literally had to depend on someone for everything.  MS had poisoned what we once had. He left saying “no one will love you as much as I do”. And I believed him because I knew his love for my ran deep; but apparently, not MS deep. 

How do you come out of that?  How do you have the one person that knows everything about you to your core, walk away because of what life has brought upon you, and survive?  

For me, I had to refind my worth.  I spent a long journey finding out who this new me was.  And I had to love this new me: because if I couldn’t love me, then I couldn’t expect anyone else to.  

Once I felt confident and settled in my relationship with myself, and knew what I brought to the table, I decided to give dating a try.  Dating in today’s world is like, an adventure. I was living in a city where I didnt know anyone.  Social life dating was not really an option in meeting someone. So, online dating. Cute right? Ugh. Online dating is hard enough. But when you have a visible disability, it’s even more intense. 

Do I show a picture with the mobility device?  Do I put it last in my pictures? Do I mention it? Do I not say anything and surprise them at first date? Do I tell them after we set up the date?  

There’s a lot to consider.  And I did it all. Mostly as an experiment to see what would be the most engaging.  My research was inclusive. And, let me just say, there are a lot of rude and weird people out there. 

Then there were some good ones too.  One personally that I started a relationship with while I was full time in the wheelchair and undergoing chemotherapy like treatments.  He even survived an unplanned surgery. But our lives were too different to grow anything substantial and I think personally, that’s what made it work.  I didn’t have to ask the question: can you do MS for life? Because I knew there wasn’t a shot at life.  

I dated with decisiveness.  There were no games; I had no energy for games.  I was upfront, I was me, and I didnt play by the rules.  And perhaps that turned off some potentials but it also saved me from kissing a lot of frogs. 

Eventually, I got to the point where I decided I needed to just calm, it, down.  I shut down all my dating apps. I stopped looking for love in a man and instead, just started living.  I started traveling, I started recumbent cycling, I started living a full life just for me.  

And when I saw my future, I saw it with just me.  Not because I thought I didn’t deserve a relationship; but more because, if I'm being honest, I was still bruised from that experience of being told I love you, but not with MS.  I was happily single, but in twisted sort of way.  

This was my mistake: something that I hope by sharing, others can relate to and learn from.  Because telling yourself you are not worthy of love with MS is such nonsense. You are worthy of love NO MATTER WHAT!!  No matter what chronic disease, no matter what scars, no matter what disability. Sure, the dating world may be a little bit more difficult to maneuver.  But you are worthy of love. 

I worked through this myself.  I started to see that MS didnt matter when it came to loving me; what mattered was who I was as a person, how much I loved, what kind of partner I was.  MS was just a thing about me. Granted, a BIG thing, but it wasn’t fully me.  

One June, I was in a wedding.  I was a bridesmaid to one of my childhood friend’s.  That’s where I met him: he was the best man. We had met the summer before but that night, the night of the wedding, it was something out of a fairy tale, if you believe in those.  We exchanged numbers (and really, if I can be cheesy, we exchanged hearts) and we have talked and been together every day since.  

This man only knows the MS me: and he loves it.  Not just like “I love you” loves it, but supports it, engages it, and honestly, if I can gloat a bit, is almost in awe of it.  He sees my power, he sees my strength, and he sees my gifts. He supports me, both in my health endeavors and basic life endeavors, and yet doesn’t treat me like a patient.  He just treats me like me.  

The first time I asked him, “are you ok with a life with MS”, his response was simple “if it’s with you, why wouldn’t I be?”.  MS was always part of that package and he signed up for all of it.  

Dating someone with a chronic disease like Multiple Sclerosis isn’t always a breeze; it’s unique.  We both know that I’m going to need more special assistance. We both know that I’m going to require more adaptations and flexibility.  And yet, we both know that I can provide him with the emotional support and strength he may require. We both know that I can make him laugh.  We both know that no matter what the day brings, good or bad, our favorite thing to do is just to be together. And this can be done on even the worst day or the best day: we can be together.  

In October of this year, my love asked me to be his forever coffee date.  We are planning our next chapter of our love story now, a wedding in 2019, and it’s all beautiful.  All the past relationships: the good, the bad, the ugly, the really ugly...they all led me to this. They all led me to him.  And it is good.

We're Cool for the Summer - Koldtec Ice Towels

It's no secret that I have an obsession with Koldtec ice towels.  

In fact, it is my personal goal to help every person on instagram that has MS or heat sensitivity to at least hear of Koldtec by the end of the summer.  I believe in the product that highly. 

And Koldtec loves our community. 

The partnership is really great.

In honor of summer and the heat, koldtec and I are doing a summer of kool.  

On the first of each month from May through September I will be hosting a giveaway for a Koldtec towel bundle.  Entering is, as always, super easy.  Keeping it basic over here.

In addition, Koldtec has provided me with two codes specifically for my friends.

code SPARKLEDICE5 is for the ice towel found here.  The code will provide $5 off, a bonus ice strip, and free shipping for USA and Canada (they ship elsewhere for a small fee!).  Direct url: https://www.koldtec.com/discount/SPARKLEDICE5

code SPARKLEDICE14 is for the ice towel bundle found here.  The code will provide $14 off, a bonus ice strip, and free shipping for USA and Canada (again, they ship elsewhere for a small fee). Direct link: https://www.koldtec.com/discount/SPARKLEDICE14

I do have a video on my IGTV on my instagram (@thesparkledlife) with more information and how it works.  

Basically Koldtec ice towels are a bamboo sport towel that you insert specially made engineered ice strips in to.  It isnt wet and each strip of ice lasts 45 minutes - 1 hour.  (I use these on my bicycle rides and legit, I can be sweating and the ice strip will last me 1 hour!!).  The contained the towel and the strips come in works as an insulator so you can take the bonus ice strips on the road with you.  

It's perfect for any occasion - I even used it getting ready for my wedding!  

Stay tuned for more koolness and I hope you have as much fun as I do being chill!

Love, Eliz

My Teeth be Shining! - Smile Brilliant Collaboration

Use code thesparkledlife to receive 15% off!!

Since being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 6 years ago, I have found a new appreciation for my teeth.

(photo by empty nest photography studio)

Why?

Because they are the ONLY part of my body that is still working, functioning, and looking babe. (:

So I take good care of my teeth.  Whitening my teeth has always been something I've done before a big event or just to give myself a little self-care love.  I've used teeth whitening gels from CVS and more often, crests whitening strips - both of which I loved. 

However, they couldnt get all my teeth.  My teeth are very "smushed" and I want every nook and cranny of my teeth to me the same-ish color.  I dont ask for much. (:

So when Smile Brilliant reached out to me for a collaboration, I was 100% on board.

CBD Oil Be Lit

CBD oil is kind of the craze right now.  For a white I was skeptical, mostly because I saw SO many network marketing companies selling these products on instagram.  And of course I researched like heck and read so many places that these items were often diluted or didnt have cbd oil in them at all.

I stayed away.

And then a while ago I was introduced to Joel and Theramu.  He sent me some cbd products at kind of the best time to try them - I was have a MS hug flare that just was sticking around for weeks.  I was desperate so figured what the hell.

Damn it - they provided relief.

 (photo by empty nest photography studio)