Sleep Love

Last night I had the pleasure of attending my friend's sweet son's fourth grade concert and it was so much fun!  I am so lucky to have Rachel and her family in my life and cannot wait for them to welcome their new little angel in a few weeks.  And wow, Dickinson Elementary puts on a good show! 
My post today is about one of my very favorite things: sleep.  I really really love sleep.  I think a good night's sleep is one of the best things you can do for yourself on par with exercising and eating right.  And I think a lot of people don't make sleep enough of a priority.  Over the years I have discovered that I need about 9.5 hours of sleep to function at an optimal level.  I think that number varies widely from person to person.  Lots of people do fine with 8 hours and some even less.  There are probably even some people out there (besides infants and sloths) who need more than I do.  But for me 9.5 hours is what works best.  I would say I get 9.5 hours of sleep 3-4 nights per week and 9 hours 2-3 nights.  Sometimes on the weekend I even sleep more and it feels great.  Here are some of my tips to getting a good night's sleep:
  1.  Make sleep a priority.  I am that person who will tell people I have to go home and go to bed.  No apologies.  Nor will I apologize or feel bad for needing to sleep in in the morning.  
  2.  Practice good sleep hygiene: I tell Sam this all the time.  Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night or the morning and am tempted to check my email or fb on my phone.  BUT I know if I do I will have a hard time falling back asleep so I resist.  Also if I wake up in the night for any other reason I avoid turning the lights on because it's too disturbing.  
  3.  Sleep masks:  I am very sensitive to light so if I wake up once the sun is up (which happens pretty much every day) I have a hard time falling back asleep.  I pop this on and back to zzzzz.  My friends can attest I bring it with me everywhere.
  4.  Temperature: I find it much easier to sleep when the room is cooler.  This isn't a problem this time of year since we keep our house just above freezing (kidding sort of).  Cold temp + electric blanket = sleep heaven for me.  
  5.  Nighttime routine:  I am actually not that particular about my bedtime routine.  Sometimes I eat dinner right before going to bed (we tend to eat late at my house), other times I go running and sometimes I just watch television, read or do a proejct.  But whatever I do, once I get in bed I always read for at least awhile and I think this signals to my body that it's time to shutdown (not like shutdown die but just rest for a while).  Oh and cute jammies are good as well

I have the kiss print ones on the right.  Purchased at the Tory outlet in Orlando

Burberry (clearly) another outlet mall find

Nick and Nora, I found this adorable set as SVDP

  Happy slumber!  Have a wonderful, restful weekend and sweet dreams!