After a very dreary, rainy week the sun is shining! I’m not usually too affected by gray skies, but I realized it had gotten to me this time when I found myself on Wednesday planning an outfit of sweats for after work on Thursday. Those sweats felt downright cozy yesterday when it was chilly and drizzling outside, but I’m looking forward to more activity today, and cuter clothes.

I thought I would share some of my Internet finds from the week as we head into the weekend.

A recipe: I’ve been craving caramelized onions for a few weeks now, and finally made some on Wednesday using this slow-cooker recipe (with olive oil instead of butter). Genius! Now, I could have just eaten them as-is because they were delicious, but I didn’t think my husband would appreciate a “meal” of slimy brown onions in a bowl. So I used this Martha recipe as a starting point and cooked up a skillet of pasta, ground turkey, kale, and my yummy yummy onions. Success!

This is Martha’s. Mine looked… similar.

A smell solution: As super-delicious as my onions were, I did not want everything in the house to smell like them. I’m always hyper-sensitive to onion smell; it really bothers me, especially on my hands and clothes! I found an easy little recipe for a natural fabric refresher made with water, baking soda, and essential oils. I used my lavender and lemon oils from Plant Therapy in a little travel-sized spray bottle and misted my furniture and my clothes. It seemed to help, although the smell didn’t vanish altogether. I also applied some citrus oils to my hands (with a carrier oil) which did eliminate the smell from my skin. Thank goodness!

A hair helper: Unrelated to onions (unless the smell got into my hair?!?), I have been looking for a new dry shampoo. Years ago I used cornstarch for cheap, easy, hair de-greasing, but now I’m supposed to avoid corn for health reasons AND my hair color is darker, meaning the white powder doesn’t blend in like it did when I was blonde. I’ve found that the aerosol sprays blend in pretty nicely, but the chemicals are a bit of a concern and the cost adds up. I decided to try this natural diy from Brit + Co, and while the brush application takes some getting used to, I like it overall. I subbed in arrowroot powder for cornstarch, and I like the addition of cocoa to darken the color for better blending. I followed the recipe and added a few drops of Plant Therapy’s Germ Fighter blend, but next time I might leave that out because the oils seemed to make the mixture a little clumpy.

Exercise encouragement: Most years I have jumped right into fitness in January and been able to keep it up for most of the year. This year I’ve been dragging, and was looking for something to get me back into shape. I find that I am a better person inside and out when I exercise. This is my second week following the Tone it Up girls’ Love Your Total Body Workout, and I’m feeling stronger already! I’ve been doing this routine three days a week and trying to do the treadmill or take a walk outside on the off days. I love doing Tone it Up workouts (as you can see from my Fitness board on Pinterest), but I am sharing this one with a grain of salt, and I’ll explain why.

As with most workout videos, the trainers are attractive and wearing clothing that allows them to move freely and demonstrate the moves. Many of the Tone it Up videos I would share without hesitation; it is typical workout fare with typical workout clothing and a playful attitude. Their target demographic seems to be young single gals, so “looking sexy” is assumed to be part of the viewer’s goal. I find this pretty easy to disregard because I see results with the workouts, and the girls really are encouraging and informative as trainers. But if you’ve got little ones around you may want to screen the videos from this series. It is sponsored by Victoria’s Secret, and the intro devotes some time to highlighting lingerie, and it’s definitely more sensual or risqué than the other TIU videos.

However, TIU is GREAT about offering printable versions of all of their workouts. I would say that once you’ve watched the video to see what the techniques look like in action, you could safely follow the printable on your own if you are seeking to limit the amount of lingerie-clad ladies that appear on your tv or computer screen at home. This is the track I take with most of their workouts anyway because I get annoyed having to LISTEN to a video over and over. Usually I will follow the video the first time and then opt to follow the printable (either on paper or on my phone) so I can play my own music while I work out.

Do you have any tips for food, home, hair, or fitness to add to any of the above? I’d be especially interested in onion-odor-elimination advice. It bothers me big time!

Enjoy your Friday and weekend!