Maintenance

Sometimes I'm reminded, writ large, about how much of life is simple maintenance. To wit: This week I renewed my health card (thank you socialized medical care), my driver's license (not that I use it much), my US passport (don't get me started on this one) and I had to buy every paper-product that the drug store has ever stocked.

Turns out I can't leave the passport topic without telling you - and you probably don't know this if you're not an American expat who also has dual citizenship in another country: I am ineligible to travel to America without a valid (not expired) American passport. Fair enough, you might say. But I'm as Canadian as I am American (albeit not by birth), and I do have a valid Canadian passport with which I can travel the entire rest of the world! Those things do cost, you know. And furthermore, it is veritably blissfully easy for me to engage with Canadian government offices (living in downtown TO and all), as I'm "bureaucrating" in the country in which I reside. To renew my US passport, I have to take a trip to crazy-land, aka the US Consulate, which is without doubt, the most officious place I have ever set foot in, in my life. And I'm a freakin' public servant!

But enough about the riches of my access in North America...

Maintenance is this strange space between novelty and capitulation. It's not exciting, but it's oh so necessary. And, secretly, it's a sweet spot I love. It's why I eat at the same neighbourhood restaurants (though not Bar Raval, necessarily) again and again. It's why I MELT and do yoga, multiple times a week, to stay as supple as possible. It's why I use the same products practically in perpetuity. When something works, it's a delight. A delight I don't need to concern myself with. Ya know?

A propos of this, I have put together the CURIO Traveler. It's a little sample of the products I use every day:

It includes:

• A full-size Serum A (which you can order in plastic with a reducer insert and a squeeze lid, for travel ease, or in glass)
• A travel-sized Deodorant A (the cutest thing you've ever seen)
• A full-size Lip Balm A (I cannot be without this), and
• A travel-size version of your preferred Salve (immortelle, calendula or arnica)

It's a great skin-care travel pack - or a great way to get to know a new line. Feel free to check out my Etsy store for more details.

Of course, maintenance has many facets. Small business is teaching this to me...

I've decided I'm not happy with the durability of my current labels (they're laser printed by me) so I'm looking into a thermal option. I mean, they look delightful, IMO, but they don't last optimally as far as I'm concerned. Sure, this business maintenance process is a bit of a pain in the butt (cuz I can't directly control the output) and stupidly expensive in the short-run. But everyone who buys CURIO deserves the best experience I can provide. This label-transition will take a bit of time. So I'd just like to say that, if you purchase between now and when the new labels arrive, I'm happy to send you updated labels (which won't look different, they'll just be shinier and better) when they're available.