OOO #93: Outfits, Ohio, and Other Things I Like

DONATELLA, more pizza, and oral health

Outfits

Child: Are you rich? Me: Why? Because of my coat? Child: Yes.

Ohio

I’m always looking for the best slice of pizza in Columbus. I do follow the instagram account “cbuspizzaproject,” which can inspire (or dissuade) me from trying different pizza joints in my quest for the perfect pizza. I was slightly skeptical of Paulie Gee’s when the only type of pizza Columbus Pizza Project had reviewed was square pizza—a shape I do not believe pizza should ever be.

BUT! Paulie Gee’s Regina pizza was great. I was in need of comfort food, so I opted for what seemed closest to a Margherita, but the Cacio e Pepe and the Greenpointer sound delicious. My husband had the Ricky Too and enjoyed it. Overall, I would argue that Paulie Gee’s is some of the best pizza in Columbus and is comparable to Harvest.

Other Things I Like

I’m beginning to feel old. My lower back hurts more often than not (which is exacerbated by my 24 pound 10-month-old, grey hairs are multiplying, and it came to my attention that “Telephone” by Lady Gaga and Beyonce came out 16 years ago. As such, it is time for me to slide into more “mature” hobbies. Birdwatching, of course, comes to mind, as does knitting, and while I like birds, I tried my hand at knitting a long time ago, and I don’t have the patience for it.

I am, based on my recent purchases, beginning to believe my pre-middle age hobby is going to be taking care of my oral health.

This new diversion is largely due to my recent pregnancy. For some unexplained reason, all of my teeth shifted around while I was pregnant (why?!), creating a huge gap between some of my teeth and making it so I couldn’t close my jaw all the way for a few weeks (I still can’t bite my nails!). When I went to the dentist, they told me to get a night guard to prevent me from losing my two front bottom teeth (what?!). I did, but after the first few uses—even after I cleaned it according to the instructions I was given—I noticed that the night guard was super smelly, covered in white spots, and generally gave me the creeps. I was so grossed out that I stopped wearing the night guard, which obviously did not help my teeth.

My mom came to stay with us a few weeks ago, and I brought this up and she suggested we get one of those ultrasonic cleaning pod. I was previously skeptical about buying one—why spend the money?—but my husband and I took her advice and got one.

Guys. It works. I put my mouth guard in our Zima Pod twice through (with one of their mouth wash tabs), and when I pulled it out, the night guard had lost its smell and its white dots. I happily wore my night guard all night. I used the pod again this morning, and I opened the lid to find gross stuff floating in the water above my night guard. This feels like proof that the machine is worth using. As long as I use a dental appliance (that is what the collective of night guards and retainers is called), I’ll be using my Zima Pod.

During the same shopping trip, I also picked up a water flosser. A recent study at NIH (here’s the link; let’s hope the research is still around by the time this post goes live on the 19th) showed that water flossers are more effective at plaque removal than dental floss. Since a lot of my back teeth are so hard to floss in between to begin with, I think this was another excellent upgrade for my oral health. I was originally put off by the idea because of how bulky water flossers with giant tanks are, but the water compartment is built in at the bottom of the flosser, so it is way less intimidating to use and clean. And—while this feels like its probably the placebo effect—I think my teeth look whiter since I started using it.

If you made it this far without getting grossed out, congratulations! Reward yourself with a fancy new dental gadget.

That’s it! Have a great rest of your week.