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I am a naturally anxious person with a bit of an overachievement complex.
Before I moved to Portland a year ago, I managed my signature blend of worry and workaholism with occasional use of my Xanax prescription and plenty of Southern bourbon.
But like many millions of people looking for a solution to stress other than pharmaceuticals and hooch, I quickly became curious about CBD.
New to a legal state, I quickly turned to THC for after-hours recreation. But CBD was the perfect solution for the parts of my day when I needed to be all the way on and couldn't be under the influence. Here, finally, was a non-intoxicating way to keep my cool, savor my social life and navigate workday worries. Over the past year, I've been incorporating CBD into as many aspects of my life as possible.
Then I started to wonder—what does a day in my life look like now with this little cannabinoid in it?
I decided to try a total CBD bender to see exactly how much chill I could achieve if I used all the products routinely sprinkled throughout my week in a single day. What follows is a diary of a day in the life of a highly strung woman mellowed out to a magical degree through the power of plants.
7:30 AM
I start my morning off right, with several drags from my Select CBD pen while I fix my hair and dress for the day. I've been enjoying these little blue vapes since last year, when I first met the team from Select at a networking event at the Commune, Portland's first coworking space for the cannabis industry. The lemon flavor is a little reminiscent of La Croix, but I love the lavender flavor—it's like a CBD hit with a little aromatherapy thrown in for free.
I keep one CBD pen in my makeup bag for my morning routine or travel, and another in the backpack I use for my daily commute. Whether I'm having a high-anxiety day, it gives me a boost of confidence knowing I have CBD on hand and can discreetly take a smoke break if I need to center myself. I like the vape pens, too, because the deep inhalation when I take a pull is also very soothing. And it's always nice to take a little time out of your day to stare at a tree.
8:45 AM
I order a "Just a Taste" espresso infused with Grön CBD from Elevator Cafe & Commons. It's essentially as if a cortado and a mocha had a concentrated little baby, with no added dairy. I love that CBD coffee drinks are getting more prevalent in Portland—I really enjoy coffee for the flavor and the extra ability to concentrate, but I'm fairly sensitive to caffeine. The CBD helps stave off the emotional jitters, especially toward the end of the week.
10 AM
I pop two CBD oil full-spectrum hemp extract softgels that I picked up from the Market of Choice impulse endcap on my way to work. I wash them down with a bottle of Dream Catcher Orange Elderflower sparkling water infused with 25 mg of CBD. I'm a fan of GT's more famous kombucha products, but sometimes it's nice to indulge in a sugar-free beverage treat with a subtle kick from a little caffeine and niacin. After all, I want my workday to be chill but not stupefying.
10:15 AM
I'm massaging some of my Suzi's Head to Toe Hemp Lotion into my hands when a coworker walks by and remarks on how good this stuff smells. I offer her some of the lavender-, peppermint-, rosemary- and chamomile-infused cream when a third coworker wanders by and also immediately becomes curious. We share with her, too.
Soon, a fourth coworker finds the three of us rubbing this locally made lotion into our arms in a sudden euphoria, all while remarking on how our skin is now velvety but not greasy, and how we smell like Virginia Woolf's herb garden. Even if the CBD were having no physical effect—which it definitely is—it's nice to know Suzi's potion can apparently help you make friends and influence others.
10:22 AM
By now, I have ingested at least 85 mg of CBD by mouth and an untold amount through my skin. It is perhaps not a coincidence I have gotten more than one case of the giggles over the word "psoas."
10:55 AM
A phone call for which I've been preparing all morning is canceled. I am disappointed I will not get to find out if all this CBD has effectively assuaged my not-insignificant phone anxiety. I am relieved, however, that I will not have to find out what happens if my contact uses the word "psoas" in casual conversation.
1:25 PM
After lunch, I down a second Dream Catcher sparkling wellness water. I'm still feeling preternaturally calm and ebullient, even for an especially good week. Despite deadlines and other pressures, I find myself able to logically and calmly consider my to-do list without spiraling into worry or ego. My writing is flowing easily. I'm pretty sure other people like me and aren't harboring secret thoughts of ill will. It's true I've been pretty happy lately, but my CBD bender has definitely increased my chill over the past several hours.
3:19 PM
I pop over to Push x Pull coffee for a little afternoon pick-me-up, this time in the form of a Grön CBD mocha, dairy and all. I rarely drink coffee past lunchtime, but I'm curious to see how the CBD will balance out the extra caffeine at bedtime. I love that these Grön drinks aren't sickly sweet. The bitter dark chocolate plays nicely with the beans, mellowed out by the sweetness of the milk. I feel as if there's a metaphor about my life somewhere at the bottom of this paper to-go cup.
5 PM
Traffic is frustrating, it's way too hot for May, and an after-work appointment I'd been looking forward to falls through after a sweaty rush to get there on time. The sweat and the caffeine from my mocha are making me edgy, so I pop into Wedgehead for one of its CBD mocktails. I pick the Pash Bandifroot, a passion fruit and lime concoction with 25 mg of the good stuff to help me regain my literal and figurative cool.
5:30 PM
It's officially time to unwind. I order a Cannabliss GT's Kombucha with 10 mg of CBD in lieu of Two Flowers' Herbs of a Feather CBD Lemon Basil Sour to roll with this mocktail theme I started at Wedgehead. The 'booch is refreshing and just the right amount of tart. Plus there's no alcohol to interfere with my findings as I experiment with riding this all-day CBD buzz.
6 PM
My quest continues. I walk down the street to Mulligan's, where I order my signature drink, a pineapple and tonic, with a shot of CBD added. I watch as the bartender pours a dark, sticky syrup into my glass. When I take a sip, my decidedly tropical mocktail has been transformed into something more, with a deep, herbal complexity. Unlike, say, Ablis CBD sodas, this CBD shot is really dank, fully loaded with a strong terpene flavor well worth the extra $3.
7 PM
Finally home, I fire up my dugout from the comfort of my couch. It's packed with Sour Tsunami flower from East Fork Cultivars, a strain I picked up at Gras recently that's got almost 17 percent CBD and less than 1 percent of THC. I love that in a couple hours I'll be ending my day calm but clearheaded, and certainly ready for a good night's sleep after a long day of feeling nothing more or less than really, really good.
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