Who Wants to Have a Pillow Fight?

I'm not ashamed to say that I paid fifty-five dollars for a pillow and it was completely worth it.

When Steve and I first started dating, I would visit his house and we'd hang around in his room. Most of the time, we'd either watch TV or he would play video games and I would read. I guess you could say it was practice for us living together. Thought not quite the same, I guess, since he lived with his parents.

Regardless, I remember the first time I laid on his pillow. It was kind of hard and crunchy and heavy. I thought it was really weird, being so used to normal down or cotton filled pillows. And I couldn't get comfortable on it because it didn't seem to shift as I moved. And trust me, I move a lot when I'm laying down. Steve's one goal is to get a Tempurpedic mattress because it doesn't transfer motion.

I kept asking him how he could sleep with that thing. And he would always exclaim, "How can you not like my Sobakowa Buckwheat Barley Pillow?" or some form of that phrase. Apparently, this pillow was an As Seen On TV item that his mom had bought several years before and had never liked. So Steve took it over and swore by the thing.

And I kept thinking he was weird.

Until we moved in together. And then I fell in love with it. I don't remember exactly when or how it happened, but I discovered that it was the perfect pillow to use when I wanted to lay on my stomach. I had bought a memory foam pillow thinking it would help support my neck but it was way too thick and I always woke up with my neck and shoulders aching because I slept with my head on a tilt. Steve's pillow conformed enough to my head to keep my neck straight when I was on my side and it would give it enough lift when I laid on my stomach to where I didn't feel like I was breathing in mattress.

So it became a ritual. He would get out of bed in the morning and I roll over into his pillow. Well, into his spot too, basically because I also like sleeping diagonal across the bed. But in the hour from when I rolled over into it until I actually got up, I would be so much more comfortable. Not to mention the fact that because of the nature of the pillow, it was still cold, despite the fact he had been sleeping on it all night.

But he wouldn't share. I tried to convince him that my memory foam pillow was better and that we could trade off every other night. He didn't believe me.

Therefore, I broke down and bought my own.

Initially, I ordered it from an as seen on tv website website that I'm not going to promote here. Why? The pillow I ordered was falsely advertised. Initially, I wanted the Sobokawa brand name and that's what this website said it was. I should've known better because the price was only $20 and the pillow only weighed three pounds. But I didn't, apparently, and was extremely disappointed when I received this tiny, half-filled Wonder Buckwheat Pillow, which was no where near the quality of Steve's. So I did some research and apparently, the type and quality of his pillow is no longer available. I was a bit disheartened but when I saw this listing on Amazon, I thought I'd try again. Between the flowing reviews and the weight of the pillow (11 pounds!), I hoped I would find a decent quality this time.

I could not be more satisfied. I received it yesterday and woke up this morning feeling amazing. Aside from the fact that I was absolutely exhausted when I went to bed last night, I had the first good night's sleep I'd had in awhile. No aches or pains. No tossing or turning. No lying awake, trying to fall asleep.

So I wholeheartedly recommend this pillow. The whole idea behind it is that it conforms to your head and neck and it keeps your head cool. Some Oriental secret about your head being cool and your feet being warm - to keep your body in balance. As time goes on, the buckwheat shells in the pillow become polished, which makes it softer. So over time, it gets even better.

Personally, I don't know how much better it can get!