Anthropologie Eye Candy

Instead of doing Product Review Friday, I am going to share some stuff that I like from one of my favorite stores, Anthropologie. Right now, financially they are a bit out of my reach, but in the spirit of Effective Affirmations, I will be able to shop there someday. Believe me, if I thought that we would always be Newlywed Broke, I would be a bit sad. (But, this is where we are and I am enjoying life. One can dream though right? And maybe do a little window shopping, too). One of my Effective Affirmations is "I love my evolving sense of style." It is evolving because I am becoming more confident in who I am & what I like to wear. It is also evolving because I am changing as a person. I think this has a lot to do with being 30 (and almost 31!) Anyway, these are all from Anthropologie.com. I love their whimsical clothes and I also love their home goods.

{For The Momma}

{For the Small One}

{this is an apron---Reese would love this}

{For The Kitchen}

{I have the measuring bowls-a dear friend gave them to me for my bridal shower-love them!}

Have a great weekend!

Product Review Friday: Lip Balm

If there was one product that I would have a hard time living without, it would be Lip Balm, or as Mom calls it, "Lip Chap." Not sure where that name came from, but I do come from a family that likes to make up names for ordinary things, so that is what we call it. Living in Colorado at 5,280 feet above sea level & in a dry climate, living without lip balm & lotion would be hard to do. Being a lover of natural products, I am going to give you a Lip Balm Review today.

1: Alba Botanica: I love this company, especially the Coconut Cream Lip Balm. It is my #1 Favorite. Great hint of coconut flavor & scent, but not overpowering or artificial. It also gives your lips a really nice sheen, without being too much. It is also really creamy & feels nice on the lips.

Alba Botanica is a environmentally-conscience company, with a large product line. I really, really love their bath & shower gels. Their body lotions are made without petrolatum or any other petroleum-based ingredients and they moisturize really well. Are they really expensive? No. They are reasonably priced & you can buy their lotions in large bottles(32 oz). I look for them on sale at Whole Foods & then I buy 2 for the price of 1!

2: Badger Balm: I found out about this line of natural care products when my sister gave me the Mocha Cocoa lip balm as a stocking stuffer one Christmas. The lip balms come in a slightly larger tube and they use Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter and Organic Olive Oil combined with other organic ingredients to make a rich and creamy lip balm.

I like Badger Balm not just because they make quality products, but they are a really fantastic & thoughtful company. They started in New Hampshire in 1995, in the kitchen of Bill & Katie Whyte and their daughters Mia, Emily and Rebecca. Bill Whyte would make a salve to help heal his hands, which suffered in the New Hampshire winters. He would make a batch of "The Original Healing Balm in his kitchen using Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Beeswax, Castor Oil, Aloe Vera and Essential Oil of Sweet Birch—a traditional New England herbal remedy." The stuff worked and it was the beginning of Badger Balm!
They are very family friendly & a company that has embraced a workplace policy of bringing babies to work with "the idea behind the program is to encourage the baby/parent bond in its most critical time, the first six months of life." {Wow. I was getting phone calls from our HR department when Reese was barely 3 weeks old, asking when I would be returning to work...needless to say, I didn't return to that job.} Obviously, they take in account safety issues when it comes to bringing a baby to work. They are thinking about what is really important to the families that work there. That is something to consider when you purchase things from a company like Badger Balm. Yes, they might be slightly more expensive, but the extra cost is buying you high quality products with ingredients that won't harm you, the earth, the people who provide the ingredients or the people who make the products. Plus, you are supporting a company that supports their employees & their families. You are making a difference, one tube of lip balm at a time.

**update***everything in quotes is from the Badger Balm website. Check it out to learn more!

3: Burt's Bees: Now, how could I not mention Burt's Bees? I have been using this delightful lip balm for years. It is comforting on your lips and has just enough peppermint oil to make them feel good. This is the original in the old school tin. My only issue with the tin is that it is hard to open, especially if you have lotion on your hands. You may laugh, but ask anyone who lives in Colorado & they will tell you that you have to put lotion on your hands about 100 times a day. Seriously.

They also make natural lip glosses that are deelish. Love them!

You may or not know this, but Clorox bought Burt's Bees about 2 years ago. I read a great article in the New York Times, which gives all the details of the story. It is very informative.


Well, there you have it. Short & sweet. Have a great weekend!


{All images are from each company's website}

Product Review Friday: Chocolate!

"...And it melts, God forgive me, it melts ever so slowly on your tongue, and tortures you with pleasure." --Chocolat (the movie, 2000)

Well, maybe it is because it is Friday, maybe it is simply because I am a woman, I don't know. Who cares because today is Product Review Friday & we are going to discuss the sweetness of Chocolate. While I am no expert, I do know of a few companies who make chocolate the delectable & wonderful treat that it is. If you would like to know more about the history of chocolate, you can read more here and here and here.

Karl Fazer: This is a chocolate company from Finland. The recipe for this famous chocolate hasn't changed since it came out in 1922 and is a closely guarded secret. In 2001, the blue wrapper color became Finland's first registered color trademark. This ensures that they have the sole rights to sell chocolate in a blue wrapper. My Finnish Brother-In-Law brings this wonderful chocolate to our house every Christmas & we love it.

{The Famous Fazer Milk Chocolate}
{The Geisha Chocolate with Hazelnuts}

Chocolove: This is a local chocolate company, based out of Boulder, Colorado. I like to give a bar of their chocolate when I give someone a gift. The wrapping adds a nice touch, but the best part is the love poem that is inside each chocolate bar. They have a wide variety of flavors and some very dark chocolate (77% extra strong dark), which is one of my favorite things ever. I like being able to support a local company & share some Colorado goods with my out of town friends & family. They also have their "Chocolatour" line, which is their line "of single origin, vintage chocolate bars and offers a world tour of chocolate." Locally Dee-licious....

{Chocolatour: Tanzania 2007}

{Chocolove: with a love poem inside}

Vosges Haut-Chocolat: This is not your ordinary chocolate company. Here is their mission statement:

"The Vosges Haut-Chocolat mission is to create a luxury chocolate experience rooted in a sensory journey of bringing about awareness to indigenous cultures through the exploration of spices, herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, nuts, chocolate and the obscure. We invite you to be aware and open to the many cultures, artists and theories of the world's people, through the medium of chocolate. What better way to learn about a culture, person or object than through eating. If we can embrace the idea of trying something new such as the perplexing oddity of curry and chocolate, we just may come one step closer to bringing peace to the world through chocolate. One Love, One Chocolate."

So, after reading that, you shouldn't be surprised at some of their chocolate pairings. These are just some of the Exotic Chocolate Bar line:

Barcelona Exotic Candy Bar Hickory smoked almonds + Fleur de Sel sea salt + deep milk chocolate- This one sounds right up my alley!

Mo's Dark Chocolate Bacon Bar Applewood bacon + alderwood smoked salt + 62% dark chocolate
Red Fire Exotic Candy Bar Mexican ancho & chipotle chillies + Ceylon cinnamon dark chocolate

{Black Pearl Exotic Candy Bar: Ginger + wasabi + black sesame seeds + 55% dark chocolate}

I heard somewhere that men love ice cream like women love chocolate & that ice cream has a similar effect on men, like the effect chocolate has on women. I don't know about that...I do know that a couple of weeks ago, I burst into tears for no apparent reason and shortly thereafter, found myself making whoopie pies. Oh, the power of female hormones...

{image from here}

Hope that you have a lovely weekend!

Product Review Friday : An Ode to my Favorite Food Group: Cereal

So, I thought that I was going to give a review about something hip in the design world, but let's face it, I have nothing to give a review about in that area this time around. I will do my homework for next week. So, I have to write about something that I know about and I know that I love me some cereal. When I was a kid, my Mom was a natural foods kind of Mom...hmmm, sounds familiar. There were no Lucky Charms to be found in our pantry. My Dad used to joke that when my Mom made cookies, she went around the house and found all of the dust bunnies from under the beds and put them into the batter. Gross Dad! She didn't really, but she did grow her own bean sprouts. Way to go Mom! I remember once my Mom went out of town and my Dad took us grocery shopping. My sister and I put all sorts of things that my Mom would have never bought in the cart and my Dad was like, "sure, those look good." Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch...yesssss.

Anyway, my tastes have changed but I am still a Cereal Connoisseur. I have taken after my Mom and I buy natural cereal for my little family. However, I am not blind to the expense of buying boxed cereals. Holy shit. $4.99 for an 10 ounce box of cereal goodness? Uh, no thank you. So, I clip coupons and buy what is on sale and I always pay close attention to the ounces in the box. But we are not talking about the cost or coupons in this post. This post is dedicated to My Favorite Cereals (in no particular order):

{1. Peanut Butter Bumpers}: This was the food of choice when I was pregnant with Reese. I would buy a couple of boxes at a time. The ingredient list is about 4 ingredients, with nothing artificial, plus pregnant women find it delectable.

{2. Kashi Heart to Heart Oat Flakes and Wild Blueberry Clusters}: Wonderful & Scrumptious, with just the right amount of blueberry-ness and not too sweet. Definitely one of my all-time favorites!

{3. Yogi Cereals}: OOOO.M.G. These are my new favorites...the Walnut Spice Crunch is especially delicious. I bought them on sale at Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago and I think that I have a crush (or would it be a crunch? hahahaha) on this brand of cereal. The ingredients are simple, natural and just plain good. Instead of adding in vitamin C, they add in goji berries, which are very high in vitamin c and antioxidants. I wish more food companies thought like this.

{4. Mom's Best}: One day while shopping at my conventional grocery store, I stumbled upon this brand while shopping in their "Natural Foods" department. I almost cried when I saw the price...$1.99 for a 13.5oz box! I bought 2 of both kinds and my 5 year old and my husband loved both kinds. Now, on the box it says "Family-Owned for Four Generations" and " Mom's Best is named for our mother who taught us the importance of good food and good value." The family that owns this company is the same one that produces Malt-O-Meal, also known as MOM. Get it? Because I didn't until I read this blog, Locally Grown Northfield (as in Northfield, Minnesota). Malt-O-Meal, MOM, Mom's Best. The company really is owned by decendents of the founder of the company, who started it in 1919. I learned that here. Their cereal really is good & you can download $.75 coupons on their website.

{5. John McCann's Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal}: I love oatmeal. But Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal? Deeelicious. Steel cut oats are made of regular rolled oats that are put through a cutting machine that cuts each oat into about 4 pieces. When you cook them (and they do take longer to cook, but totally worth it), they have a very different texture than typical slow-cooked oatmeal. They sort of have a creamier texture. McCann's use non-GMO oats, as these are not allowed in Ireland. Their oats are grown by farmers who grow them specifically for McCann's. Try them, you'll like them!

{6. These are really good & MUCH better for you than P*P Tarts}: No artificial colors or flavors. No partially hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup. Enough said.

{7. Kashi Go Lean Crunch}: Tasty...but Google "Kashi Go Lean Crunch" and look at the second option when the drop down menu appears. Be careful not to eat too much of this cereal. I warned you!!

Cleaning with the Greens: Product Review Friday

I have been a fan of natural cleaners for a really long time...our neighbor back in the 1980's (whose name coincidentally was Mrs. Grass...funny for various reasons) sold Amway and I think that she got my parents to sell it briefly. Anyway, my Grandmother used to sell Shaklee as well and they also have great natural cleaning products. So, I thought that I would take one of my (many) drafted posts and finally finish writing it and publish it. {See, I am making my blog my priority! I really do want it to be the place where I can figure some stuff out about who I am and to have a place to keep my thoughts & ideas & experiences...}

So, here is a list of my favorite green cleaning products...I have used most of these for years and love them all. Plus, when you buy them, you are giving your dolla billz to companies who are doing the right thing by creating quality products that are safe to use. I don't want to use something to clean my house that has the ominous "this product is recognized to cause cancer by the State of California" warning label. I'll take my cleaning products all natural thankyouverymuch. On a completely unrelated note, is it weird that every time I hear the word 'California' I hear it pronounced the way that Arnold Schwarzenegger pronounces it? Cahli-for-neeah...

{photo from here}

..........................................................................................

No. 1:

{image is from here}

Oh, Bon Ami! This is a wonderful cleaning product that is so safe to use that you can even use it on your stainless steel pots & pans. It has no fragrance, emits zero fumes and you can buy it for around $1.49. I use it to clean everything.

No. 2:

Dr. Bonner's Magic All-One Soap Company. They just celebrated their 60th anniversary and have converted their skin care lines to 100% organic and Fair Trade certified. The Sal Suds Liquid Cleaner is what I use to clean. It is ultra-concentrated and it lasts f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I use it to clean our lovely linoleum (which will soon be gone!), the cat box, etc. Anywhere that needs a soapy cleaning! It rinses clean and smells like real pine, not the crappy fakey pine smell.


No. 3:

{image is from here}

Clean Well was started by a family who have a son, Conor, who was born with a rare condition that leaves only 10% of his immune functioning. In order to keep their son healthy, they had to keep everything clean with antibacterial cleaners, with hand sanitizers being especially important. However, they were alarmed to learn about the negative effects of Triclosan, a toxic ingredient found in virtually all antibacterial soaps, cleaners and hand sanitizers. So, Sam (Conor's Dad) started to research some natural alternatives and CleanWell was born. They have managed to create a natural antibacterial product line that kills 99.9% of harmful germs, without toxic ingredients. I use the hand spray and I keep foaming hand soap at my kitchen sink. The products smell great and I like that the hand sanitizer sprays, unlike the gel that slides all over the place. While you check out their site, read about the dangers of Triclosan here. Pretty Creepy!

No. 4:



Another one is Mrs. Meyers Clean Day Aromatheraputic Household Cleaners. The company was started by a woman who named the company after her mother, who had 9 children. Everything smells really good and works!I love the Dish Soap and the Room Spray (Reese likes to use this as "Monster Spray" to keep the monsters at bay...and I think that she just likes to spray stuff). You can purchase Mrs. Meyers at Whole Foods & Target.


No. 5:

{Image from here}

As a nod to the hippie that I used to dress like, but still am on the inside, I want to try these! Maggie's Soap Nuts. I get tired of having to buy detergent and as a bonus, you can compost these! I want to compost as well, but that is down on the list of Things We Need To Do For The House...alas, it will probably wait until next summer.

So, there you have it. Our First Friday Product Review post. Let's hope I can stick to a schedule for The Blog...something that eludes me in all other facets of life...a schedule. That is a topic for a long post.

Have a great weekend!