Healthy Living
I spent several hours yesterday helping our teacher with year-end cleaning of toys and the significance of this task was not lost on me. Four years ago on this date I bought a diffuser and a set of versatile essential oils and jumped into this world of essential oils and non-toxic living. 🌱 Read more “Safer Cleaning for Kids Toys”
Cooking
Who else had never heard of delicata squash until recently? Read more “Pasta with Delicata Squash, Kale, and Ricotta”
Essential Oils
Are you craving the smell of Christmas, but don’t want all the toxins that come with scented candles? Grab an unfinished clay ornament and put a few drops of your favorite Christmas or evergreen essential oil on it before hanging it on the tree and, voila, a diffuser ornament. Read more “Christmas tree diffuser ornaments”
Essential Oils
I didn’t intend to start a small business a year and a half ago when I started using essential oils. I was really looking for something that would help my toddler sleep (this mama desperately needed some sleep!) and help me deal with the stress of home buying in Silicon Valley (yikes!). I fell in love with the results we saw time and again and how we were making our home a less toxic place by removing nasty chemicals from our personal care and cleaning products. Read more “This Is the Face of a Small Business Owner”
Beauty
A few weeks ago, Frank and I had a little getaway to one of our favorite destinations from our Love Story. Our first getaway as a couple was to Point Reyes. While we’ve been back on day trips since then, we’ve not made it a getaway destination. This time we made it out to the Point Reyes light house, visited our favorite restaurants and merchants in Point Reyes Station and stayed in a sweet little cabin in Bolinas. Read more “How Safe is Your Beauty Bag? A Few of My Favorite Products”
Family
With Little Man transitioning into pre-school in September and with our choosing a part-time program, I quit my job. It’s a job that I love and find largely satisfying. It’s a job that is based on many years of professional growth and at which I’m quite skilled. It’s a job that helps meet our family’s financial needs in this ridiculously expensive region where we live. However, considering that this is Silicon Valley, and I work mostly for startups, it’s also a job that often comes with a lot of pressure, a shortage of resources and a feeling of a really long and never-ending to-do list. Read more “Today is the first day of a new adventure for our family”
Essential Oils
Summertime means dining outside and dining outside usually means pesky annoyances. Did you know you skin is your body’s largest organ? Most of what you apply topically gets absorbed into your bloodstream. Although I’d like us all to enjoy our backyard as much as possible this summer without being bothered by pests, the idea of putting toxic chemicals on my family’s skin to deter them is even more unappealing than the pests themselves. Read more “Dining outdoors annoyance-free, naturally!”
Beauty
I have been following Beautycounter for a few years now. The company’s mission and full transparency about every ingredient that goes into their products (and those that don’t!), really resonate with me and my own efforts to remove harmful chemicals from my family’s life. Read more “Non-toxic Beauty Has Arrived”
Beauty
Everyone likes to smell delicious! Many of us turn to perfumes and colognes to make us smell better, but some of these perfumes might actually be harming our bodies. Unfortunately most common perfumes are made with petrochemicals, colors and artificial fragrance. Most personal care products include fragrance in them for a pleasing aroma, or to mask the smell of other chemical ingredients. There are so many reasons to avoid perfumes and fragrance-laden personal care products. The infographic below talks about the symptoms of allergies and sensitization and steps you can take to avoid these chemicals in your daily life. Read more “(Not So) Fun Facts: Perfumes”
Family
One year ago I had a day where I was just “off.” I missed the turns to not one, not two, but THREE familiar places at three different times that day. After the third time, I thought, “Jeez—I must be pregnant. I haven’t had mom brain like this in a long while.” I went home, peed on a stick and, sure enough, saw two pink lines. Read more “Small Changes Yield Big Results”