Printable calendar

http://www.cottage-industrialist.com/storage/2012-PRINTABLE.pdf

Adorable printable fresh food calendar. It looks great in a frame!

Pinterest projects!

Yes, I am one of the many in love with Pinterest! I have made multiple recipes and a few DIY projects but this weekend I also created my own pin-worthy bike art. Well, sorta...I got the design screen print idea online and then decided to create a replicate with art tape, spray paint and a canvas.

http://designspiration.net/image/53286//
Screen print by Jason Munn

I also finally converted a mason jar into a kitchen dish soap dispenser (Pinterest idea).

Lastly, we added a shelf above the laundry machine and a few more on the opposite wall in the laundry room. I love the organized space! I also strung the tp rolls on a hanger because I had no where else to put them! Next is to mount the drying rack.

Shoe boxes covered in wrapping paper

TP hanger (just lift up and grab a roll!)

Phasing out parabens...

I have a modest shoe collection (other than running shoes), wardrobe and tech accessories but when it comes to random cosmetic supplies...I am a bit of a hoarder! I have always been into testing new products and feel its almost a necessity to rotate shampoos, styling products and cleansers. I remember my first time going to Ulta with my mom as a teenage girl and was overwhelmed with all the products I still hadn't sampled. Strange I know! Its not like I really believe most of them actually make my hair shinier or my skin softer but there is just something soothing about pampering yourself with products. Who needs a spa when you can retreat into your own bathroom!?!

However, within the last few years I started to worry a little bit about all of the parabens and unknown chemicals I was bathing in. Not to mention the cost and space this habit was wasting. I also had developed some skin sensitivity partly due to my frequent climate changes from Honduras to MSP to GA. I tried multiple solutions but one thing I really enjoyed was making my own facial toner sprays. So, after multiple co-op visits, online research and various blogging, I discovered a few essential oils that replaced some of my old toxic cleansers. I just thought I would share a few of my favorite spa night recipes. And be prepared...some are strange!!

Combination skin
2 oz spring/distilled water
1 tsp vodka (prevents oils from separating)
5 drops Lavender (organic always!)
4 drops Tea Tree Oil
3 drops Frankincense

Dry (water and vodka plus...)
2 oz spring water
5 drops Rose Water or Rose Otto
5 drops Lavender

Other oils for oily skin (sometimes they come blended in jojoba oil)

• Cedarwood
• Geranium
• Lemongrass
• Witch hazel (not an oil)

*I also like sandalwood for dehydrated irritated skin as well as for assistance with scars and healing.

HAIR

For my hair I like to mix egg yolk (whites for oily hair and yolk for dry) with mayo. Then I wrap a hot towel steamed in the microwave around my head for 20 minutes. Yep, a little strange to have egg salad on your head but its WAY cheaper, healthier and more natural than infusing your hair with keratin treatments or Brazilian blowouts.

**Note- I only use these oils topically even though some people ingest certain oils. I like to use them to clean off my yoga mat and for aromatherapy.  Lavender is great for spraying on a pillow as a sleep aid too. Also, I buy ORGANIC oils when possible to prevent unwanted chemicals.

Enjoy testing some new oils and avoid using unnecessary chemicals!

Namaste! 

Give back the color pink!

Pink stands for beauty, strength, love, youthfulness and kindness. It is an iconic symbol for girls, femininity, and motherhood. Susan G marketed the color as the fight for the cure and battle against breast cancer. 

Now, I can't help but see the political red in those pink little ribbons. The color was hijacked, turned into green dollar signs and the mission to save lives was lost. Why is it all good things become so political? Isn't the goal to prevent breast cancer and wasn't Planned Parenthood doing exactly that? "Komen's funding helped pay for 170,000 of the more than 4 million clinical breast exams the group had performed over the past five years, as well as more than 6,400 of the 70,000 mammogram referrals it has made during that time."  That's an incredible number of mothers and daughters saved due to a logical donor-provider relationship.

Planned Parenthood isn't just about abortions and in fact abortions make up only 3% of services. NO FEDERAL funding is used to fund abortions and the Komen money went toward cancer screening!

One in five women go to Planned Parenthood during their lifetime because they have accessible clinics with excellent affordable services. I have used their services in times of unemployment and loved them so much I stuck with them through employment with full benefits. With that being said, if Susan G is really trying to prevent breast cancer and they don't have their own clinics across the globe servicing low income women, then they should be partnering with nonprofits that do. PP has rapport with their patients and now their funding to provide these services is at risk. It’s a sad situation that is becoming political rather than preventative.

Currently, thirty-four percent of abortion providers are hospitals. Is Susan G. going to boycott funding and research toward these hospitals? Not unless boycotting them would mean more money!?!?

SOOO frustrating to see this horrible disease being lost in politics. The people making these decisions are so far removed from reality and so out of touch with the needs of low income women. I worked with many young girls in great need of these services and can’t imagine telling them sorry- we are out of funding for your cancer screening because some people are afraid we will use the money for abortions. Come on and take off those rose colored glasses and see the repercussions of this funding decision. Blahhh.

More facts on Planned Parenthood

Our Clients

•  Planned Parenthood provides sexual and reproductive health care, education, and information to nearly five million women, men, and adolescents worldwide each year.
• Nearly three million women and men in the United States annually visit Planned Parenthood affiliate health centers for trusted health care services and information.
•  Eighty percent of Planned Parenthood health care clients in the U.S. are age 20 and older.
• One in five women in the U.S. has visited a Planned Parenthood health center at least once in her life.

Our Work

• Planned Parenthood health centers focus on prevention: 76 percent of our clients receive services to prevent unintended pregnancy.
• Planned Parenthood services help prevent more than 584,000 unintended pregnancies each year.
• Planned Parenthood provides nearly 770,000 Pap tests and nearly750,000 breast exams each year, critical services in detecting cancer.
• Planned Parenthood provides more than four million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
• Three percent of all Planned Parenthood health services are abortion services.
• Planned Parenthood affiliates provide educational programs to more than1.1 million young people and adults each year.
•  Planned Parenthood has more than six million activists, supporters, and donors working for women's health and safety and our fundamental reproductive rights.