Brown Bagging It

Plastic zip top bags have their place... in a land fill- hahaha. Just kidding, kind of. What I mean is that sometimes you need a plastic bag.  But sometimes you don't. Like when you're packing a sandwich.

I can attest that my sandwich is not stale after six hours, and I feel pretty good that the bag I toted it in is not going to sit in a landfill.

Post Extravaganza

Shower

Left to Right:

Dr. Bronner's Almond Soap- LOVE IT. Mild in smell and on the skin. We prefer  Peppermint Hemp (blue label), but we switched it up for Almond the first time in 20 years. We will be going back to the tingly goodness of the peppermint after we finish this bottle. It's been three months! Prob have three more to go. Totally natural product, and reading the bottle provides hours of entertainment.

Everyday Shea Lavender Mint Shampoo-DON'T HATE IT. I don't love this. It actually is pretty harsh on my hair... which is dry as it is. But is smells nice, and it totes all of the natural goodness I look for in a bath product.

Nature's Gate Herbal Daily Cleansing Shampoo-LIKE IT OKAY- It smells so, so, so good, but it resonates. Most people would think that's a good thing, that the scent sticks around a day later. I'm not so keen on that. Also, like all shampoo, it dries out my already parched hair. 

Medicine Cabinet

 Top to bottom:

Barbasol- Not mine. No opinion, although it does not smell bad. There is one brand that makes my husband smell like an old man, and I had to but the brakes on that one!

Arm & Hammer Unscented Deodorant-The husband LOVEs this brand. For a while, I couldn;t find unscented in any store, so I ordered like 10 from drugstore.com. Since then, I've found unscented at our grocery. We've both tried hippie brands (like Toms and the crystal), but they don't really work for us.

TUMS- Yup. Nuff said. Sometimes you just need some TUMS. I've bough generic before. Haven't noticed a difference, but I just buy brand name... just because.

Aveda Pure-Fume Spirit Spray- LOVELOVELOVE. I swear that I hate smells, but I wear perfume. Huh? Well, this is the exception. I don't remember the name of the scent; as a frequent buyer, I'm in the system.

Aveda Personal Blends Hydrating Formula (moisturizer)- LOVE, but I don't use it that much. I already use the perfume in the morning, so I don't really need the lotion. I got it for free as a birthday giveaway.

Kirkland Ibuprofin- NECESSARY. Sure, Advil is candy coated, but this does the job just fine. I think this is way expired, but it still works.

Aveda Men's Grooming Clay- LOVE the smell. I don't use it very often because my hairstyle is too long for it now. Works well with short hair. 

Aveda Light Elements Smoothing Fluid -weightless shine for all hair types-LOVE, but I had sticker shock when I went to pay for it. It does make my dry hair less straw-like, and it does smell pretty good. I will most definitely buy this again. The cheap stuff (Garnier, Aussie, etc) does not even come close. This is well worth the $28.

Kroger Cotton Swabs- Brand names cotton swabs are not necessary for me. I used to think so, but I decided to cheap out and get this pack. It's fine.

Tom's ToothpasteWicked Fresh-LOVE. I've stuck with this company for years and years. They've changed the names of their flavors (which was confusing). What's worse is that they made the tubes out of plastic. I was going to dump them, but I decided to stick with it.

Clinique all about eyes rich- LOVE I should use this daily, but my beauty routine is as sophisticated as a six year old's. I usually just shower, use perfume, and use lip balm. When I do I remember to use this, I'm grateful that it is thick and not greasy. I am always distracted when people my age have greasy eyes. Maybe I'm just petty, but I care about that kind of thing.

KMS Hairplay Sea Salt Spray- LOVE- Hairdressers always make my hair so pouffy and want me to embrace my natural wave (which didn't reveal itself until my 30s). I spray this on my wet hair, scrunch it up and let it air dry. While it doesn't have hold, it gives my hair just enough weight to look groomed. If I said it gives my hair a beachy look, I would have to hate myself

Bath Mat

Memory Foam Bath Mat- LOVE. Yes, you can wash it and put it in the dryer. Yes, it is awesome. I have two in this room and one in the other bathroom.

Spike for the Win

The perfect popcorn

1. Follow the directions on the package for popping popcorn on the stovetop. If you already know how to do it, then just do it.

2. Put your delicious popcorn in a bowl- a big wide one is best.

3. Sprinkle on SPIKE, salt, and nutritional yeast.

Microwaved popcorn grosses me out. Plus, I heard there's Teflon in it. Because I don't eat it anyway, I'm not going to research to find out if it's true. You have to admit... there is something suspect about microwavable popcorn. The way the bag burns a little bit, the hardened butter oil that entraps the dormant kernels, the funky smell... even the color of the popped corn. I'll pass.

Stovetop is where it's at. I use about 2T (two tablespoons) of oil for a whole huge batch- enough to satisfy eight people. The best part is that it needs no butter. Seriously. I never put butter on popcorn, and I'm not the skinny type of woman who makes sacrifices. It just doesn't need it.

Spike and nutritional yeast. Both are available at the more healthy type of grocery stores- even the mainstream ones trying to keep up with the times. In Portland, that means Freddie's has it. I buy my yeast in bulk. Not sure if it comes in a jar.

We had some people from NYC staying with us, and I made some when we watched a movie. They were loving this style of popcorn. I doubt it's just a west coast thing, but I did start eating it this way in San Francisco.

Side Note: Some people put SPIKE on everything, but I reserve it for exactly two things: popcorn and salmon. For salmon, I just sprinkle a bit onto a filet before baking. I buy the no salt version in bulk when I can. Salt seems easy enough to add on my own, so why bother having it a product when you can opt out?

Oh yeah. You need to drink a lot of water when you eat popcorn this way. Something about not getting the benefits of the yeast if you don't drink water with it. IDK.

P.S.If eating yeast flakes weirds you out, I've never had any problems downtown. Just sayin'. TMI

Espresso Love

I'm not going to lie. I would have completely dismissed this brand as some fake, cheesy, wanna-be Italian company. What's with the Moka Express? And the logo looks stolen from some Sergio Aragones Mad Magazine comic. 

But I am fortunate enough to know better than snub this pot. Ahhh. Will I get a vacation as good as that one again? This is the real deal, as in it is really used in Italy.

BIALETTI!

This is the only way I prepare coffee. Stovetop espresso. This particular pot has lasted through several years of daily use. I haven't even replaced the rubber gasket. Other brands have not fared so well. 

Can't Touch This

Fair warning- This won't be the only post with love for Apple.

I LOVE the iPod Classic. Sure, the screen is not as big as the one on the Touch, but who cares? I have my whole iTunes library on here, and it's not even close to its full capacity. Like 15+ movies, tons of tv shows, and so much music that it's just silly to put it on shuffle. When I travel, this thing is the best! I can watch my movies without having a stranger be in my business.

Personally, I like having a separate device for this stuff. I don't want to be so connected to my phone. Plus, I don't know anyone who uses their phone as vehicle for their iTunes music library. Most people I know use Pandora. Not me. Most of the time, my music is commercial free.

Anyway, what a waste to only have 32gigs. The Classic is where it's at. I even prefer it over the iPad. Maybe I'm just old.

Soap Love

Many people love scented hand soaps. At Thanksgiving, they buy pumpkin pie scented soap. At Christmas it's gingerbread. For the rest of winter, it's pine tree. That's a whole season of headaches for me. People gift soaps, lotions, and antibacterial gels from that one store that's in every mall, and shoe-eey! Those products are heavy on the perfume. Don't get me wrong, coconut is kind of nice, but I don't want to smell like a 14 year old on the boardwalk.

Aside from Aveda products (love), there are few health and beauty scents I like, regardless if it's natural or artificial. One time, I bought a bunch of Mrs. Meyers soaps because they were on sale, and there was also a $1 off coupon attached to the neck of the bottle. Man. It's hard to turn down a good deal. I may have hoarded bought six of them. Too bad I had to give them all away because the smells were just too powerful. They gave all four of us headaches. Swear.

But finally! I have found the hand soap for our family.

It's unscented foaming soap from Whole Foods- their 365 brand. This container is about $10. Aside from the lack of smell, what I like most is the refilling situation. It pours more easily than regular soap, and this one will last us at least few months. Not sure about that, but I'll pay attention.

I used to buy Method and refill their containers, but those cute tear drop shaped dispensers would get so dirty looking. That's not cool. A dirty soap container reminds me of a public bathroom. That's not the experience I want for my home. It may just be good timing (as in- maybe my kids are getting less filthy with age), but dispensers for foaming soaps seem to stay clean.

I am now loyal to 365 hand soap.