First attempt at homemade body scrub

I had the day off today and sent A to day care. On days like today, I do miss all the extra time I had pre-baby. Today, I had a dentist appointment, doctor appointment, and ran to Target, the Food Co-op, and Victoria's Secret all before 11 am. The highlight of my "me time" day was a little "Suzy Homemaker" time. I am excited to celebrate a bachelorette party tomorrow night, and we are invited to bring gifts. I have grown to love bachelorette gifts now that I'm over 30 and finally found the balance of what type of gift is not too prudish and yet doesn't go too far. I think the reason I like it so much is it gives the bride permission to try some new things. It can be really embarrassing to go buy yourself lingerie or bedroom items, but when they are gift to you, it can open up new conversations with your partner.

For this bride, I went pretty tame and put together a Spa Day package, but sassed it up with some notes. 

I was reminded by some body scrub at Target that I wanted to try making my own, so I bought a robe, lotion, and a loofah, and went home to try my hand at a sugar scrub. After looking at lots of recipes online, and one recipe from the food co-op, I found a combination I was willing to try, and had all the ingredients in the house so it was easy to do. I think I'll have to play around with other combinations. Feel free to share your suggestions for how I can improve this scrub!

"Aphrodisiac" Cocoa and Vanilla Body Scrub

(makes 2/3 qt or 2 2/3 cups)

2 cups sugar

1 cup sunflower oil

1 Tablespoon cocoa powder

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract (if you can afford vanilla essential oil, a few drops of this would be better)

Mix it all together; put it in a pretty jar. To use, scoop some out and rub. Rinse with warm water. Finish with your favorite lotion. 

Meal Planning

Eating primarily organic, grass-fed, cage-free, etc is not exactly cheap. And trying to cook from scratch using whole food ingredients takes time, so when I went back to work after a wonderful, leisurely summer home with our 18 month old, continuing to eat in the style we've enjoyed seemed a little daunting. After finding several blogs about once-a-month cooking and talking old-school with my parents and in-laws, I decided I'd give weekly meal planning a try.

http://www.pepperplate.com/

First, I had to find the perfect app (of course!) to make this endeavor work. Enter Pepperplate. I LOVE this program. I can enter my own recipes or import from many websites. I can sort the recipes as I wish. Then I can create weekly, monthly, yearly meal plans by pulling in the recipes. Then (this is the best part) I can just add recipes to my shopping list. Finally, I can add any other random items to that list. And my shopping list is done for the week. 

This has been a huge time saver for me. I used to find myself deciding during my lunch what I wanted to eat for supper. Then I would have to run to the grocery store after work several times a week, cutting into my precious walking time with the dog. Now, I go to the grocery store once a week. I don't find myself impulsively buying extra things we won't eat just because I'm there. And I can prep anything I need for the next day's meal the night before, leaving me more time to play with my son, talk with my husband, and slow the pace of life down.

Organic has finally become quick, easy, and more affordable.

Stink Free Poo

I know it's rather taboo to talk about poo, and all of us ladies know that our poo doesn't stink. But we also know that our men's poo does stink! Follow this link to Crunchy Betty's blog for a great way to prevent poo stink!

I just had to give it a try, so I bought the smallest bottle of eucalyptus oil I could find, put 2 drops in the toilet, and voila! No stink for me, er, I mean my husband! Because girl poo doesn't stink. Everyone knows that. 

Nail Polish

When I was pregnant with A, I quit nail polish because it was one of many questionable items that I knew I could live without. Even after he was born, I would wait until he was asleep and paint my nails outside, just to make sure the fumes stayed out of our home. When wedding season rolled around this summer, I had to paint my toes to match my new dress. I had never taken the time to research nail polish; I just assumed I wouldn't find anything I could afford that I could also feel good about.

Photo Source:  http://skagitfoodcoop.wordpress.com

However, today I made a trip to Mississippi Market and just happened to pass a lovely display of 3-free Savina polishes. This means they are free of DBP (Dibutyl phthalate, toluene, and formaldehyde). I have no idea what DBP is, but I try to avoid phthalates and formaldehyde as much as possible. At under $5 a bottle, I had to try one.

The color is rich. One coat covered nicely, and so far has held up very well. My favorite part is that it didn't smell up the whole house as I painted! I think my stash of stinky polishes might have to go.

Go Johnson & Johnson!

Image source: Johnsonsbaby.com

Johnson & Johnson has made a pledge to remove several toxic chemicals from their products by 2015! WOOHOO! This means I won't have to spend hours trying to discern if a new product will be safe for my family or not!

Thanks, Johnson & Johnson!