Friday Favorite & a Celebration!

First Friday Favorites post in quite awhile! I have to share a product that I absolutely LOVE with you today but first I want to share my excitement over a recent milestone:

The Good Life facebook page has reached and surpassed 100 likes! I know that this may seem like small potatoes to some bloggers, but for me it was really exciting. I feel like I don't even know 100 people in real life so to have SO many fans like and follow the page truly means a lot. Thank you all for sharing with your friends and for passing the word along! I will do my very best to keep bringing you tips and tricks for living a greener, better, simpler life!

One more thing before we move on to my Friday Favorite. It has been brought to my attention by my friend Kelly, a fellow blogger over at Healthy Revenge, that sometimes facebook makes it hard for people to see all of my posts on The Good Life page, including blog updates. So if you would, please head on over to The Good Life's facebook page and make sure your screen looks like this:

"Following" should have a check next to it. Also, if you click on the "liked" box it will also give you the option to "get notifications" which you can click if you feel like being notified every time I post in your notifications. Thank you! Keep sharing and engaging in The Good Life here on the blog and on facebook!

Now for my current Friday Favorite!

This one is especially for all the mamas out there, but all women (and maybe some men too...with long hair?) can definitely benefit from this one!

As a busy mom there are always days when Little Miss wakes up before I am ready and I am cursing the fact that I can't just leave the house with my hair wet and not done...I might scare the children in my class. And my mother, who has a peeve about wet hair would kill me. (I know she would probably never know but I would have lingering guilt that she'd find me out!)

Showering, makeup, dressing, and coffee can all be taken care of in a reasonable amount of time, but factor in drying and straightening my longish hair and it adds about 20 minutes. That is a great deal of precious time when you have to get a toddler out the door and want to actually spend a few minutes of quality time with her before you leave. I have to be to work at 7:25. I work 5 minutes from home....thank God. Otherwise I would never make it. And usually am walking in right on time!

I am a big fan of the IDEA of dry shampoo. A product that will help a busy mama on the go get ready and not have greasy looking hair? I'm sold. But I tried tons of other ones that just didn't work. They made my hair heavy, thick, gray looking, and some even more greasy. Not to mention the chemicals! Before I was pregnant with Little Miss I tried the Tresemme dry shampoo. It smelled atrocious. I actually would hold my breath when I used it! Just look at the EWG ratings!

Ingredient Concerns

Ingredient	Concerns	Score
FRAGRANCE	Ecotoxicology, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Miscellaneous, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)	Data: Fair
OCTINOXATE METHOXYCINNAMATE	Enhanced skin absorption, Biochemical or cellular level changes, Developmental/reproductive toxicity, Endocrine disruption, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Persistence and bioaccumulation	Data: Limited
ISOBUTANE	Multiple, additive exposure sources, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Contamination concerns (BUTADIENE), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)	Data: Limited
BUTANE	Multiple, additive exposure sources, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Contamination concerns (BUTADIENE), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)	Data: Fair
PROPANE	Multiple, additive exposure sources, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)	Data: Fair
SD ALCOHOL 40B	Enhanced skin absorption, Cancer, Developmental/reproductive toxicity, Multiple, additive exposure sources, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)	Data: None
SULISOBENZONE BENZOPHENONE 4	Enhanced skin absorption, Endocrine disruption, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)	Data: Fair
SILICA, AMORPHOUS	Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Persistence and bioaccumulation	Data: Fair
ALUMINUM STARCH OCTENYLSUCCINATE	Contamination concerns (ALUMINUM POWDER), Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Use restrictions	Data: None
ISOPROPYL MYRISTATE	Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs)	Data: Fair

The overall score is an 8 which is considered "High Hazard." No wonder I had to hold my breath!
Not to mention it didn't work! 

I gave up on dry shampoo. Until thankfully due to my short lived Birchbox subscription I discovered this awesome product! It totally comes in handy on days when I just don't have time to wash my hair let alone do all the other primping that comes along with it!

LuLu Organics Hair Powder is seriously a miracle product. It is talc free, organic, and made from completely all natural ingredients. Check it out:

I was not sure this stuff would work. After all the directions say that you only need a dime sized amount. Boy was I mistaken! A little goes a LONG way. And it doesn't leave your hair feeling weighted down or greasy, and doesn't leave a residue or look gray like other dry shampoos. It comes in four scents, the one I received which I LOVE is lavender and clary sage which is a nice fresh smelling scent. It retails for $30 for 4 oz which might seem like a lot but it will last FOREVER. The tiny sample amount that I received lasted me for a long time, and I used it a lot! If you aren't sure you want to commit to the larger size before trying, they have a 1 oz travel size that is only $9.50! I absolutely love this stuff. It's the perfect solution to those "days of unwash" where you still want to look, smell, and feel good! You can purchase it directly from their website or from Amazon as well! The best part about it besides the fact that it WORKS is that it is completely natural. Talc is controversial, being linked to carcinogens, and many powder based cosmetics contain talc. I don't know about you but I would much rather spend a little extra and KNOW I am getting a fabulous all natural product. Especially if I am putting it on my body where all the ingredients will be absorbed!




So if you are looking for a fabulous dry shampoo alternative, then look no further than LuLu Organics!

I thank you all again for reading and following, and hope you will continue to enjoy and share The Good Life!

Love and Laughs,

Danielle

Social Experiment

Last weekend I went to dinner with my sister and her two friends for her one friend's birthday. While we were waiting (30 minutes, ugh....not good for a pregnant mama!) in the bar area shoveling in peanuts and popcorn (which easily could have accounted for dinner by the time we were done!) I noticed something.

Instead of truly conversing with one another we were all on our phones. I was scrolling through my newsfeed, and the three others were sending snaps and checking winks or whatever it is the youngin's are doing these days. Compared to all of them I feel old. Facebook is old news in the social media world. Or so they tell me.

Anyway, sure we were chatting here and there but we weren't truly THERE.

It made me think about my last post and one of the goals I have for myself.

Put.Down.The.Phone.

Ironically then,  I happened upon this meme as I scrolled through my feed:



  

I have seen before and am pretty sure I have it pinned too. My mom and brother and I tried it once last summer but we gave up (well, my brother and I did) and we didn't take it seriously.

Have you ever done this? I told the group I had an idea for a game we could play during dinner but wanted them to agree without knowing what it was. Andrea agreed right away, assuming we were going to act weird in public or something. My sis figured out what it was and agreed, and CJ was in as long he would win. I told them either one of us would lose, or all of us would win! I told them it just involves us and our willpower!

I showed them the picture above and Andrea, a self-admitted phone addict immediately said she knew she'd lose. I said, well since it's your birthday it's more incentive to not have to buy us dinner! We were all excited and also nervous. I was totally in, after all, I have to work on my goal of less phone time, but wanted to make sure my ringer was on with a special ringtone for Hubs in case he called with an emergency. But still, we were in! Andrea had to turn off her phone because it gave her such anxiety. But after a few minutes we all realized that she was defeating the purpose! So we turned it on and stacked our phones in the center of the table.

I wish I had a picture but I couldn't use my phone! Just shows how much we rely on our phones every minute.

For the first few minutes we giggled and laughed about how hard it was going to be and then the amazing happened.

We stopped talking about our phones and conversed.

Truly conversed with one another for almost three hours!!!

I got to know Andrea and CJ a lot better, which was really cool. I found out so much about them that I didn't know. I realized that my sister picks some pretty good people to be around. 

We talked about careers, schools, parenting, my little one, nieces and nephews, pregnancy, pedicures (we had all gotten them that afternoon) the weather in Buffalo, how delicious our food was, etc. etc. etc. It was the first time in (I'm embarrassed to admit) I can't even tell you how long that I truly sat down and was present with the people I was with and wasn't distracted by my phone. I think it was the same for the company I was with as well.

By the time the bill was delivered, we were all paying for our own meals. No one had touched their phones and we all agreed it needs to be something that people do much more often. For the betterment of society.

And then we all opened the iPhone calculator to figure out the tip.

Such is life! 

Try it sometime. You will feel as liberated as we did, I promise.

Love and Laughs,

Danielle

Living Simply and Living Well

Happy New Year!

It's 2014...by now our parents and grandparents thought we'd have flying cars and robot servants, yet here we are. Although we aren't too far off. I consider Siri a pretty important part of my day-she schedules things on my calendar, sets my alarm, looks up things for me, sends texts, calls people...so she's KIND of like Rosie! And Amazon is working on these little drones that fly your stuff to you and deliver it in less than 30 minutes...like a pizza! So I guess we are getting close.

We have technology that does everything for us. I can remember a time where I had to look up information in an encyclopedia or a phone book...now I can just "google it." We don't have to think for ourselves anymore! And while having so much information literally at our fingertips is often a good thing, I think it has also helped contribute to a disease that most everyone I know has these days...TMSD.

Too
Much
Stuff
Disorder.

Stay with me here.

In this world where we can facebook and pinterest to our hearts content, all we are seeing is STUFF. Stuff that advertisers want us to see, stuff that our friends have, stuff that complete strangers have. And we think, why can't I have that too? I want more STUFF. Because in our society these days, all we are bombarded with on a daily basis is commercialism.

I am guilty of this. But most likely, so are YOU.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately for two reasons.

First of all, the nesting is starting. I come home and freak out because I feel like WE ARE SO NOT READY FOR ANOTHER BABY IN THREE MONTHS. How can this be? I ask myself? I have everything I need from when Little Miss was a baby...and because we didn't find out what we were having, everything is gender neutral. We are set. So how can I feel we are not ready? Because it's ingrained in my mind that we need stuff to have a baby. Then I remind myself that babies need 3 things: Love, food, shelter, and more love. And if you're my kid then you need a binky too. THAT'S it! I have plenty of love to give, a roof over my head, and all the milk in the world that I produce myself. Kick ass. I am ready.

The second reason is of course the Christmas season. While we are TOTALLY and COMPLETELY grateful for everything we received for ourselves and Little Miss this year, the hubs and I came home last week completely overwhelmed. Where would we put all of the shiny new stuff?! We live in an 1100 square foot cape with two bedrooms. We have a living room/dining room and a tiny kitchen with one small counter. That's all folks. No playroom, no office, no attic for storage because we just turned it into a third bedroom for Little Miss because once the baby comes she needs to be in her own room. We have one small linen closet. Where to put everything? My house was built in '39, so I think to myself, how did they survive with such little space? Well, think about how our grandparents lived back in the day...the reason houses were small was because they only had what they truly NEEDED. Do my husband and I need 25 towels? Absolutely not. But that's about how many we have!

Then I stumbled across this blog post.

This woman took her kids' toys away! All of them!
At first I thought, "What a meanie, how can she do that to her kids?" Then I read more and realized she was echoing the same sentiments I mentioned above. When there are too many things around us, we can't truly focus on what's in front of us, and what is truly important.

Which leads me to my next point.

When I was in what I like to refer to as my "pre-adult" life (the years prior to turning 25). My mindset was still in the egotistical phase. I made resolutions like "This is the year I will get skinny" or "This year I will start eating better" or  "This year I won't take crap from anybody." Etc. etc. etc.

Here's what's wrong with those "resolutions." First, they don't contribute to making anyone better but YOU. Of course I think that people should focus on improving themselves and their lifestyle, after all that's what this blog is all about. But why do you need to wait until January 1st to do so? Anyone ever walk into a gym during the month of January? By March it's the same old clientele. What's wrong with making one small change at a time to better yourself? For example: "In January I am going to commit to drinking enough water every day." Followed by, "I am going to cut down to one cup of coffee or tea a day." Small goals are better on the road to success, that's what I have found in my "adult" (post age 25) life.
Secondly, I don't think people should make resolutions-I think people need to make goals that they can stick with. Make goals that will make your world and the world around you a better place for you, your family, friends, and others. My goal last year was to slowly start becoming more "green." It has been an ongoing goal though. Am I where I want to be yet? Not completely. Have I made HUGE gains that I am totally proud of? Heck yea! But I am not done. Because I don't believe you are ever done improving yourself or your world. I think it's something you do over time, not just on January 1st. That being said, if that is the natural "do over" time that works for you and your timetable, by all means, start today! But just remember to make more attainable small goals that will lead up to your overall goal!

Before I get into my goals, I want to share what I am proud of from last year. Here are some things I am really happy that I have worked on and maintained in 2013.

• Every night that we are all home, my family and I sit down for dinner around the table together. There's no TV, just the 3 of us spending quality time together.

• I have successfully kept my promise to myself that schoolwork stays at school, and have not brought anything home which might interfere with family time, which is #1!

•  As a family we have successfully kept our promise to recycle more than we throw away. Our recycling bin is always overflowing and we only have to put garbage out once every other week.

• I have really gotten better about starting to get rid of things we don't need. It's still a work in progress but I have gotten a lot better!

• On the whole, I have made many changes to "greenify" our house in almost every area, from cleaning products to toiletries, and while this too is a work in progress, we are much improved from a year ago.

That being said, I would like to share my "goals" for 2014. Partially because I want to write them down so it makes me more likely to work hard at them, and also because I'd like you to follow on my journey if you are so inclined! Together we can work to make our worlds better for ourselves and our families!

Goal 1: Three nights per week will be dedicated to turning off the TV/other screens and accomplishing things around the house.

I am making this goal, because at night, as soon as Little Miss is in bed, Hubs and I find ourselves in front of the TV and/or computer/iPad vegging out. We're tired from working all day and then coming home to spend what precious little time we have with the little one, and all we want to do is veg. But then on the weekends we find ourselves overwhelmed with the sheer amount of housework that has piled up. (I make it a rule to not do any work around the house when Little Miss is awake. They are only little for so long and I like to dedicate that time to to spending quality time with her.) Of course I do the things I have to do to get ready for the next day like pack her bag, pick out clothes, laundry, etc. but other than that we are plopped on the couch post 7 pm. Which is ironic, considering we don't believe in screen time for Little Miss! So, after bedtime for Little Miss, Monday and Friday are my designated veg out nights, and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will be dedicated to household chores, organization, blogging, or crafting. It's my hope that carving this time our for myself will really improve my ability to get things done that I might otherwise put off!

Goal 2: Try our first ever "spending freeze."

For 31 days starting this Sunday (we have to grocery shop first!) Hubs and I have decided to take a page from Ruth over at Living Well & Spending Less, and try out her plan for spending zero for one month. There are exceptions of course such as necessities, but you can read more about what the Ground Rules are at her blog. I am really excited to try this. I think it will be a huge challenge for both of us, but for me especially. While I don't have a Starbucks habit, I do tend to spend a little here, a little there (especially at Target!) which just leads to more STUFF. Precisely what I was talking about earlier, and what leads me to my next goal.

Goal 3: Cut the CLUTTER and SIMPLIFY!

We have too much stuff. And our house is overflowing with it. Our junk drawer has turned into a junk closet. Or that's what it seems like. We have good intentions, but it seems like we never get anywhere because more stuff keeps coming in but not enough goes out! So I am going to start the process one room at a time. (Actually, I started this past week, organizing and cleaning out all of our kitchen drawers....we had about 30 extra pieces of silverware that don't match our set. Where did they come from? But that proves my point about not waiting for the New Year to start on a goal!) Again, the blog I mentioned above has great ideas for this, including pretty checklists and everything. I plan to make it my own and do it a little at a time, because after all I need to start with small, attainable goals that I can actually reach! One closet, drawer, or  room at a time and I will get there! And no, I am not going to take all of my toddler's toys away and not give them back. But when she moves into her big girl room I am going to be very selective about what enters the room, how things are stored, and how we organize the new playroom/former nursery. Toys will be rotated in and won't all be readily available all the time. I am planning on this now in hopes that it just becomes the culture around here.

Goal 4: Put the cell phone down in one spot when I get home and don't pick it up unless it's an important call (or if my baby is doing something cute and I have to take a picture). ;)

Good Lord this is going to be the hardest one. I am addicted to my iPhone. Seriously. I know I have a problem. And it's rubbing off on my Little, who hands me my phone if I am not holding it. I find myself mindlessly scrolling through e-mails, pinterest, facebook, you name it, just because it's there. I just don't want it attached to me 24/7 at home like it is now. It's not healthy and I want to set a good example for my daughter before she's asking for an iPhone for her 2nd birthday!

Goal 5: Hang more pictures!

I have a 2 TB hardrive. That's a lot of storage. I take pictures like it's my job. Seriously, I have over 1,000 on my phone as we speak and another 11,000 on the computer. But I have maybe 5 hanging in my house. That needs to change! And it will this year.

So there you have it. My goals for the new year. I think all of them will be really important as we embark upon this new journey of having two under two in a few months, but I also think it will improve our quality of life as well.

I hope that you too will think about what the new year can bring in terms of change, but don't bog yourself down with one huge goal that in a few months will be long forgotten. Start small and see what you can accomplish that way. A year from now you never know how far you might have come!

Happy New Year!

Love and Laughs,

Danielle