This Weekend

Dear Familia,

Sorry for the long absence. It's been a crazy past few days! I've been doing Apple stuff everyday since Thursday and it was Zane's Dad's 60th birthday on Saturday. Zane's Mom did an awesome job throwing him a big surprise party and we all had a great time. It was catered by a lebanese restaurant and the food was delicious. I will post a follow up just on the food. Oh and we had our marriage prep class! It was all about finances which I think may have been uncomfortable for some people. We had some great facilitators though that made things pretty fun.

I fly to AZ on Friday for a 10 day wedding planning extravaganza and Tara and Kaiya's birthdays :) Zane and his Mom are flying out for the holiday weekend to check on reception venue possibilities as well as where guests can stay. Should be very fun and I will hopefully have some exciting updates to the wedding website when I get back.

Love,

Jem

Apple

Dear Familia,

As you all know, I am a serious Apple fan. The very first computer I ever owned (Thank you Auntie Lisa) and every computer I've owned since then has been a Mac and I've had various versions of the ever-evolving ipod. I could go on and on about why I'm a Mac vs PC girl, but I think it all boils down to the fact that Apple just has better customer care. AppleCare is by far the best technical support/warranty program I've ever had or ever heard of others having. Plus, Apple products are just designed better...in every sense of the word.

I knew that I would need a part-time job this summer and when I found out I would be in Georgetown with Zane, I decided to apply to an Apple Store. I already have retail experience and I know how flexible big stores can be with schedules. Plus, the employee discount ;) A couple months and 3 interviews later and I got the job! Unfortunately, they didn't have any Georgetown openings so I will be at the Clarendon store just a quick bus/metro ride away. I go in this afternoon to do paperwork and then I'm sure I'll start next week sometime. We have our own employee page that had a mini-orientation on all things Apple. I am going to share some of the fun links now.

The Mac vs PC choice was pretty easy for me, but you can learn more about switching if you click the picture above. Remember these hilarious Mac vs PC videos (and how TMobile aka worst company ever stole them?) This one highlights another huge plus for Macs...I've never had to deal with viruses :)

Everything you need to know about Mac...in case you were missing school over summer break ;)

Even just waiting in the store for my interviews I learned new things about how Macs operate. I think this is going be a very educational position. I'll let you know some more fun things as I learn more and more.

Love,

Jem

The Shampoo Conditioner Saga

Dear Familia,

I've always had pretty healthy hair mostly due to the fact that I don't really "do" anything to it. Alysha bought me a Chi straightener for my UA graduation and that is literally the only hair styling tool I own (other than the brushes and combs she gave me as well!). I keep my hair long even though I end up pulling it back in a pony-tail or a bun 99.9% of the time. However, again during Peace Corps, I decided to look into the "no-poo" (as in shampoo, not feces ;) method. My brain is the most important part of me and I wanted to see if I could avoid putting chemicals on the skin that sits closest to it. Haha. Now there are a hundred million different blogs and online communities that can give you the low down on this method, but here are the basics: a baking soda/water "shampoo" and apple cider vinegar/water rinse "conditioner."

Like my deodorant experiment, it was really easy to try out while I was in Guatemala and worked really well. I mixed about a tablespoon of baking soda and a cup of water and scrubbed that into my scalp then I rinsed with water. After that, I poured a mixture of ACV and water over my head and let it sit for a minute then rinsed that out as well. I probably did that 2x a week. My hair was clean and shiny and just as manageable as with normal shampoo and conditioner. I will say that I did use Bumble and Bumble leave in conditioner once a week that Steven had so kindly brought for me from the States.

If you are interested check these pages out:

One Green Generation

Online Community

Trouble Shooting

More links

THEN I got back to AZ and after about 2 months my hair was in super sorry shape. I went back through all of those blogs and then discovered that this method is very tricky if you have hard water. So I googled "hard water in the US" and was thrilled to discover Mesa sits in a super crappy part of the US as far as hard water goes.

Image via this site.

It's been a rough back and forth trying to get my hair back to what I would consider healthy. I still do the same routine as in Guatemala, but I've tried a couple of different conditioners since I ran out of the Bumble and Bumble when I got back and it was too spendy to replace. I did honey which was waaay too heavy for my hair. I bought an all natural conditioner from Walmart which I was not too impressed with. Coconut oil seems to be good to my ends, but too greasy for near my scalp.

With the start of my running regimen (can you call 2x a week a regimen??), there is added sweaty nastiness to my hair so I have started to use a couple of drops of Dr. Bronner's once every 10 days or so. I've done this twice and it made my hair supa dupa clean. I might throw that into the mix permanently. Anyway, I will give you an update when I find a happy routine for my hair. But really, I wear my hair up and tucked away 99.9% of the time so it doesn't matter too much.

Love,

Jem

One Green Generation

Dear Familia,

Before I talk to you about shampoo/conditioner, I thought I would take some time to profile one of my favorite blogs...the one that gave me a homemade deodorant recipe and gave me the final push I needed to do a cleanse (more on that another day). Melinda created One Green Generation which is a blog about sustainable and eco-friendly changes everyone can make in their lives. She doesn't post all that often, but she has some really great posts that I go back to day after day. Here are a few:

Deodorant

Shampoo/Conditioner (post to come)

Cleanse (post to come)

Melinda is pretty good at giving a good story about what she's done to make changes in her life without making you feel like you are a terrible person for not having made the change yourself. I definitely like her.

Love,

Jem

Deodorant

Dear Familia,

In Guatemala I was lucky enough to have a great laboratory to try some all natural health and beauty options...the lack of funds, the one very tiny mirror in my house, and the shift of concern to much more important things than how I looked all helped me get over traditional beauty rituals. These next few post are going to be on my experiments with all natural beauty products.

As a few of you may know, I've stopped using antiperspirant and switched to all natural deodorant. I'd always been a little leery of putting gunk (chemicals) into my pores to block exits (pores) my body was using to get rid of the unwanted (toxins). In the last few years I had also been hearing more and more buzz about just how bad those chemicals were and the links they had with breast cancer or Alzheimer's (both diseases having taken women very near and dear to my heart). While the juries are still out on the true effects of ingredients in traditional deodorants and antiperspirants, the fact remains that once I get in the shower all of those nasty chemicals get washed into our water supply. Plus, logically speaking, just because they have not been able to prove a link exists does not automatically prove that a link does not exist...

So began my search for a better option. As I mentioned above, Guatemala gave me a great testing ground for alternative beauty options. Deodorant was ridiculously expensive and really, not too many in my little village used it so I didn't feel like spending a few months experimenting with other options would be that bad. In early 2010, I googled my way to this blog post with a recipe for homemade deodorant . I just did the baking soda and cornstarch option for the first couple of months. I put the mix in a small plastic travel container I had from the States and used a make-up brush to apply. Luckily, my good friend Alana came back to visit us in Tikal for Semana Santa and she brought me some tee tree oil which definitely increased the effectiveness of the mix. I used that for though the end of my service with great results. Lifestyle and climate wise, there wasn't a lot of sweating going on to begin with and anywhere in town I was 5 minutes away from my house if I needed to go home and reapply my powder mix.

When I got home I transfered my homemade deodorant to a mason jar my Mom had around and continued with that my first few months back home. It was fine and dandy most of the time. However, there were a few drawbacks. First, traveling with a powder/brush combination is not ideal. It's a bit of a messy application, especially if you are not home when you are applying. Second, I noticed that for whatever reason I needed to reapply more often. Probably because I was not cold 75% of the time like I was in Guatemala. When I decided to start substitute teaching, I knew I had to look for a better option.

Enter Soapwalla Deodorant Cream. Aka, best deodorant ever. "This all-natural yet powerful deodorant cream utilizes superfine vegetable powders, clays, and lavender, peppermint and tea tree essential oils to absorb moisture, inhibit bacteria, and ensure a long-lasting and highly effective experience." I ordered my first jar in late January and started using it at the beginning of February. I still have a bit of my first jar and just ordered my second jar with a credit I had to Spirit Beauty Lounge. I was a bit nervous about the cream, but it's pretty easy to use and absorbs right away. From February through mid-April I would apply in the morning and be good to go all day. If I was running around there was some sweat (duh!), but never any smell. When it's hot (and humid...oh, DC), I need to reapply at mid-day, but that is easy as pie** with the cream application. I'm a huge fan.

There are a few downsides: #1 Price. It's only $10 a jar which is worth it for 4 months of regular use. But when you add $4 shipping, it gets a little on the pricey side. I know she's at farmer's markets in the Brooklyn area, but that is not super helpful to me ;) #2 It comes in plastic containers. She did offer to use a glass jar of mine though and she will reuse my containers if I send them back in...with the two I have now I should be good for a long while.

So ya, that's my looong deodorant story. Up next? Let's talk shampoo/conditioner.

Love,

Jem

**I don't really understand this saying...pie is so not easy to make!

Zoe&Zac

Dear Familia,

After much deliberation (and sadness that I didn't check out the Mexican markets in AZ for some classic huaraches), I finally purchased a pair of summer sandals. They are a pair of gladiator sandals from Zoe&Zac via Payless. I love them!

Zoe&Zac collection focuses on producing shoes that leave a small footprint. In my shoes' case this means "soft eco-friendly faux leather upper with braid detail on the vamp, organic cotton lining, lightly padded footbed, and a flexible recycled rubber outsole."

I love them. I wore them all day at the zoo on Friday and did not get a single blister or sore feet. They were also nice enough to wear to the church picnic we went to on Sunday.

Love,

Jem

Smitten Kitchen

Dear Familia,

You absolutely must check out this food blog, if you have not already. Smitten Kitchen is by far and away my most favorite of the food blogs and top 3 of blogs in general. Deb is a food genious and makes me want to spend 24/7 in the kitchen. She also has a ridiculously adorable little boy...just cute. I have literally at least 50 bookmarks of recipes to try from her site.

Recipes I love:

Rice Crispy Treats (from this weekend)

Pie Crust Tutorials 101 & 202

Cinnamon Rolls

Here are a few I want to try soon:

Pasta Dough

Whole Wheat Goldfish Crackers

French Onion Soup

Love,

Jem

DC Zoo Part 2

Dear Madi, Rudy, and Johnny,

Here are some more shots, but seriously...we need to come!

We only saw one of the pandas b/c the lady panda was in isolation on "pregnancy watch"...there might be a new baby panda soon :)

Zane's favorite zoo animal...

This was a very awesome part of the zoo...there are cables and platforms all over the zoo where the orangutans can swing around above the crowds.

Love,

Jem

DC Zoo Part 1

Dear Madi, Rudy, and Johnny,

We absolutely HAVE to go to the DC zoo at some point. There are so many cool animals AND it's FREE. Here are some highlights:

It's a little strange to see the gorillas doing things like humans...

The gorillas had a baby girl...she was so adorable!

I still have no idea if this thing was alive or not...it did not move at all the 5 minutes I sat there watching it...

There were also lion cubs, but they were huge and not that cute. However, the dad, Luke, was HUGE and very cool to see.

Anteater...a crazy looking animal for sure.

Love,

Jem

Marriage Preparation Classes

Dear Familia,

The marriage prep classes have been going very well. We meet every Thursday and some saturdays with 7 other couples to talk about a range of topics to help us in our future married life. Last Thursday we were in charge of the snack. We brought a veggie tray and rice crispy treats from Smitten Kitchen. The class met this Saturday too to talk about the Meyers Briggs indicator test we took. Not surprisingly, Zane is a thinking introvert type and I am a feeling extrovert type. Hahaha.

Love,

Jem