Preparing for my baby girl...

This was my baby shirt, that will soon be my baby's baby shirt.

Cloth diaper changing station

Homemade wipe solution and cloth wipes

Water kefir, kombucha, two types of baby oil and vanilla extract

Development - third trimester 

Himalayan Salt Lamp Review

Oh my goodness, it has been almost a month since I have been on here! So sorry everyone. It's almost Christmas too??!! Well, just to quickly update you all, I am 7 months and 1 week pregnant today. It's going by faster and faster! I am so nervous about my home birth, but I know that everything will be fine if I just trust God :) Down to business...

The Himalayan Salt Shop was kind enough to send me a salt lamp to review for them. I have had this lamp since November 5th, and I just love it! A few facts about these salt lamps:

• These salt lamps are made from crystal salt mined from underground the Himalayan Mountains.
• They naturally emit negative ions into the air. 
• These negative ions bond with positive ions (which are air pollutants) and neutralize them. 
• Negative ions combate electo-smog put off my our electronic devices at home.
• There has also been cases where these salt lamps have helps with asthma, allergies & other illnesses.
• And lastly, aren't they just so pretty?

I was very curious to see how this salt lamp would work in my home once I got it. I turn it on whenever we are home (which for me is almost all day). The hotter you allow the lamp to get, the better it is for purifying the air! My husband is a preschool director and he is around sick kids and germs all day. My mom & brother also work at school and they are at my house almost every day. This made me worried when I got pregnant and moved home to Hawaii, because I am REALLY trying not to get sick while pregnant. I get sick easily. Since having this salt lamp, there has been no sickness in my house! Now, I am not saying that for sure this lamp will keep everyone in your house sickness free all the time. I am just saying, so far, so good!  There have been days when I was out with my mom all day (and she has been sick a lot lately) and come home with a sore throat. Right when I got home, I turned on the salt lamp and sat near it in my living room for a few hours then went to bed. When I woke up, no more sore throat! I haven't gotten sick yet and neither has my husband who has also come home with sore throats!

It lights up so pretty at night time. My cats seem to like it too. They jump up on the shelf where I have it and just sit by it and they never would jump up there before that! I am very happy to have this for the baby room after I give birth as well. I plan on getting at least one more for our house at some point. You can see some of their beautiful lamps for sale HERE. I know I am a little late but these would be great Christmas presents! The owner Ernest is very helpful if you email him he will answer any questions you have! They also have a Facebook & Twitter!  Please check them out! They have everything from himalayan salt candle holders, to lamps, baht salts and salt inhalers! 

Merry almost Christmas everyone!!!

Baby shower & lots of photos to share

Breakfast of oats, soy milk, blueberries, maple syrup & chia with some red raspberry leaf tea.

This was my Thanksgiving meal ordered from Peace Cafe. It was pretty tasty. I really liked their mushroom gravy!

Beeswax candles in baby food jars. These were going to be the party favors at my baby shower, but we decided against it so that it would be a little less work :)

Wool dryer balls I made with leftover wool that my cats got into. These are great! I needle felt them and then added some lavender oil to them. You throw them in the dryer instead of dryer sheets. They work great for softening and help to shorten your dryer time!

Baby Bath Herbs

Mix together:

Organic rose petals

Organic chamomile flowers

Organic ground oats

Lavender flowers (didn't have organic on hand)

Rosemary leaves

Organic calendula/marigold flowers

Store in a glass jar with lid. When ready to use, put some of the mixture in a cheesecloth and tie closed. Add to warm baby bath and enjoy the sweet smelling aroma! I normally add yarrow flowers as well for the antibacterial properties, but I was all out.

Newest hippy pack from my cousin! This hippy pack contained two onesies, dried elderberries, acorns, homemade sweet almond hand cream, amber teething necklace, two used cloth diapers (they were some old ones she was no longer using :) & some Method baby products. Thanks cuz!

Flowers for the centerpieces at my baby shower.

Mermaid coloring sheets with crayons in baby food jars for the kids

Truffles from Ulimana for favors! These are raw & vegan and so tasty!

Homemade necklace from my sis-in-law. So cute!

My beautiful chocolate cake with mint frosting made by my good friend Maciana.

My best friend who threw the shower for me :)

Briana, Maciana & I- all sporting baby bumps. We are due January, February & March :)

My husband and friend Mark 

Lastly, my god daughter, Kalea playing on the playground at the baby shower. 

~Fairy Skirts~

Come away, O human child!

To the waters and the wild

With a faery hand in hand,

For the world's more full of weeping 

than you can understand.

~William Butler Yeats

My newest thing I am making to sell and give away to family for Christmas, fairy skirts!

One of my nieces modeling for me :)

Isn't she precious? Let me know if any of you are interested in buying! I don't have an etsy or anything though. You can pick the colors and I can make the size to fit to your child exactly. You just send me the measurements! 

More pregnancy eats & midwife visit

Breakfast one day of tofu scramble mixed with mushrooms, salsa, nutritional yeast & turmeric, some seaweed and a green smoothie that contained bananas, dates, spinach, chia seeds and I can't remember what all else. 

Breakfast of Hawaiian Pancakes revised to add ground flax with some maple syrup and another green smoothie. This one had bananas, dates, spirulina, mango, chia seeds & almond milk blueberry yogurt. I was out of veggies this day. 

An acai bowl from Beet Box Cafe with acai, banana, strawberry, blueberry, apple juice, banana, papaya, hempseed granola, agave & spinach.  

Chocolate peanut butter smoothie from Robeks

Homemade hummus with garbanzo beans, lemon, tahini, olive oil, garlic & salt, then topped with paprika and more olive oil. I just got some organic olive oil and I love it!

This is my midwife, Dr Lori's, office. This is a small house that is on her 2 acre land on the North Shore. It's so peaceful down here :)

And here is the risky photo...I am just about 6 months pregnant here. This was on our way home from the beach. I am just so excited about being pregnant that I don't even care about how bad I look in this picture. I'M PREGNANT!!!! 

Lately...

What I have been working on...trying to make things I can sell and give away as Christmas presents.

Tinctures I made for my little brother for his birthday. He requested a "dream tincture".

Been spending a lot of time with my babies.

He closed his eyes and turned away when I tried to take this picture.

This is a new friend I found. I was in the car with my mom and saw him on the side of the road in our neighborhood. I jumped out of the car and got him. His name is Morla- like the big turtle in the never ending story. I asked around the neighborhood and no one is claiming him. He has to have belonged to someone at some point though, because we don't have turtle like this in the wild here. 

Here he/she is! Any guesses of what sex you think he/she is? I really want a girl, but I feel like I am having a boy :)

Winner of Himalayan salt lamp giveaway is.....

.... Praise to the Highest! You won!!! Please contact me with your email address so that I can get your lamp sent out!

Happy World Vegan Day & Himalayan Salt Lamp Giveaway!

Guess what everyone?

Ernest, from the Himalayan Salt Shop, is allowing me the awesome opportunity to offer a giveaway of one 6-8 lb Himalayan Salt Crystal Lamp! Just a few facts about Himalayan Salt Lamps:

• These lamps are natural air purifiers that purify the air of dust, pollen, dander, cigarette smoke & bacteria!
• Heat from the bulb inside the salt lamp emits negative ions into the air.
• These negative ions bond with air pollutants (positive ions) and neutralize them!
• They bond with positive ions produced by computer monitors, TV's and other electrical devices. 
• Once the ions bond with the air pollutants they become heavier and fall to the ground, which removes them from air circulation!
• These lamps have also been shown to help with asthma, allergies and other illnesses!

THIS PAGE will answer all your other questions about Himalyan salt lamps.

This contest begins November 1st and ends November 9th. 

In order to win you must:

Be within the United States, excluding Alaska & Hawaii, to win :)

Comment saying you want to win &

Join their newsletter HERE!

For additional entries:

Follow them on Twitter HERE

Follow them on Facebook HERE & HERE

Good luck! Also, remember guys, even if you don't win these are great presents for Christmas time coming up! One more thing, stay tuned because I will be doing a review on Himalayan Salt Lamps shortly as well. 

Strawsome winner...

iiiiiiiiisssss Maria Rose! Give me your email address and I will have Strawesome contact you :)

Desserts...tasty, tasty desserts!

I have been making lots of sweet things lately, and I wanted to share two awesome recipes with you. 

How awesome does this look? This was the cake I made my brother for his birthday. 

Chocolatey Chocolate Cake

1 chocolate cake mix (ex. Cherrybrook Kitchen)

1 vegan  chocolate pudding mix

1 cup Tofutti sour cream

1 cup canola oil (or vegetable oil)

4 egg replacers 

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups vegan chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together and pour into greased bunt cake pan. Bake at 350 for 50-55 min. Cool for 1 hour before inverting (this is the hardest part :). While it's cooling, make frosting sauce.

3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

3 Tbsp Earth Balance

1/4 tsp vanilla 

Pour that over cake once it is inverted and you've got yourself a chocolatey chocolate cake!

I made this for a halloween BBQ we are having tonight :)

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

I veganized this from THIS recipe. 

1 stick Earth Balance

1 cup sugar (raw if you like)

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

5 egg replacers

2 1/2 cups soy creamer

12 croissants

1/2 cup raisins

3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

Go to the link above to see how to make the recipe :) Enjoy!

Also, please don't forget to enter my STRAWESOME giveaway! It ends November 1st!

Strawesome Giveaway!

I haven't done a giveaway for you guys in a while, so I thought it was about time I did one again. Strawesome is an awesome company that makes reusable, stylish glass straws & the lovely Daedra from Strawesome is allowing me to host a blog giveaway for one free "artist's choice" straw!

 This is a picture of one of their bent glass straws.

This is one of my straws I was using to drink green juice!

This is a picture of homemade bubble tea that I am drinking from a Strawesome straw. 

This was today's smoothie :)

For those of you who have not heard of Strawesome yet, these straws are hand made from borosilicate glass. They are also guarenteed not to break! If your straw breaks, it will be replaced. I LOVE these straws. I cannot say enough good things about them. I actually have an order coming in the mail or two more. My husband and I use them every day!

To enter to win a free Strawesome straw:

*Become a follower of my blog &

*Tell me why you want to win a glass Strawesome straw!

Contest begins today and ends November 1st! 

Good luck!