L'Occitane Grapeseed Cleansing Oil

The idea of cleaning with oil may seem completely counterintuitive, but it works and it works very well. L'Occitane's Grapeseed Cleansing Oil is pure heaven and perfect for my dry skin. The luxurious and soothing Shower Oil transforms into a delicate foam on contact with water, gently cleansing the skin. It rinses away with ease and leaves behind velvety soft skin that is subtly fragranced in a delectable scent. I have a feeling this product will become my new best friend.


Check out all of the Grape based products over at the L'Occitane website. Discover the cure.

Body Wash, Shea & Cocoa Butter by Johnson's

I've been a big fan of the L'occitane Shea Butter Milk Scented Shower Cream, but at $17 for 8.5 fl. oz., getting clean becomes a costly experience.

New to the Johnson's product line, Shea & Cocoa Butter Body Wash is a great alternative. The packaging isn't as cute, but it's gentle, smells great, and leaves my skin feeling moisturized and soft. And at $6.99 for 28 fl. oz., it won't send me to poor house.


Johnson's products can be purchased at any drugstore or Target type stores.

Curvy Fit Trousers - Gap.com

I lament PANTS shopping. I don't know what kind of people most PANTS are supposed to fit, cuz they don't fit me. My biggest problem -- err, in the way of PANTS -- is that PANTS fit too tight in the thigh area. And sometimes, even the waist is too big. And that makes no sense at all.

Then the Gap -- sheesh, just Gap -- came out with a new fit: curvy. I scoffed as I passed by the "curvy" models in the photos at the mall, looking just as thin as "regular" models. Don't get me wrong, ain't nothing wrong with skinny, but don't say it's curvy when it ain't curvy!

On a whim, I went inside. I don't consider myself to be curvy in any way, but I was curious. I tried on a pair of flared curvy jeans. Holy crap! They fit, not just in the thighs, but they did not gap -- no pun intended -- in the back of the waist! Maybe I was in shock, or maybe I was appalled at the rampant use of cheezy whiskering that blemish all jeans made for people under the age of 40, but I opted to go home empty-handed.

At home, I checked out gap.com and found the above pictured trousers, not only are they curvy and flared but they are also petite!! And they had my size, by golly!

I was still unsure, put off by not-curvy-in-my-opinion model pictured, but what the hey. And when they arrived, they fit like a dream! Thighs fit, waist fit, no hemming needed, perfectly proportioned. The best sixty bucks I've spent in a long time.

Now, I just need another pair....

**Added 10.14.06: Please note - I still love these pants but beware: do not, under any circumstances dry them too much. In fact, do not put them in the dryer at all!! I did, on low, halfway to mostly dry, and I swear they shrank nearly a whole size!!!!! Yes, we all know Gap pants tend to stretch out with wear, but they do not get longer. These are not suitable to wear with my clogs anymore. Grrr! :(

Dolphin Therapy

My favorite factoid of the day:

"Dolphins have been trained to swim close to pregnant women and emit their calls. Some even “kiss” the women on their lips or stomach. In Spanish-speaking countries, this practice is known as delfinoteprepia, or dolphin therapy."

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to be pregnant and swim with the dolphins. Hahahahaha!

Update: More cool information about dolphins. Dolphins can act as midwives.

Extracted from: fUSION Anomaly. Dolphins

Igor Charkovsky, the Russian male midwife, is known for helping pregnant women give birth underwater in the Black Sea 'aided' by dolphins. 'Dolphins have an affinity with the baby in the womb and are automatically attracted to pregnant women. They sense when a woman is about to give birth and gather round. They give both the mother and child a sense of protection and safety,' says Charkovsky.

'Sometimes when the baby is born the dolphins muzzle it to the surface to help it breath.'

Charkovsky began to experiment with dolphins and children in 1979 at a dolphin research station. He discovered that 9ft mammals were exceptionally gentle with the children, aged between eight days and eight years, allowing them to ride on their backs, and handling them with extraordinary care, under-standing and purposefulness.

More specifically he realised how powerfully beneficial the animals were for the newborn, who lay peacefully sleeping in the sea with the dolphins swimming around them. He concluded that dolphins through their benign energy take the stress off the baby and mother alike, during and after the birth.

BioBag - Tall Kitchen, 13 Gallon

I just found out about these cool bags in the latest issue of Real Simple.

“With your help, we can soon eliminate regular plastic bags from our environment. BioBags "go away" naturally when exposed to the earth's elements and micro-organisms. BioBags are great for the collection of food waste and other biodegradable materials for composting."

Changing the world without changing the Earth
• Planet Friendly
• 100% Biodegradable
• 100% Compostable

$5.99 a box at Drugstore.com.

Also available in Dog Waste (ha!), Food Waste, and Lawn & Leaf Bags.

P.S. Whole Foods even carries special ‘plastic like’ silverware that are corn based and biodegradable. Too Cool!