Book Love

Sharing our current story-time favorites:

one/two/three/four/five/six

Fab Etsy Finds

Memory card holder by KettiHandbags

Squirrel brooch by Kishboo

TowelTea  by witandwhistle

Wooden Apple Harvest Toy by applenamos

The Best Dress in the World by LetsBackTrack

Letterpress Calendar by 1canoe2

Raw Vegan Chai Cheesecake with Pecan Ginger Crust

This was so yummy and perfect for autumn!

Ingredients:
{crust}
6 dates soaked in warm water for 10 minutes
1/4 cup candied ginger cubes
1 1/2 cups raw pecans
2+ tbsp coconut oil

{filling}
3 cups cashews soaked for at least 6 hours
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup hot water
2 chai tea bags
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves


Directions:
Grease the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with coconut oil. In a food processor, blend all crust ingredients, adding more oil if necessary. Scrape down the sides as needed. Mixture should be crumbly and sticky. Press this mixture into the bottom of the springform pan. Bring the 1/3 cup water to near boiling and steep teabags for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, blend the cashews, coconut oil, and maple syrup in the food processor until smooth.* Gradually pour in tea and sprinkle in spices and continue to blend until completely creamy. Spread filling layer on top of crust. Chill in freezer for 2 hours to set. Then store in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.


*If your food processor is not big enough, you may need to blend in two batches.


Enjoy!!

                               

                               

Product Review: The Orange Owl's Body Butter and Lip Balm

I was in search of a chemical-free body butter when I stumbled upon The Orange Owl. I ordered the Zingy Luxury Body Butter and couldn't resist adding in the Cinnamon & Spice Lip Balm.

The Body Butter-

So much to love about this. First of all, it smells AMAZING. It reminds me of chai, which is pretty much my favorite thing ever. The consistency is whipped and airy, but it goes on rich and smooth. It feels slightly oily at first, but then absorbs to leave your skin super soft. The ingredient list is pretty impressive: mango butter, organic almond oil, organic olive oil, arrowroot powder, grapefruit seed extract, and essential oils of cinnamon, ginger, pepper and cloves. That's it. No nasty petroleum products here. Price-wise, I found it to be a good value, it's $10.99, I've had it now for about 2 months and there is about 1/4 of the container left. I highly recommend it and will be back for more!

The Lip Balm-

The same praise goes for this luscious lip balm...nice spicy scent, all natural ingredients, good value. It does a superb job of moisturizing too, smooth lips with a subtle shine. 

So there you have it. I'm so excited to have found a good source for my natural beauty regimen needs :) I'm looking forward to trying some of their other scents as well...Thai Surprise and Lemon twist sound delightful!

Have you tried any products from the Orange Owl? 

Maine Trip, part 2: PORTLAND

"Yes. Life's good here". That is Portland's slogan and I can see why. We enjoyed exploring this city. Lovely architecture with lots of very old brick buildings, gorgeous lighthouses, Casco Bay, tree-lined streets with plenty of unique shops, and soo much good food! I think Congress Street was my favorite downtown area, it had several eclectic/vintage stores and an amazing little co-op restaurant called Local Sprouts. Their kombucha was out of this world. The Portland Headlight was such a fun stop too, postcard beautiful. Here are a few of my favorite pics:

Maine Trip, part 1: ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

Last week we returned from our vacation in Maine. It was my first time visiting and I absolutely loved it! Beautiful scenery and amazing food :) This trip was also little A's first time on a plane, and she did pretty well overall...A few tantrums on the way back but it was naptime. I bought several little toys from the dollar tree store and brought them out one at a time as needed, and we had lollipops and plenty of snacks which helped. I am sharing here some (ok, a ton of) pictures from the first 7 days of our trip which we spent in Acadia National Park. It was so incredibly picturesque I filled up 2 memory cards, which is a bit much, even for me lol! I highly recommend visiting the park if you have the opportunity, especially in autumn. It's really difficult to pick a favorite spot in the park, but a few of my must-see places were Bass Harbor Lighthouse, Jordan Pond, Ocean Path, Dorr Mountain trail, Hunter's Beach (technically outside of the park but still on Mt. Desert Island, off of Cooksey Drive), Thunderhole, and of course Cadillac Mountain. Also, my favorite places to eat in Bar Harbor were This Way Cafe (quirky cute place with bookshelves lining the walls and some good vegetarian options) and Morning Glory Bakery (seriously good quiche and homemade chai).

Product Review: Remington Ceramic Elliptical Styling Wand

My hair is naturally stick straight and pretty flat. It also doesn't work very well for updos :/ So I'm always looking for ways to switch up my look. Last month I bought the Remington Elliptical Wand. It's basically a clamp-less curling iron with an oval barrel instead of the usual round shape. It comes with a glove to protect your hand from the heat. The barrel is silk ceramic and heats up to 410 degrees. I have used it a few times now and I am pleased with the results. It does give more loose waves instead of the tighter curls of a traditional curling iron. It heats up very quickly, and I can wave all of my hair in about 10-15 minutes, which is nice because I usually am running short on time. The only con I've found with it is that while I have it wound up on my head, sometimes my hand hits the buttons on the side and accidentally changes the temperature or turns it off...so I kind of wish they had put the buttons in a different place. Anyways, here is how I use it: 

1. First I spray my hair down with a heat protector.

2. I separate my hair into two sections, bottom and top, and pin up the top half with a jaw clip.

3. I start with the bottom half, wrapping each 1-inch strand around the barrel and holding it there for around 10-12 seconds. I catch the curl as soon as I remove it from the wand and hold it there for a second or two to help the curl set a little better.

4. Repeat the same process for the top half.

5. Gently separate the waves with my fingers and mist lightly with some hairspray. 

Here is what it looks like when I first finish before I've separated the waves:

And here's after I've finished styling:

And here is 8 hours later (after being in the humidity all day): 

And there you have it. It doesn't make huge, dramatic curls or anything, but for me it's a nice change to have a little extra body. It's less than $20 on Amazon.com, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone else looking for a way to change up their 'do :)