Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
You'd be surprised...
...at how effective this decoy really is.
My mom has a navy blue donut pillow just like this one, and while I was home helping her out after surgery, she (and I!) must have confused that thing with her black cat at least 25 times. At one point i was laying down and was a bit uncomfortable but waited 15-20 mins to move so i wouldn't scare "the cat" that was laying between my mom and I. Uh yeah, it was that damn pillow.
My mom has a navy blue donut pillow just like this one, and while I was home helping her out after surgery, she (and I!) must have confused that thing with her black cat at least 25 times. At one point i was laying down and was a bit uncomfortable but waited 15-20 mins to move so i wouldn't scare "the cat" that was laying between my mom and I. Uh yeah, it was that damn pillow.Sunday, June 27, 2010
Pretty awesome.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Favorite Songs to Listen to Lately...
Compass by Red Wire Black Wire
Happy Birthday You by Jay Jay Pistolet
Sushi by Kyle Andrews
Animal by Miike Snow
Wheels, no Engines by ANR
Roman History by Pet Lions
Wicked Blood by Sea Wolf
Big Bird in a Small Cage by Patrick Watson
Poke by Frightened Rabbit
Conductor by We were Promised Jetpacks
Honey Let me Sing you a Song by Matt Hires
My Girls by Animal Collective
Doesn't Have to be Beautiful by Slow Club
Baby Boomer by Monsters of Folk
This is not the Time by Superfamily
Mouthful of Diamonds by Phantogram
Gray or Blue by Jaymay
Happy Birthday You by Jay Jay Pistolet
Sushi by Kyle Andrews
Animal by Miike Snow
Wheels, no Engines by ANR
Roman History by Pet Lions
Wicked Blood by Sea Wolf
Big Bird in a Small Cage by Patrick Watson
Poke by Frightened Rabbit
Conductor by We were Promised Jetpacks
Honey Let me Sing you a Song by Matt Hires
My Girls by Animal Collective
Doesn't Have to be Beautiful by Slow Club
Baby Boomer by Monsters of Folk
This is not the Time by Superfamily
Mouthful of Diamonds by Phantogram
Gray or Blue by Jaymay
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Scary stuff about sunscreen...
So, I've learned a lot through this bad experience with my recent sunburn/sunscreen irritation. Apparently most sunscreens are not good for your skin, and though they can partially block the sun's harmful rays, they don't block all of them, and usually contain dangerous ingredients that can contribute to skin cancer in the future. One of the worst, and most common ingredients in sunscreen is oxybenzone, which according to various environmental and health associations, "Oxybenzone can trigger allergic reactions, is a potential hormone disruptor and penetrates the skin in relatively large amounts." Reports also highly recommened that you stay away from sunscreens containing Vitamin A or "retinyl palmitate" because of it's proven record of contributing to cancer. "a form of vitamin A, retinyl palmitate, when applied to the skin in the presence of sunlight, may speed the development of skin tumors and lesions" (NTP 2009). Fantastic huh? After reading various reports, I'm not at all surprised to find that the sunscreen I used last weekend contained both oxybenzone and retinyl palmitate. Here is what happened to my skin after 5 hours of beachside-sun mixed with the sunscreen:
I just wanted to raise some awareness in case anyone wasn't already familiar with this information. It's hard to find a good sunscreen though, I went to Walgreens yesterday, looked through at least 100 sunscreens, and couldn't find one that satisfied me, even most higher-end ones like neutrogena and aveeno apparently provide "high health concerns, low UVA protection, and contain oxybenzone and sometimes Vitamin A." So i looked up the best, safest sunscreens out there and thought I should share that info. Not sure where you can find all of these but I'll start looking this weekend (I know some are sold at drugstores, and several at Whole Foods and organic shops):
- Badger, Sunscreen for Face and Body, Unscented, SPF 30 (pretty much all the Badger products have really high ratings)
- La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL 50+
- Loving Naturals, Sunscreen, SPF 30+
- Soleo Organics, All Natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+
- thinkbaby and thinksport, Sunscreen, SPF 30+
- UV Natural, Sunscreen Sport, SPF 30+
- All Terrain, Aquasport Performance Sunscreen, SPF 30 (I bought some of this a few years ago at Dick's)
- Jason Natural Cosmetics, Sunbrellas: Chemical Free Sunblock, SPF 30+ (they sell this at Walgreens, but were out of it when i was looking)
- L'uvalla Certified Organic, SPF 20 Sunscreen Face/Body
Some more common ones were high up on the list too, such as:
- Coppertone, Sensitive Skin Sunscreen Lotion, SPF 50
- CVS Sunscreen with Zinc Oxide, SPF 45+
- Olay Complete All Day Moisture Cream, SPF 15, Sensitive Skin
But I would stay away from Panama Jack, Banana Boat, Ocean Potion and Hawaiian Tropic :(
Check out the full list here: http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/
One last note: SPF probably doesn't mean what you think it does. The number basically just corresponds to the amount of time you can spend in the sun without burning (theoretically). An SPF of 50 only provides 1% to 2% more protection than an SPF 30, unless it contains additional ingredients to protect you from UVA rays, in addition to UVB (though according to the FDA, UVA protection is maxed out at SPF 15... yikes). A dermatology site recommends the following: "A good broad-spectrum sunscreen should have an SPF of at least 15 and contain avobenzone, titanium dioxide, or zinc oxide." Who knew dude? who knew...
I just wanted to raise some awareness in case anyone wasn't already familiar with this information. It's hard to find a good sunscreen though, I went to Walgreens yesterday, looked through at least 100 sunscreens, and couldn't find one that satisfied me, even most higher-end ones like neutrogena and aveeno apparently provide "high health concerns, low UVA protection, and contain oxybenzone and sometimes Vitamin A." So i looked up the best, safest sunscreens out there and thought I should share that info. Not sure where you can find all of these but I'll start looking this weekend (I know some are sold at drugstores, and several at Whole Foods and organic shops):- Badger, Sunscreen for Face and Body, Unscented, SPF 30 (pretty much all the Badger products have really high ratings)
- La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL 50+
- Loving Naturals, Sunscreen, SPF 30+
- Soleo Organics, All Natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+
- thinkbaby and thinksport, Sunscreen, SPF 30+
- UV Natural, Sunscreen Sport, SPF 30+
- All Terrain, Aquasport Performance Sunscreen, SPF 30 (I bought some of this a few years ago at Dick's)
- Jason Natural Cosmetics, Sunbrellas: Chemical Free Sunblock, SPF 30+ (they sell this at Walgreens, but were out of it when i was looking)
- L'uvalla Certified Organic, SPF 20 Sunscreen Face/Body
Some more common ones were high up on the list too, such as:
- Coppertone, Sensitive Skin Sunscreen Lotion, SPF 50
- CVS Sunscreen with Zinc Oxide, SPF 45+
- Olay Complete All Day Moisture Cream, SPF 15, Sensitive Skin
But I would stay away from Panama Jack, Banana Boat, Ocean Potion and Hawaiian Tropic :(
Check out the full list here: http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/
One last note: SPF probably doesn't mean what you think it does. The number basically just corresponds to the amount of time you can spend in the sun without burning (theoretically). An SPF of 50 only provides 1% to 2% more protection than an SPF 30, unless it contains additional ingredients to protect you from UVA rays, in addition to UVB (though according to the FDA, UVA protection is maxed out at SPF 15... yikes). A dermatology site recommends the following: "A good broad-spectrum sunscreen should have an SPF of at least 15 and contain avobenzone, titanium dioxide, or zinc oxide." Who knew dude? who knew...
Monday, June 21, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Unbelievable!
Monday, June 14, 2010
We were quite the diverse crowd on the beach
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
My beautiful best friend...
This is a tribute to my wonderful, lovely best friend, Emily Hampton....Nowell. ;)
We have been friends for about 9 years, and lived together almost 5 years. Norfolk became my home, and Emily (Bia) became my family. We have so so soooooooo many memories together and have been through a lot, always there helping one another to grow, and mature and become the people that we are supposed to be.
Bia is a very special person. She has the patience and aptitude to work with kids like none other, not even just kids, disadvantaged, neglected, and even homeless kids. She will try anything, and accomplish whatever she wants, when she puts her mind to it. 2 weekends ago, I witnessed her become the happiest Bia ever. As you can see, shamelessly displayed on this face below....
She's found the love of her life, and you bet I could tell from the very beginning that he was very different and special to her. I don't think she was used to guys that were true to their word, consistent, and responsible. Being the nurturing person she is, I've seen her drawn to certain people who end up sucking the life out of her because they don't want her help to become better, more mature people, though she would try and try to no avail. That wasn't the case this time, and I was extremely glad of that. Josh is a very unique person. He's responsible, and creative, and extremely hard working. He can set his mind to something and make it happen, like teaching himself how to work on motorcyles by reading books and watching videos. Who does that??? haha, it's definitely admirable.
Anyway, they are so happy, and I am very happy for them. They have a mutual respect and understanding that is really hard to find. They are a perfect example to me that it doesn't matter where you are or what you do or who you know, it's how you live. And i think they're killin' it. Love you guys so much, you mean the world to me. Best of luck as "The Nowells" ;-)
We have been friends for about 9 years, and lived together almost 5 years. Norfolk became my home, and Emily (Bia) became my family. We have so so soooooooo many memories together and have been through a lot, always there helping one another to grow, and mature and become the people that we are supposed to be.
Bia is a very special person. She has the patience and aptitude to work with kids like none other, not even just kids, disadvantaged, neglected, and even homeless kids. She will try anything, and accomplish whatever she wants, when she puts her mind to it. 2 weekends ago, I witnessed her become the happiest Bia ever. As you can see, shamelessly displayed on this face below....
She's found the love of her life, and you bet I could tell from the very beginning that he was very different and special to her. I don't think she was used to guys that were true to their word, consistent, and responsible. Being the nurturing person she is, I've seen her drawn to certain people who end up sucking the life out of her because they don't want her help to become better, more mature people, though she would try and try to no avail. That wasn't the case this time, and I was extremely glad of that. Josh is a very unique person. He's responsible, and creative, and extremely hard working. He can set his mind to something and make it happen, like teaching himself how to work on motorcyles by reading books and watching videos. Who does that??? haha, it's definitely admirable.
Anyway, they are so happy, and I am very happy for them. They have a mutual respect and understanding that is really hard to find. They are a perfect example to me that it doesn't matter where you are or what you do or who you know, it's how you live. And i think they're killin' it. Love you guys so much, you mean the world to me. Best of luck as "The Nowells" ;-)<3
Monday, June 7, 2010
Total Fatty!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
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