Wise words from TV

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DIY all natural body products - Tooth Paste

When I first stumbled over a recipe for homemade tooth paste I was very excited to try it, but I just wasn't ready to deny myself the bubbles of regular tooth paste, so I did not even finish the first batch. But, after having replaced body lotion, body scrub, facial cleanser and deodorant, it felt like the obvious next step to make my own.

So, with determination I concocted anoter batch and this time I did not think it tasted so bad after all. I am still using regular tooth paste in the morning, but in the evenings it's only been my homemade tooth paste for a few months. Half the waste is better than all the waste, right?

And now I present to you the foolishly easy recipe that I adapted from Trash is for Tossers:

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 1/2 tablespoons baking soda
25-30 drops Organic food grade peppermint essential oil

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients. (Foolishly easy, right?)

Xoxo, have a great week!

PS: I am no physician or chemist, so I can not guarantee these recipes to work or be absolutely safe. As always, please be very careful with homemade products and test them in a small area first.

Update September 3rd, 2015: I have now switched to using this tooth paste mornings and evenings and after 2 or 3 days of adapting my mouth and teeth feel great!

DIY all natural body products - Body Butter

You all know how I am trying to live a greener, more sustainable life - and for most part still fail to do so. However, there are a few parts of my life where I already managed to either recycle, reuse or cut out substances that are harming the environment. --> See my other posts on 20 ways.

I have always been a little sensitive when it comes to my skin, for example I couldn't stand the feeling of 100% wool, or very often felt itchy after taking a shower. And once I started reading about all the harmful ingredients found in most body butters, body lotions, shower gels and hair products, I decided to try and make my own.

When starting out, I was a little worried if I would like the feeling on my skin, if it would work as good as the commercial stuff, if it would spoil real quick because of the missing preservatives.

I was thrilled after I first tried making my own body butter. I absolutely loved the fluffy, creamy feeling on my skin, it worked even better than the commercial products I had used before (it was absorbed by my skin just as normal body lotion and the skin was soooooo soft) and it doesn't spoil for about 2-3 months.
Since then I have made quite a few batches of body butter with alternating ingredients, but always with the following recipe in mind, which I have adapted from One Good Thing by Jillee:

Ingredients:
1 cup shea butter/cocoa butter
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup olive oil (or almond oil, jojoba oil or any healthy, organic oil)
30-40 drops of essential oil

Instructions:
1. Melt the shea butter and coconut oil and let cool for about 20 minutes.
2. Stir in olive oil and essential oil.
3. Let sit until the mixture starts to solidify.
4. Whip until you get a butter like consistency (duration will vary depending on how solid the mixture already was)

There will be more posts with recipes and instructions for a body scrub, body wash, deodorant and
tooth paste which all work great, so be sure to check back.

Xoxo, have a great week!

PS: PS: I am no physician or chemist, so I can not guarantee these recipes to work or be absolutely safe. As always, please be very careful with homemade products and test them in a small area first.

Colorful summer mix

This last week I've been feeling playful - with summer in full swing, temperatures (almost) in the 30s and a few of my best friends coming to visit I felt like I needed something colorful and relaxed. So I came up with this easy and light nail design:

Xoxo, have a great week!

PS: Sorry for the bad quality of the pictures - it was already very late that day.

60 15 - Month No. 5, 6, 7 & 8

I have been rather lax with the 60 tasks in 15 months challenge these past few months and have not been able to tick off too many tasks. But as it's been a few months since I last gave you an update I feel like it would be great to take a look at what's changed.
Since I have moved to the US in March, a few of the tasks I set for myself are no longer doable. I have not yet come up with new tasks for all the ones I had to discard, but decided to wait for a flash of inspiration and will continue working on the list then.

Soooo, these are the discarded tasks:
No 3. 15 visits to a sauna - no need for saunas in sunny California
No 5. censored
No 11. visit grandma 20 times - she's still in Austria
No 12. invite my family for a house warming party - not living in that apartment anymore
No 13. have a game night with my friends from the dance class
No 20. have a dinner/game night with my boyfriend's brothers - we had one, but could not squeeze the second one in before moving
No 24. declutter and organize my jewelry - I didn't take all of it with me
No 26. buy a carpet to go with the wing chair - don't live in that apartment anymore, won't be using the chair for quite some time
No 28. clean the doors in the apartment - did not make it before moving
No 30. finally plant spider plant cuttlings - hopefully they'll survive in their water glasses until I return next year
No 36. go 200 days without using my car - impossible in the US
No 44 + No 45. get at least 25 ects credits at university + work out digital filing system - obviously university has to wait for a few more years
No 50. visit London - will visit some other city
No 59. sort through my hand bags and sell/give away unused ones - I didn't take all of them with me

Now, let's talk about the tasks I finished.
First of all, I went to the opera with my mum to see Evita, that ticks off task No. 32. Just before we moved to the US, I managed to declutter and clean out our bathroom cabinet (No. 22) and wash all the windows in the apartment (No. 27). I felt like I had to do that as a colleague of ours was to move into our apartment while we are away.

I also went to eat a cupcake from Take the Cake (No. 40), but was disappointed because it wasn't anything like I expected it to be.

Once we got to the US we went to see a game of the San Francisco Giants, which I will count for task No. 31. We also already made a road trip to Los Angeles, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, which finishes off task No. 52.

How are you doing working on your resolutions/tasks for 2015?

Xoxo, have a great week!

Wise Words

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Wise Words

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Wise Words

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Wise Words

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Wise Words

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20 ways... to reuse every day plastic garbage

I've now been in the US for about a month and I am shocked over and over again about how much of plastic garbage one "has to produce" every day. I am using "has to" because there is no way one could avoid all the plastic that is used. You "have to" buy most of the food in plastic bags or packaging, you "have to" buy drinking water in plastic containers, you "have to" eat your food with plastic cutlery because there is no other available. Of course some of this could be sidestepped but only with a huge effort and most people (me included) would never think of for example bringing their own cutlery to a restaurant or bring their own containers for take-out food.

Anyhow, there are many, many ways to at least reuse the unavoidable plastic containers/bags/packaging a few times before throwing them out.

A few of my ideas I have already incorporated in our daily life, such as:

reusing plastic bags as waste bin liner, to keep bread fresh, as batting for packages, to store food in the fridge

reusing vegetable/fruit packaging as a piggy bank (you could even get a little crafty and decorate it)

reusing food containers to store other food/odds and ends in

reusing water bottles as planters for herbs and other small plants

reusing take-out containers as planters

Xoxo, have a great week!

Wise Words

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History of the Eagles Live in Concert

I am so excited! I will go see the concert of the Eagles in Bakesfield, CA this May! Ever since I got accepted for the project that I moved to California for, I wanted to see at least one memorable concert. And I always had the Eagles in the back of my mind because I had been a big fan for quite a few years now and I knew there would be a great chance they would perform somewhere near San Francisco.

I just love the way Tequila Sunrise reminds me of holidays spent on the beach, watching the waves roll in and enjoying the sun on my body. Or Desperado, which always makes me feel a little melancholic.

This will be the first real concert I ever went to and I get that tingly feeling of excitement whenever I think about it :)

And because it's such a classic, here's Hotel California by the Eagles for you:

Xoxo, have a great week!

Wise Words

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Wise Words

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UNICEF Tap Project

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I have recently read an article on Treehugger about the UNICEF Tap Project. Personally, I am all for helping people - even more so if it is for free.

The Tap Project gives you a chance to donate water to people who do not have access to clean drinking water. To donate enough water for one day all you have to do is leave your phone alone for 15 minutes. You are not allowed to move or use your phone during that time. I know, it does sound like a long time, but how often are we all caught up in tasks we know will take more than 15 minutes.

It's really easy, you don't even have to sign up or download anything. All you have to do is visit this websitehttp://tap.unicefusa.org/ on your phone and tap continue. Thanks to everyone who is helping to make the world a better, more live- and loveable planet. And think about all the great karma you will be generating! :)

Xoxo, have a great week!

Wise Words

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Adventure USA

Quick update: We are in the USA now, but there's sooo much to see and do and find out that I've got almost no time write posts apart from uploading a few pictures now and then on my other blog 1001 Orte. It is in German, but there is a translate button on the right hand side and pictures generally speak for themselves anyway :)

Also, in my head I am working on a few posts about sustainability and green living. Stay tuned, I will post a new article as soon as I've got a little more time to actually sit down and get some writing done.

Xoxo, have a great week!

Wise Words

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Wise Words

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Wise Words

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Approved!

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My visa has been approved and I will be flying over to the States next week. I am sooo excited!

Now it's time to start packing and deciding on what to take with me and what to leave behind. I am positive that this won't be too hard as there are so many amazing shops in the US that we don't have in Europe, so I will just "have" to go shopping to compensate. ;)

I am so excited about this opportunity to live a few months in the country of Carrie Bradshaw, Hollywood, Modern Family, Disneyland, Rory Gilmore, the Grand Canyon, James Dean, superlatives, Hawaii, Baywatch and sooooo many other things that burst into my head when I think of the US. Sorry for all the clichés, I know there is far more to a country than TV shows and a few land marks.

I'll try and let you know how everything is going, but I'm afraid that I'll only be able to post infrequently as there is so much new stuff I have to explore, find out and get used to.

Xoxo, wish me luck! ;)

Wise Words

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Colorful

Fiiiinally I have got another nail design for you, it's been an eternity since I last painted my nails anything other than plain color. Last weekend during watching my new favorite TV show Masters of Sex, I decided to try one of the many inspirational nail arts I have on my Pinterest boards. And I think they turned out pretty amazing. But see for yourself.

Here's the inspiration:

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Here's my version:

Xoxo, have a great week!

Wise words

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Wise words

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Wise Words

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DIY Valentine's Day Inspiration

Saturday is Valentine's day! I'm excited for all the pink and delicious desserts you could make for your sweetheart to show them your love. And there are so many simple, yet so beautiful DIY ideas out there too.

sources: Jerry Jam Heart Pie Pops - White Chocolate Bark Bites - Heart Mugs - Banana Message - Chocolate Pretzels

sources: Wall of Paper Hearts - Heart Shaped Lotion Bars - Key Valentine's Card - Paper Votives - Borax Crystal Hearts

Xoxo, have a great Valentine's day!

USA - here I come!

Great changes are taking place this year! We’re moving to the US - only for a year, but I am sooo excited already and it’s getting more exciting by the hour :)

It’s been a blur of organizing stuff and getting ready for our first trip to the states before we actually move here in March. We are here in – not so sunny (for the time being) – California right now, finding an apartment, setting up bank accounts and all sorts of other stuff that has to be done.

Because of all that I haven’t been able to spend too much time on the 60 tasks  15 months challenge. However, my mum treated me to brunch during our Christmas holidays, so that starts off tasks no. 17.  The same goes for task no. 38, because I sorted through my nail polish collection and managed to throw out one bottle of nail polish and am planning on using up more. Although I didn’t have too much time, I read 5 books during the holidays and went to the beach last weekend.

Unfortunately, as we are going to the US I will not be able to go on with my university studies, so I will have to change the tasks related to that. I am also afraid, that I won’t be able to follow through with task no. 36, because I don’t think I can go so many days without using a car once we are in the US.

Anyway, I am excited and thrilled about this opportunity – I always wanted to live in the US for a while – and determined to make the very best of this year!

Xoxo, have a great w
eek!