Shinesty Matching Pajamas For The Holidays!

Happy Holidays! We have a tradition that we get new pajamas for the littles every year for Christmas. We love to do a theme or get something different that we wouldn't normally wear throughout the year. 

It's so much fun for the kids to open their Christmas pajamas early and we all wear them for tree trimming, cookie making and hot cocoa drinking!

This year Shinesty sent us these adorable Gingerbread Ninjas and we are in love! 

I washed them before the kids wore them and they are soft and so comfy. 

Check out Shinesty matching family pajamas and grab some for the holidays! 

Raw Vegan, What I Ate In My First 3 Days High Raw Vegan

You may or may not know that I have been vegan for 10 years an vegetarian for 17 years before that, for a total of 27 years veg. During that time I was fully raw vegan for about 2 years and high raw for sometimes in between all of that. I love the way my body feels on a high raw diet. I also find going fully raw is the best way for me to get myself back on track when I have gone too far toward processed vegan foods.

Greens and Pom Salad with Ginger Dressing

So, here I am about 1 week into a high raw/fully raw journey and I'm loving it! Another great thing about incorporating more high foods into my diet, is the littles eat what I eat for the most part, so they are getting more raw foods as well. It's been good for the whole family.

Apple Pie Bowl

Because I have been veg for 27 years and high raw during that period, I feel like getting back to raw is not such a big leap for me and I can get back into it fairly quickly. If you are not used to such a high amount of raw foods and even vegan foods, this may be a large leap for you. I advise to start slowly in that case with 1-2 meals per day. 

Lettuce Wraps

Here is what I ate on my 1st 3 days! 

6 Tips To Increase Your Water Intake, I Started Drinking 1 Gallon a Day!

This past year has been jam packed and as it goes when I get busy and preoccupied, my self care and health care takes a back seat to all else.

That is not okay and I am now changing that. One of the things I started slacking on was my water intake and physical activity. It seemed to go hand in hand and I could really tell I was dehydrated on a daily basis.

Challenges always help me to get back on track. It's something about accomplishing a short term goal that really drives me to stay the coarse long term.

So, I decided to challenge myself to drink 1 gallon of water per day for 3 days. Well, 3 days turned into 1 week, turned into my daily routine now. Some days I still hit the full gallon, some I don't, but keeping myself hydrated is a priority again and I'm feeling great!

A few things that have happened since starting the water challenge is:

Increased Mood

Better Sleep/Waking Earlier

Decreased Appetite

Weight Loss

Increased Moisture

Eliminated Bloating

Along the way, I discovered some things that helped me increase my water intake and stay consistent each day. One of the things that really made a difference was drinking good tasting and good for you water. Our fridge water filter has needed a change for quite some time and has been horrible tasting as of late. I never realized how much that contributed to me not drinking enough water daily.

Zero Water sent me a water pitcher with filter and what a difference just having that made for increasing my water intake! The water is so crisp and clean. Plus it comes with a water tester, so you know how many contaminants it is filtering out and if you need a new filter. I tested my fridge water, tap water and the Zero Water. The fridge was at 267, the tap 244 and Zero Water at 0 with no contaminants!

Here are 6 tips that I hope help you stay hydrated as well!

#1 Drink Water 1st Thing in the Morning.

#2 Drink Room Temperature Water.

#3 Be Active.

#4 Drink Good Tasting Water.

#5 Try Flavored and Sparkling Waters

#6 Have Water With You Every Where You Go

For more on how my water challenge went and results, check out the video below!

*This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase product from the links, I will receive a percentage as compensation without any extra cost to you. 

A Quick Remedy for Itchy Dry Scalp and Itchy Bug Bites

A hesitate to call what we are experiencing in Southern California Winter, but this dry Winter air has us hydrating and moisturizing so much more!

My hair and scalp rarely needs extra moisture outside of conditioner, but lately I have had a bit of an itchy dryness on my scalp. To quickly combat it, I use basically the same thing I use for bug bites, a mix of essential oils and either carrier oil or water.

I usually mix it up in my hand and rub it right on, but you can pre mix a batch in a small container or spray bottle for easy use.

The ingredients are:

1tbs coconut oil or water plus 2 large drops of tea tree or 4 small drops.

This on it's own works great, but sometimes I also add 2 small drops of lavender for extra itch relief and aromatherapy.

It truly stops the itch as soon as it's applied!

To see how it works in action, check out the video below.

I made a batch to oil my scalp before counting my locs.

For 12 Other Ways I Use Essential Oils, Including Combating Illness and Cleaning, Check Out THIS LINK