All posts filed under: favorites

Earth Friendly Companies and Why You Should Know Them

Published by chelsea

We are starting a new series on the blog where the three of us ladies will each be posting about the same topic. You guys all know the basic three themes to the blog — sea (for all things ocean related), field (for all things terrestrial) and tribe (for sharing life experiences with those around us). So naturally we have several other things we focus on that fall into these categories in some way, like sustainable living and health and wellness. One of my most important goals for the blog was to make it a place where you can come to learn something new. It essentially began as my photo journal for documenting new things I was trying, like learning to live a more simple life or learning how to live on an island (it’s not all rainbows and sunshine). Then the blog grew – it took on new authors to bring new perspective and ideas. So we’re joining together to bring you three different stories on the same issue. For the first go-around, we’ll …

in love with Avasol

Published by chelsea

I have been wanting to highlight this brand for a while now, and I’m thankful I found the time over the weekend to take some photos and showcase their amazing all natural sunscreen. Have you guys heard of Avasol before? I was first introduced to them from Capt. Liz Clark’s instagram feed – a wonderfully adventurous woman with the ocean in the core of her being. If there was anyone I would take sunscreen advice from, it is this woman. So naturally, being an islander now, I am always looking for better sunscreen options being as it has become part of my [sometimes] daily beauty routine. I was impressed, and I’m sold. I will never purchase another face stick again from any other company. Avasol has me by the curly, salty ponytail. Besides offering two tinted face sticks (see last photo; “dark” is on your left, and the regular “tan” is on your right), they also have full body sunscreen too. That’s next on my list to try. But first, you are going to want …

favorites: blemish fighting products

Published by chelsea

I have constantly battled blemish skin from an early age. Living in Texas, my skin was subjected to dry winters and hot summers. It’s partially environment, but a lot of genetics too. But since moving to Puerto Rico, where the humid keeps my face moist, but not excessively oily, I’ve found several products that keep my skin nourished and glowing. The best part? The majority – or all – of the ingredients are natural. Desert Essence Blemish Touch Stick | this product is 100% all natural. Harnessing the antimicrobial properties of tea tree oil, this stick does wonders to reduce redness and blemishes. I love this product so much, that I’ve completely stopped using my prescription medication for acne (whenever spots arise), in exchange for this. The trade off? This stick takes a couple days to produce results, whereas my medication is effective after one day. I’d rather deal with a zit for a bit longer if it means keeping chemicals off my face. Origins: A Perfect World Age Defense Skin Guardian | I have …

three favorite fitness sites

Published by chelsea

I’ve been trying to expand my fitness routine to include weights and strength training rather than just yoga and running. Now, I’m perfectly content with my workouts – I do a version of cross fit + yoga on Mondays, running or flow yoga Tuesday through Thursday, and core power yoga on Friday. Today – for Valentine’s Day- Evan and I engage in our first ever aerial yoga session (pictures and review to come next week!). Evan does not practice yoga, but exercises regularly and his stretching involves many common yoga poses. So we’re thinking this will be a great way to try something new, sweat a little, and grow closer together as a couple. I use blogs, websites and books to find new workouts, healthy living and recipes, inspiration and good deals on fitness and health items. I first heard about aerial yoga from my instructor here in Rincon, who runs our only aerial yoga studio. That prompted me to read more about it online, all the while discovering several valuable sites for fitness and …

paper love: artifact uprising

Published by chelsea

Print your Instagrams and photos on thick lush paper with matte style. I am in love with the quality and options from Artifact Uprising. If you haven’t checked them out yet, you’re missing out on some awesome, serious photo printing. As soon as Evan and I have our engagement photos taken, I’ll be printing our “guest book” with all the images of our sweet moment in December and the fun times in between now and April 2015. You won’t be disappointed with their quality or production time! Note* this is my own opinion, not a paid advertisement.

collect: vintage science lit

Published by chelsea

It arrived all the way from the UK.. The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson. Have you heard of her before? She’s none other than the lady who single handedly aided in starting the environmental revolution against chemicals and pesticides on our farmlands, cities and suburbs, in particular DDT (pesticide) – through her book Silent Spring. Rachel was a marine biologist during a time when women did not generally hold positions in science. She struggled against inequality, but had a knack for science literature. She wrote on her favorite subjects – the ocean, marine life, and protecting our environment to preserve it for later generations. Thanks to her, the US government was responsive to the pleas to investigate the effects of DDT, which eventually led to its ban. I found a picture of this book on Pinterest, that was bookmarked into a board called “design”, due to its intricate illustrations by Katherine Howe. I knew immediately of the author, and started my search to add this age old beauty to my vintage books collection. I …

a memoir of life lived boldly

Published by chelsea

I recently read a digital memoir by a lovely young writer – an ebook with videos to accompany the story – sort of a like a play script with snippets of the actual play. Chloe is a woman full of life and energy, passionately accounting her childhood years growing up in a chaotic world with a not-so-average mix of places and faces. Chloe wrote her memoir while spending some time studying abroad in Greece. I asked her to describe this experience: “Basically, I was out of my comfort zone, thousands of miles from home/everything I knew, and as a result of that combined with an amazing group of writers and mentors, I was able to completely let go of any predisposition I was harboring about writing things that I held on to so tightly” She has captured the story of her own life – however influenced by her mother, father, stepfather and siblings. Moving from place to place, making new friends and experiences, struggles, raising a mother, raising a brother and sister, trying to understand …

sustainable living: the homegrown collective green box

Published by chelsea

Well curated, perfect for my lifestyle, sustainable and practical. This is The Homegrown Collective‘s GREEN box. When this little surprise arrived in the mail, I was beyond eager to open it. I have been pondering these monthly goodie boxes for a while, but never really bothered to look much into any of them like Conscious Box or Birch Box. But when I stumbled upon this one, I just had to try it out. You know the purpose of my blog is to share my experiences with daily living, inspired by nature. I try to find ways to live more sustainably, more economically and cultivate a healthy lifestyle mentally, spiritually and physically. The Homegrown Collective seemed to be a great way to help foster this lifestyle by providing me with the tools and instructions to get anyone on this path. You should check out some of the past boxes – make your own kombucha? all about coconuts? Yes please! So, this month’s box is all about natural cleaning – sustainable laundry, to be specific. Partnering with …

be beautiful: better for you beauty buys on a budget

Published by chelsea

Sorry that title has a lot of alliteration. So you all know that I live on a student budget, because I am in fact still a student (but a grad student, which is basically a glorified form of a student). That doesn’t mean I’m poor (yes, it does) and that doesn’t mean that I always put my research before anything else in my life (that part is true). So I wanted to start a new little section called “be beautiful” , in which I’ll curate different aspects of healthy living, because this is a very important part of well being. Today, I’ll be talking about all natural (or close to it) beauty buys that you can easily find at your pharmacy. If you’re like me, then you might be a little hesitant to jump into the homemade beauty products and all natural organic skincare. Trust me, I’d love to switch completely, but I’m just so dang faithful to products that I know “work”. I have very sensitive skin, which is easily irritated by fragrancey face …

busy blogger’s book club | september review

Published by chelsea

I joined an online book club. Yes, that’s right – online. Started by my sweet friend Allie over at Call Me Sassafras, this was her brainchild to get us all reading and learning new things with basically no strings attached. No one to gawk at you during book discussions when you didn’t finish the chapters, no pressure to read through the night to finish — just a group of bloggers reading some enticing tales and then posting about it after our month long session. I’ve never done a book club before but had always been interested in such a way to motivate myself to read other works besides ichthyology texts and scientific papers. And it worked! In fact, I was so gripped by the first book of choice, that I finished it in three weeks (okay, I know some of you can read much faster BUT in this busy blogger’s life, three weeks is pretty darn fast for a pleasure read). The book was called The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. It’s a novel, …