From the source

Once upon a time, 1989 to be exact, I spent the night at my new friend Jill's house. Her parents had a big whirlpool bathtub, which for whatever reason seemed fancy at the time, so I took a bath before going to bed that night. (Stay with me.) I reached over to borrow their shampoo, which happened to be Aveda's Shampure, and from that day forward, I've used Aveda products ever since. Not only have I tried every single thing in their line, I exclusively wear their perfumes, I own this book, I drink their tea, burn their candles and I have about 3 trillion points on my Pure Privilege card. Suffice it to say, I am a fan.

When you stick with a company for 22 years, you see a lot of changes. I was disappointed when founder, Horst Rechelbacher, sold his beloved company to Estee Lauder back in 1997. While they have made technological advances over the years, I began to question some of their misleading advertising. For all of the wonderful Ayurvedic and environmental principles that Aveda touts, there are simply way too many unnatural and potentially dangerous ingredients in their products. I've been making exceptions with this brand for too long! Unfortunately, their fragrances (in both my hair care and perfume) had become my signature scent and I wasn't ready to let that go. Until yesterday.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that Rechelbacher started a new company (in 1994, nonetheless!) called Intelligent Nutrients. Why I am only just now learning about this is beyond me, but from what I gather, it seems that he was under a pretty extensive non-compete with Estee Lauder. In the meantime, he's been developing this new line of products based on many of the same principles that Aveda was founded on, but without the mixed message of using questionable ingredients. His new company is focused on making truly plant-based, food grade, pesticide free, organic products. Can I get an "AMEN?" My loyalty has left the building!

I had to hold myself back from buying one of everything. I liked the packaging, the aromas (very reminiscent of Aveda), but mostly the organic and thoughtful ingredients. I started with the Certified Organic Anti-Aging Serum and the Certified Organic Lip Delivery Nutrition. (I'll be sure to let you know what I think.) And I will absolutely be purchasing one or more of their perfumes. They also supply a whole slew of other products for hair care, skin care, aromatherapy, baby/maternal care, nutritional supplements, home products, even pet care. Hold me back, people!

Intelligent Nutrients can be found at: Whole Foods, Barneys or online.
Image credit

PS. I found an interesting article in the Telegraph all about Mr. Rechelbacher, the history of Aveda and his current mission with his latest venture. Read it [here.]

Account Balance

The idea that I am not coming off genuine or relatable here is a really hard thing to swallow.

For years on end, I readily shared every story about myself and my past with anyone willing to listen; the good, the bad, the wild, the embarrassingly awful things that no one should talk about again. I told it all.

I used to think that all my quirks and foibles made me more interesting -- but now I am pretty sure they only made me look crazy. Some things are better left unsaid, because really, who cares if I made out with girls, went to jail, or killed a man? Life in our 30's can be just as exciting as our 20's, right?

Uhh... let me tell you about the wild trip I just took to San Diego! Or, why don't we chat about my failed relationships. Yeahhhh. Fun stuff. 

I've found that the only person that needs to come to terms with my past is me. I'd like to think I can stand alone without any of those stories giving me credence or entertainment value. My only goal now is to not relive my history but to transcend it.

My struggle with being open and maintaining privacy here is something I will always have trouble with. I find it incredibly challenging to teeter in the middle of sharing, but not over-sharing. It is in my nature to talk and tell it like I see it, but life has a funny way of shutting us up and turning us off. Mostly I fight that feeling, but sometimes I wonder if it is just my ego doing the talking or am I simply learning to internalize as I grow older? Honestly, I'm not sure which is better.

Do you feel like you are really being honest on your blogs and/or with your friends OR are you hiding behind your recipes, photos, idle chatter about fashion, design and all the other fluff that surrounds us on a daily basis? 

Pause, record.

I promise to answer your questions from last week's post, but I need to decompress after an intense weekend of work and travel. In the meantime, I was compelled to write about a fantastic documentary I watched last night called,
"Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest." 

{Flashback time!} It's funny to think that a bunch of (mostly) white people in Alaska (about as far away from the scene as possible) could be so into it hip-hop, but it was a huge part of my high school culture. Rhymes and beats filled the soundtrack of our lives; including first kisses, school dances, hanging with friends, and house parties. And as hard as it may be to imagine, I spent many years making my own pause tapes, attempting to mix beats with funky loops.

Ours was the second wave of hip-hop with favorites like: De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Beastie Boys, Leaders of the New School, Black Sheep, 3rd Bass, MC Lyte, Cypress Hill, Wu-Tang Clan, The Beatnuts, Digital Underground, KMD, Souls of Mischief, Everlast, Nice + Smooth, Schooly D, Erik B. & Rakim, Slick Rick, The Jungle Brothers, Run DMC, LL Cool J and Public Enemy.

I found this film to be so inspiring and highly recommend it to anyone that was a fan of the "Golden Age" of hip-hop. Watching A Tribe Called Quest's story unfold gave me butterflies as it brought me back in time. To this day, I am still enamored with sampling and the true art form of collaging old, forgotten tracks with clever rhyming. Frankly, I miss that era. But... I also feel pretty lucky to have lived through such a creative and unique period of musical evolution.

Modern Mixtape Vol. 11: Cut Me Off

I'm off to San Diego for a weekend of photo shoots and hanging with Jora and her lovely crew. Fingers crossed, I finally get to meet Desi, too! Why do all the best girls have to live in California?

Before I go I wanted to leave you with a new mixtape. I've been rocking most of these songs for the past couple of months, so I'd say it's time to finally share the love.

Bands include:

M83, Neon Indian, JEFF the Brotherhood, Black Lips, Wye Oak, Caveman, Tasseomancy, Loch Lomond, Pepper Rabbit, Quilt, Dum Dum Girls, Tammar, Peter Wolf Crier, Gotye, Beirut and Washed Out. Enjoy!

Download HERE.

Listen over HERE on 8Tracks.

{If you like what you hear, don't forget to support the artists, too!}

Into the Light

Do you remember the old-school "National Delurker Day?" Does that still exist?

In the nearly 5 years I've been blogging, I've never participated because I assumed I had no delurkers. But all of that changed last week when two different people told me they read but never comment. I was honestly shocked. I have delurkers! Whoo Hoo!!!

I know I haven't done much to keep regular readers around or for that matter, given anyone reason to comment. Only a handful of you respond to my posts (barring those lovely Middle Eastern spammers, What up?!) of which I am very grateful for your words.

Even though I say I blog for myself, it really does feel better when you know there are people out there that care enough to comment.

I've been thinking a lot about the evolution of this space and how I need to make some changes. I know I've said this before, but I wasn't quite sure what was wrong (other than general negligence) until now. When I first started blogging, I was open and personal. Over the course of time, I quieted down and became rather detached. This disturbs me because I'm honest and forthright in real life. It's time that I reclaim some of my original realness.

I hope you will help me recreate my little blog community! If you're a delurker (how I loathe that word), please come out of the darkness this week and say hi! If you are a regular reader and/or commenter, I'd like to know what you enjoy about this blog and what you'd like to see more of. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Travelogue: Maui

"Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac.

It's funny how one can be so good at packing, planning and constantly going... But when it comes to arriving home from each journey, why, she's as clumsy and novice as the next!

At what point will I be nimble enough to slip in and out of life with grace? Is that even possible? When I find out friends, I will let you know!

✈ ✈ ✈ ✈

After a good night's sleep and a great yoga class, I'm finally beginning to feel normal again. You know, just in time for our next trip -- HA! It helps that traces of sand linger (Hawaiian sand embeds like no other!) and our bronzed skin still hints of coconut and plumeria.

As I mentioned before, Maui conjures up a lot of memories for me. I spent many a youthful holiday there and well... frankly, I expected to remember more than I did. Yet when I arrived, it was mostly a series of déjà vu moments.

Honey! I recognize this airport. I am sure we stayed in these condos and this patch of trees seems strangely familiar..."

It made me reconsider my stance on childhood travel and how it affects us as we age.

HIGHLIGHTS + SUGGESTIONS:

DRIVE to the Iao Valley. This was the most "tropical" area we visited on the island and it's chock full of history; from natural volcanic events to battles and burial grounds. It's centrally located and very easy to get to. In fact, if you can drag yourself away from the beach, Maui presents a lot of great opportunities for hiking! My children were only up for the short hike to the Iao Needle and around the botanical gardens, but there were much longer hikes deep into the rainforest valley. Regardless, we enjoyed this spot of greenery. There's also a nice Heritage garden at the bottom of the road, also worth a quick stop.

CHILL in Paia. Hands down this was our favorite little village. It has a great, Earthy-Artist-Hippie vibe! We loved the food at the Flatbread Pizza company. Their primitive oven makes killer pizza and the salads, desserts and beer were equally delicious! Also, check out the Buddhist Stupa, Mana Health Food Store and Mandala Ethnic Arts.

SNORKEL with The Ocean Project: I have to thank good, old TripAdvisor for this recommendation! I found it at the last minute, so we were lucky to book an excursion before we left. Our instructor and guide, Mel, is a marine biologist and educator. We met him at the beach and before our snorkel tour, he taught us about marine life. I learned a bunch of interesting facts myself! It was the perfect introduction for what we might encounter on the trip. He then suited us up, took complete control over the children (which was awesome!) and we all went out to view the coral reefs and sea turtles. It was an incredible experience, especially swimming with turtles, and it was a perfect way for the children to learn how to snorkel. (I'm pretty sure I was thrown into the ocean with a mask and fins to fend for myself!) The children each had disposable cameras and I had my own fun, little arrangement (more on that another time), so there was a photographic component to this adventure that made it even more exciting! I would HIGHLY recommend anyone traveling to Maui with children to do this.

HIKE the Bamboo Forest. I owe Desi big time for sharing this with me. Recommendations from friends mean EVERYTHING when traveling. This was probably one of the most memorable things (other than our snorkel trip) that we did. It's kind of a magical place that takes you on a rugged trail to four different waterfalls. Unfortunately, we didn't go all the way to the end (where supposedly you have to climb a rickety ladder and then swim in a pool to reach the last waterfall.) It was challenging enough climbing a 5 + 7 year old up a muddy hillside with a rope, but it was fun all the same! You feel so tiny in comparison to the tall trees and when the wind blows, it sounds like you're in the middle of an enormous bamboo wind chime! From there, I really wanted to drive all the way to Hana, but alas, no one else in the car agreed. If you don't make it around the Eastern half of the island, be sure to stop and do this hike. While you're there, look for the Rainbow Eucalyptus trees just around the next bend. (Both are near Mile Marker 7.)

SEE Haleakala National Park. I support national parks regardless of their touristy nature, so this was a requisite in my book. I will say, it was the longest 37 miles I've ever driven. Seriously! But once you get to the top and are overlooking the clouds, it's totally worth the car and altitude sickness. Look for the endemic Hawaiian Silversword plant and keep an eye out for interesting birds (we saw a bunch.) The view is spectacularly eery. (Why is it that every single crater I've ever been to has the weirdest energy? Hmm...)

BEACH IT: Let's be honest, the number one reason to come to Hawaii is for some quality time at the beach. I desperately need to relax more, so the majority of our days were spent either in the water or by it. I love swimming in the ocean! (I went to the hotel pool once.) We tried to visit as many beaches as we could, but Ka'anapali and Makena were our two favorites. They're both totally touristy, but equally lovely. Ka'anapali is long, fairly wide and the waves are mostly tame, making it the safest for children. This was the first time our kids really swam in the ocean, so it was fun to teach them how to body surf and be aware in the sea. When they weren't in the water, they were happily building sandcastles or splashing around. We snorkeled and Stand Up Paddle surfed there, too. Makena Beach, on the other hand, was without a doubt the prettiest beach we encountered. (Think lighter, soft sand, turquoise water and greenery -- something you'd likely find on a more exotic coastline.) BUT... the waves, shorebreak and current are dangerous! It's best for sunbathing or watching the sunset.

Now that I've revisited the island, I don't feel the need to go back any time soon, but I am glad that I was able to see it again as an adult. I've now pieced together the bits of memories I'd collected over the years to form a picture of what Maui really is. I can put a check mark next to its name, as COMPLETE. There's a big world out there waiting for me to explore!