Five Favorites Take 2

Welcome to Five Favorites (of randomness)! For more five favorites, visit Moxie Wife. I'm not sure if she's doing it this Tuesday, but since I rarely actually write a post and I did this in anticipation, well, it's going up anyway :). Well, you should visit her anyway - one of my favorite bloggers!

1. Consignment Shops

 We have several really adorable consignment shops in our area. My favorite one for the kids recently closed and it made me a little sad, but I have discovered a couple others that, while they don't have the same homey feel, they are still really great to browse. AND the best part is they have Facebook pages, so I can let my fingers do the shopping (even if just window shopping). Consignment stores are like treasure chests for me. I love going in and never knowing exactly what I'm going to find. There's one particular one that I love for me. The layout is easy to navigate and the ladies who work there are so nice. I will admit to being a brand-snob; not the kind that only wears something expensive, but I'm picky. I love Target brand clothing just as much as Banana Republic, but there are some on both ends I just am not a fan of. Consignment shops tend to be a bit pricier than your average thrift store or garage sale, but I don't have to sift through the garbage because clothing and accessories are always in excellent condition. Now, don't get me wrong - I love thrift stores and garage sales as well, but when I'm looking for something in particular, I always head straight to the consignment shop first.

2. ACV and Baking Soda

 I have discovered two great uses for these bad boys. Toilet bowl cleaner and shampoo/conditioner combo. Yes, those seem to be on opposite ends and it kind of sounds gross that I put those two uses in the same phrase, but they truly are great for both (and cheap!). My favorite apple cider vinegar (ACV) is Braggs, but really, it's only because I haven't really tried any others (once, I tried Whole Foods' 365 brand and it seemed to work well too).

Toilet bowl cleaner recipe: 1/2 cup baking soda (add in first all around) and 1 cup of ACV. Scrub and flush. Voila! And I love the reaction that comes from combining the two.

Shampoo/conditioner: Roughly 2 tbsp of baking soda - mix with equal parts warm water. Soak and scrub in base of scalp all over. Rinse thoroughly. 1/4 cup of ACV with 1 cup of warm water. Start at ends of hair and work your way up. Leave the ACV in a couple of minutes and rinse. Soft, beautiful hair!

3. Hawthorne Threads

 When I'm unable to shop my local fabric shops (because taking 3 kids anywhere is an adventure, and not always of the fun variety), I love to hop online to Hawthorne Threads to make my fabric purchases. They have a wide range of choices and some great ways to search/browse fabrics, plus some adorable patterns! They also offer discounts, the more yardage you buy. I heart them. A lot. (I can't put a < with a 3 on this blog apparently. It freaks out on me.)

4. This Post on Strange Gods and Simplifying

 Betty Duffy linked two things that have been on my mind over the last week. Thanks to Relevant Radio for their interview with Elizabeth Scalia on her new book and the fact that my smallish apartment seems to be never-endingly overflowing with STUFF and voila! Perfect post for me. Seriously. Go over and read it. You won't be sorry. :)

5. Fertility Friend app

 I must say that I'm not a terribly great NFPer. Well, Mr. ADM and I aren't. And by "not terribly great" I mean, we're pretty lazy. And by that I mean, we use the sympto-thermal method, but I never temp...as in, I've temped maybe 5 times in the last 2 years. Yeah. But, I am thankful because I do have regular cycles (I know - more than you EVER wanted to know about me), so it's easy to use Fertility Friend without recording many of my NFP signs (if you don't know what this is and aren't afraid of TMI, ask away! It's totally interesting and a great tool for getting to know your body and NFP is a great tool to strengthen your marriage!) and still be right on the ball as to the whens of my monthly cycles.

Five Favorites (vol. 1)

I'm hoping to get this blog up and running again and what better way to start then a little Five Favorites with Moxie Wife? So, here it goes...

1. Glass Water Bottle

Lifefactory makes a wonderful glass water bottle with a silicone covering. After I threw out my plastic one that probably had BPA and other toxins in it, I tried out a couple stainless steel ones. My kids love theirs, but the water tasted metal-ly to me and I was not so much a fan. I had been eyeing these for MONTHS at Whole Foods and when I went back to work full-time, I splurged as a "congrats on getting a job" present to myself. Worth every penny. I take it with me everywhere and no metal-tasting water! Plus, they come in all sorts of cute colors! And yes, it's been dropped without breaking so far :).

2. Maxi Skirts

My grand plan is to make my own. No, I'm not pregnant (right now), but I figure I might as well make a couple that I *can* wear while pregnant too! They just look so comfortable and feminine and fairly simple to make. 

3. Getting Blog Posts via Email

Since I deactivated my Facebook account, I found all this free time and realized that I had some catching up to do with my favorite blogs that got neglected along the way. Since my time is spent between 3 different computers and a smartphone when I have some downtime (ie. lunch, after the kids go to bed, naptimes on the weekends, etc.), I can't just add them to my favorites, so I signed up for posts to appear in my inbox. Now, I receive way too much junk mail as it is, but I've found that I can just stick them in a folder and then when I have some free time, I go to my folder and catch up! I'm loving this new part of my virtual life!

4. My Juicer

Being in a GAPS dieting home, juicing has become part of our daily life. We spent part of our tax return money to buy one and I have been very happy overall with the juicer. The kids LOVE juicing and beg for it most days. I've been enjoying the benefits as well. The only downside? Cleaning up. I bought one that said cleaning up was not too bad since some juicers apparently are a pain. If this one is the "easy" version, I don't want to know what harder clean-up involves. 

5. GAPS diet

With our juicer, I have to add that while this hasn't been an easy road for our family, I love being on the GAPS diet right now. It's a difficult regimen to follow and we aren't following it as strictly as we should, but we started this journey attempting to solve the problem behind my oldest son's eczema. His eczema hasn't cleared up or even started looking better yet, after 3 months of being on this diet, but we're working on that more intensely now. And I've finally begun losing weight and feel better! My kids have become less picky in their eating habits and we aren't eating junk now at home. To learn more about GAPS, you can go to this website.

To read more Five Favorites, hop on over to Moxie Wife.