When to buy organic produce?

I have decided to start eating more organic produce and meats in order to eliminate pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones that aren't natural. I'm sure I could find science to go either way on the issue, but my common sense tells me that foods without alot of chemicals or tampering by humans are better for me.

In order to decide which foods are worth paying the organic premium, I asked the members of several online women's groups that I am a part of. One member pointed me to a great site called foodnews.org that lists fruits and veggies by their pesticide load. The ones at the top are worth buying organic. Those at the bottom are OK to buy conventional. They even have a great little wallet card they'll send you as a cheat-sheet in the grocery store.

I'm definitely going to take this into account during my future trips to the grocery store. The "Dirty Dozen" are foods I eat very often so it's likely I was eating more chemicals than I realized up to this point. No more! The research I've read also says that many organic foods actually have higher nutrient content than their convetionial counterparts so I'll get more bang for my fruit & veggie buck on top of it.

http://www.foodnews.org/fulllist.php

It's Send One Suit weekend

I have always been a big supporter of Dress For Success, an organization that helps struggling women put together professional outfits for job interviews so they can get a well-paying job and get their lives back on track. I donate year-round if I have appropriate clothes, but this weekend is "Send One Suit" weekend. You can drop off any suit or business separates at Dress Barn stores around the country and they will send it to Dress For Success. I strongly encourage you to participate! It's a great way to clear the clutter in your closet in preparation for spring, and help others at the same time. For more information check out the event website.

Great makeup remover find

I just got back from vacation with my BFF from college, K. She is a veritable encyclopedia of all things skincare and has tried pretty much every product or system out there. During the trip she let me try her makeup remover, Boscia's "Makeup Breakup" product. Wow. I was amazed at how well it worked to remove all my makeup - foundation, concealer, leftover eye makeup (after the eye makeup remover did it's thing). My skin looked great after a few days using it before my regular cleanser. You can bet that I'll be hitting the mall this weekend to pick some up for myself. Thanks K!

Thinking summer - new beachwear for 2010

It's mid-February, cold, snowy, and generally blah her in New England. But I'm thinking of warm weather for sure. It's time for a new swimsuit (mine is 4 years old) and I'm loving this mix and match set from Target.com. (Top and bottom both online)

I'm also loving this cover-up from Target because it covers my shoulders, which are prone to burning when all I have to put on over my swimsuit is a tank top. I don't mess around with sun-protection so a cover-up is a must. (an umbrella is even better!)

Daydreaming about warm weather is a survival skill employed by every New Englander this time of year, so I know I'm not alone. It's a little scary to think about swimsuit weather given how pale and bundled-up I am right now, but hopefully it will motivate me to get to the gym a little more often between now and when the mercury starts to rise!

My Favorite Things - February 2010

Time for this month's installment of "favorite things." Here's what I'm loving right now.

1. My new "Snuggie". OK, so it's not a real Snuggie because I didn't like the colors it came in. But my mom bought me a generic Snuggie (called a Snuggle) in dark green. I am wearing it right now and let me tell you...it is the best thing ever! I am always cold, and spend many nights on my computer on the couch. The Snuggie allows me to keep the heat down, surf my favorite blogs, and stay toasty warm!

2. Pyrex Portables. The second present my mom got me this weekend was an 8 x 11 Pyrex dish with a lid and a carrying case. It is awesome, because I attend alot of potlucks and always struggle to transport my culinary masterpieces (lol!) to the party. This solves the problem. It comes with a hot/cold pack, the dish, a lid, and carrying case with a handle. This baby's going to get alot of use!

3. My Garmin GPS. Anyone who knows me knows that I lack any sense of direction. My GPS gives me the confidence to go places and do things that I might not have done otherwise. Granted, it sometimes sends me home via some wacky routes. But I definitely feel as though I'm much more of an explorer with it than I was without it.

4. Real Simple magazine. I have a love/hate relationship with magazines. Sometimes I think they just rehash the same over-simplified advice month after month. But Real Simple I like, enough that I asked for a subscription for my birthday. I get alot of great ideas, advice, and reference sources from the magazine each month. A few of my favorite parts are the quote at the front of the magazine and the reader answers to a "Question Of The Month" (a friend was in there once!).

5. My new black boots. I had the same black ankle boots for years, and this year they had finally reached the end of their useful life (only after being re-heeled 3 times). So I went off to DSW to look for a new pair. I wasn't sure I was going to find that "perfect" boot again, but I did! They're Franco Sarto boots with a 3" block heel and a zipper up the back. I wore them to work a few days later and wow - they are SO comfortable! The heel is thicker than my old pair which makes them feel better for walking. And they look great with jeans or dress pants. Plus I only paid $64.95 for them. Given how often I expect to wear these boots and how long they'll likely last, they were a great deal.

Quote Of The Week 2/16/10

I love quotes. I collect them, in fact. So as a regular feature on the blog I'm going to post a favorite quote. Today I'll start with two, because I think they're both variations on the same idea. I suspect Colin Powell was familiar with the Aristotle quote and just put itin his own words:

If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.
- Colin Powell

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
- Aristotle

Love is...

Today is Valentine's Day, and you might think that as a single girl I'd be all sad and mopey. I'm not, because I realized today that love is about so much more than a romantic relationship. Sure, I wish I had Mr. Right next to me on the couch right now. But I have so much love in my life that when I do find him it will just be the icing on the cake. Until then, I take heart in the fact that love is...

• Helping your mom with all things technology-related
• Lunch with your family at a local diner
• A valentine's day card from your grandfather
• Little gifts from your mother that she gives you for no reason (I got a Snuggie!!)
• Visiting someone in the hospital even though hospitals creep you out
• Giving someone a birthday present they like
• The time and effort a friend puts in to having people over
• When someone gets excited about the anniversary of your first "friend-date"
• The excitement you feel about finally visiting with a friend despite your busy schedules
• Offering to watch a friend's child so she can spend time alone with her husband
• A friend trusting you enough to leave their child with you
• A two year old asking you to read a book to them "again, again!"

All these things happened to me in the last 2 days. So while I may not have gotten any roses today, I have no shortage of love to celebrate.

I've been pegged (at least my design style has!)

I got my first gift-subscription issue of Real Simple magazine in the mail today, and the editor's letter piqued my interest right off the bat. It talked about the difficulty many women have putting a name to their personal design style. The article pointed me to a quiz on p. 158 that promised to help me name my style. I was skeptical, but what the heck...off to p. 158 I go.

The quiz was unique - it had no words. Only pictures of items with directions to circle the items that appeal to you visually. I'm not normally a visual person so this was a neat exercise for me. There were letters associated with each image, and after you were done the goal was to count up how many "As" you circled, how many "Bs", etc.

I had mostly Cs and As, which translate in their scoring system to two styles - Sophisticated Classic and Cozy Comfort.

Wow. That's actually pretty spot on. In real life I'm all about cozy comfort, but I aspire to be more sophisticated and classic in most areas - decor, clothing, reading and listening preferences. I typically end up with a room that's somewhere in between. Comfortable and cozy with a few sleek pieces thrown in.

The article also suggested a few places I might like to shop in both categories, and where to shop if you fall in between two of them. A few of the stores were brands I already like such as Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Ralph Lauren. But there were a few new ones I'd never heard of, like Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Baker, and Ballard Designs.

If you're trying to find your style, pick up a copy of the mag and take the quiz - it might help you focus a bit. I also like the quiz associated with the HGTV series Find Your Style (I can no longer find it in between 875 consecutive episodes of House Hunters, but it was a good show) . Luckily the quiz is still up on the site even though the show itself seems to be gone.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

It was my luck to be born to a father in the jewelery business. So I have always had a taste for fine jewelery that has far outweighed my budget. I saved up and bought myself a pair of diamond earrings for my 30th birthday, which I love and wear on special occasions.

Right now there are two more items on my wish list. Given that it's the freezing depths of winter I thought sharing pretty, shiny things might make us all feel a little happier. Being single I know I won't be receiving any such baubles for Valentine's Day this year, but who knows...someday.

If I were to be asked what I want for Valentine's Day, this would be at the top of my list:

Blue topaz surrounded by diamonds, set in white gold.

In additon to that, I do plan to someday have the diamond from my grandmother's engagement ring set into a pendant. I was helping a coworker decide what to do with her too-small wedding set this weekend when I saw this bezel setting at a jewelers in downtown Boston:

I normally don't like bezel sets but this one was so thin it almost disappears. I love how delicate it looks, but still keeps the stone safe.

Someday...