When I’m about to embark on a summer adventure, I always do the final check before walking out the door—keys, wallet, water, and lip balm. Being ill-equipped with any of these staples puts a real damper on my ability to take impromptu diversions on the roads less traveled.

As the warmer weather hits, many of us rely more heavily on deodorant. It’s one of the personal care products that even those who live an overall healthy lifestyle still can’t give up. Truthfully, I have been one of those people. Commercially purchased deodorants simply work more reliably and for a longer period of time—but at what cost?

As I move and shake my way out of cool-weather hibernation (and try to shed some extra winter insulation), smoothies become the perfect breakfast and/or lunch for me. These nutritious drinks keep me feeling light, but still nourished and focused, and I love discovering new ingredients to add to my favorite blended recipes.

Each year when Mother's Day rolls around, I seek gifts that will make Mom feel loved and appreciated. I also aim to get her gifts that she will actually use. You would think I'd have it down to a science by now, but as May rolls around each year, finding the right gift seems to get even harder. Maybe it's because the older I get, the more I appreciate my Mom and want her to know that, or maybe it's that I've gifted her so many things over the years that I want it to be different. What I do know is that she most enjoys my homemade gestures of love. She knows I took my time to make her something, tailored it to her preferences, and created things she can use instead of things that will collect dust or create clutter. 

This April, we celebrated our state’s first Native Plant Appreciation Month, which got us thinking about the incredible botanicals in our ecosystem. We often get the question, “What’s your favorite plant?” While it’s hard to narrow down our lists, one particular herbal ally has resounding popularity amongst our staff: Oregon grape. This year, as Oregon grape kept showing up at the top of our favorites list, obviously wanting to be the spotlight of a story, we decided Native Plant Appreciation Month was a good time to oblige.

I am a four-season sandal wearer. I love allowing my feet to breathe and the feeling of being unconfined. During rain, shine, and sometimes light snow, my feet are ready to be bare at a moment’s notice. If an impromptu forest bathing opportunity or grounding session calls my name, I don’t have to worry about laces, ties, or the other constricting elements of standard shoes. My feet are free!

I am a sucker for a colorful drink, and I will sheepishly admit that this bevvy was inspired by a popular coffee chain sign featuring their newest summer drink, the “Iced Lavender Cream Oatmilk Matcha.” The colors and the anticipated flavors of lavender, matcha, and creamy oat milk made it irresistible. So I pulled out the gift card I had gotten months back and splurged! The verdict—it was good, but I could make it better with top-shelf organic ingredients!

Since I started sharing recipes for my aroma melts, people have asked me for a beeswax-free version. I was initially reluctant because the vegan wax alternatives can be a bit finicky, and I have always had great luck with beeswax. I finally decided to accept the challenge and took a retreat to my creative space to formulate a vegan wax melt recipe. After a few dozen rounds of trial and error, I discovered that carnauba wax is my preferred beeswax alternative. It has no aroma and is a much harder wax, so I don’t have to use as much of it as I would in a typical wax melt.

This year, I set out to create a natural skin care treatment for my dull and dry winter skin. So I took to my crafting space to work on a mask and scrub that was brightening and cleansing. After several iterations, I created one that I’m quite excited about, and I think you all are going to enjoy it, too.

There has been a lot of buzz lately around DIY and natural hair care. In the previous weeks, we've shared no-poo recipes, DIY hair rinses, and fermented rice water treatments. A perfect pairing to all those homemade hair care products is having a dry shampoo to get you in between "washes."

Have you heard of "no 'poo" and scratched your head in wonder about what this means? While the term is definitely not my favorite, the philosophy behind it is worth exploring. It refers to moving away from using expensive commercial shampoos and conditioners, which often contain harsh synthetic fragrances, sodium laureth sulfate, propylene glycol, and other creepy ingredients from mystery labs around the world. Because we trust that such products will make our hair gorgeous, we drench ourselves in weird chemicals without knowing how they affect our overall health. Plus, think of the millions of plastic bottles from all the hair care products we use that end up in recycling bins or landfills.

But we HAVE to use shampoo, right?—Wrong!