Sunday Blog Hops- Welcome!

Thanks for stopping by! Take a look around and if you like what you see feel free to follow us to find out more! Leave me a comment with your blog address and I'll be sure to follow you back!

Wish List Wednesday

Here are my next etsy purchases:

Vintage Hippie Peasant Hand-Embroidered Top from MrIdahosVintage.

Red Leopard and Blue Statement Necklace from MissBettyLou.

1971 Vintage Fisherprice Humpty Dumpty Pull Toy from WaveSong.

German Sugar Stone Vintage Glass Earrings from Poetica.

Bottle Strike

Since I've returned to work Jackson has had to have bottles during the day while I'm away. (hey that rhymes!) Unfortunately he has also decided that He. Doesn't. DO. Bottles. Period. Ugh! Such a fight! He is refusing any and every bottle that comes near his mouth (and trust me, we've tried ALL of them) He also won't take a sippy cup (spouted or strawed) or a regular cup. He wants his milk straight up out of the boobie. Sigh. So Ryan has resorted to mixing 4 ounces of milk into little man's oatmeal in order to get some nutrients in him. (I don't consider solid foods a true source of nutrition yet) Fortunately Jackson LOVES him his solids and will eat oatmeal and yogurt until kingdom comes. Blah. It makes me nervous that he's getting so little breast milk during the day, but he more than makes up for it by nursing A LOT during the night. So I guess I shouldn't worry too much. Right?

Don't forget to enter my giveaway by clicking here!

Monday Blog Hops

 



Join me for some blog hops this Monday! If you're visiting from another blog please take a look around and be sure to leave me a comment with your blog address so I can follow you back!

Giving Back: Kiva Microfinance Loans

One of my goals is to begin giving back. I have sporadically donated to charities in the past, mostly around Christmas and those that were convenient (e.g. the Christmas Angel Program, the Humane Society, and any charity requests that might come through the mail with those free address label stickers). I want to give back more. I don't think it's enough just to give when the timing's right and when I have some extra cash in my wallet. I need to make the concsious choice to put giving ahead of my spending. I don't think twice when it comes to dropping $50 on deals at Last Chance, so why should I hesitate when it comes to donating the same to chairty? One of the most effective ways I've found to give back is through Kiva. Kiva's mission is to provide microfinance loans to individuals in developing countries to start their own businesses. These businesses are designed to provide a self-sustasining income for them and their family while at the same time strengthening the community and, indirectly, the country as it moves people out of poverty and towards independence. Kiva's charitable model is an extremely effective strategy for improving the plight of the impoversihed across the world. It woks like this:

1. A loan is given through individual contributions from people like you and I. The loan may be a dollar amount that fulfills the entire loan requst or a group of individuals might come together to fund the loan.
2. The loan is disbursed through Kiva to the individual.
3. The person who received the loan establishes their business and begins repayment of the loan.
4. As the individual begins repayment it posts to your Kiva account. You may then withdraw the funds or loan them to another individual.

The best part about Kiva is that you get to choose the person you ant to make a loan too. The Kiva website has a list of individuals, their country, gender, and kind of business they want to establish. You choose them and the dollar amount you want to contribute. Once they receive the funds they need they are able to create a business that will provide them with a viable income and a way to support their family. Instead of handouts, Kiva is creating a system where people can support themselves. What could be better than that? I made a loan of $50 to a woman in the Ukraine and once she repayed the loan I was then able to lend out her repayment to a different individual to help them establish a business. So in essence your original $50 can help so many people. Want to learn more about Kiva? Click here.

Surfin Saturdays- Want to Be My Friend?

Join me for Surfin Saturdays! If you like my blog and want to keep reading please click on on the "Follow" button on the top of the right-hand sidebar. If you follow me please leave a link to your own blog so I can follow you back!

Things I Looove: Makeup

Bare Escentuals Powder Foundation

I detest goopy, sticky foundation but I also need something that smooths out my skin and covers minor imperfections. Bare escentuals is super easy to apply and covers everything. And I mean everything. I even use it as concealer to cover up the super duper black bags under my eyes that advertise thay my-baby-wakes-up-three-times every night. It manages to do all this without looking like you have any makeup on too. This is probably my favorite product of all time!

Nars Orgasm Blush

This probably the prettiest, most universal blush color ever. A pretty pinky, peach shade that (as the name implies) gives you a natural flush. It looks amazing on any skin tone and a fantastic velvety texture that blends perfectly. Pretty much all of the Nars blushers are fantastic and I think I own every shade he offers.

Smashbox Limitless Mascara

The double ended wand of this mascara is fantastic! One end deposits a clear lash conditioner that lengtehns your lashes while the other is a perfect sooty black that manages to make your lashes look super long but still natural at the same time. One of my favorite things about this mascara (that's hard to find) is that my ultra-straight lashes still stay curled. Most of the time all of the curl falls right out after I put mascara on but with this stuff the curl stays put!

Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss in Red Rock

This gloss is the perfect sheer red with just a hint of orange. I love how easy it is to apply and is perfect to wear when you're "dressing up" a little bit.

MAC Blot Powder

I have very oily skin and this powder eliminates all of the shine without the nasty "buildup" that comes along with a lot of powders. It makes your skin look perfectly matte while still looking natural.

Don't forget to enter my Munchkin Mesh Feeder giveaway! Click here for your chance!!

Going Green: Seventh Generation Cleaning Products

One of my favorite lines of "green" cleaning products is Seventh Generation. All of their products are plant-based but are still extremely effective at both cleaning and disinfecting (they kill 99.9% of germs!). After reading many of the new studies coming out regarding how dangerous chemical and pthalates are to our own health (and especially the health of our unborn children) we decided to switch all of our products out to natural ones. We currently use the Seventh Generation diswashing soap, laundry detergent, dishwasher liquid, disinfecting cleaner, and bathroom cleaner. The products are scented, but not with that cloying, sickly sweet smell you get from most cleaning products. Lavender and thyme are two of the scents they use and both are fresh and natural smelling. Seventh Generation products are also very reasonably priced and widely available. Learn more about their products here.

Baby Must-Have AND Giveaway!: Munchkin Fresh Food Feeder

Let me tell you about the wonders of this little product! The Munchkin Fresh Food Feeder allows you to not only feed your kiddo small pieces of food (bananas, veggies, meats) they might otherwise choke on but it's also an amazing teether! Seriously, this baby has worked miracles as Jackson's poor little teefers appear. All I do is put some crushed ice, cubes of breastmilk (a little messy), frozen cut up bananas, or frozen watermelon chunks in the mesh part, snap the lid shut, and hand it over to fussy baby. Miraculously baby is instantly transformed into smiling, happy angel! Love it! Wanna win one of your own? Follow the directions below for your chance!

Please follow these steps... AND make sure I have a way to contact you through e-mail. If I don't... I'll have to delete the entry... :(


Mandatory entry:

1) Follow me through Google Friend Connect (see sidebar at the top- if you're already a follower you still get an entry!) {1 entry}

Optional Entries (please post a different comment for each entry. It helps me. :D )

2) Blog about this giveaway... linking back to my blog (please post blog post link in comment). {3 entries}

3) Grab my button in the sidebar to the left... leave a link where I can see it on your blog{2 entries}

4) Vote for me...  (one vote per day = one entry per day)
Click below:





Contest ends August 6th at 8pm!

Watch Jackson Crawl

Ready

Set

Go!

Look a me Mommy! I'm amazing!

New Job and Tiredness

So I had all these great blog posts floating around in my head yesterday but by the time I got home from my new job I was too tired to write. Until my energy returns here are some cute photos to tide you over.

More (Followers) Monday

Hi, I'm Christy- a twenty-something, frugalista, shopaholic, new mommie to an adorable 6-month old baby boy named Jackson! I love breastfeeding, attachment parenting, making my own baby food, and being "green." The other side of me loves my designer jeans, makeup addiction, and shoe collection! Wanna be my friend? I want to be yours! Become a follower today by clicking the "follow" button on the right and grab our button while your at it! Leave me a comment with your blog address so I can follow you too! Really like our blog? Vote for us below!