ooh, what fun...

lucy and i went to an infant massage class today at elephant pharmacy in berkeley, a great shop that, in addition to offering free classes, also sells a lot of natural & organic-type products. lucy and i learned a lot about the benefits of the baby rubdown. well, i learned. lucy slept. we tried it out when we got home and i do think she really liked it. there lots of cooing, kicking and smiling involved. how is this eco-friendly? well, um, it's not. we just had a really good time, so i thought i'd post.

here's the spin though... as a result of taking the class, we got a 10% off coupon good for any and all purchases at elephant. i took the opportunity to buy a few things to replace the personal care products that i 've just gotten rid of...

kiss my face obsessively natural ultra moisturizer (replacing countless bottles and jars of paraben-laden stuff)

kiss my face obsessively organic shampoo in green tea & lime (100% biodegradable... can't say that about garnier fructis)

alba green tea sunscreen spf 30+ (replacing my hawaiian tropic spf 4... (i now hang my head in shame for not using at least spf 15 all these years))

almost natural nail polish remover (replacing cutex... made with fruit acids instead of acetone)

tom's of maine cinnamon clove toothpaste (we ditched the crest awhile back for tom's spearmint but i wanted to try a new flavor)

alba passion fruit nectar lip balm (replacing a slew of lip gloss, most from victoria's secret... upon further inspection of the teeny tiny but oh-so-lengthy ingredient list, i was pretty horrified to learn that i've basically been slathering liquefied plastic on my lips since middle school (and it tastes so yummy, too))

a diva cup (replacing tampons... yikes)

i also got lucy a package of gdiapers for an upcoming camping trip, thinking that might not have enough cloth to see us through 4 nights. gdiapers are a disposable/cloth hybrid diaper, made without the use of plastics. i am in love with our cloth diapers, so this is not my first choice, but there's no washing machine at the river, unfortunately.

i am looking forward to trying out all of these products and reviewing them! i must say, it's an exciting (and empowering) thing to feel that i'm taking a step in the right direction as far as my own health is concerned... and therefore the health of the little girl who likes to snuggle all over me. i was in elephant for over an hour after class let out, studying labels and comparing ingredients. big thank you to the meter maid for not giving me a ticket!



p.s. tomorrow starts a no-dryer july. i have to admit i snuck in 2 loads at the last minute tonight... a load of whites because there's a shirt of mine that needed some serious shrinking and a load of darks because i had a pair of jeans with the same problem. tomorrow is diaper day -- it'll look a lil' something like this!

from left to right... kissaluvs, swaddlebees econappies, bummis whisper wrap, blueberry pockets, blueberry minkys, bg 3.0 & bg organics.