Currently...

• I am trying earnestly to take quasi- acceptable photos for my Goodwill NNE blog post tomorrow about my little black dress.

• Can smell this vegetarian Shepherd's Pie baking in the oven... right in line with hubby's grand new idea to go vegetarian.

• Researching whipped body balm recipes. I have mastered regular body balm and now I want to get one with a lighter consistency.

• Listening to some Avett Brothers as I prepare to see them LIVE IN 22 DAYS!!!!

• Pinning long hair styles as my hair is finally getting to a length to do fun stuff with.

• Daydreaming of all of the adventures I have booked for the upcoming months... an Easter Egg hunt at a great farm, a hike through America's Stonehenge as soon as the weather breaks again, 4 days at Mountain Edge Resort and Spa, a week at the beach, Blogher with some amazing women, aforementioned Avett Brothers concert, and sooo much more on the calendar.

• Loving the summer wardrobe I have planned with a few alterations I made to clothes over the weekend.

• Looking at 3 bags by the front door on their way to Goodwill. Hellllloooo spring cleaning.

• Longing for last weeks 80 degree days to come back so that I can get out into my gardens!

That's is me in a nutshell currently. And you?

How to Shop for Safe Sunblock

Wow, it's that time of year again... spring in NH means... SUNBLOCK! Huh? Yeah, the average temperatures for March in NH is about 44 degrees. This week? About 75 degrees!

This meant I had to head to the store yesterday to stock up on our sunblock. You never want to reuse last years as it does lose potency over time and change of temperatures.

Before I went to the store, I checked in on my favorite database from EWG Skin Deep. It is an amazing resource where you can look up your product and find out everything from it's cancer causing chemicals, developmental & reproductive toxicity and allergies & immunotoxicity info. You can the see a rating system for each product (0-2 is Low Hazard, 3-6 is Moderate and 7-10 is High Hazard.)

I went with the Badger Sunscreen for my girls as it had a rating of 1 and was relatively inexpensive. There are some great organic products out there, but they cost $20 for 2 ounces! My kids would go through that in a day!

Unfortunately, my Aveeno sunscreen that I always use for myself has a rating of 7! Which is annoying as they market themselves as a 'natural' company. There are Target brand products with better ratings than them! Grrrr.... it's not always you get what you pay for. That is why research is so important. (*** Happy to update in 2017 that most Aveeno sunscreen products are not at a 3 rating, which is a huge improvement. Great job!)

Please bookmark this database and carry it on your smart phone. It is such a great resource.