Product Review: SoCozy Hair Products for Kids!

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When I had a son, I never realized how much I would care about what products go near his skin. I knew I wanted him to eat healthy foods, but, in the craziness of new parenthood, I forgot how much it mattered what we bathed him with, as well. When I got the opportunity to try out a new line of hair products for kids with "no nasties" in them, I jumped on the offer!

SoCozy is created and owned by Cozy Friedman, the owner and founder of Cozy's Cuts, which is a line of barber shops dedicated to children. After working with children's hair for many years, Cozy decided to come up with her own line of hair products for kids, and SoCozy is "the first ever professional line of hair care products made with the finest ingredients gentle enough for kids."

We tried the Cinch collection, which is a basic bathing collection for kids. It is "Non-Toxic, No Parabens, Sulfates, Phthalates, Synthetic Color, Propylene Glycol. Free of Gluten, Wheat and Nuts." Love that!

We were sent the Cinch Detangler (and leave in conditioner), the Cinch Berry Whip Conditioner, and the Cinch Mango-Go 3 in 1 body wash, shampoo, and conditioner. I have to say, they all smelled wonderful! We tried them out during bathtime after a particularly warm day, and the 3 in 1 Mango-Go worked great for a quick bath--when you're dealing with an active toddler, you don't have much time to open up 3 bottle of product, so I loved that the Cinch 3 in 1 had all the products I needed in one bottle!

Not going to lie...I even used some of the conditioner and detangler on myself! It felt really great to the touch, and my hair dried without any knots!

If you're looking for a healthy alternative to hair product, which is also convenient, and smells good...check out SoCozy's Cinch line, you won't be disappointed!


Full disclosure: I was sent these products free of charge to try, but all opinions are my own. 

Holiday Cards from Minted and a Deal For You!

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One of the joys of parenthood, for me, is around the holiday season; yes; it is fun shopping for gifts for my boy, but...in a selfish endeavor, I get overly excited to design and send out our holiday cards. My whole life we received holiday cards from families with their gorgeous family photos on the front, and a small large part of me couldn't wait to have my own children to show off share on our holiday cards. When Minted approached me about trying out their holiday cards this year, I couldn't have been more excited. With a plethora of gorgeous designs for every family type and holiday, Minted is the number one spot for picking out your holiday cards.

However, I'm going to be honest with you: there is one thing I absolutely adore about Minted. You can upload your photo and see it on every design! In one place! You don't have to click your favorite designs, upload your photo...and then realize it doesn't work with the card design. Now, all you do is upload your photo and bam! You can see how it would look on all the designs at once. Brilliant! 




See what I mean? I have a ton of photos from our family shoot with Molly Leon Photography, and this is one of my faves. Check out that boy's smile! But more importantly...see how awesome it looks on all those designs!

Not only are there hundreds of holiday designs to chose from, but you can pick a color scheme, and of course, totally personalize the card for your family, too. You can chose a flat card (which I love), a folded card, the type of paper, the envelopes, the shape of the card...basically, you can spend all of naptime playing with your holiday cards on Minted and still need to finish up at the next naptime. 

Some of my favorites: 



Another reason I love Minted, from a work-at-home-mom standpoint, is that it employs independent artists to create their designs; hailing from 48 states and 43 countries, as they say, "They are illustrators and textile designers, painters and packaging designers, marketers and stay-at-home moms. Some have design degrees, and others are participating in Minted competitions to learn design for the first time." I love that! Minted isn't just about creating beautiful artwork out of your photos, but it's about creating artwork which fits your lifestyle, and which will no doubt become a family heirloom. 


Lucky for Lovely readers, Minted has generously offered us a fantastic deal! Head over to Minted and pick our your holiday cards today, use the code MINTEDFFA6 for 10% off your order and free shipping! Did you know there's only 48 days until Hanukkah and 55 days until Christmas? It's high time to order those holiday cards! 
This post was sponsored by Minted, but all opinions are my own!

Happiness Happens in the Quiet Moments

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August 8th was National Happiness Happens Day, and Happy Family Organic Superfoods have started an incredibly fun campaign asking us all, "what makes you happy?" Bloggers from all over were asked to share what makes them happy and for the duration of August, Happy Family Brands will be tweeting these stories, as well as sharing them on their Facebook and Pinterest. (PS. Don't forget to enter your happiness happens moment in their giveaway, to win one of three wonderful prizes!)

I'll be sharing my little moments of happiness today, but I would love to know: what has made you happy lately? What little tiny thing has brought a smile to your face? I'd love to know! Tweet at me, and Happy Family Brands with hashtag #happinesshappens and let us know what makes you happy!

For me, recently, happiness happens in the quiet moments. Life with a very active almost one year old boy is busy, busy, busy! We rarely sit down; we're always singing, dancing, walking, crawling, climbing, and jumping. I love those moments. I relish them, I adore them. I soak up every moment with my little boy that I can, because I know someday he'll be taller than his mama, and have his own family. But, when the sun goes down, after dinner, after bath, and after bedtime (whenever that is!), the house starts to quiet down. The musical toys go to bed, my husband and I quietly chat, the kitchen gets cleaned, the clanging of pots and pans simmers down, and the hum of the world starts to ease.


It is at these moments that I take a deep breath, and let all the activities and craziness of the day seep into my soul. It is at these moments I take mental photographs of my son, my husband, my delicious coffee, my grandmother, my sister, my new books...whatever made me smile that day. I file these images away, and they fill my heart with such happiness. It is at these quiet moments which my happiness happens. The happiness of the day seeps down into my bones, filling them with memories I will never forget. From the mundane, of singing Twinkle Twinkle to my son, to the wonderful, like watching my son take his first steps. I let my eyes tear up with life, with joy, and with happiness.

Happiness happens for me, when the sun goes down, when my house is quiet, and when I can really feel it all, let it soak into my heart and soul. Happiness happens as I write my articles, listen to my music, and watch my incredibly adored and wonderful partner and smushy, funny baby boy cuddle up in bed, while they wait for me to finish up my dream job (writing about being a mama to that funny boy!), and come up to our warm and soft bed. Happiness happens in the silent moments, when I can close my eyes and let the scenes of my happy life dance before the darks of my eyes. Happiness happens when I can stand in a quiet room and hear my son's laughter and my husband's voice in my head.

Happiness happens in the still of the night.




This was a sponsored post on behalf of Happy Family Brands, but all opinions are mine!



Give Yourself a Raise, Momma!

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Do you ever have those days when you wonder why your wallet is so heavy, and then you open it up, and fifty-seven unused gift cards fall out? You look at them and think, "I will never use this one!" Or, maybe you're gearing up for a new shopping spree, but don't have a ton of cash-money to spend on yourself?


We're so excited to be part of a new campaign with Raise.com--what's Raise.com? Well, only the solution to these problems! Simply put, "Raise is an awesome new marketplace to buy and sell gift cards on the web! With the extra money you can save on discount gift cards to your favorite brands, you can spend more on the things you love." Raise is simple to use (just upload your unused gift cards, chose the selling price, and when someone buys the card, you send it...and you make money!). Shopping instead? Browse their marketplace for discounted gift cards to your favorite places! 

Their new campaign focuses on the idea of indulgence! With that extra money you have from saving on gift cards, or selling your gift cards, you can spend a little more on making your life...more lovely. Who knows more about indulging yourself than a new momma? So, today I'm sharing with you my little indulgences. Where do I spend the money that I save by buying and selling gift cards? 

It's funny, when I sat down to write this piece I went through my recent purchases in my head and it turns out...there's a pattern to them! I have certain indulgences, just for me, that I tend to always spend money on. I don't really deviate from this list! (and by the way: the best two free indulgences? Sleep and showers!) 

1. Sometimes after I drop my son in the morning, if the time, traffic, and day is right, I turn on that right blinker, veer my car over, park on the street and head to Starbucks for a large, large coffee. Black. Now, I get coffee at school everyday, free...but, there's something amazing about being part of the world, standing in line, and sipping my coffee (while listening to NPR), while driving to school! This simple little $2.44 indulgence makes me feel human again!


2. H&M shoes. Flats, in particular. I have a problem with them!  I have two pairs in black, a pair in brown, a pair in beige, and I just bought the nautical ones (above--wore and love them!). They're a small indulgence ($12.95 a pair, and they're often on sale!) but they are practical and cute--I just can't pass up on them! They make me feel pulled together, in style, and able to carry around a 7 month old! 



3. Almond Butter! Yes, I know...boring! But! This almond butter is my favorite and is $12 a jar! I have a spoon of it every night after putting Weston to bed, and it's like my little meditative moment of the day. 

These three indulgences may seem small, but make me feel like...me. And, as we know, there's little time for momma when there's jobs to go to, houses to clean, dishes to do, bottles to wash, and a baby to giggle with. 

So, Raise a glass and share: what are the small indulgences which make you happy? 

Love Learning Something New

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Brian of Mindo Cloud Forest, commented on my post about Tiny Footprint Coffee with this informative comment.

Thanks for the love. Should clarify one little thing.... Tiny Footprint sells coffee from all over the place, not just Ecuador. You know, coffee is grown in all the world´s tropical regions, sometimes better than others. In the case of the carbon sequestering trees, TFP is doing all of that in Ecuador with us down here at the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation. Saludos....
Thank you for clarifying Brian! Wherever its being done, we're grateful that you're doing it. Preserving our earth is so important, and it's people like you all at Mindo Cloud Forest and Tiny Footprint Coffee who are making a difference.

Tiny Footprint Coffee, So Lovely!

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Hey all, this is a post about Tiny Footprint Coffee, a wonderful company who contacted Olivia and I and sent us some coffee! Wonderful, also sponsored.

This is what I do every morning: Wake up, get dressed, fill up my humungous travel coffee mug. I love, love, love coffee, and the saddest moment of my day is when my mug is empty. What I'm trying to say is that coffee is very important to me. My lovely list of life important stuff is like: Family, Dog, Boyfriend, Coffee. The order can change--
coffee is often #1. So as you can imagine when Kyle from Tiny Footprint Coffee emailed wondering if Olivia and I would be interested in trying some of their coffee and judging it lovely or not, I was more than happy to oblige. Kyle immediately sent out their "Medium Roast: Smooth and rich with full chocolate and caramel laced body balanced by bright citrus notes for a pleasing, sweet finish."

The coffee reached us quickly, and I was very, very impressed. I also loved their packaging, which matches their website, if you want to get the idea. The social action aspect of the company is amazing, they keep their carbon footprint down by planting 54 pounds worth of "carbon sucking trees" (it takes 4 pounds of carbon to make a pound of coffee) for every pound of coffee made-- that, as they put it is "50 lbs of good karma in every pound." This is good for the environment, but also good for my guilty soul who knows that everything I love is bad for mama earth.

Plus! It's good for the birds! Read:
"When you buy a pound of Tiny Footprint, we’ll more than offset the carbon impact of growing, harvesting and distribution by planting a small plot of carbon guzzling saplings in the Ecuadorian Mindo Cloudforest. But this isn’t just regular old carbon offsetting we’re talking about. This is Gourmet Carbon. Which means that in addition to sucking carbon from the atmosphere, we’re also helping to protect dozens of threatened, vulnerable and endemic bird species by restoring critical habitats through reforestation."
(you can read their manifesto, here)
But it goes further-- Tiny Footprint Coffee is really, really good. The coffee is grown on a small family farm in Ecuador, and roasted in small batches. And oh, yeah- it's really, really good. I've never ground my own coffee before (don't throw things at me!), but Future-Brother-In-Law Eric leant me his grinder and last night I ground my first batch of coffee. And this morning I chose Tiny Footprint Coffee to fill my humungous coffee mug and be my buddy for the whole day. My mother also tried the coffee this morning and loved, loved, loved it. She had actually gotten into my stash and brewed the pot without me! The nerve!


So, Kyle, I need to tell you: do Olivia and I think Tiny Footprint Coffee is lovely? Yes! Yes! We do, I love your coffee and I will certainly be buying bags of beans as gifts-- because it's a present that pays it forward!

You can buy Tiny Footprint Coffee, for yourself or as an excellent gift (pair it with a set of mugs) at Amazon, or through TinyFootprintCoffee.com. Also, don't forget to pick up some sweet Tiny Footprint Coffee gear, here.