Oprah & Pure Natural Diva

Oprah is Having a Contest and my friend, Desiree, at Bottles To Britches told me I HAD to enter.  So I got to work.

Now that my video audition is complete – please check it out – and more importantly – VOTE!!!  Voting couldn’t be any easier – no forms to fill out – just one second to click on vote.

I Need Your Votes – TODAY, TOMORROW, OVER and OVER and OVER again!  The math goes like this -  I need every single fan to generate 8 votes daily.  Yet we know that only 10% of people really get involved that really means I need my biggest fans generating 65 votes every single day… hmmm…

Your votes will get Pure Natural Diva one step closer to having a show on the air that is fully dedicated to Whole Living with Style and Ease – imagine the difference we could make.

This is a hardcore competition with high stakes.  The current leader of the contest is Rener Gracie – he has the entire Fighting Community voting for him  – in two weeks he’s gotten over a million votes.

Spread the Word – Share – Share – Share

Forward this via email to everyone on your contact list, copy and paste the message below on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and all other social media networks.

Tweet & Status Update

Vote for Pure Natural Diva to win her own show on Oprah’s network  – give a voice to healthier, greener living! http://bit.ly/dwAlGP

Blogger’s:  I’ve created a simple post that you can use on your blog

Click Here to grab your story!

Check out the Audition

http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=5711&promo_id=1  to view my audition piece – then click “Vote” – that’s it!

One voter had this to say on the Oprah site:

“We need Pure Natural Diva Live! America needs this show! I love that Tania is a mom who wants to make a difference in all our lives. She has passion and really dives into the issues, makes you feel passionate too about wanting to make changes in your own home and life. In addition to being a hilarious and genuine person she is incredibly smart. Tania has invested her heart & soul in Pure Natural Diva….out of not just her own family & personal needs but seeing a genuine need in all of our lives & in society today Please pick Pure Natural Diva Live to be an Oprah show!”

View Tania’s audition here and don’t forget to vote – http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=5711&promo_id=1

Very Important – So I’ll say it again!

Voting is not limited  – so please vote AS MANY times as possible before the deadline on July 3rd.

Thanks guys! Together we can make this happen and positively impact lots of lives.

Extra Bonus Points

Help get the producer’s attention by posting a comment too!  Show the producer’s that you believe a show like PND live can make a difference in lives around the country!

Tyler Florence Wishbone Los Angeles TweetUp

Pure Natural Diva opened our doors to some fabulous Los Angeles Twivas for a lovely brunch!

For this event we made Tyler’s Salad and an  EggFrittata.

Tyler Florence’s  Arugula, Roasted Cherry Tomato & Bocconcini Salad:

1. Preheat oven 350°.
2. Arrange tomatoes in roasting pan, then drizzle with olive oil. Add garlic and thyme. Season, if desired, with salt and pepper. Roast 15 minutes or until tomatoes are tender and start to burst.

 

This event was sponsored by Wishbone.

Natural First Finger Foods for Infants

During the finger food stage of feeding your little one my favorites are (Organic):

Puffed Wheat

Puffed Kamut (related to wheat) – larger and easier for little hands to grasp

Puffed Brown Rice

Puffed Corn

Brown Rice Cakes – Unsalted

* Don’t forget the fruits and vegetables.  You can cook and chop into small pieces any vegetable or non soft fruit that you might feed them at meal time.

Conventional vs Organic Meat Supply: I’m Buying a Cow

I’m not going to pasture a cow in our backyard, but have I decided that I need to opt out of the mainstream meat production as much as I can.

The first step in “buying our cow” is acquiring a deep freeze.  If you aren’t going to get your meat from the market, you’ll likely be buying it in larger quantities and that will require a freezer.

In an effort to ensure anyone could do this -  I found our deep freeze on craigslist in the free section.  It took a few weeks of steady checking – but one day there it was – an upright, clean, free deep freeze.

I don’t think we’ll buy a whole cow, we don’t eat that much meat – a share will do us nicely.

So why am I doing this?

It’s my belief that the food system in our country is very broken and one of the areas that is of particular concern is the meat industry.  It’s no wonder so many people turn to being vegetarian. About 70% of ground beef in America contains a filler product that is washed with ammonia in order to kill e-coli – it’s time to for a change.

For me and my family that means eating less meat,  higher quality meats and whenever possible – supporting local farmers and ranchers.

Recently, I had an great discussion with a farmer named Xenia, from Rainbow Ranch Farms in San Bernadino, CA.  She used to be a vegetarian – now she has a farm, and on her farm she has  chickens, goats, cows, and 2 dogs.  She raises these animals in the manner that we imagine all the farm animals are raised.  Unfortunately meat we are getting from conventional grocers isn’t raised in this fashion.

Xenia can’t sell to any stores, she can’t sell to whole foods, she can only sell to folks who are shared owners of her farm. The good news is anyone can become a shared owner of her farm or many of the other CSA farmers around the country!

More good news – there are farms that are licensed to sell without requiring a CSA share.  Farms like Lazy 69 Ranch in Central California.  They will ship anywhere, but see if you can’t find a  great ranch like this one close to you.

Don’t think you have a small farm in your area – you’d be surprised.  Spend a few minutes with google or www.localharvest.org.

You can also find  local farmers who sell meat and eggs through the Farmer’s Markets.

You’re Having a Baby – Plans For Delivery

So, you’re having a baby. Congratulations! Welcome to the biggest challenge and biggest joy of your life.

You want to have a natural childbirth. People are laughing at you. You’re not sure where to go for support.

Before getting pregnant – if you had asked me – I would have told you that if I ever had a baby I would be the first in line for the epidural. Sign me up, lets go.  I knew I didn’t want a c-section – I didn’t want any scars, but give me the drugs… please!

Something changed for me once I had that little one in my belly.

I had carefully chosen my OBGYN prior to getting pregnant, knowing that we would be trying to start our family soon. I talked to friends, researched online and made my selection.

A few months into my pregnancy – I started to have questions… I realized I was in a group practice and unless I went into labour during office hours, the chances of my doctor delivering our baby was pretty small. This was not the experience I wanted.

My mother, a Registered Massage Therapist in Canada, had delivered me and my sister’s naturally, so somewhere along the way I became open to the idea of attempting a natural childbirth. I had also heard her talk many times over the years about patients developing chronic lower back pain following their epidurals… too many to be coincidental. This sounded like it was worth avoiding to me. I thought I would be open to trying it on my own, and I was going to be in the hospital, so it wasn’t like they would refuse drugs if it wasn’t going well.

One of my closest friends is a birthing doula, we had many conversations about the birthing process, the high incidence of induction, scheduled c-sections and general intervention in the natural process of bringing a baby into this world.

So, I decided I wasn’t going for the auto epidural. I was going to attempt a natural childbirth.

Then came the big question – how on earth is my baby’s head going to make it out of that opening without the help of drugs. I started my research and picked my birthing class.

I decided on Hypnobirthing.  Through the hypnobirthing website I met Alisha Tamburri who became my hypnobirthing instructor. I decided that if I had a shot at doing this without drugs, this was going to be the way it would happen. Alisha’s class was invaluable and helped me realize I was with a nice doctor in the wrong practice.

With her help I found a practice with two OBGYN’s, Dr. Crane & Dr. Chin and a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) Debbie Franks – they even had receptionists who knew your name when you called their office – this is in Los Angeles.

When I met with the Debbie, there was no way I was having a midwife and there was no way my husband would go for it even if it was what I wanted. Yet, after a meeting with Debbie, I knew I wanted her to deliver our baby. With a little help from my Mother In Law – Debbie was in.

My experience with Debbie and her whole team was fantastic, not to mention night and day from what I’d experienced at my prior doctor’s team. And different from most other mom’s I’ve spoken with since.

So I went from being the first in line for an epidural, to taking hypnobirthing classes and delivering my baby with a midwife. I ended up having a natural childbirth in a hospital and I’m so happy that I gave it a try.

Below are some resources that were useful to me. I also recently watched The Business of Being Born – a documentary that I wished I had seen sooner and suggest it for all expectant mothers.

http:http://www.mymidwife.org/midwife.cfm
http://www.hypnobirthing.com

Natural Remedies Known to Have Dangerous Interactions With Medications:

A report from the Mayo Clinic lists the following known drug interactions between natural remedies and prescribed medications & conditions:

St. John Wort – Increases the potency of some drugs.
S-adenosylmethionine (SAM-e) – Interacts with drugs that affect serotonin.
Garlic – Avoid if taking anti-clotting medications.
Ginseng – Avoid if taking anti-clotting medications.
Ginger – Avoid if taking anti-clotting medications.
FeverFew – Avoid if taking anti-clotting medications.
Ginko – Avoid if taking anti-clotting medications & can interfere with anti-seizure medication
Kava – Avoid if you have liver problems or taking cholesterol medications

St. Johns Wort – Image from Shandchem

I use natural remedies myself – but it is important to remember that natural remedies CAN interact with prescribed medications – just like any other medicine! My personal choice is to work with an Integrative Doctor who prescribes both prescription and non-prescription drugs. If you see a traditional Doctor, or don’t have an Integrative Doctor in your area, be sure to keep your doctor informed of any natural therapies you are using.

The above list is condensed, to read the full story.

Green Granite Cleaner: Home Recipe

Natural Stone requires extra care because it is a honed surface that and you’ll want to maintain their honed polish. To do this you want to clean with a solution that contain a neutral pH.

Requiring a neutral pH eliminates some of the more common natural cleaning ingredients, lemon at a pH of 2.4, vinegar at 2.8, & baking soda at 9.0.

I often use the PND All Purpose Cleaner on our granite counters and have yet to notice a problem, but it does contain vinegar – so not the best choice. A more delicate variety of granite may suffer over time.

Recipe

6 cups of Water
1/3 cup + 1 tsp of Alcohol denatured or regular
1 Tbs of Castille Soap – I use almond
20 Drops of Essential Oil – I use citrus or almond

If you want a stronger anti fungal or antibacterial add:
1/3 cup + 1 tsp Tea Tree Oil

This recipe will fill two spray bottles ~ I make my cleaners in batches so I don’t have to make them as often.

If you choose to add Tea Tree Oil be sure to add at least 4% as called for in the recipe, any less and you could promote bacterial resistance. Additionally omit the essential oil.  Tea tree oil has a strong eucalyptus scent that will overpower any other fragrance.

I make ours without the tea tree, the alcohol kills enough germs for my comfort level.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_tree_oil

http://www.pbase.com/weed30/cleaning_granite

http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2004/s1081381.htm

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090821043836AA7ohgN

Vapour Organic Siren Lipstick: Diva Review

Vapour Beauty is a New Mexico based company that joined forces with renowned make-up artist Erik Sakas.  They created a line of organic beauty products that is made using food grade organic ingredients.

Vapours shares many of the values that we embrace here at PND.  Acknowledging that as our largest organ; care should be taken with what we put on our skin.  Topically applied products will be absorbed into our bodies!  Adding toxins and chemicals will unduly burden our system, contributing to illness and disease.

They recently sent me a sample of their Siren Lipstick to review.

With a Diva Total of 14.8 out of 15 points this product is: Divaliscious!

Click here for review criteria:

8 Points for Skin Deep Low Hazard Rating of 1 - Excellent!
It should be noted that PND input the product ingredients and one item was not found in their database.

2 Points for being Organic – 95% organic content

2 Points for effectiveness – I was concerned that it wouldn’t have very good staying power and while it may not rival those in the extended wear lipstick category it’s certainly surprised me.  It nicely made it through lunch with the girls.  I also enjoyed the conditioning properties in the lipstick.  These days most lipsticks feel very drying on my skin, but the Siren felt hydrating.

1 Point for Texture – The texture of their lipstick was really nice, not sticky or heavy.

1 Point for Fragrance -  The fragrance is delicate and just a little fruity.

.4 Points for Packaging Appearance – Their lipstick comes in a tube and twirls out, much like chapstick.  Part of me missed the conventional twirl out of a more traditional lipstick.  However, when Lil’ Diva got her hands on the tube and I was able to “save” the tube by compacting all the lipstick back together again, I was VERY grateful!

.4 Points for Packaging Sustainability – Vapour uses wind power for all of their manufacturing.  Packaging is either recyclable or made from recycled materials.  We’d love to see all packaging made from post consumer materials, but they’ve made some great choices and hopefully will strive toward that goal.

Overall:

Vapour delivers a high quality organic lipstick using food grade ingredients.  This is fantastic because we wear it on our lips which means we’ll likely be ingesting a little of it!

Siren lipstick is available in 5 colors, desire, hint, knockout, ravish and tempt and retails for $19.

Ready to try Vapor for yourself… find it on www.ShopNBC.com and www.VapourBeauty.com.

Everyday Minerals: Make-Up Review

By Tania Reuben

THIS IS A SPECIAL HOLIDAY ENCORE – I first posted this review in the fall and loved them so much I wanted to feature them again for the holidays!

NOTE ~ If you are thinking of giving the little princess in your life some girlie make up to play from Santa.  Consider some of their shimmery light colors and be confident that you are giving your child a safer option for “play make up”.

Everyday Minerals offers a full line of Mineral Make Up. Their products are handmade in small batches to ensure product freshness. Stored correctly they should be safe for use for up to 2 years.

With a Diva Total of 13 points Everyday Minerals are: Divaliscious!

Click here for review criteria:

8 Points for Skin Deep Moderate Hazard Rating
0 Points for being Organic

2 Points for effectiveness:
I was easily able to achieve the looks I was going for with Everyday Minerals. For this review I used Everyday Minerals daily in lieu of my day to day make up. I had two functions to attend and I used Everyday Minerals for both. At a wedding I was told my skin was glowing!

1 Point for Texture:
Everyday Minerals Make Up was smooth, easy to apply and blended well. It felt light on my skin. I was also able to achieve a more dramatic look for evenings out.

1 Point for Fragrance:
I didn’t notice any smell or fragrance while using Everyday Minerals.

.5 Points for Packaging Appearance:
Everyday Minerals has simple, elegant packaging. Individual items are not re-packaged in a box. The containers themselves have inserts to limit the “flow” of your make up – making application easier. A few of the small sized containers I received had a clear film over the insert (to prevent the product from leaking) that was challenging to remove. I noticed that other similarly packaged products had a convenient pull tab. My guess is the “tab” is the new and improved film. If you happen run into the tab free film – you’ll want tweezers to remove the film.

.5 Points for Packaging Sustainability
The plastic used is recyclable. Everyday Minerals suggests saving the sample containers to use on the go touch ups.

OVERALL
Watch a full make up application using Everyday Minerals – Check this out:

I was nervous about trying a “full” Mineral make up regime. Worried I would have powder flying everywhere and it would take me forever to do get my make up done. As a mom of two toddlers, spending more time on make up is not an option! My mineral applications are quick and easy. Tip – I keep a piece of paper for blotting my colors, almost like an artist’s palette.

One appeal of Mineral make up is that overall the lines often have better safety scores in Skin Deep. Everyday Minerals scores top points here, nothing in their line scores higher that a 3 in the CD – for me that means I can shop with confidence and just have fun.

You can’t beat the value of Everyday Minerals. Their prices ranging from $2.50 to $12 for a full size foundation. They also over fantastic promotions with their Perks Program – order 5-11 products and get 25% off – order 12 or more products at 45% off!

Everyday Minerals makes it easy for you to find the right colors for your skin. They walk you through the basics of selecting the best shades and will even send you color samples for free (you pay shipping). Once you have the product – they walk you through the application.

While I was able to use my own Make Up brushes, they do offer a full line of Bamboo Vegan Brushes. If you use your own brushes be sure to clean them when your new make up arrives so you don’t cross contaminate.

Colors Used in the Video Application:
Golden Fair Foundation
Fresh Hydrating Concealer
Wild Flowers – Eye Shadow (as brow liner)
Everyday Resort – Eye Pallatte (as eyeliner and crease)
Apple – Blush (as blush and lip color on top of lip balm)

I also loved:
Champagne Lucent Powder – It has a gorgeous shimmer and I didn’t feel guilty dusting it on my daughter when she asked for some.
Dark Brown – Brow Color (as eyeliner) – created a nice dark liner for a more dramatic look.
Rare Silk – Eye Shadow – created a nice shimmer on for the eyes.

WINNER:  Amy H Check your inbox!

Ready to try Everyday Minerals for yourself – Everyday Minerals has agreed to give a PND reader their choice of 4 Holiday Reissue Eyeshadows, blush & a 2 Lip Balms a $34 Value!

HOW TO ENTER:

There are a few ways you can enter, leave separate comments for each entry.

Mandatory:

Become a Confirmed Email Subscriber to PND.
CLICK HERE.
– After subscribing you will receive an email – check your junk mail – you must verify your subscription in this email to win!
– Already a confirmed Subscriber. Leave a comment letting me know you’re subscriber and would like to enter.

Additional Entries

1. Go to www.everydayminerals.com – share your favorite Everyday Minerals Color.

2. Stumble, Kirsty, Technorati, or Digg this post. Leave a comment with your name and the link.

3. Follow @purenaturaldiva on twitter (use link on the sidebar). Leave your twittername in a separate comment.

4. Become a Fan of Pure Natural Diva & Everyday Minerals on Facebook, already a fan – post this giveaway as an update, leave your FB Name or Name with a copy of your update in a separate comment.

5. Tweet this giveaway. Copy and paste “Dive Giveaway – WIN $34 in Make Up from Everyday Minerals!   http://bit.ly/6oBeCy @PureNaturalDiva “. Then come back and leave the direct link to your tweet (go to your twitter account, click on the words when your tweet was sent (ie. 5 seconds ago) and copy and paste that link in comments.

6. Write a post on your blog linking to PND and to Everyday Minerals website – Good for two entries. Leave this comment twice so you get both entries!

This giveaway will run through midnight on Dec 19, 2009 PDT, with winner being announced the morning of Dec 21, 2009. Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and notified via email. Winner will have 24 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen.

Giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.

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target=”_blank”>Click here to see the entire Blog Hop List….

Couture Cottons Organic Undies: Product Review

By Tania Reuben

Couture Cottons has a suggestion: Go Green Down Under.

I’ve recently began to add organic clothing & fashion to my list of area in my life I’d like to improve upon.  To that end, my goal is to wear something organic, eco friendly or handmade every day.  I’m not saying I succeed, but it is my goal  Down under is a good place to start, but the choices in the marketplace are limited.

Sandra Richards created Couture Cottons after an extensive hunt for cotton underwear left her wanting more, more style, more comfort, more coverage without being a “granny panty”.

Sandra recently sent me a pair of their boy shorts in Midnight Black to take for a test drive.  There will be no photos of my tush in this review, so you can relax.

The panties are made in the USA out of an organic cotton/bamboo blend, are super comfortable and deliciously soft.  For those of you that don’t know, I’m an S Factor girl and we tend to wear a lot of boy shorts! I wear a size 6 and the small they sent fit me perfectly with no unsightly boy short bulge or roll from the band being too tight.

From a style perspective, I would pick the lace thong over this boy short.  My boy shorts tend to be a little on the tinier side, but that is my taste.  I’m sure they reach a broader audience by adding that little  extra coverage.  For women wanting attractive styling details with more coverage you’ll love this short.

Women with latex allergies will be glad to know, all their elastic is latex free.

The Couture Cottons site has this to say about the benefits of choosing organic underpinnings:

Wearing Couture Cottons lingerie has some great health benefits! Couture Cottons selected fabrics that were superior to conventional fabrics because they have considerably less chemicals and toxins that have the potential to be absorbed through the skin. Also, the attributes are healthier for women with health issues than conventional fabrics:

1. Organic cotton is breathable, allergen-free fabric is a better product for women who have sensitivities to toxins in fabrics that can absorb through the skin.

2. Doctors recommend women who suffer from urinary tract infections and yeast infections to  wear breathable fabrics to help prevent reoccurring infections.

3. Couture Cottons offers the perfect type of fabrics for lingerie products that are free from harmful chemicals and toxins in a “couture design”.

Couture Cotton panties retail for $26.99 a pair or 3 pair for $75.  This might be higher than we’re used to paying, but consider a Victoria’s Secret boy short retails between $10-14 a pair and they are neither organic, nor Made in America.

WINNER:  Jessica K check your inbox!

Couture Cottons is giving one Lucky PND reader a super cute set of Organic Cotton Pajamas

Retail Value $70.

HOW TO ENTER:

There are a few ways you can enter, leave separate comments for each entry.

Mandatory:

Become an Email Subscriber to PND using the form in the sidebar.
– The subscription must be confirmed. You will receive and email that you must reply to for your entry to be valid.
– Already a confirmed Subscriber. Complete any one of the additional entries options – Leave a comment letting Diva know you’re subscriber name and the entry option you selected.

Additional Entries

1. Go to www.CoutureCottons.com and share your favorite style here!

2. Stumble, Digg, Kirsty, or Technorati favorite this post. Leave a comment with your name and the link.

3. Follow @purenaturaldiva on twitter. Leave your twittername in a separate comment.

4. Become a Fan of Pure Natural Diva & Couture Cottons on Facebook. Post this giveaway as an update, leave your FB Name or Name with a copy of your update in a separate comment. One entry for each.

5. Tweet this giveaway. Copy and paste “WIN Super Cute Organic Cotton PJ’s!!! Diva Giveaway: a $70 Value from Couture Cotton http://bit.ly/6b2cGM @purenaturaldiva”. Then come back and leave the direct link to your tweet (go to your twitter account, click on the words when your tweet was sent (ie. 5 seconds ago) and copy and paste that link in comments.

6. Write a post on your blog linking to PND and Couture Cottons – Good for two entries. Leave this comment twice so you get both entries!

7. Add the PND Button to your site.  Leave a comment with the link.

This giveaway will run through midnight on Dec 19, 2009 PDT, with winner being announced December 21, 2009. Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and notified via email. Winner will have 24 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen.

Giveaway is open to residents of the U.S.

Click here to see the entire Blog Hop List….

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