SERAMIS IS BACK IN THE USA November 2016!

Edited: November 4. 2016
Germandeli.com now has a larger sized bag of the Seramis substrate. Previously stocked Seramis in the 2.5L may still be unavailable but they now carry a 7.5L bag with a shipping charge of $13. Order arrives complete with complimentary, authentic German haribo gummy bears***
Please show your interest by leaving reviews or requests! They are a friendly company and willing to help☺.

If you are an orchid lover....let me make a public declaration right here. The much talked about Orchid media: Seramis is INDEED AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE in the USA.

After much searching, emailing and endless dead end hunts on ebay and even Facebook ( yes, I contacted THE Seramis Facebook.com page as well) only to hear the same thing..." No we do not offer our product for sale in the USA".

Well am here to say. It is here. I have gone on a personal campaign to locate this product here and am presently emailing the president of Germandeli.com back and forth to expand the product line!


Wait...did you miss that? Ooops!
Yes. It is available at germandeli.com!
I am not in any way affiliated with germandeli.com. Nope...I just happen to LOVE ORCHIDS!😊

So if you've been hunting for Seramis...hop on over to that website. Leave feedback or contact them by email and let them know what product from the Seramis line you would love to have!
*** Currently they offer for sale, the finer granuled Seramis substrate. As well as a few moisture meters. Am presently asking them to stock their store with the larger granuled clay pebbles. So please...call/ email or contact by letter and let them know what YOU would like!***

Happy Orchid Growing!🌸

BOYCOTT THE BACHELOR/BACHELORETTE For Change!!!???

Image from: blogs.vancouversun.com

The latest June 22 episode of ABC's The Bachelorette was eye poppingly squirm-worthy and sad, all at once. It was all together an embarrassing amalgamation of slut-tastic skankosity laced with heaping piles of bull excrement....
Yes...it was rubbish. And stinky rubbish gets tongues wagging apparently...

But the truth is...and made up words aside... ABC Network and their crafty producers and casting coordinators are simply serving up what the diners have requested the most!

Huh? Exsqueeze me?

Yes...
The show has gone down the rabbit hole of rot and rubbish because...quite simply put: THATS WHAT THE VIEWERS WANT.
Whether consciously ( tuning in each Monday night, watching live or bogging down the DVR as I do) or subconsciously ( watching...and hating the downward spiral by voicing TOTALLY IRELEVANT OPINIONS on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter...like I do as well); we are ALL supporting the weekly TV Detritus and letting the network know that we want MORE of said crap...by watching it!!
Holy Batman-CompoundSentence!

Think about it...
Lets reminisce...
Remember in days of yonder...when the chosen Bachelors were well-to- do Entrepreneurs with Ivy League educations? There was a pilot and a Prince? A doctor, a lawyer? Remember the charming suitors? Teachers and sweet nurses without Hollywood agendas? Men and women, just starry eyed from wonderment and glowing from real suntans and the sparkly hope of finding real love?

You can barely recall, right? Yeah...me too.

They were all buff and bronzed and the ladies were all classic beauties in their own rights...but does anyone remember when the "Crazy Girl" was simply the one who cried in the outros after getting sent home? Followed distinctly by the crazy girl who hyperventilated her way to an ambulance after being sent home? And then the crazy girl who would plot before being sent home....
Which elapsed into the crazy girl who was ushered off set for drunkenness and near-suicidal grief about being sent home...
Then the crazy girls simply weren't sent home?
Then the crazy girls were all they had...then the actual crazy girl was/IS the Bachelorette!???

I am on the wings of a tangent here...
But does anyone not wonder WHY its all gone to that hand basket in Hell?

Its because we watch it.
We keep watching it.
Every week. We. Watch. It.
So the producers...whose currency and gauge is numbers...viewership ( numbers)... Have no way of knowing that people are displeased! We keep watching so they keep doing the same rubbish every season now! They aren't reading blogs it seems...they aren't reading the Facebook posts it seems... ( Is anybody OUT there!??!)
And short of stopping Chris Harrison at his local grocery store and begging HIM to pass on the message....they have no way or getting the accurate message that THIS MESS EACH WEEK....SUCKKKKKKSSSS!

Unless we boycott The Bachelor and Bachelorette.
Unless we quit watching. Quit DVRing...
Its the same way shows get cancelled every season...viewership matters.

Its hard though...
This season there is Kaitlyn Bristowe... Her sweet looking smile masking obvious low self esteem and dwindling self worth...
The poor girl doesn't seem to know which way is up and can't see beyond the flattery of words and the glow of polished muscles.

( Does anyone still wonder why she didn't just ASK who had actually chosen HER from the 1st night? But that would mean the poor gal was a clear thinker...)
Ohhh the train wreck.
I wish her the best...and I keep watching...hoping it will change. Hoping that her redemption draweth nigh...and that a wake- up call will come prancing in on the wings of a flying golden pig...
And while I am wishing...I hope that in the hunt for a husband, she will most assuredly Find Herself ...like, fast.

And there you have it...
The audience...critical lot that we are...we are STILL hopeless(grousing) romantics..hoping that ABC would change this craptastic formula... Hoping that poor Kaitlyn would get a clue, close her knees, open her eyes and shut her mouth....
We're all still watching....hopelessly.

Thanks for Reading!

CHEAPEST SUPPLEMENTS FOR (PROVEN) HAIR GROWTH!!!

Here's the long awaited follow up to my most read blog entry on hair growth!
(Link to first hair vitamin blog: http://atshanasplace.blogspot.com/2012/03/best-supplement-for-faster-hair-growth.html )
 And why did I take THIS long to publish a "sequel"? Well...hair growth, proof in pictures, genuine trial and error ALL take time!
I chopped my waist length, healthy type 4 relaxed hair ALL off in May 2013... then I started a new journey with different products and of course, 100% natural hair.  I captured it all on camera and am ready to report what many may have already unknowingly tried! I hope you enjoy my findings!

Good prenatal supplements DO WORK! But which ones? Here's my honest account!

May 2013: THE BIG CHOP.
Last relaxer Sept. 17. 2012.
I am 6mths post partum here. I have minor hairline shedding as is common after a baby.

December 2013: Applying Heat to bang area for the 1st time since September 2012
Hair is coarse, VERY thick. I am overwhelmed and proceed to ignore my hair mostly... Am taking...

One A Day Women's Prenatal Vitamins, 60+60 Count

March 11. 2014 ARM PIT LENGTH
Switched to Expecta prenatals (am 12 wks pregnant with baby #2)
I am VERY bad at caring for my hair still. It is never deep conditioned, rarely washed and rarely moisturized.
My hair however grows regardless... and grows FAST (this may be genetics...I swear)
I have researched bioavailability of vitamins and their nutrients and have switched vitamins in an attempt to supply baby AND my body with more nutrients  ... Hair growth takes off on ...

Rainbow Light Prenatal One Multivitamin, 150-Count Bottle

Removing braids/length check Oct 2014
(using Rainbow Light prenatals. 1Mth Post partum)

Blow dry.  Am Waist length by January 2015.
My hair grows VERY fast at this point despite being postpartum (where women generally lose a lot of hair)
Using Alive womens multivitamin.

SUMMARY

I still believe that genetics plays a HUGE role in your hair's rate of growth. During the post partum period that followed the birth of my second daughter, I lapsed into an entirely unprecedented lazy spell with my hair. I went a total of 5 MONTHS without washing my hair. Yes....gross. In my defense...my very VERY thick, coarse type 4 hair takes HOURS to do. I simply haven't got the time most days...erm..."weeks". As a result, detangling is often a nightmare. I have since learned that conditioning goes a long LONG way. I am able to comb through my type 4 hair most easily when blow dried (as you see in the pictures...which I am able to do once or maybe twice a year). I now use a homemade blend of pureed bananas, honey and aloe vera juice at every wash to detangle. It works VERY WELL! My hair is resistant to damage it seems. I Now spray it with Oyin hair dew and Juices and Berries spray when it is in braids or under a wig. I still do VERY low manipulation (my code words for neglect) but my hair thrives. I did not go on the natural journey for hair length goals or for vanity...I simply got tired of relaxing (though I only relaxed 2 or 3 times per year before...since age 13).

This is MY story. My results. I hope that these results can help alleviate some of the concerns with hair care. I also hope that utilizing the use of certain vitamins can help YOU on you hair journey. Mostly, I hope you do treasure your hair a LOT more than I myself do! I still remain a very LAZY NATURAL. :-)

Other Products

Oyin Juices and Berries.
Oyin Handmade Juices and Berries Herbal Leave-In Hair Tonic, 8.4 Ounce


Also consider Trader Joes Multivitamins if seeking an affordable option to Rainbow Light as they almost identical in ingredients and are therefore perfectly bioavailable as well!

NATURAL, AFFORDABLE STAIN REMOVER FOR BABY CLOTHES!

Hello Readers! Just another tip I thought I would share!



Quite by accident, I stumbled upon a wonderful tool that I quickly added to my arsenal of stain fighters for my household (I am a mommy to a young toddler of not quite 2 years, and a 6 week old).

See, I have struggled with acne for years. After purchasing every product on the market and fruitlessly spending thousands (at least two thousand anyway!) on facials and microdermabrasion, I joined the "natural products " bandwagon.

The Shea Moisture African black soap was very soothing to my inflamed skin and I realized it was quickly helping my face clear up during my first pregnancy!  It was then that I also started using the soap to eliminate stains.

At first, I used it to wash out my white face washcloths in the mornings when I was pressed for time. Scrubbing the bar gently across my makeup stained rag, I watched in amazement as the brown set in stains from my foundation, quickly and easily rinsed out!
With this in mind, I used the soap on my newborn daughter's cloth diapers (and on her poo stained clothes after blow outs: see pics below) and watched as the mustard yellowish poo stains, easily washed out!! Astonishingly, it worked better than the pricey stain removal sprays!!! It also left my cloth diapers and prefolds, sparkling white!
I then went ahead and tried it on fresh ink stains, spaghetti sauce stains, grape jelly stains and numerous other food stains and it worked very well!!!

So if ever you are in the market for an uber affordable stain lifter that also happens to be a great face/skin bar soap and is also cloth diaper safe...try it out!

Fresh poop! Ewwww....

Just scrub away until the dark color is gone!

Voila!

Of note, I must mention that I have had great success with Biokleen's Bac Out on my cloth diapers as well as on my babies' clothes . So if you are in the market for skin friendly, gentle yet effective stain removers, try em' out too! 

Please share YOUR stain lifting secrets in,the comments below!!!

You can get Bac Out at www.amazon.com

BEST DIAPER CREAM FOR SENSITIVE ALLERGY PRONE BABY SKIN!

Image courtesy of Amazon.com

 Back in 1981 my mother used the good old classic, Zinc and Castor Oil, a blend used in Jamaica where I grew up!

The tried and true zinc based creams, like Desitin are by far the most used diaper creams on the market! For good reason too, since for many moms and many baby bums alike, it works!!

So I found myself smiling in reverie when at my own first baby shower, for my first born daughter, back in November 2012, the Desitin gifts ran aplenty!!!

But then baby came along and well....you know where this is going. I wondered what I was doing wrong at first! I had the Pampers Naturals! I had the Huggies too! But once I got home from the hospital, baby girl's butt was not a happy camper...glowing red and angrily rashy as the hours went by, despite frequent diaper changes!

Thats when my hunt began.
Round the bend and through the woods!
Baby girl's butt survived the test drives of A+D Ointment, Aquaphor (a true gem for her eczema patches later on---just NOT her diaper area),  Boudreaux's Butt Paste (and excellent second in the long run!) and BabyGanics Protective Ointment (a non petroleum based diaper rash prevention and all purpose balm that was pretty awesome too!
And then there was.... the winner..... Grandma El's!






Where had this stuff BEEN all my life! (ok, dialing down the drama...I had only been a mother for  few weeks really when I had found this gem!)
But I am here to say: if you are leery of petroleum based creams, or if your baby simply is NOT responding to the zinc masters like Desitin and the like ,then please give THIS cream a try! It is awesome for those who are cloth diapering as well! (I still cloth diaper with my 15mth old first born daughter and plan to do so with our new arrival, later this year in September! 

What diaper creams have worked best for you and your loved one? Can you recommend any cloth diaper friendly diaper creams that have worked for you? Please share below in the comment section!

***Note: You can find Grandma El's in stores like Target or on Target.com, and Babies R Us but your best bet may be the trusted online giant, Amazon.com!***




Huggies Pure & Natural Diapers, Size 3, 70 Count (Pack of 2) (Packaging May Vary)

WIN A FREE BABY JOGGER CITY MINI GT STROLLER!

Image from: Celebritybabyscoop.com

Image from: SuperstarBabies.com

LETS FACE IT: FREE STUFF...IS GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that's why I am dedicating this entire blog post to a giveaway from a company named Baby Jogger! 

Scroll all the way to the bottom and simply enter now...if you haven't got the time to read! Go ahead...I wont tell!

So whats the deal?

Well... Peppyparents.com is doing another of their fabulous monthly giveaways, and this time they are gifting the fabulous Baby Jogger City Mini GT stroller to someone...like you! Yup...that's the stroller there in the picture! Its a pretty cool ride for a pretty cool baby! Maybe that baby is yours!

Just an FYI: I am not affiliated with babyjogger.com. Nope...am not paid for this little post here at all.  Would be cool if I were though, wouldn't it!? LOL!

I first saw this stroller on one of the daily vlogs of one of my favorite YouTubers: Judy Travis from Itsjudyslife and Itsjudytime.

Infact...in one of her most recent vlogs, her baby Julianna is featured IN the City Mini GT! Check it out here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zmgbLRLOy4.

I wanted that stroller the minute I saw it!  

The stroller comes in many different colors and is quite possibly the best made stroller brand on the market! Trust me on this one...I own the City Select...and it is fabulous!

So....you want one?

Enter the contest! I know I will! 

ENTER HERE! Good LUCK!

Contest closed.

GETTING BABY TO SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT!

Image provided through: Amazon.com

December 2012.... 7 months ago...

"Its your turn to get the baby..."
"No, its your turn..."
"I got her last time..."
"I got her for longer...."
"I have work tomorrow..."
"I have to take care of her all day..."
"But she wants you..."
"Nope, she most definately wants you..."
Grumbling ensues...
"I carried her for nine months...I am still recovering. Its YOUR turn to get the baby..."

Fast forward to today, July 2013.
Our daughter is 7 months old and we are just now beginning to see the light at the end of the long and lonely tunnel of doom, gloom and sleep deprivation...(Ok, it isn't THAT bad.)
A little over a month ago, and one too many tiffs about frustration and swallowed resentment...we bought a book. A book that is beginning to shed light on a little issue that all new parents hum about: "Getting the baby to sleep through the night".
(Scroll to the bottom for the links right now if you reallllly are pressed for time)

If you are on my page reading I know you do not have time to yourself these days, not with a frequent waker on your hands. Or maybe yours is the baby that actually does sleep at night but won't (for the love of God!) take a nap during the day.
If so... I am not telling you that is the end of it all right here right now...but I am telling you that it is quite possibly never too late to sleep train your baby or toddler. Starting NOW however, is a pretty darn good time.

Back Story:
Our daughter wasnt a bad sleeper...per se. By 3 months she would wake perhaps 2-3 times per night, plus she was happily in her crib and her own room. We would offer her a bottle of breastmilk at one of those feedings. Somewhere around the 5 month mark though, she did indeed start to clock a great set of hours. Around 8:30 ish or 9 at night...till around 5:30ish to 6 in the morning---blessed uninterrrupted sleep. By the pediatrician's standards, she was indeed "sleeping through the night." 

However, with the 6 month mark---and all the milestones that tend to cluster together at this stage---our baby began to wake frequently again! Adding to the frustration was the fact that she was indeed teething. Daytime naps also went out the door too, and lets just say I was once more the same old grey, unrecognizably tired zombie that I had become when we just took her home. Not realizing how viscious a cycle we were dealing with (tiredness begets more tiredness---NOT more sleep!) we thought for sure that her late bedtimes would mean later morning wakes and more naps.... Nope! No such duck...

Enter the hunt for a solution.
I will start by saying that there a few great books on sleep training that are absolutely noteworthy, though #1 on my list is the method I chose that works best for me and my family. Check them out below! (Click picture to read reviews!)

The Sleep Lady's Good Night, Sleep Tight... by Kim West.


Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weisbluth, MD.


The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantly



Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Dr. Richard Ferber


TOP SLEEP TRAINING BOOKS on Amazon.com



You have to find out what is right for you.
Do you think you can try and sustain a sleep training technique where the baby is gently taught to sleep by crying it out? Then the Ferber Method may work for you!
The most gentle approach is reportedly the No Cry Sleep Solution (though this method seems to have a questionable success rate long term for some families.
I liked MY method because it is practical. All inclusive (training through travel, sickness, broken schedules and more!)

Conclusion:

Our daughter isnt perfect and neither are we. She sleeps most night in her crib now for 9-11 hours (and she does still have a brief set of wake ups throughout the night though it isnt enough to arouse anyone---including herself----for long.)
She also takes naps daily now---two naps that are 1hr to 2 hrs each, usually! Some days she takes powernaps (3 half hour naps). Also, we finally we have solved a HUGE issue...she now naps IN her own bed!)
What was HER particular problem?
Well: me really. I nursed her to bed early on. She would fall asleep at the breast and began to expect that at all times. This actually was a very fast way to get her to sleep (and wonderful when they are younger than 3 mths old! But upon waking at night (as all normal human beings do) she had come to learn NO concept of soothing herself back to sleep! Thats why we chose to sleep train.
We have setbacks, but we are staying on track and this method is definately one worth looking into!

***Please feel free to leave your questions, suggestions and other comments as you may be helping another tired mommy like you!***

(Read the hundreds of reviews on Amazon.com and make the choice that works for you!)

STROLLER GIVEAWAY ALERT FOR AUGUST 2013!
 Peppyparents.com is having a giveaway for you mommies out there! WIN a free Baby Jogger City Mini GT stroller!
Click the link Below and try your luck! I did!
http://blog.peppyparents.com/~cd51ffd1655382f