lush

Happy Friday blog stalkers! Today, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite companies, Lush. If you haven't been to their site or a Macy's recently, you're missing out. Not only do they have fabulous products, but they also have core beliefs grounded in justice, health, and sound ethics. Here are a couple of their core beliefs:

We believe in making effective products from fresh, organic* fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe synthetics.

We invent our own products and fragrances. We make them fresh by hand using little or no preservative or packaging, using only vegetarian ingredients, and tell you when they were made.

We believe in buying ingredients only from companies that do not commission tests on animals and in testing our products on humans.

We believe in happy people making happy soap, putting our faces on our products and making our mums proud.

We believe in long candlelit baths, sharing showers, massage, filling the world with perfume and in the right to make mistakes, lose everything and start again.

We believe our products are good value, that we should make a profit and that the customer is always right.

My three favorite products of theirs are the bath bombs, bath bars, and the massage bars. Here is a little tutorial on how to use each of them. You may need to click on the photo to be able to read the words.

Massage Bars

Bath Bars

Bath Bombs

The massage bars and bath bars are multiple use. The bath bombs however, are single use only. If you're going to try one of their products out, I would recommend any, EXCEPT ones with glitter. I once bought a bath bomb with glitter ... assuming it would dissolve I guess ... well it did not dissolve. While the aroma was great, the little confetti stars poking me where not!

those who are given much

A funny thing happened the other day. I posted a few lovely photos under the title "country fresh." I felt good about the post. I felt that each photo was crisp, clean, and full of design potential. I hoped that they would strike a cord of creativity with a fellow blogger. After publishing the post, I went through my iPhoto library. I didn't even have any reason to look through the old pictures, maybe a walk down memory lane, or maybe I thought an old picture would be an inspiration for a future post. However, while I was looking looking the archives, these photos nearly jumped off the screen.

I took these photos about a year a half ago during a trip to Costa Rica.
This is someones bathroom.
This is someones home.

I felt shocked by the degree in which I have been blessed. I also felt a deep sense of conviction. If you're a design junkie like me, you can relate when I say that I spend a great deal of time thinking about my home and the updates I hope to make someday. I love searching blogs for design gems, simply because it is one of my passions. Now don't get me wrong, I think design and remodeling is a gift. I believe that a creative mind is a blessing from God. However, the conviction I felt came from the realization that all of my design aspirations are for my own self gain. I hope to find a way to incorporate this passion of mine into helping those in need. I feel like God has given me this desire...now I am left with the question...how can I use it to glorify Him? I believe that He could use my creativity for much greater things than I could ever imagine.

get creative & earn cash

Last week my good friend Angie informed me that anything you buy at the Habitat ReStore and revamp can earn you $25 store credit. All that they require is that you bring in before and after pictures.

So what did I do?? Snapped some photos of the brass chandelier I purchased for $1 and took them to the habitat store for $25 credit! I'll admit I was a little skeptical that they would actually give me a $25 credit when I only spent $1 on the chandelier, but it worked!

I apologize - these pictures aren't the best
(the office remodel is still in the beginning stages)

Before After


The $25 credit can be used at the warehouse locations & the furniture store!

Considering I bought 4 chandeliers for $1 each ... I may never have to spend another penny at the ReStore!

After the office & spare bedroom are complete ... I am thinking about heading back to the ReStore and implementing this idea somewhere in the house

this better be the only shower that cat ever gets

I'm sure many of you have heard of & attended baby or bridal showers, but who has heard of a cat shower? I know I never had until last week (that might be because they didn't exist until last week).

A little explanation:
My co-worker and office mate took the plunge and decided to get a cat last week. At my office, we thought it was only appropriate to throw him a "cat shower."

The shower was fantastic & I think the new kitten will enjoy all the treats and toys.

For your curiosity:

The most fitting gift of the shower was A bottle of cat shampoo

Some families have a history of alcoholism, gambling, gossip, or debt. My co-worker's family has a history of cat bathing.

In good humor I bought him a bottle of cat shampoo. In response to my gift, another co-worker of mine gave a little lecture which ended in the quote "this better be the only shower this cat ever gets."

Ohh, there is so much humor in life! I hope you take time to enjoy your life this weekend, be silly, and laugh!

Since I was absolutely sure you all would stop reading my blog after this crazy post, I found some other showers to spark your interest and keep your commitment.

Other showers I enjoy

May you be showered with good gifts and company this weekend

an itty bitty baby

This is not a post about the American Girl doll I coveted in the 4th grade.

This is a post about the itty bitty baby that is growing in my friend Cory's belly!

Yesterday, Cory announced that her and Dusty are expecting their first child.

Here "he/she" is!

In her announcement, Cory said "the baby is mostly just a blob right now." I was going to name this post "an itty bitty blob," but I didn't want to make any sort of reference to my beliefs on when life begins. Whatever your beliefs are, Cory has a baby in her belly. Their baby is due on March 21st...only 5 days before my bday :) I like to think he/she is going to be born on my birthday!!


I don't know a lot about babies or being a mom, but I do know that if I have a baby one day I want to carry it in one of these...

Congratulations Cory and Dusty!
For today, I am going to continue parenting my wild puppy!

FYI: Tomorrow I have the honor of attending a "cat shower" for my office mate. I will let you know how it goes. I will be bringing yarn.
______________________________________________________
On another note, here are some pictures I did not add to my bathroom post.
These are truly "before" pictures.

Here is what the bathroom looked like before the demolition even began...

shower OR bath?

When we moved into our house about 1 year ago there was very little difference between taking a shower and taking a bath! Our plumbing was so bad that you would be standing in a bath tub full or water by the end of your shower. And the idea of someone taking a shower right after you- oh that was totally out of the question. It took what seemed like decades for the water to drain! I guess that is what you get when you move into a house with 55 year-old plumbing. We tried drain-o and everything else the stores had to offer, however, the water continued to rise. We lived with this shower/bath dilemma for almost a year. As the problem became worse and the water rose higher, my tolerance became lower. Finally E and I broke down and decided to take on a remolding project! Let me warn you E and I have no experience in "handy work." The tension in the room rises when we take on simple projects like hanging pictures together! haha Does anyone else experience this? Thankfully we were blessed with two great friends who flip houses. They were truly a God send. We totally gutted the entire bathroom! Take a look for yourself....

This is what it looked like in the beginning
The vanity literally took up the entire room.

The green "thing" is a window that went into our laundry room. Several years ago the previous owners added onto the house. In order to block the lovely view of the washer and dryer, they put up a hunter green shade. How gloomy and dark?

You've gotta love that wallpaper.


Here I am hard at work.
Don't let me fool you. I did very little hard labor. My duties involved the design creativity aka "buying stuff."

From gloomy and sad...
To bright and fun!
We used the wasted window space and created some built-ins...
I will share with you in a later post about what I did with the window


We used white subway tiles on the shower
The cut outs are one of my favorite parts
A little attention to the details

Fresh flowers: you might be thinking "how does Rachel afford fresh flowers every week?" Well, these lovely hydrangeas were picked right off UK's campus. Some may feel like that is stealing, but after being a UK student I'll take anything I can get. If you're also a UK alum, I know you can feel my pain! True story- I once heard of someone stealing toilet paper in protest of tuition rises! I haven't taken it that far yet!


I love apothecary jars
Once a cake topper- now a bathroom decoration


From my favorite bath store- LUSH

One word of advice, do not buy any of the bath bombs with confetti. The confetti pokes and OUCH it hurts!

Hope you enjoy. Feel free to comment if you have any questions on product information! Enjoy your weekend! I am planning on spending some much needed time with friends and family.