Ideal Bite

Well, folks, it's Monday morning, and I hate to do this to you, but we're gonna talk about deodorant.

I sweat like crazy. I've sweated while standing in the snow with my hands hurting from the cold. In short, I am never sure.

So it was with great reluctance that I switched to an eco, aluminum-free deodorant that wasn't even an antiperspirant. But aluminum's been linked to Alzheimer's and however tenuous the link may be, Alzheimer's scares a lot more crap outta me than wet armpits do.

And here's the thing: I can't tell the difference.

I don't sweat any more than I used to - if anything, it feels like I sweat even less than before. (Maybe my body was trying to get all the nasties off me?) I either Read the full post... 

If my daughter Roxie is any indication, the originals yogi must have been infants.

At 5 months, she’d spend all her waking time in happy baby pose (on her back, legs curled up, clutching her feet with her hands). Two months later, she started sleeping in child’s pose (kneeling, with chest resting on her thighs) and now at 9 months, as she’s figuring out how to stand upright, it’s all about downward dog.

No, yoga isn’t eco per se, but watching Roxane wiggle around in her crib makes me think about how closely it’s tied to nature and natural development. With names like tree, pigeon, and locust, these poses certainly take their inspiration from the environment. Read the full post... 

Russel Brand recently published his autobiography entitled My Booky Wook, and why he titled it that Terry Gross just could not wrap her pretty little head around, as evidenced by her awkwardly-delicious Fresh Air interview with him. Personally, I like the title – clearly he could have called upon many a nuanced and verbose phrasing to lend help with the labeling, but My Booky Wook did the trick just fine. To that end, this is my bloggy wog, which I will miss dearly over the next two weeks while I’m doing some serious horizontal in Bali.

If you’re in the Bay, do this:

Read the full post... 

Memorial Day is over. Boooo. Pass the time until your next three day weekend with these NYC events.

ABC Carpet and Home Eco-Intelligence Section
What: A new collection of eco-hardware products, equipment, and accessories like air purifiers, furniture, and body products.
When: For sale now. This permanent section will continue to expand to include solar energy, home audits, and retro-fits.
Where: ABC Carpet and Home, 881 Broadway.

Kiehl’s Shave Swap
What: Men, trade in your ol’ shave cream (at least 4 oz.), take a 5 min survey, and get their new Ultimate Read the full post... 

On my way to work this morning, I spotted a tied-up pair of sneaks hanging over a street sign. Nice…like the time my friend left her old boots on the sidewalk in case another girl with size 10 feet happened to walk by and want them (likely, they were picked up with the trash, like the 12.7 million tons of shoes that end up in landfills each year). So if not on a sign post or sidewalk or in landfill, then how 'bout giving your old clogs to Goodwill (if they're still wearable), or a cobbler to revive them (and if you still don't want 'em, swap them), or if they're running shoes, recycle them? Better, if Read the full post... 

Being a crafter means being willing to fail - sometimes miserably - with your DIY attempts, laugh, and then dive back in with those knitting needles/embroidery thread/scissors/glue/Condom Henna Applicator (seriously, just click the link). My fave new blog to laugh with other peeps at their own crafty shortcomings (remember, it's not laughing at someone as long as the crafter's laughing too): Craft Fail.

Some of the best of the worst:
•  Bad Skin Day Hat because concealer doesn't always do the trick
•  Knitted Vibrator Cozy or banana sweater? You decide.
•  Read the full post... 

Hey LA Biters, Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues (I'm a big fan, BTW), has an exclusive one-night-only reading of her new play, O.P.C. (Obsessive Political Correctness) this Friday, May 29 at the Santa Monica Bay Woman's Club; 1210 Fourth St., Santa Monica, CA 90401.

I have yet to see it, but Stockard Channing (Grease) and Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) are in this environmental comedy, plus there's something endearing about the description of the heroine that I identify with:

"Twenty-five-year old Romi Weil is worried about her carbon footprint, polar bears, holes in the ozone, wildflowers, songbirds and certain land masses to name just a few of her concerns…she is forced to ask Read the full post... 

Well, maybe "we" didn't do any actual bricklaying ourselves, but since Chicago's got some of the best and greenest architecture in the country, we may as well join the appreciative chorus. Find out why on a two-hour Green in the Loop walking tour this weekend, when you can pick up insider info on everything from the Monadnock Building to the Harold Washington Library. Guide and architect Dave Hampton will lead the two-mile trek, highlighting landmark buildings that incorporated locally sourced materials, gravity-fed water supplies, and natural lighting and ventilation from 1909 through today (yep, the Art Institute's new wing is on the list). Order your ticket online and meet at the Picasso sculpture Saturday at 10am to Read the full post... 

Michael J. Fox promised me hoverboards by 2015. I'm pretty sure that ain't happening.

But I got a taste of some other futuristic technology last week at the California Fuel Cell Partnership. The CFCP is a rare display of collaboration between major car companies, oil companies, greentech companies...pretty much anyone that has to do with using or providing energy. Their goal: To make cars powered by - wait for it - hydrogen fuel cells that are affordable and practical to manufacture.

So when Volkswagen invited us up there to check out its fuel cell Passats that were developed in conjunction with Tongji University in Shanghai, I jumped at the chance to assuage my disappointment with Marty McFly.
Read the full post... 

How on EARTH do all those people manage to get in shape before their weddings? Seems like everyone I know is this fantabulous, amazing, fit (and by "fit," we really mean "thin," let’s face it) version of herself when she walks down that aisle.

Seriously, tell me - how does that happen? From what I can tell, all I'm going to be doing for the next five months is working like a fiend so I can take some vacation time, planning the wedding during my personal hours (instead of going to yoga), and eating and drinking my face off at the multiple engagement parties we are going to be attending.

Every time I turn around, it seems I need to celebrate with a new friend who hasn't seen me since I got engaged. (Clearly, "need" is the right word here.) Of course, this necessitates bubbles. And bubbles necessitate Read the full post...