Cozy Life, Part Deux

I've thinking about my blog a lot lately, and I think that I've lost my way a little.  The excitement of high readership and the opportunity to work with amazing brands and companies has slowly made my blog drift away from what I had intended in to do in the beginning.  A family and parenting focused blog on living an ecofriendly lifestyle.

So, starting today, you're looking at The Cozy Life CLOTH!  Same format, but I'm keeping my content close to my heart - reusables and ecofriendly choices for women, children, and families.  I'm looking forward to revitalizing my content and getting the word out on cloth and it's benefits for our kids - Love you all!  Thank you for your support of this crazy project!

What's coming up?

Review: NewAir AF-1000B Portable Evaporative Cooler

So seriously... It's HOT where I live.  While I'm still a California girl, I left the beaches behind and headed out to the desert climate of the California Central Valley - home of high temperatures and poor air quality.  Air conditioning is expensive and my family is doing everything we can to conserve energy, while still keeping our family comfortable in the 100°F+ weather we're having this summer.

Due to our poor air quality, a lot of times we're stuck inside and it's important, especially with an infant in the house, that we stay cool.  That means that our new evaporative cooler from NewAir (the AF-1000B) is our new best friend.

The cooler uses water and/or ice, in combination with an osculating fan, to cool medium-sized rooms.  As a self-proclaimed "Eco Mom" this fan is a dream because I don't need to worry about weird chemicals that might be present in other portable coolers - it uses WATER!  So on top of this cooler working amazingly well, it's ecofriendly too.

Extra bonuses?  It comes fully assembled (you literally just need to plug it in) and you can use it in "fan only" mode if you'd prefer to not add water.  You also have the option to have the fan stationary or osculating, depending on your needs.  While I feel like a cheesy used car salesman being 100% positive on this thing, I seriously love it.  We keep it next to our TV in the living room and it's allowed us to turn off our air conditioning unit in favor for a less energy-consuming fan.

Here's a few photo's of the cooler- I love that it's black and matches a lot of my furniture... but if you're looking for something more flashy, it also comes in red!

I did quick video to show you guys how easy this amazing cooler is to use.  You'll also hear how quiet it is - I turned it on right next to my dog, who was sleeping (as dog's tend to do) - my dog is a rescue and sudden noise seriously startles him... This fan/cooler?  So quiet, he barely noticed.  Check it out:

Upcycling with Habiliment

Alright, Eco-Moms, it's time to really live up to the "eco" in our Eco-Mom title.  Let me start by bringing up the term Upcycle.  Upcycling is a critical concept when we think about the idea of living an eco-conscious lifestyle - it's the idea that you can take an old thing and make it new.  Re-purpose and re-use the old to make it functional, beautiful, and/or relevant.  In order to be as ecofriendly as possible, us mom's have the responsibility to repurpose items in our homes and give them new life. 

Going out to the mall to buy clothes, shopping online for toys... these are common actions nowadays.  Doing that shopping while also supporting the idea of upcycling?  Not so common.  With that in mind, I want to share a discovery with you - Habiliment.  This company is a way to combine shopping and upcycling, bringing eco-conscious products into our homes and giving them new life.

Made from an old houndstooth coat, this pillow toy in the shape of a bunny rabbit is a new favorite in my daughter's nursery.  It's amazing to see what a sewing machine and an old coat can do!  I don't want to sound like a used car salesman, but this is a seriously exciting concept.  This toy is adorable - I've even found my six year-old carrying it around the house... and to think that it might have been a just dusty coat somewhere in a landfill.

Plus, how cute is the packaging?  When I received my pillow toy in the mail, I almost didn't want to unwrap it!  The obvious time and effort put into every product is another big reason why I'm so supportive of this brand.

One potential misgiving about upcycled materials is always quality - when you're reusing something old to create something new, will this "new" thing be rundown from the start?  Absolutely not the case with our adorable pillow toy.  The sewing is outstanding and the materials selected are vintage, but high quality.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this upcycled toy lasts longer than my daughter's factory made teddy bears.  Here's a close up of the "ears" on our bunny - Does that looked recycled to you?

All of the items available from Habiliment follow this same idea, or are produced using the Indian handcrafted fabric of Khadi, which is both culturally important to the people of India and also made outside of a sweatshop or factory, as so many fabrics unfortunately are.

I am passionate about being ecofriendly, and I'm extremely supportive of brands that seek to provide consumers with ecofriendly products.  I hope you'll take a look at the different clothes and upcycled products that Habiliment has to offer - they definitely get my stamp of approval!

Habiliment Website

Image (c) Habiliment

Tattooed Mommy: The Struggle is Real

I'm a fan of body art - I have tattoos on both of my arms, one of my legs, and one on my back.  I cover my tattoos up at work, but once I'm at home (and around my children) the long sleeves, pants, and bracelets are traded in for comfy clothes that don't need to cover up my "ink."

When my son was a toddler, I can remember him touching my tattoos with a quizzical look on his face as he proceeded to rub my wrist with his chubby little hand, trying to get my tattoo off of my skin... But as he's gotten older, I don't think my son even notices my tattoos anymore.  My four month-old daughter is just now starting to notice, and she too seems confused - but I know that confusion will soon fade as the tattoos become just another part of mommy.

With my kids, the issue isn't a big deal - I don't associate my tattoos with an "alternate lifestyle" choice, nor do I feel like I'm in some way different from those who choose not to get tattoos... But the unfortunate truth is that a few members of the "Mommy Brigade" don't agree.  It seems okay to them for Dad's to have body art, but us Mom's?  It just doesn't seem as accepted.  

Now I'm not trying to make generalizations - I know I'm not the only mom out there with tattoos and I know that mother's without body art aren't all overly judgmental about it... But there seems to be a view that some people have about the inappropriateness of tattoos on a mother's body that feel completely free to share their negative views with us "tattooed hoodlums" - The view that we need to cover them up around our kids.  That we need to tell our children that tattoos aren't okay.

Screw that.

The stereotype that "tattoos are for criminals and drug addicts" is an irresponsible one that I think motivates a lot of the negative thoughts toward body art... and please don't quote Leviticus - It speaks against the use of body art in pagan rituals, and I can assure you, I've never taken part in any ancient druidic rites of passage. 

Tattoos are a type of personal expression - just like this blog is.  Yes, they're permanent and need to be thought over carefully before committing to them.  But when a tattoo truly means something to you, it becomes as much a part of you as your skin was before the tattoo was put there.  My tattoos stand for my heritage, my desire for truth and joy in life, and my love of fantasy. How can those things corrupt my children?  I've even seen a Facebook group literally titled "Your Tattoos Make You A Horrible Mother" - Seriously??

Source Unknown (Share in Comments if you know!)

As my children grow my husband and I plan to encourage them to be who they truly want to be.  If that means body art, I'm fine with it.  If that means no body art, I'm fine with it.  For those parents out there who view my tattoos as inappropriate and turn their children the other way when the Jabberwocky tattoo on my leg is out for the world to see, know that you've got much bigger fish to fry than a harmless tattoo.  

This world is full of hateful and frightening things that we need to shield our kids from.  Worry about bigotry and teach your child to love others - not about a tattoo that is composed of imagery that neither hurts nor demeans anyone else.