This week I had the pleasure of trying out some skincare products from H e r b i v o r e B o t a n i c a l s. Herbivore Botanicals is an amazing brand featuring products that contain the finest all-natural ingredients, with an emphasis on ingredients that are plant-based, organic, and food-grade. They don’t test on animals, and everything is made in America. I fell in love the minute I opened the box. {seriously, I am a sucker for minimalist packaging} It only got better from then. First I tried the BRIGHTEN mask with pineapple enzyme and gemstone. The first thing I noticed when I opened the glass jar was the sweetest scent. It is so fruity I was tempted to taste it.
Next I tried the ROSE Hibiscus coconut water facial hydrating mist. Once again the scent was gorgeous. A light, sweet, natural rose scent. I sprayed it 10 inches from my face and let it dry before applying the ORCHID youth preserve facial oil. The oil smelled exactly like freshly picked flowers. This skincare line is a relaxing spa experience all around. Not only did the products work wonders for my skin after only a week of use, but the packaging is so gorgeous. I want to use all the high quality glass bottles as decorations in my bathroom. I love this product, and luckily they ship pretty much anywhere!
You can shop directly on their website at herbivorebotanicals.com or buy from their Etsy shop! -T
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![]() IT'S FALLL! Living in the Northwest is sometimes so similar to living in Southern California, except for when the leaves turn all different colors! What is this?! And once you get past the city and into the forest (which is only a short drive) its a completely different world than we are used to. Surreal actually. One of the first things we wanted to do when we moved to Seattle was to visit all the national parks near us. We went to Mount Rainier and Olympic National Park in the summer because we had time and sunny skies. It has always been Isaac's goal to see elk during their competitive mating season, so when we found out that they peak in September we knew we had to go see the elk rut! We woke up at 3:50am on Saturday morning, loaded the car and left. When we finally reached the campsite it was around 8 am. We got a great spot next to the Hoh River and set up our tent. The Hoh River, like many rivers nearby, is a place where salmon swim upstream to spawn.
Since we had never been on this trail, the lush temperate rainforest absolutely floored! The moss that was brown in the summer was now a blindingly bright green. Moss effortlessly hung from 200ft tall trees, forming lush strands that didn't move at all. No wind moved a single leaf, creating a silent, deep rainforest where our bodies were the only parts moving. Until the light rain started. You could hear it above but only tiny drops reached the forest floor. Small ferns and berry plants seemed to dance with each drop of rain that hit their leaves. Huge fungi and tiny mushrooms speckled the trees. We turned back after we had been hiking for an hour, and in the distance we saw a group staring off the path into the dense forest, and as we glanced to our right we saw the most enormous elk we had ever seen. It stood about 10 feet tall with a rack of antlers that extended 5 feet above it. The bull elk encountered another male, and let out a long, loud bugle. The cow (female) elk scattered amongst the background stared at us as their ears twitched slightly. The lesser bull elk gave up the fight before it began, he was half the size of the more mature bull so he walk toward us, laid down, and began to eat as hikers took photos of him. ![]() Later that night, we made a fire and couldn’t stop talking about all the animals we had seen. Isaac always wants to see more but I think we got pretty lucky. The next day we got up around 8am and drove to Ruby Beach. We walked down to the shore, Isaac made cairns, and we climbed on the huge rocks and looked at the tide pools. We finally headed home after another full day of exploring.
ALSO If you're feeling festive you HAVE to try this pumpkin ale. It tastes like pumpkin pie in beer form without all the sweetness! Perfect!
![]() The juice craze is everywhere! But does juicing really give all the health benefits that people believe it does? Can you really have one juice then skip on veggies for the rest of the day? What is the difference between cold-pressed juice and regular centrifugal juicing that most people do in their home or buy fresh in a store? For all these answers and more click the read more button below! The wonderful worlds of pinterest, poshmark, and instagram have led me to some amazing products and small businesses. I figure its time for me to start sharing these with you guys! I have decided to start by doing monthly posts where I display my favorite products of the month. This month I will be featuring some organic beauty products, amazing jewelry from poshmark, eco and fashion friendly water bottles from bkr and I'll top it off with a review of a organic meal delivery company, Sun Basket! Hope you enjoy! I started using essential oils in the fall when school stress was getting to me. I was breaking out in rashes and had terrible stomach aches from stress. My doctor prescribed me harsh antibiotic creams and I really didn't want to use them or buy them. Instead I bought a diffuser and a bunch of essential oils that help reduce stress. I found amazing results. My sleep got better and my stress level went down. Isaac became interested and found that mint oil helped his cold sores and gave him a brighter attitude. He even helped me stop grinding my teeth with lavender oil. So glad I found these because they are such a life saver for me! This set is from Eden's Garden, but we use an assortment of brands that you can buy at whole foods or on amazon.com.
Love I+T When in doubt, go to a botanical garden. This was Isaac's first time at this one in PV. He loved the huge cacti and I liked the mini house. It was a win-win. Love I+T Even though we all know how this one ends (USC won blah blah blah) the bonfire is something we look forward to every year as Bruins, and we hope to go until we are those random old people watching and screaming. We started our day with babysitting. Isaac was able to come with me so we went on a walk to the park. Isaac got to experience the joys of baby wearing and showed our little friend the ducks and the swings. We had so much fun. Even though the game was a total upset. We'll get em next year Bruins! Love I+T This year Hanukkah was fun, even though Isaac and I were working most days. We got to light the candles together a few times and I made latkes and matzo ball soup. My favorite gift was this picture frame Isaac got me and I filled with a bunch of photos of us. Love I+T Reseda Cactus Ranch is our happy place. It's only open to the public one day a week so whenever they're open and we are in the area we make it a point to go. So much of it is over grown, including a small part that looks like its from a western movie. We love wandering through the succulents and cacti and finding new plants we have never seen. Plus, we never leave empty handed :) Love I+T Palm Springs is becoming our tradition for Isaac's birthday. It's so close and so beautiful and there's always so much to do. This time we got to see the Veteran's day parade and a couple museums where we made fun of "art" (there was a pile of fake trash that Isaac was very skeptical about.) We had a great time visiting nurseries and The Living Desert where we got to take home two drought tolerant plants for free! Love I+T Every year I look forward to Halloween. I really love everything about it-- decorations, lights, ghost-shaped treats, pumpkin carving, costumes, you get it. Isaac and I began our Halloween craze with an innocent trip to the 99 cent store where we proceeded to buy a million decorations because they were buy one get one free (who could resist?!). We covered the house with glow in the dark skeletons, ghosts, baby pumpkins and sparkly purple bats. We made vodka infused gummy worms and carved three pumpkins, his was a sinister looking pumpkin and mine was a sugar skull. They promptly decomposed in the hot Los Angeles sun making it look like his pumpkin had killed mine (see photos). We ended our halloween celebrations at the West Hollywood street festival where we dressed as a deer and a hunter. We met up with my friend Rachel and her boyfriend who were dressed ad Kylie Jenner and Tyga. We even saw a couple wearing the same themed costume as us. All in all it was a good night. We even had fun walking two miles in order to get a reasonably priced Uber home in the freezing cold. Love I+T Going back to school had me down and crafting always brightens my mood. So I got out our huge stack of prints and made this. A collage of out trip to Ojai for my 21st birthday :)
Love I+T Shabbat morning is my favorite because brunch is the best thing for a day of relaxation. And ,my french toast on freshly baked homemade challah is the bee's knees. Try not to drool.
Love I+T We went to the Wildlife Learning Center where we got to see so many cool rescued animals. A par of bald eagles and a porcupine were our favorites. The moneys that tried to pee at us were not. And the tortoises were being very inappropriate *wink*. I+T
![]() Today we decided to get Metro day passes and explored Downtown LA. We rode subways, trains and buses and saw so many cool things. First we went to Chinatown and saw Isaac's roommate's dad at his herbal remedy store. Next was Olvera Street, Union Station, the Civic Center, and Peddler's Creamery where we both got cinnamon maple pancake batter ice cream. It was such a fun day. I+T Union StationChinatownOlvera StreetThe Last Bookstore + City HallPeddler's Creamery
Today was one of those days when I realized just how close Isaac is to graduation. Only FIVE weeks away. At this point the hardest part isn't the senioritis and the hatred of classes, but thinking that some day soon we won't be going to school and struggling to stay awake at work together. So we took advantage of the foggy morning and watched Netflix and sipped smoothies instead of reading for class because our days of blowing off school work together are numbered ...and Cinco de Mayo only comes once a year.
T This year, Passover was filled with old and new traditions. I learned to make Isaac's mom's addicting carmel white chocolate matzah brittle and we went to Genty and Terry's house for the Seder meal. During the week we enjoyed yummy and creative meals that included matzah fried chicken, shakshuka, and the truly infamous matzah pizza. We watched The Prince of Egypt and The Rugrats Passover episode. Definitely our favorite holiday.
I+T ![]() We decided to take advantage of a free day at Huntington Library and it was amazing. The Chinese garden was amazing and the succulent and cacti collection was something we had never seen before (SUCCULENTS AND CACTUS FOR MILES). Needless to say, we were floored. It was very difficult to leave without a specimen. That night we had an delicious feast of Mexican food in preparation for Passover beginning the next day. I+T For my 21st birthday, we decided Ojai would be the perfect place to relax for a few days and celebrate. After coming from our beach camping trip to the hotel the pool was amazing. We went on a little hike and spent the next day checking out local shops and food. For my actual birthday we went to Agave Maria's for Mexican food and that night we searched the whole town to find a place that would sell be alcohol past midnight. I bought a Corona in a very awkward business exchange at a gas station (cringe). The next night we enjoyed birthday shots of cinnamon whiskey and apple pie moonshine which was so good! We feasted on fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Cool spots we saw were Bart's Books, an outdoor bookstore and Desert Images Succulent and Cactus nursery.
See more on the OJAI page! I+T
Needless to say, we stayed active on spring break. We went to hike Eaton Canyon and encountered a plethora of snakes (which I am getting used to now) and the customary person in a shirt that said "kale." After, we went to Ikea were we found a few cacti to take home. I+T |
Isaac + Taylor
This is a blog to help us document our travels, hope you enjoy it! Find us on Instagram@isaac.l.nelson
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October 2016
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