“Keep close to nature’s heart — and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain, or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” – John Muir

Hi Friends!

Thanks for joining me in my new adventure @BabyBeautyWithVal. As some of you may know, I am the proud mom of @_GoChloeGo_, her handsome furry brother, Doogie, and my wonderful husband, Charlie. We’ve been on one heck of a ride since adopting Chloe and have enjoyed sharing her life with our Instagram family.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think that so many of you would fall as deeply in love with Chloe as we have.  Truthfully when we adopted her, @kittenlady suggested that we start an Instagram page for her so that interested Chloe fans could follow along on her journey through life.  I figured maybe 50 or 100 people might follow along, and we’d share some sweet pictures every so often with her small online family. Boy, was I wrong! Very quickly I realized that this little fluff had stolen many hearts, but more importantly, there became an opportunity to build awareness around her life and the challenges of being paralyzed. As a bonus, Instagram also gave us the ability to share our experiences giving her the life we know she deserves.

As Chloe’s Instagram page has evolved, it got me thinking quite a bit about other things I am passionate about that go hand-in-hand with how we approach our life with Chloe. With her, we try to ensure her life is full of healthy, safe, consistent and thoughtful practices that enable her to (as Oprah would say) life her best life! Given that, Charlie and I also have a keen focus on the environment, sustainability, creating as little waste as possible, and being conscious of how what we use in our daily lives, affects the planet and animals on it. Now, I do not fault anyone who simply wants to peruse Chloe’s page for the purpose of seeing 2 cute cuddly cats — sometimes you just need a sweet animal fix added to your day!! To keep her page focused on her life, we’ve created a “spin-off” if you will, focused on sustainability & products that either give back or have a conscious eye on the planet and its needs. Simply put, I want to share with you some of my favorite beauty and household products that follow our family values

Fun Val Fact: In college, my major was recreation and leisure studies, with an emphasis my senior year in Eco-Tourism and Sustainable Developments. In other words, I wanted to try and think through how we could stop trashing our cities and build in eco-friendly practices that so many eco-resorts and tourism organizations focus on creating for visitors. Yes, Leisure Studies was also Van Wilder’s major, if that rings a familiar “is that a real major” bell for you!

To add one more exciting ingredient into the mix, my husband and I are expecting our first baby this coming October! As an expectant mom-to-be, knowing zero about what to expect, I would also love to share both baby and mom-friendly earth-conscious products with you as I discover them (or, as they are shared with me)! I am going to serve myself a huge slice of humble pie and front load with you all that this will be a truly unique journey for me. I’ve had lots of different experiences in life, but raising a child is not yet one of them.  So, with a little help from my family, my friends, books, podcasts, recommendations and life lessons, I hope you’ll join me on my journey exploring some of nature’s best (and maybe some real bad) beauty, baby, household and life products that aim to serve our planet and the people and animals on it, respectfully.

Green love to all,

Val