September in Review

I figured I would highlight some of my discoveries of the last month.

Literature: September’s feature was Thich Nhat Hahn’s Peace is Every Step.  Simple yet practical, this book suggests very basic practices for mindfulness. He recommends practicing smiling and concentrating on your breath in order to bring yourself into the present moment. Although written about 15 years ago, I still find this book to be extremely relevant and helpful. I highly recommend it.

Health: As some of you know already, this month came the revelation and the witch hunt to eliminate everything that contains SLS (sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate).  What is SLS you may ask? It is the foaming agent found in everything from toothpaste, laundry detergents, dish detergents, shampoos, liquid soaps (hand soaps, body wash, bubble baths, etc.), and even some conditioners.  It is a highly toxic chemical that has been proven in over 16,000 studies to cause cancer, skin abrasions, hair loss, and if in too much concentration, death.  Due to the low concentration found in our cosmetic products, it is not the one time usage that is of concern.  It is years of exposure that is the problem since the skin absorbs so much of the chemical over time.

After making this discovery, I took it upon myself to empty out my bathroom of all of the SLS-containing products.  I threw out the majority of them.  After silently weeping over the vast amounts of money that was literally just thrown away, I did some research on what some good products and substitutions might be.  Below are some of the winners:

Earthpaste: This perhaps is the best product that I have come upon yet. While making your own toothpaste is possible with some baking soda, water, and some flavoring oil for taste, I thought Earthpaste was more well thought out, containing essential oils to kill bacteria and using edible clay as a base so that it wouldn’t be harmful if you swallowed some by accident. All of the product reviews from Amazon and several blogs were positive, and I have to say I have not been disappointed.  I will admit that the color is a bit gross (brown), and it takes some getting used to because it doesn’t foam, but it does clean my teeth and mouth so much better.  It feels like I just walked out of the dentist each time.  Also, I have found that my breath is better.  I absolutely recommend this product.

Sulfate-free shampoo: I have a recipe for a sulfate-free shampoo that I will be trying after I’m done with this, but I don’t really have any complaints about this product. I got it at the Heaven and Nature store on Jonestown Road. It doesn’t have a particular name. You can simply ask for the sulfate-free shampoo and you will receive a scentless, paraben and sulfate free, 8 ounce bottle. You can add essential oil (10 drops per oz) if you want a scent or you want something that will clean the scalp of bacteria (tea tree) or help hair growth (rosemary). 

As expressed in past entries, I have been experiencing severe itching, burning, and hair loss for some time and no clue as to where it was coming from. After trying this shampoo, I will say that I have experienced an improvement-less burning/itching and less hair on the comb (although I had a setback last week after using a protein pack that felt like it was going to burn my scalp off...the rest of my protein packs went in the trash). I’m not 100% sold on this particular shampoo (as I said I will be trying a new recipe after I’m done with this), but I think it is definitely an improvement.

Bar soaps: I don’t have a particular recommendation here, but I have been impressed with the more homemade soaps as opposed to Dial/Dove/etc. I used a goat milk soap that I bought from Heaven and Nature and found that it was gentler on my skin and didn’t have any skin irritation as I have experienced from liquid soaps in the past. I definitely recommend switching to bar soaps.

Soap nuts: [Insert sexual joke here] The jury is still out on these. Soap nuts are pretty self explanatory.  They are nuts that have cleaning qualities and you put them in the laundry to wash your clothes. Supposedly they have been used for hundreds of years (cue cheesy sound effects) in other countries.  When you use them, they leave your clothes scentless and you don’t have to use fabric softener in the dryer.  I purchased a sample and tried them last night. I think I liked them. I will say that they have a vinegary smell to them once they get wet, however, once the clothes go through the dryer they don’t have a smell. You can get soap nuts in liquid concentrate and then add a few drops to water, which I think I’m going to try.  I didn’t like throwing the nuts (which were in a drawstring bag) right in with my clothes because I wasn’t certain that they were washing the whole load.  So, jury is still out and I’m open to other options.

I think that’s about all. Til next month!!

My Trip to Red Bank

Last weekend I would have recently returned from my brief getaway in Red Bank/Sea Bright/Holmdel, NJ.  There were quite a few places that I had the opportunity to visit, so I thought I’d document them here in the event that any of you are looking for a relatively short distance trip to the beach.

I stayed at the Oyster Point Hotel in Red Bank for $149 per night. I checked in on Thursday evening and left early Saturday morning so I could return for a concert in Hershey that afternoon. It was a nice hotel.  It was clean and modern.  They had a restaurant that overlooked the bay area (the hotel was right next to the bay), although I did not eat there. Based upon the rest of the clientele and the look of the place, it was apparent that it was more of a business destination.

I give the place an A on hospitality. All of the staff at the front desk was very nice and engaging. I will say, though, I didn’t like that the staff would come in during the evenings to drop off cookies on my night stand.  It was unexpected and I just don’t like people walking in and out of my room when I’m not there, especially with my stuff all over the place. It simply doesn’t allow me to relax into the room.

My room was clean and was really nice. The bathroom was a little small, but the bed was comfortable and it was clear that things were well-kept. The caveat? It was extremely noisy at night. This was a complaint on Tripadvisor too, but I tend not to take many criticisms on public forums too seriously.  The first night that I was there I kept on waking up from the noise of the traffic on the highway near the hotel. I might as well have been sleeping on the shoulder of the road. Furthermore, I could hear consistent bumping and banging out in the hall and in other rooms. The second night this didn’t bother me much since I had tired myself out from the day’s activities.

Finally, location.  The hotel is a little too far from the antique/restaurant stretch of Red Bank to walk.  However, there is quite a bit of street parking there, and it is free after 6pm.  The set-up reminded me of downtown Carlisle.

Over all, I’d probably stay here again if I had to. I think the price was a little steep based upon the noise alone, but I’d pay it again if it meant that I’d have a clean room and didn’t have to pay $300 just to stay right next to the beach. Call me crazy but I’m OK with staying a few miles from the beach if it means saving me a few hundred dollars.

The first night I was there, I ventured to Raritan Bay Waterfront Park in South Amboy (thanks, Rich!!!).  It was a really well-kept park that was right along the water.  It had a really nice walking/running stretch right on the beach if you like some scenery.  I don’t recommend swimming/tanning here. 

I ate at Blue Moon in South Amboy. The menu and food was nothing to shout about.  I ordered a roast beef classic sandwich.  However, I really enjoyed the laid back ambience.  It was a cozy bar.

The next day I drove to My Kitchen Witch in Monmouth Beach for breakfast, which was about 7 miles from my hotel. It was delightful!!! It is half café, half smoothie bar. Both have a healthy-eating focus.  They advertise which foods are gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, etc. I ordered green tea, the multi-grain pancakes, and their thick, classic bacon. Everything was delicious. The pancakes (2) had the texture of cornbread. They were thick and they came with grapes on top.  There was syrup on the table and they gave you a pat of butter. The bacon was also phenomenal.  I saw everyone raving about it on Tripadvisor, so I thought I’d add it as a side to see what the big deal was. They put brown sugar on top and so you have the sweet and salty thing going on, and the slices are definitely thick.  I highly recommend this place for breakfast.  The smoothies looked delicious as well, but I didn’t have enough room to try one.

After breakfast, I headed back down the street to Sea Bright beach, which had advertised free public parking.  I was lucky enough to get a spot around 11AM since they were filling up fast. The beach tags cost $8. It was clean and I found that for how many kids and families were on the beach, it wasn’t that loud.  Also, people were friendly. A lot of people brought coolers with them, but if you were like me and didn’t think that far ahead, there was small place right off the beach called Woody’s that you could get hot dogs, fries, ice cream, sodas, water, etc. There were also bathrooms right off the beach.  I really enjoyed my experience at this beach and will definitely keep this place as a consideration in the future.

For dinner I went to Phole, which was a Vietnamese restaurant in Red Bank.  It was OK.  I’ve had better pho.  I ordered the vegetarian kind.  Also, don’t get the bubble tea.  What is bubble tea you might ask? Good question. It is a tea-slushie with flavors (I chose mango) and large balls of tapioca (hence the “bubble”).  Call me old-fashioned, but I tend to like my drinks to be completely liquid.

On Friday night, I went to the Jason Mraz concert at the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel.  I really liked the venue. It had inside seating for the folks who paid for the assigned seats (like me) and they had a really nice lawn for folks who paid for outside seating.  The only complaint that I have is that I wasn’t allowed to bring my camera in.  Now, I wouldn’t complain if there wasn’t a significant amount of people who had cameras my size (large) and smaller in the venue once I got in. I’m not sure how some of them got them in because it was clear that they couldn’t hide it anywhere on their person.  I was actually pretty upset about this and still am. I don’t mind having to leave my camera in the car, but don’t tell only a select portion of the people to not bring their cameras and let everyone else in.

That about wraps up my trip.  I definitely recommend Monmouth/Red Bank/etc. as a destination point.  It was quaint and enjoyable. I know I want to go back.