I’d like to call on all my dkM friends to help me out with something. Recently I was asked to build a blog for a company called General Motivation. I worked very hard setting [...]]]> Click Here for Giveaways and Coupon Codes

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I’d like to call on all my dkM friends to help me out with something. Recently I was asked to build a blog for a company called General Motivation. I worked very hard setting it up, even through my recent bout of the “What-the-Heck-was-That” virus. I’ll be writing the new blog’s posts for sometime, and I thought, “Hey, why don’t I tell my blogging friends?” I know a lot of you are working moms, business owners and professionals of all kinds, so you’ll enjoy this new blog. I’d love to have you all swing by and take a look, and if you happen to own your own business, or are working in human resources or public relations, then I think you’ll really like it.  

For those who subscribe to the new blog, you’ll be able to enter all kinds of cool HR- and PR-related giveaways, not to mention read articles about things like motivating your employees, learning to read body language, and keeping yourself from (yawn) getting bored on the job. (Don’t worry – it happens to all of us at some point.)

So I guess this is my call for a little help from my friends. I’d love for the new site to succeed, and for the company to be happy with the results of the site. They’re a cool bunch of people, and I can assure any of you with a leaning towards business that you’ll be finding some worthwhile stuff there…. if I do say so myself.

Visit the General Motivation Blog here and come back to dkM to tell me what you thought!  I’d love your input.

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If you’re looking for a more economical and eco-friendly way to send all your holiday cards this year, then you’ll want to check out [...]]]> Click Here for Giveaways & Coupon Codes

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If you’re looking for a more economical and eco-friendly way to send all your holiday cards this year, then you’ll want to check out Ojolie.  Their e-cards are not your average computer animated singing turkeys and Santas, but rather amazing works of art!  Danish artist Frederikke Tu hand paints much of the artwork in watercolor that goes into these cards before they are computer animated.  With a beautiful backdrop of music, the cards give your recipients a relaxing few moments to enjoy the spirit of the holidays without the paper waste.

Since most holiday cards can’t really be recycled due to plastic coatings, sparkles and glittery stuff (and since most people who receive a paper card won’t even attempt recycling them), animated e-cards are a great alternative.  At $10, a one-year subscription to Ojolie is less than the cost of one box of 12 Christmas cards. How many Ojolie ecards can you send for your $10?  I guess it depends on how much you can type.  Each ecard Ojolie offers has a heartfelt sentiment, and most celebrate either the beauty of nature or the wonderment of various world cultures.  If you’re not satisfied, they’ll even give you your money back.  I’ve used the service myself, and I’m sure you’ll find it worth the money.

Ojolie would like to give 3 dkM readers a 1-year subscription to their services!  ($10 retail value each.)  So get signed up to win because they have a gorgeous new Thanksgiving ecard you’ll want to send out next week.

Multiple Options for Multiple Entries:

1.) Just visit Ojolie and tell me what ecard you like best and who you’d send it to! (***You may enter once a day, but please list a new item you like each time.) Remember, leave an interesting comment. If I cannot contact the winner, you might be chosen instead based on your comment.

2.) Blog about, Twitter, Subscribe and/or Become a Fan on Facebook! Get an extra entry for each of these activities.  This time just leave a separate comment for each (only one time for each extra activity completed), giving me a link to your blog post, your Twitter name, and/or a note saying you’re an FB Fan and/or subscriber.  SUBSCRIBE HERE!  

(Psst!  My Twitter name is dkMommy.)

Feel free to do all five to gather multiple entries to win! You have until midnight EST on Sunday, November 22, 2009, to enter.

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Rosemary is the Best Hair Herb I Know!

Last week I told you how to use rosemary oil for hair growth.  I said I’d [...]]]> Click Here for Giveaways & Coupon Codes

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Rosemary is the Best Hair Herb I Know!

Last week I told you how to use rosemary oil for hair growth.  I said I’d share one of my favorite hair remedies soon, and today’s the day.  I mention in the title that the article is about using rosemary to improve your hair’s natural curl and shine, but if you have pin straight hair, you’ll still want this home remedy.  Rosemary not only improves the shine, it helps your scalp’s health and deters dandruff.  It improves scalp circulation, promoting hair growth.  The scent is naturally uplifting and is anti-anxiety and anti-depression.  So many great reasons to use it!  And yes, if you have curly hair, this will definitely give the curls a boost.  I use this technique on days when I have somewhere special to go.

As a no ‘poo person, I don’t have to wash my hair every day anymore.  It just doesn’t get dirty or oily very fast at all.  So on days I do the rosemary treatment, they are the days I didn’t wash my hair with baking soda and cider vinegar in the morning – the in-between days, I guess you could say.  

Here’s how I do it:  The night before (or several hours before) I bring some water to boil, then steep about a teaspoon dried rosemary herb in a covered container with the hot water.  I leave it to steep, either overnight or for several hours.  Then I strain it.  I shower as usual, but I just wet my hair without washing it.  (If you’ve used a lot of product the day before, or if you usually use shampoo, you’ll probably  have to wash it.)  After my shower, I place a large plastic bowl in the tub.  Leaning over the bowl, I slowly pour the tea over my hair.  I work it in a little (or not, depending on how impatient I am), then wring my hair out in the large bowl.  I dump the tea from the bowl back into the mug and repeat the process several times – about 5 to 10 or until there’s no longer tea to use (because I’m messy and always spill stuff).  I then wrap my hair in a towel and let it soak up the moisture.  I tend to use a dark towel, because the tea is dark.  I’ve never ruined a towel yet, but the drips do stain until I wipe them up, so I’m cautious just in case.

Uncomfortable?  A wee bit.  Time consuming? Not really.  In the end, I save a lot of time in hair styling, and it always  feels like a simple fix.  After I squeeze any more water out of my hair with the towel, I run my fingers through it and let it air dry.  It’s best to not fool with your hair much, but let the air do its thing.  Try hard not to fuss wit the curls no matter how tempting.  When it’s almost dry, I fluff it up a bit with my hair dryer, then spray  it with my homemade hairspray. The end result is springier curls and great smelling hair!

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Win a Circle Tee in the Pattern & Size of Your Choice, Kids' or Adults'

I have come to love organic cotton.  I always [...]]]> Click Here for Giveaways & Coupon Codes

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Win a Circle Tee in the Pattern & Size of Your Choice, Kids' or Adults'

I have come to love organic cotton.  I always wonder what makes it so soft – is it the fact that the cotton is organic, or is it simply that the manufacturers care a little more about their end product?  Perhaps it’s both.  I suspect that’s the case with today’s featured company, Soul-Flower.  

“Cool Threads for Kind Heads” is their motto, and the men’s, women’s, and children’s ethical clothing line reflects their sentiment.  They sent us a gorgeous little tee for my son who adores elephants.  Sized in 2T, 4T, and 6, this darling little tee came to our house smelling of sandalwood.  I love when review products show up smelling of sandalwood!  (Doesn’t happen often enough, I gotta tell you.)  My three-year-old loves the design, and I appreciate the message on the tee:  ”Love and Protect Us”.  It was fun explaining to him why we should love and protect the animals, and how they’re a special and important part of our planet.  I think it makes the tee that more endeared to him when he wears it.

Want to win the Circle Tee of your choice from Soul-Flower? The winner can choose size and style, for any age – men’s, women’s, children’s.  You’ve really got to see this website to appreciate all they carry, so make sure to visit and tell me about it to enter to win.  (They even carry purses, wallets, perfume oils, jewelry, tapestries… well, you’ve just got to see for yourself!)

Multiple Options for Multiple Entries:

1.) Just visit Soul-Flower and tell me what other item(s) you liked and why!  (***You may enter once a day, but please list a new item you like each time.) Remember, leave an interesting comment. If I cannot contact the winner, you might be chosen instead based on your comment.

2.) Blog about, Twitter, Subscribe and/or Become a Fan on Facebook! Get an extra entry for each of these activities.  This time just leave a separate comment for each (only one time for each extra activity completed), giving me a link to your blog post, your Twitter name, and/or a note saying you’re an FB Fan and/or subscriber.  SUBSCRIBE HERE!  

(Psst!  My Twitter name is dkMommy.)

3.)  EXTRA Thank You Entry!  If you’ve voted for me for The Body Shop’s “Natural Beauty Blog” Award, going on through November 6, 2009, I’d like to thank you with an extra entry!  Just leave a comment saying “I voted”.

Feel free to do all five to gather multiple entries to win! You have until midnight EST on Thursday, November 12, 2009, to enter.

Click Here for Giveaways & Coupon Codes

800 Posts, Yet I Still Miss Writing with One of These

I was going to write a post about hair loss and rosemary oil, but when I realized it was the 800th post for dkMommy Spot, I knew that just wouldn’t [...]]]> Vote for dkM for the Natural Beauty Blog Award!

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800 Posts, Yet I Still Miss Writing with One of These

I was going to write a post about hair loss and rosemary oil, but when I realized it was the 800th post for dkMommy Spot, I knew that just wouldn’t do.  So instead I decided to write about nothing.  Or something in the form of nothing, something being that this is the 800th post and should be marked accordingly.  Probably not marked with a remedy to naturally remove Super Glue from the kitchen counter (anyone know, by the way?  I can’t seem to get rid of it.)  And probably not an article on why organic carrots are far superior to their pesticidal counterparts, which in fact they are.  It just didn’t seem appropriate to go about the usual blogging business without saying at least something.  Something which in the end is probably nothing, nothing much except perhaps a “hooray”.   Because when I started blogging, I’d sit before the screen and stare.  And stare.  And wait for inspiration to strike from above, which it often did not and I’d write something that truly was nothing, and it’s still there on the blog for anyone to see (which is rather embarrassing.  I wonder if there’s an herb for that?)  But eventually it grew easier and no longer took me an hour and 15 minutes to complete the first draft.  Which is a good thing, because 800 posts multiplied by 1 hour and 15 minutes equals a very large number.  (1,000 hours, or 41.66 days, to be exact, of constant staring at the screen waiting for inspiration to strike from above.)  I said all that to say this:

This is dkM’s 800th post.  I’ve not yet learned to be pithy.