17/365 Days: Me (and Friends) Time

We all have lives. We all have families, regardless of whether we simply live our lives as people who have grown around, with and because of a group of people, or whether we are taken care of our own. We all have responsibilities and that last episode of LOST to catch up on before the next episode airs. Very, very few of us take time out of our days and nights to indulge in purely recreational, self-fulfilling activities that are completely and utterly selfish and one-sided. While words such as self-fulfilling and selfish may latch onto you as very negative things to do, when it comes to relaxation, it is just about the best thing you can do.

We have all heard of the term “mental health days,” but the term is often tossed around as a joke between women as to what they wish they could do–if only they could afford the day off or were able shirk their daily duties to a fellow co-worker for the day. When it comes to women actually taking a true mental health day to do something fun and fulfilling for themselves, we may as well be living in a fantasy world because we just don’t do that and if they do, they take that dangerous day off of work to catch up on their list of errands that must be completed in order to live in a house that doesn’t smell faintly of gym socks or for functions or other obligations we really couldn’t fit into our schedule, but tried to convince ourselves we could.

I did not post on Woman Tribune yesterday. I thought about it and really sat down at the computer with the intention of writing and putting more content out there, but when it came down to it, my head and my heart wasn’t in it and the worst kind of blogging you can do is forced blogging when you’re just not feeling it. Through the years, I’ve noticed that when I forced myself to put content out there when I really just didn’t feel like it and wasn’t passionate about it, my hits would decline over time and my number of subscribers would follow suit. I was creating the same amount of content, but really, I knew it was all filler–and so did my readers. So instead of posting here yesterday, my partner and I hit up the store (in the middle of a snow storm, woops,) and filled up on the most junk food we have bought in a very long time. When we got home, we both went to our computers, but instead of working, we decided that it was time to spend some time together doing something we both love–play video games. And yes, we do consider him sitting in his office upstairs at his computer and me sitting downstairs at my computer “spending time together” if we’re both logged into the same video game and talking through Skype. We’re nerds like that.

We ended up playing Empire Builder with a friend of ours last night for over nine hours. That sounds extreme and of course I do not want to imply that everyone has nine hours to sit at the computer getting nothing but high scores on a video game accomplished, but being such a creature of the computer and such a video game nut, I needed a day of nothing but gaming to let me relax, rid my head of my absolutely insane list of things I need to accomplish, have been wanting to accomplish and have been trying to make myself accomplish. After last night and sitting here today, I don’t have to force a thing and I’m back to my normal, workaholic self.

So, in conclusion, regardless of your list of errands or the amount of minutes or hours you have to spare in a day, take some time to do something that you genuinely enjoy doing; something you may even feel guilty about because it is so self-indulgent. Do it and when you’re through and you have allowed yourself that time, you will come back to your list of errands, because they never do just disappear, regardless of how much we may want them to, an you will feel refreshed and be ready to get to work.

Urban Girl Squad FREE Event! Two-Year Anniversary Party

Happy Birthday, Urban Girl Squad!

Important Update: Due to the popularity of this event, the venue of their anniversary cocktail party has changed. The party, which was scheduled to be held at the Ava Lounge Rooftop Bar, will now be held at the Hudson Hotel Bar. Updated details below.

Urban Girl Squad turns two in February, and to celebrate, they are throwing an Urban Girl Squad-style bash on Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 7:00PM.

Help us celebrate in style at a cocktail party at the Hudson Hotel Bar, where we’ll have drink specials, door prizes, gift bags, and more. Whether you’re an Urban Girl Squad regular or you are totally new to the group, come join the fun, have a few cocktails, and spend time with friends – old and new – in NYC.

We’ll be featuring cupcakes and cookies from Sweet Hunnie Cakeshop and door prizes & gift bags from:

• Bliss
• Molton Brown
• Pure Yoga
• By Carolina
• The Andean Collection jewelry
• Swarovski crystal-studded sports bra from BodyRock Sport
• Dowry Design silk scarves
• Stella Dot jewelry
• Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife
• Fiber Hair Spa
• Knit1 Purl2

… and much more! We’ll be adding more prizes as t hey come in, so look out for more great brands!

Bring five friends to the party and you’ll be entered in a raffle to win The Ultimate Urban Girl Squad Package: 5 free events and an Urban Girl Squad t-shirt!

You don’t want to miss this FREE event. RSVP is required to attend. Space is limited, so reserve your spot now and invite your friends!

About Urban Girl Squad
Amanda Hofman created Urban Girl Squad, a community-based social group for women in their 20’s and 30’s in New York City, in January 2008. Urban Girl Squad creates opportunities for these women to try new things, spend time with friends, and meet new people. Our events include food and wine tastings, beauty and fashion nights, dance and fitness classes, sports, events, cocktail parties and more. We provide special, discounted access to the city — you’ll meet store owners and designers, taste gourmet food and drinks, receive personal attention from popular venues, and score some amazing gift bags. The welcoming atmosphere at our events makes it easy for members to attend on their own or with friends.

Fast Facts:
Date: Thursday, February 25, 2010

Location: Hudson Hotel Bar
356 West 58th Street
New York, NY 10019

Time: 7:00PM

RSVP: Anniversary Party

Info: Urban Girl Squad

Cost: FREE

Winner of the GladRags Color Pad Sampler

GladRags is a phenomenal, woman-owned company in Portland, Oregon. GladRags was started by a mother who was inspired by earth-friendliness and comfort and who expanded her business into what it is today–an awesome and respected business dedicated to giving women an alternative to disposable menstrual products.

Becauase disposable menstrual products are the norm, most women do not know that they contain harsh chemicals that are bad for your skin and bad for your body. Most women who hear about reusables are very skeptical when it comes to giving them a try; change is not something that is always welcome and why disrupt the way you go about dealing with your period every month? Because of this skepticism, we were thrilled to be able to give one lucky Woman Tribune winner her very own color pad sampler kit.

And so, the winner is…

Congratulations, Jacquelynn!

Giveaway: GladRags Color Pad Sampler

This giveaway is closed.

GladRags is a phenomenal, woman-owned company in Portland, Oregon. GladRags was started by a mother who was inspired by earth-friendliness and comfort and who expanded her business into what it is today–an awesome and respected business dedicated to giving women an alternative to disposable menstrual products.

Because disposable menstrual products are the norm, most women do not know that they contain harsh chemicals that are bad for your skin and bad for your body. Most women who hear about reusables are very skeptical when it comes to giving them a try; change is not something that is always welcome and why disrupt the way you go about dealing with your period every month? To show you just how comfortable they are and how once you try them, you’ll surely not go back to your disposables, we are giving away a Color Pad Sampler from GladRags! (a $75.99 value!)

To win the GladRags Color Pad Sampler visit GladRags.com and leave a comment telling us what product you would be most interested in trying. [REQUIRED]

For additional entries:
Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry.

• Leave a comment telling us one fact you learned from the GladRags Information Center
• Become a fan of GladRags on Facebook
• Follow @GladRags on Twitter
• Subscribe to Woman Tribune
• Follow @WomanTribune on Twitter
• Become a fan of Woman Tribune on Facebook
• Tweet about this giveaway (once daily)–Feel free to copy and paste the following tweet or make up your own:
  

  Win a @GladRags reusable pad sampler from @WomanTribune http://tinyurl.com/yjg8t5s Ends 1/6 #giveaway

  Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post as well as a link to GladRags.com and leave 5 comments for 5 entries with a link back to your post.

This contest ends Wednesday, January 6th at 11:59PM EST. This giveaway is open to all US residents over the age of 18. The winner will be contacted by email and has 48 hours to respond with their necessary information. If no action is taken, another winner will be picked.

Get a Free Sample of Always Infinity

While reading one of my favorite sites, I came across a post for a free sample of a new menstrual pad from Always. First of all, being the type of person who hates to pay for pretty much anything, whenever I see something having to do with getting something for free, they have my attention.

So Always, a brand of menstrual pads that have been on the top of the charts for as long as I can remember when it comes to feminine products and have had an extremely dedicated following for years now, has come out with a new and improved menstrual pad.

Yeah, I know, we’ve all heard that before; a lot of companies say that they have a new and improved product when after we try it, we realize we just paid more money for the same product and the only thing that is different is the packaging that we’re throwing away anyway. To prove to us consumers, because they know that we are getting skeptical of buying anything with the recession and financial crisis the US is currently in, Always has set up a specific site dedicated to just the Infinity pad and why it is different. In fact, they have a video that shows you how this pad is different from others from other companies and from their other products and best of all, you can request a free sample of Always Infinity before it even comes out in stores.

All you have to do is go to their website where you can watch the video on how Infinity is different and also videos of women who have already tried it and what they thought of it and also text-based testimonials of the new product. On the right hand side of the website there is a form. Fill out the form and your free sample of Always Infinity will be on its way to your house!

For those of you who have either tried Always Infinity and loved it or for those of you who have been die hard supporters of Always and their menstrual products and know that you don’t need to try this new pad because you think you’re going to like it already, hold your horses because Always Infinity doesn’t hit stores for another week!

Order your sample now!

Good for Your Vagina, Good for the Environment

Yep, I said it–Your vagina! Most women don’t think twice about using store-bought pads and tampons. In most cases, this is what most women were taught to use when they first got their period and so the cycle continues, in a matter of speaking. A lot of women aren’t aware that we do have choices when it comes to what period protection we use.

We all know about pads and tampons, but what a lot of people don’t know about them is that the biggest companies producing these products for women are run by men. It’s true! Men! What do men know about what really goes on in there? Well, apparently not too much since standard pads and tampons contain synthetic fibers and bleach; yes that’s right, bleach. If you look at a container of bleach it will tell you several times throughout the container that you should not drink it and if you do, to contact a poison control center. Bleach is made up of very harsh chemicals that if you drink it, it could very well be fatal, so why are we putting it up inside of ourselves? Sounds dangerous, doesn’t it? So dangerous that tampons also have a little warning you never paid much attention to that tells you about Toxic Shock Syndrome, which women under 21 years of age are most prone to getting.

When it comes to pads, we’re talking about the same ingredients here–Synthetic fibers and bleach. While we’re not shoving pads up inside of ourselves, the synthetic fibers and bleach that are in pads are rubbing up against us all day which is not good for our skin, especially considering that the skin ‘down there’ is very sensitive and makes up the beginning of our entire reproductive area. Women think that pads and tampons have been sterilized, when in fact, no feminine hygiene product has ever been sterilized; meaning we’re more than likely putting dirty synthetic fibers and bleach inside of us. So to recap, synthetic fibers and bleach are bad for us!

Moving on to the environment. There are approximately 85 million women in North America who are menstruating. After pads and tampons are used once, they are disposed of and add to environmental pollution.

According to the March-April article in E Magazine, 6.5 billion tampons and 13.5 billion pads and their packaging end up in landfills and even in sewer systems. That is a whole lot of waste that is clogging up the planet that could be avoided.

Avoided? How!?

If you are a woman who feels most comfortable using pads, Lunapads are reusable pads. With a life expectancy of 5 years, Lunapads is a pad alternative that is great for the environment. Made with a dual layer of 100% cotton flannel and an additional layer of ultra-thin, breathable nylon. They come in an array of different sizes, sure to fit any woman, if you’re a teen, in your 20s, 30s, or even middle-aged with five children under you belt. Best of all, they work with any type of menstrual flow and they are made of something that will not harm you or your reproductive organs in any way. To make it even better, Lunapads are amazingly cute and come in a myriad of different patterns.

If you are a woman who feels most comfortable using tampons, Lunapads also offers the Diva Cup, made of medical-grade silicone.

Both Lunapads and the Diva Cup are great alternatives to pads and tampons that are good for you to use and great for the environment.

Ditch the Disposables Challenge

Every month or so the Crunchy Domestic Goddess issues a challenge to all of us who want to make a better effort at going green. For the months of September and October, she is asking us all to ditch the disposables.

This challenge focuses on every day items that we use and then mindlessly throw in the garbage. Every week when we take out or garbage, it is picked up by the garbage truck and hauled off to a landfill or whatever method your community uses to get rid of its population’s trash. As we all are aware of, the Earth needs our help as global warming is upon us and our Earth is suffocating, shriveling up and dying at rapid speeds. It will continue to do this is we, the people of this planet, do not make conscious efforts each and every day to reduce the amount of waste we put out there.

Think of the every day items you use that you could easily do away with and start using the reusable alternatives. You could ditch your paper napkins and towels to cloth napkins and towels, tissues to handkerchiefs, disposable water bottles (think of how much bottled water a household or person can go through) for reusable bottles or cups with lids; on that same note, you can reuse the same water bottle, thus eliminating the amount of your waste long-term. You could also ditch your plastic sandwich bags and paper bags for reusable containers and bags. If you’re using disposable diapers you could switch to cloth diapers; a lot of different companies have started making excellent cloth diapers.

Another great reusable alternative women should seek out are reusable menstrual products. I have personally done away with disposable pads and tampons and started using reusable products. The reason for this is because I have had minor kidney infections that have caused frequent urinary tract and yeast infections. All the women out there know that this is not fun! After doing some research on minor things I should be doing to keep my reproductive organs the healthiest they can be I found some very troubling information about disposable menstrual products. Standard pads and tampons (made by men, I should point out) contain synthetic fibers and bleach, both of which can cause infections. I then did some research on reusable alternatives and found quite a few great alternatives. For women who use pads, I could not recommend Lunapads enough. I have been using their pads for about a year now and couldn’t be happier. They are made with fleece and cotton, they use cute fabrics so even while you have your period you can feel cute and match your outfit with your pad and they are oh so comfortable. Just a simple machine wash (or hand wash, I hand wash mine and have found it to be a great way to bond with my body during my menstrual cycle and further understand the functions of my body) and an air dry and they’re ready to go again! Lunapads also makes the Diva Cup, a reusable tampon alternative. Other pad and tampon alternatives you could check out are The Keeper and The Moon Cup, Glad Rags, Pretty Pads and New Moon Pads.

So what disposables do you think you could live without for the next two months? Have you already eliminated disposables from your household? Tell us about them!