A Side of Sweet

Homemade Whipped Body Butter

Body butter isn’t a fancy enough name for this stuff – even homemade whipped body butter doesn’t do this stuff justice. I should have probably called it something else that is more descriptive, like bikini time body butter or time-to-get-your-legs-out-it’s-summer body butter. Or legs-for-days body butter. Or I’m-going-out-tonight-and-man-do-I-look-good body butter.

What I mean is this miraculous potion is body butter in the literal sense, unlike that store bought stuff that has all sorts of additives in it to make it more like a thick lotion. It’s solid in your hand but once you rub it on your skin it melts and gets oily – just like butter. That means it’s not the best all over body moisturizer for most people. If you’re going to put it all over, you need to cover yourself with something you don’t mind getting oily – or just plan on hanging out in the house naked for a while until it soaks in (or if you’re in San Francisco, plan a trip to Baker Beach or the Folsom Street Fair I suppose).

Get the DIY and read more after the jump!

Things I’m Loving / 07

Happy Friday and happy May! The cherry blossoms in San Francisco are sadly winding down and have me already looking forward to next spring when literally every street in town is a flurry of pretty pink blossoms.

I’m so excited for this weekend as Pat and I are off for a relaxing overnight in wine country. We’re spoiled with lots of fun plans this month and I’m on a light month at work which means lots of time to spend together. After four pretty brutal months I’m enjoying the later starts in the morning that give us time to drink our coffee in our backyard together before the rush of the day hits us. It’s such an important 20 minutes and really makes me feel connected to him. Ok, </mush>. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Here are some things I’m loving from around the web:

One of my food photography idols, V.K. Rees, does it again.

This video almost convinced me to start doing push ups!

Your toots may be a sign of gut health. (The comments at the bottom are the best part!)

Tips on making your laundry more eco-friendly.

Have you heard about powdered alcohol? As a pediatrician, this is definitely making me nervous.

And where to donate your running shoes to reduce your carbon footprint! (pun intended)

Someone should probably tell Pat.

Photo via My Instagram

Decide to Drive :: Choose to Stop Distracted Driving

One of the senior ICU physicians said something the other day that really resonated with me. “You may think you are a great multi-tasker, but brain imaging has proven that it is impossible for us to multi-task. Instead, we only have the ability to rapidly flip between two tasks. It’s literally impossible for us to focus on two things at once.”

Decide to Drive :: Choose to Stop Distracted Driving

Click through to read more!

Homemade Lip Balm in Vintage Pillboxes

I’ve been on a healthy beauty kick recently – it’s so easy to make many of the beauty products I use every day at home and often it’s cheaper than buying them in the store. It’s nice to be able to control what goes into them with ingredients like beeswax and coconut oil instead of isopropyl lanolate and octyldodecanol (for realz?).

I made lip balm for little impromptu presents for my girlfriends and to make them a bit fancier, I used vintage pillboxes that I collected from flea markets. With a bit of patience, I collected a huge assortment all for under $3 each! There’s also a huge variety of options on Etsy too.

DIY Homemade Lip Balm

Ingredients

6 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons beeswax (I used cosmetic-grade white beeswax pellets)
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon pure Vitamin E oil
Lipstick (optional)

Instructions

Place a few inches of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Place a heatproof bowl over the water and melt the coconut oil, olive oil and beeswax together, stirring occasionally.

Add the honey, Vitamin E oil, and lipstick and stir until melted. Pour into your containers and let set. You can speed up the process by popping it in the fridge.

Note: To color this batch I used about a 1/2 inch slice of a deep burgundy lipstick and it produced the pretty pale pink color you see in the photos.

Pretty Painted Wall Art DIY

Today I have a simple DIY that is an easy way to create a customized piece of art. I have been carting around a blank canvas I got on clearance for months trying to figure out what to do with it. The inspiration just wouldn’t come.

See the DIY and behind the scenes after the jump!

Make-A-Wish Wishes in Wine Country

One of my favorite organizations is the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I’m constantly inspired by the work they do to help kids with life-threatening medical conditions. Since I moved to San Francisco, I’ve been impressed with the incredible work Bay Area Make-A-Wish does. I’m sure you heard about the Batkid event that helped one lucky 5-year-old kindergartner and cancer survivor realize his wish to be Batman’s sidekick.

As you can see, the event exploded on a national level with even President Obama getting involved! The social media effort was organized with the help of Clever Girls Collective, and they are helping out again with Wishes in Wine Country. For the past 15 years, Bay Area Make-A-Wish has been hosting Wishes in Wine Country, an event that brings together the best food and wine produced in the area. Over 40 wineries and restaurants come together for this amazing event on May 15 & 16 – all to benefit Bay Area Make-A-Wish.

The weekend includes a Kickoff Reception Friday night and a full day of festivities on Saturday. I’m so excited to be attending the Grand Tasting on Saturday afternoon on the grounds of Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards. Pat and I will be wearing our “croquet whites” (wine country lingo for whites and khakis with a “pop” of color) and sampling the local flavor. The Grand Tasting is followed by a Sunset Dinner to cap off the event. Tickets are on sale now and all proceeds benefit Bay Area Make-A-Wish. I hope you’ll consider meeting up with Pat and I at this amazing event! Luckily, Clever Girls Collective and Bay Area Make-A-Wish are giving away a pair of VIP tickets to the Grand Tasting to one lucky A Side of Sweet reader!