Would I be a freak...

So cats and kittens...

I am firmly ensconced in my new work abode in Midtown Manhattan. I am presently loving it more than words can express. From the several times my boss made me laugh so hard I teared up to the FREEDOM of being trusted to do what I am supposed to do when I am supposed to do it I am all a-twitter with happiness and excitement.

Sadly, changing jobs threw my payment schedule off so I have not had the spare soap money I normally have. So someone else has had to singlehandedly keep the soapmakers in business lately. Sorry soapmakers.

I have been using some of my faves to the nubbies and contemplating a Best of 2009 soap gift for those people on my Christmas list. 

So, that's what is going on in the life of The Clean Diva.  Well, that an an ever increasing hatred of the soap that companies stock in bathrooms.

So would I be a freak if I replaced the soap in the work bathroom?

The Clean Diva's July and August Picks

I bathe every day. Like most of you, I suppose. However, lately I have been showering at the gym because of my morning work outs. So handmade soaps have been making the journey with me. I have even used some soaps several times. But July turned up a few faves and I'd like to mention them briefly.


I am currently working through a sample of Dirty Loves Clean's soap, 7 Up Poundcake because it is just a work of genius. Vanillaey and cakey and limey and not at all cloying, it just makes me smile in the gym shower. And it goes really well with the Lush Vanilla something or other kinda lotion I bought a few weeks ago.


Speaking of Dirty Loves Clean, I have been abusing the Sweet Tea scent too. I still don't see it on her site, so maybe I need to slow down. But I also just noticed that she is making a McCarren Park lotion that seems like heaven in a jar. Every time I log onto Etsy to link to her site I discover something new that I desperately need. For instance, I just noticed strawberry rhubarb crumble. Trust me when I say that I have not been unsatisfied with a single item from this Etsy seller.

One of my other new obsessions is Nectar by Atlanta based Rinse Bath & Body Co. If you buy one bar of soap this year, this one would be pretty high on my top 10 list. Beyond being from my home state and super cool, the owner of this lovely little company was awesome enough to warn me to let the soap sit a few weeks before using. I did and I have not taken it out of my shower since. Sometimes when I use it, I smell something wonderful and start looking around for the source before I realize that it is ME. The smell stays on your skin all day long but it blends pretty much with any perfume that has even the slightest hint of vanilla. I like to slather on Lush's Vanilla Delite lotion. It makes me want to spend time alone with me, which is always great, right? Yikes, that reads dirty.

My final fave pick over the last little while is by Etsian DeShawn Marie. I have been reading her blog for many moons and she is also a fave of Jackie's over at Etsy Item of the Day. DeShawn Marie wrote a blog several months ago about how her business had once upon a time gotten to be a bit too large and out of control. So she took that control back and made what she wanted out of HER passion of creating. I was so touched. THEN, she wrote a blog about her Jasmine Jubilee soap and how she came to find the PERFECT jasmine fragrance oil for it. Now, if we know one thing about Erin it's that I love love love jasmine. So I bought the soap.

It's fabulous, as is DeShawn Marie's presentation. From the whole day it took me to get my purchase to the little gold box the soap came in, I was completely in love. And I think she has a scent for everyone.

Well folks, lots more to tell but those have been the mega highlights of the past two months.

Round up

So, I have been away from this blog for way too freakin' long. I've been doing some interesting things lately. Tomorrow my life is going to change incredibly. I'll probably blog about it when it is over but until the news is official, I keep the excitement to myself.

However, I am pleased to report that my gluten free life is better than ever. I am down over 30 lbs and working out 5 days a week. Not because I think I have to do it but because I have learned to really enjoy my gym time.

We crowned a new Miss New York. Her name is Alyse Zwick and she is pretty awesome.

I've bought soap. Only one bar from Etsy, which is a CRIME. I also bought a Gabbriella's Sampler, which was awesome. Then again, her samplers always are. Kathleen sent me some soaps but I want to make sure to discuss them in a blog all of their own. She is quite the soap maker but her perfumes and lotions are also to DIE FOR, I swear it.

I finally broke down and bought some soap from Etsian DeShawn Marie. I have read her blogs for months and am forever impressed by her scent descriptions and product pictures but her words on how she formulated her jasmine scent blew me away. So I had to have a bar. More on that in another blog.

At any rate, I've been nutso busy.

Not about Soap but maybe even better

Okey Dokey,

Have you ever wandered across something online and then realized you knew the person responsible and then just had to shake your head in wonder that some amazingly competent and incredible people actually came out of Effingham County?

No? Oh well...

My high school friend who became one of the coolest adults I know writes this blog. It is adorably called Appoggiatura (link to the dictionary for those of you who might not be total music nerds).

I don't know if I am more impressed by her savory delights, such as her mushroom barley soup, her bread baking acumen (she made brioche AND corrected the great Marie Antoinette error in the same post) or her sweets...vanilla peach pie with a praline crumble on top, anyone?

All I know is that I am going to visit her soon hoping to barter soap for food. The rest of you should read her blog, though. I dare you not to salivate

So how much soap did The Clean Diva buy at Renegade?

I have been laid up in bed with the (not swine) flu all week so this is the first chance I have really gotten to talk about the fun I had at Renegade.

There were so many booths that it was total sensory overload. And it was HOT! But I tromped around seeking out the soap booths and sniffing away. Sadly, there were tons of uninspired soap scents. Maybe that isn't nice but I ended up only purchasing from 3 soapers. The Roomie was shocked.

Of course, the soaps I did buy are brilliant.

I bought a bar of Wasabi Soap by Bunny Butt Apothecary!

I got a little nuts at the booth for DirtyLovesClean

I bought Manhattan (which is not on her Etsy site but she says is curing), Sweet Tea (not up on the site either but transports me back to working through college at Cracker Barrel each time I sniff it) and McCarren Park, which is a MUST HAVE if you live in Brooklyn or totally dig the scent of fresh cut grass. I also have some samples of 7up Pound cake and Boxed Wine that I cannot wait to try! Believe me when I say I could have bought more there!

Finally, I bought a chunky bar of Nectar from non-Esty but still AMAZING Rinse Bath & Body Co. I don't know how to describe this bar except that if I ever smelled an angel, I am pretty sure this is what said angel would smell like. The product description doesn't do it justice. I cannot WAIT to use it but the soapmaker told me to let it cure a few weeks as she had recently made it.

And I have used none of these soaps yet because I was so sick last week I could only tolerate Polar Express by SeaSpriteSoaps seeing as 1. It was the only thing I could smell and 2. The cool tingle it left on my skin was so refreshing.

Where will the Clean Diva be Today?

Why, at the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn, of course! It is Swedish National Day so the roomie, both puppies and I will be off to Williamsburg and then to IKEA (all dressed in blue).

Some awesome Etsians will be there amongst the over 300 crafters who signed up.

I am sooooo excited!

If you are in Brooklyn, or any other area of New York City, you should come on out and spend some money.

I'll be happy to recommend a soap or two!

I'm singing in the shower again!

For someone who dedicated most of her young life (and according to her family, should currently dedicate more) to singing, I almost never sing in the shower.

It could be because I am concentrating on the finer details of whichever soap I am using, but whatever...

So, with my many many soaps to try, I know just shove my hand into my wicker basket of unused soaps and pick one. One (way too early for its good) morning I stuck in my hand, fished around a bit and pulled out...

Coconut Lemongrass by Sea Sprite Soaps.

I'll confess that I was pretty stoked for a number of reasons.

The first reason is that I have been wanting to try out one of these soaps for some time. I dig, the soapmaker's blog (she links to Book Slut, hello?) and her banner and packaging is among my favorite on Etsy. It caught my eye from day one. At any rate, it took me far too long to try one of the soaps.

Sooooo...take one is a blend of two GREAT scents: lemongrass and coconut!

As a side note, I once made a soup with lemongrass in it and it completely overwhelmed the other flavors. So there was a small part of me that was afraid that all I would smell is lemongrass.

But I was wrong.

Ok, so I love love love this soap. The scent is nicely layered. It actually blooms! At first you smell the lemongrass but it mellows out to the soothing scent of the coconut that dries on your skin just enough to make you feel as though you are heading to the beach as opposed to Wall Street (although I suppose both have sharks).

This soap has been chilling in my soap dish and, I must admit, I have to force myself not to reach for it in the morning. There is something so cheerful and sunny about it. The soap is downright optimistic.

In fact, this is my new favorite good morning summer scent. The only thing that would make it better is if I could get up at 10am to shower then and if my piña coladas didn't get watered down in the shower.

But I'm singing that darned Harry Nilsson song again!