Every once in a great while, we discover a new idea so brilliant that it takes the rest of humanity years to accept it and make it part of their daily lives. Electricity, telephones, cars, and even TV fall into this category. People needed time to wrap their heads around the idea that something so beneficial could be produced so easily.

I felt the same way when I first heard about water ionizers. “A little machine that makes magic anti-oxidant water? For way less than the cost of bottled water? That has to be a scam”, I reasoned. A few years later my in-laws were excitedly telling me about the holistic health benefits of their new water ionizer machine, and I had to reconsider.

So they told me their first hand accounts and I was shocked. They’re not health nuts by any means. All they did was add in the alkaline water instead of drinking bottled water and filtered tap water. With that ONE change, they began to detox and experienced weight loss without effort, more energy and deeper sleep, they “felt hydrated for the first time ever”, and the water was even “much easier to drink”. (That’s due to the newly “micro clustered” water molecules, which actually do hydrate our bodies much better than non-ionized water.) Now as someone who eats and drinks in a very health-conscious way, I was skeptical that one could still make less-than-awesome food choices and feel great with the simple addition of water. And yet that is exactly what my in-laws experienced. They are still loving their water ionizer and discovering new cumulative health benefits as time goes on. There are other benefits that they, and their friends have experienced, but they are so wonderful as to be unbelievable sounding so I’m not going to mention them here. Let me just say that I think Fountain of Youth would be an appropriate name for the KYK Genesis water ionizer.

If I hadn’t witnessed it myself, I don’t know if I would have believed these amazing claims. Ionized, alkaline water is not yet available in stores so it’s one of those products that we still have to experience through our friends and family. Or we act on faith and see what amazing results we will personally experience. Plus there’s a 60 day money back guarantee so there is plenty of time to see what improvements you notice from drinking and using ionized, alkaline water.

Have you tried a water ionizer? Leave your stories, questions, and comments below and share the love!

Star Wars certainly doesn’t explain the product this way, but look at the kid’s face in the commercial. That’s one chill padawan.

In case you’re wondering more about the technical details, here’s how it works:

“The wireless headset reads your brainwaves through dry sensor technology and can determine the differences between alpha, beta, gamma and delta waves. This allows a chip inside the Force Trainer to use an algorithm to interpret the data and translate it to physical action, which in this case moves the Training Sphere into different sections of the cylinder.”

$89 (was $119.99)

Both of Wild Divine’s products combine biofeedback data with an enlightening interactive format. Their flagship product, Healing Rhythms is described as a “guided training program” and is better suited for adults and teens. The Passage: Journey to Wild Divine is presented as a beautiful interactive game and is adventurous fun for all ages. (There is another game – Wisdom Quest – that can also be used with The Passage.) Here’s a video clip of The Passage:

Even if you have never meditated before, the very act of watching your biofeedback levels will begin to bring you into a state of calm. Playing with the games will bring anyone into a deeper state of inner peace. The manufacturers don’t talk about the health benefits much, but that’s the part I find especially amazing. The biofeedback unit measures the Heart Rate Variability, and HRV is the best predictor of future mortality and morbidity than any of the standard risk factors (cholesterol, smoking, exercise levels, etc). That means using a Wild Divine product helps us learn to be relax while transforming our health, too. Now that’s holistic health care.

Besides the game versus training format of the two systems, my research shows one other consideration. The Passage game system does not come with detailed graphing abilities, but separate Grapher Expansion software is available. This is the package I will be purchasing, because I want the flexibility of lots of game play but still have the option to just quietly watch my body’s rhythms. Plus, I can add the Wisdom Quest game later if I want.

This certainly isn’t the only way how to meditate, but it is an innovative new tool that promises to open humanity’s understanding about the body-mind connection. Have you tried any of the Wild Divine biofeedback products? We would love to hear your feedback!

Image courtesy of Hector Landaeta.

This month Blue Bird Apparel is Mable’s featured Hot Vintage Clothing Store and is always rockin’ the vintage styles from the 40’s to 80’s.

Blue Bird Apparel operates out of Rhode Island and currently has some killer vintage coats and sweaters definitely worth checking out. They add over 50 recycled vintage pieces to the store weekly so be sure to add them to your eBay favorite sellers list so you don’t miss out on anything.

Below is a sneak peak of some hot auctions going on right now from Blue Bird Apparel.

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• Girls Costumes
• Boys Costumes
• Women Costumes
• Children Costumes

Whether you need an awesome costume idea or are just curious about what the trends will be like this Halloween, check out our list! If you’re a big Halloween fan like us, be sure to visit our other site 365 Halloween and subscribe to the RSS feed. When October rolls around we don’t do much else besides keep 365Halloween.com updated every day, so it’s always lively over there!

Their stunning art trays come in 3 different themes; vintage ladies, animals in nature, and hybrid human/animals attired in exquisite vintage clothing. The imagery is simply amazing, but it’s the colors that really grab me: brooding, muted shades with splashes of vivid color. Everything they make is truly a hybrid of modern and classic. Better still, the laminated trays are made from a recycled wood core!

And lest I forget to mention their newer offerings: furniture shaped like the lower half of an animal. The Basset Stool and Dog Stool (both shown above) are available in black or red. Joe the Polar Bear book shelf measures nearly 4′ tall and is super limited edition.

All but 4 of the trays offered at Burke Decor include Free Shipping in the USA.

A couple months ago a friend emailed to tell me about a berry that I “might be interested in”. She pointed me to the now infamous NY Times article about the “Miracle Fruit“, and I proceeded to flip out. For those of you who haven’t been introduced to this truly magical berry, it makes sour things taste sweet and food in general just tastes better. How exciting is that? It contains a substance called “miraculin” that binds with your taste buds for up to 2 hours of “everything tastes like heaven” fun. Wow, talk about a natural sweetener. Sign me up!

But there’s just one problem: availability. Wikipedia says Miracle Fruit was documented way back in 1725, yet it only gained popularity in America in 2008, thanks largely to the “flavor trippers” referenced in the NY Times article. Without a solid growing infrastructure in place, it’s been really difficult to obtain the berries or the packaged tablets. Most retailers run out of stock for months at a time! I tried to find some seeds so I could grow my own, but at the time nobody had any stock available.

This morning I opened up an email from my homies at Think Geek and almost fell out of my chair when I saw they are now selling Miracle Fruit tablets! The date on the email said it arrived yesterday, but by the time I arrived at their site they were already sold out and taking backorders. Noooo! But since Think Geek is located in the USA (unlike most retailers) and has amazing customer service, I’m just going to backorder a couple packs now. What can I say, I have an insatiable sweet tooth and the idea of sucking on a lemon and having it taste like candy is too novel to resist.

Every story I’ve heard about Miracle Fruit has been funny and amazing. If you’ve tried this miraculous berry, please share your story in the comments. I’ll report back when my shipment arrives

PS- I predict that this berry is going to be so instrumental in getting people to eat healthy. We’ll start by eating a miracle berry before a big leafy green salad – you know, so even the most picky tastebuds can “tolerate” real food. Then we’ll only need a half berry as our bodies become used to eating well. Then one day we’ll realize that we don’t even need to “flavor trip” anymore. Did this idea occur to anyone else?

Every month a new seller will be featured as the Hot Vintage Clothing Store of the month hand-picked by Mable’s. Of course we are always open to suggestions, so send them in.

This month we are featuring Mama Stone Vintage because of her influence, style, and more. So check out the Hot Vintage Store for August, bookmark the page, and read more about why Mama Stone is at the top of the list.

Below is a sneak peak of some hot auctions going on right now from Mama Stone Vintage.

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If you’re still searching for the perfect swimsuit (or one of many) and want something really unique for summer then you must see the selection of vintage bathing suits on eBay and Etsy. Unlike new suits, each vintage bathing suit is one of a kind or extremely limited edition, and the range of styles is much more creative than modern swimwear. Buying vintage online also gives us the opportunity to support all the great indie business owners out there.

Left to Right: some girls vintage, Love Spy Vintage, and Mel’s Shoppe Vintage

Here are a few of the hottest vintage swimsuits being bid on right now. It surprised me that they were all one-pieces, but those are indeed the best sellers, almost without exception. Despite the popularity of the modern bikini – and I swear it’s not hyperbole to say that nearly everyone in southern California wears one – it seems that a new retro-loving generation is discovering the one-piece. Some truly fantastic maillot swimsuits did come from seasons past; highly styled designer suits of the 40’s and 50’s, the profusely psychedelic prints of the 60s, deep V necklines and bias cuts of the 70s, and uber high cut legs and fluorescent colors of the 80s. Whether you’re a vintage fashionista or a lover of all things retro and ironic, there’s a style for you.

Below are some of the most popular vintage bathing suit auctions going on right now, but there is always more to be found on eBay.

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The author is well qualified to write this book, as she is the owner of the mail order company Femail Creations (“Gifts to Celebrate and Inspire Women“). It was started by Lisa when she stopped working at her husband’s construction company. Like many of us, she was “going crazy” working at a job that she had little interest in! Lisa needed new work that was meaningful to her, and would allow her to stay home with their daughter. She was able to do both when she realized her dream of starting a mail order company. What made that meaningful and fulfilling for her was that she offers products that also support other women. Femail Creations sells many handmade, limited run, artisan products created by women, some of which are also SAHMs. Not only does Ms. Hammond now have a calling that she loves, but she is able to help other women realize their dreams by giving them a place to sell their creations. That’s the kind of win-win business planning that I love to hear about!

Femail Creations doesn’t really do sales, but they just let us know about a FREE shipping sale for orders $75+. No coupon code required, just click the link and it will automatically be entered into your cart.

Other places to buy the book online: Half.com (my fave), Amazon, and eBay