June 2019 Recommendations

Buy this/look how cute and cheap this is is everywhere and I'm over it. Do we have nothing else to talk about aside from what we buy, should buy, are thinking about buying, want others to consider buying? 

Look, I like to know what people like and even more I like to know what actually WORKS for people on their skin and in their homes, in their kitchens and with their pets...but when it's the majority of what you see, it’s like enough already.  

As I work on consuming less and not buying shit I am not in need of, I'm more conscious than ever to be talking about, blogging about, sharing, and recommending content on every platform that does not focus on buying and consuming. While I’ve always only shared what is really worth it to me in these monthly recommendations posts, I’ve doubled down on that. I'm happy to tell anyone what I use for anything so feel free to ask at any time, but I don't want to be a pusher of material goods. It feels gross and it bores me so I’m sure it bores you at times too. We connect over who we are and when we are focused on what we own and buy, the connection gets lost. 

I know, we're into July, and here I am shuffling into July with June recommendations and on a soapbox to boot. We're into freaking July. 

Pacifica Micellar Waters. I was using SkinLab Micellar Cleansing Water that I was scoring at Marshalls (yes we are talking about cleansing water, not drugs) but back in April I couldn't find it there and it was sold out on Amazon. I picked up the Pacifica coconut micellar in Ocean City and loved it so when I ran out at home I picked up the rose from Target. Both smell fine (neither are my favorite scents) and do the job. Removes makeup so you can get rid of the wasteful wipes and use this with a washable cotton round instead.

Library holds. When I talk to people about placing holds on books at the library, I realize a lot of people don't do this. This is how I get access to popular books free and relatively quickly. If I know when a book is coming out, I'll start searching for it on my library's catalog website about a month or so before, sometimes more. As soon as it appears, I place a hold on it. If you are unfamiliar with how it works in your library system, ask your librarian!

Alternatives to VRBO. For those who book vacations using VRBO, they are pushing more and more fees on travelers and they never tell you what they're for. A lot of people who own vacation rentals are branching out to their own websites, smaller search engines (Shoresummerrentals.com in my area), and there are also a lot of facebook groups where vacationers can interact with owners (like OCNJ Vacation Rental By Homeowner, search for Wherever You're Going Vacation Rentals on FB or the world wide web for that matter). If you see a house on VRBO or ABB and it has a name (like mine is Home Sweet Shore Home), try googling that name and the town and state it's in and see if you can't contract direct with the owner (do not google mine as I am dragging my ass on that website for the second year in a row). No matter how you book, sure you have a written lease/contract with clear payment terms and contact information for both parties signed by both parties (before you sign anything, you can check the homeowner out given the contact info on the contract), but to avoid fees, try searches that don't lead you to VRBO/Homeaway/ABB. They have the market share, but they are squeezing dimes out of both renters and owners and have adopted a lot of policies that protect neither if anything goes south on either end. If you have questions about this, please comment or email me at lifeaccordingtosteph@gmail.com and I'll help you to the best of my ability or direct you to a good resource.

What are you recommending this month?