Looking forward to the new year!

As we wrapping up our Holiday season, I can't stop thinking about how lucky I am to be able to do what I love and meet so many new and exciting people along the way! I love doing holiday shows and meet Marmalade Hills customers in person. I always remember it as the best time of the year! Thanks to all your love, we had a great season which we finished off with a lavish spa event at one of our exclusive retailers Mills Pharmacy + Apothecary in Birmingham, MI. The team at Mills, always makes you feel welcomed and right at home, that's why we had quite a turn out! Everybody was in good mood, we had festive and sparkling decor, yummy snacks and lots of good times. I put together a quick collage from the event, I hope you enjoy it! 

Holiday Schedule: We will be closed from December 18th through December 27th, if you place an order during this time, it will be shipped out on December 28th. 

Thank you so much to all of our followers, customers and friends for making it an amazing year for us. Marmalade Hills is on a steady growth rate and we are expecting many great changes, updates and exciting news in the new year. Lots of planning, brain storming and hard work is still ahead in the next few months, but I'm very excited and enthusiastic about new possibilities and challenges! 

See you in 2013. 
Liana.

The Pink Fund

We are proud to announce that we are partnering up with a wonderful national non-profit organization: The Pink Fund. A few words about The Pink Fund and their mission which we found very unique and highly acclaimed. The Pink Fund provides short-term financial aid during the brief period of active treatment and recovery. Millions of dollars are being raised for research and programs for the medically underserved, but despite this there are many families facing breast cancer who urgently need financial help now. The Pink Fund provides this real help now. Marmalade Hills will donate 15% of each retail and 5% on every wholesale purchase of Pink Grapefruit product through months of September through December 31st. We are kicking off our official collaboration in fall because October is a national Brest Cancer Awareness month which makes it a perfect time to get on board with us and make yourself feel good about your purchases! You can find more about The Pink Fund here and buy products here.

In case you didn't notice Pink Grapefruit products are completely new to our website. And they are already my favorites!

We also added Pumpkin Cardamom line to give you something to be excited about this wonderful season. I told you about them earlier here and you will be hearing more about them, because their name is just super scrumptious to pronounce!

And last but not least, by any means, is our new addition to our all natural moisturizers. By popular demand we have added Chocolate Royale massage body oil to our retail offerings to help you keep dry, flaky skin at bay. Chocoholics, this is a perfect guilt-free, calorie-free pleasure that is also very beneficial for your skin!

I hope you will have a chance to discover our new products and find new favorites!

Till next time,
Liana.

Iced Green Tea for strengthening your skin

Noticing papery, thin skin? Try our clay masques to return elasticity and improve complexion. Use them once a week or more often during summer to help control sebum production as well as deep cleanse. You can also add skin-strengthening foods that reinforce skin’s capillaries, making it appear more supple and tone. Best foods include: cranberries, blueberries, bilberries, tea (green and black), black currant, onions, legumes, and parsley. Summer is the best time to pick berries, but my favorite way to consume vital minerals in abundance is to make my own iced green tea. You not only improve your skin, but also get your minimum 2 liters of water intake and load up on naturally occurring antioxidants! 

I make my iced tea with matcha green tea available at Costco. Why matcha? Because in 2003, researchers from the University of Colorado found that the concentration of the antioxidant EGCG available from drinking matcha is up to 137 times greater than the amount of EGCG available from other commercially available green teas. Matcha is also said to boost metabolism and help reduce cholesterol levels when drank regularly. 

All you need is boiling water, biggest cup your can find and some matcha.  I use 5 tea bags at a time. Add boiling water and let them sit for at least 3 minutes. Remove bags, do not squeeze too hard as it may make your tea bitter. Transfer your hot brew into a pitcher and add cold water. I usually use 1 cup of brew to 2-3 cups of cold water. (corrected on 08.02.12) 


Let your tea cool down to room temperature on the kitchen counter before placing it into refrigerator to avoid sudden temperature drop, which can make your iced tea cloudy. Add some mint or better yet, slice of lemon for extra Vitamin C and ENJOY!

Till next time,

Liana.  

Pumpkin products COMING SOON!

I decided to make a quick teaser for our upcoming launch of five brand new Pumpkin Cardamom products, because I can not wait to share them with the world! The smell is divine! It is made with exotic blend of amber resin, patchouli, cardamom and a splash of blood orange essential oils. Slightly sweet, spicy and warm... Such perfect scent for fall weather!

Dark Amber Resin from India was gently infused into golden Jojoba oil leaving tree resins and bees wax behind

then I added dark patchouli, cardamom and blood orange essential oils to the mix and voila!

I am sure you WILL love these new products as much as I do! Look out for them in September!

Till next time,
Liana.

Summer in housewife mode

Yesterday I saw my first back to school ad and it hit me, “summer is almost over”! Where did the time go? I remember thinking “I’ll definitely be able to catch up on things in summer”. Days came and went and I haven’t even planted my flower pots and window boxes yet! Oh well, not this year, I guess. With my DH being out of town way more than usual, I have been with kids 24/7 doing things, going places, which put me in housewife mode that I still can’t snap out of. No matter how much I try to bribe myself to write new blog post or update my website, I get distracted by browsing Pinterest for new kids projects, kids fashion, garden ideas, new and exciting recipes, kefir, kvas and kombucha starters, places to go and even entertaining myself with thoughts of moving to a farm and raising my own bunnies and chickens! Yes, guilty as charged, and I apologize for the long delay. So here is what we have been doing with kids this summer:

after all the recitals and soccer tryouts were over we went on vacation to our favorite Lake Michigan in Grand Haven area. We had a great time, as always!

we had a lemonade stand where we also sold natural home-made doggie treats (recipe to come)

We made home-made playdough which turned out to be everything I’ve always heard about home-made playdough - store bought brands don’t even come close! (recipe to come). You probably saw how it came out if you follow me on Instagram. 

 Went to blueberry u-pick farm and baked blueberry muffins. Yum!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that we survived 4 day power outage in 100F weather and 70% humidity. We spent a lot of time at the neighborhood beach, perfect thing to do in the summer, right? And I learned how to start generator! … I’m definitely a pro in it now.

On the business side, things have been moving along somehow, thanks to my dedicated sales gals who keep me on my toes and inspire me! We have added one more regional sales coordinator in Kentucky area, finished sales manuals, landed new accounts and had some publicity in local press. And today I’m happy to report the start of fall production! First 24 pounds of Pumpkin Cardamom Scrub were made, Body Oils, Body Lotions and Body washes in coordinating scent. Here is my to do list for this week, you can see that Pumpkin products are #1 priority. We are also adding new Pink Grapefruit products to our retail offerings (lotion and sugar scrub), as well as our ever-popular Chocolate Body Oil with infusion of pure cocoa butter and cocoa absolute (it used to be only available in professional sizes). I am still a little behind on things, which drives me crazy inside, but I do get to enjoy the kiddos. They are such good little people. They make it all worth it. THEY complete the circle.

Happy summer to all,
Liana.

Spa Parties = great times!

As some of you already know, we have successfully ventured out into the world of private spa parties. Now Marmalade Hills brings natural, decadent, fresh goodies to your door steps! So invite your favorite peeps, pop that bottle of wine and enjoy! How does it work? Easy: we provide you with a beautiful invitation design and bring our products to your guests, so they can enjoy full shopping experience, get first-hand advise and tips from our beauty-gurus, and of course touch, feel and smell everything!  We also offer fun DIY projects for your guests to make and take home (good luck finding that at any other home party, right?).  All you need is 20 solid RSVPs and you are guaranteed a unique experience that no one will ever forget! But don't just take my word for it, check out some of these pictures from a recent spa night at the nest of "Greetings From The Nest" (GFN). What is GFN? It's a woman owned, home based beautiful boutique for all things cute, neat, gorgeous, sparkly and unique! Call Tricia today to get your fabulous gifts and schedule Marmalade Hills spa night! 

We had great time and made Dead Sea Salts with friends!

Oh, yes! I don't want to forget spa inspired food and drinks! 

Everyone had great time, fun, met new friends and everyone found products to nourish, rejuvenate and pamper their skin and senses! Thank you Tricia and Greetings From The Nest for opening your house to us! Big HUGS!

Chicken mushroom creamy pasta sauce (kid friendly)

My kids love pasta that's why I am always looking for new variations of pasta sauces. One of our family favorite is pasta meat sauce that I blogged about earlier. Very recently I came across this simple recipe of chicken penne and decided to put my own spin on it. This is sooo good, sooo easy to make and sooo easy to adjust, you can be making it every day! I strongly recommend using rotisserie chicken, as it will save you a ton of time and sanity!

Here is my implementation with our favorite ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/3 cup onion, sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons flour
1 (15 oz.) can or 2 cups chicken broth (or boiling water)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup of goat cheese, optional
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 roasted chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
frozen spinach, optional
mushrooms, sliced, optional

Preparation (about 20-25 min):
Melt butter in a medium deep sauce pan. Cook garlic and onions with 1/4 teaspoon salt, over medium heat, until onions have softened and become translucent. Add flour and cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in liquid, stirring frequently until sauce comes to simmer. Stick blend ingredients into a fine mixture then add mushrooms and chicken, cook for 10 minutes, add spinach and cook for another 5 minutes. At the end add sour cream and goat cheese, stir while they melt and serve over your favorite pasta.


My husband could care less about uninspiring rotisserie chicken, but he loves this recipe!

Hope your family will enjoy it! And please do share your variations of ingredients with us!

Till next time,
Liana.

Weekend at the studio

It was a busy weekend at MH studio. After a short school week, my work week turned out to be "not so productive week" with a bonus: more time with the kiddos, which sent me to the studio this weekend. I had to catch up on orders and replenish my stock. What I got is two busy days at the studio and lots of fresh products! Body scrubs, soap, and finally clean tools and dishes.



While making products I got to enjoy this peaceful view from my window...



Productive weekend made up for not so productive week!...and kids finally got to play in fresh, fluffy snow! Success!

I hope you had a great weekend, enjoyed doing what you love and now ready to jump into a new adventure!

Till next time,
Liana.

Serenity now! - or how I discovered new use for Noise Cancelling Headphones.

After another successful, yet long night by myself with the kiddos, I decided that my little trick on staying calm during second half of the day, while multitasking house duties and listening to non-stop rumblings of my kids, cannot go down in history undocumented. I really hope that I am helping somebody out there and not just making a fool of myself by admitting that I am the last parent on planet Earth to find out about this unconventional use of noise cancelling headphones (NCH).
Somewhere between making family dinner, feeding my super picky eaters, and then listening to their never ending stories or blaring TVs in different rooms, very often I feel like I am ready to put myself on timeout. Don’t forget, mommy always gets to eat last, so she is usually pretty irritated or ready to collapse by the time she gets to finally sit down and eat. By about 7pm I just can’t take all the noise and new set of dirty dishes anymore. End of the day can be especially draining, when every minute feels like an hour. You just can’t wait for all the noises to subside.

Recently my husband has been traveling many time zones back and forth, and sometimes in a matter of one week, which made it very hard for him to recover from jet lag. During one of those trips, another experienced traveler recommended NCH to help with background noise fatigue (who would have thought, right?) and help with jet lag. Guess what my hubby has found under the tree this year? I have never tried NCH before, but the minute I put them on, I loved the feeling.

One lucky night they ended up laying around the kitchen and I decided to put them on. It felt nice! Not to say that I don’t enjoy energetic voices of my kids, but after a long day it is hard for my brain to not be on pins and needles from any louder than usual noise (beauty of getting old, I assume). That’s where the headphones go on my head and stay there until kids go to bed. They work like a charm! If you are interested you can read more about the technology here. Basically, the headphones do not make you deaf, but they tremendously cut down on the unnecessary background and white-noises. You hear what you need to hear and everything sounds further away. It makes you more relaxed because your brain doesn’t need to process every sound. It also cuts down on the need to elevate your voice when talking to your kids: you do not need to compete with TVs, running water, pump on your fish tank, dog and other things. Result - I feel rested and calm all night, and can even get some work done after kids go to bed. I am seriously addicted to NCH now. No wonder they are even recommended for autistic kids who are often very sound sensitive.

Now, please tell me that I am not the last parent on the planet Earth who discovered this!? And if you decide to try this technique, let me know how you like it and if it worked for you!

Till next time,
Liana.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all! I hope you all had great holidays and a happy New Year celebration. I enjoyed meeting many interesting people over the holidays and going to new places. Last two weeks of the year we spent with kids, looking into their eyes, absorbing their voices, and making fun projects.
Marmalade Hills had another successful year and it is now ready for a bigger growth. I am very humbled and thankful for all the love and interest that we have received. Slowly but surely the routine is getting back on track: filling new orders, working on new leads and organizing my life to be more efficient, more productive and more happy. So this year I decided to concentrate my attention on things that are important and not always urgent. Which led me to my first official resolution list, that so far, I’m proud to say, I am following pretty good. So here is what I have lined up for myself to conquer this year (I will try to blog about every individual resolution and my progress on it):
1. Sleep at least 7 hours a day
2. Physical exercise at least 30 min every day
3. Have salad every day
4. Double our vacation time
5. Have timely physicals and other routine checks for ALL members of our family (including the dog...and sometimes our fish....sigh...)
6. Spend less time on Social Networking and research
7. Develop and launch new products
8. Update and improve MH studio and equipment
9. More frequent blogging
10. Learn 5 new things; do 5 new activities or projects
11. Be more understanding, talk less and listen more
12. Be humble and happy with what I have and who I am


This is my dirty dozen that needs to be polished and perfected this year. I really hope that some of these routines will become an integral part of my live.
Do you have a resolutions list? What would you like to improve in your life? Share some tricks and tips on how to stick to the resolutions list throughout the year.

Looking forward to what you guys have to say!

Till next time,
Liana.