5 reasons I'm obsessed with Grove Collaborative!

If you follow me on Instagram, you will know from my stories that I have an abiding love for Grove Collaborative. I have been using Young Living's essential oils for a couple of years now, and that was the first step down the road of understanding the toxins all around me--in foods, beauty products, cleaning products, candles, etc. I started making a bunch of my own products, but I eventually relaxed on that over time. I still make a handful of my own items (dry shampoo, dishwashing detergent, moisturizing serum, etc), however I also began searching for toxin-free and low waste products to purchase and use in my home. Enter Grove!

So what is Grove Collaborative? I like to describe it as Amazon Prime for non-toxic products. That's a really reductive way to describe it just because of the amazingly quick shipping they offer, but Grove is honestly amazing--and if these 5 reasons why don't convince you, nothing will!

This is NOT a sponsored post but does contain a referral link, more information can be found in the disclosure policy.

1. FREE gifts

That's right, I said FREE! You guys, when I signed up for Grove I used a code that someone was offering on Instagram because I was interested in all the reusable products they were just planning to just GIVE me! Everything in this picture was my free gift with my first order:

My free gift was a specialized offer a blogger had as part of her partnership, but I have a free gift code you guys can use to get a five piece Mrs. Meyer's set for free with your very first $20 order. That's right, you only need to spend $20 to get aaallll of these love things pictured below.

All you have to do is click here to put in your first order! A few quick points--your shipping will be free and you'll be getting a free trial of the VIP program (more on that below), which you can use for 60 days and either keep for the year ($20 charge), or cancel if it ends up not being your thing afterall.


2. No strings attached

As I mentioned, when you complete your $20 order and get your free gift, you're starting a 60 day VIP trial. So, what's the catch? Nada. Zip. Zilch.

If at the end of your 60 days you are totally loving the VIP perks, you will be charged $20 to keep your VIP services for the year. OR you can change your mind and cancel your VIP trial before they charge you and just walk away. The best part is, they will still let you purchase through them without the VIP membership. You'll simply be paying for your shipping and losing acess to aditional free gifts throughout the year, and early sale access (see number 4 for more info on this!). But you are still completely welcome to purchase with Grove without any kind of membership!

Also, the Grove VIP membership still doesn't require you to make any purchases, ever. Their hope is to be a recurring service, so you can set up all your favorite items to come straight to your door as needed. Need to replace your deodorant monthly? Awesome, you can set that up! Only need your hand soap refills every 3 months? That's cool, you can set that up also! I receive a text message and an email before my monthly order ships, so I can easily cancel or change it.


3. Unparalleled customer service

So remember those recurring orders I mentioned? Initially, I didn't even know I had those set up. I had put everything I wanted into my cart and then my reminder text/email came and went, and I never checked my cart. On the day my process ordered, I noticed it was $10 more than I expected. Turns out I had a recurring item placed in my cart and hadn't paid attention to that....my bad.

Despite being the weekend, I sent a message to their 24/7 text line. Someone got back to me that same day and refunded me. However, they process orders SO quickly that I had already received my shipping notification before my refund. The person on the other end of the text line told me that as a company "with a strong focus on sustainability, we prefer that you gift, donate or keep that item rather than returning it back to us." Shocked, y'all.  They literally just GAVE me the item when it was totally my bad for incorrectly order it. I love that answer so much, that if you're actually reading this I will give that free 48 oz. lemon verbena soap refill to the first person to sign up for your first order/free gift, then come back and leave a comment below.

I called Grove the Amazon Prime of non-toxic products, and that's because they have seriously fast shipping. As I mentioned, the day my order processed was the same day it was boxed and shipped to me. They arrive 3 days after my order date. They are also impeccably packaged. Things arrive upright, with tape over any item that could potentially spill. I haven't had any shipping mishaps to date.

And if all this hasn't convinced you, they also offer price matching. I was interested in getting a bamboo handled toothbrush with replaceable brush heads made of vegetable-based nylon. They are my next step in wanting to use less plastic, and lower waste/more recycled products. But lo and behold, I found out they were cheaper at Walgreens. Sure, I could've just gone to my local Walgreens and hoped they had it in stock, but Grove is a company I am more apt to support...and also I can order from my couch in my underwear sooooo... I emailed Grove, and they adjusted the price in my cart same day. You guys, they are such a stellar service!

4. Presale offers

Before their fall line of Mrs. Meyers products was rolled out, they offered them on presale to VIP members for 25% off. You better believe I got myself this 5 piece set with apple cider cleaning products. Imma be living my best fall scented cleaning life this year thanks to Grove.

5. Values
Grove lists the ingredients for each product so you can easily see what aligns with your own definitions for "green" or non-toxic products. They also have a really straightforward list of values that a company holds. For instance, here are the values for the aforementioned toothbrushes.

They make it so easy to make choices according to YOUR values.



Don't leave here thinking Grove is just cleaning products either. They have a huge array of beauty products, reusable switches, products for pets, kids...nearly everything! I have ordered sponges, cleaning wipes, scrub brushes with replaceable heads, reusable baggies, face masks....I could go on, but I'll spare you! It felt redundant constantly talking about it on Instagram and having to explain myself so I figured I would compile all their greatest talking points for easy reference. But I honestly cannot recommend Grove enough, so at the very least, why not get your free gift TODAY with your first order?!

National Peach (Crisp) Pie Day

Ever since I was 10 and had a birthday cake that was 75% frosting, I have not been a "cake person". I am a pie person through and through.

Even at our wedding we didn't have a cake and instead opted to have just a general dessert bar, lovingly stocked by creative and talented friends and family. I have always preferred pies and custard desserts to cakes, with peach pie as my standout favorite. Peach anything, honestly, but peach pie for the win.

When I'm in the mood for peach pie but can't be bothered with making a double crusted creation, I opt for a peach crisp. I love that cripsy, crunchy, rich topping juxtaposed against the soft, juicy fruit. Crisps are everything, amirite?

So, in honor of national peach pie day, here's a simply recipe you can throw together to celebrate!

In my mind baking is equal parts deeply scientific (you need to be mindful of processes and ratios), while also being intuitive. Sometimes you need to add steps, take out a step, change times, etc. I like to make recipes (especially for cooking) intuitive, so change things as you wish! Also, this is my first time writing a recipe in 8-9 years so please let me know how things can be changed around of changed for clarity!



Super Simple Peach Crisp

Filling:
5-6 peaches
cornstarch (optional)
maple syrup (optional)

Topping:
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. oats
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp ginger (or cinnamon, cloves, allspice, your call!)
1 stick (1/2 c.) cold butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish.

Chop your peaches and place in the bottom of your dish. If they are excessively juicy you can sprinkle a small amount of cornstarch and mix them up to soak up some of the juices during cooking. If your peaches are underripe, you may want to add a little maple syrup for added sweetness.

In a medium bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Cube your butter into small pieces and add it to the dry ingredients. Using a fork, pastry blender, or your hands, work the butter into the mixture until it resembles sand. Sprinkle it over the top of your peaches.

Bake in the center of the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and crispy. Slather with freshly whipped heavy cream or some vanilla ice cream. Or just eat it straight out of the pan with a spoon, again, it's your call!

July 101 Things Update/August goals

If you haven’t seen it yet, my first post on my blog was my 101 Things in 1001 Days list. This is my second iteration after making my first in January 2016, but at the end of my 1001 days I had only completed 48 tasks. I'm determined to do better by using monthly check-ins and planning.

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July Follow-up
July was an interesting month. I expected to have a job in June. So then I REALLY expected to have a job in July. But, August is certainly my month! Right...?

Being jobless did give me the opportunity to begin a cottage bakery. Host was born, focusing mostly on artisan sourdough. Loaves can be ordered here!

I finished four books, which is more than I would have if I wasn't intentional about it! I'm also still working through a couple extra books as well. I forgot my books at home on my trip but I ended up buying a memoir, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, for 50 cents at the local library and finishing that in two days.

We never made it up north, but we did take a trip to Cali to visit my parents. I didn't unplug but I spent that time taking more of a step back from social media and connections.

I also didn't buy myself flowers but Uriah bought me some for my birthday. I ca n't remember what they were but these things are resilient! We left the morning after I got them and they weren't taken care of for 5 days. It's been a week now and they're still perky and haven't lost a single petal!

I made hummus twice this month. I have read loads of things about hummus in the past so I kind of knew what I was looking for in a recipe. I ended up trying this recipe from Bon Appetit.

I also finished a couple unplanned goals: earlier in the month I made macarons again (still hate them), tried new Burmese foods (specifically tea leaf salad), and started making tentative plans for a trip.



In August, I'd like to:
-Buy myself flowers
-Find a new job (optimism)
-Read 7 books
-Make granola
-Finish a knitting project I'm working on