Natalie Lynn Lichtenbert

I get so many remarks regarding how early I go to the gym...and believe it or not, going at 5:30 a.m. is NOT my favorite time to go, I am not a fully functional, social person so early...BUT, going after working a full day is not going to happen, either because I feel tired, fed up with many other things to do or with living in Chicago, you gotta enjoy the beautiful afternoon weather instead! Getting to the church on time, requires a lot of prep work the day before...my boyfriend helped me out with this since he is far better at being on time than I!  But essentially, when I get home from my work, I pretty much empty out any dirty laundry out of my gym suitcase, fill it with tomorrow's cute outfit, shoes and accessories, seal her back up and get her back into the trunk of my car! I also grab a quick outfit that I can wear at the gym the next morning and have that waiting for me on the bathroom counter so I can just grab it and throw it on.  I'm so not good at figuring ...

Been busier than a bee here but working hard never hurt anyone, right? This weekend I had the opportunity to go with my Dad to the Sandbluff Bird Banding station in IL.  It's the first time getting there although I had talked about it for a couple of years now.  It's a station where they actually collect birds and put little bands on their legs that contain numbers for tracking.  In this way, they are able to track the birds' migrations and populations.  They offer training sessions once a season, and this weekend it took place...with my being there...yay!!  Not to mention, I'm now highly recommended to be volunteering somewhere as part of my Graduate Degree class called Environmental Stewardship...so I made it (it's actually quite a far drive from my house)... Once there we learned how they collect birds in mist nets, they take the birds back to the station where they sit down and actually put the band on the bird, take various measurements (wing size, sex...

First, let me start off by saying that my creation, Environmentally fashionable/Globally Healthy, will be a place where I can share with you my love for the environment, fitness and fashion!  Yup!  In my first couple of years of college, I was looking to major in fashion design!  I had always felt so torn between being so interested in such a "vain" world of fashion...sometimes totally not into the welfare of the planet and animals, and being interested in preserving plants, animals, etc. Well...that was a long time ago now!  Yes, still loving fashion and cannot give it up!  Sooooo... I will be combining all of my loves (as most know, I am a fitness trainer and competitor...a fitness freak!) and sharing them with you.  I'm hoping along the way I will be able to find really great products, clothes, etc. to share that are earth friendly and look great or work great! So...back to the zoo.  I'm starting my Graduate Degree program through the Universit...

     I've been looking all over for more environmentally friendly/animal friendly cosmetics...and decided to try the line sold at Whole Foods called ZuZu Luxe Makeup.  However, I discovered that most of their products contain palm oil.  Palm oil can be listed as an ingredient in many ways including: Emulsifier 422 Cetyl palmitate and octyl palmitate Elaesis guineensis Hexadecyclic or palmitic acid Hydrated palm glycerides Palm oil kernel Palmate Well, let me tell you!  I was not going to be having any of that...palm oil is used in so many of the daily products we use such as soaps, cleaners, fuel, makeup, processed foods, etc.  What is Palm Oil? Palm oil is an edible form of vegetable oil obtained from the seeds of the oil palm, prevalent in Indonesia and Malaysia where 80 per cent of the world’s supply of palm oil is produced. However, it's usage is destroying rainforests, habitats...and a lot of times, orangutans are killed m...