Lunapads Blog

I don’t know where all of you are at with weather these days, but winter has been hitting us majorly here on the Canadian west coast.  Down in the city that can mean that things get downright ugly (our lovely white Christmas has degenerated into slush mini-lakes and a bitter wind), but if you head up to the mountains, the conditions are fantastic and getting better all the time.

We’ve had a bunch of testimonials from skiers and snowboarders who love their DivaCups and I thought that I’d highlight it for any of you who like the slopes but may still be on the fence about trying it.  One of the best things about skiing with the DivaCup is that, unlike a tampon, you can leave it in all day – how good is that?  It’s been many years now, but I can still remember the days of frosty, smunched-up tampons at the bottom of my pocket and it’s safe to say I’m not missing them!

All DivaCup orders (including DivaCup Kits) in January will also receive a free Pochette.  Safe and happy shredding!

I love to travel, and did my share of world roaming in my early 20s. The interceding decades (gasp!!) have been more to do with building Lunapads and raising a family, so my wanderlust hasn’t had as much expression. Lately, though, some great opportunities have come my way, and I am excited to talk about what great travel companions the DivaCup and pStyle are.

Here’s a funny story: back in the days before I started making Lunapads (I was a dedicated tampon user until I was 25), during a bout of the aforementioned wanderlust, I found myself in a village in Northern India with a freshly-started period and no supplies. Did I grab a sock, or improvise with a handkerchief? I am faintly embarrassed to admit that in those days I had yet to broaden my imagination to be able to conceive of an alternative to my monthly “necessities”, and wandered in a panic throughout the local market in a hilariously unsuccessful attempt to communicate my need to the local shopkeepers.

I’m not sure whether tampons have made it to Pushkar by now, but back then, not so much, and I was frankly stumped. Was there some secret women’s store somewhere? Just where were the women of Rajasthan hiding their pads and tampons? (Dear reader, are you laughing at me yet?) To be kind, let’s just say that my lack of imagination was matched only by my Western, disposable, privileged mind that simply couldn’t figure it out. Fortunately I ran into a well-stocked Australian sister traveler who took pity on me, and all was well.

So, back to my new travel buddies. Unlike certain fruit-picking, concert-going PStyle fans, I had yet to try mine until some very recent plane rides and, shall we say, tricky bathroom situations in faraway places that would have been downright unpleasant were it not for being able to do it standing up. While I found it a bit odd at first, once I got the hang of it it actually made me laugh. Any traveling gals out there, do yourself a favor and get yours today!

As for the Diva Cup, how I wish that 1) it had been invented and 2) that I might have had the willingness to give it a shot at the time. Better late than never. A recent holiday found my husband and I in relaxation mode of a swimming, tennis and the odd martini variety – with my period. As fabulous, comfortable and versatile as my Lunapads and Lunapanties are, let’s face it: bikini-wearing demands a different solution. The Diva Cup totally came through for me, and I had a great time. Happy trails, everyone!

It’s cold, it’s rainy and it’s dark – but that doesn’t stop me from riding my bike! Many people commute by bike year-round (even in snowy locales!) Here in Vancouver it’s not so bad, we have much milder winters than the rest of Canada and a great cycling coalition to encourage us.

This year the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (VACC) has decided to put on a ‘Bike to Work Week’ in November. To help make our rides safer this time of year I had the pleasure of helping make a fun little video reminding riders that being visible to cars is super-important in keeping you safe and getting visible can be a whole lot of fun!

A play on Olivia Newton John’s ‘Physical’ – we changed it to ‘Let’s Get Visible’ and had our own ‘Olivia’ sing more bike-appropriate lyrics. You may see one Sandra Allen in a couple shots! (Oh, and I should warn you now…this song gets stuck in your head!)

Presented by: VACC, B:C:Clettes (an amazing bike dance troupe!) and Momentum Magazine (the magazine for self-propelled people)

Videography by: Gwendal Castellan (of Long Road North fame) and David Niddrie (my boyfriend!)

Ride safe! (And have fun making your own reflective hot shorts – I know I’m going to!)

My husband received this video the other day courtesy of a friend in the UK and we have enjoyed it several times since. The first time I watched it, I wasn’t sure if it was real or a spoof on an actual incident involving an oil spill off the Australian coast. Not knowing exactly where it came from (other than Australia), I have come to the conclusion that it’s just a brilliant Monty Python-esque spoof on certain people who, let’s say, don’t exactly get it about environmental issues that would be even funnier if it didn’t have some elements of inconvenient truth…enjoy!

While it hasn’t been the best summer (or spring, for that matter!) in this part of the world weather-wise, I must say that I’ve been over the moon with my garden. Being a gardening newbie, I’m still mostly about enthusiasm, with less on the knowledge and experience front, but thanks to good soil and exposure in our yard, I’m having decent success. So far, we’ve had a bumper crop of lettuce, swiss chard, beans, peas, carrots, spinach and a few tasty little strawberries. Leeks and beets are still on their way, and the only thing that has really gone sideways was a few broccoli plants that developed a nasty gray fungus.

But my pride and joy are the tomatoes (above left!). Oh, how I love fresh summer heirloom tomatoes. In prior summers you could find me lurking at one of Vancouver’s farmer’s markets, coveting the weirdest-looking, most obscurely-colored ones. I treat mine like little babies, fussing over and coddling them, picking off any nasty little flies foolish enough to even attempt to sully my lovelies. The funniest thing, though, is that they completely took me by surprise – I just had no idea that they would 1) survive in the first place 2) suddenly become taller than me and therefore need cages or 3) that I would have to think about things like pruning them (which I now do obsessively – look out, suckers!)

It’s currently raining cats, dogs and several other small mammals here and I am fearing for my precious ones – fingers crossed that we see the sun again soon, so the feasting can begin!

A good laugh for a Friday afternoon!

We came across this video the other day on the BUST magazine site and thought that it was hysterical.  I must say that I love a good pad/tampon ad parody.  Now we just need to be able to offer “vaginal firewall protection” for Lunapads!

It’s crazy to think that I live so intimately with someone else and – most of the time – really enjoy it. It’s quite amazing to find someone that you can get to know so well and still find charming as all heck. Dave and I have been together for almost 5 years and we finally managed to save up and get the time off to travel to Argentina – which besides just immersing ourselves in a new place; also ends up being a personal journey, and a good look in to our relationship. We discovered we can travel for 50 days – seeing and being with each other 24 hours a day – and have a blast!
(This photo is us at Talampaya, the great red wall!)

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