Author: Eric Hahn

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Miscellaneous Retailers

What To Do In Ocean View

The Organic Comfort Zone is a destination point for many of our customers, and our location is rich with culture and history. If you are ever in town and looking for something to do when you are not visiting our showroom, you may want to check out some of the other attractions in Hampton Roads.

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First of all, the Ocean View beach is a great place to spend the day tanning or reading a good book, it is quaint enough to feel personal and fun enough to spend a day splashing around in the water. Just don’t come in the Winter and expect the beach to be as fun as it might be during the summer. You can eat at some of our favorite restaurants, which include Franco’s by the Bay and the delicious Chinese place Golden China and also there is the bar Mojo Bones just right next door to us. There is also a new Hookah Lounge opening on our block, along with an antique shop. Or, just down the road from us is the Harrison Fishing Pier, which you can spend the day fishing in the sun or enjoying a meal at its restaurant.

In Virginia Beach there are waves to surf and stores to shop. You can walk the entire strip and eat some great cuisine and shop in cute gift shops. Stop by the Leaping Lizard, a fabulous restaurant which has been featured on television’s Drive-In, Diners, and Dives. It has also been given the title of Virginia Beach’s best gift shop. All of there food is farm grown and organic, you can even play with the chickens in the pen outside of the bistro. Also, another place featured on the show is Norfolk’s very own Farmer’s Market, which is located in downtown Norfolk, a few blocks away from the MacArthur Mall, where you can shop and catch a movie. For a taste of Norfolk nightlife visit downtown Ghent, grab a cup of coffee at fabulous Fairgrounds and hit up the local bars and clubs, or go see the Rocky Horror Picture Show at Norfolk’s historical Naro movie theater or see a concert at the historical Norva, which is only a few blocks away.

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Also, Academy Award nominated film ‘Captain Phillips‘ was filmed off of the coast of Virginia Beach, which is exciting because it is the second film filmed in Virginia (the first being Lincoln, filmed in Richmond, VA) to be nominated for multiple Academy Awards.

Or, if you are on your way down to the Outer Banks feel free to stop by and give our shop a quick look! We’re on the way!

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Green Living Healthy Lifestyles Made in the USA Miscellaneous Natural Bedroom Natural Fibers Natural Home Organic Comfort Organic Mattress & Bedding Products & Sales Sleep Tips

Which Pillow Is Right For You?

Waking up with a stiff neck can be a pain; it can set your hole day up to be a struggle. It is very unpleasant to sit at a desk massaging your neck and shoulders to no avail. You wake up feeling worse than when you fell asleep all because your neck and shoulders have become stiff overnight. This can all be fixed with the right pillow, though.

While choosing the right pillow for you there are many factors that should go into your decision, and at the Organic Comfort Zone, there is a bundle of options for you to choose from.

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First of all, you should consider the fill of your pillow. Here there are a few different fill choices for you to choose from. For someone with a neck that should be elevated during sleep (snoring or apnea problems), perhaps an extra fill would do you justice to help open the airways – keeping the head and neck elevated can help with one’s breathing.  If you are a stomach sleeper, like myself, you might want to try using a pillow with a lite fill so that your body isn’t being stretched backwards.  And for those who are ambivalent to either choice, perhaps you might enjoy the regular fill which suits most side and back sleepers. Choosing the wrong fill can be uncomfortable and, of course, it can make one’s neck very stiff by the time that the morning hours roll around.

Next you should consider the softness of a pillow. In a lot of downy-feather pillows the fluff begins to fade within a year or two and usually the feathers disperse every night so the pillow goes flat (we don’t offer down pillows).

With a wool pillow the fluff is batting that provides a slight softness with support. The wool compresses and will become flatter with use so if you like that type of pillow, choose wool.  However, if you prefer a pillow that sinks and forms to your head, you might enjoy the La’Noodle pillow, because while it conforms to your head and neck, its fluff factor does not fade for ten or more years. You can sleep on the pillow every night and it will bounce right back to natural plumpness once fluffed. It offers both contouring support that is soft and squishy. Other pillow options at the Organic Comfort Zone include organic pure Kapok, Cotton, and Buckwheat.

LaNoodle Pillow

 

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Environment Green Living Healthy Lifestyles Made in the USA Miscellaneous Natural Bedroom Natural Fibers Natural Home Organic Comfort Organic Mattress & Bedding

Sri Lanka

Known as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean” because of it’s natural beauty, and because of it’s friendly hosts, it is also referred to as the “Nation of Smiling People.” Sri Lanka has much to offer with a diverse range of religions and languages and ethnicities.  The island is also a large importer of tea, cinnamon, coconuts, and rubber. If you could take a guess as to why the Organic Comfort Zone imports its latex from Sri Lanka it is because of the Sri Lankan rubber trees. From these trees a milk sap can be extracted in order to produce what is known as natural latex rubber.

Latex mattress’ are some of the most comfortable in the world. A large sum of the best latex comes from the island of Sri Lanka. Much of the process of creating natural latex contributes greatly to the employment of many locals whose job it is to tap the latex trees for their sap. Sri Lanka has many tree farms where the rubber trees are grown, and in no way is the extraction process harmful for the tree! The production of a latex mattress is environmentally friendly in every way. Even if the day comes, many years down the line, that you must get rid of your latex mattress, there is no need to worry because the latex is biodegradable.

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Also, while the latex components are produced in Sri Lanka, every one of CozyPure’s products is created with the best of care in the USA. Everything from our Matelasse Organic Cotton blankets to our La’Noodle pillows and mattress toppers are manufactured in our very own warehouse, where we work hard to assure that our customers receive the best for their buck. Our products are comfortable and affordable, they will last a long time and will not wear and tear like the cheap products purchased from a discount department store, in which products are mostly outsourced to be made for a cent an hour.

 

 

Among other aspects of Sri Lanka, it is also one of the most beautiful islands in Asia, with an abundance of wildlife and wildflowers. Its natives are friendly and inclined toward sports and adventures including rafting and surfing. A beautiful thing about Sri Lanka is that, being a small country with a wide variety of religions, it has managed to remain peaceful throughout the years, celebrating and appreciating everyone’s own beliefs and mythologies. There are many festivals to attend, including Easter celebrations and the Electric Peacock Festival, which is a relatively new music gala.

 

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Miscellaneous Organic Comfort

We Gotta Find Another Way To Make The World Go Round

In our everyday lives, how many of us actually think about saying high to the mailman or complimenting a stranger on the street. Committing random acts of kindness is not only good for your own karma, but it helps to boost the quality of the nature of humanity. Who doesn’t get excited when someone compliments their new scarf or their eyes. We can all join together to make the world a better place just by being kinder and more thoughtful human beings.

It may sound a little narcissistic, but I do take offense to writing a good paper in school and receiving no compliments or even comments about it, not even from the teacher. In turn, this makes me can angrier than I might have been because of all the effort that I put into the assignment only to not hear anything good about it. It works that way with most things, if someone puts effort into the way that they dress they expect heads to turn so why not turn your head, even if only because they look like they actually tried to look nice.

Its not as if you should run out and donate your entire life savings to charity, but paying a good deed forward can never be a bad thing. Why must we go about ignoring the people and things that are part of our lives? These people and these things are there for a reason and we should be thankful for them to some extent. If there is nothing going well in your life then turn the other cheek and make the bast of every situation because sometimes that is the only thing that you can do.

Here at the Organic Comfort Zone we do our best to treat our customers with the respect that they deserve because it makes both them and ourselves feel better. Living green doesn’t just mean looking after our beautiful environment, but its also look after the beautiful people that surround us. There is a song out there by Marilyn Manson with the lyrics “its a beautiful world/ just ugly people.” I look around and see these lyrics to be true in many cases as one man kicks dirt in another mans face or even when I see children scolding other children on the playground, excluding them from their games. Instead, why can’t we shake hands and play on each others team. Here is our solution to world peace at the Organic Comfort Zone: sleep with a stranger.

Just kidding, that solution is a bit rash. However, when I went to the trade in Washington D.C. I was able to carry around a sign that read “Free Naps and Hugs,” and that sign got a lot of people excited because something as simple as a hug can make someones whole day. In our everyday lives we might want to see a little kindness emitted from the souls of other people be cause “when the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”

We all have a heart, why don’t we use it more often? If we did the world might be a better place, or at least a little less scary. Sunday, bloody, Sunday, everyone, that’s how I’ll end this post. Thank you for reading.

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Healthy Lifestyles Miscellaneous Natural Bedroom

Technicolor Sleep

Asking me to wake up at six in the morning is like asking an elephant to squeeze through a snake hole, it just does not work out too well. Still, everyday, because of my school schedule, I’m expected wake up at the crack of dawn and go into school and try my hardest to not fall asleep. This is especially problematic when it’s no more than twelve degrees outside and there seems to be no thought more comforting that staying cuddled up beneath my warm wool comforter. But sleep is the one thing in my life that I try not to sacrifice when it comes down to the wire – though on many nights, even that sacrifice must be made.

Studies show that disorders like obesity and diabetes can be linked to sleep deprivation. Now, I was a chubby child so as I grow older I try to steer clear of anything that could turn me back into that plump little boy again, and in my eyes, sleep is an important factor. I feel much more satisfied after eating when I’ve had a full night’s rest than after a couple of hours of sleep or none at all. I try to keep my weekly routine roughly the same everyday so that I can get to bed at the same time every night and so that I can wake up fully rested and prepared for the long day ahead.

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Some of the problems that this world faces when falling asleep is the constant lure of one’s tablet or T.V. or smartphone or computer. These devices can hurt our body’s melatonin production, especially when they lie only a couple of feet away from your head. The bright lights emitted from these devices can set our body’s internal clock back a couple of hours, making it harder to fall asleep. According to Charles Czeisler, a professor of sleep medicine at Harvard, peoples internal sleep clocks, or circadian rhythms, have been pushed back almost six hours since the invention of electricity.

I know that speaking from my own experience that my laptop has been known to wake me up on most nights. It is not just the lights that come from these devices but it is also the noises, and my laptop is very loud for some reason when its motor decides to start running in the middle of the night even though it is closed. Perhaps removing all electronics from one’s room could do wonders for their sleep.

Czeisler also states that “it may that gradually lowering the lights might be more powerful than shutting them all off at once.” You can easily adjust the lighting on your computer screen or tablet or phone just by going to settings and adjusting the brightness. Also, installing a dimmer on one’s light might also be useful in the hour before sleep as you prepare for bed.

Another interesting thing about this whole technology before bedtime thing is that once engaged in specific information that can excite or stimulate the brain, a tiny bit of adrenaline is released which boosts energy in one’s body, making it difficult for them to fall asleep. I can vouch for this because when my phone is charging there is a small red dot that glows at the top of the screen, and when I get a text that dot disappears and is replaced with a tiny, flashing blue dot. This dot alone gets me excited, although, maybe that says more about me than it does for the technology.

 

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Green Living Healthy Lifestyles Miscellaneous

Best And Worst Foods For Your Sleep

We’ve all had those nights of tossing and turning for hours before finally falling asleep. Those nights are certainly unpleasant when one has to awake early on the next morning. Well, I’ve posted in the past about how music can aid in falling asleep, and how reducing your exposure to light in the hour before bed can also benefit you. I have also ranted about eating well and I’ve given tips and lists of what food to eat and what foods might be best during the winter time. So I decided to combine the two and figure out which foods might be best to consume before going to bed.

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1. Milk (or other various dairy products) is rich with calcium and research shows that calcium deficiency can make it hard to fall asleep at night.

2. Fish contains vitamin B6 which aids in creating melatonin.

3. Poultry, because like most Americans know, one unbuttons their pants and takes a nap after feasting upon a feast of  poultry (i.e. Thanksgiving).

4. Cherries contain melatonin in them, so munching on a few of those, or drinking some tart cherry juice, should get the job done.

5. Fortified Cereal because carbohydrates are great for sleep.

6. Bananas contain muscle relaxants magnesium and potassium, which help you, well, relax.

7. Sweet potatoes contain both carbohydrates and potassium.

8. Tea, when decaffeinated, is great for hitting the sack because some blends, such as chamomile, can increase drowsiness.

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Now that we have gone over some of the better foods to snack on before bed or possibly incorporate into dinner, lets review some of the foods that can keep you up at night.

1. Anything too spicy, like salsa or curry, can keep you awake at night, burning for something to drink.

2. Chocolate contains both high calories and caffeine, which are both counterproductive in the sleep process.

3. Coffee, even when decaffeinated contains some amount of caffeine and also dehydrates ones body to a degree, making falling asleep a task.

4. Alcohol disturbs the body’s natural sleep cycle.

5. Fat, in fatty foods such as beef or pork, are terrible for sleep, and they can totally kill your vibe, and figure.

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So there you have it, a list of foods that are both nutritious and delicious, and great sleep aids. You also have a mental picture of what to refrain from before bedtime, and in some cases, altogether. Now that winter is coming into full swing it might help to cuddle up next to the fire with a hot cup of tea, or get cozy underneath a warm wool comforter with a soothing glass of milk.

 

 

 

 

 

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Green Living Made in the USA Miscellaneous News Coverage

Could You Live On $68 A Month?

     Did you know that when you purchase a product that was made overseas, particularly one from WalMart or a number of other discount department stores, you are buying into a market that is basically sustained by slave labor. Technically these corporations do not actually use ‘slave’ labor, seeing as their factory employees do get paid, but at what cost?
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     A pair of jeans bought from WalMart will typically cost about eight dollars, and sure, that sounds great and all, but these jeans and other various articles of clothing were purchased for a total of TWO cents! How is one expected to make a living when manufacturing products that are sold for nothing more than two cents? These countries that America outsources to are poor and barren because most people do not understand what they are doing when they buy from these department stores. I am not trying to say that all discount department stores are terrible, its just that when you are buying jeans for eight dollars try to keep in mind how much it cost to actually make those clothes and how big of a profit the corporation is making off of you because of it.
     Also, because these products are so cheap they do not usually last very long, so sure it seems fine and dandy to buy cheap merchandise but when it falls apart a couple of months later and you must rush back to the store to replace it it kind of makes you wonder how much money you are really saving. And at what cost are you saving this money at? The citizens in these third world countries work in very poor conditions and must fight diseases and other harmful bodily distresses through the course of a day, a week, a month, and a lifetime. When these people are subjected to these infections and injuries they hardly have the kind of money to help them see it through.
     When living on $68 a month, how could one possibly expect to pay for any kind of treatment or care. In America, with our health care and job opportunities it might be easy to forget that there is a world out there full of suffering people who are not able to receive the kinds of luxuries that even some of the poorest citizens in the states might receive, like, for instance, a roof over their heads and a meal at night.
     I understand that America’s homeless population is on the rise and that we should help our nation as much as we can before throwing money at other nations to get better, but that does not mean that we have to support these terrible working conditions that make up the third world. Let us look for healthier alternatives, and I’m not saying that everything that you buy should be made in America because God knows that that can be mighty pricey in some cases. However, sometimes spending that extra money not only benefits the American work force but American goods that are actually made in America are most of the times much more sturdy than a blouse that was made along with twenty others of the same kind within the hour.
     We take time and effort to produce our goods here at the Organic Comfort Zone, each product is made with careful precision and lots of love for the customer. Why not support business’ like us and many other small, American business’ across the nation who actually care about their customers and their employees?
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Eco-Tips Environment Green Living Healthy Lifestyles Miscellaneous

Don’t Be Ignorant! The Environment is Everyone’s to Share!

Earlier this week my mother shared with me a disturbing story. Her and my sister we in the McDonald’s parking lot when they saw a man stop his car, open his door and drop his giant bag of trash just right out onto the ground when the trashcan was literally 2 feet away. What makes this story even more alarming is that once my mother honked her horn to show her disapproval the man proceeded to open his door back up and pick his trash off the ground, however he did not throw it out in the trash, instead he threw it up in the air! Now the trash littered even more of the ground because this pig didn’t have the decency to walk 2 feet out of his car and throw his trash away.

When things like this happen I wonder if these people do the same thing inside of their own homes. Do they just drop their trash where ever because it they are too lazy to bring it to the garbage can? Probably not, because they want their house to remain clean. So why do they not seem to give any care about the world outside of their home? It’s their planet too, do they not process that? It angers me to no end to see people act this way toward the mother we all share.

Did you know that 3 out of every 5 cigarette butts are littered? It may not seem like much, when you see a cigarette but lying on the ground, but when there is a full street of them it is kind of disgusting. I remember once I was walking down the street with a friend and there was just a pile (and I mean a couple inches high and a couple of feet wide) of cigarette butts just spilled across the sidewalk! I mean, how disgusting is that?

Another thing I saw, which inspired me, was when I took a stroll down the beach and saw the cutest couple with their dog exiting, of course, their Prius with two giant trash bags and sticks to pick up trash. I helped to pick up some small debris that they missed but for the most part they were hard at work cleaning up the beach and believe me when I say that the beach may be the most important thing to save. If trash piles up on the beach then is it going to get into the waterways and perhaps kill fish and other various sea creatures. Without much of these creatures our food chain would not be what it is today.

Anyways, I guess I just wanted to get that random rant out of the way because it has been sitting inside of me for some days now. So do your part in helping the world turn to a cleaner, better place. Even if it is something as simple as a cigarette butt or a scrap of paper, it can make a pretty big difference in the long run.

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Green Living Miscellaneous Natural Bedroom Natural Fibers Natural Home Organic Comfort Organic Mattress & Bedding

Throwback Thursday

Ok, so I was doing some digging and I found a very funny video (funny in my perspective, at least, because I’ve grown so much since) that I would like to share with fellow readers. If you have been in the showroom within the past four years (with the exclusion of 2013 perhaps) you might have seen my display in all of its glory; however, we had to take it down because so many pieces were falling off of the poster board! Anyways, this is my eighth grade science fair project and I remember being so proud of the final draft once finished.

To begin with, let me give you some background information: this project was based on my mother’s organic bedding business, which she runs from Ocean View in Norfolk, Virginia. Because of this business I decided to do my project on organic bedding materials and how fast all of them burn.

In the video you will see me burning four different kinds of fibers: Wool, Cotton, PLA Polyester, and PET Polyester. I enjoyed doing this project and learning about the way that these materials all deal with the fire that is emitted upon them. Lets move on now, if you want to see the cute eighth grade version of myself click the link below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rMUpQmuoL0

 

So, as you could see in the video I was a weird little thing back in the eighth grade, but hey that was four years ago! I’ve grown nearly a foot since then!

Still, as you can infer from the video, the safer bedding materials are going to be the organic ones (Wool and Cotton.) The two polyester samples burned so easily because of the petroleum that they were dipped in and sleeping with your body encompassed in a giant sack of petroleum doesn’t sound too nice, does it? Also, while many companies who use wool have passed the cigarette butt test, they will not pass the new open flame test because of the chemically treated wool in their bedding. However, as you witnessed yourself, this wool that we use here at the Organic Comfort Zone is not chemically treated and therefore WILL pass an open flame test, as seen in the video.

Cotton, on the other hand, burns like a cinder because it is dry and wiry, but it does not burst into flames because it is an organic material. Again, no chemicals are added into CozyPure products. Think about lighting your skin on fire. Will you spontaneously burst into flames because of it? No, because that is not the way that science works. However, if you were dipped in a barrel of petroleum you’ll be light up like a torch and wont stop burning until there is none of you left. Or until someone puts you out, but keep in mind that that will be pretty hard and that you’ll still suffer from numerous scars, so don’t try anything of that sort at home.

Anyways, happy Throwback Thursday! Enjoy reminiscing on your favorite memories and those disastrous awkward years that some of us just never grow out of…

 

 

eric-SAT-picEric is currently a student and part-time team member for Norfolk, VA based business Organic Comfort Zone, manufacturers of CozyPure organic bedding and mattress. For more information visit organiccomfortzone.com or cozypure.com or call 757.480.8500.

 

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Miscellaneous Organic Apparel & Textiles Organic Clothing Organic Comfort

Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Last weekend there was a chill in the air as my friends and I went for a walk through downtown Ghent, the sun had just set and it was the perfect time to get a glimpse of the houses decorated in beautiful Christmas lights and other various decorations. I remember the night clearly because I was freezing. What happened shortly after going outside was that my friend was ‘cold’, although layered with long sleeves, a new scarf, and a jacket, and so me, being the kind person that I am, offered up my own coat to her and took on the suffering that came with thirty degree weather with nothing but a light button up shirt on.

My coat is a comfortable one of the cotton genre, I love it very much for it provides me much comfort in the cold months. Upon putting on my coat, my friend exclaimed “Wow, this coat is warm!” as if that was not already expected. It wasn’t until after this that I saw the polyester rag that she was wearing as a jacket that posed as something that might keep her warm. Sure, her tunic looked nice, but it didn’t seem to provide her with the necessary comfort needed for the cold months. I replied briskly, “What did you expect? I don’t shop cheap!” and yet, I had purchased the comfortable article of clothing from a local thrift store for about five dollars. However, this price did not effect the quality of the coat and to this day I stay wrapped up in it.

The reason I reflect on this particular occasion is to emphasize the importance of quality clothing, especially during the long, chilly months of the winter. Without these clothes, perhaps you might drive around a neighborhood in order to appreciate the decorations, or not do anything of that matter at all, and what fun would that be? Finding clothes that are stylish and comforting AND organic can be as simple as stopping into a thrift store and looking around until you find that perfect match, and believe me, where there is a thrift store there is an old wool sweater to fit everyone’s needs, believe me, I have twelve of them.

You don’t want to drive around when you can just as easily walk and incorporate a small dose of fitness into whatever your daily routine may be. You can eliminate exhaust fumes and experience the rush of cold air blowing across your cheeks and jack frost nipping at your nose when you make the simple choice to walk around the block to pick up your holiday eggnog from the market. However, once inside, don’t forget to cozy up next to the warm fire with an engrossing book or watch a classic Christmas film (my favorite is ‘The Year Without A Santa Clause“) with the rest of the family while bundled up under a crisp cotton blanket or wool comforter. With items like this you can make the best of your time inside off the house, while trimming those heating bills down a little bit.

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

Another thing that makes the cold air bearable are my wool socks which I keep rolled up to my knees at nearly all times of the day, whenever I am wearing them, that is. Cotton socks do the trick too, but nothing compares to my wool ones, or a quiet evening alone (for those who get the reference ;P). About a month ago I went on a camping trip with some friends, we spent the night on the beach and man was it COLD outside. The following day I was actually surprised that most of us had made it out alive, though not without any troubles along the way. One way that I kept myself from becoming a block of ice was by not messing with the wool socks that covered my legs, I simply placed them on my legs, pulled them up my calves and let them do the rest of the work. Surprisingly, I stayed warmer than most of the others in our troop because of this (I was also wearing my thrift store jacket and about three layers of shirts.)

I guess what I’m trying to say is that you should not let the weather take a toll on the activities that you love to do. If you want to go out for a stroll through the park then do it! Just make sure that you are bundled up and prepared before making the venture outside. If you feel the need to go camping then who cares what anybody says about the snow that is supposed to hit the ground that evening, go for it! Put on some wool socks, a pair of comfortable hiking boots, layer up those shirts, package yourself away into a pair of long johns, build you fire and enjoy the night! The winter will be gone quicker than you realize, so make the best of it and do your own thing.

 

 

 

 

 

eric-SAT-picEric is currently a student and part-time team member for Norfolk, VA based business Organic Comfort Zone, manufacturers of CozyPure organic bedding and mattress. For more information visit organiccomfortzone.com or cozypure.com or call 757.480.8500.