Cornwall-on-Hudson is the village of Cornwall and has an amazing family feel, kid friendly, great schools, parks and activities. The home I found and was able to get after about 2 weeks is the one you see here:

It is a super cute home with 3 bedrooms, an attic and basement and a great backyard. It is also pretty private since it is the last house at the end of the road. The best part it is in walking distance to a great private park that only residents can enjoy. Here is a photo of the park, of course you know I will be here as often as possible soaking up the rays and enjoying the Hudson River.

Now to get things going as far as packing and developing a strategy as to how to do this without losing my mind.

I also want to thank everyone for their kind words and support while I was having major ups and downs to see this through.

XOXO
Melissa

I am also excited about the possibility of getting an Air Stream RV and converting it into a store where I can sell my goodies. I am envisioning huge botanical decals to place on the outside of the RV and then the inside would be full of my herbal & aromatic body care products. I hope to find a home that welcomes us in and where I can follow my dreams.

What is your dream you would like to see come true?

XOXO

Melissa

If you are interested in classes I can always schedule a one on one at a time and date that works for the both of us.

Transition isn’t always easy but I embrace this new journey and hope to see you there!

XOXO
Melissa

Sometimes I get questions in my Contact Us form on my website that are common like: can you make custom orders or are your soaps vegan friendly? I received an interesting question the other day in regards to why I have 3 Twitter accounts. Well, good question and an easy one to answer. 

I have 3 different accounts for 3 different purposes. I use @NatGoodSoaps for anything and everything related to my Vegan Body Care business, Naturally Good Soaps. I connect with other soap makers, body care formulators and anyone who loves natural body care. I use it also to post when I post a new blog, have a new product, have a sale etc.

My other Twitter name is @EssenceandAroma which is for my online business Essence & Aroma. E & A, as I lovingly call it, is for all things herbal and aromatic servicing the Northeast region of the US. I tweet about herbal recipes, herbal & aromatic products, herbalist and aromatherapists that are discovered on my journey.

Lastly, about a year ago I set up a personal account @MelissaRivera05 for things that I personally love that aren’t related to my companies. This would include writers, artists, celebrities, causes, mommy hood stuff and anything I find amusing.

Do you have a Twitter account? What do you use it for?

XOXO
Melissa

Happy Thursday! Spring is sprung in NYC, or at least it is trying really hard too. Last night we experienced horrible thunder storms and the forecast for the next few days is rain rain rain. Does this mean April Showers bring May Flowers?? Well, let the flowers, trees and bushes get all the rain they need to flourish!

Also with this beautiful weather I want to share with you the opportunity to register for an amazing Aromatherapy class with Gina Flores from Essential Body Wisdom. Gina and I met through mutual friends in the Aromatherapy world and we hit it off! I also run a company called Naturally Good Soaps, LLC and I surveyed my students as to what classes they would like to participate in. Of course they all screamed ESSENTIAL OILS, AROMATHERAPY, BLENDING!! With that being said, I spoke with Gina and she created this beautiful workshop for you!

Join us on May 5, 2013 from 12 noon – 4 pm in the heart of Union Square NYC! Gina will share with you all about Aromatherapy and where essential oils come from. Essential Oil safety and you will examine 21 varied essential oils and their unique profiles. Why do we use essential oils and how we can create beautiful perfumes. Learn about aromatic classifications and characteristics while also learning some basic blending techniques.

Are you ready to join us?? Please visit this link to learn more and to register.

Details:

Date: May 5, 2013   /   Time: 12 noon – 4 pm   /   Location: Namaste Healing Center 80 5th Ave   /   Price: $300.00

Gina Flores Bio

Melissa Rivera Bio

Herbal Facials / Google Images

Can you feel spring in the air? I sure can, well except for today in NYC. The temperatures have dropped as to slightly remind us that winter is still here until it is officially spring in a few more days. This is also a perfect time to rejuvenate your skin and wake it up from being abused by the cold chilly winds! I am now offering a new class called Herbal & Aromatic Facial Care. For centuries men & woman routinely used herbs, flowers and essences to nurture their skin. This class is a hands on class, so don’t worry about wearing makeup. You will be making products that you will be using during class.

You will learn how to use herbs for a facial steam. Then you will learn how to make 2 different clay masks to deep clean then finally you will learn how to make an herbal/aromatic toner so you can then hydrate your face and feel refreshed.

To register for the class click here.

I look forward to seeing you on April 13, 2013 at 10 am!

Google Images / Green Cleaning

The birds are chirping and the flowers are creeping out of the earth. Spring is right around the corner and the quest to clean our homes for the annual spring cleaning is upon us. I love this time of year! I love cleaning the house with open windows and a slight breeze coming through. April is also the month of the celebration of Earth Day. This year marks the 43rd anniversary of our celebration to Mother Earth and the environmental movement. What a perfect time to learn how to transition from using chemicals to clean your home to using products that are safe to you and to the earth.

I am offering a new class called GREEN CLEANING! Spend 2 hours learning easy peasy recipes to make products for the home that are super safe.

In this class you will learn how to make a scrub with essential oils for the sink, tub and toilet. You will also learn how to make a furniture wax to keep your wood nice and polished. Lastly you will learn how to make a kitchen counter top spray to keep the germies away. All these products, recipes and fun in 2 hours for $40.00. Priceless for the amount of goodness you will be creating for you and the earth.

To register for the class click here.

I have partnered with Ms. La Shonda Tyree from Handmade Soap Coach in NJ to teach you how to make herbal balms & salves. The class will be  taking place on  Sunday March 10th in Hoboken NJ. This will be my second time teaching with La Shonda and I love it! She wrote a very sweet blog post about me and you can find it here.

Are your ready to take the class? You can easily register online here.

We all just got “Lucky”!

SQUEEE!!! That is how I feel about my day in North Carolina attending the FDA Regulatory Boot Camp. It was the most amazing opportunity that I am so glad I invested in. I must begin by saying that Ms. Lela Barker from Lucky Break Consulting did a fantastic job in getting the material together and delivering her wealth of information. I would be lying to you if I said it was a breeze to understand all the information. The agenda was jam packed, the information made my head spin and the truth is, if you want to be a successful it is really hard work but the payoff is amazing.

I currently manufacture out of a bedroom and I am going to work to make it as GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) as possible. I will be relocating in July so I already know what I need to do to be in compliance. I hope to follow Lela’s 12 month plan so this time next year I will be in full compliance.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of a network of amazing women & men who all have a mission. Our fearless leader, Donna Maria Coles Johnson of the Indie Beauty Network helped coordinate this event and always supportive to all the Indies.

For a better idea as to the agenda click here

How are you going to challenge yourself to take your business to the next level?

XOXO
Melissa

Rosie, owner of Brooklyn Bath and I would talk regularly on Google Chat (shhh..don’t tell our bosses..LOL) and we would spend time together when she would visit NYC. We always had similiar conversations about things we wanted to accomplish for our companies, dreams we had and wishes we wanted to see come true. I can truley say that Rosie has been in inspiration to me and always answers my questions when I felt stuck. I realized that our friendship over cosmetic formulating was also a real friendship of sisterhood.

Always being supportive of one another I suggested we develop Vision Boards to help us vision our goals and to help us stay focused.  You should have heard us on the phone like 2 chatty cheerleaders all excited about this project. Within a 2 week time frame we touched basis regularly about how it was progressing and then on Jan 3 (almost on target of due date..not bad! LOL) we shared our vision boards. Being the Virgo that I am, I made 2 boards, one for business and one for personal. Besides wanting to see Naturally Good Soaps and Essence & Aroma grow by leaps and bounds, personally there are some changes happening too. After living in Queens for all of my life, I am taking my family and relocating an hour and a half away to country land. I am exited about this new phase of my life and hope my son understands and appreciates why I am doing this for us.

What is so cool about this accountability project that although our boards are visually different, the message is the same. We have decided to do this for just about everything for our businesses so that by June we should be in amazing shape to prepare for the holiday season of Christmas and beyond!

Vision Board for Business

My business vision board mostly reflects words that are powerful “Boss” “Follow Us” “Watch Us” “Growth”. The pictures are reflective of challenges I must overcome to make it to the top, sometimes taking a leap of faith and jumping into the unknown and a picture of NYS because it is the state I love.

Personal Vision Board

My personal vision board is more reflective of me taking more time for myself to reflect and exercise my body and mind. To keep things simple but real and the chair is that of me finding that special place to journal, to take notes, to study and set goals.

To learn more about Vision Boards, click here

What do you vision for yourself in 2013?

XOXO
Melissa