A shameless plug for my friend

I first met Mary Jane when both of our children were involved in a homeschool coop. It was a big venture, and our kids weren't actually in the same program, but we still bumped into each other now and then at school-wide events, or on the playground. We share a similar family structure -- both of us have children in their twenties and smaller ones as well. I've always liked her. She's down to earth and open-minded, always interesting to talk to. And it turns out she's no mean businesswoman.

She's started a business selling bath and body products. I've tried some of her bath salts and body butter, and I think they are really, really good. The bath salts were lemon verbena, which is one of my favorite fragrances. They produced a sweet, intense scent in the bathwater that was just perfect. The body butter was very hard, almost solid, but absorbed into my skin fairly quickly, which meant that I wasn't all greasy after I used it, which is always a big plus with skin moisturizers. It seems to me that her products are extremely reasonably priced when you compare them to similar products at spas or health food stores. Check out her website. It's definitely not too late for last-minute Christmas purchases.