dittibags® blog

I wanted to take some time out to highlight a very cool item and some great snack tips I have been using over the past few years. I am always thinking of how I can help cultivate a community of sisterhood within the Dittibags loyal customer base, so I decided what better way to do it than blog about my favorite things.

Here are a few to get started with. I hope you find these items helpful! As an added bonus, if you purchase these items from the amazon affiliate links below you will be supporting Dittibags at no added cost to you! We will be utilizing any proceeds for production costs of our new line of bags. Stay tuned…

Item #1
When I came across this first item I knew my stylish, fun customers would just love it. This Trendy Embroidered Purple “My Pills” Pill Case Weekly Vitamins Travel Organizer Box is a fashionable yet practical product to carry with you. The perfect compliment to a designer dittibag!

Specs from Amazon are as follows:
• A fashionable, practical solution for taking pills on-the-go
• Compact design includes convenient, removable plastic pill organizer
• Catchy, fun phrases; Stylish, practical, and hip design
• As seen in leading boutiques and department stores
• Measures 2 .5″ L x 3.5″ W; Zip closure with 8 convenient compartments

Item #2
This next item is always in stock at my household. PlumAmazins are diced plums that taste great sprinkled on cereal or added to yogurt and salads. They are an incredible snack and have 50% more fiber, 50% less sugar and fewer calories than raisins and cranberries. How could you go wrong? If you haven’t yet, make sure you give these a try.

Specs from Amazon are as follows:
• Plum Amazins. Diced Dried Plums. Sunsweet ( Pack of 4 )
• Net Wet 9 OZ (255g) x 4
• No preservatives, more Fiber, fewer calories.

Item #3
Last but not least, a go-to favorite snack of mine when I am out and about. The good old-fashioned Marshmallow! If you’re looking for something different to grab when you’re going low, try large marshmallows. 4 pieces have 22 carbs; 0 fat, and 15g sugar. They are inexpensive and you can take them anywhere. Make sure you read all the nutrition facts before trying them.

I like to buy these in bulk so the link below offers a 4 pack of the Kraft Jet-Puffed Jumbo Marshmallows. Always a good idea to stock up on your favorite inexpensive snack items.

That’s all for my first installment of Dittibags Favorite Things. As always thank you so very much for your support and remember…Diabetic care doesn’t have to be boring!

~M.T.K.

Halle Berry and I have a lot in common. We are both from Cleveland, Ohio. We’re both very highly ranked on the beauty scale…ok, full disclosure: Halle has me beat by a few points! And from what I’ve read about her, we both love style, fashion and fun.

But the biggest thing we have in common is Diabetes.

When she was 39 years old, the Hollywood star collapsed as the cameras were rolling during the filming of a TV show. She was rushed to the hospital and lay in a diabetic coma for SEVEN DAYS(!) before finally waking up. At the time she didn’t know she had Type 2 Diabetes. As the doctors explained her condition they told her it was serious enough that a minor change in diet or exercise just wouldn’t do the trick.

She’d need daily insulin injections for the rest of her life, as well as a complete overhaul of her diet. Read Halle Berry’s diabetic diagnosis story here.

I was 43 when I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. When I heard about Halle Berry’s story I felt an immediate bond with her. Not because I am rich and famous, but because of how we always seem to put the rich and famous on a pedestal. I guess I never thought about the fact that someone as beautiful and famous as Halle Berry would have to deal with the same everyday struggles as millions of diabetic women like myself.

The disease doesn’t discriminate based on celebrity status.

As the years went by, in order to effectively manage my diabetic care, I needed several different organizers to hold all of the testing supplies, needles and insulin required each day. I went through many organizer cases which were bland and dreary, and their appearance actually made me self-conscious to use them in public.

I knew there were other women out there like me who were fun, stylish and confident. I couldn’t understand why a more fashionable diabetic supply case hadn’t been produced. We all know women love purses. Coach and Louis Vuitton would certainly agree. As well as the millions of women who are adoring fans of these fashion kingpins. But the message never got across to the diabetic supply industry.

Imagine someone like Halle Berry needing to take an insulin shot at a Hollywood event. I wonder if she would feel comfortable and confident pulling out one of those boring cases from her knockout designer handbag. I highly doubt it. And I know many more women who aren’t celebrities would feel the same!

I knew there was a niche to be filled in the market, so I created Dittibags. Designer diabetic cases for women who are fun, stylish, and confident. If you fit that description, you’re my kind of girl!

My hope is these stylish little cases will help diabetic women all over the world feel as confident as Halle Berry at a red carpet premiere(!) whenever they have to pull out their insulin supplies in public.

-M.T.K.

Click here to Visit dittibags.com and view our current line of designer diabetic cases.

Just found a great and exciting article which highlights a new study by Yale University that claims there may be a cure for diabetes that can be found within your own body!?!? Read an excerpt below…

Reproductive Cells May Eventually Treat Type 1 Diabetes

Amy Mercer
Sep 24, 2011

Imagine if there were a cure fordiabetes that could be found inside your own body? Wouldn’t it be nice if instead of depending on durable medical equipment, we could one day heal ourselves?

Researchers at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, have removed stem cells from the lining of a human uterus and converted them into insulin-producing islet or beta cells. Stem cells are master cells that, given the right nutrients and growth factors, can be coaxed to grow into any type of cell in the body. Normally, endometrial stem cells generate the lining inside the womb that is shed each month during menstruation. The researchers transplanted those cells into diabetic mice and waited. The mice were healthier looking than their untreated peers, but still had high blood sugars.

Read the entire article at diabeteshealth.com by clicking here.

Members of the dittibags team will volunteer on Friday, July 9, 2010 at the Tennies, Tuxes, & T-Shirts: Shoot For A Cure evening of fun, sponsored by the American Diabetes Association. The main event, held at Quicken Loans Arena, includes cocktails, celebrity gaming, live and silent auctions and the launch of the ADA Circle of Hospitals.

We have donated several dittibags for the silent auction and are so proud to be part of this wonderful fundraiser.

Dittibags is proud to announce our bi-monthly adverts in the Lake/Geauga/Ashtabula County Women’s Journal. Each issue has a theme to highlight and raise awareness regarding topics that effect women. Their slogan is “Educate, Energize, Empower”. I appeared on the front cover of the August/Sept. 2009 issue titled “Women You Should Know”. As of January, we’ve appeared in (6) publications and we will also be in the February/March 2010 issue which focuses on “connections”.  Specifically, the connections between women, their inner selves, their friends, and family, and finally, their business associates and customers. We are all part of the circle of life and can have a very positive impact on eachother’s lives.

If you are in the North-East Ohio area, be sure to pick up a copy today!