a rant dedicated to our planet
April 22nd, 2008 @ 4:02 pm | miscellany | Comments (36)As I’m sure everyone and their momma noticed, today is Earth Day. (Also, my sister’s 25th birthday — happy second quarterlife, sis!) Everywhere you look these days, it’s all about being “green” and “organic” and “sustainable.” Seriously — everywhere. I watched What Not to Wear recently and they made over a slob who runs a recycling program by helping her buy $5,000 of “eco-friendly” clothes. And honestly, if I had to listen to Stacy London say the word “eco-friendly” one. more. damn. time. in that episode I was going to blow my brains out.
It’s not that I don’t love our planet, or don’t think that we need to change our ways to make sure we can continue to live here for many more years. It’s just that I am so over the idea that to BE GREEN I need to BUY MORE STUFF.
Tell me, what do you think is more green?
A. Buying a brand new piece of furniture made from sustainably harvested wood that, despite it’s “eco-friendliness,” still had to be chopped down, manufactured, and transported to your home, most likely in a gas-guzzling giant truck.
or
B. Buying a used piece of furniture from someone in your neighborhood that you found in the classifieds, which requires absolutely no new raw materials and very minimal transportation and no giant, smog-spewing trucks.
Now class, here is where you all answer B!!!
What about this scenario?
A. Spending gobs of cash on “green” clothing that will probably be out of style by the fall. ($60 t-shirts?!?!?)
or
B. Buying high-quality, long lasting items for your wardrobe that you can wear for many years without them falling apart or becoming dated and donating all that money you saved not buying a $60 tshirt to an environmental advocacy organization that has the ablility to leverage your dollars into meaningful policy change.
Once again, it’s B!
I don’t want to discourage making better small choices, because I know they have the ability to add up to big change when we all do them together. I wrote about this last year. However, I want to avoid the blatant consumerism that now surrounds “going green.”
Truly going green does not mean buying more stuff! Taking care of our earth means REDUCING the amount of things we buy. And it means REUSING those things that we do buy. And then, when a thing has no more use to you, it’s finding a better home for it, ideally not the trash. (Yeah, the 3rd R: RECYLCING.)
Sorry to go all 5th grade teacher mode on you, I’m not preaching to anyone specifically. I just am increasingly annoyed at environmentalism being a marketer’s wet dream and not as focused on living simpler lives. I know I’m not perfect either, and I hope that I continue to improve in this area.
Just please don’t ask me to buy bamboo pants.
weekend entropy
April 20th, 2008 @ 11:07 pm | life | Comments (32)Might as well just get this one over with: I (re)joined Weight Watchers this weekend. I could probably write 17 posts on the topic (such as Again!? Oh, yes Again!) but I’d like to keep it short and sweet at least until I can start writing about on my success. For those of you who know and love WW (and I know you’re out there) I’m asking that you be my cheerleader (and I’ll be yours), because goodness knows I need all the help I can get. What are your favorite recipes/tips/mantras to make it past the hungry stage?
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Even more than the text messaging, I am loving the camera/email functions on my iPhone. I can snap a photo and via email upload it to flickr within seconds. I notice that I’m taking a lot more photos of everyday life. None of them are particularly great (2 megapixels, no flash, no fancy settings) but I’m having fun with it.
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I absolutely love having people over to our house. Last night we had some couple friends over for homemade pizza. I spent the afternoon with my lovely KitchenAid mixer making dough. When our guests arrived we sat out back and grilled the pies one at a time on a pizza stone in the grill. Then we came in and sardined on the couch to watch episodes of Flight of the Conchords. And this morning the cleaning fairy my husband made all the mess go away!
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I’m thankful that the bad economy has not affected our life in any major way. However, are you people noticing how much food is costing these days? The flour I bought to make the pizza dough last night cost like $6.39 per bag. I notice that eggs and cheese are also pricier. As are Dove Dark Chocolate Promises, but even a girl on a diet deserves one point of chocolate each day, doesn’t she???
let’s talk decorating!
April 17th, 2008 @ 10:23 pm | domestic, home | Comments (28)If that cheesy title doesn’t draw you in, I don’t know what will! I’ve been wanting to talk more about home décor for a few weeks now, but honestly, there hasn’t been much to say. The master bedroom is closer to being done, but I’m not ready to show the “after” pics yet. The “loft” is also in progress, but progress is slow because I think I need to hire painters for the high ceilings. And I can’t hire painters because we are refinancing the house (already! I know!) and that’s kinda sucking up every last penny until we get our tax refund, and damn this is getting boring real fast.
So! I would like to talk about the only remaining clean-slate, plan-free room in the house: the 2nd bedroom. Also known as, where you will sleep if you come stay with me. Didn’t you know you were invited? Well, most of you, at least.
Anyway, here is what the room looks like now. It’s not pretty.
Here’s my thinking. Every other room in the house will be painted either robin’s egg blue, light gray, or dark gray. I chose these colors to give the house a modern and clean feel, even though the house is about as far from modern as possible. (It’s 99 years old!)
But I think I need to make the 2nd bedroom room a little warmer, a little more feminine. What do you think of PINK!? Don’t be scared, I don’t mean cotton candy pink or fuschia or anything. I just mean a nice, crisp, lavender-y pink. With white, brown, yellow, gold, and/or green accents. My inspriation is this:
Just thinking out loud now, here are the steps I think I need to take:
- Clean and conquer! Not all of the things currently stored in here need to stay in here. The room is actually quite small so I want to keep the storage items elsewhere as much as possible. Uhhh, not that we have room elsewhere, but that’s another story.
- Paint. I am leaning toward a color like Benjamin Moore Pink Innocence because I’m so inspired by Nicole’s home.
- New curtains! I have some crisp white IKEA ones (master bedroom rejects) that could look really nice in here. And they’re already paid for.
- Give the chair a new look. I’m thinking white glossy paint (like the famous yellow sofa) and new cushion covers. Maybe using the Amy Butler fabric in the photo above?
- Make the bed a focal point. The room is so small that the bed is going to be a focal point no matter what, so I should make it a good one. It needs some bedding (even if I keep the quilt in here) and a headboard.
- Something on the walls. But I have NO IDEA what! I am totally stumped here.
- One last thing. I think I need a nice little nightstand area with a small table, a lamp, and some books or a vase.
What do you think? Am I on the right track? Is my husband going to veto a pink room? Do I care? (kidding, love you honey, but you got your HDTV, I can have a pink room!) Anyone want to come over and help?
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On Friday I am a guest editor over at the fabulous site Rare Bird Finds. Nic introduced me to the site a few years ago and I was addicted from Day 1 (just read their About page and you will love them too, I promise!) Please head on over and check out my Fab 5 Friday finds. And if you feel compelled to purchase any of the items for me, I will immediately issue you an invitation to stay in the Lincoln 2nd bedroom. But, uh, you’ll have to paint.
proof that my iphone has made me a refined, respectable lady
April 14th, 2008 @ 9:52 pm | blonde moments | Comments (15)A text conversation with my sister-in-law:
Her: Wanger
Me: Wangnugget!
Her: Poop nugget!!!
It’s good to turn your friends into family. Then they can no longer judge you.
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Make sure to come back later this week to find out where I’ll be guestblogging on Friday! I’ll try to come up with something more than poop nuggets before then.
a positively wonderful weekend
April 13th, 2008 @ 10:07 pm | girl time, life | Comments (20)I love spring. My girlfriends and I went to rural southwestern Pennyslvania this weekend. The forsythia were blooming in bright yellow, which is how I came to learn what forsythia are! My girlfriends are so smart.
They’re fun too. We had a weekend getaway in the middle of nowhere in an unlocked cabin in the woods, and we entertained ourselves with mature and grownup activities like eating grilled cheese sandwiches, buying bright-colored Keds, and jumping on the bed. Can you remember the last time you recklessly jumped on the bed for an hour with your best friends? Such an underrated activity!
We found a thrift shop that had a whole bunch of vintage purses and old books. Nothing cost more than $1.50. We found some etiquette/bridal books written in the 1960s that are positively hilarious. Basically, according to Amy Vanderbilt’s circa 1964 rules we are all now living like primates and my wedding broke every rule in the book. I love that kind of validation.
We also visited funky antique shops, where I briefly considered buying their entire stock of old Fiestaware. Thankfully, we got distracted by a Dairy Queen, and hatched plans to open one in downtown DC. Think of how much better this city would be if you could eat Blizzards for lunch!
Fun as it was, we couldn’t stay forever. I came home to flowers blooming in my yard, a cat who really missed me, and a husband who bought me flowers and made me dinner. Life is pretty darn good. I just wish I could stop Monday from coming so soon.
