Monday, April 13, 2009

eh2ed #16

people should NEVER set their blog feeds to only show up as a summary on google reader. a) because of the wasted energy and computer usage opening up a new page and letting it load so you can read their blog (it adds up, okay?) and b) because I find it annoying. and selfish. like "click on me, click on me, but only if I'm interesting." well dammit I just want to know what's going on with you, and I've 3/4 of a mind to stop reading your blog altogether because you're so pretentious.

um, er. right. I might be a bit miffed about that crap. so that's not my tip, eh?

today's tip? buy local flowers. in season. I find it ironic that V-Day falls when nothing is blooming, you know? But whether it's mother's day or a birthday present or wedding flowers, be sure to get what is available at that time, where you live. It's just like food, but in some ways worse because cut flowers are generally just discarded and have no nutritional value.

So yeah. make with the eco-flowers, please.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

eh2ed #15

next time your cleaner runs out, whether it be dish or laundry or for a scrub o' the tub--get an eco-friendly alternative! better for you, better for the environment, win, win, win. :)

"i've got a smile on my face and four walls around me..."

~great big sea

-happy easter!

-know the fabric I've been talking about? got to test it out, and I LOVE it. see? more to come!




-and and and, I had an amazing weekend photography-wise. lots going on. lotsa lots. I'm waiting for alllllllll the details to be final before I go getting superduper excited, but I.am.pumped.

okay, back to homeworkage.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

eh2ed #14

mind your peeps and q's

every year at easter SIX HUNDRED MILLION peeps are purchased. that's enough to circle the equator--twice!

and while they aren't good for you, and they're all sugar, one small comforting factor is that they were made in bethlehem pennsylvania, not in china or anywhere else far, far away. there are some laws about where our candy can come from, but overall, it's entirely possible for your candy to come from somewhere far away (for instance, chocolate)

so as you indulge, remember to take a gander at the label--and if it's from far far away and your life wouldn't be complete without it, remember to counteract your yummy indulgence's carbon. :)

eh2ed #13

Or is it twelve?

Do you recycle?good. Now, compost. It's easy, inexpensive and so worthwhile! See what your city/county offers or get your own! I LOVE my bokashi one!

baby steps, people. baby steps!

-post from my iphone!

Friday, April 10, 2009

even gobi likes my new fabric

see?



what I had for breakfast this morning.

okay, well, with coffee. and some other stuff. but anyway.

this is a "green smoothie." it has spinach, a little romaine I had left over, frozen strawberries, frozen blueberries and a little bit of orange juice in it. I was feeling lazy so I made it in my food processor instead of my blender.


and to be completely honest with you? after my first two sips it was DEEELISH. It took a sip to get used to the flavor (I mean, you couldn't taste the spinach very much, but there was a little bit of it) and another to get used to the consistency (next time I'm adding some more OJ and using the blender) but overall? it was GOOD. and I will make it again. and perhaps next time I will add carrots.

thank you, maria, for posting about it! there's a little info about how to make it here. for tomorrow's I think I'll try adding some pineapple. and when I'm out of fruit, I'm definitely going to hold out for strawberries pieces instead of buying whole strawberries--it was all that was left at the store, but I think it made the process longer.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

eh2ed #12

hi! this one is short but sweet. yesterday I found a pretty cool new site. it's called Treewala. It's not so different from FreeRice, except that you're planting trees instead of feeding the hungry. AND you're increasing your eco-knowledge too.

Trees are SUCH an important part of our environment, our life and our communities. Check it out!


How to Plant Trees!
Click on the answer that best defines
the word on the right.
You earn one leaf for every word you define correctly. Every leaf generates
ad revenue, which Greenwala uses to buy trees.
Click here to learn more.
You can adjust the difficulty level
by going to the options page.
Leaf 1 correct answer = 1 leaf
Tree 20 leaves = 1 tree

so, I went on vacation, right?

and I haven't told you about it. well, exactly....

things you need to know:
1. I took a nap EVERY day.
2. my wii fit character had glasses.
3. the little girls are too cute for words.
4. I did not get a sunburn.
5. we stayed in the "presidential suite."
6. the latest I woke up while there was 915AM.
7. I had sushi. and tuna. and wayne's. and mmmmmmm.

Other factoids:
Tuesday-arrived. flight was uneventful, I suppose, though I came pretty close to missing it 'cause I did not allot the 15 extra minutes for getting from the parking deck to the ticket counter. it's a hike if you're flying SWA. that and the dude next to me on the plane TOOK OVER the middle seat, but whatev. so, got there. played wii fit. hung out. had sushi for dinner. opted not to go to the hockey game, but those who did ended up sitting reallyreally close to scottie pippen. yes, this dude. hung out, tonya and I did not sing girl scout songs like before, and we chilllllled. sat on the balcony, got in the pool and the like.

Wednesday-got up to go to butterfly gardens, but then we learned it was going to cost like $27 for adults and $18 for kids or something whack like that. yeah. instead we stayed in the house, people played with bubbles and we had easter! mmmm jelly beans. it was fun hiding the eggs and seeing the girlies find them. then there was more napping, more wii, more chilling, another trip to the pool I think, and wayne's for dinner. which is DEELISH. George (Matt's dad) introduced us to it. mmmmm.

Thursday-went to the beach! I hid under my spf-cover-up and sat in the shade and rocked my floppy hat and SPF 85. and did not get burned, woo hoo! Thursday night all the kids went to dinner together, which was nice. Good food and lots of laughter! Oh and we played tennis!

Friday-up early once again for a WEIRD massage. Called Tuan bamboo or something? I got there and the nice lady was like "uhhh...yeah, I'm not going to be able to do this like I normally would, you will walk out of here black and blue." It also included cupping, which is a suction cup thingie applied to the fleshy parts of your back. And it HURT and she stopped immediately. It isn't supposed to hurt, but with thinner skin like mine it can be pretty painful. So that was a bust.

Then we played with bubbles and on the playground with the girls. And Matt and Trevor played putt putt. Too fun!

And that evening the packing began. :( We had SUCH a good time. Almost didn't make it home due to the HORRENDOUS line and crazy drama at the airport (long story short--the woman in front of us was a label-flashing, full-of-herself drama-queen who thought she was more important than everyone else and made a scene). We got to be rushed through security and everything--but despite checking our bags only 18 minutes before the flight was supposed to be in.the.air, somehow they made it on and we made it home. We did have to sit on the tarmac for quite some time before taking off (~30 min?) but oh well!

and now, pictures!







also, these make me laugh--katlyn kept doing this to matt, over and over and over. funny, funny.

and here's the whole group the last evening!

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

way back wednesday

jackie made me do it. okay, er, um, I wanted to be cool like jackie...

y'all remember when wednesday was art day? yeah, I want THAT to come back. oh, to find time (and space) to paint. anyone wanna come clean my house for me? I'll pay you good money. I am SO not kidding.

anyhoo.

so, picture number one: we'll go in age. this is a picture of my when I was 17. I was alice in wonderland. And I rocked it. My mom made me this costume (and I still have it!) and sterling gave me that cheshire cat. Or did I get one for both of us. I can't recall.

But anyway, I took Harvey (who must've been 7?) out trick or treating in the brookside/zink park area near our house. Everyone thought I was Dorothy. People should learn to be more cultured. ;) And no one told me I was too old to be trick-or-treating--I clearly don't look 17 here.

picture number two: here with whitney, melissa and amber before prom. I wanted a pale yellow prom dress SO BAD. my granny actually sewed it for me. It was the tiniest bit uneven, but it was BEAUTIFUL and I loved it. And no one else had it. When we all went shopping together I saw a cute one at Saks (where they treated us like we were rif-raf since we were young--totally upsetting, why bother selling prom dressed if you are going to be rude to the people who will wear them?) and there was this amazing yellow one that I loved--but mine ended up being so much better. I am sure it's in my mom's house somewhere. Or my granny's? Whatever, I love it no matter what. :)

picture number three: ah, graduation. with sterling, melissa, courtney and amber. oh, EHS. my ten year reunion is this year, folks. yowza. I was SO excited to be graduating, to go off to college and then save the world. If you'd asked me that day I would've said I would never join a sorority, I'd always live in Oklahoma and by the time I was 28 I'd have at least two kids. I'm really happy that my life didn't pan out that way. :D

eh2ed #11

COOL IT.

no, really. this is an answer to the question posed by the loverly leanne--how do I "green" my fridge?

these nice people have some suggestions you can read too, but here are the quick-and-easy suggestions

1. check your settings. your fridge should be ~36-39 degrees (food begins to spoil above 40) and your freezer should be at 0-5. (Fahrenheit, folks) Anything cooler and your fridge is working too hard. this may require buying a fridge thermometer, and you may need to check the settings if you ever lose power. manufacturer's settings are often quite a bit lower.

2. unless you absolutely must, DON'T stand in front of the fridge with the door open. Know what you want, go in, get it, shut the door. You waste oodles of energy standing there perusing. [you are SO right, Christal. :) ]

3. keep your fridge and freezer reasonably full. think: 2/3-3/4 full, not packed in like sardines. having cool items filling the space means the fridge doesn't have to work as hard. I mean, think about when you buy your beer cold and stick it in a cooler--the ice lasts longer, right? Same diff.

4. make sure your fridge isn't in front of a "hot spot." if it sits in the sunshine all day, close the shades in front of it--the cooler it is the easier it stays cool. if it's near an oven or dishwasher, try to direct the heat from those appliances away from your fridge if you can. and keep the coils clean, too.

5. and while you're at it, think about what you're actually putting in your fridge. use eco-friendly cleaners inside of it (bleach residue in your food? EW!) and remember that all those non-organic bits of produce are adding some serious chemical residue to it too.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

eh2ed #10

soap soap soap.

my boyfriend matt thinks hotel soap is like the best thing ever. because, well, you're already paying for it, right? and you're not having to bring your big shampoo bottle or whatever, you know?

but there are problems with it. such as: smaller volume bottles have more wasteful packaging per unit. and then there's that part where you're taking it home with you--and the weight of a bottle or two isn't a lot, but eventually it'll add up.

so...

there's a balance. don't take things you don't need, or ones you won't use. and while you're at it--that bar of soap you opened up to actually use? make sure you take that home with you too--otherwise you're putting perfectly good soap to waste. be mindful of what you use, and that's a lesson for, y'know, everything. :)

I would LOVE to tell you about my vacay

except I need to do some picture-looking-through, and I just don't have the time rightthissecond. I am WIPED OUT from this dang root canal. It's funny how such a teeny part of you can make you hurt all over. Perhaps you do not have an appreciation for the wonder that is a root canal, and if not, do thank your lucky stars.

but I will tell you this: the vacation was fantastic. :)


also, yesterday? was ROUGH. I mean, I had a very fun evening (met my good friend nick at a new sushi place and managed to ever-so-carefully eat some of it, which I now realize was only possible because the soreness had not yet set in), but that root canal--hoo buddy. I cried in the dentist's office. He had made me feel like I was "electing" to have a root canal, which was SO not cool. we talked it out, and it ended up being fine and a miscommunication--he thought I wanted him to know with 100% certainty that that's what I needed--and I just wanted to know that given the sitch and circumstance that was his recommendation! yeesh.

but it WAS kind of a relief when he had drilled into the tooth and exposed the nerve and said "yeah, so your nerves are HIGHLY inflamed." and through my latex dam o' fun I said "so does that mean I needed the root canal?" and he said "very much so." weird thing to be happy about, particularly when it involves filing a tooth. icks.

but on a happier note, I think the dental hygenist just might be booking me for some photo shoots. :) AND she said my front teeth were so perfectly straight she thought I had had braces. :)

and also, I have decided to keep the lens. now I just need to decide when I'm buying the camera!! more soon, I swear. tonight I will be taking a nap, hanging out on the couch and eating some soup 'cause that's about all I can handle. so I'll put them in order then!

Monday, April 06, 2009

eh2ed #9

soooo...saved this to drafts last night, yikes!

today's eco-friendly-lesson is stick-to-it-iveness. part of that is not trying to do everything, all at once. it takes 21 days to form a habit, right? but you don't need to try to form eleventeen habits. building them one at a time is PLENTY. anyone who tells you differently is selling something.

and on that note--you don't have to be perfect, living a car-free life wearing only shoes made of recycled trash bags and organic cotton homemade clothes and eating food out of your organic garden and never having waste 'cause you reuse...or whatever. but every little thing adds up, and together? together we can make a HUGE difference.

PS: root canal=ow. I do not envy the mouth-ache with which I will wake up.

anxiety.

I am anxious. I will be having a root canal today. And I have to finish this report thingie, and it's almost done but not quite, and it's making me nervous. And I slept poorly. :(

So, more thinks soon. But for now I would like to share these FABULOUS pieces of fabric for my little project. The one in the middle I bought with Audrey a long time ago--I just WANTED it and had no use for it, but heck if I was walking away without it. :) And the other two I found at a craft store--AND I happened to notice their little advertisement and the 40% off coupon applied to cuts of fabric, too. Plus the girl gave me another 20% off! WOW! It's kind of like I got the brown piece for free.

More soon. including some individual shots. Er, um, images of them individually. I'm getting nervous enough about "shots." :(

vacay was fun, the new lens rocks, etc. more later. when the bottom left side of my mouth is numb. :)

Sunday, April 05, 2009

eh2ed #8

you know how you have multiple bottles o' stuff in your bathroom? shampoo, maybe lotion, body wash, face stuff, whatever?

well a biiiiiiiig part of being eco-friendly is using what you need. I will try and find the illustration real simple magazine put out, but the important thing to know is that likely the amount of shampoo, shave cream, toothpaste etc that you're using is probably quite a bit more than necessary. (though don't skimp on the sunblock--you need A LOT of that when you use it) but that toothpaste? you need as little as is reasonable. your shampoo amount should be the diameter of a quarter. and you can stretch that shave cream if you use it (I don't, usually, but if I do it's a teeeensy amount)

so: use what you need, k?

Saturday, April 04, 2009

eh2ed #7

It is almost always better to bring your own...

That's true for bags and to-go containers and so much else! In life we waste and waste and waste. Do something about it! Refuse to accept disposables. Or refuse to accept containers that can't be reused of recycled.

Every single piece counts and is TOTALLY worth the effort!

-post from my iphone!

eh2ed #6

again, posting out of my time zone...

when you are going out of town...

-pack as little as you can, there's an eco-toll for distance travelled per pound (I need to improve upon this!)
-reduce, reuse, recycle. less waste, less disposable, and recycle those beerand wine bottles :)
-have fun!

-post from my iphone!

Friday, April 03, 2009

eh2ed#2

time zone slack since I am on vacay? I think so.

Today: carpool, carpool, carpool. Today we fit all eight of usin a van. Though that van's emissions were WAY higher due to the presence of eight people's worth of weight, we would have emitted SO much more by taking two cars. so share and share alike and don't forget to thank your driver! :)


-post from my iphone!

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

eh2ed #5

vote with your pocketbook.

choose products that are 'green' over conventional ones. you'll be supporting those who grew or manufactured the item, and you're creating a market for eco-friendly, local and/or sustainable goods.

a couple of buck now will be well worth it- for you, your family AND our future!


-post from my iphone!
 
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