Christmas Update

It has been a busy couple of weeks here at hippy headquarters and I am sure it has been busy for you as well. Just a few more days and we will be back to our regularly scheduled hippy programming. In the meantime I just wanted to pop in and say Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! (Or is that Hippy Holidays and Hippy New Year?? Hmm?? Is it? Wow... maybe my gift to you guys this next year will be no more bad hippy jokes... nope sorry, can't do it. That is just too much than I am willing to give.)

UPDATE: Handmade Xmas Gifts

Wow! You hippies are sooo creative! There were some great suggestions and I am going to be stealing these and claiming them as my own ideas to be sure... Here's a sample of the awesomeness:

• Hippy Lola suggests "You could take a bunch of jars and fill them with the dry ingredients for cookies, then tie a patch of fabric around the top and include instructions. Voila! instant cookie mix."
• Hippy friend Julie recommends "Homemade heating bags: I have one that I bought at a store and I use it all the time. I looked at it and thought, this is SO easy to make, yet I paid $16 for it.  I just sew up a rectangle of thicker cotton cloth and fill it 2/3 full of flax seeds. Super easy, and you can fill it with something a little cheaper than flax seeds too.
• Virginia, my español hippy chick says "I just made a bunch of change purses from vintage silk neckties. Super fast and easy. You can either machine sew or hand sew. Cut off about 8" from wide end of tie. The point becomes your flap. On the inside of the point the two halves of the tie need to be sew to each other. Then tuck the raw ends inside each other and sew that hole closed. Fold into desired shape, sew sides. Sew on snap. About a 30 min commitment. (The narrow end can be made into headbands!" (Sidenote: Check out Virginia's etsy shop for awesome "upcycled" projects that she makes including her neck tie coin purses. Very hippy chic. I also am using her suggestion of making napkins and a table runner for Christmas dinner out of old linens I found at Goodwill.)
• Hippy neighbor Stephanie suggested making handmade ornaments for the grandparents and I found a few simple recipes for those dough ornaments that you used to make in school here and here. 

Thanks everyone for the input and I'll be posting some of my Christmas crafting adventures later in the week (let's hope my gift recipients don't read this blog =)

Handmade XMas Gifts

This year, the family and I are trying a new thing: making each other Christmas gifts. It seemed like a great idea at the time (take the focus off of shopping for the holidays and put it back where it belongs) but now I am rethinking this idea. I should have started like January of last year making gifts as I think I will be lucky to finish one before December 24. Eeek! Maybe everyone will just settle for me making copious amounts of food and that can be everyone's gift. What do you think? Any quick gift projects you like to use? Come one hippies! Help a gal out for the holidays!

Back from Colorado

So good to be back! Our trip went so well and the bug did so good on the car ride. Our family is being really supportive of our new-found hippy-hood. Woot! They did think that the knitted plastic bag bag was a little weird (more on that later) but they were nice enough to not make fun (they are so polite =). And they even let me spread potato peelings in their yard. Awesome.
Also, I would like to take this opportunity to give mayjah props (yeah, that just happened... don't laugh, I'm old) to the city of Fort Collins, Co. Honestly if you have the chance to go it is so awesome and hippies thrive there. And they have lots of sweet parks where we took the bug to swing. Honestly, the picture says it all:

Happy T-Day Hippies!

The fam and I are heading to Colorado to spend the week with Grandma. Yay for car trips! We will be back to our regularly scheduled super bloggy program next week. In the meantime let your hippy out and enjoy some well deserved tryptophan related activities (a.k.a. napping).

Way to go Air Force!

So, I was on base the other day visiting my husband's office and look what I happened upon:



Cardboard, plastics, cans-- Oh my!
Apparently, they have one of these recycle stations on each floor.
Air Force... your hippy is showing.

Chili Cook-Off Update

I totally forgot to tell you what happened at the chili cook-off!!

....Yeah, I didn't win. Boo.

But- good news! No one knew that my chili was veggie and it was super delicious. Yay! Also, husband named it "Very Exciting, Good, and Noteworthy" Chili. Get it? V.E.G.A.N. Chili?

....Yeah, no one else got it either.

Oh, and the guy that won made a brisket and then added chili to it. Being veggie sucks for contests.

Really, this has nothing to do with anything....

...But have you ever had one of those days? It's currently 2:30 am and I'm awake, have just cleaned the kitchen and my dog has an ear infection (which was the original "awakening"). I can already tell that today is going to be rough, but I soldier on hippies! Silver lining= I have cleaned the kitchen and therefore can spend my day napping. Sweet!
Can I tell you that it is crafting week here at my house? (And apparently talk-like-Sandra-Lee day) Seriously, I have things spread all around my house and husband is not happy that he has to hop-scotch through every room. We've argued about this before. He logically says "Can't you finish one project before you start another one??" And I logically say real whiney-like "But baaaeeeebeeeeee, that's not how I work!". In truth, I'm super lazy and ADD so I'll start something, figure out it's going to be hard, and then tell myself I'll leave it and come back to it. Like it's magically going to finish itself while I'm gone. Then he'll finally get to the breaking point and I'll "clean-up" by stuffing everything into a box and putting it in the closet and forgetting it.
What does his have to do with hippy-world you might be asking yourself? Well, I'll tell you. It really doesn't. But, I am slowly working on some new fab hippy projects to post as long as my ADD doesn't win out because I was forced to clean out one said closet this weekend and found all of my hippy crafting books! So expect those soon! (Give me a break, this is what you get from me at 2:30 am!)

Diaper Pail Madness

Check out this super sweet diaper pail I made. This would be a good way to repurpose a trash can (or just jazz one up). Unfortunately, I had to buy the pail but ended up saving some cash by decorating it myself.
First I made a pail liner out of some water resistant fabric. Then I used stencils and spray paint (for plastic, it is best to use paint suited for plastic like Krylon Fusion, it's a little more expensive but won't flake off). Now it won't be mistaken for a trashcan when grandma comes and visits! Yay!

Back to Veggieville

Here's the story about my yo-yo vegetarian diet... it's very exciting so dust off the edge of your seat and here we go!
Both husband and I used to be vegetarians because while he was in law school, he was challenged by one of his professors (a vegetarian) to read an article by Alastair Norcross called "Puppies, Pigs, And People: Eating Meat and Marginal Cases". (To read the article in full, click here.) After reading the article the students had to defend their eating habits. Pretty cool assignment huh? Well I participated as well to help husband study (it was their final!) And after reading it we both realized that we couldn't defend it. I should have stayed ignorant, I love meat! But, change our habits we did and I'm not going to lie- it's hard! You have to be a lot more proactive about preparing what you eat and where you eat but all-in-all I do feel better about our decision.
Then I got pregnant I not only craved meat but found out I was anemic. Erg. My doctor suggested I add meat back into my diet and I did. (She really had to twist my arm!) And I loved it, every minute. But now I am no longer pregnant and am taking supplements to combat the anemia and feel great. I can put off going back to the veggie no longer. Sigh.
So there you have it and now I'm working on slowly getting rid of all meat products from my house and my life and it's sad. Husband is still deciding if he's going to go back fully or just at home (I do all the cooking so he has to be veggie here =) I'm hoping my "meat taste buds" switch over soon... I remember that it took awhile the first time to get used to veggieville. Let's hope it happens sooner than later this time!

Chili Cook-Off Update

Tomorrow is the much anticipated chili cook-off and husband's response to last night's vegan chili first try? "Eh... it's good for vegan." Great. There goes my hopes for an award winning veggie chili. I really want to prove to these carnivores that vegan chili can be so good you won't even miss the meat! I can do it! right team?
So, tonight's 2nd attempt will include this recipe for "The Best Vegetarian Chili in the World". I can't go wrong with that- right? Also, as a twist I will be adding some cornbread dumplings to take it up a notch as husband really liked those from last night. Wish me luck!

Nature: Veteran's Edition

Have you hugged a veteran today? No? I can wait... seriously, you still have time and I'll be here when you get back.
Done? Sweet... let's carry on...
Today husband had off from work so we spent the day in true hippy fashion: eating lunch at this incredible veggie place called McFoster's Natural Kind Cafe. (Yeah, I'm back to the vegetarian stuff... more on that later) It was so yummy. Then we went to the Schramm State Park and went on the hiking trails. Very naturey.
Yay for days off! Tonight, I'm working on making chili as there is a chili contest on Friday. But making vegetarian chili for meat eaters is going to be hard! The solution: Chili with Cornmeal Chive Dumplings. Hmmm.... I'll let you know how that turns out. In the meantime, enjoy some nature!

Repurpose: Men's socks

I always keep a bin of socks that have either lost their mate or are too holey/dirty whatnot. I usually use these for random cleaning jobs around the house but hippy friend Neva had another suggestion: Baby legwarmers!
So of course I had to try it and this is what I came up with:
They work great and look so cute. I just cut off the foot and attached some rick rack to the top and bottom and they already survived a wash. I let her wear them around the house and it's one less layer for me when doing diaper duty. Plus they are soft and cuddly.
Next time, I will use the stretchy kind of rick rack as it was pretty difficult to sew them on, but I like that she's wearing her daddy's socks around. Flashdance baby!

The diapers have arrived!

And look how good I am already! Ok, so it's going to take a little practice but you can see where I'm going. I wish someone would have told me how easy these are. Honestly, we've been using them all weekend and except for having to do an extra load of laundry everyday they aren't any more work than disposable. Yay me! We got a kind of sampler pack that we can return after 21 days so we have a few brands to try out but I'm pretty sure we are going to go with the old fashioned cloth and cover type during the day and the BumGenius ones during the night (The bug does not like to get changed at night so we need something that can handle 10 hours!) I might keep a few of the easy ones for the diaper bag and babysitters as well. Also, we call these "nappies" for obvious reasons (meaning there is no obvious reason, we're just weird.) Now I have another project to add to my list: diaper pail!

Awww... Nature!

Isn't nature great! After leaving Minnesota I was afraid that trees would be in short supply but turns out, no, that is incorrect. There are trees in Nebraska! You just have to pay to go see them (sort of a joke). Super hippy friends... introducing Fontenelle Forest! My tree escape!
Plus, they have a ton of fun things for the kiddos... like look at this sweet tree house!

Yay for Super Sweet Secondhand Stores!

I love that being an earth saver is usually good for your wallet. There is this fabulous store here called Big Wheels 2 Butterflys. They sell used kids clothes but everything is really nice there. I mean, you don't have to check it for spots or tears, they are pretty picky. So I got the bug some winter stuff: 4 pairs of pants, 6 onesies, a pair of overalls and a sleep-n-play all for $18!! Yay!
Here's the problem though... afterwards I felt kind of guilty. I hated getting used clothes when I was growing up. I kind of felt like I was being a bad mom. I mean, you want to give your kids the best of everything... not the secondhand of everything.
But I talked to my super friend Neva today and she asked an important question "What does the best of everything mean to you? Giving your kids new stuff, or saving the money and using it to do something for your family?" Yeah, I felt kind of awful after that. (Feeling bad for feeling bad... I have issues!) So do I want my bug to be concerned with things and not people? No! Because then she'll grow up, realize she is all superficial-like, have to start a blog about her journey to become a more responsible person and the vicious cycle will start all over again. No one wants that.

Mornings at My House

I hate mornings, like I really hate mornings. I would sleep until noon if I could and now that the little bug is here, she likes to wake up early... not to mention waking up for her midnight "snacks". It's hard to be mad at her though I mean, I get to wake up to this:
Pretty darn cute right, and yes... her hair most always looks like that.
So today was recycling day and I've been wondering how are recycling program works here. I mean, their website doesn't explain too much and they were very cryptic about it when we moved in. Their website says they don't take glass, but the flyer they gave me when we moved in says they do... hmmm... it's a mystery super friends. I have just been putting all my recycling wares into a plastic bag and then tossing that into the bin when it's full but I keep picturing some poor guy somewhere cursing my name because he's got to undo all of my bags. Although we've never gotten a naughty note about it before (and believe me, they leave them. I've gotten them before because my trash can was too far from the curb.)
Sounds like the perfect time to do some more research to figure this mystery out. I mean I don't want all of my hard "separating" work going down the tube because my recyclables are rejected due to my ineptness. How sad would that be! Ok, one more picture of the bug for today:
Isn't her onesie appropriate?

Update: I'm pretty sure that I wrote this post just as an excuse to post pictures of my bug wearing her recycle t-shirt. Yeah. That's what I did.

Diapers

So my little bug has been in disposable diapers for the last 5 months. Yeah, I know... I'm awful and hate the earth. Honestly though, the thought of having a baby was so overwhelming at first that I couldn't even fathom adding more work for myself. But upon more research over the past month or two, I've changed my mind. Turns out, disposable diapers are pretty bad for the environment and account for 3-4% of household waste. Yikes! (read more of a great study here.) I really started noticing how quickly I filled my trash bins with diapers. Yes, my new hippy conscience got the best of me, but I have no clue where to start with the whole cloth diaper thing!
Enter in the cloth diaper goddess Jaimie!! I met her at a parenting group and started pestering her when I noticed her changing her son (also 5 months) with those magically cloth diapers! She is magic. She assures me that they are easy and gave me a website where they send you all of these diapers to try for $10. You don't like them, you send them back. Fabulous! I should be getting them sometime next week so I will keep y'all updated on how this goes.

Kids Are Trashy

Ok... not literally trashy but the amount of stuff that you have to (or feel like you have to) purchase just for this one little being is incredible. I mean, pacifiers, bottles, cloths, cute baby shoes they are never going to wear but that I can't stop buying, breast pumps, burp cloths... well I think you get the idea. But then, you can't be completely sustainable can you? I mean, I'm not going to buy second-hand pacifiers. Hmmm.... there must be some kind of balance to strike here.
Well, now that I've gotten deep I think this is the perfect opportunity to post a picture of my bug:Right? So new goal: Try to find a compromise between saving the earth, and making sure baby has what she needs without making her use someone else's pacifier. Deal?

NoHippyChick Mama!

Ok, ok it's been awhile! Let me catch you up on the past year of my life:

1. My husband joined the airforce! I know! I am now a military officer's wife. Stepford here I come!
2. I had a baby! i know!! Her name is Charlie, she's 5 months old and darn near perfect. I love her absolutely and after the initial shock wore off... I've got another reason to be more hippy-like. Baby!
3. Oh! And we got stationed in Omaha... it's a whole 'nother challenge to rediscover my hippy-ness in another city. I've got to work quick on getting plugged in.

So those are the reasons I've been M.I.A. for the past year. Inexcusable I know, but I am starting up again documenting my new adventures, and attempting to rehippy-ify my world. I can't wait!