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!
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.
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.
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.
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?
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!
Yeeeeee!!! I totally took my first bus ride on Friday, to the Minnesota State Fair. And yes, we did take the real bus too, not just the free, fun, bus to the fair. Sam and Matt were good enough to accompany me and we took plenty of photographic evidence. I'll be honest, I was a little nervous, but everyone was very nice. Here is my picture timeline:
This is me walking to the bus stop... I've got my money all ready to go.... and yes, I'm really that pale... it's not the flash or lighting or anything that I tried to convince myself that it was... =(
This is Matt trying to be funny and "Beeching Me" as I tripped up the steps of the bus. Yes, I tripped. And it sucked. (For more on "Beeching" please click here.)
Yes! My transfer ticket!! So exciting.... yehck! That lipstick looks horrible on me! My friends must hate me.
Some very nice bus riders who were willing to show their bus passes!! Woot! Woot! Bus riders!!!
So, in conclusion, the bus wasn't at all that bad. I mean, I was really nervous about pulling the line when my stop came up, but I would almost call it quite enjoyable... so enjoyable, in fact, that I intend on taking it to work on Tuesday!! Down to Hummers!! Yea to buses!!
10 days have gone by since I last posted! erg! Matt and I have been moving, moving and more moving, and this afternoon is the last day of our moving plight. Thank the hippy gods! I can't believe how much stuff I had! It felt so good to get rid of a lot of it. Matt and I got rid of almost half our stuff. I can't tell you how much of a relief it is to get rid of stuff you don't use, and only have the stuff you really care about surrounding you. And I literally mean "surrounding" us. There is a maze of boxes in our living room. Boxes are stacked precariously, and there is a tiny path you must navigate through to get to the kitchen.
But, never fear fellow hippies! I didn't just throw stuff away, that would not be very "earth warriorish" of me, I turned to the best site ever invented: www.craigslist.com!! Oh it is amazing! I sold our couch (because it wouldn't fit in our new place) and a bed on this wonderful site. A very nice girl who was moving into her first apartment came and picked them both up. Very cool. The rest of the stuff, we donated to Goodwill. But, we did get desperate at one point and had to heap a pile of junk outside our house with "free" signs all over it. When we came by the next day, every single thing was gone. Magic, hippies, magic!!
So, my boss just walked by and told me I need to update my blog today so he can read it this weekend. Oh! And that he wanted to post a hamburger on here but thought my hippy friends would get mad. I said "Hippies don't get mad yo! We are a peaceful people.... that's just how we roll." But then I rethought...I mean I'm not totally a hippy yet right, I can still shank a fool!
please share some zero waste ideas hippy friends!! Here's what they look like:I am the worst hippy ever! I haven't updated my blog forever! Erg.... Anyways, here is my excuse... I'm moving this weekend. I hate moving! It's so final. Also, I find out how much crap I have bought that I never needed. The new hippy in me is appalled!! APPALLED!!! Boxes and boxes of things that I haven't looked at since our last move (2 years ago!!) But it has to be done. Our new place is 6.2 miles from my work and right on the bus line, 4.2 miles from Sam's, and a flight of stairs away from BFF Dan and Marie. It's 1.1 miles from Matt's school, so he can ride his bike or walk. We might even be able to get rid of one of our cars. Nice! Plus, we'll be practically in the middle of downtown, so lots more walking fun to be had. I can't wait!
Phew. I was a little worried that my entire blog was built around a misspelled word. BFF Dan told me that hippy actually means someone that has big hips (that would also apply here), but according to the American Heritage Dictionary:
hip·pie also hip·py 
n. pl. hip·pies
A person who opposes and rejects many of the conventional standards and customs of society, especially one who advocates extreme liberalism in sociopolitical attitudes and lifestyles.
So, in other words.... extreme pacifism... there is your oxymoron of the day!
APA Citation for all you sticklers out there:
hippy. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved August 07, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hippy
I found this great project in this book "ReadyMade: How to Make [Almost] Everything: A Do-It-Yourself Primer" by Shoshana Berger and Grace Hawthorne (also check out their very cool website at readymag.com.) It uses all of those pesky plastic bottles we have and it cost me about $3 to make. I just put a note up at work that said I was collecting bottles and I had enough in less than a week. I tweaked their directions a little bit, so these instructions are based on my modifications:
1. Collect 12- 24 oz. plastic bottles and 12- 16.9 oz. bottles.
2. Cut the smaller bottles in half. Drill 3 drainage holes in the bottom.
3. This part can be a little tricky, but you basically cut off half the front of the 24 oz. bottles so that the big bottles look like this (sorry for the terrible picture, but you get of the idea...) I found it easiest to hack of the top with a pair of scissors and then use a box cutter to lop of the "window" area.
4. Drill a hole in the "hanging" part of the big bottles.
5. I found this sweet owl picture at a thrift store for $1.50. It's all painted wood, so I was
able to hammer 12 nails directly into it, but you could use any piece of wood.
6. Then you hang your pre-drilled big bottles up.
7. Plant your little bottles (I used aloe vera, geraniums, and started some tomato plants from seed I took from T-Gro's fruit.) Smaller, or starter, plants work best.
8. Slide your little bottles into the bigger, hanging bottles.
9. Enjoy your sweet work!
Update: I already killed the geraniums!! But, the aloe seems to be doing very well.
Erg... I just had to cancel the bus and Fringe Festival trip with Marie and Dan because I have this badass headache. Dang. Hopefully we can reschedule and I'll make sure and update you on our adventures!
Oh! Speaking of the Fringe Festival (insert shameless plug here)... you should go see my friends', Ellen and Sam, and the rest of the cast of "Streaming Twin Cities, or I'm an artist what's your excuse?" at the Fringe Festival (info below). Visit their website at http://streamingtc.com/.
Update: Yikes! I forgot to mention that another friend, Ph!l was involved in the show as well (I think they just let him hang around because he's so pretty, but I still should've mentioned him!)
Wed, Aug 8 - 8:30pm COMING SOON
Fri, Aug 10 - 10:00pm
Sat, Aug 11 - 1:00pm
At The Red Eye Collaboration Theater
15 W 14th St, Minneapolis MN 55403
All of Minnesota experienced a horrible loss on Wednesday. The 35W bridge collapse was a staggering tragedy. I know that all of our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.
As more and more of the amazing stories are coming out, I can’t help but feel an incredible pride to call myself a Minnesotan. The ordinary people that found themselves in an extraordinary situation and stepped up to help everyone around them, these stories are incredibly inspiring. It gives me hope that when faced with these circumstances, it wasn’t every man for himself; it was that those that were able helped those who were not.
If we can learn anything from this heartbreak, I hope it is that.
Ahhhh!!! I added some new worms to my worm bin last night and when I woke up this morning, I noticed that there were two worms a-wigglin' on my kitchen floor. Weird...but maybe I dropped them and didn't notice. I opened the door to the cabinet under the sink and worms are everywhere! As I opened up the bucket and worms like popped out onto the floor. I'm not exaggerating. It was disgusting. Seems the newbies didn't want to hang out with the oldies. Great. I think to myself "I'm a hippy chick, I can handle this." But, when I went to pick one of the squirmies I squealed like a prissy girl. Oh crap...I've totally fell off the wagon in my recovery. So, I grabbed one of those hamburger flippers that you use for the Bar-B-Que and started flipping them back into the bucket. I'm not sure what happened, I checked the bedding and it's not too wet or too dry, but I read that when you introduce new worms to an environment they sometimes wig out a little. Hmmmm.... I'll keep you updated.....
Hippies take the bus. (They also bike!) As a true hippy chick, I need to start taking the bus. Problem is...
I've never ridden the bus in my life.
I'm not kidding... I really have never ridden a bus. I've heard that there are lots of bus crazies and weirdos and that it's a generally horrid experience. But my friend Sam does this kind of thing all of the time! And she's really pretty and hasn't been felt up once! (on the bus at least) So, I feel that it's time. I'm going to become a bus rider.
I'm scared.
So, I recruited my BFFs Dan and Marie. We're going to see Sam's show on Sunday and we're totally taking the bus! Dan is a "bus master". He knows all the bus lingo. I will definitely not end up somewhere in Wisconsin (erg....sconis!!!). Wish me luck!
Oh Air Conditioning!
How I love thee,
You keep me from melting
and sweating
Lo! How I hate sweating!
I love you
and will never turn you off
no matter what that dumb hippy
inside my head keeps muttering.
I will just push her down deep, deep, down.
And continue to bask in the glory that is the
AC.
I ran into my first ethical dilemma this weekend. It seems that we were invited to a cousin's baby shower, but I didn't get the invitation until the day before. Oh great! I can either buy the baby something used, (pretty sure mom would hate that!) Or try to make something on the fly. I thought to myself “I am a very crafty individual; I have a degree in art for goodness sakes! I can totally do this.” So away I went to the fabric store to buy some supplies and ending up spending way more than I probably would have spent just buying an actual present, but that’s not the point, is it? And most of this was due to lack of planning. So, I’ll know better for next time. Well, I started making this super cute one-sy and I had a really cute design idea for the front. Well, I got the design all finished, but turns out, baby clothes are really, really hard to sew!! They’re so tiny!! Not to mention that it dawned on me half way through cutting out the pattern that I didn’t even know how big the baby was. Great.
Stayed up as late as I could working on it, and started early the next morning, as the shower was in the afternoon. Calamities of calamities! I had a snap snafoo! (Oh yeah, I went there…) Completely ruined the whole thing. Pretty sure babies aren’t fans of straight pins. I finally just decided to go with it. After all, they’re family… I wrapped the darn thing up, using cellophane and an old record I melted into a bowl in the oven (very cool!) Then, I made her open it and everyone got a real good laugh at my ineptness… It was a hit! I promised that I would definitely keep working on it and hopefully finish it before baby starts walking! Turns out, people are really understanding when it comes to handmade gifts.
Well, a good lesson learned. I’m going to have to start keeping a couple of gifts on hand to avoid this situation again!!
Yea! The tomato plants T-Gro put in while she was here have beared fruit! errr. vegetables... what are tomatoes anyway? Anyhoo... here's some pics!!
I read on the internet about how 5-10% of our household waste is kitchen waste that could be composted. I found some really great internet articles about composting, and my mom sent me some information about how she composts but I have two problems: 1) We have a really small backyard, and this could lead to some potential irritation with the neighbors as composts have a distinct (I don’t personally find it horrible) smell and 2) we could buy an actual composter, but that would go against rule #1.
So, here’s my solution. I found a few articles about vermicomposting. This means you basically put a bucket of worms under your sink and throw in anything organic (even paper!) and they’ll eat it right up. Very cool, totally cheap and it doesn’t smell at all. So, I made 2 worm buckets out of a couple of buckets I had leftover from buying kitty litter (more on kitty litter later) and bought some “red wrigglers” over the internet.
Here’s the “how-to” as well as some pics. Also, here's a link where there's some sweet info, www.wormwoman.com, although I found my worms for super cheap on eBay (Search for "bait") but it's a really good starting site. The lady wrote a book called Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up & Maintain a Worm Composting System, so awesome. Enjoy!
3) Then I dropped the worms in there. They don't like the light, so I put them under the sink with a tray underneath the bucket to catch any drips from the drainage hole in the bottom. They eat pretty much anything organic. I just make sure to add another layer of paper after adding the food, or else it starts to stink. After a few months, I should be able to harvest some juicy looking soil! (I'll post these pictures when I get them!)
