The Greening

As you know I am trying to become greener, as in more eco-friendly.

This xmas we only had 2 gifts to wrap. I couldn't see the justification for buying a roll of paper and having it sit around and probably get lost between now and next year. I remembered hat I had lots of brown packing paper from when we moved. But how to make it feel wintery?


Paper Snowflakes!

I just used scratch paper from the printer that I had saved. I buy printer paper that has a high recycled material content. If only I could find tape made from recycled plastics.


I have been replacing the plastics in my kitchen with metal and glass. The first thing I do is look around for used items when I need something. Craigslist, Goodwill & the local antique shop are the closest resources in Port Orchard.

Recently, I went to goodwill and got various sized glass bowls for storing food and dinner preparations. I was even able to find a set of matching 4 oz ramekins! They were even brown tinted glass to match my nice dish set. There were only 7 and I was hopping to find 8 but there was a similarly sized and shaped pink one that I got to complete the set. I even found a dish that exactly matches a set of plates we use everyday. I ended up with 12 bowls at $1 apiece.

I have been saving food jars and lids to store dinner leftovers. The best candidate I've found are pasta sauce jars. They use un-laminated paper labels and just a bit of glue so it washes off pretty easily. One night I made stew and used 2 different forms of protein, one for Ben and one for me. The jars were perfect for storing the leftovers:

Marinated Chicken, Pennsaltuckey stew, and marinated tofu crumbles.


I have been trying to find a way to green up our lunch boxes and here is what I found:


They are made from food grade steel and are dishwasher, but not microwave, safe. The square boxes are Lunchbots. They come divided (duo) and undivided (uno) and in 3 different sizes. I got two uno's and two duo's in the same size. The uno's fit the wide loaves of bread I use for sandwiches perfectly. The uno's came with blue lids and the duo's came with orange lids, I just swapped one of each so that we would remember whose is whose. That way we don't contaminate the meat with the non-meat sandwiches and we only have to wash them on the weekends.

The tiffins are for us to keep in the car to pack up leftovers at restaurants in order to eliminate using plastics and styrofoam.

I was so glad when I unpacked these items and my husband didn't make fun of me, but was actually excited to eliminate waste! Thanks honey!

2010: Looking Ahead

Yesterday I assessed how well I achieved my goals for last year. Today its time to set goals for the new year. Some of these may look familiar.

1. Compete in at least one 5K run.

2. Finish cross-stitch project.

3. Make working on my quilt a regular part of my routine (once the cross-stitch is finished).

4. Workout consistently. Run/Cardio 3 days/week. Relax with Yoga on off days.

5. Practice music 3 times/week.

6. Take swimming lessons.

7. Set up long-term savings account by March 26th, 2010 (Update 3/26/2010: Ben and I have a plan, but need to save a couple thousand more to implement)

8. Have dog so well trained she can be off the leash.

9. Learn something fun and new, like skiing.

10. Make my life and home greener. Reduce plastics, buy more things second-hand, eat local, eat organic, plant some herbs and a container garden.

11. Read More Books

12. Blog more, at least once per week

13. Become more Fluent in French, reading, writing, and conversing.

14. Improve posture

I am sure that I will be adding to and tweaking this list as the year progresses.

2009: Year in Review

Earlier in 2009 I set some goals to be completed by the end of the year. I figure there is no point in setting goals if don't try to achieve them and then look back to see how you did. So here are my goals how I did, in no particular order.

1. Complete a 5K Run: No

2. Finish Cross-Stitch: Nope

3. Sew 1 quilt block per month, later changed to every 2 months: shakes head sadly

4. Know if I want to pursue a career in musical instrument repair: I figured this one out and the answer is no.

5. Save $xx,xxx: woohoo we reached it, and may have even exceeded it!

6. Catch-up to CSI: Finished!

7. Workout every day: If I had reached that goal probably would have reached the first one.

8. Sew or Practice Music every day: I've gotten better at the sewing but not at the music

9. Take swimming lessons in the fall, if I complete a 5K by the end of the year I get to reward myself with rowing lessons in the spring: We moved to another state in the fall so this is no longer attainable this year, I may still be able to do this at my new home, I'll have to do some research

10. Finish watching West Wing: Awesome series, so glad I saw it all.


Achieved: 4 Unfinished: 5 Void: 1

Monthly Cross-Stitch Update

Here is what being cooped up in the house will do for my craft project.



I hope I can continue to make such big strides each month.

Coronado Island

The weekend after 4th of July Ben and I drove 6 hours to vacation on Coronado Island, just off Sand Diego, CA. I am posting these pictures now because some good friends of ours are moving to San Diego and I wanted to share with them what they can enjoy.

We arrived late Friday night and went right to bed after checking into the Coronado Island Inn. The next morning we walked up Orange Avenue towards the ferry landing and went to Tartine for breakfast. We ate quiche and fresh fruit. It was divine! Ben and I wished we could eat breakfast there every weekend.



After breakfast we milled around the shops by the ferry landing and considered renting bicycles. We noticed that most tourists were on bicycles and because of the many intersections they seemed more hassle than they were worth. Besides, the civilian area of the island is only one square mile, it wasn't that far to the beach.

On the way back to our hotel to pack for the beach we stopped at Boney's Bayside Market to get items for a picnic lunch. We found out that you could order sandwiches from the deli counter so we didn't have to make them ourselves.

We walked the mile down Orange Avenue (the main road on the island) to the main beach and on the way shopped at Bay Books. The proprietors were the nicest women you'll ever meet.

The Hotel Del Coronado from the Beach

A closer view of the main entrance dome

We found some cabana seats in front of the Hotel del Coronado and ate our picnic lunch. Then we went down to the water and set up towels. We read, took pictures of the front of the hotel, and played in the water.

The Pacific Ocean!

Almost half the island is a naval base, so you'll see lots of ships like this if you ever visit.

When we came back to our towels we found that our lunch leftovers had been pillaged. The Seagulls on the island are aggressive. A kind neighbor had tried to protect our things, but the seagulls got to the food anyway.

See the orange? That's the carrots from my wrap that they devoured.

Look what they did to this apple!

After leaving the beach we stopped by the Brigantine Seafood Restaurant across the street from The Del (what locals call the Hotel del Coronado) and enjoyed happy hour. I had 2 very wonderful Bloody Mary's and Ben had 2-3 Coronado Iced Teas. We also ate some decent appetizers. On the way back to our hotel we stopped by the famed Moo Time Creamery. Ben didn't get any, but I had black raspberry chocolate chip. Yummy!

We were so full and exhausted from our day we didn't end up eating dinner. The next morning we made sure to stop by Tartine for more wonderful food and atmosphere before driving back to Phoenix.

I would love to go back there sometime, get a tour of The Del, and maybe do some sea kayaking. Ben and I both loved this place and hope to make it our special vacation spot. Next time I think we will stay on the mainland at a cheaper hotel and take the ferry to the island.