Trips to the post office and grocery store are so much more fun when done by bike.
And they’re even more fun while wearing cute mary janes.
And contacts! Woo hoo! (I haven’t had contacts for years because I didn’t have vision insurance, but my current job offers it, so I decided to try them out again. You forget what it’s like to be able to see clearly in all directions when you wear glasses.)
I’ve had this whole week off for Spring Break, and it’s been glorious! Here’s what I’ve been up to:
*Welcome to Bento Box Saturday! Every week, I post a photo of one of my bento lunches. I use a Laptop Lunches bento box and I love it because it helps me to reduce the amount waste I create, since I don’t produce a lot of extra garbage from throw away packaging. I also love how it creates perfect portion sizes. To learn more about how I pack and carry my bento, check out this post and this post too*
Whole wheat pasta salad with spinach, red bell pepper, black olives, garbanzos, feta
Carrot sticks
Grapes
(not pictured: FAGE 0% yogurt with honey)
Lately I’ve made two changes in the way that I prepare my bentos in efforts to be a little bit healthier.
1) I’ve decided to become a lunchtime vegetarian. I’m not ready to go full veg yet, and I don’t know if I ever will. But I’ve decided to limit my meat consumption primarily to evening dinners. I’ve started being very intentional about including a good amount of vegetarian protein in my bento lunches, such as edamame, garbanzos, tempeh, tofu, peanut butter, eggs, etc. This is also important for environmental and economic reasons. Meat takes more energy to produce, which takes up more of our planets resources. I prefer to buy organic meat, which is also much more expensive than most veg protein option.
2) Every lunch must include a serving of whole grains. I’ve known about the importance of whole grains for a long time, but I’d stopped being very intentional about including them in my meals. I ate a lot of whole wheat crackers, but I rarely took the time to prepare other types of whole grains for my lunches.
Quinoa with spinach, grape tomatoes, olive and edamame
Carrot sticks
Grapes
FAGE 2% yogurt with strawberry
In order to accomplish these two goals, I’ve started doing some lunch prep work on the weekends to make it easier. I cook at least two types of whole grains in a large enough amount for the week and store them in the fridge: generally quinoa and whole wheat pasta. I cook and store at least two veg protein options, such as edamame, tofu, or tempeh. I also try to make some kind of veggie stir fry that I can mix with any of the above items to make a delicious salad. This method worked fantastically this week, and I felt healthy and well fed every day. Yay!
*On Wednesdays, I take a look at some of the beautiful items found at one of the best places for buying and selling hand-made and vintage: Etsy. Buying hand-made and vintage lets you own beautiful, unique objects with character. It keeps things out of the landfills and supports artists and small businesses who are trying to make a living doing what they love. If you have a particular theme you’d love to see, drop me a line and let me know. *
I’m not a big fan of putting mysterious chemicals on my skin. I’d much rather stick to natural ingredients that have been proven to have positive effects on the skin over the centuries. If those items are handmade by artisans, even better. I think that’s it’s a good and positive thing to pamper yourself, and these items are the perfect way to do that.
There were a total of 32 entries into the produce bag giveaway. Using random.org, I pulled out #27. Congratulations Colleen! I’ll be e-mailing you shortly!
*Every Wednesday, I take a look at some of the beautiful items found at one of the best places for buying and selling hand-made and vintage: Etsy. Buying hand-made and vintage lets you own beautiful, unique objects with character. It keeps things out of the landfills and supports artists and small businesses who are trying to make a living doing what they love. If you have a particular theme you’d love to see, drop me a line and let me know. *
Once upon a time, people reused everything. Money was too tight and resources too few to be able to afford the luxury of disposables. As technologies became cheaper, more and more one-time-use items appeared. Now, most people think nothing of the plastic bags, paper coffee sleeves and other items that get used once or twice and then tossed into the trash heap. Let’s reverse that and go back to items that were made to be used and loved over and over again.
(Don’t forget! We have a reusable produce bag giveaway going on right now. Click on over to check it out)
Reversible Slacker or Go Getter Coffee Sleeve, $9.50
GERTi Bag Organic Cotton Canvas Tote, $25
Stained Glass Reusable Sandwich Baggie, $6.16 (SALE)
Swiffer Re-usable Mop Pad 3-Pack, $14
Dirty Girl Wool Dryer Balls – Set of 6, $23
Insulated Lunch Bag Birch Tree Print, $21
Corded Mint Full Set of Re-usable Produce Bags, $15.75
A few months ago, I bought one of the above sets of re-usable produce bags to carry groceries in. And they are amazing. I have used hardly any plastic bags to bring home veggies or bulk goods since then. The bags are stong, durable, easy to use, and attractive. Almost every time I take them to the grocery store, someone comments on them.
It’s easy to not give a lot of thought to the impact a plastic bag makes, but when you take a good, hard look at it, it’s scary. A simple lifestyle change, like carrying reusable grocery bags and reusable produce bags, can make a huge difference.
LoveForEarth is a great source for beautiful, reusable bags, and they have been generous enough to offer a set of reusable bags to one of my lovely readers!
There’s three chances to enter. Here’s the details:
1) Check out LoveForEarth’s Etsy shop, then come back here and post a comment letting me know what your favorite item in the store is.
2) Favorite LoveForEarth on Etsy and then let me know you did in a comment here.
3) Follow my blog via Google Reader, Bloglovin’, etc and let me know that you do in a comment here.
This giveaway will run for one week, so you have until midnight, November 19 to enter. Good luck!
*Photo Friday is a new occasional feature where I simply post a few photos I’ve taken recently. Sometimes there will be text involved, sometimes I will let the photos speak for themselves. Enjoy.*
I love that I can still hang my clothes out to dry. It is one of those little perks of living somewhere warm like Florida.
*As part of my participation in the 3/50 Project, I write about things I buy locally on the last Friday of every month. To learn more about the 3/50 Project, check out this post.*
This month, I only ended up shopping at two local stores, focusing mostly on grocery items. This wasn’t really intentional, it’s just how it worked out.
Whenever I buy ethnic groceries (Asian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic, etc) I always prefer to shop at a grocery that’s run by people from that region. The prices are generally better than chain grocery stores, the selection is better, and the atmosphere is always so much more interesting. I’ve got a sociology background, so I love learning about different cultures. My favorite local grocery store for Asian foods is Oceanic. I was running low on a lot of staples, so I stocked up on soy sauce, mirin, kim chee, hoisin and other delights.
I’m a bit of a tea snob; I absolutely love to drink tea brewed from loose leaves. My favorite place to buy loose leaf tea is Kaleisia. It’s pretty much one of the coolest places to hang out in Tampa, the owners are super nice, and they actually go to China several times a year and get new teas. Buying tea here is better for the environment too, because once you buy the tins the first time, you can get them refilled when you buy tea again, eliminating extra packaging (you can have it put in bags too, if you don’t want to buy the tin).
Shopping local is awesome (and delicious).
A few weeks ago, I posted about some great stuff I bought at a local antique shop. About a week after that post, I learned that one of those antique shops would be closing. Then I heard that another local antique shop I’d been meaning to visit was closing. Then I got an e-mail that Tampa Street Market would no longer have their brick and mortar location, and is going completely online. Last month, Bohemian Vintage closed their store front. I never got around to visiting there.
Seeing so many local shops go under is heart breaking to me. I love shopping at local stores. I like finding unique and interesting objects. I like meeting people who really care about their businesses and what they sell. I like buying things that support an individual and not a corporation. Not to mention the fact that buying local is simply fantastic for your local economy.
I recently read about The 3/50 project, and I love what they’re doing. They’re encouraging everyone to pick three local shops each month and spend $50 at those shops. (Of course, you can shop at more shops than that, and spend more than that. It’s just kind of catchy to call it 3/50). Their site is full of information and resources about why shopping local is so important.
I have decided to take on this project, and document it on the last Friday of every month (I meant to write this last week, but life got in the way). Every month, I’m going to post pictures of items that I bought locally, and talk a bit about the shops I bought them at. Since I already document clothes and accessories I buy at local stores with my shopping plan posts, the 3/50 posts will focus on other items.
I’d like to challenge everyone else to try spending $50 locally every month too. At first, it may sound like a financial burden, but it doesn’t have to be. Just shift the money that you would usually spend at big businesses to local businesses. Instead of buying coffee beans at a chain store, buy them at a local coffee roaster. Instead of buying some cheap furniture at a big box store, buy some cool (much more durable) furniture at a local antique shop. Instead of buying clothes at the mall, hit up a local thrift or consignment store.
And just a note: as I’ve said before, I don’t think that big box, chain stores, and malls are necessarily bad. I just think it’s good to have balance. I still shop at Target, the Gap, IKEA, Starbucks and plenty of other big chain stores. But I try to balance that out with local independent businesses as well. I think that in all things in life, balance is key.
