Pixie, kobold, elf, and sprite, All are on their rounds tonight; In the wan moon’s silver ray, Thrives their helter-skelter play. ~Joel Benton
Obligatory Halloween roundup 🙂
Cass dressed as a farmer for Harvest Day for school.
And as Jessie from Toy Story for trick-or-treating. Yes, it’s Disney but at least not a princess, I’m not a total tyrant.
Jessie has scary big eyes. Details matter, yo.
Maverick at 11 felt like he was too old for costumes… but when it came to zero hour he decided he wasn’t too old to beg for candy. So Jeff threw together a hazmat costume for him with a Tyvek suit, construction helmet and gas mask we had lying around. Halloween is when hoarding comes in handy.
Jacob escaped early to hang out with friends so I don’t have photos of him in his zombiefied state, but. You know. 13yo zombie, I’m sure you can picture it.
Stuck in line at Hot Topic shopping for Jake’s back-to-school clothes, I gave in to the siren call of the Yellow Power Ranger (which in the inaugural season was an asian girl so I think I’m funny every time I wear it). Usually I pair it with jeans like a normal person, but yesterday Tshirt + leggings + boots = laziest Halloween costume ever.
No one even looked twice, though, so I’ve now decided this isn’t a costume at all but actually a totally acceptable outfit for grocery shopping. Am I right or am I right?
The mountains of things we throw away are much greater than the things we use.
In this, if in no other way, we can see the wild and reckless exuberance of our production, and waste seems to be the index.
-John Steinbeck,
Travels With Charley
I’ve written before about my attempts to live the life less plastic, and in particular my attempt to stop using those awful thin plastic bags in the produce section.
Plastic is fossil fuel-intensive to create, and it never goes away. Never. It just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually being consumed by larger creatures, taking up more and more room in their stomachs until they starve to death; or breaking down still further, absorbing pollutants, and working its way up the food chain.
We can’t speak of a sustainable lifestyle without talking plastic, because we can’t possibly continue to consume and throw away at this rate.
I was recently sent a set of organic cotton reusable produce bags from A Greener Kitchen to try out. A Greener Kitchen offers eco-friendly kitchen & dining products, including organic cotton aprons, bamboo cutting boards, eco-friendly cleaning tools and biodegradable trash bags.
The produce bags are actually made using upcycled material left over from the organic cotton aprons (as a compulsive sewing scrap collector this detail delights me). Each set consists of six bags in varying sizes: two 6”x7” (appropriate for small snacks or things like bulk spices, nuts or maybe blueberries), two 9”x9” (apples and grapes and whatnot) and two 12”x16” bags (celery, asparagus). They feel elegant and look like little works of art, really.
Our organic cotton products are cut and sewn in the USA by family-owned Tailoredwear, Inc. using fabric from Harmony Art, one of the USA’s few eco-friendly textile artisans. Harmony Art sources their organic cotton from Texas and India. For their fabrics made in India, the fiber is Fair Trade Certified, and the fabric is produced in a Fair Trade certified facility.
Now, the other reusable bags I have are mesh, so cashiers can find the SKU code without opening the bag. In theory. In reality, they always want to open the bag, presumably to make sure I’m not stealing caviar and saffron. So the fact that these bags aren’t see-through doesn’t bother me in the least, and the genius little attached elastic loop make it easy for the cashier to peek inside and confirm that I’m not robbing them blind.
And then reclose so I don’t have blueberries rolling around my trunk.
A Greener Kitchen’s Organic Cotton Reusable Produce Bags are available for purchase here for $24.95. While you’re there, check out the rest of their lovely organic cotton kitchen products— aprons, reusable produce bags, napkins, and table runners. (I LOVE TABLE RUNNERS, BTW.)
Win It!
A Greener Kitchen is giving away a set of reusable produce bags to one lucky reader! Just follow the directions below to enter.
Buying anything is sort of an ordeal with me. I research. I weigh needs, whether we have the money right now, whether we might need that money later. I weigh company ethics, the materials used, the footprints. With food I weigh origin, nutrition, packaging, whether anyone is likely to really eat it.
I believe in paying the money for good shoes. Unhappy feet make for unhappy lives.
But? I tend to take FOREVER to choose shoes. I’m super picky. They need to be badass. They have to be tough enough to inspire me to walk the goddess walk. They have to be built to last, because I only buy one pair a year. They have to be comfortable enough for me to take long walks in, to be on my feet all day in, to skip down the street in, Laverne & Shirley style. And they have to fit right, which is super hard with my flappy frog feet (long, narrow, skinny ankles, wider at the toe).
TRIVIA MOMENT: I have also been known to buy beautiful shoes and display them on a shelf like artwork because I can’t wear them. Not in recent years. But I’ve done it. More than once. I can’t wear an uncomfortable shoe. But I can admire it.
Earthies shoes are that rare marriage of stylish and comfortable. For realz. I did have to try on a few different sizes and styles to get a perfect fit, as they are generously sized for width— not overly so, but enough that in open-toed crisscross heels I was sliding around a bit. The pair I settled on are the Jasko ankle booties pictured above, and they give me a lovely height in the wideleg jeans I bought and hadn’t got around to hemming yet:
What I love about a nice stacked tall heel is the swagger. I love clomping around in a good sturdy heel, and I love that these are laid-back enough to wear with my jeans, yet elegant enough to wear with a dress. Double prizes!
Usually a day in my heels leaves me whimpering and with screaming calves. Not so with these bad boys. These are like hardcore orthopedic comfort. Like walking on attitude-inspiring, prescribed arch supporting pillows.
What differentiates an Earthies® style from a conventional heeled offering is a unique “wellness” footbed. The footbed includes a cupped heel, enhanced arch support and a cradled toe box – each of which are designed to work in concert to help distribute weight more evenly across the foot and body. The result? A collection of trend-right silhouettes from sassy pumps to faux fur-lined booties that deliver comfort in the most unexpectedly wonderful way.
I'm totally wearing a dress here, but my photographer failed to include it
Earthies are part of the Earth, Inc. brand— an on-trend extension of their shoes and clothing lines that strive to use materials and design processes that are gentle on the environment.
The negative heel and wellness footbed debuted in 1970, and were designed to improve posture, reduce joint stress and open breathing passages by mimicking the yoga ‘Mountain’ pose. That’s sort of awesome, no?
The selection runs from casual to fashion-y to athletic to vegan to men’s styles, and I see about 15 pair that I really really like.
And you know they won’t wind up sitting on a shelf. These are shoes for living in.
Wanna win a pair of Earthies?
I thought you might.
Just follow the directions below (if you’re reading this in RSS or email you might have to come visit the actual page. It’s nice here!).
And just a thought, you should totally like the Earthies fan page on the Facebook. Because I’m not the only one running a giveaway, people. Keep an eye on that wall and keep trying to win these suckers!
