my dirty secret: green envy

Pardon the interruption on the closing summer ceremonies. I need to call myself out.

I have green envy. Nope, I'm not talking about our landscaping this time.

I grew up green.

(I'm talking about earth-friendly kind! But unfortunately, the kissing kind too. #latebloomerproblems)

My mom is as green as they come. She uses things until they can't be used. And then she uses them a little bit longer. Accordingly, we were expected to follow her green-ery.

We saved cool whips containers, butter containers, spaghetti sauce jars, popsicle sticks...the list goes on and on.

We recycled everything. even toilet paper. juuust kidding.

But one habit my mom couldn't quite control was my extreme use of (bobby pins and) paper towels.

In my defense, I was really really busy in my teen years. For example, (let me stand on my soapbox for a sec) I balanced 3 jobs, a centerfold (careful now....) editor for the school newspaper, cheerleading, a competition show choir, various other organizations, social commitments as well as a small (depending on who you ask) case of OCD and germ phobia. (and spiders and raw meat).

I didn't have time to keep track of whether dish towels (that look like they survived a nuclear bomb) had been washed recently or not.

Paper towels or die. That was my motto to remain sane.

As I have proceeded through life, this paper towel obsession seems to have gotten worse, but I think that it's grown relative to the amount of domestic responsibilities that have increased?

Now, I am in control of dish towel washing (and replacing as necessary). I use a dish towel to dry off the dishes after they run through the dishwasher. Then it goes to the washing machine. I use a different dish towel that hangs on my oven for drying washed hands, but I can only stand to see the same one for a few days before it gets sent to the washer too.

I use paper towels when piper has accidents, cleaning up after raw meat and most food prep, and after washing my hands when dealing with raw meat, or giving piper a (salmonella filled) treat.

I use paper towels when cleaning with harsh chemicals in my shower, and even not-so-harsh chemicals cleaning the toilet and the rest of the bathroom.

I use paper towels to dry off the veggies that come out of our garden.

I'm sure I am forgetting some...

Before I show you the next picture...keep in mind that we fill our recycling bin (on the right) twice as fast as we fill our trashcan.

(drumroll please...)

You can't tell from the picture, but it is (not tightly) filled 3/4 of the way with paper towels (and some onion peels and tomato cores..wait until you see what I have been cooking up!). We go through a huge sam's club pack of paper towels once a month.

Do you have any ideas to help me wean myself off?!

I should probably just trust that my washing machine could handle cleaning dish towels and rags with chemicals and dirt... and salmonella, right?

free-me-from-this!
XO

my dirty secret: folding fail

In an effort to keep this blog real. for real, real. I would like to maintain a series of blog posts regarding topics that should remain behind closed doors. aka, my dirty laundry.

Here it goes.

Here is something I keep behind closed doors.

I know, you already saw these pillows here.

However, what you didn't see in that photo was this...

OK, here is all of it:

These are all of our socks that don't have a match. I refuse to throw them away. They have a match somewhere, right? 

They live in the guest bedroom. When we have friends and family over to our house, this door stays shut!

We don't get that many overnight guests, so we use the guest bed to house our unmatched socks as well as clean clothes that we are to lazy to fold. This photo is actually representing a good day. 

On a typical day, I have about 3-5 loads of clean clothes piled up on this bed. Ian and I pull the clean clothes off the bed we need during the week. About once a month, I do all the laundry and fold all the clothes. But 3 weeks out of the month, sadly, you could mistake the guest room for our laundry room.

Worried about wrinkly clothes? For the clothing we wear that could possibly get wrinkly, I do pull it out of the pile, shake it out a little and lay it flat on the bed.

Pathetic, I know. The time I take to pull it out of the pile, and lay it out flat, I could probably hang it up.

But, Ian's 100% on my team regarding this topic. Why waste the time to put it away when we will probably just be wearing it again soon? Love that guy.

We are lucky enough to have our laundry room (closet) on the second floor. It is a walk-in closet turned laundry room off of the third and smallest bedroom. Then the next room over is the guest bedroom, and few more steps is our bedroom. You might even cringe further when I tell you that that door you see in the photo above is actually Ian's closet. His closet and dresser are in the guest room.

Pure laziness.

Laundry, check. Folding, fail.

What do you keep hidden behind closed doors?

XO

landscaping: green envy

Yes, you read that right. I am not green with envy, I have green envy.

I miss our old grass.

Grass, that just a couple months ago was as green as green can be.
Greener than romaine lettuce and dollar bills.

Now, our grass is brown, straw-like and spiky.

Piper (who is finally potty trained) is confused by this crunchy mess that once was a luscious-comfy medium for rolling, peeing and playing.

And, our investment in perennial plants this year might be loss. #deadforever

This realization that our approx. $200 investment in perennials this year might be a complete waste, reminds me of a conversation I had with my mom early in the spring. a foot-in-mouth realization. 


My mom spent an entire afternoon digging up her hostas, splitting them and replanting them. I think my comment was something along the lines of..."Mom, why are you wasting your time? Just go buy some more hostas to plant." (Savanna, why don't you put your foot in your mouth and shut up.) 


Plants are not cheap! Why not be resourceful and split overgrown hostas? That's a great idea to save money!

Let's reminisce on this green wonderfulness, and all of our hard work this spring...

Ian and I spent the first beautiful March day adding stones around our landscaping. (photo was taken after new mulch and added perennials)

Then, on a another nice spring day, we went to a local florist and picked out a car full of perennials.

We bought an assortment of hosta, stonecrop and succulent (hen and chicks) plants.

We I went around the house and placed the plants where we I thought they would look best and began digging.

Ok...Ian began digging. Piper helped him and I took the pictures. I'm not kidding you, by the time I got done taking the "before" pictures, Ian was done planting. He is Mr. speedy-planter-extroardinaire. (or I'm a slow picture taker?)

Ian was going so fast, Piper couldn't even keep up.

I received some hesitation about choosing hen and chicks for our landscaping because they really do well in more "desert" like environments, in rock gardens and in the sun.

Well let me tell you, it couldn't of been a more perfect year for my hens. They are growing their little chicks like crazy!

I love these things! Next year I would love to plant them in pots or planters like this:

via

The stonecrop also looks great still, but our hostas are toasted.

In fact, our stonecrop plants are doing so well that I decided to trim and few stems and bring them inside. I did a little experiment that I can currently report as a success. I put the stems in a apothecary jar with some water on Saturday, and they haven't died yet!

After our planting was complete, Ian decided we needed new mulch. The next open weekend, Ian got some mulch and started mulching!

(yes, Ian is wearing the same outfit as the above photos, but it is a different weekend!)

Before

After

Mulch does make a big difference:

Our yard looked great until mid-July. It's a little depressing to think that all of our hard work has dried up, but there is always next spring to try again!

Please rain.

XO!

How to: avoid making curtains

I was lucky to have received this wonderful Christmas gift. 7 months ago.

In February, I took a beginner level sewing class, half of which was spent trying to get my machine threaded properly. Two experienced sewing instructers couldn't figure it out, so I had to run home in the middle of class to get the information manual. Apparently, my machine was completely different than any sewing machine they had used, or taught on before.

By the time I got back to class with the manual and got the machine threaded, the rest of the class had already learned how to do seams, interfacing and make a pillow cover. bummer. 

This was not the beginning to this sewing adventure that I had hoped for...

I tried to catch up before the class ended... and then began dreaming up all the things I was going to making real soon.

scarf/table runner/pillow cover

A couple of months went by and my sewing machine was working very hard collecting dust. 

In the interest of beginning a new sewing project, I decided to move our white Ikea curtains from our bedroom to our guest bedroom, as shown below.

At the time, I was pleased to de-nakify the guest room, but now I want to find red and white pattern curtains to coordinate with the pillows in that room (in the photo below) and add tiebacks to have the curtains frame the window, not hang down the middle.

Since our bedroom was left bare, I was going make curtains...

Right after I checked TJ MAXX first, just in case they had something perfect. and cheap.

Well, by golly... you would never believe that I found the perfect color curtains for $14.99. They matched our bedding and you CANNOT make curtains for $14.99. (If you can, don't tell me.)

However, before I could hang the panels, I had to take care of fixing the curtain rod. The rod is a 1900's classic. It is a tiny metal bar that is literally held in the middle by balancing on a nail head. 

Nope, didn't fix that part, but I did need to spray paint it white because it was driving me crazy as the only non-white element. 

So, we did what any DIY virgins would do and hung the rod from a tree, with a wire, and spray painted it.

From the photos you can probably tell from what Ian is wearing, and the color of the grass, that this was spring time. 

What do you think our neighbors were thinking?

Ian took over the project, like usual. I shouldn't complain, because I am glad he likes to get involved with my crazy projects. 

He took care of the spraying, and I ironed the curtains.

Quickly the project was completed and I was happy with the final results. The curtains pulled together our bedding and our basket drawers. 

So, there is your answer. If you want to avoid making curtains, go to TJ MAXX.

However, there is one instance where you cannot avoid making curtains. That instance is when your mother-in-law calls you to help her sew a valance for her updated bathroom...on the sewing machine that she got you for Christmas... that you are supposed to know how to use by now.

crap.

"Sure come on over and we can figure it out!"

Long story short, we ended up messing it up big time. We sewed the part where the rod goes through inside out. If you do this, you can not turn your valance right side out to hang. Lesson learned, the section where the rod should go through should have been sewn while the valance was right side out. Lori, my mother-in-law, took a seam ripper to part of it, and came over the next day while I was at work to fix that part. It is hanging in her bathroom, and it's only slightly crooked. Not too bad for two non-sewers.

With that experience under my belt, I'm ready to take on the guest bedroom curtains, living room curtains and living room pillow covers, for real this time. No TJ MAXX!

I'm having a hard time committing to fabrics, but as soon as that happens, my sewing machine and my ego are sure to get a workout. 

Here are some fabric ideas I have been playing around with for our living room: 

Once I narrow down my fabric selections, I'll be sure to share.

xo

lycopersicon esculentum hypochondriac

Definitions
Lycopersicon esculentum = tomato
Hypochondriac = personal problem


Part 1: Let me introduce you to hypochondriac Savanna I warned you about here...
Currently, Ian and I don't make it a point to buy organic fruits and vegetables. I've looked at the list of the fruits and vegetables with the highest risk of pesticide residue (dirty dozen) and the only "dirty" vegetable we eat on an almost daily basis is lettuce. There are also few more fruits and veggies on the higher risk list that we eat somewhat regularly/seasonally: blueberries, strawberries and green peppers. We thoroughly wash our fruits and vegetables and hope for the best. 


We have discussed switching over (making the investment/gambling on long term health benefits) to organic fruits and vegetables on the "dirty list" (if and) when I become pregnant. But, until then, we do try to make other (more affordable) smart choices like choosing fresh food over eating food from cans or frozen meals. Oh, and we don't microwave in plastic. don't do it! (and every once in a while, like last night, we make a random/horrible choice Taco Bell for dinner. crap.)


There are a million hypochondriac things I worry about.... not on a daily basis, but in waves, like:
- are we eating healthy enough?
- pesticides on our food and in the air (living near so many farms)
- possible lead contaminated paint on or in my house
- using safe household cleaners and personal hygiene products 


Most of the anti-crunchy-granola people I know (ahem, my parents age) proudly remind me that they are alive (duh), and they lived through the height of lead paint use, lead in metal toys and the plastic boom of the 1960's...aaaaand the earliest version of the microwave...


In my defense, I come from a generation that has grown up with/and continues to use the abundant available information via the weber-net (hehe)...there are lots of studies...and lots of stories to sift through. It's hard to ignore and it's difficult to decide what information is worth believing. I know it's about balance. I need to take the information available to me and make reasonable decisions that fit our lifestyle. Therefore, when our family becomes more than 2 + dog, we will probably switch to more organic food options. We have already started switching over some of our household cleaners to more natural products. Lastly, I have been switching over to organic/natural personal hygiene products as my old ones run out. 


Is this going somewhere? Oh yes.... 


Part 2: Let me introduce you to my chipping house full of character...

The house has been repainted in the last 8 years, but what's happening is all the layers of paint are chipping off together. And because there are layers of paint that date back to 1920, there is a possibility that there could be lead contaminating the soil right around our house. The chipping isn't bad, but mostly prevalent after a bad storm, and a potential risk. (We plan to take care of this and paint or add siding at some point.)


Here is where our tomatoes and peppers were planted last year. (Now, this place is the home of some lovely un-edible perennials we planted this year.)

Some good friends of ours, with a house about the same age, had a study done on their soil and found that their soil did have higher levels of lead, but the soil examiners told them that the lead does not contaminate tomatoes. However, after some negotiation with the hubs, we added perennials around the house and made a separate garden for my own sanity. 


Part 3: Let me introduce you to our new garden... 


Because we had the space and the ability, I annoyingly nagged until I got my way voted that we build a raised garden with soil that is more likely to be lead free.


And, although the tomato plants last year grew big with the help of non-organic plant food and miracle grow (pesticide).... in effort to be as healthy as possible this year we decided try to grow our plants without plant food or miracle grow. Just rain a sprinkler and shine..


We began building the garden the weekend after Memorial Day weekend. 


***please note that all of our grass is now brown, don't feel bad that your yard probably looks like poop. The only green grass we have now is a foot around our garden because of our sprinkler***


Ian bought 5 railroad ties from Menards for $8 a pc. = $40.00. His brother helped him place them in our side yard.

Please ignore the terrible lack of landscaping here. We tend to forget about the side yard because the yard and that garage actually belong to the duplex next door, which Ian's family own. With his family's permission, we decided to put the garden here as our yard is pretty small. In case you are wondering, the railroad tie in the middle is for walking through the garden, if needed.

Here is one perspective of the garden below. That is our house, then a public alley and then you can see the railroad ties to the bottom left of the photo near the lilac tree.

Here is a another perspective.  You can see the duplex (and a guy cutting tile for a bathroom remodel/and Ian's mom, brother and brother's girlfriend) next door with the railroad ties between us. a family affair.

Ian and his dad took soil off his parent's land in the middle of the woods. This saved us a lot of money!

We planted a variety of 6 tomato plants and a variety of 8 pepper plants.

Despite 1) the crazy summer heat 2) the lack of rain 3) lack of plant food/fertilizer, the garden has been doing very well. We Ian waters the garden almost every day.


Here is what our garden looks like today!

jungle o' veggies

I see some baby peppers!

Our first pick. Grape tomatoes.

Darn hot summer!
XO

slacker

So am I a major slacker - blogger, or what!?

I'm full of empty promises, making you hold on for weeks, almost months for my over-sharing awesome stories. Here I am now... summer recluse. Well, blogger recluse. I've been more than busy every weekend with wedding and baby showers, visiting friends and family in Indy and spending time at Ian's family lake house. 

Because I over analyze everything, I have decided I might be a seasonal blogger (like my seasonal allergies) and think I used blogging in the spring to overcome my winter blues? Now summer is here and I'm back to normal and I can't get myself to sit down in front of my computer long enough to type some words (well, more than a Facebook post).

Frankly, I don't know where to begin. I have about a bazillion things to share.

I know, let's start here...

I mentioned Memorial Day weekend here. Ian and I had a wonderful weekend with his family. We didn't make it out to dinner by ourselves, but we enjoyed a meal in celebration of his Aunt Sue's birthday, where we met 5 years before. Same place, same people, same reason!

Here is a picture of our little family. (Oh, and my shorter hair cut! No more Piper hair anymore! Ian told me my haircut was more age appropriate. Isn't he dead meat sweet?)

Here are some more photos of the weekend.

hi Piper!

Some of Ian's cousins and their significant others... (who is that short girl?)

cousin Emily and Brad's son Jake

playing in the sandbox

cousin Erin and Kable's daughter Judy

before the dry summer 

cousin Erin and Kable's son James

Sweet sweet summer!
XO