I am ordering a few things for Christmas gifts that I probably would not be able to find around here, but I’m hoping to do a lot of shopping locally as well. This year I am really focusing on limited and simple gifts that help local business and don’t produce too much waste (packaging, shipping from far off lands, etc.).

Local (mostly Auburn, NY) items that often end up on my shopping list for Christmas gifts:

• Gift certificates for Springside Inn (now has Oak & Vine Restaurant)
• Gift certificates for Balloons Restaurant
• Gift certificates for Sunset Restaurant
• Cosentino’s Florist: Fudge
• Cameron’s Bakery: Italian cookies & donuts
• Downtown Books: Children’s books
• Owasco Wines & Liquors: Wine

Even if you don’t live in my area, your town should have bakeries, florists, restaurants, wine shops, etc. This is a great time of year to give them business. I prefer to give gifts that can be consumed (food/drink) or that are experiential (gift certificates for movies/restaurants), but for kids I do give books, clothes, and toys.

Over a month has gone by since I last posted. The holidays came and I was pretty overwhelmed with the amount of “stuff”, even though I don’t think we went overboard…it was still a lot.

We are also in the middle of refinancing our mortgage. We finally decided to go for it even though it will take 2 years for us to recoup the closing costs. I don’t think we will be moving before then or anything. Plus, we will be saving tens of thousands of dollars in interest over the term of the loan.

Less Waste

The hard copy of our newspaper finally stopped coming yesterday! I will sign up for the e-edition soon.

I have really started to appreciate eBay. The saved searches are nice and I have found some great deals on gently used items. I’m currently looking for shoes for my daughters and duplos!

Part I

Paper is still being delivered even though we canceled it. The clothes, syrups, pancake mix, gift certificate are all Christmas gifts.  The only thing I’ll be keeping is the Santa photo. I did “refuse” the brochure about all of the different photo packages you can order. I just told the “elf” that I would look it all up online. I’m not buying any additional photos. We’ll scan this one and put the hard copy into a scrap book.

Part II

Almost all waste. The only things I want from this day of intake are the dresses and my Vogue magazine.

I don’t think Vogue has digital subscriptions, but I do get digital versions of other magazines (Martha Stewart Living & Veg News). Honestly, I really don’t enjoy the digital versions as much.

For 2012 I am resolving to buy second hand as much as possible. I’ve never really been a fan, but recently I have found great things for my girls at Dashing Bee and for them and myself on ebay (hello seven for all mankind jeans for $27!!). Second hand shopping where I live is probably not going to cut it for me, but I might try some of the thrift stores. I might have better luck at garage sales.

Laying out all of the stuff that comes into the house each day is pretty eye-opening. All of it needs to be sorted through, recycled, filed, or stored in some way. It is time-consuming to organize everything so I’m hoping to work on reducing how much comes in.

Two batches today (so far!)…

• Paper w/ inserts & packaging (plastic bag & rubber band)
• A gift my husband received from work

Batch 2 (the mail:

I like to get mail, but it is so wasteful! Everything in this photo will be recycled/thrown out with the exception of the black clip which is a replacement part for my Beco Baby Carrier (we lost the one that I had somehow, so I had to order this replacement…need to keep better track of my stuff!).

So many things coming into the house today. A quick trip to the grocery store for a few things (bread, deli meat & cheese, OJ – all with plastic packaging); newspaper (delivery should end tomorrow); cards; lots of junk mail, bills, catalogs. Missing from the photo is my husband’s lunch from Quizno’s and a couple of receipts.

Baby steps for today:

• Purchased a filter to use with my Brita pitcher (better than the plastic jugs of water that I have been buying, but hoping that the water tastes okay…sometimes even filtering doesn’t help the lake water)
• Received a paper Verizon bill – will sign up for electronic delivery instead

I have been inspired by Zero Waste Home to work on reducing the amount of waste our home produces. This will need to be done in baby steps. I’m aiming for a combination of taking in less “stuff”, decluttering what we do have, and sending less waste to the landfill. I am thinking that this will be a great 2012 resolution (along with spending less money and paying off debt).

I have decided to try documenting what our household takes in each day by photographing everything that comes into the house (mail, gifts, purchases, etc.). Then I hope to take small steps each day to reduce those things which we consume that end up becoming waste.

A few big areas of waste that I hope to address are:

• Compost: We have a ton of food waste. Need to learn more about composting and how it can be done in a city environment.
• Water: I really dislike the taste of our tap water and don’t trust the source so I buy the big plastic water dispensers for the fridge
• Packaged foods and using plastic bags for produce/deli/bulk items

Today’s intake (so far):

• Local paper (I love reading it, but hate that is filled with so many inserts I have no use for…so we canceled and I will get the news online)
• 3 Christmas cards & envelopes
• Brookstone catalog (will look online or call to be removed from list)
• 2 statements, privacy policy, & 3 envelopes (called to ask if they had e-notifications and they do not)

Other progress today:

• My husband called the local recycling agency and asked how we are supposed to recycle junk mail and white paper. They claim that it can be put in with newspaper. What?!?! The schedule/info that they send out specifically says do not recycle junk mail and computer/white paper isn’t listed anywhere. I have been throwing it all away for the past 4 years.

Here are a few things that I’m loving this summer…

Avalon Organics Face Wash

Avalon Organics Vitamin C Cleansing Gel ($6.50): Perfect scent for summer. These products are not actually organic, which is misleading, but this face wash is free of animal products and there is no animal testing.

Clinique Moisture Surge

Clinique Moisture Surge ($34): This product is meant to be used after the Clinique 3-step skincare system. I do use it that way, but I have also used it alone instead of moisturizer. It is a really great product for thirsty or combination skin. It feels very light and there is zero oil or greasiness. My skin immediately feels and looks softer after each use. I love this!

Neutrogena Dry Touch Sunblock

Neutrogena Dry Touch Sunblock ($8): For those who don’t like the oily feel of sunblock, this might be just the product for you. I use this on my face and I have found the product claims that it absorbs quickly and is ultra-light to be accurate.

Almay Smart Shade

Almay Smart Shade Makeup ($13.50): When it comes to foundation, I never know what to purchase. In an alternate reality where I have tons of time and money, I would go to the department store at the mall to try out several different kinds that are matched perfectly to my skin and leave with an amazing product that is easy to apply and looks great. Well…back to reality. If I can get to the grocery store with my two little ones I call it a successful day. This is a makeup that I can pick up at the grocery store. There are only 3 choices (light, light/medium, and medium). It is easy to apply (even without a mirror!). It has sunblock in it, another huge plus for busy moms who forget to apply sunblock to themselves after applying it to their kids. It is only light coverage, but it does even out skin tone a bit and is worth the money and 20 seconds that it takes to apply.

A couple of recent finds from the library:

Who Took the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?

by Bonnie Lass & Philemon Sturges, Illustrated by Ashley Wolff

This was a fun book about a search for missing cookies, of course. There are a series of clues that the main character follows in the quest to find the cookies. The rhyme is catchy and fun. My toddler really enjoyed this book. Pointing out the clues and asking her what animal she thinks the clue belongs to helped practice prediction…an important reading skill.

Where Giants Hide by Mij Kelly, Illustrated by Ross Collins

A pretty cute book. Our toddler loves being called “little giant”, so I picked up this book at the library. She liked it, but didn’t really ask us to read it to her repeatedly as she does with some other books.

This is quite a bit past due, but I wanted to document a little bit of Easter 2011! Evelyn received a great basket full of goodies from the Easter Bunny. We went to Easter Mass and she wore a dress from Little Maven that I had purchased on super sale for about $12 (marked down from about $50!).

Evelyn with her Easter Basket

Reused Items:

• Basket (we received as a gift last year)
• Easter grass (saved from last year and saved it again!)
• Easter eggs (reused eggs that we have picked up at various Easter egg hunts or received as gifts)

New Gifts:

• Piggy Bank from Target (I put a coin in each of the plastic eggs…trying to reduce the amount of candy she received!)
• Sticker books:
• 
• Chocolate chick and a white chocolate bunny (SMALL ones!)


Papa Please Get the Moon for Me



Eco Stars 100% Recycled Crayons ($10 for 20)

The recycled crayons have been a huge hit…she’s actually sitting next to me right now coloring with them.

Evelyn and I just finished our first semester of Music Together. I have to admit that I was hesitant to sign up at first. I had signed up for a different “brand” of music sessions in the past and we were the only people in the class. So, there wasn’t any interaction with other kids.  I was also reluctant about the cost (~$160 for a 10 class semester with music book, parent DVD, and 2 copies of the CD with songs from the semester).

Well the verdict is that our Music Together experience was great! There were at least 7 other caregiver/child pairs. Our instructor was wonderful and very welcoming. She had a great singing voice and played various instruments like the guitar and flute for some songs. I really saw a difference in Evelyn as the semester went on. She loved the songs, learned the lyrics to some of them, began interacting more and more in the class, etc. It was really fun!