What I Ate in a Day 1/6/18

After my first abbrieviated first attempt at What I Ate in a Day, I have a more complete day of eating here. There are two coffee roasters within walking distance from my house. My favorite is Asbury Park Roasters, but I also occasionally go to the other roastery, Bookerdoo. 

For breakfast, I had a simple wrap of cheese and left over sweet potatoes and broccoli. 

I didn't actually drink this Brew Dr Kombucha on this day, but I wanted to spotlight it here bc it's my favorite kombucha lately. It's very mild, I think bc it's main ingredient is tea. It's also as close to zero waste as I can get; glass bottle, metal cap, no plastic ring on top. 

I've been eating a lot of cara cara oranges lately. I recently discovered them and they are almost a mix of a navel orange and a grapefruit!

We've been obsessed with going to our new local ramen place!! The lighting is poor, so I only got a photo of this age tofu, but we also got veggie gyoza and miso ramen with tofu and veggies. 

I was craving something sweet and made a super rich hot chocolate with cacao powder, maca powder, maple syrup and cashew milk. 

More fruit!! You may have noticed that we are mostly vegetarian (occasionally we eat fish) and plant based. I know I feel best when eating a ton of fruit and veggies, and very little processed foods. This winter, I'm trying to get back to eating LOTS of whole fruit. 

For dinner we had one of our favorite meals, pierogies and kale. These are the simplest store-bought ones I can find. They do come in a plastic bag, but we take them to be recycled at our local drop off bin. 

Who out there enjoys seeing what people eat each day? I'm still watching a ton of youtube vids of people's daily eating! 

Bullet Journal Check In: Bullet Journal + Capsule Wardrobe

Using my Bullet Journal and creating my capsule wardrobe go hand in hand! I like to use my bullet journal to jot down notes about upcoming capsules, ideas for capsule blog posts, to list things that I want in my capsule, etc... I also make a list when doing the photos for each capsule blog post of what actually is in my capsule. 

I have started keeping a outfit tracker. This is something I have done off and on in my journals. For this capsule, bc it's a bit larger than my last two, I wanted to track what I was wearing most, and what I was loving to wear. 

How do you use your BuJo and your capsule wardrobe together?

Year of the Stash / 2018

In 2016, Quarter Inch from the Edge started Year Of The Stash. In 2017 I continued the tradition on my own. I made monthly tracking reports and YOTS became a way to showcase some ideas I have about quilting as well as how I use my stash. Even though the community aspect of Year Of The Stash was gone, and the fact that my intake was far more than my output, I feel like 2017 was the best year yet! Let see how much stash we can use in 2018!

I like to start each Year by creating a manifesto to follow. 
1) Buy less / use more. Pretty much every YOTS should be about using up what we have, but also about not bringing much new fabric in to the stash. I always leave room to find vintage or reclaimed fabric bc I try to always use some of these fabrics in my work. 
2) Incorporate some vintage, reclaimed, and or repurposed fabric in all work. I feel more satisfied if I'm using vintage and reclaimed fabric in my work.
3) All the finishes. There are a lot of projects I want to see to completion this year and there's no better way to use up stash!! 
4) Remember zero waste sensibilities while sewing. My Zero Waste journey has me thinking about organic, sustainable, local, hand made, reclaimed, and thrifted fabric and techniques this Year. 

And here is my fabric intake/output so far: 
Fabric Added from the Start of the Year: 0
Fabric Added Year to Date: 0
Fabric Used Since Start of the Year: 0  
Fabric Used Year to Date: 0 

Who else is making 2018 a Year Of The Stash? Share your manifest below and let's get started!

2017 manifesto:
1) Use as much stash as possible. Last year, I said buy less, this year my mantra will be use more. I will still try to buy less, of course, but 2016 really gave me a good appetite for not buying. 
2) Incorporate some vintage, reclaimed, and or repurposed fabric in all work. I feel more satisfied if I'm using vintage and reclaimed fabric in my work.
3) Sew, Sew, Sew. I'm starting off another year hoping for a finish each month. I have a lot of stash to help me with this.  

2016 manifesto:
1) Buy as little new fabric as possible. I won't say buy none. I want to be free to get a great new piece here or there, patron indy quilt shops, or buy backing when needed. I'll buy used, reclaimed, and/or vintage fabric when possible. I pride myself on using these fabrics in my quilts, and need to scoop them up when they preset themselves. But I want to be mindful not to add too much to my stash!
2) Use some used, vintage and/or reclaimed fabrics in all quilts. Last year was the first time I used all new fabric for some quilts and it just didn't feel right. As I said above, I pride myself to use these vintage items, and I need to get back to that. I have such a wonderful collection in my stash, it needs to get out into the world!  
3) Organize as I go. When we moved, I started folding and color coordinating my stash and discovered that I have far too much fabric!! I barely made a dent before I filled up the entire space I'd set aside. I'd like to utilize this space better this year. I want to use up, organize, and consolidate during The Year of the Stash!
4) Sew, sew, sew! One of my goals is to have at least one finish per month, I'd also like to make one new block per month. Sourcing from my stash will help me as I have so many wonderful fabrics at my fingertips!

Mad Cat Capsule : Winter 2018 (January - March)

This capsule marks the end of my first year having a capsule wardrobe. My Winter capsule came about pretty easily. The way I create my capsule is to take absolutely all my clothes from everywhere and put them on the couch.  This was the first capsule where I was able to fit everything in the "extra clothes" bins I keep. Before now, clothes were spilling out all over. I was also able to sort all the clothes that aren't in this capsule by item. Previously, there were just too many pieces of clothing to keep track of. Keeping a seasonal capsule wardrobe has been a great way for me to let go of things and wear what I love while paring down. I created two paper grocery bags full of clothes to giveaway or donate because of the sorting of this capsule. 

For my Winter capsule, I really wanted to change things up. I have had so many of the same pieces in my first three capsules and although I love them, I was for something a little different this time around. In my other capsules the color blue played a big role, but for Winter I took all the blue out of my wardrobe. I also swapped out some favorite tees and staples for new and different items. My color palate for the Winter months are greens, creams, grey and heavy on the black. 

I'm glad that most of my wardrobe still falls under slow fashion, with many items being 10 years old or older, bought second hand, or bought in indie shops. I'm also super excited to include my first purchases from sustainable, responsible companies. 

6 t shirts - I kept my grey v neck (10+ years), this piece has been in all my capsules. My green v neck (10+), Happy Bday sandwiches cat shirt (thrifted), skeleton shirt (10+), cream pizza shirt from work, green xmas shirt from work.  

6 tanks - Most of the tanks in my capsule are 10+ years old. I have a grey, black and green with owls tanks, all from old navy.  I also have a cream tank (10+) and a army green tank and a black spaghetti strap tank (both getting close to 10+). 

5 long sleeve tees - I added a lot of layering tees in this capsule and so far, 10 days in, I'm so glad I did! I have three waffle tees, two 10+ from America Apparel (one grey and one light green) and one dark green (that one is getting up there). I also have a 3/4 sleeve black tee that must be at least 15 years old. Same with a long sleeve green tee that I've had forever. 

6 "fancy" shirts - I'm trying to add some flair into Winter, let's see how that works. The black sheer top, green feather top, and grey lace top are fairly new (6+ years). The gold flowy top and the anchor top are newly thrifted. I also purchased a new top from Everlane that falls into the "fancy" category. 

5 skirts - The long black skirt has been in my previous capsules and is newer (4+ years). It was bought at a local indie shop when I lived in Brooklyn. The black cord mini is 10+. The grey wool skirt is thrifted and the black leather is thrifted and probably at least 20 years old. I also have a long grey leather skirt that I got at a stoop sale (15+). 

6 jeans - My grey jeans, black jeans, and green jeans were all thrifted last year. My levis are well past 10 years old. I plan on doing a full review of my new Everlane jeans soon!

7 sweaters - I have two thrifted sweaters, a grey one and a mottled one with a cowl neck. I have two cardigans both 4 - 7 years old (the black one was bought in an indie shop). I have a cream wool sweater, a dark grey sweater, but my favorite sweater is a over sized teal sweater I got about 4 years ago. 

I don't include underwear, leggings, tights, exercise clothes, sleepware, or outerware in my capsules. But this season I am including shoes! I have 10 pairs of shoes for the Winter capsule. I plan to shoe these in another post. I hope to pare down my shoes, just like my clothes! 

This capsule is quite large, about as large as my very first capsule of clothes alone was!! I have about 51 items in this capsule (at least 23 of them slow fashion). For me, capsule wardrobes aren't about the perfect number, they are about mindful choices and wearing things I love. 

Who else is starting a new capsule in January? Is it Winter or Summer where you are? What are your go to cold weather clothes?

2018FAL Q1

Here we are at the start of another Finish ALong! I didn't get much done for my 2017FAL, but it always feels good to set some goals, so I'm excited for 2018! This year, I plan to have 3 - 4 goals per Quarter and loosely hope to finish them each month. 

1) Baste, quilt, bind, label and gift Baby Quilt One.

This is my January goal. 

2) Baste, quilt, bind, label and gift Baby Quilt Two

This February goal is waaaay over due!

3) Finish quilting, bind, label, Maybe Quilt.

Gotta get this quilt finished for March!!

Bonus: Add borders, baste, quilt, and label Isaac Quilt. 

This one will be a must quilt over the next 3 months in Q2, so if it gets done early, all the better!!

I'm ready for a new year. Let's get started!!

Shelfie 006

My extremely dirty compost container and some plants propagating in the kitchen.  

January 2018 OMG

I'm way behind on two quilts I was supposed to complete. Finishing one of these will be the first One Monthly Goal of 2018!!

I still have to baste these quilts, quilt them, label and gift. These are both small and finishing one of them should be a doable goal!!

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts to start another great year of OMG!!

2017FAL Q4 Wrap Up

1. Finish top, finish back, baste, quilt, bind, label and gift Mystery Quilt.
2. Finish top, make back, baste, quilt, bind, label and gift Stripy Baby Quilt.
3. Add borders, make back, baste, quilt, bind, label and gift Quilt for Isaac.
Bonus: Maybe Lyz Quilt.

Nothing on my FAL Q4 got finished, unfortunately. Some work got done on the first two quilts so that's something at least. I did have one finish in this quarter, but I didn't include it on my Q4 list!

Over all the 2017FAL was not my most productive. Only one project on all of my lists for all four quarters got done this year!! Despite this fact, I felt really good about this FAL and I can't wait to get started on 2018!! 

December in Review

Another year, done and dusted. 2017 was pretty tough, but it had so many great moments as well, and December is a perfect example. 

We dealt with sickness, stress, anxiety, this month but also new beginnings, goals achieved, spending time with family and friends, and greeting our newest family member!

We didn't get to the beach or to travel as much as we would have liked. But we always try to squeeze those things in where we can. We decorated, cooked, played clue, took walks, and chatted with family and friends for the holiday season. For those who are far from us, we talked on the phone, texted and sent photos. I didn't get to send a holiday card in 2017, but there's always new year cards!

The weather turned brutally cold and the holidays are a hectic time at work, so we didn't get to walk too much, but some #watchercats were seen, and some were right under our noses at home.

December saw sickness and new beginnings. We're still fighting off illness in our clowder of cats, and I'm hoping January will see a break from sad babies and sadder cat mom (me). We are still figuring out our new addition, but check it out! He already has his own insta! 

In Dec, we tried to eat well, stay cozy and keep the Winter blues at bay. We weren't always successful. But discovering a juicy new apple, spreading light through our house, listening to records, plant maintenance, plus more self care, helped us see some bright sides.  

For this the last month of 2017, and for the whole year with all it's ups and downs, we are thankful. We are thankful for a new year ahead. January 2018, here we come!!

2018 Goals

It's that time again, time to think about the new year ahead and what I'd like to focus on, be mindful about and accomplish. I don't consider these task or resolutions, mearly guidelines for growth. 

Be Balanced in Home Life/Art/Personal Endeavors and Work
Since 2015 working on personal endeavors as much as my job has been one of my main goals. At some times this works, at others it does not. In 2018, I would like to continue on this path but to change it slightly. What I find most difficult sometimes is splitting my focus, trying to keep my work, art, life and job separate but equal. This year I want to focus on keeping them Balanced.

Sew and Quilt More
In 2017 my quilting fell off the map a little after a strong start to the year. I want to get back in the habit of working on quilting more days than I don't. I want to have more finishes in 2018 than last year. There are a bunch of projects (not quilts) that I have been wanting to work on; I'd like to get these done this year! I want to keep up with all my community sewing projects, like YOTS, OMG, and FALs. 

Be a Better Blogger
I want to keep up my progress on my blog and set some goals for myself. I want to make sure I blog at least 23 days each month, explore my favorite columns more, create new content, and make bloggy connections. I want to get back in the habit of writing in my live journal, and use it more as a free flowing, personal, brain dump, style actual journal. I plan to get some items that will help me at work, but I plan to use them for my blogging life as well. I plan to try a standing desk. I have to learn to get better about answering comments!!

Zero Waste Journey
Last year I began my zero waste journey. In 2018, I plan to continue this journey and take more steps towards becoming plastic free. At the moment, I feel like I still hold myself back from taking easy steps towards this goal, so becoming more mindful and incorporating more ZW routines into my daily life are key for this goal. 

Be Purposeful and Mindful in My Home Life and Relationships
This is a big goal, but I can break it down. 
First and foremost, I want to spend more time with my husband and the cats, and make that time more purposeful. We live very busy lives and sometimes togetherness and quality time get pushed to the side. I want to make sure I'm mindful of the little things, like taking photos together, going on walks, exploring, beach combing, and being together intentionally. I want to make sure we are caring for the cats, appreciating where we live and the seasons. 
I made strides in decluttering and keeping the house clean, happy and healthy in 2017. This year I want to get even better. I want to tackle a few bigger projects around the house, like finishing our kitchen renovation, fixing up our bathroom, organizing and purging the basement, plus more. I want to continue to take good care of the plants. 
I want to continue to see and be mindful about connecting with my family and friends. This includes my immediate family, who live close, but also those that live far away, and friends near and far. 
This year, I want to focus on gardening, taking care of our yard, growing food, and composting. Since moving we have wanted to make our property more comfortable and useful. This is the year to do that in earnest. 

Improve My Health, Wellness, and Mental Well Being. 
A lot of things last year worked towards this goal, but in 2018 I want to be more mindful and more intent on really taking care of my health. In February, I turn 39 and I want to make sure that I get healthier and happier as I get older. I want to walk and exercise more regularly and purposely. I want to swim in the summer and learn to do yoga and home workouts. 2018 will be the year I can touch my toes!!
My first full year of having a capsule wardrobe is approaching and I have loved this challenge and routine. I plan to implement even more consciousness about my style and outward appearence to feel better about myself in 2018. 
I want to continue to eat and be more mindful of having a plant based diet. I want to make sure that we are eating locally and sustainably as much as possible. I want to increase our health using suppliments, vitamins, essenital oils, and exercise. I also want to make sure I'm maintaining my health by taking my inhaler. My asthma has gotten worse in the last few months and I know this is due to not being strict on taking my meds and also not exercising properly. 
Reading, drawing, sewing, creating, and organization have always helped my mental well being and this year I want to focus on all these areas. Watching tv does the opposite, so I want to be mindful of moving away from this fun but unproductive activity. 

Make Time To Travel and Explore 
This should be a priority for us but it must be balanced with being at home in our own space. Challenges like exploring one new place per month, doing an overnight every two months, seeing art once a month, going to the beach once a week, etc...  might help strike this balance. 

Write 2 Letters Per Month
Writing letters gave me so much joy last year, but I never made the time to do it in a purposeful way. In 2018, I plan to change that. 

Create 1 Tattoo Per Month
I have very slowly been learning to do Stick and Poke tattoos. This year it's time to branch out and seriously improve this skill. One tattoo per mouth is really ambitious but it's a good goal to strive for. 

Save Money
We did a good job at saving money and at not over spending in 2017. 2018 is the first year since we moved to NJ that I will work full time all year and I want to have some money saved to show for it. 

All these goals may seem like a lot, but so many of them go hand in hand and lend themselves to each other. Continuing to go zero waste will help me live healthier, save money, declutter, and improves my mental health. Being mindful about togetherness helps me keep our home clean and happy, saves money, and lets me focus on my family. Sewing helps me blog, explore, meditate, and moves me forward on my zero waste path. And so on, and so on!

I'm really excited about these goals and guidelines and the year ahead!
Feel free to leave your 2018 goals in the comments!

2017 Goals Review

For a while now, at the beginning of each year I have set a list of goals for myself for that year. These are not set tasks to accomplish or resolutions, but ideas and goals to be more mindful about in the coming year. At the end of the year, I like to look back and see what those goals manifested and how they pertained to this blog. 

Here are what my goals list looked like for 2017 and my thoughts on how they went:

Work on Personal Endeavors as Much as My Job
In 2015 I wrote: "I have to make my art and sewing a priority in my life and not let working at my job be the only or most urgent thing that drives me". Ever since then, I have been working towards this goal, that has come to not only encompass Art but also other important aspects of my Life outside of a job. After we moved, in late 2015 and early 2016, I tried very hard to take a break from a job, I tried to work outside of the house less and in the house more. It had mixed results but it gave me a lot of insight into myself and how I work, and what work means to me, both my own and my job. This year, I plan on further committing to working a job less and working for myself more. One idea I have for this, inspired by my new beach town life style, is to make Summer the time that I work my job more and play harder, and Winter the time that I focus on my own endeavors. Seasonal living is totally new to me, but I see many possibilities there. 

Well, goal #1 didn't go exactly as I planned bc mid year my job asked me to take on more responsibility and a lager role. I accepted this new role and started training and learning what I needed. Now, I love to work, often times to the detriment of my life, so this was a hard choice, but over all I'm very happy with it. It meant abandoning my plan to work seasonally, as I would not be going back to part time in the Fall. This new role will provide me opportunity to learn and grow in my field and to save more money, both of which I'm very excited about. My challenge has been and will be to balance work with home life and creative endeavors. I have high hopes for the coming year.   

Be a Better Quilter, Be a Better Blogger
I want to increase my quilting skill, learn more, push myself. I want to be a better and more consistent blogger. 

I feel this is another constant in my life, trying to improve my skill level in the things I love. I do think I made strides in this goal, but there's so much room to grow!!
Improve Tree
Oh!!
Solstice
January Honey
Pineapple
Day into Night
Tide Pool
Blog Round Up
Cobblestones
Honey Pot Bee
Basket
Crosswalk
Spool
Tidy Rows
Spotlighting the Vintage
Love
Echo Fragment
Star Fraction
Coffee Shop
House Block
Evolution of a Stitch
Math
Jacob's Ladder
Starry Sky
Studio Time
Honey Bee
Circle
Machine
Precious Fabric
Friendship
Cross
MCQBOM²
/3
Improv Quilting
/4
/5

House, Cats, Plants, Family, Friends, Health
Another goal to level up in aspects of my life. This goal includes things like; eating better, drinking more water, exercising more, daily walks, daily stretching, cat contemplation and cat care, making our house more truly our home and being better at caring for it, heading towards a more minimal lifestyle and getting rid of things we do not need, organizing, using up and not buying new, reusing, recycling, keeping our plants healthy and happy so that our home is rich and lush, keeping up with my bujo, making sure to catch up with and stay in contact with family and friends, making sure to be mindful of the health and happiness of my immediate family, my larger family and my community, and there's more!  But this goal is overall, to strive for a more caring and mindful way of life. 

This was a huge goal that encompassed soooo many things and aspects of my life I wanted to be mindful about!! I think I did really well with this in 2017 and only plan to improve next year. A few things on this list solidified into more concrete concepts, like starting my zero waste/plastic free journey, getting over cat loses and rescuing a new kitty, consuming far less than any other year, etc...
Shelfie 003
Records
Shelfie 004
Bullet Check In
Jan Plants
Feb Plants
Something New: Capsule
Mar Plant
Simple Swap: Green Tea
Spring
Letter Writing
Shelfie 005
Apr Plant
May Layout
May Plant
June Plant
Summer
July Plant
Plastic Free July
Blog Log
Succulent Care
Aug Plant
Sewing Tracker
The Zero Waste Post
Autumn Goals
Sept Plant
Autumn
Hummus
My favorite Jars
Future Log
Oat Milk
Oct Plant
Jersey Collective
What We Already Do
Blog Log Check In
Nov Plant
Cloth Napkins
Dry Shampoo
Best Nine
Dec Plant
12/16/17
Programming

Less TV / More Books
I watched a lot of TV in 2016. Not actual TV bc we don't have that, but a seemingly endless stream of mindless consumption of media. Already, after major life changes in December 2016, I've started to watch way less. I've watched some, but moved over to more movies, and more mindful watching. But I could and should always read or listen to books more. 

Wow, going through these goals now, it feels like I have failed and won at all these goals at the same time. It seems that nothing I had planned went the way I was hoping but I do feel that I was living mindfully and I would call almost all of these successes! As for Less TV, um no, fail. I watched soo much tv which is very lame.  But I did read a fair amount and feel good about that. 
Please Kill Me
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Prestige
Ghostman
Jaws
The Price of Salt
Sunny's Nights
Down East Murders
Buddhism for Beginners

Hand Poked Tattoos
In 2016, I started learning the art of Stick and Poke tattooing. I plan to continue this in a more purposeful manner in 2017. 

I only did one tattoo this year, but I plan on making this a priority for 2018. 

Travel When Possible, Explore When Not
We were unable to travel far in 2016, this coming year we are slightly less tethered so I would like to travel more. When we cannot travel, exploring near our home should be a priority.

I like this goal, and although we didn't travel or explore as much as I would ideally like, I feel good about the results. 
Bernina
Atlantic City Aquarium
4th Anniversary
French Market
From The Garden
Whitesbog
Atlantic Farms 
Hall Of Gems

Quilt More. 
No further explanation needed.
Mat for Oillie
Pillow for Pit
Gypsy Moon
Moth Moon
Whale Teeth
Tom's Mat

You can find this post for 2016 here.

How do you feel about your 2017 goals? Did you meet them? Did you exceed them? Are you ready for 2018? 

On My MInd On Friday Morning

I have been watching A TON of "What I Eat in a Day" videos. Some are better than others, but I love them (my husband hates allll of them). Currently I'm really enjoying Caitlin Shoemaker (she has so many interesting recipes and process), Veggikins (she lives in NYC but it's fun to see what she eats when she travels, too), and Kate Flowers (Ohio vegan).   
Loved this little video about recycling in Kenya. 
A village of cats in Taiwan. 
A mated pair of bald eagles are now my neighbors!!
After a bunch of failed attempts to get second hand jeans, I broke down and bought a pair of Jeans from Everlane. I was excited to try this sustainable company I've heard so much about and plan to do a full review soon. 

Regularly Scheduled Programing 2017

I really love blogs where I can look forward to a certain column each month or week. I love Erin's "Five Little Things..." and Fairdare's "Weekend Reads and Such",  link-ups like Monday Making and Slow Sunday Stitching, and outfit posts, what I Eat in a Day posts, goals posts, etc...

What are some of your favorite columns in your favorite blogs?

With my own blog, I love the idea of having some of the same kinds of posts each week, month or year. In 2016, I started looking back and seeing what of these posts I used regularly and making a list. This is for my own memory, mostly, but you may want to take a look back, too!

Month in Review - A review of each month and my favorite instagrams for that month. 

Monthly Plant Update - A review of all the plants I've observed for each month. 

On My Mind On Friday Morning - A few things I've noticed around the internet, and life, recorded on Friday morning. 

Something New - Something new I've learned or done. 

Off Season - Notes on places I've seen, been, or explored and why I like them better in the off season. 

Book Reviews - What I've been reading, showcased on quilts. 

Art and Nature... - Art and nature go together. I like to write about it here.  

Zoo at Home, Zoo Abroad - We love to visit animals, zoos, aquariums, etc... when we can. 

New Block - I try to learn new blocks each month and share them. 

Finishes - This column doesn't get much love, but I'm always hoping to have a finish each month. 

WIP / Wrinkly Old WIPs - WIPs are for photos of what I'm working on, with few words. Wrinkly Old WIPs is for rekindling interest in old projects. 

Shelfie - Just pics of my home. 

Bullet Journal - I've been keeping a BuJo for several years now, and I like to check in about once a month. 

Simple Swap - In life there are many things I can swap out for more simple living, I explore them here. 

Mad Cat Capsule - In 2017, I started keeping a capsule wardrobe, follow my progress here. (added this year)

Zero Waste - 2017 also marked the start of my zero waste, plastic free journey. I post thoughts, ideas, recipes, and goals. 

Something Nice - Don't you love it when nice stuff happens? 

I try to join in with the quilting community when I can. Although each year may see starts and stops to community join ins, these ones stick:

YOTS2017 - Year of the Stash was started in 2016. The leader dropped it after that year, but I continue the tradition. 

OMG2017 - I love to set and try to complete a monthly goal with Elm Street Quilts. 

2017FAL - I love joining in with this Finish Along which spans the globe and the web. 

MCQBOM2017 - Speaking of starts and stops, I'm still plugging away with my 2nd year of Mad Cat Quilts Block of the Month.  

I would love to have one of each of these posts every month and in some columns cases, more than once a month. I really enjoy looking back at the end of the year to see how the posts in my blog have grown. Does anyone out there have a favorite column at Mad Cat Quilts? What would you like to see more of? 

What I Ate in a Day 12/16/17

I've been wanting to do a "What I Ate in a Day" for a while. Bit every time I start one, I forget to take pics half way through! This was the closest I have gotten so far. 

Starting the day with coffee, of course! I drank is black this day bc I had run out of homemade oat milk.

Then toast and apples and pears. Pears have been soooo good lately! I haven't been eating bread lately, but we had a 1/2 a loaf that was getting stale and I didn't want to waste it. I looooove butter, but I spread it around more after this pic. 

Ginger tea with turmeric, lemon, and honey. I was feeling under the weather, and this is a great pick me up. 

This is the last of my ramen, which I forgot to photograph until the end!! This was our first visit to a new ramen place by us. We have been enjoying it a lot lately, we've been back 2 more times since this! They do have single use chopsticks and paper napkins, so the next time we plan to bring our own! 

Next time, I hope I capture all my meals and make my eating adventures even more zero waste. 

MCQBOM² / 5

This is sweet churn dash variation that I found from just searching google for simple blocks. I looked back at the link after I made it and you can find that here. I really like this small squares in this block for MCQBOM² . 

This churn dash was sooooo easy to put together and really cute. I didn't get a chance to take a photo of all the blocks together but this one came out way smaller than the rest. I might add a boarder, but who knows!

I'm linking up around the web today. 

December Plant Update

A lot going at home on this month meant that not too many plants were mindfully observed besides our own house plants. We did get about and about to see some plants, luckily. 

Guest room house plants have the best light. 

Blurry new shoots on our eternity plant. 

Our back yard just as the now starts. 

And more snow in Ocean Grove. 

And a little festive snow. 

Were you too busy to plant gaze this month? Or were your plants observations on point?

I'm looking forward to a new year of plant observations in 2018!!

Best Nine 2017

I started finding my Best Nine on Instagram last year and I love it!! Instagram is really the only social media I participate in (besides this blog, of course!). I try hard to curate my feed and this year, I ended up starting two new instas. I now have a quilting insta (link above) and one for our new kitty, Irving. I did this bc I want my personal instagram to look a certain way, and it could easily get filled with only my cats and projects. 

These are my Best Nine for 2017:

I think the above collage is a good representation of my aesthetic style and of my lifestyle. 

Below are my Best Nine from the last two years. As you can see, my feed is still mostly cats. 

2016

2015

It's interesting to look back and see the natural color themes of each year. It seems that since moving to the beach my palate has become more neutral and washed out. I don't really try to follow a color theme, but I do use a few favorite themes/filters. I notice that I naturally have "color runs" on my feed, where, over a few days, I tend to snap pics of like colored scenes. I guess this depends on my moods's eye. Does this happen to anyone else?

Who else loves Best Nine? 

Buddhism For Beginners

One of my goals in 2017 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

Buddhism for Beginners by Thubten Chodron is not the type of book I would usually read, but it was offered as a free audio book from one of my subscriptions so I gave it a try. I loved the reader, Gabra Zackman. 

Growing up I was taught about multiple religions by my non religious parents. I had picture books about The Buddha, Shiva, Anansi... Although I had some previous ideas about the Buddhist methods, this book was a plain language, simple explanation of the Buddhist teachings. 

I won't be converting to Buddhism, but I took a lot from this book. It's core concepts of love, compassion, mindfulness, and careful speech, thought and action really resignate with me and my beliefs and ideals. This is a nice introduction to these concepts, plus the more complicated beliefs of Buddhism. It also gives the reader a good overview of the history of the religion and it's branches and how Buddhism differs from place to place. I really liked the reader for this book. The launguage can be confusing even in its simplest forms and the concepts can be daunting so it was nice to have a really pleasant reader for this introduction to Buddhist teachings and practices. I would recommend this book to those interested in learning about Buddhism, those who like self help books, books on history and culture, or those looking to be more mindful in day to day life.  

I listened to half of this book twice, I had started it, put it down for a while, and when I went back I decided to start it again. The calm reader, and the wonderfully peaceful ideas are soothing and easy to listen to over and over so this is a book I plan to listen to again and again. 

What books do you like to read more than once?

Recipe | Zero Waste Dry Shampoo

In 2017 I started my zero waste journey. Zero Waste is the goal, mindful practice is the action. When I use the term Zero Waste, that is my ultimate goal, but Less Waste would be a more  accurate description of my evolving lifestyle. 

I don't really use beauty products. I don't put my face on, I don't wear makeup, I don't style my hair, I barely brush it. But I thought I'd talk about a few grooming staples I've come to know and love.

When I was young, I had to wash my hair every day. Had to. Or else it would become an ratty oily mess. Starting a few years ago, that changed. Now if I wash my hair everyday, it becomes brittle and dry. What the heck? 

While I still lived in Brooklyn, I found a dry shampoo in a spray can and tried it out. I had never used it before and it was great! I love dry shampoo. It allowed me to not feel totally gross between hair washes. Once I started reducing my waste and plastic consumerism, I figured dry shampoo was out. But I did a little research and not only did I discover that plastic free, zero waste dry shampoo was a thing but it's about the easiest recipe ever!

Ingredients:
Arrowroot powder
Essential oils
Cocoa powder for dark hair

Equipment:
Container or shaker (I reuse one from Burt's Bees baby powder)

Combine ingredients and shake well.  I have blondish hair, so I omit the cocoa powder but I have head that for dark hair it works like a dream. 
To use, I either shake some on my brush or directly on my hair and comb through. Be careful not to use too much, you don't want to look like you're wearing a powdered wig. You can always add more! Make sure to comb or brush it through all your hair so it is coated and looks "clean". 

Now, this is easily a zero waste recipe. But truth be told, mine wasn't. I got the arrowroot in a plastic bag. Although I intend to recycle the bag, next time I'll get my arrowroot in bulk. Also, my brush and combs are plastic. I won't throw them away, until they are totally broken and not able to be used. But when my plastic brushes do die, I have my eye on a hand carved wooden comb from mermaidtrousers. I've seen some nice wooden brushes out there, too. 

I also use this powder in my shoes in the summertime to keep my feet from getting sweaty. So from head to toe, I find this powder works great!

What are your simple zero waste beauty care swaps?

Something Nice

I discovered these Envy Apples last week at Deans Market and they are amazing and delicious! I wish they were grown in the US.