Zero Waste Fail for Xmas

Each year at my work we have a holiday party. For 2017 I implemented ditching plastic straws at work, moving to paper straws and only giving them out upon request. At the holidays I thought it would be fitting to give everyone on staff a metal straw.

To keep the tradition of zero waste gifts up in 2018 I decided to get everyone some bamboo utensils. I found some super cute little sporks. I tried to make sure they were sustainably made, a good company, the right fit for what I wanted to convey with the gift. I felt at least mostly satisfied and made my purchase. 50 bamboo sporks.

And then they arrived.

Yes, every single one of the 50 sustainable zero waste-use items I had bought was wrapped in it’s own plastic bag, and each 10 in turn were wrapped in another plastic bag.

The horror.

The absolute horror of it when I opened the mailer (also plastic, BTW). Even though I tried to be as zero waste as possible I was wasn’t at all. But it happens. You can only do your best, and work with what you have.

As I unwrapped every single spork, I thought about how my coworkers would like them and how it might save them from using disposable utensils. I thought about how more people know about or ask questions about zero waste bc they work with me. And I thought about how I would have to drop all these tiny plastic bags off at recycling.

Even though the was a fail, I will learn from it. What fail have you had recently?

Goals, Habits, Routines

In this series I explain low impact terms, lifestyle terms, and other verbiage that I use on my blog and in my daily life, simply, in case they are new to readers. In some cases, I have done some research on them, but these definitions are mostly what I understand them to be and how I use them.

My readers have heard me talk a lot about goals, habits and routines. For these simple everyday terms I have written the dictionary definition below and then gone into detail about how I use them.

Goal
”The object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.”
Goals for me are anything I am striving to do. This can include creating a new habit, or building a new routine. It can also be saving money, traveling, or being productive. See some recent posts on goals here:

Habit
”A settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.”
I try to create habits for things I want to be better at or practice. I want to have habits for productivity, learning, wellness and

Routine
”A sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed program.”
I love to have routines! Utilizing routines help me keep my habits and meet my goals. Some routines I have are long and take hours to complete, some are short (like a leaving the house/checking the cats routine), some are rigid and some are more loose.

Are these the definitions you would use?

On My Mind On Friday Morning

I loved the photos in this article about snowflakes. Close ups of them never cease to amaze.
Towards the end of 2018, NY was buzzing about mandarin ducks in Central Park, but one of our favorite Zoos have had them all along.
Xmas is over but I wanted to share these well wishes, shell ornaments, and a very beachy xmas tree in NJ.
You might remember that we want to get a wood stove. But there are downsides to this fuel as well.
I’ve saved the last few lettuce scraps and started a little lettuce garden. I’ll be excited to start more seeds and plants, and transplant these little lettuces to pots or beds.

My Favorite Thrifted Items from 2018

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about people best thrifted items from 2018. I started to think about what I would include in my own. 2018 was the year that I really rekindled my love of thrifting, even opening an online vintage clothing shop. Looking back these were the thrifted items that really stuck out to me.

Black Wool Coat
I love this coat!! It’s almost a bat wing coat in black wool with suede details on the shoulders. It’s cozy and warm and makes me feel very scandanavian chic.I got this coat for $10 at a local thrfit shop.

Oversized Chair
We knew for a long time that we wanted a big puffy chair to cozy up together in. Something bigger than a chair, but smaller than a loveseat. We found the perfect chair at our local ReStore shop. We paid $49 for this chair and every single person in the house loves and uses it.

Rainbow Mugs
In 2018, I decided that I wanted more rainbow mugs and kept an eye out for them throughout the year. I use them every day and they make me happy! I like that they have become a collection and they lend themselves to the curated living feel that I want to achieve.

Spiderman Notebook
I’ve talked about this one a lot already bc I use it as my bullet journal, but I love it!! I love using a thrifted bok, I love the size, I love that someone else lived this book and there are drawings scattered throughout.

As you can see all my favorites this year are very useful or utilitarian but also my personal style definitely shows through. What have been some of your favorite or most used thrifted items from 2018?

The Big Why Behind the Habits I Want to Create

One trick to building new habits is to have a strong reason for doing them. Most people will tell you that in order to make a habit stick you have to be super motivated for them to work. You have to have a “why” behind them.

When I talk about the habits I want to make, I mention why I want to make them, but here I want to state in a simple, straightforward and brutally honest way,

Here are the habits I was working on in 2018 and continue in 2019:

Stretch everyday - I’ve never been a stretchy person and I don’t want to be old and feeble, or unable to bend and tie my shoes, etc…
Dish free sink - The sink get gross and I would rather it be free and clear. This helps make doing many tasks easier.
Read everyday - Reading makes you smarter and reminds you that the current digital age is not the only way to live.
Morning pages - I want to be able to clear my mind and think about my issues.
Daily Face Massage - I’m not getting any younger, but I don’t want to look old
Clutter-free couch - Why have a couch if it’s too messy to sit on?

What are some of the Whys behind your habits?

6 Things To Do This Year to Become More Zero Waste

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.

One of my 2019 goals is to be come better at being Zero Waste and Plastic Free. I made huge strides in this effort in 2018. If this is your goal too, here are 6 ideas, one for each month in 2019 until Plastic Free July, of things to do to generate less waste.

January - Trash Audit
Since we are mid way thru the month, this is a perfect time to take the next few weeks and observe what trash you are generating. This is a very easy way to see areas where you might reduce your waste. Use paper grocery bags to separate your trash into at least 4 categories: plastic trash, other trash, plastic recycling, other recycling. At the end of January, share your thoughts and results here in the comments!

February - Declutter Everything
The beginning of the year is always a good time to clean and declutter your space. Feb is the perfect month for this bc it’s short! Use whatever method you most like and works for you. Go crazy Marie Kondo style, or just your usual cleaning and declutter routine. When the month is over, give yourself a break, whether you’ve finished or not! Make sure you let us know any insights or tips you might have at the end of this month! What was wasted, what was essential?

March - Switch to Paper
An easy beginner switch to make is to ask for paper bags at the grocery or for your take-out lunch. Asking for paper is a good start to prime you to bringing your own reusable bags. Paper bags can be reused and recycled or composted. These paper bags are great to use as your trash bags. Now you’re choosing to use paper over plastic for trash bags, too! (See how many paper grocery bags you reuse and fill for the month. Was it less or more than your January trash audit?)

April - Compost
I know this one is scary for a lot of people, but composting is super easy. You can compost anywhere and there are more resources than ever before. All you really need to start is a bucket or a bowl and a place to take your compost. This can be your back yard, your balcony, your local dump, your local farmers market, a community garden, or one of many more options. How much food waste do you collect in a day, week, month, year? In April, we’ll talk about what we can do with the compost we are creating.

May - Meatless Monday
The meat, fish and dairy industries are notoriously wasteful. A great way to make an impact is to lessen your participation with them. A lot of people transitioning to a meat free diet will start with one set day a week where they avoid meat. Variations on this could be going dairy free or vegan one day a week, going raw one day, or raw before four, or eating only local, etc… The beginning of Summer (in the US) is a great time to work on this bc there are so many fresh food options. Share what you might give up or some recipes below!

June - No Bottled Water
The month before Plastic Free July can be all about giving something up. If you are still buying bottled water it’s time to give it up!! If you’ve already given up bottled water, try giving up disposable coffee cups, say no to plastic straws, stop using plastic utensils or plastic food wrap. There’s a ton of things that can be given up this month and it will prep you for a month of plastic free living. What will you stop using this month?

I hope these simple zero waste tips help you in the months to come. I will post more about each of these ideas in the month they take place. Would people be interested in a link up for each month?

Remember, going zero waste, low impact isn’t easy. We can only start where we are and do what we can. Every little bit helps.

Bullet Journal Check In: January 2019

I started my current journal half way thru November of 2018. I’m not one to start a new journal for the start of the year. I don’t make a grand show each year switching over with lots of fancy new spreads, etc… I really only do a few over view spreads, like an index and a future log. All of my other spreads I make new each month.

For Jan I have been watching a lot of new journal set ups on you tube and there are some spreads I might try to incorporate this month and in months ahead. But mainly I just use what I know works for me and continue to tweak how my bullet journal helps me be more organized and productive.

I’ve talked about my current journal and how I thrifted it in another post. It’s a very different size than I’m used to and it took me about two month to figure out how it works best for me, but now I’m loving it!

You’ll see that my Bullet Journal is very minimal and utilitarian and I really don’t mind if I make mistakes or try things that do not end up working out.

I like that this journal is so large that I can put my monthly calendar and tasks on the same page. I follow this same practice for my habit tracker and my goals. My tasks are appointments and and items that I try to get done each month. My goals are more aspirations that I want to fulfill each month. Intentions and inspirations.

All of these are different than the monthly goals I’ve been setting in this blog.

For January, I had room to put a content calendar for this month and the next. I’m still trying to get the hang of using this, but I have found it more helpful than not, so I keep at it. I also have a general idea of the content I want to post each day on the bottom of the calendars.

The next spreads are my sleep tracker and blog tracker. I like the content calendar for theoretical content, but I always track what I do actually post. I use the space under these spreads for various things, different each month.

New to this month, I’m tracking the clothes that I wear each day. I want to couple this with outfit of the day photos, but I haven’t gotten that far yet. I’ve tried to track my clothes before, but this is really working for me this month. This month, I’ve been adding the clothes as I wear them, but in the future, I would like to write them all down more neatly.

The next page is an example of my daily spreads. In this journal I find this layout the easiest and most effective. I have been trying to journal a little bit about each day with all the space provided.

Below, after another page of dailies, in which you can see a shopping list, and some ideas for a reset day, is a completely failed cleaning spread. I hope to figure out a way to use this or something like it in coming months, but for now, I just gave it up.

What do you do with unused spreads?
How do you plan your months? What does your January spreads look like?

Last Bus to Woodstock

One of my goals in 2019 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

Last Bus to Woodstock, An Inspector Morse Novel by Colin Dexter. Read by Kevin Whately.

I finally caved and started buying digital audio books. I really held out for a long time, listened to every free audiobook that audible had (that interested me) before I bought new books. I waited for such a long time partly bc I knew that I would want to buy so many books!! And I was right. I still take umbrage at the prices, but there are a lot of books on Audible that are quite reasonable. I was delighted to find a whole trove of Inspector Morse novels for under $10.

Inspector Morse eyes a possible new partner as he is called to the scene of a grisly murder. As the two investigate and are constantly confronted with lies along the way, Sargent Lewis gains insights in to the odd but effective methods of the cantankerous Morse. Lewis soon learns there’s a softer side hidden there, too.

Now, I’ve long loved PBS’s Mystery series and Inspector Morse is a great one! I also particularly like the spinoff, Inspector Lewis. I’d been looking to read the original books but never managed to pick one up. In this, the first book in the morse series, we are introduced to Morse, not everyone’s favorite police inspector. He’s off beat, weird, love opera and whiskey, is prone to angery explosions. He doesn’t work or think like other officers but he gets things done. He takes a shine to Sargent Lewis, who thinks more traditionally, more by the books. Together their skills combine to solve the convoluted murder of a young woman. It might have been by destiny that they become partners, or it might have all been by Morse’s design. I really enjoy Morses grumpy style and the subtly of the back story of the characters. Last Bus feels like a first attempt, but it was very enjoyable. I can’t wait to listen to more of this series. One of the things I loved most about this Audio book was that it was read by the actor that played Lewis in both series!! I highly recommend this book for those who like police novels, British novels, and murder mysteries.

Do you have a favorite Inspector?

Mad Cat Capsule | Winter 2019 (Jan, Feb, Mar)

For this Winter capsule, I started collecting some of the items I wanted to include early, and yet it still snuck up on me! That’s kind of how I’ve felt about Winter in general.

I knew months and months ago that I wanted the weird cat dress two piece that I found thrifting to be a focus of an upcoming capsule. In Winter I got to bring it out and use it as inspiration! I’ve liked black and white in the last few capsules and I was happy that this piece had those colors. I also picked up the dark red, teal and navy blue. The main colors in my Winter capsule are black & white, brown, navy blue, maroon, dark grey with pops of teal and light pink.

For this capsule, I think I chose far too many dresses and skirts. I really love them all and I want to wear them, but I know myself and I doubt I’ll use all the ones I picked out in the next three months. But I really want to have the option of wearing them, so I did include them. The way that I use my capsule, I could always go to my back stock of clothing, but I prefer to only use what’s in my current capsule if possible.

10 dresses - Black and white rabbit dress (3+ years old), “new house” dress (3+ years old), velvet dress (new second hand vintage find), blue floral dress (5+ years), black sweater dress (3+ years), denim dress with pockets (10+ years), spaghetti strap midi dress (not pictured, thrifted), brown floral wrap dress (not pictured, 10+ years), grey long sleeve (hand me down, 10+ years), cat dress (thrifted and vintage).

6 skirts - midi black skirt (5+ years), leather (vintage, thrifted), velvet (vintage, thrifted), sweater (new to me but vintage and thrifted), blue cord (vintage and thrifted), red with pockets (new to me but vintage and thrifted).

10 pants - Cat leggings (these are part of the set with the cat dress but together they are a look and a little hard to wear. Vintage, thrifted). silk harem pants with pockets (new to me, vintage, thrifted), engineer jeans (thrifted), brown pants (thrifted), black skinnies (thrifted), levis (thrifted), black wide leg (vintage and thrifted), eileen fisher brown linen (sustainable, ethical, thrifted, new to me), high waisted plaid (new to me, thrifted and vintage), black AA leggings (ethical, sustainable, 10+ years).

9 sweaters - teal (3+ years), wool raindeer (10+ years), wool turtleneck (new to me, vintage and thrifted), black eye (vintage, thrifted), dark gray “katie” (gifted, second hand), cashmere (thrifted, new to me), blue stripes (10+ years), brown floral crewel (from one of my first jobs, vintage), black turtleneck (not pictured, new to me but a new favorite!! Vintage and thrifted).

12 “fancy” tops - brown silk (thrifted, vintage), blue silk (thrifted, vintage), nubby blue silk (thrifted, vintage), gold secretary (vintage thrifted), “versace” print (new to me, vintage, thrifted), levis tunic (thrifted), stars button down (10+ years), b&w floral (5+ years), brown floral (vintage, thrifted), everlane pocket top (ethical, sustainable), silk mock neck (thrifted, vintage), grey mock neck (thrifted, vintage)

11 layering tops, tees, tanks - grey waffle tee (10+ years), brown waffle tee (10+ years), brown henley waffle tee (10+ years), work tee (locally made), AA dark grey v neck (10+ years, ethical, sustainable), Happy Birthday Sandwiches tee (thrifted), the following are not pictured: maroon crew neck (ethical, sustainable, 10+ years), teal v neck (ethical, sustainable, 10+ years), 2 black tanks (10+ years), another black tank (5+ years).

9 shoes - velcro vans, brown pointy booties (vintage, thrifted), zipper boots (thrifted), emily boots, black flats, white vans, black snow boots, feral robbins buckle boots (small business, 10+ years), high suede boots (vintage and thrifted).

I don’t usually count leggings in my capsules, but I want to really pare down and make sure that I am only keeping what I actually wear. I don’t yet include outer wear, sleep wear or intimates. This capsule comes in at 57 pieces which is right around where my capsules usually land. Around 45 of the items are slow fashion with many being second hand. I think this capsule is very much different than my last one and I’m excited to wear it!

Once I complete my capsule, I try to leave it alone. I often find pieces to add or substitute but I never try to find them. For this capsule, I will keep my eye out for a few new to me items. I would love to have a few more light pink accents. I’ll look for a tank top or tee for layering, or a cozy sweater.

What are you wearing this season?

Off Season: Asbury Park Post Office

One of my favorite places in our city by the sea is the Asbury Park Post office. Built in 1912 and in continual use, it’s a very lovely old building tucked into a quickly modernizing city. Functional and beautiful, the PO sits close to the train station, police, and administrative building on Main Street, Route 71. It has a grand sweeping exterior but inside is full of beautiful small details.

Below is a pic from the early twenties when the post office was first built. in the thirties is was renovated and a back extension was put on.

I’m not sure when the above photos were taken but the modern PO looks just about exactly the same, now. That tree on the south east corner of the property is still standing and shading people waiting to cross Main Street instead of a hedge row, there are roses around the perimeter. I found these photos here.

Although not a luxurious stop in a fast growing beach town, this gorgeous link to the past is well worth a visit!!

Monthly Goals - January 2019

All the goal setting in the beginning of the year has me itching to get things done. I posted my overall goals for the year, but I want to make some smaller goals for each month, as well. Some of these align with the larger goals. Some are just things I need to get done.

For January | 2019

Inbox to 0
I’ve already started working on this in the last few weeks and have gone from over 8000 messages still in my inbox to just over 4000. I want to have it completed by the end of the month so I can move on for the rest of the year.

Find 2 Japanese resources
I’ve already downloaded a lesson book. I would like to find some writing and reading resources to work with as well.

Blog at least 4 days every week
I did pretty well on this in Dec, so I hope to continue in Jan.

Photograph 6 items per day for mad cat market
Weather permitting. I feel like if I set this lofty goal, I’ll at least do more than I have been currently.

Add 12 listings per week to mad cat market
This is pretty much the same as above.

Add tags to 100 blog posts
Right now, I only use categories but I think tags will be easier to find and cross reference.

When making these goals, I didn’t realize that they are almost all about technology. I like that without trying, I made a theme for this month.

These seem like actionable and achievable goals for this month. What are some of your goals for January?

December Plant Update

December tends to be a tough month for plant observations, and this one was the same. It’s cold, Winter has set in, it’s a busy month, and this year we were sick for a big chunk of the month. There were still some good plants this month. December was a month of critters! Perhaps this we should be calling these posts Plant and Animal Observations?

On a warm day, Tom checks out if there’s any catnip left.

Our garden, waiting for spring.

The pines are happy in the yard.

The vines are happy in the kitchen.

December was cold, but there were enough warm days to go to the beach.

Can you spot the cardinal and blue jay?

Some stray kitties getting special attention.

A night visitor.

A happy sidewalk.

Very festive front yard.

Also festive.

We don’t get an xmas tree anymore, which overall we are happy about. But there is something nice about having an ever green in the house during the darkest days and winter months. I’m always happy to visit family who continue this tradition.

It’s been a great year of plant observations. I love to go back thru and see what was happening in each month. In the coming year, I hope there are many garden posts, many houseplants observations, and lots of getting outside into nature!

What were your favorite plant moments of 2018?

December in Review

Well, that’s 2018 Done and Dusted!

Last night, for the last few minutes of the year the whole family (people and cats) were eating a late dinner and before we knew it is was 12:01am. It was the first year in a really long time that we had “missed” new years. But we were happy together as a family, content, well fed, but not quite in line with everyone else in the world. It felt like a good metaphor for the year. And an interesting thing to see at the start of a new year.

In December, we saw friends and family and had low key celebrations. We got back into doing a few beach walks, and tried to spend our time off together doing things we love. We were sick this month, so self care was a priority.

This month we made a conscious effort to create more, to eat healthy, to make new habits, and to care for the health of ourselves and the cats.

#watchercats were few, but we saw some this month!

We worked on our house a little in December but more than work, we identified somethings we want to work on in 2019.

Overall, Dec went by quick and easy, and it was a good month.

Now we are ready to say goodbye to December, goodbye to 2018, and hello to 2019.

Goals for 2019

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. 

Seek Balance in Life/Work/Art
I make this goal every year and I’m still working on it.

Create More Than Consume
I’ve become very aware at how much time I spend on my phone and the internet and how little time I spend concentrating on creating. This year, Creating should be the priority.

Become Better at Being Plastic Free and Zero Waste
One of the best things I’ve done for myself in the last few years was start my Zero Waste journey. Here’s to a more good work in 2019.

Blog / Youtube
I dabbled in YouTube in 2018, but this year I want to make it a regular part of my life. Blogging is also a priority.

Habit Building / Monthly Goals
In 2018 I tried to build new habits and set monthly goals, in 2019 I want to make sure to do more.

Home Improvement
There are a lot of things we want to do to improve the house. Some we have started, others need starting and all of them need finished! I hope to get a lot done this year!

Be a Better Wife
I never thought I would be a wife. Now I want to become better at it. This has to do with lots of things that I will go in to depth another time.

Travel / Explore
We did OK at this goal last year, but I want to do more!! There are a lot of local areas and some more far afield that I want to go to.

Read One Book per Month
Another goal that I set every year is to read more, but this year, I want to set the goal to read at least one book each month.

Create one Tattoo per Month
I only created a few tatttoes in 2018, I want to make sure to do more in 2019.

Study Japanese
I love to learn languages and I miss studying. I want to get back in to the habit of this and be able to converse with more people.

Lose 20lb
OK, I usually don’t include goals like this. I usually don’t make them!! But this year, I need to get serious about my health and losing some weight is part of that.

Save Money
Pretty standard.

What are your goals for 2019? Share your blog, or list them in the comments.

2018 Goals Review

In 2018 I organized my goals in a way I never had before. I set goals in the beginning of the year and mid year I reviewed and modified them to better suit my needs. My intention with this was to reassess, but also to remind. I’m not sure this actually worked for me. I’m thinking of what I want to do for my goals in 2019, and looking back is always helpful.

Here are the original goals I set for 2018 and the modified goals I worked on mid year and some blog posts that fit into each category:

Be Balanced in Home Life/Art/Personal Endeavors and Work
Sew and Quilt More
Be a Better Blogger
Zero Waste Journey
Be Purposeful and Mindful in My Home Life and Relationships
Improve My Health, Wellness, and Mental Well Being
Make Time To Travel and Explore 
Write 2 Letters Per Month
Create 1 Tattoo Per Month
Save Money

1. Seek Balance - Balance in life, work, and art.   
Bullet Journal January
Philly Anniversary
BuJo Feb
Modern Art in Philadelphia
BuJo March
Morris Museum
A New Bullet Journal
YouTube Beach Walk
Cleveland Aquarium
Mid Year Goals Review
Whitebogs Revisited
Five Days in Cleveland Part One
Fives Days in Cleveland Part Two
BuJo August
Art and Nature in Cleveland
In Search of Milkweed
Something Nice: Friends Visit
On Not Being in VT
gARTen
Hello My Name Is…
One Day in Cape May
Apple Picking
Why I’m Not Changing the Name of this Blog
Moth Coffeehouse
Ghost
Best Nine
BuJo Dec

2. Strive to create - Rediscovering things that that help me create and be inspired is a priority for the rest of the year. Letters, tattoos, thrifting, styling, and more might be part of this goal. 
January OMG
2018 FAL Q1
Year of the Stash 2018 Manifesto
Bowtie
Mad Cat BOM
Feb OMG
MCQBOM Feb
MCQBOM Group Photo
WIP Feb
Basting Party
MCQBOM 8
March OMG
YouTube Bujo Flip Thru
How I Bind
MCQBOM 9
MCQBOM 10
April OMG
Visible Mending
2018 FAL Q2
YouTube Hand Sewing
MCQBOM 11
MCQBOM 12
May OMG
MCQBOM Group Photo 3
June OMG
July OMG
Recently Thrifted
Mad Cat Market
Stick and Poke
Owl for a Friend

3. Be a better blogger - This goes hand in hand with how I feel creative and how I can focus on that goal. 
Regularly Scheduled Programming

4. Live a mindful and intentional life - Continuing to save money, improve our mental and physical health, provide for and enjoying family and friends, create a curated lifestyle and home, make improvements on our environment at home and abroad, read more, create healthy living routines, etc... all fit into this goal.   
Shelfie 006
What I Ate
Jan Plant Update
Working Cats
Feb Plant Update
March Plant Update
The Hound of the Baskervilles
YouTube What I Ate
The Cheese Monkeys
The Thrifting Bug
April Plant Update
YouTube What I Ate
Shelfie 007
Tattoo Story Anchor
June Plant Update
The Lighthouse
July Plant Update
August Plant Update
Making Habits
September Plant Update
October Habits
Tattoo Story Cup of Coffee
Garden Tour Summer 2018
October Plant Update
House and Home
November Habits
What I Ate on Thanksgiving
November Plant Update
December Habits

5. Continue my zero waste and low impact journey - Every month is plastic free july! Every day is a chance to reduce waste and improve our lives and health!
Mad Cat Capsule Winter 2018
Everlane Review
The Joy of Using Up
Mad Cat Capsule Thinking about Shoes
Zero Waste On My Mind
Cloth Coffee Filters
Shampoo Bar
Sock Sorting
Mad Cat Capsule Spring 2018
Foraging for Fire Wood
Comparing Springs
Plastic Free July
Plastic Free July On My Mind
5 Steps for Plastic Free July
Mad Cat Capsule Summer 2018
My Plastic Free Kit
So You Forgot Your Zero Waste Kit
Plastic Free July Wrap Up
Thinking About Fall
Everlane Review
Zero Waste, Low Waste
Mad Cat Capsule Fall 2018
How We Eat
Capsule Goals
Why I Hate My Bamboo Toothbrush
Zero Waste Croutons
Vegetarian, Vegan, Plant Based
Minimalist Jewelry Collection
Zero Waste Baked Oatmeal
The Joy Of Using Up

Overall, I think it was great for me to reassess my goals mid way thru the year. I think I did well with a lot of them and looking back has given me some good ideas about what I want to do in the year ahead.

I’m a strong believer that each year will be better than the last and you can accomplish everything you want as long as you work at it.

How did your 2018 goals go? What are your plans for next year?

Mad Cat Capsule: Sometimes It's Sad to Say Goodbye

There is a great Joy in Using Up, but sometimes it’s sad to say goodbye.

I was going thru my clothes in anticipation for my next capsule wardrobe and realized that there are a lot of items I will be getting rid of. It feels good to declutter, pass on items that I no long want or need or that don’t fit right. But some of the items I love so much!

The high top vans were a lost and found from one of my old jobs. They were well loved when I got them, but I was able to get a few more years from them. I had to let them go when they were so used that they had holes in the bottom and hurt my feet to wear. I haven’t figured out how to recycle these yet, so I’m storing them until I do.

I’m giving up two thrifted pants that I have had for for several years. They happen to both be J Crew, a brand I don’t ever buy new but I find that I enjoy second hand. They both are mid rise, a style I never really wear any more bc I don’t enjoy the fit. They also both do not fit me now that I have gained some weight. I of course, have the impulse to keep them until I lose weight, but why? If the size were the only reason, I might try to keep them, but there are other reasons to pass these along as well.

Some items I want to keep bc of the good memories attached to them, or the feeling they gave me when I could wear them. I think that’s ok! If the item still brings me joy, I want to have it around. I have a small space I keep for nostalgic clothing, and some of the items I’m de cluttering might end up there. Another great way to “save” clothes if you will no longer wear them is to take pictures!!

Something Nice

Celebrating with family.

Bullet Journal Check In: December - Daily Spreads with Journalling.

With my new larger format Bullet Journal, I was excited to start reincorporating some notes on each day into my daily spreads. Although I use my BuJo for organizing and keeping myself on track with goals and tasks, I also use it as a record of my life. I fell out of the habit of this practice, which was always one of my intentions with bullet journalling.

My weekly spreads look a lot different in this bigger journal. It’s perfect to jot down a few notes for each day. I like to record what we did, how I felt, what time I got out of work, and general info.

What info besides tasks and to dos do you like to keep a record of?

The Joy of Using Up

“There have been a lot of panties in the trash lately…” my husband mentioned the other day.

And I thought, yeah! isn’t it great!?

I have barely bought any underwear since I started my zero waste journey. Once I started a capsule wardrobe, I realized how many socks, panties, and bras I had. I decluttered many, but most were perfectly good and I saw no reason to throw them away or get new. When it comes to underpants, I did cull for comfort but many that I kept are simply not my favorite, many are not my style, but I thought it would be better to use them up, than trash them right away.

I’ve talked about it before, but there is a certain kind of joy when you use something all the way out or up. In this time of disposables, single use, fast fashion, and convenience in all things, we have forgotten how great it is to use objects to the end of their life.

It may seem a little woo woo (definition: witchy, crazy, new agey) but I feel that using something to the end of it’s life helps to honor that object and it’s creator. It’s a way to be mindful about what we own and therefore more mindful about what we buy/get/make next. It’s a great way to be low waste, make new habits and be more present.

Ideally with textiles, I would send them to be recycled. A lot of the underwear and socks that I have been throwing away have micro plastics. Tossing them in the trash isn’t the greatest solution. But these are items that are too far gone to donate, too intimate to pass along. Even though I wish I had a better option than throwing them in the garbage, I feel good knowing that I’ve used them up, and won’t have the same dilemma in the future.

On My Mind on Friday Morning

I had wanted to go thru all my ornaments and decorate the house this year. I haven’t done this yet, but I have had my eye on some fun food shaped ornaments this year! 1, 2 (love this!!), 3 (very NJ!). Here’s a whole article that was very fun!
Japan has loosened it’s immigration policies, let’s go!!
NJ has officially name the Bog Turtle it’s state reptile!
Very long article on the fossils our trash will become.
The three books I’m trying to use each day:

Morning pages, currently reading, sketch book.