Wednesday, July 27, 2011

An environmentally-friendly August

I try and recycle the bags when I can, but apparently they aren't all being recycled. "Because most recycling plants can't handle the ultrathin trash, fewer than nine percent of plastic bags in the U.S. are recycled in any form." Yikes!
We usually bring our canvas grocery bags to Trader Joe's (probably because everyone else does! peer pressure to be green!) but never seem to remember them when we go to Jewel (Chicago's version of Kroger or Publix) or Target.
August is a new month, so I'm going to try to incorporate a few more environmentally-friendly habits into my lifestyle... Hopefully after doing these 10 things on a regular basis for a month, they will become routine. And maybe even rub off on a few other people in my circle! 
1. Bring canvas bags to the grocery store. Duh - see above.
2. Use a plastic cup for water at work instead of the disposable paper cups by the water cooler. I have already been good about bringing my own coffee mug every day, but it's time to extend that conscientiousness to the water cooler!
3. Turn off the lights! As Jason knows, I'm bad about this. I like the condo to be bright, but really need to make sure the lights are OFF in the bedrooms when we are hanging out in the kitchen or living room.
4. Air dry my clothes. I remember when I visited my friend Natalie in Australia, she and her roommates had racks of clothes all over the place. No one used the dryer. Similarly, she kept about 20 canvas bags in the trunk of her car and never brought home groceries in plastic bags. Nice work Nat!
5. Unplug my phone charger. I try to do this, but am not vigilant about it.
6. Turn off the water when brushing my teeth. Again, I don't do this consistently.
7. Stop the dishwasher before the dry cycle. There's no reason why our dishes can't air dry overnight or while we're at work.
8. No more printing of unnecessary documents at work. This might be a tough one for me because I typically like to do my editing and rewriting/revising in pen. But there's no reason I can't do this onscreen. It may just take me a few days to adjust :) I will probably still continue to doodle my headlines on scratch paper, but scratch paper is ok, yes?
9. Turn off my computer screen! I came across this one when searching online for good tips. Apparently leaving your screen on 24 hours a day costs hundreds of dollars per year and dumps approximately 1,000 pounds of CO2 in the air. By turning off the screen manually, instead of letting it sleep, can really make a difference. Point taken.
10. Have a Meatless Monday (or Meatless MTWTh). Jason and I went through a phase where we were veg during the week and then ate whatever on the weekends. I know I can do it for breakfast and lunch easy. Dinners may take some extra work, but as long as we plan the recipes, and get to the farmers market on Sundays, we should be able to do this.
What else can I do? Send me ideas!! I already use public transportation and the special lightbulbs, and am good about recycling all of our glass, plastic, and paper, so skip those suggestions :)

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Molly the destroyer

We finally finished baby proofing today. Molly has been getting into everything, so Jason installed latches on all the cabinets. We left one open, as you can see, and Molly spent much of the afternoon emptying said cabinet of its contents. She also spent some time rearranging the furniture and practicing standing. Good day today!
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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Artist in training

Every now and then when I pick up Molly at daycare, they hand me a stack of Molly's "artwork" to take home. At this point, most of the items are just paper cut-outs with smears of finger paint across the middle. But I'm sure she had fun doing them :) While Jason prepares for the Bucktown Arts Fest, we'll have to set Molly up with her own creativity station and see what happens.

Here are a couple of Molly's latest creations:
Color exploration
Self portrait. This went on the fridge :)

So You Think You Can Dance Dance Dance Dance

It works out well that Jason has tennis on Wednesdays because it means I can watch my favorite show in peace -- So You Think You Can Dance (Season 8).

Hopefully this video helps illustrate why I love the show. It's Twitch and Sasha dancing to Misty Blue, choreographed by Christopher Scott:
Twitch was my favorite dancer on Season 4 -- he's a hip hop dancer but can do just about anything. Sasha is a contemporary dancer and may be my favorite contestant on this current season. Go Sasha, go Sasha!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Molly and the truck revisited

A few weeks ago, I told the story of Molly and the truck, where she got her thumb stuck in the window of a toy truck and we had no idea. Well, the Ciaglias just sent us a few pictures from that afternoon and...we should have known:
Molly and her truck at the water table
Molly and Jason -- you can see the wheels of the truck at the very bottom of the photo
The most incriminating of the photos -- how did we not see it??

Sunday, July 17, 2011

12-month details

Here's the scoop on our rambunctious little toddler:

  • 19 pounds 1.5 ounces (skinny minny)
  • 29 1/2 inches
She's ready to start drinking whole milk out of a sippy cup; has permission to try peanut butter, scrambled eggs, and shellfish; says a handful of useful words, like "dog" and "num num"; plays peek-a-boo, clap your hands say yeah, and so big; loves standing on her parents' feet; is almost walking for real (no video yet -- the steps are few and far between); and sometimes holds her breath if she's really mad. We love her. 

Here are some pics of Molly at a friend's birthday party. Adorable outfit courtesy of Jeremy and Megan: 
Sitting pretty
Almost there!
Having fun with dad
Giving the toys a taste

Thursday, July 14, 2011

She walks!

Molly took 5 steps yesterday at daycare. They lured her with food :) I have only seen 1 or 2 steps myself, but have all weekend to capture the magic on camera. Stay tuned for pics!
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Friday, July 8, 2011

One year old and not a fan of cupcakes

Happy first birthday to my darling dear, Molly, also known as Molls, Boo Boo, XoXo, Molly Muffin, Tweety Pie, Woofie, and Miss Hollywood. We made it! Smooth sailing from here on out, right?
Cutest birthday girl ever!
I think she knew it was a special day. Molly was all smiles. 
We celebrated a few days early in South Carolina, all excited to see Molly go crazy on a cupcake. Unfortunately, it did not go as planned...
We thought maybe it was because the cupcake looked like a duck and she didn't want to eat her friend; however, we tried again tonight with a regular cupcake and got the same reaction. I think Molly might be a cautious child...she probably needs to see her friends dive into the sweets before she will feel comfortable doing it herself. We're planning to meet up with some pals at the park on Sunday -- maybe we'll bring a few treats and see what happens!

Happy birthday Molls! Love you :)

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Happy happy

Blogging from South Carolina. Unfortunately, it's the last night of our trip :( But here are a few highlights from the weekend:
My favorite beach! Molly was a little unsure about the sand, but she did okay on the towel.
Happy family
Sisters
The Overbey family
The Overbey, O'Grady, Robberson family
Best part of the trip -- Susie and Sean got engaged!! Congratulations to the happy couple. Can't wait for the wedding :)