I learned about this project a while ago and keep meaning to post something about it on here but keep forgetting so here it is.

It’s such a great idea and something people should really try to incorporate into their normal routine. Instead of going to some big chain store to buy things try to find a smaller independent store to support. Instead of going to Starbucks go to the local coffee shop. Invest in your community and support your neighbors. Even if you don’t have a lot of money, your money has power.

If we lose our small businesses we lose what makes our neighborhoods and cities unique. I’ve noticed this when traveling to new cities and am looking around and see chain after chain after chain. Pretty soon every city will be the same, with the same 10 stores and the same 10 chain restaurants.

Check our the 3/50 Project and tell others about them.

I watched this movie this morning.. I’m kind of speechless about it. Not sure if I’m angry, helpless, empowered or sad. I think a good helping of all of the above would be accurate.

Having lived in the Midwest my whole life and being surrounded by large bodies of fresh water I never really had to think too much about not having clean water to drink. I never experienced any restriction on water usage, have never gotten a serious illness from drinking contaminated water or really given much thought to where it comes from or goes to. I turn on the tap, wash my dishes, take a shower, fill my glass whatever, it’s always there.

I’ve started thinking a little more about my water usage lately along with every thing else I consume and noticed that there’s a lot of room for improvement in this department. I’m a water waster. I leave the water running while I brush my teeth. I love long hot showers. I wash my dishes before I put them in the dishwasher. This is one of my worst things for sure. I’m working on it but old habits die hard.

One thing I don’t do though is buy bottled water.

Flow explores, among other water issues, the huge impact bottled water has on the environment and communities. The plastic bottles are bad but so are the practices of the companies who are harvesting the water. One of the most surprising things they mentioned was that most bottled water is from municipal water supplies. So basically they are selling you what you are already paying for from your tap. I though the big issues was the packaging not what was inside.

Please check this movie out if you come across it. If you can’t catch it at least check out the website. The have a bunch of links on there about how to educate yourself on water issues and get involved if you’re so inclined.

Today while taking a little break for lunch and playing around with my iPod Touch, I found a great little app in the App Store from Buster McLeod, called Locavore. It uses data from the Local Harvest website to tell you what fruits and veggies are in season in your area and the dates and times of local farmer’s markets. Really great! You can also choose to look at individual items and see where they are currently in season in the US and find recipes.

I took a look at the Local Harvest website as well and wanted to include their link. The website has a lot of great info on finding a CSA program, farmer’s markets, co-op grocery stores, etc. in your area. It’s a valuable resource for anyone trying to get a little more local and eat seasonally.

Go to Local Harvest’s Website

A couple weeks ago on my drive back from visiting WI I was listening to NPR and heard an interview with the host of Eco Trip, David de Rothschild. It’s a new series on the Sundance Channel about the environmental impact and the steps involved in producing common thing we consume. Very interesting.

Link to Video on Sundance Channel’s Website

The more I’m learning about these things the more motivated (and slightly overwhelmed) I’m becoming. To keep myself from going completely insane I try to remember to not beat myself up too badly over somethings. It’s difficult making the informed decision. Even when you think you have all the info you find out that the info you’re getting isn’t always correct.

I think this series is worth watching. It has a lot of great information.

This month has been really busy. I have been slacking on my duties here.

I have been a little preoccupied with the nice change in weather and taking a photography class. This winter was really long and lately I’ve been feeling a little bored. Business is good but after doing similar projects over and over for the past 2 1/2 years I needed to shake it up a bit. So I signed up for a photography class.

I’ve been wanting to get a nicer camera for a while but was a little intimidated about learning how to use manual settings. This was the perfect time to dive in since I have someone to ask when I get stuck. The ‘new’ camera is great, I love it. The class is a perfect outlet for me right now and gives me an excuse to take pictures.

In other exciting news, we’re going to Australia in September! Yay! I’m trying to focus on being excited about seeing Australia and not the 17 hours on a plane + 10 hour layover it will take to get there. So that’s exciting. I figure if I make it through the trip there without totally freaking out I can pretty much fly anywhere. My flying anxiety has been getting better over the past couple years and hopefully this trip will help.

The new house is still great. We’ve done some more decorating and painting. It’s coming together nicely. I’m absolutely in love with Hyde Park. I don’t think we could’ve found a more perfect place for us to live right now.

So things are good.

For some odd reason I’m really fascinated with Groundhog’s day. I think it’s one of the weirdest traditions. I say it every year but, seriously I want to go one of these years to see the spectacle. 

This year’s prediction:

6 more weeks of Winter. 

Not really a huge surprise.

Thanks Punxsutawney Phil

Here’s some info about Groundhogs Day from Groundhog.org

Groundhog Day, February 2nd, is a popular tradition in the United States. It is also a legend that traverses centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates. Myths such as this tie our present to the distant past when nature did, indeed, influence our lives. It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.

If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole.

If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.

The groundhog tradition stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day and the days of early Christians in Europe, and for centuries the custom was to have the clergy bless candles and distribute them to the people. Even then, it marked a milestone in the winter and the weather that day was important.

According to an old English song: If Candlemas be fair and bright, Come, Winter, have another flight; If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Go Winter, and come not again. According to an old Scotch couplet: If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, There’ll be twa (two) winters in the year. Another variation of the Scottish rhyme: If Candlemas day be dry and fair, The half o’ winter to come and mair, If Candlemas day be wet and foul, The half of winter’s gone at Yule.

The Roman legions, during the conquest of the northern country, supposedly brought this tradition to the Teutons, or Germans, who picked it up and concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, an animal, the hedgehog, would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of bad weather, which they interpolated as the length of the “Second Winter.”

Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers were Germans and they found groundhogs to in profusion in many parts of the state. They determined that the groundhog, resembling the European hedgehog, was a most intelligent and sensible animal and therefore decided that if the sun did appear on February 2nd, so wise an animal as the groundhog would see its shadow and hurry back into its underground home for another six weeks of winter.

The Germans recited:

For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day,
So far will the snow swirl until the May.

This passage may be the one most closely represented by the first Punxsutawney Groundhog Day observances because there were references to the length of shadows in early Groundhog Day predictions.

Another February 2nd belief, used by American 19th century farmers, was:

Groundhog Day – Half your hay.

New England farmers knew that we were not close to the end of winter, no matter how cloudy February 2nd was. Indeed, February 2nd is often the heart of winter. If the farmer didn’t have half his hay remaining, there may have been lean times for the cows before spring and fresh grass arrived.

The ancient Candlemas legend and similar belief continue to be recognized annually on February 2nd due to the efforts of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.

So I strayed a little bit last night and got a new gadget. We went to Circuit City because they’re going out of business and were having a huge sale and I ended up with this thing. I love it! It’s a Flip Video camera. My husband has a show on Monday and we want to take some video. Unfortunately my digital camera does a really poor job on video. It’s okay for taking touristy type videos, scenery, people talking, but it completely doesn’t work for live music. The sound gets really blown out, the poor little microphone can’t handle it.

We decided to just get a video camera. This one is pretty inexpensive and on our little tests it’s worked great. I’m bringing it to the show on Monday, that’ll be the real test.

It is made in China unfortunately but the packaging is really minimal. Instead of having a separate USB cable to connect to the computer it has one built in to the side of the camera the flips out, really handy. The software is stored on the camera, so there’s no extra cd. Really thoughtful and handy as well. We didn’t have to read any of the instructions on how to use it. My husband took it out of the box on the way home, put the batteries in it and was able to figure it out right away. We got home, plugged it into a USB port on the computer installed the software and saved everything to the computer.

I’m excited. I think it’s really great.

I think it’s good for documenting little things. It’s not a super high end thing, but if you want to play around with video and post short clips to YouTube or your blog I think it’s perfect.

I promise to get back on the nothing made in China wagon. Sometimes you just have to be bad.

16 days until we close. Time was going so slow a week ago and now I can see the finish line. I still have the little bit of anxiety about something falling through at the last minute but mostly I’m excited.

The thing I’m most excited about is we were able to change our closing date and we’re now moving on my 11 year anniversary of living in Chicago. I like when things work out like that. And it’s also Valentine’s Day. The best Valentine’s Day present ever, for sure! 

I’m still looking for a new obsession to focus all the house hunting energy into.. That’ll come naturally I’m sure.

Winter is still winter. Gray, snowy, really cold. The other night after freezing my ass off walking the dog I came in and got right on the computer and ordered some long underwear and proper gloves. Finally I’m warm for the first time all winter. It’s really nice.

Still feeling a little sad about leaving our apartment but I have to say I will not miss the outrageous heating bills and still being cold in the house. Right now I have thermal shirt, Patagonia thermal hoodie, long underwear bottoms, jeans, thermal socks, slipper boots and a hat on. The heat is at 75. Exposed brick looks pretty but it’s not very energy efficient at all. There is no insulation between the outside wall and the interior.

Only a couple more weeks and I’ll be basking in the warmth of radiator heat, yay!

We have gotten so much snow this winter. This is the most I’ve seen since I was a kid growing up in Wisconsin. 

It’s nice though. Winter is supposed to be snowy not just gray and cold. Snow makes it fun.

We finally found out that we got our financing for our new place!  Not knowing whether or not we got the loan for sure was making me crazy. So that’s a huge relief. Not we just have to rent our place and get packed.

Yesterday we took on the mammoth task of washing every piece of fabric in the house, clothes, bedding, rugs, towels.. I’m glad it’s done but what a pain. I’m excited we’ll have our own laundry. No more walking down the snowy stairs to the creepy basement to find that the one washer that 7 apartments share is being used, waiting until it’s done and swooping in before anyone else gets in there. I will not miss that at all!

Next on the list of stuff we have to sort is our storage space. That’s going to be fun. 3 years of crap to go through.

I have been shocked by just how much we have. And doubly shocked by how much of that stuff we don’t use or need. Last year we went through all our clothes and cleared out the things we didn’t wear or like any more. I think we got 6 or 7 bags of clothes to donate from that project. This past summer I went through and purged my clothes again and got a couple bags more. Yesterday we got yet another 4 bags. Where are all these clothes coming from? We hardly buy new things. I bought maybe 8 or 10 new items this year…

I think we finally have our clothes clutter under control. The new place doesn’t have a ton of space for clothes storage so we have to just get rid of the things we don’t wear on a regular basis. I don’t want to have a messy cluttery looking clothing rack in our bedroom so we are downsizing. It doesn’t bother me really. I get lost in the clutter really easily. It’s also a little depressing to look at a rack of clothes and think about how much money you’ve wasted on clothes that don’t fit or you thought were cool in the store and when you got home you changed your mind. 

It’s all about efficiency.

Keep the stuff you need and don’t take up space with the things you don’t.

The place we bought is from the 20’s. People didn’t have 400 sq ft walk in closets. 

We’ve been watching all these house hunting shows on TV and it amazes me how many people complain about the size of bedrooms. I understand the complaint if you can’t fit a queen size bed in it and have room to walk around a little..

Do people really feel it’s necessary to have massive master suites?

Do people really hang out in them?

I can understand wanting a large bedroom if you have a roommate and you want to have your own space to hang out. Is it really necessary to have a giant bedroom with a giant walk in closet to store all the clothes that you never really wear anyway just so you can show your friends how much space and stuff you have? 

Just wondering.

I’m happy we won’t have a giant closet again. Right now we use our 3rd bedroom as clothes storage/ utility closet/ a home for all the other things we don’t quite know what to do with and it’s a nightmare. It’s a constant source of annoyance and frustration. I’ll be happy to have some normal sized closets to work with. 

We close in a little over a month! I’m excited to start the new adventure.