Flowers

I am starting to get spring fever. All I think about is spring and warmer weather and being able to take walks and such. We had a couple of warmer days recently, and it just made me crazy for warmer weather. Unfortunately, it is still winter, and it is currently snowing buckets outside. Enjoying the great outdoors will just have to wait.

However, this lovely flowers that I recently picked up are tiding me over until spring officially arrives...

Post-Valentine's...

The weekend is finally over, and I have to admit that I am a little sad to be going back to work. Not that I mind my job, but every Monday I feel a little blue and wish weekends lastest longer.


We had quite a busy weekend - my brother-in-law's birthday party, I (finally!) got a haircut, took Eddie (our cat) to the vet (clean bill of health!), went out to dinner and a movie for Valentine's, visited Grandpa, laundry, cleaning, cooking, groceries, and tackling the Great Re-organization Project of 2009. We did a lot, but we had fun!

For Valentine's, Tony gave me a box of chocolate turtles (which are almost gone!) and a little stuffed Valentine's dog. I put him by my makeshift Valentine's display in the dining room:

And I gave Tony some really good hot chocolate (his favorite) and these matching mugs with our initials. I think they look really cute together on display in the kitchen.

All in all, a good weekend - but now I have to get back to reality and back to work...

Thrifty Green Thursday!

OK, so I know that I said I would post more - and then I didn't. Sigh. My job has been taking up most of time, and it's been so hard to get the time to sit down and blog. But I am trying - and I do often think about how I want to be out there chatting in the blog-o-sphere!

Here's my tip this week for Thrifty Green Thursday: cut down on your paper waste by doing your bills online! My bank has a great feature that allows you to pay your bills online for free. I've been doing this for at least two years now, and it makes life oh so easy.

Also, sign up for the electronic statements that most companies offer, so that you receive you monthly statements through your email address, rather than wasting paper - not to mention all the pollution caused by transporting the mail back and forth. I am in the process of signing up for electronic billing for all of our statements - and let me tell you, we get plenty. This will also free up a lot of our filing; rather than saving our older statements in a filing system, now I will be able to drop the statements into a folder in my email account. Ain't technology grand?

So there you go - pay and receive bills online to reduce paper and reduce emissions - and make life a little simpler.

Thrifty Green Thursday!

This is my first attempt at joining a "blog carnival," so here it goes! As a part of my New Year's Resolution to live a greener lifestyle (and save moola at the same time), I decided to join Green Baby Guide's Thrifty Green Thursday. I've already learned so many great tips from other bloggers!

As I said in my last post, last week I went to Whole Foods to try and find some greener and less toxic alternatives to cosmetics and toiletries. I'm only replacing items as we run out, because I just can't stand the thought of throwing things away. One of the items we were out of was shower soap. Usually, I buy Aveeno's liquid body wash for the shower, but at Whole Foods, most of the liquid body washes were quite expensive! I was really looking for something with no fragrance, and no extra chemicals, but most of these liquid soaps were over $10 for a tiny bottle - over $10 for a gigantic bottle, and I wasn't ready to spend that much on a new product.

Then I found their store brand bar soaps, which were only $1.50! I quickly realized that I would not only save money, but also cut down on extra packaging and plastics. I bought the unscented version, just because I have extra-sensitive skin, but there are a lots and lots of other fragrances and options out there, at almost every store. Bar soap can be a little drying, but since I lather myself up with lotion after every shower, I haven't noticed a difference at all.

So, my green tip of the week is: buy bar soap! It has less packaging, AND saves you money!

For more Thrifty Green Thursday tips, visit the Green Baby Guide here.

I'm back!

OK, so one of my New Year's Resolutions was to post to my blog more often. Which I haven't done. But I HAVE been busy with my other resolutions and trying to complete a lot on my to-do list, so I haven't completely given up on my resolutions. :) Oh well, what are resolutions except promises we make to ourselves only to break them a month later?

Hubby and I had a fantastic weekend. On Friday night, Tony helped babysit our niece Ava (and her father, who's on crutches after a bad fall) while I went with his mom (Iris) and sister (Sammy) to a Lia Sophia jewelry party. I have never heard of this company, but I went along as long as there were other people taking me there. The jewelry was nice, but not really my style - more costumy than I like. I did find a nice blue beaded necklace that Iris insisted on purchasing for me - I have such a nice mother-in-law. She buys me sparkly things. :)

On Saturday, Tony and I went shopping for various items that we probably don't need, but bought anyways - a new side table for the living room, a mirror to hang on the former mirrored wall (the irony of it all!) and the final shelf from IKEA to complete our Room-o-books (pictures coming soon!) We then went to church with my dad, and stopped by to visit my mom, who's been sick with a sinus infection for a while. Poor mommy. :( Then we met up with one of Tony's friends from high school and his girlfriend for pizza. Our friend Dan stopped by later that night too, and we all stayed up late watching movies and drinking decaf tea. I love just staying in with friends. It feeds both my social and my frugal sides.

Sunday we spent at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, stocking up on organic/vegan/healthy items that are probably overpriced but make me feel good about myself. We're really trying to make our lives more toxic-free and green, and I feel like we're moving in the right direction. More to come on that topic....

So, all in all, this weekend was fun, and it's hard to come back to work. I realized how much I missed spending time together as a couple, even if it is just running errands. I guess it's the little things that really matter....

2009 To-Do List

1) Finish painting the inside of the house, including the living room, guest room, kitchen and guest bathroom

2) Get (more) organized! Starting with that box of random stuff I never really unpacked since moving over a year and a half ago...

3) Work out at least three times a week, even if its only for 10-15 minutes (hey, it's a start)

4) Post to my blog more often

5) Live a greener life

6) Start our family! (we hope!)

Stay tuned to see me attempt this list - and Happy New Year!

Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, we have conducting a little project entitled Grandpa's house. Tony and I have been living/renting my Grandpa's house in Hoffman Estates, right by Schaumburg, IL, home of Woodfield Mall and lots of other chain stores and corporate headquarters. Let's just say we lack slightly in culture. But we like the house, and we live right by my parents, who are always ready with pizza nights and helping us shovel. :)

However, the house needs work. Unfortunately, my grandparents bought the house from decorating morons, who used contact paper for wallpaper, believed in shag carpeting, and covered an entire wall of the living room with mirrored squares. Yeah, I know. And since my grandparents never did anything different to the decor of the house, I have been spending the last year trying to bring the house back to life. (My parents also have been a great help, especially with the larger projects - wallpaper removal, a new roof, and new carpeting). As we progress along, I'll post updates on the blog.

But over the weekend, we made a big improvement: the mirrored wall is gone! Unfortunately, now we have a strange grid wall that's crying for spackle.


Pretty, isn't it? The good news is that now we have no choice but to start painting the living room. The bad news is we have guests coming over for New Year's Eve, and we HAVE to start painting the living room. For now, we live with the grid, but I'm hoping to start fixing it this weekend.

Oh, and by the way, with the snow that hit Chicagoland last night, it took me over 3 and 1/2 hours to get home. Not that I want to complain too much - my brother and sister-in-law in New Hampshire have been without power since last Thursday. :(