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When I was growing up, my mother would always have us tidy up our rooms before the cleaning lady arrived. “Why do we have to clean up for the cleaning ladies?” I would whine. “Isn’t it their job to clean?” My mom would explain that while, yes, it was their job to clean, it wasn’t their job to put my things away.

Fast forward to the present. My husband washes the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. “Why do we have to wash the dishes before they get washed?” I whine. (Some things haven’t changed.) “Because otherwise they won’t get totally clean,” he explains. Bah! Just like cleaning ladies are supposed to clean, dishwashers are supposed to wash dishes! What a waste of time, energy and soap and water.

“Let’s do an experiment,” I suggest. “Let’s NOT pre-wash the dishes–especially this blueberry stained pie plate–and see how clean they get in the dishwasher alone. I bet they come out sparkling.”

“You’re on,” he says, his eyes screaming, “I’m going to win!”

We fill the Kenmore dishwasher with the dirtiest dishes that have ever gone in it, toss in a Finish Powerball Tab and hit start. A couple of hours later the machine goes quiet–the dishes are done. It’s time for the big reveal.

The first thing I pull out is the pie plate. The verdict? Totally spotless! I can see right through the glass baking dish. And the rest of the dishware came out just as clean.

The taste of victory is sweet–especially on clean plates.

We’re moving not once but twice in the next 30 days.

The first time will be this weekend to a friend’s house. She moved to the beach and is letting us stay (rent free!) in her house for the next month. Which includes access to her pool and extensive land with a lake (daily swims for the dogs!). This move requires separating everything we own into three categories:

• Things we will take to Nicaragua
• Things we will sell or donate - anything that doesn’t have real meaning to us
• Things we will store - one dresser, one side table, four chairs, one table, keepsakes, office supplies (paper, envelopes, printers, cutters, etc.), kitchen supplies.

The second time will be our move in late August to Nicaragua. Everything we need will be brought on the flight as cargo. We are taking the following:

• 4 lockers, measuring 32″ x 17″ by 12″
• 2 suitcases, carry on size
• 2 laptop bags

That is the sum total of all our necessary belongings for the next year. We ran into a problem when we realized the lockers (small enough to meet airline requirements) are too small to contain our printer. Which isn’t a true necessity (like, for instance, high thread count linens), but we really need access to a good scanner to transfer documents back and forth from the States.  Shipping is incredibly expensive (about $500 for the printer, not including customs). So we are trying to decide whether to buy a smaller model (really do not have the funds right now considering our vaccinations alone are $750, tickets are $1500, shipping the dogs is another $1000, emergency flights are $2000, medical flights are $1000…you get the picture), find a way to package it and pay for the extra luggage, or just leave it and take the risk that we can eventually pick up a suitable printer/scanner in Managua.

Oh, and I quit my job so our sole income is my husband’s graphic design business. Yay!

At the same time, we are meeting with a friend who is designing our future studio. Are we crazy? Yes! However, it’s really helping to have a short term goal (moving to Nicaragua) and a long term goal (building a studio and eventually a house). It’s allowed us to part with items that have no potential future use, and to truly appreciate the items we are keeping and/or able to take with us.

All I can say is that I am very happy to have read this book before the move, rather than after.

The hubby sent over a link (this is a common occurrence) for a device that blew my mind. It was part of the “Help for Harried Moms” gallery on This Old House.  It’s called the Smart Shopper, and it creates a printable list of groceries.  It’s magnetic, so you can stick it to your fridge.  Yay!

Smart Shopper

It’s kind of pricey ($150) but so worth it if your mom/sister/wife is a gadget freak like me.

I also saw this wall hook from Design Within Reach.  Um, fabulous?

Design Within Reach Hookbox

Who knew dog leashes could be so elegant?

All images via This Old House.

This is the second year that my husband and I have had a little vegetable garden in the back yard, and tomatoes are one of our favorite things to grow.  One problem is that the plants get very large and need to be staked or put in the support cages to keep them upright, so every time we saw the “Topsy Turvy” commercial on TV we thought it sounded like a great idea!

This year, we decided to give growing tomatoes upside down a try.  But instead of ordering a plastic green bag to plant our tomato plant in, we decided to build our own.

(You’ll notice the more traditional tomato cage around another tomato plant in the background… we were hedging our bets in case the upside down tomato growing didn’t work.)

What makes a “topsy turvy” is a planter with a hole in the bottom, large enough for the plant to fit through, and a hole or opening on top for water.  You then hang it up either with a hook onto a patio or a shepherd’s hook in the garden (as you see above).  Tomatoes are very resiliant and hardy plants, and will start to grow back upwards towards the sun which doesn’t affect them at all.  All you need to do is make sure they have enough water!

We took a wire hanging planter with coco mat lining and cut a hole in the bottom of the coco matting.

We gently fed the green part of the plant through the hole from the inside of the planter, leaving the roots inside, and filled with potting soil.  We then covered it with a little mulch to help retain moisture, and, voila!  Our own topsy turvy planter!  And I might add, I think it looks nicer than the original.

Ours:

Theirs:

So far, so good with our little experiment!  In fact, my husband swears that this tomato plant is doing better than the others - it even has its first blooms!

The cost of this will depend on where you buy your supplies.  We bought our planter and shephard’s hook at Big Lots, and probably spent about $10 to $15 for both, which is not a huge savings over the original Topsy Turvy, but we both think it looks nicer in our garden, and if we don’t re-use the planter for tomatoes next year, we can use it like a regular hanging planter again.

Looking for an eco friendly gift for the mothers in your life?  Craft Pantry has an entire shop stocked full of tote bags, lunch bags, produce bags and stationery.  Prices range from $8 to $30 (for custom bags).

Photo by Jenny Ebert

This past weekend E and I made the trek up and over to NYC to meet up with 18 other wedding and style bloggers. The event was hosted by Anne from I Will to I Do and Vané of Brooklyn Bride. The ladies did a great job and it was so fun meeting a lot of our favorite bloggers.  We all connected and commiserated during a closed session at the Galapagos Art Space, eat food catered by Sterling Affair and wedding cake by Mark Joseph Cakes.  After the meeting, we headed over to Michele Preli’s, the editor of Brides.com, gorgeous Brooklyn loft for a wine tasting by Swirl Events.

Photo by Jenny Ebert
(me, Jen and Kristina)

It was so very lovely to be surrounded by girls who had the same frustrations and dreams! Here’s who I got to meet:

Kristina from 100 Layer Cake
Liene from Blue Orchid Designs™
Vané from Brooklyn Bride
Anne from From “I Will” to “I Do”
Jen from Green Wedding Shoes
Luzel from iDiY
Nole from Oh So Beautiful Paper
Emily from Once Wed Blog
Anne from Perfect Bound
Kelly from Santa Barbara Wedding Chic
Janice from The Bridal Wishlist
Janie from The Bride’s Cafe Blog
Courtney from The Little White Book
Amanda from Vintage Glam Weddings
Bee from Weddingbee
Christy from What Junebug Loves!
Darci from With This Ring
Maria from {ritzy bee blog}

I’ll post more this week about the lovely gift bags (my suitcase was filled to bursting and an unnamed blogger bought a cooler to bring hers home) and what I learned from the meetings.  Until then, you can read more about our adventures on The B List blog and on the individual blogs!

I’m fighting off a cold, hoping it doesn’t get the best of me before my flight to NYC this evening.  E and I are on a super secret blogging trip, we’ll post all the details on Monday.  In the meantime check out these really cool door use ideas from Chez Larsson.

Basket of Goodies {photo from Author’s Personal Collection}

Sorry to have kept everyone in suspense. I had to go out-of-town and our first CSA delivery was delayed.

We decided our first foray into Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) would be with a farm called Re Rustica. Re Rustica is a farm located in Squaw Valley, California. We chose them based on the recommendation of a good friend. We also selected them because they don’t require us to work on the farm. As much as we’d like to have that level of involvement, our schedules won’t allow us to participate in that manner. Additionally, they allow you to select from what is currently in season. Many CSA farms select your fruits and vegetables for you. As a few EAD readers have mentioned, that can be part of the fun of participating in CSA.

Food straight out of the box {photo from Author’s Personal Collection}

Last Friday, our first delivery arrived via UPS. According to Re Rustica, they use UPS because they have a low carbon footprint. Originally, they used to deliver the produce themselves in their bio-diesel truck. Talk about dedication! The produce arrived in Ziploc bags inside of Styrofoam cooler. The packaging was a little less eco-friendly than we expected, but the produce looked amazing. Re Rustica sells their produce by the box. Their website does a great job of helping you calculate how big of a box to order. We selected the smallest box they offered.

{Read the rest of this entry…}

One of my new favorite blogs is Crafting a Green World.  Written by a team of really crafty people, I know I can always find cute crafts that are easy to use in my daily life.  Here are a few of my favorites…

Vintage Suitcase Crafts

Recycled Plant Markers

Brown Paper Bag Recipe Cards

I could definitely see one of these beauties resting in my living room or bedroom.

They’re the perfect amount of vintage and cute.

Etsy seller Enhabiten found via SFGirlByBay.