Sunday, February 27, 2011

Feeling At Home

We just got back from another trip up to the homeland in Vancouver, Canada. I have to say...it is always hard to leave. I just get this incredible feeling of home and belonging when I am there. Don't get me wrong, I do love my life in the Pacific Northwest. But there is just something about Canada that jives with me.

I feel in many ways, Vancouver is light years ahead. I am always amazed at the transit system up there. You could easily and conveniently live without a car in Vancouver. Buses come at regular intervals, very dependable. Why can't WA have this? It seems that here everyone is either too far away from a bus or too afraid to ride the bus. I certainly would not take a bus here.

I have been "countertop composting" for a couple of years now. I don't think a lot of people do that here. But in Vancouver, there will be a ban placed on kitchen scraps next year.

On the Canadian side of the border, they have installed a traffic light about a half mile from the border crossing. This was done to group cars waiting at the border to prevent unnecessary idling and greenhouse gas emissions.

The local public swimming pool in Vancouver has public swim from 10 am-8pm every day. It seems here you have to plan your whole day around a swim session. It sure is nice to be able to take the kids to the pool at any point during the day.

Garbage cans on the street have a section for recyclables. At the food court, they have a food scraps bin. It just seems that Vancouver is willing to go that extra mile to do what is right.

To top it all off, and I SO agree with this through my travels, Vancouver is The Economist's #1 most Livable City in the World.

Like I said, I love living in WA and I think as far as the US goes, WA is pretty progressive. I think they will catch up here but I have to say I am proud of my hometown for blazing the trail!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Glitter Nails: DIY

A couple of weeks ago, Ellie and I decided to try making glitter nails on our own. They turned out really well!


First, I filed her nails on the top of each nail (helps polish stick better). Then put a coat of clear polish on and before it was dry, sprinkled the glitter on top. Do one nail at a time. Let them dry and repeat. Then, swipe a top coat on top to seal the glitter.

Once you are done and it's all dry, you can rinse your nails under cold water and get the residual glitter off the skin with a nail brush or old toothbrush.

The result was very glittery, pretty nails and a sweet happy girl!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Shopping Day

Today is my once-every-2-weeks grocery shopping day. I have been in a bit of a rut as far as cooking goes lately. When the husband is out of town, it's pretty bare bones and I miss cooking good food. So I sat down with my Everyday Food magazines and in 2 magazines, I found 5 new recipes to put into this 2 week rotation. The rest of the meals will come from my usual favorites. Here are the new recipes I'll be cooking this next 2 weeks:

Honey Teriyaki Chicken
Linguine with Shrimp and White Wine
Pork Chops with Bacon and Cabbage
Jamaican Chicken Curry
Corn and Butternut Squash Chowder

Hope this inspires you to try something new this week!

Friday, February 4, 2011

I was featured!

...on a cool craft blog!



Thursday, February 3, 2011

Valentine Water Bottle Label

I was assigned water bottles for Ellie's Valentine party. Well, I can't just bring regular old water bottles, now can I?? :)
I made some cute labels for Jess' shower so I modified the template to celebrate Valentine's Day.
Send me an e-mail if you'd like the template!

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