Thursday Thoughts - The Bars are Temples but the Pearls Ain't Free

Wishing zen things for all. Thanks to Gena for sharing.

Doing uhhh...not much this week.

Having almost nothing to share this week because of the aforementioned not doing much. When I start writing Thursday Thoughts, I look at the pictures from my week and go from there. I have seven photos as of Wednesday. One has been shared via Instagram (books I've read recently) and three are of a broken hinge on my ottoman so I can get a refund on it since it's less than three months old. I didn't think anyone wanted photos of laundry I guess.

Donating three bags and one box of stuff to Vietnam Vets - they picked up yesterday.

Finishing Plastic Free July on a soap box because where else would I be. Steph & I need to get together to pick a winner for the S'well bottle + metal straws. If you joined us via blog or instagram for something regarding #sustainablestephs, thank you! Go forth & don't waste. I'm looking forward to seeing MANY more mentions/photos of bringing your reusable cup with you and asking Starbucks or Chick fil-A or wherever on earth you are to fill it up and MANY fewer photos of you with a single-use plastic or Styrofoam logo cup or bottle on Instagram. You all know about Chick fil-A cups, right? If you are a CFA fan, please contact them and ask why they will not let the styrofoam cup die. They shouldn't use them for many reasons, three being 1) Polystyrene (a fancy word for Styrofoam) can take up to 500 YEARS to decompose...and some of it never does. 2) Styrene is a known human neurotoxin and possible human carcinogen and it migrates into foods. 3) Polystyrene is a top pollutant on American beaches - it gets into our waterways and fish eat it and we eat the poisoned fish. We need to hold ourselves accountable, sure, but we really need to hold corporations and government accountable for waste as well. Let’s start with the chick fil-A cups.

Altering my shore schedule this weekend because we're dog sitting (yes, we'll be managing five dogs) and have two commitments on Saturday

Working on the shore house website. I'm dropping Homeaway/VRBO this year for about a million reasons, and I'll probably write a post about that - would that interest you?

Shaking my fucking head... Have you read this article in the Wall Street Journal about wealthy parents transferring guardianship of their teens to get financial aid? I'm sorry, stop it and shut the fuck up about anyone near the poverty line getting any assistance from the state because you HAVE the money or the assets to access the money but are SIGNING YOUR KIDS AWAY so they can collect financial aid designed for ACTUAL POOR FOSTER STUDENTS. These motherfuckers who game the system are absolutely the first people to shit on people who get "handouts," mark my words. Is it legal? Sure. Is it ethical? No. We are a morally bankrupt people who have a very fucking skewed version of right and wrong in this country on so many fronts. Just a reminder that black mothers in other states are in jail for using a different address to get their kids into better schools.

Reading up a storm. I'm on my fifth book in seven days.

Hoping no one is discounting a female presidential candidate based on their gender. I will cut a bitch.

Listening to a lot of 80s. The lyrics in the title are from One Night in Bangkok by Murray Head, but that's basically because it was referenced in conversation online yesterday when I started writing this.

Reminding you...via The Sweet Feminist

Laughing at

What's new with you?

Freaking August 1 already.



Linking up with Kristen

Sustainability Struggles

As part of our #sustainablestephs campaign during the month of Plastic Free July, Steph and I are talking about where we still struggle today and asking for recommendations if you have any. I've made a lot of changes over the past five years. Things I thought I could never change I have, and realized after my feelings of can't/impossible were rooted in laziness and lack of discipline. I have a long way to go to get to any type of zero waste situation but I'm feeling good about the things I do use regularly being reusable and dropping all single use plastics.

Food packaging. Many of my current struggles lie in how things I buy are packaged. So much unnecessary plastic, my God. I do not just complain about this to myself and the internet - I write to companies about their packaging. I'm hoping other people are doing that too so they might consider alternatives. So, anyone local to Northeast Philly/lower Bucks, do you buy from any stores that have bulk containers of food where you can fill your own?

Take out containers. I don't eat out often, but when I do I mean to bring my own tupperware to put leftovers in and always forget.

Plastic wrap alternative. I am still looking for a good alternative to plastic wrap that is NOT Bees Wrap. Yes I have it and have for years, it is not working for the one thing I still have plastic wrap for - breakfast burritos. I make, wrap, freeze. Does anyone have an alternative that might work?

Vitamin Water. I need to hunt down a recipe to make the Refresh one at home because it only comes in plastic bottles and I'm not doing it.

What about you? Where are you struggling in your quest for sustainability?

A Day in the Life trying to be free of single-use plastic

Steph and I are joining in on Plastic-Free July and I hope you are in some way as well, whether you're going whole hog or just making one small change in your life. If you haven't joined in and want to, please do - it is never too late to make a small change that makes the world a little less wasteful. We decided to share Day in the Life posts. Mine is coming at you from vacation, where I'm out of my routine and away from a lot of my things that make it easier to not be so throw away. I did bring some of them with me, as you'll see below. If you are sharing a Day in the Life blog post with this sustainable bent or are sharing your day on your Instagram account, please let me know so I can check it out.

After sunrise on the beach, I take a bike ride, Swell bottle in tow. I go nowhere without water including down the street to my grocery store at home. I'd like to get some coffee on the ride but I forgot my reusable cup so I nix it.

Speaking of grocery store runs, Debbie and I had to make a little run. My reusable bags are always in my trunk so that was no thing. While we were in Food Lion, an announcement came over the store PA system about using reusable bags because they are a coastal community that cares. Check and check. Now can we get supermarkets to stop overusing plastic? Does every piece of fruit need a sticker? Packaging in general...don't get me started.

I did buy a drink at the store. When I buy drinks, I try to buy them in cans or glass bottles, which really cuts down the options, but I'm at the point where I feel so fucking wasteful with a single use plastic bottle that I end up not enjoying it so if I do buy it, in addition to a waste of resources it feels like a waste of money too since guilt ruins it. My standard beach setup is a full Swell bottle of water and a 30 oz faux yeti with ice and a metal straw.

We ran out to get a few things in two stores and I didn't bring a reusable bag with me so I just carried my stuff out. Debbie did the same.

I am super proud of my family this week. Not one freaking single use plastic water bottle in the house all week (there were some red solo cups). Debbie brought metal straws for everyone and those were used too.

We used and washed the reusable sandwich bags I brought with me - these were six for $12 and they are seriously great. You wash them and dry them upside down over a cup. Easy and a great replacement for ziplocs. Perfect to tote sandwiches and snacks to the beach and they seal well and easily.

 My brother delivered my drink to the beach in glass. 

Carol brought tupperware and tins with her that we washed and re-used, and it's a good thing, because the house lacked that. That was our biggest obstacle this week - we ended up using a lot of tin foil because there was no tupperware and a lack of dishes in general. 

I wasn't sure how I'd do this week - I'm a little looser out of my routine than I am at home, but I remained conscious of what I was using and I'm pleased. 

I want you to commit to participating in Plastic Free July

Happy Tuesday! Coming in hot and late five days before Plastic Free July.

As you know I am committed to my journey of reducing single use plastics and living more sustainably in general (see Discipline Over Convenience, Weaning Myself off Fast Fashion, and Sustainable Switches to start). Steph at Not Entirely Perfect is as well. Please check out her post today.

I am asking every single damn person in my life - that includes you - to commit to doing something for Plastic Free July, whether that's absolutely no single use plastics or making one small change or somewhere in between. Please. Commit to participating in some way that requires you to make a change to how you are operating in your life right now.

And if I can be so bold, if you are struggling with which change to make, might I suggest two easy switches: giving up single use plastic water bottles and single use coffee cups? Every person I know can do this and already has the tools to replace those things in their homes. If you have a water problem, how about a Brita or at least a gallon jug of water in lieu of the single use plastics?

For Plastic Free July, we're planning a number of things and would love if you'd join us, whether you blog or not:
1 - Sometime in the first two weeks of July, post a day in the life post on your blog or a series of photos on your Instagram account specifically focused on what you're doing to reduce single-use plastics or ways you're struggling/when you forget.

2 - Help! Looking for alternatives to...(insert single use plastic item here). In the third week of July, post on your blog or Instagram asking for alternatives to whatever you're looking to replace.

3 - How we did. In the last week of July, post on your blog or Instagram sharing how you did on whatever you chose to change in Plastic Free July and hopefully report in that you have made this change permanently. Last year I started taking a reusable coffee cup when I bought coffee out and never looked back. I can't believe it took me that long to make that change. If you want to buy the single use cup from Starbucks so it's instagrammable, I'm calling bullshit on that.

If bloggers are interested, we're happy to do link ups, so let one of us know.

On Instagram I am here and Steph is here, and we're going to use the hashtag #sustainablestephs and ask that you do the same and tag us in your posts. We're going to do a Swell bottle giveaway and I think Betsy is kicking in some metal straws too.

What do you think? Are you in? Can you commit to making a small change to reduce your single use plastic use?

TWTW - the one with the Philadelphia Freedom

I got my beloved purse back Friday, signed up for Plastic Free July (will you?), visited Baby Seeeeve and Lola Jean who took 23944987 photos with my phone, fretted over Gus, and was in bed with a book by 11. Sleep was fruitless as Bruce Springsteen was crying all night and pooping and puking.

Saturday Bruce was better but Gus wasn't, and I got him a late afternoon appointment before hitting the grocery store. Then we were off to the Families Belong Together rally in Philly. I was already upset by dog issues but man, hearing a 13 year old girl crying trying to talk about what happened to her family who came here seeking asylum...how can people live supporting this? I was also happy to hear the messaging all tied together - you can't be upset about kids in cages and not be upset about brown kids being shot in the back for no reason. Kim from Kimrussell.com heeded my meet me there calls last week and met us, which was awesome. We work not too far from each other so drinks and/or dinner are in our future!

I'm proud of everyone who showed up in towns big and small yesterday to say we should be better than this. 

Amtrak switch problems fucked us getting home so we had to get off the train 20 minutes away and Uber. We were in a time crunch so I could get Gus to the vet. They confirmed what I have pretty much known - Gus has cancer. I declined the zillion dollar biopsy but the vet was confident there was no need. We'll just watch him and when he's ready to go, he's ready to go. We're already on borrowed time and the vet seemed to think weeks, maybe months, not years but we'll see when we see. Since he's approaching 13, we're not pursuing any treatment. He barked everyone out of the vet as he does and was a loon all afternoon so safe to day it's not right now. Bruce was also recovered from his sickness of eating God knows what and Mae was over both of them. 

The heat and the vet and the angst from the rally took it out of me, so I chilled out Saturday night and finished a book while MFD was out door knocking.

Sunday we slept in due to shitty sleep Saturday. I love that Bruce no longer gets up at 4:30 to pee. Then it was picking up, wiping down bathrooms, paying bills, food prepping,etc. 

Weekly food prep: I made greek orzo salad, hummus, hotdogs, and cut up watermelon and veggies and pita. I will be making breakfast burritos and mexican stuffed shells to freeze this week. 

Sunday afternoon Debbie and I went door to door for MFD, sweating our fucking asses off. Literally it was like being boiled inside and we were only out for an hour and a half. 98 freaking degrees. Video of us dripping with sweat here.  We came back to the air conditioning, hydrated, and ate, then Debbie went home and I had a rest on the couch with los perros. I basically rested the rest of the night and finished a book because heat takes it out of me. 

A disjointed week ahead - I'm working today and Tuesday, we're obviously off Wednesday, working Thursday, and heading to the shore Thursday night with Debbie so I'm off Friday. 

And yours?