Finding my Way

I have been researching my new town of Shalimar, Fl. Once we get down there I can explore the area on my bike, but for now I have to rely on the internet. Since pizza is a necessity when moving, I have been searching for local restaurants, so I know where I can order it from once we are down there. Pizza is one way to bribe people into helping you too. If the pizza is out of this world, the more likely you are to get your friends to help! A local search of Shalimar, Fl brought up so many different things. I found some great thrift stores (which I will frequent) and my favorite section of the Local Favorites. This is very helpful, and the reviews provided by real people are great. This will let me know in advance whether or not a place is worth trying!

Setting up a move and working with businesses that are over 1000 miles away is difficult. It is important to have a local yellowpages available. The internet is great for that it is easy to look up all the local businesses that I will need, and set up services before I arrive. I am not sure what people did before the internet. I for one rely heavily on it for so many things.

Earth Day Sale

It is Earth Day and the weather is beautiful here. I will be celebrating by picking up trash on my walk today. I also wanted to celebrate by offering a SALE in my Etsy Shop. Threadbeaur will offer 10% off today Wednesday April 22, 2009 Through Saturday April 25, 2009. This 4 day sale is to raise awareness about the use of reusable shopping bags, and the impact that it can make. Get your reusable shopping bags when they are on sale. I also have great coffee sleeves for the Eco-Friendly Coffee drinking friends.

Come on over to Threadbeaur and check out my eco friendly items today!

Buying For an Acquaintance

An acquaintance of mine is having their second child, and I had to come up with a gift. I would have made a quilt, but usually that is reserved for really close friends. I figure they pretty much have everything they need with all the hand me downs from the first one, so I was stumped on what to get them. I searched for some designer baby clothes, but I wanted something special for number two, so clothes might not be the best choice.

Not too long ago a friend was visiting, and her son had a stuffed animal that he called Jelly. It was soft, and durable, and he loved it! I found out that JellyCat is the name of a brand of stuffed toys, and they have a ton of different animals to choose from. I think that would be a fun and special present for baby number two. Now if Baby One can keep her hands off of it we should be in good shape. The JellyCat elephant and the giraffe are so cute, now I just have to pick which animal I like best!

While I was shopping online at Lou Lou's Corner for the JellyCat, I noticed they had a large selection of Barefoot Dreams items. I found the softest looking hoodie that would be perfect for a chilly day! There is a cozychic throw that is made from the same material, it is a must have. It is machine washable, what could be better than that. I guess today's online shopping adventure was pretty successful: Buy a gift for a friend, and a little something for me!

It adds up.

Do you have a daily coffee from your local shop? A paper cup with a cardboard sleeve snuggled around the middle?
Here is a number from your daily cup of joe wrapped in a cardboard sleeve.
Daily coffee = 365 cardboard sleeves a year.

That is only one person, think of the millions of coffee drinkers around the globe and multiple.
One cloth reusable coffee sleeve could save the landfills from the 365 yearly cardboards sleeves per person.
That can really add up.

I just finished a custom order for a bakery in Chicago. They are holding an Earth Day Celebration, not just for one day, they have extended for the entire week. While I was up in the sewing room, I thought of all the cardboard sleeves that this order could save. For the earth day celebration I made 25 coffee sleeves, and that could reduce the total number of cardboard sleeves headed to the land fill by 9,125 (in one year).


Again, this is a miniscule amount compared to the daily use of cardboard sleeves, but we can start here, and spread the word. With coffee shops on every corner, the numbers add up. Make your daily grind a little greener, get a reusable coffee sleeve today.

30 Fat Quarters

Oh the things I could do with 30 fat quarters of fabric. Quilts! It would be fun to win that much fabric, right? Well, right now over at PigTale and Quilts, she is offer just that! You could score 30 fat quarters! Check it out, and make sure you mention Threadbeaur sent you over!

No Parking

There are safety signs all around: No Parking this side of street, No Parking from here to corner. I wish we could get one on road. There is a car that is always parked in the street. There is a garage, but they don't use it. There is a driveway, but it is clogged with other nonsense. Sometimes I think I could just get my own no parking sign and put it up, but I guess I would have to go through the local authorities for one on our street.

I am going to look into some safety signs regarding recycling, and the sort. Maybe I could get a parking sign that says this spot is reserved for one who recycles!

Curbside Recycling

Today at work we watched the trash man come pick up the cans of garbage. He then grabbed the recycling bins, and tossed them right in with the garbage. We could not believe what was happening. We spent time separating the recycling, breaking down all the cardboard boxes, and rinsing the handful of plastic juice jugs we go through every week.

Do you think your separated items make it to the recycling center or to the landfill? If people start seeing that they are separating their items for no reason, they will stop doing it. That will be bad for everyone. Then the people who are paid to pick up the recycling will be out of a job, and the landfills will start to increase it size, and we will need more.

What can be done? Is your town a recycling town? How good is the program?
All I know about my recycling program, is what I can and can not put out on the curb to be recycled. After they pick it up I don't know what happens, I have a sneaking suspicion that it ends up with all the other trash.

I would like to hear about your towns recycling, have any of you had this same problem?

Treadmills are for Winter

In the winter it is hard to keep up with my fitness routine. I really like to get outdoors for my activities. In the winter there are a few things that we like to do such as snowshoeing, but in Chicago, there are only a few days during the 6 months of winter that we can actually do that. It is necessary to have a back up plan. Indoor fitness activities, such as a treadmill. They have come a long way since the first one I owned. You can now get a treadmill that has computers, and even a TV built right into it!

I guess there will be the occasional rainy day in Florida when I will want an elliptical to keep up the healthy fit lifestyle, but I imagine, that I will be outdoors most of the time. I enjoy the elliptical machine, it is such a great workout, and easy on your knees! I find that running whether it be on a treadmill or outside can be difficult on my knees. Another machine that I really enjoy is the stationary bike and the recumbent bike, they provide a nice workout with our being too difficult. You can change the intensity to suit you mood, and even read a book while you exercise!

For those who have to deal with 6 months of winter, they really do get their money's worth out of indoor fitness equipment. As for me I guess I will wait and see what the weather will really be like before I make my next fitness machine purchase!

Water and Conservation

There are many ways to save water, and in turn save money. One way as we all know is to turn off the faucet when you are brushing your teeth. Or fill up a watering can next time you are waiting for the shower water to turn warm. Recently, though I thought about the toilet, and how much water is flushed away each day. It can be one of the largest water consumers in your house. I am sure you have heard of the low flow toilets, it may conjure up some ideas. The bathroom is one place that you can really start to see the water savings. I don't recommend running out and buying all new toilets, that would be wasteful, and increase your carbon footprint. Instead, there is a dual flush retrofit kit that you can install to your existing toilet.

The retrofit kits are only around $40 dollars, and over a few years, I am sure you will see the savings, not only in the amount of our precious water that goes down the toilet, but in real dollars too! Changing to a dual flush toilet is just one more step that can reduce your water consumption. Such a small thing can really help you go green. Water is our most precious resource, and you can save a few gallons a day with a simple, expensive kit. That is something we can all get behind.

A new shoreline to discover

Once we move and settle in we will start exploring our new environment. As we did when we moved to Chicago. We explored the city, and we explored the top have of our great country from Illinois to Wyoming and back. We are always looking for an excuse to travel around. As I was exploring google maps, I saw that Myrtle Beach is less than an hour from where we will be living in Florida. Myrtle Beach Resorts litter the shore line, and I can't wait to check them out. Where there is warm weather, sunshine, and water, that is where you will find me. After 10 Chicago winters, I am ready, I am ready to go where it is warm. At the Myrtle Beach resort you can book sailing charters for days sails. The waters look so blue, and I can almost imagine the wind in my hair, hoisting the mail sail and setting sail for Bird Island.

As you can imagine Myrtle Beach hotels range in size from large to small. There is something for every one's budget. Indulge in a vacation to escape from the Midwest winter. I hear it is nice in Florida in March!

Can Silver be Green?

I just got back from the grocery store. I have been putting off the purchase of tin foil, for many weeks. We always try to reuse the foil if it was just used to cover something, but we were out. I don't use it too often, but sometimes I do need it. I was down aisle 10 looking at the hundreds of boxes of aluminum foil, when one boxed jumped out at me. It was not the regular blue and silver, this box was special, it was GREEN. It was Reynold's Wrap 100% recycled foil. I read the box and not only is the foil made from recycled aluminum, but the box, and the interior cardboard roll were also made from recycled materials! How great is that! I went to the website when I returned home, and got the full scoop on this great new product! The foil feels and looks just like the non-recycled foil, I will put it to the test soon, and I will have an update! I figure, if I am going to use this type of thing in the kitchen, it might as well be as green as can be! This is the silver lining I have been waiting for! Thank you Reynold's Wrap for making our kitchen a little more green.

Food for Thought

There is a friend of mine who loves to get food as gifts! They always say that consumables are the best gifts. I was having trouble finding a perfect present for her, so I turned to the internet of course! I ran across this website called David's cookies. They have such a good selection of delicious treats. The site has great suggestions for every type of gift giving from New Years to Christmas, they've got you covered. One of the sections that really caught my eye was the cookie dough area. They sell their dough frozen, so that you can have fresh cookies anytime. That is perfect for me, because I always have baked goods around, but sometimes I don't have the time to whip up a fresh batch of cookies. Which results in unhappy troops. The frozen cookie dough would be a life saver.

Still, I had no idea which item to get and send to my friend, in desperation I clicked on the truffle cakes. They looked amazing. I think that is what she deserves. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and the photos of the cakes are amazing. Maybe I should get one for myself too! They prices seem a little high, but I am sure it is worth it.

The shipping rate currently is $4.95 flat rate, which is great. For all those out there that have to do fundraising, you could suggest David's Cookies next time you are asked, they have a great program for fundraising. You are bound to make your fundraising goals, because after all who doesn't love cookies!

I am running down a dream

In the home stretch, less than 80 days to go before we move to Florida. I am on the look out for a new pair of running shoes. I need something that is comfortable, and can go from pavement to sand, so I can take a sunrise run on the beach. I will be able to have a daily exercise plan that I can persue outside for the entire year. I don't have to be cooped up inside, due to bad weather. I can slip on those running shoes, and head out 365 days a year! Won't that be nice.
I found a great pair of Keen Running Shoes that might just fit the bill for me. They are listed under the stability tab, and that is one feature I am looking for. I love to shop for shoes online, you get such a variety. I have never had much luck finding running shoes in local stores, and when I shop online I can find much more variety. I don't really like going store to store, so the convenience of shopping online for running shoes is very appealing. Now I just have to see if they have my size!

Shopping Spree

Yes, as chance would have it my favorite online fabric shop is having a sale! This is not a wimpy sale, this is a fantastic sale. The fine folks over at beesquarefabrics are having a sale on fabric by the yard. The sale is 35% off!!! She has some great fabrics too! I have had my eye on a few special fabrics, perhaps my next quilt project will come together because of this sale!
If you need fabric, you should check out this fabric sale. The special code for the sale is "BSFmovingsale35". You can also check out beesquarefabric blog for more details on the sale.
So many fabrics so little time (and money). I am off to fill my cart with cottony goodness!