Life is for Living

My dad said something to me this summer that I’ve found myself repeating over and over again: “Life is for living.”  It’s become sort of a mantra as G and I navigate this particularly busy season in our life.

And then, when I start thinking about how we are inevitably at the beginning of this “season” that will likely last decades as it keeps ramping up, I can feel something similar to a panic attack coming on.  But if I catch myself and say “life is for living!” it somehow snaps everything into perspective, and instead of impending insanity, it just feels like we’re on the right track.

I ran across this earlier today. I’m enjoying the similar sentiment.

“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.”
~Mother Teresa

Happy 5th of July!

Our family celebrated in Vermont a few days early.  As well as some extended family, all six of us were all there– for the first time since last year– and we all brought our significant others– a total first! It was a wonderful weekend, though over much too quickly. Lots of grilling, hikes in the woods, catching up on reading, walks to town for ice cream, and of course my dad and his friend’s fireworks— which seem to be bigger and crazier each year.

My brother Sam took the photo of the bonfire on our last night there. (Go check out his photos of those fireworks here. Be sure to click on the image to see them larger. They’re awesome! )

Happy belated 4th of July!  I hope everyone had a good time.

Sylvia Boorstein on “On Being”

…your measuring stick for how clearly you’re thinking, is if you’re able to be kind.

I listened to this yesterday and found the conversation so inspiring.  (Audio is available for download as well. But I think it’s edited down.)

“On Being” is one of my favorite podcasts. Do you listen?

I’m looking forward to reading Boorstein’s books.

Happy Friday the 13th!

 

Now that we take G to the train every morning, Luna and I get to walk in the grounds at the State House across the street. We love it:

Here’s a collection of entertaining links to brighten your doomed Friday the 13th:

• The best Pinterest board ever. Am I right, or what?
• 10% off your next Moo Cards order. I just ordered business cards and am excited to get them. So tempted to get some stickers, but I resisted!
• Today’s the last day to use code TYLER34 to receive 34% off everything in the Perideau Designs shop! Personalized plates, stationary–great gifts for kids and teachers– Go get it!
• Loving this t-shirt.
• Looking forward to this book coming out via Kickstarter. (Thanks Sam!)
• And if we had cable, we’d be watching this show on Sunday:

Next week I’ll post some of the new work I’m bringing to the conference…

Happy weekend everybody!

Friday

Sorry for the radio-silence folks. I’ve been busy here working on my site overhaul! I’m knee-deep in WordPress, Headway and Simpleviewer Pro at the moment, but the finish line (of this stage anyways,) is now a glimmer and I’m getting excited.

Do you have something fun planned for tonight or this weekend?  G and I are headed out for a belated birthday dinner. I can’t wait…

Image from Life Magazine’s tumblr! Who knew?

Featured in the Providence Journal

Hey check it out!– Our wedding was featured in the Providence Journal (also known as the Projo around these parts,) in a section about DIY Weddings.  We got interviewed and everything. Was not expecting a full page in color though. Sweet!

And, as always, special thanks to Li Ward from Fat Orange Cat Studios, for the gorgeous wedding photos!

Buy Nothing New Project: Update

So I thought I’d do an update on our Buy Nothing New Project.

We’ve definitely saved a bunch of money mostly by watching costs on our road trips, and by cutting out unnecessary purchase, aka “impulse buys” in general.

We visit G’s folks, almost two hours away, pretty frequently. Besides gas, we almost always buy snacks at the gas station. And/or stop at 5 Guys for burgers. By making snacks and bringing water with us we save $20 to $30+ round trip.  So far, homemade tortilla chips, and kale chips are our go-to nibbles.

Cheats:

• I bought sunglasses on our way to G’s parents’ house the other day. I could have waited and thrifted them, but I didn’t. They were $10.  My reasoning was that I would waste an afternoon looking for some at a thrift shop, that may or may not have been cheaper. Even if that were true, I should have stuck to my guns on principle. [See below on forming habits.]
• I bought pillow cases at Ikea. I went for work stuff and ended up adding pillow cases to my bag. I really like them. This was totally against the rules.
• I took G out for a celebratory “You Got a New Job!” dinner. I’m happy we went. But I acknowledge this is cheating.
• I’m sure there are more I’m forgetting.

The most interesting part of this project has been how much it’s made me pause when I reach to buy something. Do I really need that XYZ? Many times the answer is no, and so I put it back. I’m surprised how often this happens. I didn’t think of myself as an impulse buyer before.

It’s also made me consider what I can make, or repurpose, instead of purchase. Though for us, that can be a fine line. Sometimes it’s actually cheaper and smarter to buy said item, than to make it from scratch. –The two of us can get a bit carried away with our craft projects. But still, I’m definitely more on the lookout for items that can be repurposed.

It’s also interesting how many things we’re getting rid of. Not buying stuff we don’t need, + purging stuff we own and don’t need, seem to be closely tied to each other.

Things we’ve edited:

• ikea mattress with foam topper (does this count? We gave it away as we got a new mattress… So probably not.)
• Four+ shopping bags full of various items to Savers.
• a bag full of clothes I gave to my mom
• we will soon be rid of an old laptop and a redundant ipod

One thing I’ve found helpful, at least for now in this beginning stage, is to stick to your “rules” even if monetarily it might not be that big of deal. Case in point: We’ve been cutting costs on our movie/tv watching. Redbox ($1 rentals,) the library, Hulu, and Netflix streaming are allowed.  Going to movie theaters, or renting online from iTunes or Amazon, is not. The other day we wanted to watch 50/50 (which, by the way, I think is my favorite movie of 2011. Go see it if you haven’t.) I forgot to pick it up from Redbox (–the library didn’t have it.) We almost rented it through Amazon for $3, but decided not to. We ended up watching it the next night.

Now, $2 is not such a big deal– especially compared to actually going out to the movies (an easy $20+ for both of us.) But waiting the extra night, helped reinforce our new habits of planning ahead. $3 once in a while isn’t a big deal, but $3 every other night is ridiculous when there are cheaper options available. I think this is probably “new habits 101” right?

Anyone have some money-saving tips that work for you? Please share- I’d love to hear!

Snow Day

We got our first real snow all winter the other night.

I took some photos on our morning walk and romp in the dog park.

What a happy girl.

Other members of our household enjoy snow days a whole other way:

The ‘Buy Nothing New’ project

 

In lieu of G’s shifting work status we’ve decided to tamp down on our finances at least until the end of February. And after having dinner with some inspirational friends, and then having some similar conversations with other friends about consumerism in general, I’m motivated to make this “official.” So let’s call it the “Buy Nothing New” project! (Alternatively, G suggested, “No Thrills; Just Bills and Pills.” ha.)

This means

• buying nothing but essentials–ie food, prescriptions and bills, and cutting the rest out.
• giving experiences, over goods, for gifts.
• sadly no delicious meals out, but yay for delicious meals in!
• planning ahead and making our own snacks for road trips.
• making special yummy treats, (eg. cookies,) but not buying them.
• when necessary buying used, or local as much as possible.
• movie nights at home.
• going shopping inside our apartment and getting crafty with what we’ve already got.
• taking advantage of our public library.
• doing some junk drawer/clothing/general clutter editing around the house.

A friend was telling me recently about how almost everything she reads online is about buying something. Pretty, stylish, somethings. But still–acquiring more things. I didn’t realize, until she mentioned it, how similar my online reading was as well. Which, as a visual person who is genuinely interested in what others are making and excited about, is natural. But I’ve realized that underneath the creative swell, is a push to buy the next cool whatever. So I’m hoping this project will free me from that a bit. Maybe it will enable me to look at things and appreciate them, but let go of actually owning them.

Clearly many of these steps will take some planning ahead. Often we pay extra for convenience, rather than real necessity– ie road trip snacks, etc. But I think we can handle a bit of extra thinking for a month and a half.  I assume an added benefit will be cutting down on our trash output– convenient things are often short-lived purchases that also always seem to be packaged intensely, don’t they? (More on “no trash living” here.)

We’ll let you know how it goes! And feel free to join us, if you’re feeling so inclined.

Merry Christmas!