Recovering from Christmas

Christmas presents from my lovely sisters (Do they know me or what?!)

We have just recently returned from a month of travel & will be home for 4 days before we jet off  to yet another state.  We are blessed to be able to travel for such extensive lengths of time & have truly enjoyed seeing our friends & family.  Our house is in shambles & we have t-minus 15 weeks until Little Baby arrives (assuming she doesn't decide to come 3 weeks early like Little E did), but it was worth every second of time with family.

I've got some serious frugal gems in the works, but for now, I just wanted to check in, wish you a very belated Merry Christmas & Happy New Year & let you know regular blogging will resume next week. 

In the meantime feast your frugal little heart out on this list  from The Consumerist of 112 Ways to Save Money.  See you soon! 

Waste Management Inspiration in San Fran

We went to San Fransisco for Thanksgiving to visit family.  While we had a wonderful time, I couldn't help but be impressed by the many options for waste management I saw around the city.

At the Academy of Sciences they had these receptacles with recycle, compost, & landfill options.  Additionally the white labels have little pictures of what is appropriate to throw in each bin.  I also find the use of the word landfill far more effective than trash; it's a good reminder that everything thrown in that container will actually wind up in a landfill.   

The bins at the San Fransisco airport were less thorough. but they still offered the options of composting & recycling at EVERY container, in addition to trash.

If the city of San Fransisco is offering these options I certainly hope more cities will follow suit.  It also got me thinking about everything that I throw away, recycle, or could potentially compost & where it might actually end up.  Well done San Fran, well done. 

Saving Time, Money & Emissions While Traveling

We're smack dab between road trips here at the Green Goddess Household.  Little E & I just got back from our first ever mother/daughter road trip happy & unscathed & we depart again tomorrow.  Here are a few things that helped us save time, money, & emissions on our travels...

Beverages--E LOVES milk, and girlfriend gets crazy cranky when her cup runs dry.  To combat any unnecessary fussiness I keep extra milk in a Similac cooler that was free from my OBGYN & a water bottle I got for working at the Purdue Telefund.  It's a cheap & easy solution to a crabby little girl.  Also pack a refillable water bottle for yourself so you stay hydrated & don't buy drinks along the road.

Food--For the sake of saving money, getting to your destination faster, & avoiding the grumps, bring food for yourself & your little one.  For myself I'm a fan of a PB&J, but for E I bring a TON of stuff.  I've found the easiest way to keep her happy & entertained is to give her something to eat.    This time it was particularly important because I couldn't hand her toys while driving. 

• For easy hand-this-to-your-child-while-keeping-eyes-on-the-road food we use Happy Tot pouches (they're a great snack even if you have an older child), graham crackers, cheerios, Plum Fiddlesticks, teething biscuits, raisins, or any other food item that won't spoil & can be quickly shoved at your child without making a big mess.  Trust me, food is key to a happy baby.

Bring entertainment--We have a portable DVD player (thanks to my lovely MIL) that we use in conjunction with a handful of Sesame Street DVDs.  Depending on your resources you might not have the latest smart phone/I Pad/I Pod, etc to hand to your child for hours of entertainment.  If that is the case hit the local library.  You can rent great audio books, CDs, & check out lots of new-to-your-child books.  Also don't forget old standbys like coloring books & games.

Make the most of your miles--

• Fill up your tank the day before.  If you're trying to get your baby out of the car as quickly as possible this is definitely one to do ahead.

• Make sure your tires are properly inflated so you get the best possible gas mileage.

• Use cruise control to minimize fluctuations & maximize fuel efficiency.

• Don't speed.  I have to be honest here & admit I struggle with this one, but fuel efficiency dramatically decreases with increased speed, so try to stick to the posted limits.  Also, not speeding means no speeding tickets or increased car insurance.  A very frugal thing indeed.  

• Lastly, be well organized.  Know where money is for tolls, diapers are for stops, food & drink to prevent stopping, & any other necessities.   Organization can save time, fuel, & head aches.  

Happy trails!

Make It Do: Shrink Wrap Style

We're getting ready to stay in a hotel this weekend, and I LOVE all of the "free" hotel toiletries.  I collect them, I use them, and I just generally adore their teeny tiny stature. 

One of the things I've never had much use for is the plastic shower caps.  Does anyone really use these?  Leave it to the Tightwad Gazette The Complete Tightwad Gazette to come up with a use. 

Simply stretch your shower cap over your random sized bowls & use it as a plastic wrap.  You can hand wash the cap & use it many, many times.  The next time you get a plastic shower cap from your hotel stay consider using it as plastic wrap.  It's absolutely free & 100% reusable. 

Meet Grandma

I believe in relishing in the kitch of childhood for as long a possible.  My going to grandma's suitcase is still my favorite way to travel.  Unfortunately it is too petite to fit any of my clothes, but it makes the perfect train case.

Not only do I not like to buy toiletries, I also don't like to buy the small bags that keep all of my petite little sample sizes organized.  I've tried to reuse as many little things as possible to keep everything organized.  Let me show you...

This held a Kiss My Face gift from my mom & dad.  It comes in so handy for holding larger travel sized items.
 

This little container was from a sample from a pharmaceutical company I believe.  

Our travel sized first aid kit is held in an old Strawberry Short Cake Band-Aid container,

While hair accessories are held in an old Altoid tin. 

 

I've found this way of traveling with samples to be highly effective, and using my grandma suitcase always makes me smile.  If you have any tiny suitcases, or find a vintage train case in an antique store, I highly recommend using samples and found/reused containers.

Lord, I Was Born a Ramblin' Man...

 

We've just gotten back from Spring Break & had a wonderful time.

At the beginning of the week we went to Lake of the Ozarks to visit my most loyal blog reader, JC's Aunt Lynn.  (Hi Aunt Lynn!)

While Emerson enjoyed the lake, she mostly enjoyed snorting with Aunt Lynn's giant stuffed pig.

We spent time in St. Louis with JC's sister, Tibby,

 & his mom & step dad.

We went to the butterfly house in St. Louis for Tibby's wedding shower

Where my two lovies were looking mighty dapper

& Emerson practiced dress up 

and pulling out her bow while being held by Grandpa. 

Good times were had by all!

  

And when we got home, I discovered some of my seeds have sprouted!

Spring Break

We're going to be traveling over the next week visiting family & celebrating JC's sister's upcoming wedding.  The car is packed...

I've got my reading material...

And my Shabby Chic thermos filled with water.  Looks like it will be a good trip!


**I'm not 100% sure I'll have internet access the whole time, but I'll try to keep the posts coming every day.  Happy spring break to you!

India Outtakes

This woman is holding a newborn

Indian bathtub (And Emerson's for our stay)

Professor Abhyankhr's favorite perch

Jetlagged E on the Professor's bed

4 a.m. sure looks shiny when you see this sweet face.

India IV

On our last day in Pune, Yvonne took E & I shopping.  We met over at her house, then visited Shopa at her flat where she fed me a strange sweet carrot dish and a flat dried rice snack.  Very strange, but very good.  Yvonne wanted to get a sari for her maid, so we headed to Laxmi Road.

Now let me just say, that this day, was TOTALLY awesome for two reasons.  One, I finally figured out how to go out with E & not get harassed by baby lovers/paparazzi--put her in her wrap, tuck all extremities in, and secure a hat to her head.  It completely hid her and by the time people realized there was a pretty lil' baby in my contraption, we were already past.

 Two, Laxmi Road was CRAZY!  I suppose it was the Rodeo Drive of Pune, but man, the traffic, the people, the noise.  It was awesome.  Definitely overwhelming, but awesome.

 We went to all sorts of little shops, but the sari shop was a-MAY-zing!  Yvonne said it was an old way of presenting the saris, but the sales people stood on mattresses level with the rest of the floor.

 Then instead of you browsing, they would pull out the saris, let you look at them, and then throw them on the mattresses.  It was so beautiful; a big, bright heap of gorgeous fabric that just kept growing.  I loved it.  I wish I could have purchased one, but apparently it takes quite a bit of time get one made and tailored.  It's not as ready to wear as one might think.

After the sari shop we just walked along Laxmi Road, tried not to get run over, and browse.

There were huge buckets of different rice preparations, beautiful fabrics, honest to God cobblers on the street, and coconut vendors!



At the end of our shopping trip Yvonne treated me to a coconut.  They just hacked off the top, stuck a straw in it, and gave it to me.  It was awesome.

E & Professor Abhyankhr

 Tonight, we went over to the professor's house to say goodbye.  It was quite sad actually.  When we first got here our hotel and the professor's house was bursting at the seams with mathematicians.  Now, almost everyone has left us, and it is quite lonely.  I've truly enjoyed the people we have met here and will be very sorry to not see them shortly.

Our time here was amazing, the country was so interesting, and the people were so warm and lovely.  I'm going to miss it.