There’s a train that comes running by daily. To most, that would come as an annoyance. I hear it today and I am comforted. Autumn comes to mind. That’s when we moved here. Last year.

The sweltering heat, freeze pops, blowing of fans, and sandals pass with each click-clack of the tracks; inviting crisp, cool air, warm meals, snuggles, boots and a new beginning in the same home.

Summer chugs on by.

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Post tags: reflections

Play Up Double Slide Climber – You may have seen quite a few photos of Jayden having a blast on this playset. Step2 sent this over and it has been an awesome addition to our backyard. I love the vibrant colors Step2 used to design the Double Slide Climber. It has been pleasing to photograph. As the title suggests, there are two slides; a 45.5 inch slide and a 36 inch slide. When the set arrived, Jay was more partial to the shorter slide because the longer one sent him flying into the grass (lol). If your child is wearing smooth pants and no shoes, it will happen. (Weee! *thud*) There’s also a wall for climbing and a wheel so he can pretend he’s captain of his very own ship.

The Double climber was easy to assemble; took Greg and I about 30 minutes. I love that Step2 playsets are built to last. They weather well if left outside, but we’re choosing to cover ours up during the winter. And because they are very durable, you’ll be able to find Step2 toys secondhand on Craigslist, yard sales, and in thrift stores in great condition.

Intex Sun Shade Pool – We bought this pool last year and it’s still a favorite. We still fill it up partially because Jayden will only stand in it if it’s partially filled. He still isn’t a fan of cooler water temperatures. He can stand in this pool for hours just scooping and pouring water. We don’t use the shade. As you can see in the picture above, he doen’t like it too much. Instead, he’d rather play with it separately.

Garanimals Mix & Match Sets – Garanimals sent Jayden an outfit from their summer collection. We are huge fans of Garanimals and own quite a few of their outfits. Each piece of clothing’s only $3 at Walmart, so if he gets a stain or rip, I haven’t invested much. And just because the clothing is cheap, doesn’t mean it’s cheaply made. Garanimals compares to some pieces I’ve seen at The Children’s Place and Old Navy.

Shooshoos Smiley Sandal – Shooshoos sent us these sandals this spring and they’ve pretty much been all that Jayden’s worn. They are easy to slip on and they are flexible and lightweight – perfect for an active little guy who doesn’t like wearing shoes to begin with. I’m kinda kicking myself for buying him so many shoes. We recently packed up his outgrown shoe collection and stored them in the attic.

So there ya have it, some of this year’s summertime favs for Jayden. I hope to frequent the public pool and some beaches next year, so I’ll probably be mentioning some beach toys and swim wear next time. What products did your kids enjoy particularly this summer?

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Post tags: 2yr, from house to home, garanimals, shooshoos, step2, summer, toddlers

Weleda recently launched, Explore Baby, a microsite dedicated to moms of babies who want to learn and share baby care tips with each other. There, moms can also receive advice from experts and enter to win a year’s supply of Calendula Baby Care products. In conjunction with the launch, I’m giving away a Weleda Calendula Baby Care Starter Kit. The deets are below .

Weleda wants to offer a Weleda Calendula Baby Care Starter Kit to 1 Sophistishe reader.

For a chance to win: Leave a comment letting me know which Weleda product you’ve tried or would like to try.

(I’m bringing) Extra Entries (back):
Follow me on Twitter (1 entry) – leave an additional comment letting me know you’ve done so.
Like Sophistishe on Facebook (1 entry) – leave an additional comment letting me know you’ve done so.

This giveaway will close September 13th, 2010 at 7PM CST. You may want to take a look at my basic giveaway rules. Good luck!

Weleda on Twitter | Weleda on Facebook

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Post tags: baby, eczema, skin, weleda

It’s been almost two years since the last time we’ve gone out to Olive Garden, well out to eat…period. We rarely go out to eat, like once every 6 months (excluding biz trips), but that’s not a complaint. At home, we do eat loads of pasta (whole grain) and bread (Greg doesn’t like “brown” bread).

The last time we were at Olive Garden, Jayden was 6 months old and he could not stay out of the breadsticks. Here’s a video of him trying to chomp down. My mother is in the background panicking because she didn’t want him to choke. You know, typical grandma-ness.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h09Zx5r4RHk

Olive Garden is known for their Never Ending Pasta Bowl deal and it’s back. From now through October 10th, Olive Garden will be offering crazy amounts of pasta and 40+ pasta-sauce combos, including two new sauces. The promotion also comes with unlimited garden salad, or soup, and breadsticks for just $8.95 per person; you can’t beat that.

To celebrate, I’m giving away a prize pack including a $15 gift card to Olive Garden. The deets are below .

Olive Garden wants to offer 1 Sophistishe reader a giveaway package containing the following:

• Williams-Sonoma ceramic salad bowl
• Olive Garden’s signature Italian salad dressing in traditional glass bottle
• A $15 Olive Garden gift card -- I received one of these too
• Complete Never Ending Pasta Bowl Guide to help build your next pasta/sauce combination

For a chance to win: Leave a comment letting me know which pasta combination makes your mouth water.

(I’m bringing) Extra Entries (back):
Follow me on Twitter (1 entry) -- leave an additional comment letting me know you’ve done so.
Like Sophistishe on Facebook (1 entry) -- leave an additional comment letting me know you’ve done so.

This giveaway will close September 14th, 2010 at 7PM CST. You may want to take a look at my basic giveaway rules. Good luck!

Olive Garden on Facebook

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Post tags: lunch, olive garden

There are many things we do to live sustainably; however if I list them all, you’d be reading forever. I may, in the future, post one big ol’ list, but until then, here are some of them.

Our Sustainable Actions

Utilize the sunlight – Natural sunlight is a big deal in our household. It makes us feel great and as a photography enthusiast, I love what sunlight does for my photos. We wake up, open the curtains, and soak up the natural rays until they dim, leaving the lights to be turned on during the evening hours – as we need them.

Cook using small appliances – We just bought a toaster oven and popcorn popper to go with our beloved George Foreman grill and waffle iron. We grill, make waffles, and need to toast quite frequently and Jayden and I love eating popcorn. By using these smaller appliances, we consume less energy and save on our electricity bill. We also eliminate package waste when buying popcorn kernals by the jar to use in the popper instead buying microwavable popcorn.

Use rechargeable batteries – We have quite a few gadgets and toys that require batteries. To eliminate the need to purchase new batteries, we use rechargeable batteries in a family sized charger. Doing so also eliminates the energy and resources required to manufacture and restock batteries as they are purchased.

Locked hair = less energy & product used – Since I wear my hair in locs, I don’t have the need to use flatirons, curling irons, or even a blow dryer. After washing my hair, I re-twist each loc by the root and let my hair air dry. To keep from going to bed with wet hair, I of course have to do this earlier in the day. My hair now requires less product and less frequent washing. I have no need to use relaxers, shampoos, moisturizing lotions, and whatever else I used to use. My staples are apple cider vinegar, conditioner, hair gel, and a moisturizing spray.

Use cloth or chlorine free diapers/training pants – In my previous post, I shared how we used cloth diapers on and off and when we didn’t use them, we used chlorine-free disposables to rid Jayden of any possible skin irritations or exposure to harsh chemicals. The first Seventh Generation product we’ve ever used were their disposable diapers which we’ve grown to love and have since graduated to their training pants which we’ve been buying before they offered to send us more for this campaign .

Wash only what needs to be washed – Articles of clothing such as jeans and sweaters can be worn and refreshed many times before having to be washed. This preserves their quality and the energy and resources used to wash them. Growing up, I would do this only because I didn’t have any quarters to put in the shared machine in our building. I look back now and don’t feel so bad.

In my last post, I also mentioned that we had a few areas we needed to work on. Let’s take a look.

Room For Improvement

Recycle more – We have a large recycling can outside, but only select items make it into this can such as broken down boxes and large plastic items. Since we don’t have a small recycling bin inside our home, papers and cans often get tossed in with the garbage. *hangs head in shame*

Ditch paper towels – I feel we use way too many paper towels and they end up in the trash; unrecycled. Can you even recycle dirty paper towels? Ick. Anyway, I ordered some Bird-E Towels and they came today!

Wash clothes in cold water – I am one of those cold water washing skeptics. I just don’t understand how cold water could throughly clean, but I’m going to at least try washing some of our clothes in cold water. It would surely help preserve the colors in our clothes as well as add some additional savings to our energy bill.

Naturally purify our air with plants – Just like my mom, I have a bit of a green thumb, but having a small child in the house has hindered me from having many plants. I was given an air purifier which I thought would fill the void, but after researching the product, I found that it was known to emit ozone. That was definitely a purpose killer. I now have some places in mind to set down and hang some plants, so I’m going to do some shopping around for plants known to naturally purify the air such as the Areca palm, English Ivy, Rubber Plant, and Dracaena.

So there you have it, some sustainable ideas that fit our lifestyle and some ideas that we need to get working on. Join me next week where I will talk about some more sustainable ideas we do so well; trading, selling, thrifting and re-purposing. As a bonus, I want to leave you with some resources for cosmetics, remedies, and cleaners.

Product Resources

• Vitacost.com (Cosmetics, Remedies, & Castile soaps)
• Eyes Lips Face (Cosmetics)
• Amazon.com (Charlie’s Soap).
• Walmart & (.com) (Seventh Generation Products)
• Diapers.com (Seventh Generation diapers and training pants) *

*Get $10 off your first order of diapers using code momdadblog. $49 min. total order.

What are you doing to live a more sustainable lifestyle? In what areas do you think you need to improve?

I’ve been invited by Walmart and Seventh Generation to participate in a sustainability challenge. I hope you continue to follow my fellow Walmart Moms: Jennae of Green Your Décor, Monica of Mommy Brain Reports, Jenn of Frugal Upstate, Denise of Wholesome Mommy, and I on our four week journey to living a more sustainable lifestyle.

And as you already may know, I am a participant in the Walmart Moms program. Seventh Generation provided me with product samples. Walmart has also provided me with additional compensation for the time involved in the campaign. Participation in this program is voluntary. All opinions are my own.

© Sophistishe: Finding Zen in Being Human 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: green, seventh generation, walmart, walmart-seventh-gen

On Friday, we were on our way to Jay’s appointment with a new pediatrician when our brakes gave out. We were already running late. The traffic light turned red or maybe I was approaching a stop sign. Whatever, I had to stop. I slowly began creeping up behind the car in front of me. I tapped the brakes. Nothing. I began pumping. Nothing. “STOP! STOP! STOP!”, Greg yelled not realizing the brakes were going. “Ugh, if I hit this car, I’m going to look like an idiot and I’ll never choose to drive again. We’re going to miss the doctor’s appointment, possibly get tangled into car drama, reports…”, I thought to myself. So from the far right lane, I slowly swerved over to the right onto a sidewalk, into some grass, trying my best not to bump a kid on a Hoveround.

Missed the car. Missed the kid. Missed the doctor’s appointment. Missed a disaster. Thank goodness. It’s always one thing or the other with us; always. But gripe and moan, I choose to do no more.

On a more positive note of spontaneity, Greg and I whipped out the Wii controllers and replayed the Bowser stage of New Super Mario Bros. this morning. Together we failed, but it was fun.

See In Memory of Me for “spontaneous” reference…

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Post tags: driving

My heart drops down to the pit of my stomach; I gasp for air.

My head spins although my eyes are closed. I open them, and I snap out of it.

I’m constantly thinking what can I do to ensure that my obituary is interesting?

Is that selfish of me?

I want to live a fulfilling life; explore, dream, pursue all of my passions. I want to be there for people – something that does not come easy because I am afraid of being a let down. Though, I want to help people genuinely when my heart tells me so, when I’m ready – not because I’m looking for some halo, not because it’s “the right thing to do”.

I want to be the grandmother, greatgrandmother even… that all the kids gravitate to. Grandma who creates memories through her lovin’ from the oven; photographs too.

I want to create traditions. I want to be spontaneous. Ride my life to the moon and back.

Life as I see it can be a hit or a miss.

My life’s gonna be a hit. That, I’m confident of.

I’m participating in Popinjay, a weekly concept photo challenge. This week’s challenge was confident. Next week’s challenge is abnormal. Join us why don’tchu?

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Post tags: me, popinjay, real talk, reflections

Sustainable Living.

It’s a topic that often erupts a stream of overwhelming emotions.

Where do I start?

I was first influenced to start “going green” about a year before I became pregnant with Jayden. I started using CFL bulbs and I attempted using reusable shopping bags. I thought doing these things were so cool. I mean I could buy these light bulbs, save on my energy bill, and not have to replace them for at least years. I could get rid of my overflowing pile of plastic grocery bags and use cute reusable ones. Oh, and less plastic bags would end up in landfills… I had a plan, but the big picture was not clear.

Then, I became pregnant with Jayden. Through research, I started learning about the harmful chemicals in everyday household cleaners. And that’s when my passion for living a sustainable lifestyle got serious. It was never about protecting the planet. It was about saving money, it was about convenience, and later on the well being of my unborn child. I absolutely did not want him exposed to elements that may hurt him whether instantly or gradually with time. I had to be sure of this.

Now, going green and living sustainably to me is about making healthy and wise choices for my family. Sure, clothing made of bamboo or 100% cotton feels nice. Sure, furniture and decor made of recycled and organic materials are quite clever. But these things often carry a hefty price tag and honestly, do I really need them? And that’s what often scares first time “greenies” from embracing the lifestyle. It’s a preconceived notion that going green is expensive, but by doing adequate research and buying what would truly contribute to your lifestyle and health for the better, you can achieve sustainability without sacrificing your budget.

I didn’t want to expose my son to harsh chemicals found in household cleaners, so I slowly started swapping out what we had for safer cleaners. My artillery of cleaners now vary depending on cost and new products I may discover. I had my heart set on cloth diapering Jayden and I did so sporadically throughout his first two years. I did end up using chlorine free disposables when I didn’t use cloth. I felt confident knowing his bottom and boy parts were irritant free.

Jayden had developed Eczema and it progressed as he got older. Through more research, I became aware of even more harsh chemicals that are present in cosmetics. That’s when I decided those products could not touch his skin. At this point, I was frustrated. It seemed every product had something wrong with it and all the good products were expensive or not available locally. So I had to start shopping online for those products we needed and I’ve found alternatives to the more expensive brands.

I continue to shop online for many of our cleaners and cosmetics simply because they are easier to acquire. I am very excited to learn that Seventh Generation products are going to be sold at Walmart, a store that I shop at frequently. This is definitely a step in the right direction for both brands. This shift will defintely make it easier for others to buy Seventh Generation products; fans and newbies. I would assume that Walmart isn’t stopping at just Seventh Generation. I’m hoping to see Walmart start carrying some of my other safe favorites too. What a convenience that would be.

Living sustainbly to me is doing what fits the lifestyle, budget, and the needs of my family. We are in a shaky stage in our lives; young and trying to keep our head above water while raising a toddler. Sometimes it can get hard trying to commit to a routine and lifestyle. And it’s so easy to feel lost and have the desire to just give up. But we are dedicated to making these changes while we are all still young instead making the changes later when it could possibly be too late.

I’ve been invited by Walmart and Seventh Generation to participate in a sustainability challenge. Next week, I will better address the actions we’ve taken to live a more sustainable lifestyle beyond cleaners and cosmetics and the aspects we still need to work on in our home. I hope you follow my fellow Walmart Moms, Jennae Green Your Décor, Monica of Mommy Brain Reports, Jenn of Frugal Upstate, Denise of Wholesome Mommy, and I on our four week journey to living a more sustainable lifestyle.

As you already may know, I am a participant in the Walmart Moms program. Seventh Generation provided me with product samples. Walmart has also provided me with additional compensation for the time involved in the campaign. Participation in this program is voluntary. All opinions are my own.

© Sophistishe: Finding Zen in Being Human 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: eczema, green, seventh generation, walmart, walmart-seventh-gen

Point is, that time was before I became a mother. I had a lot of time on my hands. I’d stay up ’til insane hours, especially during the summer working on my blog, bettering it ’til I couldn’t better it no more. I commented on other blogs…a lot. Blogging sure was fun. Spotlight did.not.matter.

I come from the type of blogging that was straight forward. Today, I’m feeling this. I did this today and tomorrow this may happen.

As I matured and entered motherhood, I started running into the creative types. Complete thoughts, poetic rhythms, reflections, and life lessons. I felt my blog was a pretty face; kinda hollow on the inside. Throughout the years, I’ve always managed to dress my blogs in snazzy layouts and themes, but I never laced them with the substance of the written word.

I received a passing grade in Creative Writing, but I honestly believe that I failed. I hated the class, absolutely. I felt forced to unfold, when ultimately, I lacked the courage and maturity that I possess today to do so. To Whom It Concerns by Darlene Conner is a perfect example.

I often feel like I have to write posts of substance or provide some sort of OMG, thanks I really needed that! info. Otherwise, I should just blurt thoughts out willy nilly on Twitter. Yanno, because people need a reason to visit my blog; give it a nod. And Twitter blurts aren’t the same as blog posts. Fodder…yes. Hmm. I need to remember to write for me first and foremost, divulging only what I truly want to, even if my thoughts never make any sense. Eventually they will, so I will continue to write, coherent or not, instead of letting Twitter archive my personality.

© Sophistishe: Finding Zen in Being Human 2010. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: me, real talk, Video Killed The Radio Star, writing

The back to school season is speaking loud and clear to me.

These writings will probably explain some of the weird things that I do, why I am who I am today. I could have headed towards the wrong road and I could have headed down the road of “perfection”. I chose somewhere in-between and I am content on the side road I chose to stumble.

Deep deep down within, I am a hothead. Only certain things channel this characteristic. Life’s so much easier being a free spirit. And to think, I was told I’d probably become a lawyer when I grew up…happen.not.gonna and that’s perfectly fine.

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Post tags: me, real talk, reflections