Baby registry/product recommendations

Having a baby made me realize how much I like to research things. This, paired with my penchant for throwing my opinions at people, is why you're here today reading this post. Buckle up because it's gonna be a long one. Despite the list being about a mile long, I don't think there are too many things on here that we haven't used, and there are definitely a lot of things that we didn't bother with...

Oh shit, it's happening: First trimester recommendations

I have a lot of opinions. I have even more now that I've been pregnant and have a child. And now I'm going to force them upon you, unsuspecting reader. Enjoy!The first trimester is rough. I didn't even have it all that bad (no morning sickness, only some food aversions) and yet you're still tired, you're a bit bewildered, worried and slightly panicky. You feel like you have an encyclopedia of baby...

My (very long) birth story

In the last week before I ended up giving birth, my husband and I decided to binge watch the Harry Potter movies again just for something to do. We had already prepped everything we could, cleaned the house and since it's still a pandemic there wasn't much else to do. I was 40 weeks and 6 days so we had been prepped for this for awhile. On Monday evening John offered that we could push back watching...

Third trimester recap

So I'm finally sitting down to start writing this up a month after having given birth. That should give you an indication of how things have been going lately, but more on that later. Instead, I will now try to think back a lifetime or two ago (a.k.a. a few months) to when I was still pregnant so I can talk about how I was feeling and what was on my mind.People say that the third trimester is absolutely...

Second trimester recap

I'm sure this is the most cliche thing to say and that not a single pregnancy related blog post has ever gone up without the phrase, but where in the world has time gone?? Five seconds ago I was taking a pregnancy test and bricking it, and now we're a week and a half away from the third trimester and I have a room full of baby stuff as a result of religiously scouring Facebook marketplace at all hours...

First trimester recap

Surprise, internet void, I'm making a baby!Right the beginning of lockdown my birth control prescription ran out of refills. It was early March when Things were just starting to get crazy, so I really didn't fancy going into my doctor's office if I didn't have to. While I'm sure they would have been able to see me safely, it gave us the perfect little nudge to consider if this was the right time to...

What is "old" clothing anymore?

I watch a lot of videos from various content creators on YouTube. Some fashion specific, some more lifestyle based and many who are focused a lot on sustainability. I've noticed that a lot of them have been referring to clothes as "really old" when in fact they mean no more than 3 or 4, sometimes even one 1 year(s) old. That surprises me.  

Is this concept of "old" clothing being under 5 years old unique to them because they all work in world where by nature anything older than a year is outdated or is that something that most people think these days? I understand that you constantly have to be evolving on social media and looking at what is on topic now in order to stay afloat, but even some of the more sustainably minded content creators refer to their not-so-old-to-me clothes as old, so maybe it's more of a widespread thing? Maybe it's only "old" relative to other content creators' clothing? 

I'm currently wearing my sister's old tank top that is at the very least 14 years old. My underwear is probably at least 10 years old. My shorts are around 5-6 years old. Am I just disgusting? It all still cleans up just fine! Perhaps my family just raised my sister and I in a bit of a stranger way than I realized...  

I worry a lot about shopping at less than sustainable companies because unfortunately we don't have any storefronts here that stock sustainable brands and sometimes you just need to see things in person (or...did before a pandemic I guess). Is shopping at fast fashion houses still "fast" if you end up wearing the pieces for decades at a time? Aside from the obvious ethical problems of these institutions, when does the sustainability of the product in the consumer's wardrobe outweigh the overall sustainability of the corporation? And if we don't believe we can participate in a system without taking on the whole of the ethical responsibility, are we ever really able to consider ourselves as individuals more sustainable while still living in the capitalist society that we do?  

A lot of thoughts for a Sunday morning. Time for some coffee.

.... *queue existential dread stemming from coffee consumption*.

The great boxed vegan mac cook-off

We've had some extra time on our hands lately (*ahem*) and we're getting reaaaaaaally tired of cooking everyday, so what better time than now to try out the FOUR WHOLE OPTIONS of boxed vegan mac that our grocery store offers? Four. How is this real?Let's introduce our contenders!First on the podium is Annie's Organic Vegan Mac with "Creamy Sauce." While she's been around for awhile longer than our...

Black Lives Matter.

In 2014 my entire family and a friend from college drove packed together in a car from Lincoln to Chicago. The Ferguson protests were happening at the time. For the entirety of the 8 hour drive we talked about race.Our group, comprised of six college-educated, liberal, well-off people, still managed to all have very different perspectives and experiences. Some of us were extremely outspoken and outraged...

My favorites from the coronavirus internet landscape

@psyclelondonFree barre (and HIIT, yoga, meditation, etc) classes daily on Instagram Live. Bonus: they post a selection of the weekly classes on IGTV as well so you can go back and do them again! I love Rod's barre classes.@carolinehirons's skincare IG lives (or on YouTube if you prefer)If you don't know Caroline Hirons yet and you like skincare, prepare yourself. So much knowledge. She's been...