My parents’ suburban lawn stole years of life from my father. I remember, as a kid growing up in north Texas, that my dad spent at least three or four afternoons every week during the warm months (which is about eight or nine months a year in north Texas) doing yard work. He would...
Universal Standard Jeans Review: After 1 Year of Wear
When I buy clothes, I want them to last. I’m trying hard to move away from fast fashion and invest in quality pieces for my wardrobe that will stand the test of time. But I also don’t have multiple hundreds of dollars to invest in each and every piece, so it’s a balance to...
Plus Size Fall / Winter Capsule Wardrobe Basics That Last
Updated January 2023 I’m a big fan of the idea of capsule wardrobes in theory… The idea that you can have a closet full of pieces that look great and coordinate with everything else deeply appeals to my nature. The idea of investing in quality pieces that stand the test of time and don’t...
Food Forest, Fall Year 1
There is something about growing, harvesting, cooking, and preserving my own food that makes me feel powerful. Don’t get me wrong: even as we add to our food forest we’ll probably never be able to produce all the food we would need to live in a year. And that’s OK. That’s not my goal....
Food Forest, Spring and Summer, Year 1
Building a food forest is… a lot. A LOT. We thought we knew this going in, but there’s understanding it and then there’s experiencing it. Because of a long, convoluted story I won’t go into (it’s not that interesting), we weren’t able to hire the landscapers our designer recommended for us, and by the...
Fall/Winter 2022 Mid-Size Capsule Wardrobe: Additions and Wish List
Over the last few years, I’ve been using the Capsule Wardrobe guides from Classy Yet Trendy to guide my seasonal shopping. I have the year-round capsule wardrobe guide and a couple of the seasonal guides, to add some color and pop to my capsule. I will say that my wardrobe probably isn’t a true...
Designing our Suburban Food Forest: Part 2
After our initial consult with our landscape designer, Marjolein Schuit, she created a classic permaculture zone and sector map of our property. This isn’t a design, but rather a map to sort of show what’s happening with our property and what will be in each area as she designs. It includes wind patterns (the...
Designing Our Suburban Food Forest: Part 1
When we bought our home more than a decade ago now, one of the big selling factors for us was the huge back yard. We loved the idea of having a dog and a kid who would want to use all that space to run around and play, and we loved the idea of...
Tiek’s vs. Rothy’s: One Year of Wear
If you like to hang out on Pinterest at all, you’ve likely seen advertisements for both Tieks ballet flats and Rothy’s cool flats made from recycled water bottles. But you might have found yourself asking: Is one better than the other? Which one should I get? These aren’t super-cheap shoes, so it’s worth it...
Ten Percent More
Many years ago, I accomplished something good at school (I can’t remember what) and my mother was congratulating me. And — snarky teenager that I was — I replied, “Yeah! Imagine what I could do if I actually worked to my full potential!” I think of that sometimes, because it’s a question I still...