Wednesday Greenings

I hope all of you had a spooktacular Halloween. I picked up poor Sprout from daycare with a fever, so she spent most of the evening relaxing on the couch and on me (is it wrong to kind of enjoy a bit of their mild illness simply because it means they will snuggle up to you for more than a half second; reminds me of their newborn days. Selfish, I know, but sometimes you just want to freeze them).

Then, just in time for Halloween, I received a sweet treat from The Not Quite Crunchy Parent - a blog that I enjoy reading immensely, particularly when it comes to providing posts and strategies for avoiding ye olde television and encouraging more creative play, and for her suggestion for kicking the Ziploc habit. Thank you, TNQCP!

In the paying it forward tradition, I would like to award this bloggy button to Nini Makes, a new blog that I am enjoying and one that is consistently full of sweet treats (and being based in the UK it's probably yummy scones or something with a lot of luscious cream).



Moving right along, you may have seen a comment from barrym (of the West Ireland barryms) asking what I meant by saying I live in planting zone 7. Well, barrym caught me in a bit of an error...it's not planting zone 7; it's plant hardiness zone 7, so I hope that clears things up for you, barrym. Just kidding. Here in the States and Canada (and I imagine in other places?) we use zones to describe temperature extremes in different areas of the country. Interestingly enough, I believe we are now technically as warm as plant hardiness zone 8. Scary, ain't it?

And finally for today, Pickel over at My Two Boys is having a non-toxic toy giveaway bonanza all through the month of November! The scavenger hunt element is over, but the giveaways have just begun! I'm curious...aren't you?

My First Crochet Craft

I first picked up a crochet hook in 2004 when on bedrest with Pip, now three years and one Sprout later, I've finished my first crochet craft.

It was the Anarchy Irony Hat from Stitch N' Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker and thankfully it fits Green Husband to a T.

Now I'm itching to start my next beginner's project. Any suggestions?

Works for Me Wednesday - One Word

Etsy.

{{Visit wordier WFMW suggestions over at Shannon's House}}

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Update: Per Thia's request, I am posting a disclaimer: Warning, perusing a database of adorable handmade things made by very crafty people can put a serious dent in your productivity, not to mention your wallet. You've been warned.

Green Suggestions for Greener Babies

Both Green Boss and Green Pharmacist alerted me to an article in this weekend's Washington Post by Mary Ellen Slayter, Greening Up Baby.

Slayter covers six topics: food, travel, toys and soothers, diapers, clothes and the nursery. Since the Post did not think to do it, here are actual, real live active links to the products and people Slayter mentions in her article for those beginning wanna-greenies who want to delve a little deeper.

First up is Trish Riley's book "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Living" - granted I don't like being called an idiot, I will no doubt trip on down to my local library to check out a copy.

Then there's Soleil Moon Frye's Eco Baby store in Larchmont Village (LA, not Westchester). Evidently no online store yet. Maybe GreenLAGirl will check it out for us, if she hasn't already.

Under Food, Mary Ellen mentions Safeway's O Organic formula, Similac Organic formula, Wal-Mart's Parent's Choice formula. And yes, she mentions the breast, bien sur.

Next up, travel. I never did the sling thing but I kind wish I had. Mentioned in the Post are Attachment Parenting International, The Moby Wrap, and All Natural Mommies in Vienna, Virginia. Who knew about this last one! I'll have to take a field trip! For oogling at mei tais, my favorite blog is Montessori by Hand. Ah... adorable!

Toys and Soothers is near and dear to my heart, mentioning thrift and consignment stores and our family favorite...yard sales!! Wooop!

If I had to do it all over again (and I won't, thank you very much), I would have integrated some cloth diapers into my diapering rituals. Mentioned in the Slayter article are Seventh Generation chlorine-free disposables (although the author mentioned bleach-free - are they one and the same...as in chlorine bleach?), as well as Fuzzi Bunz, Bum Genius, and Kissaluvs.

I'm a sucker for hand-me-downs, so I have bought almost nothing of the clothing variety for my children. They look pretty swanky to me. Mentioned as organic options are duds from Hanna Andersson (caught a typo there unless there is another Hanna Anderson that I'm not aware of) and Speesees (never heard of that one...will wonders never cease!?).

And finally...the nursery. I can't tell you how much money we didn't spend on our poor children in the nursery department. We didn't have a changing table!! What kind of parents are we?! Love the Ikea line (I'm linking to the British Ikea, I love them so) and now even Babies R Us is selling an organic crib mattress made by Serta, which I totally would have gotten. Yucky plastic-y out-gassing be gone! Any other options out there?

Phew, my linky thumb is getting a twitch. All in all, a nice primer for parents; on the front page of the business section, interestingly enough. Good luck with the greening!

I'm a Sucker for Deceptively Delicious

Hiding things from your dog's medication in kibble to apples in pancakes is a concept older than time, but Jessica Seinfeld has hit the jackpot with her new book Deceptively Delicious, and yes, I am a sucker because she is Jerry Seinfeld's wife. There. I said it.

SusieJ managed to score a copy for review, and now the book is selling like hotcakes (with pureed spinach) and nary a copy is to be found according to an article in Friday's Wall Street Journal called "How another Seinfeld scored her own big hit". I even missed her on Oprah. The New York Times also a recent story on Jessica's book which unlike the WSJ article can be read here - the jist is just about the same.

If you can't get your hands on JS's book, here are some other recommendations (some I own, some are pure wishlist) including the books, like The Sneaky Chef (p.s. visit the author's blog), mentioned in the Journal and NYT articles.











And then there's a whole other debate going on at What's Cooking. Maybe if we involved our children from seed to harvest in the growing process, we wouldn't need to be deceptive at all.