in which my cape escape has ended

I'm baaaack! After a ridiculously relaxing week spent passing idle hours on the beach, we drove home through an epic rainstorm (seeking refuge at H&M and stuffing ourselves with Indian food--sooo good--like chipmunks storing nuts along the way) and spent a cozy Sunday watching movies and generally hiding from Irene. It didn't seem so bad, despite the terrible news from Southern VT, but by morning it was clearly worse than we had thought. Not only was our water black as night, but every exit route out of town had become a lake-like extension of the rushing Winooski river (which hasn't flooded this much since the epic flood of 1927--20 ft!). I won't lie, I wasn't devastated by the fact that I was unable to get to the office on Monday morning...

(skirt/blouse/scarf/belt: thrifted; boots: seychelles)

I didn't take as many photos at the Cape this year as I have in years past, and I'm not sure why. I guess I just get tired of playing paparazzi sometimes and want to just step back and enjoy the moment. Perhaps I took fewer photos because we did more... instead of taking long leisurely strolls after dinner at the house, we packed our evenings full of fun & games. I'll do a quickie Cape Cod post later on...

My dad and brother are currently in Washington DC with Bill McKibben to protest the Keystone XL pipeline project, and I'm quite proud of their commitment to the cause. Somebody has to be! It's kind of funny that last year my brother came to Cape Cod straight from a West Virginian jail, and this summer he and my dad left the Cape and went straight down to DC for a (probable) stint in prison. My family is just a bunch of jailbirds!

Meanwhile, I am getting super excited for my autumn wardrobe, and although I've let blogging slide a bit this summer I fully intend to ramp it up to its former glory as we transition into September and the holiday season. I've already stocked up on fall dresses (from Goodwill and H&M) and can't wait to wear them! I'm trying to figure out what K and I should do for Labor Day weekend and I'm a bit stuck. I wanted to go camping but the weather is supposed to be kind of icky, and I can't really afford to shell out for a hotel and a day (or two) of driving and sightseeing in some new town. So we'll see.

What about you? Any exciting Labor Day plans??

going green

I adore this wool jumper to death, but it is incredibly difficult to style. For some reason I always end up pairing it with yellow, which has a rather cartoonish quality... of course, as I was on my way to work this morning I thought of an alternative way to wear it, so it may show up again in the next couple of weeks :)

(jumper: SnapVintage on etsy; dress: h&m via plato's closet; hat: vintage; belt/scarf: thrifted; tights: hue; shoes: seychelles)

In reviewing these photos I noticed that my hat was exposing its underbelly (how embarrassing...). I'll have to perch it less precariously next time :) Also, the sun was BRIGHT today and I look totally washed out and pasty, so please pretend I don't. That is all.

On my mind today: Last weekend I watched No Impact Man, a documentary about Manhattanite author and environmentalist Colin Beaven, and it got me thinking more seriously about my personal carbon footprint and the areas in which I could scale back my own impact on the earth. While some of the things he and his reluctant wife (and toddler daughter) did (no toilet paper? That's taking it too far...) were a little extreme, the "point" of the experiment was to take the no impact philosophy to the absolute limit, and determine along the way what really was too extreme and what could comfortably be cut out of daily life. They rode bikes everywhere, gave away their television, ate only foods they could buy within a preset radius, didn't travel outside the city limits (with one exception: a vacation to the sustainable farm that provided their food at the local farmer's market), did their laundry in the bathtub, and even went without electricity for six months.

While I would never attempt such a radical lifestyle change (and wouldn't want to), there are a few things that stuck with me (which I already knew but sort of ignored). For one thing, I produce way too much garbage. This does not mean that I will never get Chinese takeout ever again, because that would most definitely disrupt my quality of life, but (for example) I use one of the provided paper cups at the Keurig machine every single day at work so that I can grab the coffee on my way in the door instead of going back down the stairs after grabbing a mug (plus, let's face it, I don't want to have to wash the mug). I'm lazy. So that's one area where I can cut back significantly. I am also going to (finally) invest in a water bottle, because a) I reuse them all the time and am therefore slowly poisoning myself and b) I eventually stop reusing them and buy new ones. Lots of waste. When my dad and brother put me on the spot and asked me to give up ONE THING or do one thing differently to reduce my carbon footprint at the Climate Change rally earlier this year, I couldn't think of anything. I blame the fact that I can't think when under pressure, but still. Here's my list:

1. Invest in a reusable water bottle

2. Bring a mug to work for coffee

(and get some exercise going up and down the stairs that extra time)

3. Buy rice, pasta and (maybe, can't commit to this one) beans in bulk from the market

4. Talk to my landlord about setting up a compost

5. Always choose locally produced foods whenever possible (I already buy local eggs and bread, but could be better about buying local produce, especially during the summer)

What about you? Any suggestions for reducing our daily waste? Reducing is the first step (reuse is the second, which we thrifters are excellent at)!