co-ops are the best ops

you may not know much about the co-operative movement that's happening in our world, but it's probably best if you get to know about it. these organizations are popping up in different industries, including grocery, fashion, and art, and in every way they are beneficial to all parties involved.

our bag of goodies after joining EastSide Co-op:
includes a book about founding co-ops,
dark chocolate, tea, coupons and recipes!

my first co-op experiences were here in the Twin Cities about 6 years ago when i learned about the place where my sister Erin did all of her grocery shopping. she had moved from Seattle and introduced me to the world of holistic wellness, yoga and local/sustainable food. soon after i realized how awesome Erin's co-op was, i immediately joined the one in my neighborhood in Minneapolis called the Wedge (it's well-known amongst foodies and co-op supporters around the country). yesterday, Trev and i bought our lifetime membership at the EastSide food co-op in our new Minneapolis neighborhood.

co-operatives have grown popular in the past decade with the advent of the local and organic movements, but some have been around much longer. they are perfect venues for small, local farmers and producers to sell and promote their goods. when we buy local we have a great impact on our community and the environment. co-ops provide a space for the producers and also reward member-owners with special coupons, discounts and yearly dividend returns. one year i got a check for $87 from the Wedge!! it's all pretty special if i do say so myself.

our future tiny home

last week Trevor showed me the most AMAZING website that we are now both currently obsessed with: the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company makes teeny tiny, livable houses that are built with no foundation and can be moved anywhere. yes, this is real. it's like my dream of an eco-friendly, sustainable home that requires little commitment is finally coming true! (it helps that i have the man of my dreams by my side to execute the construction of the house, and to get a truck to haul it)

we are already planning which house we will get, but from the looks of them they vary only slightly, until you get to the 'cottage'-sized homes. i know that this might not be ideal for some of you, but personally, the older i get the more i realize how little i really need to get by. now that Trevor and i are really thinking about our future and our life together, its amazing to see how it will all happen! we are fully committed to the environment and our future, more so than being concerned with having a big house and a so-called "perfect" job. we will be pursuing our dreams of self-employment and can still buy a tiny house (call it our 'starter home') without sacrificing credit and going into debt for something more typical.

it's clear to see that climate change is not knocking at the doorstep, its already inside the house and doing its damage. though we may not be able to turn it around completely, at least, if we all do a little something, we can impact the damage and lessen it for the next generation. let's protect our Earth and help keep her healthy!!

mass transit, mass benefits

i know i have been so delinquent in the past few weeks in posting, since school has somewhat taken over my life. now that i have a schedule in place and am on top of all homework, i have a few things to share about being resourceful.

since i've been in Minneapolis i've started using public transportation again (Tahoe is not exactly great for those without cars). as an urban area its incredibly easy to get around by bus, and very soon the Light Rail will be expanded to cover more area in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. though its great to save money and energy, there are a few pitfalls to public transportation.

1. timing

in order to make it to my classes, i have to give myself a minimum of one hour to get to campus, usually more to be safe (i absolutely hate being late to class, especially as a professional-looking grad student). i actually have to take 2 buses to school which can delay things even further, especially when i'm done for the day and i just want to go home. it is, however, a great time to practice patience and remember why i'm taking the bus in the first place.

2. waiting

waiting for the bus goes hand-in-hand with timing, but i also feel like there's a decent amount of waiting while i'm on the bus. sometimes passengers need extra assistance getting on and off the bus, or maybe there's a lot of people getting on or off the bus. in addition, just waiting to get to my stop can sometimes feel like eternity. to combat this, i bring a book (unrelated to school) that can draw my attention away from the waiting. by nature i am not a patient person so i try to remember to do these things and not drive myself crazy.

3. bus etiquette (or lack thereof)

personally, i prefer to ride the bus with headphones and keep to myself. other people want to make conversation. as politely as possible, i smile and pretend like i can't hear them, which usually i can't anyways. i certainly don't want to offend anyone but i also am not interested in talking to a stranger about nothing while i'm commuting to school. it's also important to be courteous to everyone and their space, though some people have a harder time with this. i always make room in a seat for older folks, and i politely excuse myself when i arrive at my stop and i'm sitting on the inside seat. people who often ride the bus are usually on the same page, so this hasn't really been an issue for me. just to be safe, i make sure and practice my best manners.

all in all, riding the bus and public transportation is better for my wallet and the environment, though it can sometimes be trying. when possible, i think its a great option and certainly much better than trying to commute into or through a major city, and pay an outrageous amount for parking (unless your company or firm is willing to pay and you don't mind traffic). it's a great way to save money and energy and be resourceful!!

betty roots run deep

last week, i moved back home to Minneapolis from Truckee to get settled before i start my graduate program at the U of M. living with my parentals again as an adult will surely be a challenge, but luckily my mom and i have lots in common, primarily that we are super resourceful betties. my mom is the original; she taught Erin and i how to make the most of what we are given and to do it well. here in the midwest, gardening comes more easily than in the mountains. the other day, my mom made lunch for me, Trevor, her husband Gary and herself, using home and locally grown ingredients (primarily).

     

chilled Cucumber-Avocado soup, made with homegrown cucumbers

Tortillitas with shrimp and scallions; yellow
cherry tomatoes and cucumbers from
mom's garden

not only does my mom have a garden full of massive cucumbers and squash, but she has both curly and lacinato kale plants that are as big as small trees. having these resources readily available makes us more likely to put them to use and not waste what we already have. as a kid i was not totally excited about all of the vegetables in our garden, but now that i am older i thoroughly enjoy eating every kind of homegrown vegetable i possibly can. not only is it healthy, but eating this way is good for our environment. along with the chilled soup, my mom made tortillitas with shrimp and scallions (imagine small pancakes with savory goodies inside). to complete this perfect summer lunch, she picked yellow cherry tomatoes from the garden and served them with freshly cut cucumber slices.


now that i'm home in Minnesota i will certainly miss the mountains and the incredible friends i made in Tahoe, but i am excited to begin a new chapter with graduate school and reconnect with my Midwestern roots. soon enough i'll be back to visit Tahoe and snowboard like crazy, but until then it's family, school and work here in the Twin Cities.

tiny carbon footprint

Trevor and i planted some Black Krim tomatoes about 2 months ago -- and tonight they were ready to eat! they grew quickly but took a long time to ripen, which made the entire process that much more fascinating. since we also have a Basil plant that's doing really well, we decided to make a caprese salad to accompany our vegetarian meal, since we are both fighting a cold.

raw green beans

i walked to Safeway for the mozzarella (hence the small carbon footprint) and included the salad with butternut squash soup, green beans with butter, and a baked sweet potato that we shared. the green beans were grown within 100 miles and we bought them from a co-op in Grass Valley, about an hour from our house in Truckee. i steamed the green beans and served with butter and kosher salt. it was tasty!

baked sweet potato, butternut squash
soup, green beans and caprese salad

we are so proud of the fact that we grew 2 of the ingredients for our dinner! it makes eating that meal very enjoyable and satisfying. eating locally means helping our planet and maintaining what resources we still have. ideally, we'd all be able to grow all of our own vegetables in the summer months, though living in the mountains makes that much harder. until the next time i can do that, i am resourceful with what i have: a lot of hot sun during the day and a safe place to keep the plants at night when it's too cold outside. growing tomatoes and basil is easy. and super yummy!

Black Krim tomatoes and Basil from our plants, Mozzarella
sourced from Wisconsin (my home state!)

efficient errands

two days ago, Trevor and i desperately needed groceries and other supplies, so we made the 30 mile trip to Reno from Truckee to stock up and save. living in the mountains is spectacular in many ways, but is not at all cost-effective. its really expensive to live in this area, but the trade-off makes it worthwhile (usually). to be most efficient during our errands, we made the trip around Reno and all of our stops without going out of our way at all. we also made sure to get our groceries from WinCo, an employee-owned grocery chain, where everything is half the price it is at the Truckee Safeway. we even got to see our good friends Kristyn and Barrett, on our way out of town. though these trips require dropping a little more cash at one time than normal, the payoff and savings are huge. when running errands, being efficient saves time, energy and gas. all good things!


coming soon: a How-To guide to cosignment, thrift and vintage shopping. any ideas or comments for the multi-post series are appreciated!

a home practice

as a devout yogini, i make an effort to practice with my teacher at her studio at least twice a week. i pay about $10 for each class, which is actually a really good price for a class with Ann Marie (check out her studio website, namastetruckee.com. although the price is right, i felt the need to continue my yoga practice at home at least one more time a week. last week i discovered that our large kitchen was a great spot, though i then had some foot traffic from my roommates while i was practicing (hard to avoid). yesterday when i woke up at 9am i knew it would already be too hot to go for a run so i found a spot in our backyard where i could set up my yoga mat for a one-hour home practice. we have a spot in the yard with a few chairs and flat space, like so:

this way, i had no distractions and was able to practice yoga outside among the sequoia and pine trees. if you have the space outside or inside your home, even if a temporary setup, i highly recommend finding the time for a home practice. yoga and meditation have been invaluable to my well-being and if you have any interest in starting a home practice, i suggest checking out yogajournal.com for helpful tips and poses to practice at home. i'd like to especially thank my big sister Erin for introducing me to yoga almost a decade ago. through this shared love we have grown even closer and physically and emotionally healthier. thank you Erin, i love you!!!

composting is cool!

this right here is our brand spankin new compost bin! Trevor found some shipping pallets in our shed and used them to build a crate for composting. it works perfectly to let air in, though we have yet to find out if any bears will want to get into it (oh the perks of living in the Sierra Nevada). those would be the bears who like coffee grounds, eggshells and vegetable scraps...some weird bears if you ask me.