Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Forgive me readers, for I have strayed...

Life has been somewhat overwhelming this month, what with an apartment move, an ungodly heatwave, and taping 2 shows a week for the craptacular number one show in America. Which leaves me a day and a half off a week, which I can barely muster the energy and brain capacity to get out of bed, much less work on completing my book. Worse yet I've been on a spending spree that my old simplist self shakes her head at in disgust. A dustbuster when I could have just bought a broom? Nickel-plated house numbers when I could have made a creative sign myself? Direct TV (but only because the antenna received no broadcast signal and cable wasn't available in my neighborhood). And my gardening addiction has reach a fever pitch, a hose when I could have just continued to carry buckets of water outside? And with the supplies dwindling at my favorite nursery (which closes its doors end of August) I am increasingly more reliant on Lowe's and Target. Sigh. I shall dear reader, attempt to redeem myself in your eyes. I have tried to recycle as much of my stuff as possible—creating one set of curtains from two to help block out some of the 111º heat, fixing the drawer of a 30 year old dresser to make it last just a few more years and returning items that I thought twice about after the fact. Stay cool readers, summer ain't over yet.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Another One Bites the Dust

(big heavy sigh)
As part of my recent move, I have become excited about the prospect of having my own patch of ground to tend and love. After some research and a call to the Burbank Shade Tree Program (free trees!) I decided to head on over to my favorite plant place:Steven's Nursery in Valley Village when much to my dismay, a huge banner proclaiming "Going Out of Business Sale" festooned the chain link fence. Upon conversation with a staffer, I learned that the land had been sold to build condos and the business was dissolving because the oldest Steven brother had recently passed away and there wasn't anyone who wanted to try and continue the business. So come August 31st, Steven's is shutting it's doors forevere. Why were they the best in town? Sure they knew their plants, and they loved what they did. For 65 years, they kept the San Fernando Valley in bloom. And even in 2006, they did all their receipts by hand (no registers!), even calculating tax with a calculator. They were personable, knowledgable and treated their customers like friends. If you're in the neighborhood stop by, they're having a terrific going out of business sale, (I got a bougainvillea tree, a hanging ivy plant, a shovel, a dwarf lime tree, grass seed and two huge bags of soil for just over $100) and say thank you for the hands on service they've given to the community for so many years.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Link of the Day: One Red Paper Clip

Hello fellow simplists, sorry I have been MIA lately, it has been a quick turnaround what with deciding to move and moving all in less than 2 weeks. Phew. New apt is divine, QUIET, no drama (though I need to still exorcise some of the bad juju from prior tenants: let's just say there was some abuse, not cool.), and most importantly peace and quiet. Commute is even better too, all zip zip highway driving so that the gas mileage on the 'brid is up around 50 mpg instead of 45.

Today's neat little web link is One Red Paper Clip. Here's the gist of the story. A twenty-something Canadian decided one day to see what he could get just by trading something small for something of slightly more value. He started with one red paper clip, and now he has a 3 bedroom house in only a year. A great creative idea with the added bonus of supporting the barter system. Love it!