Sustainable & Creative Living
Meagan, Christina, and I decided to take the Plastic Free July Challenge. The goal of the Plastic Free July Challenge is to encourage people to stop single-use plastic product consumption and reduce plastic packaging (at least for the month of July). It’s also to help people become more aware of issues surrounding plastic use in our lives and to encourage new consumption habits moving forward.
Taking a trip to Colorado was definitely one of the best experiences of my life for so many reasons. We got to visit several different parts of the state, I crossed an item off my bucket list, and got to see amazing friends get married!
In part one of this series, I talked about my two days in Boulder, CO. The next part of the adventure took place in Copper Mountain. Copper Mountain is a ski resort in the Rocky Mountains.
With the fourth of July just around the corner, I know a lot of us will be visiting family and friends for pool parties, cook-outs, camping, and probably fireworks. Ahh fireworks!! As a kid, I loved them and always looked forward to the family outing at the local mall where our town gathered to watch the beautiful display of what we, as Americans, associate our Independence Day with. But as an adult and new mom, I’ve come to [Read more…]
My fiance and I just got back from our big trip out west. We’re from Florida and we’ve vacationed up and down the east coast, but the farthest west we’ve ever been is Wisconsin and Houston, Texas. This trip was a big deal for us.
The Trip was originally for our friend’s wedding but it turned into a week-long vacation visiting friends in Boulder and then heading to Copper Mountain for the wedding.
Now that summer is in full swing, many of us are spending a lot more time outdoors enjoying picnics, beach days, and just hanging out in the backyard. Unfortunately, outside activities can expose us, and our loved ones, to all kinds of dangerous situations—some minor and some not so minor.
One of those situations that may seem minor, but sometimes isn’t, are Mosquito bites. Mosquitos carry and spread all kinds of diseases such as malaria, dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, West Nile virus, and Zika—to name a few. Over one million people worldwide die from Mosquito-borne diseases. Mosquitos also transmit diseases and parasites to dogs and horses.
Registering for baby gifts is one of the most exciting and highly anticipated stages of pregnancy for most expectant parents. Most can’t wait to send the barcode scanner into overdrive scanning anything and everything from diapers and bibs to car seats and strollers.
I was sick most of my pregnancy so no supermarket sweeping the baby aisles for me. I registered the boring way…online at Target.com and Amazon.com.
I did, however, end up really enjoying registering this way because it allowed me to [Read more…]
Since my son was born almost 2 years ago, I’ve made handprint or footprint cards for loved ones on every holiday. My sister makes jokes that I don’t have to buy a greeting card ever again.
Of course, that’s not entirely true; I’ve yet to make a Mother’s Day card for my mom with my own footprint. For babies and toddlers, on the other hand, there’s no better way to show how much they care than with a handmade card. For older kids, this DIY Father’s Day Space Ship Footprint Card is a fun way to use their imagination while expressing their love for Dad.
Almost a year ago my fiance and I got engaged! We’ve been together about 8 years and this has been a long time coming.
Two months or so ago we finally had our engagement photos taken. I was worried that I’d be kind of awkward because I’m generally a pretty awkward person. But it was easy to stand around and show how much I love my fiance. It was also fun to play around and see what worked for the both of us!
We also wanted to bring an element of nerdiness to the session because we’re both pretty big nerds. It was important to include this aspect of our relationship because it really bonds us together.
The last few days have been really hard.
Sunday morning my fiancé and I said goodbye to our baby girl, Devin, an 8-year-old beagle we adopted 6 years ago.
It’s party time! This time of year a lot of us will be going to at least one party or another—from graduation parties to summer holiday parties and, of course, weddings! There will be plenty of food, drink, and conversation. Festive gatherings are an excellent opportunity to catch up with family and friends. It’s also a great way to meet and socialize with new people. Hopefully, you’ll even make some new friends.
One thing that can completely change the way we consume visual media – television, movies, even a commercial – is music. Whether it’s a composed film score or an indie band soundtrack, music alters the way we interpret a scene. It sets the tone and mood.
If you’re like me, you can probably name notable film scores (Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean) just from hearing them. I can sometimes hear a song and remember a specific scene from a movie or show it was played in. I personally love watching movies and television for their soundtracks. That’s one of the ways I’ve discovered new bands that I now love! Even commercials these days have great songs. I find that television series’ have some of the best soundtracks because they’re long-form entertainment.
Back in March 2017, a Netflix original took the internet by storm – I am talking about the show 13 Reasons Why. I’m sure if you were present on the internet at the time, you heard about it. I know I sure did.
I was in the middle of binge-watching The Good Place and Shadowhunters at the time. So I wasn’t able to watch it until recently. I was home alone all weekend, it was rainy, and I was feeling introverted. I watched the entire 13 episodes in about 36 hours. [Read more…]
About a month ago it was Earth Day and us here at From Under a Palm Tree attended a local Eco-Fest. I have been writing a four-part series about different things we learned from the eco-fest and this is the final part in that series.
One thing I love about going to festivals of this nature is meeting and talking to everyone. I also like to get free stuff! And vendors love to give away free stuff because it helps promote their business or organization. The best part is that a lot of the freebies were things that help the cause and spread the eco-friendly message. [Read more…]
