Guest Post on Just Move Monday for the Zaftig Chicks

Over the past two months I've been doing probably a million, bajillion things, but one of the less-stressful ones has been to read some of the blogs on the fat-o-sphere feed.

That's how i came to know of Bianca & Sylvia, the Zaftig Chicks.

As a way to fight the stress of the past two months, i've been hot-yoga-ing a lot, and when the girls asked if anyone wanted to guest-contribute a blog post, it seemed like a nice opportunity to write about my practice. You can check it out here.

Meanwhile, although I haven't been posting anything here, I HAVE been tweeting, and those tweets relate to green things, including the chickens (now there are 15!). The garden has been producing the first tomatoes of the season, and my belly is READY to give them a home... I'll definitely share more as Dallas' harvests come in.

I've been doing a little "activist" stuff, too. My friend Molly and I went to check out the new TN headquarters of Repower America and then I went with a couple strangers to visit the offices of the two TN senators to tell them that I support the ACES act.

ALSO - I give a hearty thumbs-up to the Murfreesboro toothpaste I got from The Green Wagon, as well as the castile soap shampoo (i can't remember the name of it) that you can buy by the ounce (!). They'll be opening their East Nashville location oh-so-very soon, so you'll have 100% more opportunities to buy green!

Meanwhile, think good thoughts for me as I embark upon a quest for better living through altering my chemical composition with the help of the Pharmaceutical-Industrial Complex :(

25% off sale at The Green Wagon this Saturday!

Find your thrill(er)...

The Green Wagon's shaking off the summer weirdness and playing Michael Jackson tunes all weekend... plus everything's 25% off on Saturday.

I suggest trying the new toothpaste they have in stock - it's made in Murfreesboro!
And an Alchemy of Sol soap bar is NEVER a bad bet.

The Green Wagon ROCKS

If you haven't yet stopped in to check out how awesome Jen Casale's Green Wagon is, you are missing out!

Check out the über-cute pants I got for my valentine this year...
They're made by a lady in Lebanon, TN, from old sweaters!

Go Check out The Green Wagon!!!

You guys, this is very exciting!

My friend Jen Casale is opening her store, The Green Wagon, today at 10 AM.

I am sure that this place is going to be AMAZING. Jen is brilliant, creative, and all sorts of superlatives.

Go check it out and buy something!

good vs. evil

So, I've run into two products today, both of which deserve a mention.
First, Brunswick Beeworks
is a new local honey supplier! The closest local honey they have at Whole Foods is from Goodlettsville - and Brunswick makes candles and skin stuff!
Whoohoo!

Second, there's a Slate article about Proctor & Gamble's Olay Body Wash Plus Spa Exfoliating Ribbons. YUCK. I read a while back about the Giant Sea of Plastic and was freaked out, but this Olay stuff is actually DELIBERATELY putting microplastic out there! We're not talking about plastic trash that's breaking down, this stuff is MADE like this and put in something that we're using to wash our bodies and then flushing "away".
Yuck yuck yuck.

E2A: I sent that article over to Beth at Fake Plastic Fish, and lo and behold, she already knew about it! Check out her blog post on it, from nearly a year ago!, because it's got some great resources.

a 'green' St. Patrick's day

So, the new job is going quite well... but that means my green blogging - pobrecita! - is suffering.

Do as I say, not as I do - don't let your Green Life suffer because your financial, housing and professional life is in turmoil!

Be really Green this St. Patrick's Day - check out this awesome Slate article about the relatively green-ness of green beer.

Then, go even greener by buying some local suds from Yazoo Brewery.

And if you're going out, Dan McGuinness is the mainstream choice (I went last year and it was pretty fun but also super crowded), but you should also check out the Family Wash over in East Nashville, where they've got locally made beer brats and vegetarian shepherd's pie!

Last minute Christmas shopping & buying local

So, I'm not really doing the whole christmas-gifts-for-everyone-and-their-brothers thing this year, but I have had a little bit of holiday shopping to do, and I've found several awesome local products.

First of all, Nashville Toffee Company offers up a seriously yummy option. They were offering samples at Whole Foods the other day, and I was back the next day to buy a box for a gift exchange with my sorority "family." It's perfect for anything, really - a white elephant swap, family far away, coworkers, anyone (unless, like my friend Julie, you're allergic to caffeine - the chocolate bark on the kind I bought kept her from partaking).

And I MUST plug Hillsboro Chocolate Company, a shop opened by one of my DG sisters, Mandy Strickland, and her family. Get thee down there and check out their offerings! I am going to head down there during lunch today (hopefully) to see what they have and take home some goodies to the fam.

For my corporate gifts this year (which won't go out until after Christmas, I'm afraid... things are just too crazy), I'm getting bottles of Arrington Vineyards' Raspberry wine (goes perfectly with the BIPI logo!). Every wine I've tried from down there is a winner - the Gewurztraminer is my favorite, but I also like the Desert Rose. And even if you don't drink, you should head down to the winery to see the place - it's so gorgeous down there!

For Christmas, mom wants to make cookies, so I went to Whole Foods to grab some flour, and found two things that I'm excited about trying out. First, there's a spice company in Chattanooga called Alchemy Spice, and they had a sweet spice cinnamon blend that i want to try out on some snickerdoodles. Also, there is some jelly from Honeyberry Farm in Knoxville... I got the orange date nut honey jelly (for thumbprint cookies).

Okay, I realize that I just listed all food stuff!

If you're interested in something you can't eat but is still yummy, head out to East Nashville to Art & Invention Gallery. There are pieces for every budget and person on your list, from jewelery to pottery to oil paintings. My favorite piece, though, was a lazy susan that was painted to look like a big slice of lime. It's definitely worth a trip out there.

Well, this is all you'll hear from me until next week - I'm not working tomorrow morning, so no posts for you ;)

Have a green (and hopefully a little bit white) Christmas!