How much STUFF do you use?

I found this link on a blog-of-a-blog that I generally visit...kind of long, but really interesting and definitely got me asking what I can do to reduce my impact on our environment and my consumerism!

Yes...I Googled.

I had posted this on our family blog, but as a friend so rightly pointed out...it really made more sense here.

Last night I dragged some coworkers/friends to dinner and to see Confessions of a Shopaholic. I'd been seeing the commercials and it looked cute. It's been a while since I saw a movie in the theater, (I'm thinking, pre-Kyle?!)and I thought to myself, by golly, I should go to a movie!

The movie was actually funnier than I thought it would be. Isla Fischer does some pretty good physical comedy, in addition to acting like a silly, but sweet, girl who loves to shop and only dreams to work at the most popular fashion magazine. The colors, clothes and accessories in the movie were all over-the-top bright and cheerful, but that really illustrated the "Rebecca Bloomwood" character. I was surprised that Hugh Dancy's character, the male love interest, was more than just the token cute male. He was kind of scruffy, hard on her and also changing due to realizations from Rebecca's character. It was nice to see him evolve too, as too many romantic-comedy men are static hunky types that don't have much going on inside. John Goodman and Joan Cusack were hilarious as Rebecca's parents. Joan Cusack, I think, can't help but be hilarious in anything she's in.

Another tactic the movie used was these moving mannequins that motioned and cajoled Rebecca into stores from shop windows. They were totally imagined on her part, but really talked her into her purchases. That kind of fantasy element is not something you see in a standard romantic comedy, as they were the faceless black/white lacquer type of mannequins. It was surprising, but another fun element. The movie really delved into the mindset of the compulsive shopper, and for someone who's never had that compulsion, it was an interesting trip to take!

I've never read the book by Sophie Kinsella, but I am going to now so I can compare!

Undetermined hiatus

There's been an embarrassing lack of activity on this blog because as I posted earlier, our new little guy is taking up most of my time, attention and brain power these days. I have considered getting rid of this blog altogether, but it may come to serve some purpose later in life...so I am going to leave it up but will rarely if ever update. Our family blog that I started when I learned I was pregnant will have all the updates on our life - e-mail me if you want the address.

Bathroom renovation, part deux

We painted out bathroom this weekend - again. We've lived in this house for almost five years, and the bathroom was the first thing that was remodeled out of necessity. A year or two ago, we had water damage in that room from rainwater leaking on the roof or through the exterior wall, and more recently, we had a bigger leak in the roof that added to the damage.


A new roof was installed a few months ago, so in addition to working on the baby's room right now, Dad respackeled in the bathroom and we repainted. Kevin also removed the old medicine cabinet and light fixture, which were sorely in need of an update. One of our neighbors picked the old one out of our trash!


It looks much better and I can say that I like it more than what we had in there before! We just need to order some tile to cap off the bottom section of the wall, but the bathroom should be complete (again) soon.

Kevin removing the old fixture. Scary working with electricity.

Our old medicine cabinet was much bigger than this and covered the hole, but apparently along the line somewhere a smaller one was recessed in the wall.

The color is Almond Toast.

Check out that great job with the cabinet and light!

Another masta

Kevin graduated from Temple U today with his master's in education in sports management (essentially - that may not be the exact terminology). The ceremony by far was more impressive than my PSU branch graduation. The Liacouras Center was packed (it took them 30 minutes to process in!) and Bill Cosby, probably Temple's most famous alum and trustee, showed up and said some words, which was entertaining. After the entire university graduated, they broke off into the different colleges and received their individual recognition. Kevin's dad joined me at that ceremony and we listened to two hours of names being called. Afterwards, Kevin had to head to work as Temple baseball is in the A-10 tourney, so he went to Camden for the game and I grabbed the train home.

Enjoy some photos!