Category — Microblog Mondays

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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Today is Memorial Day in the United States, a day to remember people in the military who have died in service to the US. It should be a somber holiday considering that it is marking countless deaths, but it’s billed as the “official start of summer” and plenty of stores host Memorial Day sales.

It made me think about how I would feel if October 15th––Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day––became an excuse for cookouts and pool parties. I would feel really upset to see a day designated to mark something emotional and sacred being used to sell cars or mattresses.

Sending thoughts to everyone who is mourning a loss today. Thank you to everyone who serves in our military and the families who support them.

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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I don’t drink. I have, on average, one drink every year or two, so bars are kind of lost on me. Which isn’t a big deal now, but was a big deal when I was in my twenties and most of my friends wanted to get together at a bar. I love this idea of alcohol-free bars. It’s everything you expect in a bar, except with fancy mocktails instead of cocktails. And it’s not that you are not drinking. It’s that everyone around you is not drinking, too. You’re all there for the mocktails or alcohol-free beer.

Why? “In cities like New York and London, where bars often function as second living rooms for apartment dwellers with little space, an alcohol-free nightlife option can appeal to people who, for whatever reason, would prefer not to drink.”

I checked and we don’t have one in DC yet; at least not one that functions like Getaway in the article.

But I would totally go and have a date night at an alcohol-free bar. Would you?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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I strive for zero waste, which is why Josh is often tasked to create a meal for himself that uses all of our recent leftovers, pretty please. So I was drawn to this story on NPR about a brilliant restaurant in Toronto that has turned emptying their restaurant of perishables into a weekly event.

Each Sunday, they set up a chalkboard menu of everything they want to get rid of. When an item is sold out, it’s crossed off the board. So getting there early is key if you want control of the board, and getting there late is key if you want the lowest price. They keep cutting the prices as the evening unfolds in order to move everything out of the kitchen.

There’s a vegan restaurant by me that has dozens of dishes I wouldn’t mind eating at any given time, so I would totally participate if this was a thing at their restaurant. At other places, I only have one or two non-meat options, so the game would become nerve-wracking especially because what are you going to do once all of your possible options are gone? Walk away and find somewhere else to eat that night?

Pretending you can only go to one restaurant for a date night (and not leave if they’re sold out), would you want to do this?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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Beyond the fact that I cannot stop snickering about the term “lady backpack,” I need to scream that I HAVE A LADY BACKPACK, which means that I am finally — FINALLY — fashionable. It will only last for a hot second, but I need to grab it while I can.

I hadn’t been using my lady backpack (lady backpack!) because I realized that I was schlepping around half of our house with me every time I went out, and I didn’t need most of it*. I didn’t need all of my notebooks; I just needed one. I didn’t need a laptop or iPad for a trip to the grocery store… ever. Even with my glasses anxiety, I could make do with one pair of backup glasses when I was under one mile from our home. I was like a goldfish, the stuff I was carrying growing to the size of my bag.

So I switched this fall to a small purse that fits just a handful of items. Wallet, extra glasses, a box of cinnamon mints, one notebook. I don’t miss carrying all of those things that I brought with me under the heading of “what if.” What if I need an entire first aid kit while I’m out purchasing groceries? What if?

But now I’m switching back. Not because I need that other stuff but because I want to be fashionable for once in my life.

How big is your purse? And how much stuff do you carry that you never use?

* Just to give you a sense of how much shit I brought with me that I didn’t need: I once discovered that sonic screwdriver I made out of toilet parts at the bottom of my purse and realized I had carried it with me for months — MONTHS — without knowing it was deep down in my lady backpack.

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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I just learned that fantasy birding is a thing. As someone who wants to be a birdwatcher but is incapable of convincing herself to wake up early to go birding, I am fascinated. Oh, and I get a little nauseated looking at the world through binoculars. But I really want to be a birder and like to play games. This is how it works:

Using eBird, a citizen-science database run by Cornell University where birders log their sightings, players select single locations on a map each day, and get credit for a bird if a real-life birder spots that species within a 10-kilometer radius that day.

Sign me up. As in, I just signed up for an eBird account. Now to use it.

What are you trying to get yourself motivated to start?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.