Cheap Threads

Last week I had the chance to coffee with Alexandra of Shift, a creative woman who upcycles 49th Parallel coffee bags into cute and clever bags (check them out here!!). Anyways, part of our discussion got me thinking about second-hand clothing, and second-hand material.

I've always been a thrift store shopper, and I love to repurpose old clothes and material. But.....I do have a guilty pleasure of buying cheap clothes, especially Joe brand from Superstore, and also the too expensively priced, low-quality, instant gratification items from Urban Outfitters (although maybe that store is just too teenybopper for me now anyways?). But, although it may take less work than sifting through piles of second hand clothing and altering something to fit, convenience and instant gratification is probably the only reward. But convenience and instant gratification is the way of our society, no? Or....maybe not! Maybe if more and more people stop buying it, it will just go away?? I dunno.

My talk with Alexandra touched on points about sacrificing quality, and the impact that has on our lives. In my mind, I have this ideal to only buy local or second-hand goods - there is enough new material in this world, we don't need anymore. In reality that is a pretty high-ideal. But it is a nagging ideal that eats at my conscience, and won't go away. TJ and I have talked so much about it in the past - how stores like Urban outfitters are so hypocritical in that they take a sub-culture that was once non-mainstream, and exploit that culture, make it marketable, and spoon feed it to consumers by selling cheap mass-produced items that mimic hand-made quality goods or second-hand goods. Okay, that was my rant.

So, I guess I am writing this to say that I want to work more towards my ideal. It's a big step. But maybe, like Alexandra and I were talking, it can be accomplished through a balance of being responsible and realistic.

So the question today is "what is one small step I can make this month towards my ideal of buying only second-hand or quality hand-made clothes?" I guess one big motivator is that TJ and I are becoming students again...so less buying is pretty much a given :)

Hmm, I will chew on that.

Neighbours, Etc.

I am awake tonight, couple of reasons - one of my neighbours is locked out of her apartment and banging her lock, trying to bust into her place, and other people are telling her to be quiet, and it's kinda noisy. On the plus side, I did hear her accuse someone for complaining and that she's been "kicked out". On the other hand, yes, she's got issues, but honestly it doesn't bother me much. It's not like every night.

But I was already awake. I opted not to go to a fire tonight, for various reasons, but mainly because my hip joint is really giving me grief. I think it's from all the walking I've been doing. So today I've had to take it easy, no walks to the beach.

I'm just excited for TJ to get here, I think. We've been apart for three weeks, and today was his last day at work. Strange. That, and Becky mentioned there was a night market in Richmond, which has got me thinking about those BBQ buns I had in Sanya almost two years ago, and my mouth is literally watering right now. I don't know what they were called, but they were from a street BBQ vendor. Just this perfectly barbecued, buttery, sweet Chinese bread. Yum. There was also something so nice about the night markets, or just things being open at night in general. Below is a shot in the suburbs of Nanjing, right by my brother and sister-in-law's condo.

Cheap Eats Part Two: Dreams

There are other ways I dream of eating cheap, but they take more work and organization. So I thought: maybe if I blog about them it would motivate me, or some of you would have good inspiration or ideas, or stories of how you have done it yourself.

1. Growing my own food indoors. Okay, back in Edmonton, I did have a garden, but I'm not a total green thumb. Here in Vancouver, we have a nice-sized patio with some (inherited) herbs growing, which I am barely managing to keep alive. There is some yard space, but there are six other suites in this house, and all of the little areas seems to be taken already! Also, while the growing season is way longer here, it doesn't last all year. Thus, I'd like to grow a few things inside.

So anyways, two things we eat regularly are tomatoes and lettuce. I have done a bit of googling, and it seems you need grow lights. We don't pay for power here, but are grow lights wasteful? We have a lot of windows in our suite, so I have thought about window farms, too.

2. Foraging. Now is probably a great time to be foraging in Vancouver. For instance, I found what I think to be blackberries growing on the beach.

But, can I take them? When are they ripe? These are things I could probably find out, and likely it would be fine to take them, I just don't want to take something that belongs to someone else. I was in Home Hardware and I heard some of the employees talking about how some guys came and picked all the figs from their tree at the back of the store, and that the owner of the property doesn't like figs or something, so they didn't even care - sweet! Anyways, I hope to do something like that at some point.

3. With foraging goes making preserves - like homemade jam and sauces. This is definitely something that will be good with small groups of people, to share the resources and recipes and work. Once I'm a bit more settled I hope to do this one for sure!

Cheap Eats

One of my goals now is to find ways of eating healthy and cheap. So, here is a list of some things my husband and I have talked about doing:

1. Making at least one bean or lentil based dish per week, and having it last for several meals. Beans and lentils are a good, cheap source of protein, and we love them. I started eating more beans and lentils last time I was in university, so I've built up some good recipes. Some of my favourites are: lentil soup (the same one my mom used to make - it's SO easy, quick, and cheap), honey lentil bake (this is only affordable because I have stores of my own honey), and dutch bean soup (the soup recipe that changes for every meal, lasts up to five meals).

I think it's easy to have this priviledged view that we deserve a different, complicated, gourmet meal every night of the week. I like cooking, and I enjoy making (and eating) more complicated recipes, but that is a luxury, not an every day necessity.

2. Shopping at discount produce stores, buying what is on sale, and making a soup or meal out of that, which will last for several meals. I have yet to find a discount produce place here in Vancouver, but haven't looked too hard. In Edmonton, H&W was awesome - good prices and they sold organics, too. Anyone in Vancouver have any suggestions?

3. Having friends over for dinner/potlucks instead of suggesting to eat out. Save the restaurants for the special occassions.

4. Make a cabbage-based meal once a week. Cabbage is another one of those really healthy and cheap foods, that usually goes a long way. I recently learned, from my Chinese sister-in-law, how to fry up Chinese cabbage with eggs. Very tasty. There are other options like: Borscht, lazy Ukranian cabbage rolls (without meat), cabbage based salads, and frying up cabbage in other ways.

5. Making lattes and special coffee drinks at home. I know, the luxury of sitting in a coffee shop is always such a lure for me, but again, it is a luxury. I don't need someone to make me a sugary, fattening, extremely expensive coffee drink every day. Plus, I love my home, so I can enjoy sitting with a drink here, too. I think I will invest in a flavoured syrup. We were recently given an esspresso machine, so it would be ridiculous not to make use of it!

6. Limiting our meat intake. Really, my husband and I do this already. We rarely buy meat, but we do love fish, especially salmon. I say, eating meat once a week is enough. When we do buy meat, we like to buy organic and local as much as possible, so that makes it more expensive, too. I can say that I don't miss eating meat every day.

7. Baking my own bread? I am torn on this one. While I love baking my own, it is time-consuming, and not as cheap as you might think. The recipe I use calls for powdered milk, which is expensive. Also, the loaves don't seem to stretch too far. I'm not sure if this is worth it. Maybe the nutrition alone makes it the best choice - but this is probably something I'll only do every now and then.

Okay, those are some starters!

Warning: Utopian-Like Post

Well, I've been living in Vancouver for three weeks now, and...well...it feels like paradise! Basically, I have been setting up our new apartment, getting to know the neighbourhood and bus system, and job searching. I know this is not real life, yet. The weather has been fabulous - it's only rained once since I've been here - otherwise, it's been sunshine and heat, and walking my dog down to the beach every day. I've been able to stay in contact with my husband, and friends and family through facetime & skype, which has kept the homesickness at bay. Also, I've met some new friends, been for some coffees, chatted with my neighbours, connected with fellow-newcomers, and went to an art class a couple of times. Life is sweet!

I am actually looking for work in the addictions field again. Those of you who know me may be surprised by that, but those of you who know me well know what a difficult year this past one has been for TJ and I. All I can say is it's changed my perspective, and I feel a renewed interest and passion to work with people with addictions again. I realize the skill and experience I have, too, and I don't want to waste that. I want to help.

One of the lovely people I've met here (who is unfortunately moving away tomorrow) has been helpful in my job searching by setting me up to meet some people who work on the downtown east side. So I took the bus downtown one sunny, late morning, and it was really great to watch them work, and to be able to ask them questions. I was talking to someone just yesterday who said the downtown east side really is it's own little world, and I really felt that when I got back to my neighbourhood that day - what a difference. I know this might sound odd, but I felt the sense of community, when I went to the east side, stronger than in my own community. I guess when people are faced with so many barriers, it neccessitates a stronger community. I'm not saying this with naivette, but I'm just acknowledging something good. There is a lot the average person does not know about street life.

So, while my neighbourhood seems mostly sunshine (at least for now!) and roses, I know I'm not totally right to paint it with that brush, either. There are people with problems and addictions in every neighbourhood. I like that perspective. I like knowing that life always has hard things, life always has some grit (some people get way more than others, though). Without any grit, we would never grow, we would not have any substance or depth as people. I like knowing that we can take those hard things in life and learn that we are not invincible, we are not islands, but we may be stronger and have more resources than we think. That was pretty random! Just some thoughts!!