Tree-Hugging Hippie

I am a registered republican. There . . . I said it. I hope you appreciate how scary it can be to admit that while living in the Twin Cities. I will now have to fear for my life. Two things you can't be in the Twin Cities: A Republican and a Blackhawks fan. I am currently 0-2.

Troy and I spent the Christmas holiday in Chicago with my family. It was there that I realized that Minnesota has really sunk it's teeth into me and as I would have conversations with my family, I was becoming painfully aware that I have turned into a tree-hugging hippie. Here are a few highlights which led me to this conclusion and caused my parents to exchange glances where they said with their eyes, "Our daughter is a tree-hugging hippie."

1. Philanthropist Footwear. I got a new pair of Toms from my sister-in-law for Christmas. They are awesome and I love them. In case you haven't heard of Toms, they are a company that donates a pair of shoes in a third world country to a child who doesn't have shoes whenever you purchase a pair of shoes. (Click here to learn more about the company.) Anyway, I put on my brand new Toms the same day that my sister and her boyfriend came home and Laura hadn't even sat down before she started making fun of my shoes. When I tried to explain the company, I just sounded like, well . . . a tree-hugging hippie.

2. Eastern Remedies. My dad was starting to feel like he was catching a cold. Obviously I am going to give a shout-out to one of my favorite homeopathic remedies: the Neti Pot! I was able to successfully convert my dad to this practice so his response was that he was going to use his Neti Pot. However, Troy made a comment about how I should be a spokesperson for the Neti Pot and I am pretty sure the rest of the family snickered at me. Why? Because I am a tree-hugging hippie.

3. Gerber, What?! I was talking to my mom about wanting to make my own baby food and use cloth diapers when the time comes for Troy and I to procreate. (No, it's not anytime soon.) I think my mom actually thinks this is cool although I did have to explain to her that cloth diapers are different from when I was a kid, as she was skeptical at first. Actually she this was a positive interaction, but it still makes me a little bit of a tree-hugging hippie.

4. The Three R's. Tonight we had dinner with some friends. We got on the topic of recycling (perfectly natural, right?) and our friend told us that after is wife took out the recycling he couldn't find a new bag and threw three empty cans of pop away. I definitely couldn't let it go and I was joking, but it still made me look like a tree-hugging hippie . . . and a little bit of a jerk for sticking my nose into their garbage business. Sorry, Peter.

Those are the big ones, but that combined with the fact that I am a teacher (unions), I love the Farmers Market (even though I can't get up early enough on a Saturday to go), and I want a big yard to have a huge garden and a compost pile . . . . I am basically one pair of Chacos away from becoming a full-fledged democrat. No offense to my liberal friends out there.

Anyway, this new realization also brought forth a moment of reflection. It is okay for me to be a tree-hugging hippie. It is even okay to be a Republication tree-hugging hippie, regardless of what my party may believe. So, I have decided to keep on being myself and I get any more flack about it,I'll show you . . . I'll vote for Michele Bachmann.

Go ahead . . . . test me . . . . .

I ♥ HGTV

Troy is out spending time with the boys tonight, so what am I doing? Watching HGTV obviously! I think I watch HGTV as much as Troy watches ESPN. (Wow, that is a loaded sentence.) I seriously love that channel though. House Hunters, Dear Genevieve, Curb Appeal, Sarah's House, Holmes on Homes, Divine Design, Tough as Nails, Selling New York - I love them all. I even saw an HGTV application that you can put on your iPhone which I want . . . even though I don't have an iPhone. Minor complication.

Because of this television station, I say things like, "That house has good bones," or "The windows on the cabinets really makes the light bounce around the kitchen." This channel even motivates me to destroy things . . . well and then make them look awesome. For example, one day I was minding my own business, trying to do a load of laundry, when I realized the single shelf we had holding the detergent, dryer sheets, box of rags, and other items was not very efficient. If I needed something that was on the back of the shelf, I had to clear the front part of the shelf off to reach it. (I am what you would call 'vertically challenged'.) So, I decided to take the shelf down and buy a shelving unit instead. When I ripped the shelf out, I realized I was going to have to spackle and sand the screw holes that had once held up my dinky shelf, so I figured, I might as well paint the room while I am at it. Then while I was painting, I made a few splatters on the floor - I hate using drop cloths - which then made me decide to rip up the linoleum and lay down some peel and stick tile. Troy came home from work while I was in the middle of my "little" project and wondered what happened to the simple assembly of a shelving unit. The laundry room did turn out awesome and for a week I wanted to sleep in there. I would seriously make pit stops to the laundry room whenever I passed the front foyer. I owe this little project to shows like Dear Genevieve and Design to Sell.

This summer, I decided to revamp my little garden area in our back yard. I finally mustered up the courage after watching many episodes of Curb Appeal:The Block. I raked all the river rocks off the area, dug up our four giant hostas -oh my lanta, that was a job!-, toiled and added more rich soil and then began my replanting process. I cut the hostas up into sixteen parts and planted them along the border of the house. Then I bought a baby blue hydrangea -which I love like a child- and planted it in front of the air conditioner. After I planted my two lily of the valley plants, I finished off the look with ceder chips. Let me tell you, it looks awesome. And it should, I had blisters for a week and my back was sore for two days!

Although these projects make the house look nicer, I am starting to wonder if I watch too much HGTV. Could the old cliché of having too much of a good things be true? I mean, when I am in the HGTV mode, I really just feel like grabbing a sledge hammer and demolishing something only so I can put it back together. If I had the right tools, I probably would be doing more of that. Troy would come home from work and a wall would be missing in the kitchen or I would designed a spa bathroom upstairs. This is a great time to give a huge shout out to our friend, Craig "Mophats" Berg, who graciously loans me his tools for my projects. I have borrowed so many tools from Mophats, you would think he was a Rent-a-Center. I am surprised he doesn't have me put a down payment down when I come over. Which reminds me, I am making you some cookies, Fo, as a thank you.

One night, Troy and I were in our upstairs bathroom and he asked me if I thought we should rip up the linoleum in our upstairs bathroom and put down tile . . . I may or may not have drooled at the thought of picking out tile. The next day I had to go to Home Depot (to get supplies for another project) and I decided to browse the tile selection. All of a sudden I had a vision of a spa tub, complete with jets, subway tile running along the walls and glass back splashes . . . then I ran for my car. The job that my brain conjured up was much too big for me, but it was fun to think about. Maybe someday when we live in our forever house we can do something like that.

All this demo and reno talk makes me want to paint or stain something. I have seriously thought about painting the trim in our house white (which would make my dad freak out) just so I could put up crown molding. Man, I love that stuff. I might need to cut myself off to house projects cold turkey . . . or be a designer in my next life so that I can have people pay me to buy their stuff and then boss around my contractor to do the heavy lifting.