My before 30 list

I really want to post my before 30 list, and track my progress with it here. So without further ado, here she is!

1. Own a dog
2. Visit Berlin
3. Travel in Asia
4. Create my own organic garden
5. Bake my own bread
6. Make a piece of clothing and an accessory
7. Run a marathon
8. Become fluent in a second language
9. Live in a foreign country (hello Germany!)
10. Ski at one of the top 10 ski resorts
11. Try snowboarding
12. Become a better painter/drawer
13. Go skydiving
14. Learn to meditate
15. See Melrose Abbey in Scotland
16. Visit the Isles
17. See the Great Barrier Reef
18. Read 25 Classics
19. Become a good, healthy cook
20. Live in a fun 1920's flat
21. Bike to work everyday
22. Go to a rave
23. Go on a local diet for 30 days
24. Give up processed foods
25. Visit wineries across Canada
26. Live in residence
27. Bake Quiche
28. Go camping with friends
29. Go quadding
30. Live in B.C.
31. Go scuba diving
32. Have a hot tub
33. Take massage classes
34. Run my own cafe
35. Go paragliding
36. Become a morning person
37. Go for morning runs
38. Fly in a hot air balloon
39. Try being a vegetarian for at least a month
40. volunteer abroad
41. Grow lily of the valleys

Yes, some of these are AWEFULLY ambitious, but they should be.
I'm trying to think of some smaller things that would be easier to do in the next couple of year, but my mind works in grand ways.

Hello Blog! Long time no see. Life has been insane since I wrote last.
One major thing that's changed is that I am no longer moving to Vancouver, but instead I will be studying in Germany in January!!

I am so very very excited, and I thought I would revive this blog to record my adventures there. I have just been accepted by the school, and soon I will have to pick my housing and my courses.

My to do list for Germany:
1. Buy plane tickets
2. Pick out courses, and apply for transfer credit
3. Get copies of application stuff to the abroad office
4. Get a Visa
5. Get Housing in Germany
6. Get READY TO GO!!

Dream Home

Well, my ideal home is either a chic artsy loft, with brick or 20's features, or... well a hippy home is the best way to describe it :). A little place made from cob (I love the aesthetic of it), with tiling and mosaics. Bright colours and big airy spaces for sure.
I think this kind of describes me as a person actually... a person wishing to be somewhere between a hippy and a chic urbanite professional. Well I can dream...

I love all the details in this apartment, like the green wallpaper, mouldings and paper lanterns. This would be the most amazing place to have a dinner party.

I love the colours and simplicity of this room. Minus a few cushions, I want to completely recreate it... if I ever manage to afford a place of my own in Vancouver.

This is from the blog from Moon to Moon. I was absolutely swept away the first time I saw this picture. It looks like a place where dreams come true. I can imagine lying in bed at night and staring at the stars (the real ones, not just those dorky plastic glow in the dark ones we all had as kids)!

And a cob house!! I love the malleable look of the walls, and the raw looking wood on the stairs.

I don't remember where I got all of these photos from... they've been saved on my computer from god knows where on the internet. Specifically though, I love pictures from From Moon to Moon and Apartment Therapy. If I have pictures here that belong to you, and I haven't labelled them, it's not on purpose and please let me know.

I should be studying

Ok! I haven't blogged in a while. Life has been pretty crazy for the last week or two, for various reasons... one of them being a sudden unexpected living arrangement change.

I have come to realize that I have an etsy problem. If you don't know what etsy is, all I have to say is- You need to appreciate some earnest handicraft once in a while!

The main thing is that I go on etsy and just window shop... for long long periods of time. Because there are literally thousands of incredible things, ranging from works of art to handmade metal bras to lightweight reusable bags for your bulk foods.

For those who were surprised by the handmade metal bras comment:

Yep, I wasn't lying. If you thought this was morbidly fascinating and curiously intriguing at the same time here's another, that I won't post but you can peruse: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22893385

Because it's awesome in a painful sort of way

Anyway, my favourites list has 42 pages. There are 20 items on each page, and I did the pitiful math.. but I won't tell you. Of course if you can multiply it's not a secret. But I find the greatest things! Such as these turtle coasters and this garden gnome:

From dancingintherain and MoonstyandFloonsty, respectively.

Or Doughnut soap from soapapotamus.

These things all make me smile :)

Maybe I will start a semi weekly etsy find on this blog, just for kicks, and because I'll feel somewhat useful when I windowshop for exorbitant amounts of time on etsy!

New Bike!

So, I've got a new bike! It is fantastic and lovely and (in my opinion) very sexy. A gift from my Mom and Stepdad for my birthday and for my move next semester to Vancouver! And I am so thankful to them!

I've always wanted a bike like the one that I rented and rode around on in Amsterdam (and nearly died many times on). Never ride over tram tracks in Amsterdam- more often than not your tire will get stuck, and you will find yourself facing an oncoming tram with traffic on either side :)
That said, riding that bike around was probably the most fun I had in Holland, and I've been yearning for a coaster brake, high handle bar bike ever since. Why is it that everyone in my city buys mountain bikes?? Where are all the pretty cruising town bikes?

So this is my lovely new bike!

I knew it was the one for me immediately. I mean, it's called THE AMSTERDAM from Electra. The salesperson tried to sell me on the female version, but it didn't ride as nicely as the men's somehow... and the handlebars were way too low- they actually bumped my legs when I went to turn. Since the bikes only come in one size, I had to go for the men's, which was no big sacrifice. Because I love him :) Yes, the bike is a him and his name is Bas (a Danish name I'm fond of, pronounced Boss). I realize that giving him a Danish name sacrifices a part of my Dutch dream, but eh so what...

Also, I know that it's not terribly frugal or eco-friendly to get a new bike, but hopefully Bas will last a good long time, save the world a bunch of emissions, and save me a bunch of money on buying a car or riding the bus. So he'll make up for it.

Here's the female version. It's got a nice little dip in it doesn't it? Very pretty. But apparently being 5"7 makes me too big for a female bike.

To wrap up, I think I would like to give a little narrative as to why I felt I needed a new bike (and asked for it, not really expecting to get one). Firstly, my old bike is older than I am, and fairly unsafe. The wheels fell off unexpectedly (I'm serious), no matter how much I tightened them, possibly because I need to work on my arm strength. And every third rotation the chain skips.. or something. On occasion this slip has bumped me so bad I've nearly crashed. So my father told me that I wasn't allowed to ride it anymore until he fixed it; this was the summer before last. Last summer I wanted to ride my bike to the gym and back, and this was more or less the conversation that expired:

Me: Hey Dad, did you fix my bike? I'd really like to ride it, but I can't seem to find it.

Dad: Oh that, well you never rode it. So I fixed it and took it the lake.

Me: I didn't ride it because you told me you had to fix it first... Any chance it's coming back from the lake?

Dad: Nope. You don't ride it enough.

Tadah! Anna needs a new bike. I'm really happy that my parents did this for me, I can already tell this bike is going to be my baby this summer and in the new school year. Hey, everyone needs an LBB- Little Black Bike :)

Good Guide

So, while I was investigating my cosmetics for carcinogens and the like (a daunting thing if you ever want to look at what you wear the same way again), I came across this wonderful website: http://www.goodguide.com/.
Good Guide is great for looking up products (cosmetics, cleaners, breakfast cereals, desserts, etc.) and seeing not just how they rate up as far as health, but also how their companies score on eco and societal friendliness. They rate each company on things like energy efficiency, corporate ethics, and labour ethics. This is a wonderful tool for me- I can now truly support companies that match my values!

So far my favourites are quite predictable:
burt's bees, kashi, silver hills bakery (mmm Squirrelly bread), nature's path

But the terrible raters were not so predictable. Weight watchers traditional grains bread, for instance- a health score of 0. Icky Acesulfame for sweetening (according to medicinenet.com, this kind of sucks as far as living a long life is concerned). Oh and the company is crap in the environment and social categories.

Anyhoo, Long and short of it is that I have wasted a lot of time on this site. It's fun, you just look around the house and type products into the database, and shock your stepmom with how likely it is to die from everything in the house :) No but really, I am not that morbid or paranoid, although I may never eat wonder bread again.

Some Outfits I Came Up With

How I wish I had the money.

Frightening Make-up Realization

Have you ever looked at the ingredients in your make-up? Squinted to read those teeny tiny words that are just small enough to make you consider using a magnifying glass? I was wondering exactly what kind of chemicals were in mine, and now I'm decently concerned.

My foundation, Infallible make-up by L'Oreal, contains methylparaben. And a whole bunch of other stuff, but the only thing I really recognized was this. According to the National Geographic Green Guide, Parabens are "common preservatives that appear in a wide array of toiletries", so get looking. A close relative, sodium methylparaben, is banned in the EU because of it's disruption of the endocrine system. Parabens are easily absorbed through the skin and are mistaken by the body as estrogen, and it can tip the balance of your hormones in a bad way, causing depression, weight gain and very likely increasing your chance of breast cancer.
I wear this stuff EVERYDAY.

My mascara, Avon's Astonishing Lengths, has propylparaben in it.
And to top it all of, my second go-to foundation, Avon's Beyond Colour Mousse, has Methyl and Propyl Parabens in it. Like icing on the cake, no?

To add, although I haven't found anything with this in it: stay away from thimerosal, or use it sparingly. It's a mercury product and is a proven neurotoxin

Gonna go find me some organic make-up... my hormones are wonky enough

*note* The FDA has stated that the concentrations of parabens currently present in cosmetics and even food is safe. There have been some studies linking it possibly to breast cancer and other estrogen issues, but they are all inconclusive. However, for my part I don't really care if they are inconclusive. I don't really like the idea of it on my skin, whether it causes cancer for sure, or just might

Some Wardrobe Success

So some success
I have managed to rid myself of

• 2 dresses
• 10 summer tops
• 2 capris
• 2 track pants
• 2 pj bottoms
• 1 housecoat
• 1 pair of shoes
• 12 winter tops
• 1 pair of shorts
• 1 pair of jeans
• 2 pairs of pants
• 5 belts
• 1 bra
• 3 nighties
• 4 pairs of tights
• 6 bags
• ... and 1 scarf

Actually, reading this list makes me a bit sad about how much I really haven't gotten rid of. But the 3 garbage bags full of stuff makes me pretty happy

Sadly, the removal of these things has given me such an urge to go out and get things to replace them. I'd love to have a wardrobe that allowed me to dress a bit more like this:

(cocoricooo on etsy)

Wardrobe Malfunction

(Dominomag.com)

*Edited because I keep finding new things*

As my first act to make my life more zen, I have decided to look through my wardrobe. I was reading this great post from Frugal Trenches, and thinking that I am nowhere close to where she is. In fact, clothes just pile up everywhere in my little room- even with 2 regular dressers, a tall 6 drawer dresser, a wardrobe and a closet! I got down to it, and counted everything in my wardrobe, as accurately as I could. Here is what I found:

I own:

• 8 skirts
• 8 pairs of jeans
• 6 pairs of pants
• 7 pairs of capris
• 3 track pants
• 9 pairs of shorts
• 15 dresses
• 9 nighties
• 7 pj sets
• 43 winter tops/ sweaters
• 57 summer tops
• 10 jackets

That's 182 items of clothing!

What's really bothersome about this is some of the things I keep just for sentimental value and just can't get rid of. Like 5 x-large t-shirts from 5 years of volunteering at the Run for the Cure that I can't get rid of because my friends scribbled on them with markers. And a shirt from Paris that doesn't fit right.

However what's truly shocking are all the pieces I never ever wear, or need. How about a hideous, button-up, transparent dress from the 80's with shoulderpads (who knows how I got it)? Or 3 different part-time job uniforms?

Anyway, it continues:

• 18 purses/bags (I NEVER use a purse. NEVER. almost religiously)
• 4 housecoats
• 5 pairs of slippers
• 2.. maybe 3 swimsuits. I found part of one
• 26 belts
• 28 scarves
• 9 pairs of tights
• 11 bras. Interestingly only 3 fit. 1 was always too big (hopeful thinking...?), 1 is a weird tube top thing, and 3 I grew out of (the bad way- downsizing), and 3 i just discovered

I sense that this will all take some work... but for now I should really get my assignment done.

So it begins!

Hurrah! I have started my very own blog! This shall serve as a place for my musings on university, being eco-friendly, being frugal, and finding my way in life. Also, since I am very soon going to move away from home (to beautiful B.C.), perhaps this will save me constant updating with friends and family- like a newsletter to them all :)