I just don’t understand why stores of all variety and sizes continue packing food into plastic that, unfortunately, people probably aren’t recycling. Whenever I go to that particular store, for example, they always try and give me a ton of plastic that I invariably have to tell the person behind the counter to skip. A piece of wax paper is fine, I say. I don’t need plastic clamshells for my cookies, muffins, or danish. They always look at me like I am nuts, but comply.

You’d think the store would want to save a little cash (not to mention the environment), and skip the clambox. But no, that’s just not the case. I asked about it once and was told that customers like their muffins completely unbruised. Putting a muffin in paper, I was told, means the sides might get a little squished. (Are we really so silly that we can’t have a little imperfection when we’re eating our sweets?) It’s sort of like the wastefulness of using a plastic bag for a single item while shopping. Or using plastic wrap instead of a reusable container to put away leftovers. Once you think about it you realize how silly the practice is.

And so, my challenge to you: This week try and avoid using one piece of plastic — wrap, clamshell, bag, or otherwise. Nothing radical. Just a single change. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is.

While we were there we made a pit stop to the doll hospital. Sally-O, our well-loved, much played with Bitty Baby was in dire need of servicing. As I mentioned in a February post (complete with a photo), Bitty Baby’s right eye often stayed closed. Her hair was a wreck. Her right cheek had a pen stain. She looked like a doll that had been hugged a lot.

The woman behind the counter was very nice. She did a checkup. Everything was fixable, she told us. She checked her price list and gave me the damage for the damage. It would cost x price for a new eye and a quick cleanup, which would do nothing for the ink stain or the cut hair. (Although the hair would be brushed and made pretty again.) For an extra $5 they would give Sally-O a brand new head. It would be like getting a new doll.

I went back and forth about it until I decided that yes, I’d go for it. I’d change out the head. Little Girl helped me take off all Sally-O’s clothing and put her into a hospital gown. Then we handed her over to the “doctor” who told us Sally-O would come home in about two to four weeks via U.S. Postal Service complete with a new head, a hospital gown, and a cap. Little Girl was understandably upset when we told her the doll would be staying behind. At first she told us no, but we finally convinced her, although she did ask to give her sister’s doll another hug. (We had to pry it out of her arms after the hug…) She stopped crying when the nice woman at the counter assured us that she would take good care of the doll.

The bargain hunter inside of me loved what we did. A brand new doll for half the price of a new one? Plus, we were recycling? How awesome is that? Except…the mom in me was dying inside. Sally-O has been such an integral part of our life. Big Girl has taken her everywhere since she we got her almost four years ago. Sally-O has been to playdates and parties and to Disney World. She’s been to Woodloch Pines at New Year’s. She’s been on long car trips, and to both of her “great” grandmas’ homes. She’s sat with us at dinner, and slept with Big Girl at night. She’s been a part of the family. And now she’s gone forever. As much as it’s true that the Sally-O that’s coming back to us in the mail will look the same, she will be a new doll. All the reminders — yes, even the cut hair and the stain left by the drive-by magic marker attack — will be gone. I wonder if I did the right thing.

I have a Free Moving Barbie doll. She looks a lot like Sally-O did. Her hair is trashed — knotted and gross, to be honest. She’s got some marker on her feet. One of her arms is a little loose. And yet I am so happy I have her, a reminder of the marathon Barbie sessions I had with my sister. We’d set up my brother’s train table as our Barbie world. A shoebox was a TV stand. We had a plastic pool, the Barbie van, an outdoor camping set. We spent hours and hours in that basement, and looking at that Barbie brings it all back for me. Have I, by freshening up Sally-O, taken away a piece of Big Girl’s childhood? Will she regret the loss of her constant companion? Was I simply too cheap to buy the little one her own Bitty Baby Doll? I’m not 100 percent sure, but I think I’m going to make a phone call this morning. Who needs a new head when a new eye that opens and closes might suffice?

What was your favorite childhood toy? Do you still have it? Would love to hear about it.

Our waste-free snack tin.

One of the most wasteful places, in my opinion, is the school lunchroom. Lots, and I do mean LOTS, of single-serve containers, wrappers, and packages.

Take fruit leather, for example. They usually come in a box, each fruit bar individually wrapped. The boxes cost $4 for eight. (Or about $.50 each.) Recently, I came upon the best alternative to individually wrapped snacks: Trader Joe’s Ends and Pieces. Basically, Trader Joe’s packages lots of those individually wrapped bars. The leftovers are now packaged up. It’s especially nice because you get plenty of different options — apricot, raspberry, passion fruit — in one bag. You can also pick the Fiberful Fruit leather ends, a nice option for people trying to add more fiber to their kid’s diet. And the eight ounce bag only costs $2.49. This is a huge bargain.

Okay, so I decided I was going to buy them and phase out the .7 ounce bars that cost $.69. (For those without a calculator: The bags provide about 12 bars worth or $8.28 worth of fruit leather.) But how would I send them in? I didn’t want to use plastic bags, obviously. But they are sticky. They would muck up my reusable bags. And then, this weekend, I found my solution in Whole Foods. Little, cute stainless steel containers called LunchBots. Pricey, yes, but SO perfect for what I needed it for. I bought one, and on our fourth day in I have no idea how I lived without LunchBots until now. (Full disclosure: The LunchBot people have no clue who I am; I paid $14.99 for my LunchBox. I just tend to get excited about things that help me help the environment.)

I love that it’s segmented into two sides, and the fact that it’s welded down all the way across so I can put wet stuff in and it won’t make the dry stuff slimy and gross. I love that it cleans up really quickly, and that it fits into our lunchbox side-by-side with a sandwich. Finally, I love it because it’s helping me cut down on waste and keep my kid BPA-free. The thing is made out of food-grade 18/8 stainless steel, which is what silverware is made of. Oh, and it’s really easy to wash. The manufacturer says it can go right into the dishwasher, but I’m just rinsing by hand every night. Seems to be working for me!

I recently looked around so I could buy one for Little Girl, and one for myself. I found the LunchBot Duo on Amazon.com for $14.99. I also found the sandwich-size LunchBot, too. Saves me a trip to Whole Foods, and I can use my American Express Blue points to pay for everything.

And so now, when the lunchroom trash gets put out, there are a few less pieces of plastic in it. No, it’s not going to make a huge dent in today’s trash heap, but if more moms and dads make the switch to reusable packaging we all have the ability to change the world. One fruit leather wrapper at a time.

This post is how I am participating this week in Real Food Wednesdays and Fight Back Fridays — two awesome campaigns to get people eating real food again.

Kellogg’s said the packages were recalled because it identified a substance in the package liner that can “produce an uncharacteristic waxy-like off-taste and smell.” They were caused, the company said, because of elevated levels of a common substance that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in packaging. The Environmental Working Group identified the substance as methylnaphthalene, a petroleum-based product.

From an EWG press release: “This compound, methylnaphthalene (methyl-NAP-tha-lene), has been the subject of major, on-going government and oil industry testing and information-gathering initiatives to identify potential safety issues and fill basic data gaps, according to an Environmental Working Group (EWG) analysis of the scientific literature. Kellogg’s has not publicly identified the chemical but provided the information to EWG in response to our inquiries.”

The EWG did a little research on methylnaphthalene and didn’t find much info, but what it did find is troublesome. For example, four years ago the FDA asked for “toxicology information” about the substance. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said it wasn’t easy to get exposure to it unless you lived near a hazardous waste site. Wow.

So we don’t really know very much about a substance that is commonly detected, according to the EWG’s press release, in “cigarette smoke, diesel and gasoline engine exhaust, wood smoke, tar and asphalt.” We do know, however — according to the same EWG research — that “methylnaphthalene causes lung damage when exposure occurs via inhalation, ingestion and skin contact. Mice given feed containing 0.075 percent or 0.15 percent of 1- or 2-methylnaphthalene for 81 weeks had lung damage known as ‘pulmonary alveolar proteinosis,’ marked by abnormal lipids, proteins and fluid in the lung.” And to date no one — no agency or organization — has set safe limits for the chemical. And yet there it is in cereal marketing to and made for children.

I don’t know about you, but that completely and totally ticks me off. Completely and totally. The EWG is calling for the FDA to do its job and actually “investigate and regulate all chemicals that make their way from cardboard boxes, plastic bags, metal cans and coated papers into our breakfasts and our bodies.” I say that’s a good place to start.

Does this recall affect what you’ve been buying for breakfast? Do you worry that the FDA isn’t taking our best interests to heart? What can we do to make our food safer? How can we best work with companies like Kellogg’s and other food manufacturers to ensure they are thinking about our safety? I’d like some answers.

This post is my participation in Real Food Wednesdays and Fight Back Fridays — two awesome campaigns to get people eating real food again. Would love to hear any tips you might have to help keep kids focused on eating. What super-yummy, high calorie foods can you suggest? I’d like to know.

Over the years I’ve kept my toe (okay, right now it’s an entire leg) in the technology waters writing and editing for business and trade pubs, but the reviews slowed down. And yes, I’ve also kept writing for women’s magazines, but the stories are more likely to be about weird toddler habits than which sippy cup is best. Yes, I’ll admit it: I miss the rush of writing a review.

There’s nothing like being able to dissect a product, explain why I like it and what missed the mark. This is why — next week — I will launch reviews. I am committing to at least one review a week, although knowing myself that will balloon up quickly. I’ll have themes, of course. We’ll have Mommy Mondays for toys, baby- and kid-related items, Tech Tuesdays for — what else — technology and consumer electronics reviews — Whatever Wednesdays, which is my catch-all category and Foodie Fridays for food-related items. My first review will be for a reusable diaper. And now on to this week’s Favorite Things…

Yummly.com. This site sounds amazing. (And I intend on reviewing it, actually.) It’s a recipe site that, like Netflix, “learns” the types of recipes you like and makes suggestions based on past usage. With more than 500,000 recipes and a Universal Recipe Box that helps you tweak ingredients, this site may become the answer to this week’s blog post question: What’s for dinner?

Sunnygram.com. This is another one I can’t wait to review. So my mom is okay when it comes to technology. Okay, but not great. She’s not on Snapfish or anything like that. This site lets you upload all your photos and create — get this — a printed color newsletter that features all your pictures. I think it will be amazing for anyone who likes to write Christmas letters or someone who, for example, might be getting married and want to keep everyone up-to-date on the planning.

StorySnoops.com. I really, really love this idea. And yes, I will be reviewing it. So my Big Girl is only in first grade. (Gulp, second now, I guess!) But she’s reading on a fifth grade level. Finding books that challenge her but don’t introduce topics and subjects that I am just not ready to discuss is a chore. This site provides book reviews from a parent’s perspective. Will I, as I learned on the fly when we were reading Superfudge, have to skip an entire chapter about Santa Claus? (Thank goodness we were reading that one together!) I never knew. This site will help me answer that question, I hope!

Hope you have a great weekend! As usual we have ten parties and five events to run to. But I still plan on relaxing a bit. How about you?

For me, the answer has always been: It depends. What time of the month is it? (Sorry, TMI, I know.) Am I going to the gym in a few hours where they will get very sweaty and be tossed in the hamper in a bit? Will anyone else be seeing them? Do I have an event going on in a day or two and am I running short on the good ones? You can guess where this is going, I’m sure. I wear the really cute ones only on special occasions. The old ones are my daily staples.

I realized this tonight as I staggered out of the shower on my way to bed. I looked at the neatly folded knickers and made a choice between two pair. The cute blue striped Aeries and the sorta old, sorta past-their-prime Olga Secret Hug flowered number. I was just about to grab the nice pair when I realized that I would change them anyway in the morning. Why waste a good pair, I thought, as I pulled on the ones that should have been tossed a few years ago. This is a problem.

Why shouldn’t I wear really nice, really awesome underwear for myself? Just because they are comfy and dainty and fun? And forget about the fact that I will only be wearing them for about seven hours before changing them again. Yes, this is a problem and the story of my life. I need to figure out why I don’t feel like I deserve the nice underwear all the time. Why I don’t pitch all my old drawers and buy a drawer-full of cool panties? I’m not sure, but I’m going to explore it this week. That’s for sure.

Do you deny yourself anything today? If so, what and why? And what’s your favorite pair of underpants? Have any tips for me? I’d like to know.

Digressing as usual…so we get out to the outlets and I ask Chris where he wants to shop. Saks Off 5th is his answer. I was about to start walking in that direction, but I stopped and looked at him first. Something went off inside of me. No, he wasn’t going discount this time. No, he needed something that would wow people. In the business world — especially New York City — he deserves to wear the best. Yes, it’s okay to buy $4.99 slacks for hanging around the house or going out to dinner with friends, but he needed to look like a million bucks when he stepped into his new place of business. So it was settled (at least in my mind): We were going to Brooks Brothers, someplace we’ve never stepped foot in. Ever.

After a little prodding we walked into the store. The Brooks Brothers outlet was really nice. Even sizing was a breeze since they had every size of shirt in the dressing room for him to try on before he got busy shopping. The salespeople were so helpful, too, and the clothing was really sharp. My husband is tall and has broad shoulders but is thinner through the waist, so he usually has a tough time shopping. Not at Brooks Brothers, though, where we discovered they have something called Slim Fit –shirts and suit jackets cut broad at top and narrower through the waist. He tried on one of the Slim Fit shirts in his size. He looked amazing. He didn’t have any of the annoying “puffy” look around his back and waist that he’s always complaining about. While he was trying on shirts I started looking at pants. I found the softest, lightest summer slacks I have ever seen. Tropical wool, they are called. I grabbed a few colors in his size and brought them to his dressing room. He tried them on and was ooohing and ahhing over them. We both agreed they would be so comfortable for commuting.

In the end he came home with three dress shirts and two slacks. Brooks Brothers shirts are usually $79.50 or three for $199. The slacks are usually $178 each or two for $279. I have to say it: WHO PAYS THAT KIND OF MONEY FOR BUSINESS CASUAL CLOTHING??? Okay, sorry, I lost it for a sec. Anyway, there was a HUGE sale going on plus I snagged a 10 percent off coupon from someone (“Excuse me, miss, are you going to use your Brooks Brothers coupon?”) so we paid about $170 for everything. Yes, that’s way more than I would ever pay for five items of my clothing, but I looked at Chris and, bursting with pride, I knew he deserved the splurge.

The sweet part was that he hesitated at the last minute. Are you sure, he wanted to know, as he stood waiting to check out. He knows how I stress over spending money and how I like my bargains. He knows my past still colors my present. I know that a simple phrase like, “Are you sure?” doesn’t seem like such a big deal, but it is SUCH a big deal. He gets me. Not only does he get me, but he respects me and how I feel. That’s huge. But what’s just as huge is that I didn’t stress too much about spending that kind of cash. I really can’t wait to see him all dressed up in his new clothing on Tuesday. I can’t wait to see how handsome he looks. I think we’re finally finding a happy medium between my fear-of-poverty mode and his the-pricetag-doesn’t-matter shopping style. It’s a refreshing change.

What’s the most you’ve ever spent on an item of clothing outside your wedding dress or tuxedo? What’s your shopping style? How much is too much to spend on clothing. And again: Who pays $178 for a pair of work slacks?!? I really want to know!

Anyway, didn’t watch the SATC television shows. Didn’t see the first movie. But tonight, when a few friends wanted a girls’ night out, I agreed to see SATC 2. It was a LOOOONG movie. I am an antsy person. Ask my husband. He will tell you that watching movies with me is tortuous. I get up. I go to the bathroom. I make him pause all the time. I don’t like to sit in one place. Sometimes I fall asleep. Maybe it’s because I sit in front of this computer for hours and hours at a time, but I am almost incapable of sitting through a two-hour movie. But tonight I made it through the entire 146 minutes in that theater.

It was a pretty good movie. I knew the characters. (Is there anyone in the world who doesn’t know them?) I knew the back story. (I love reading Entertainment Weekly, which has — over the years — reported on the SATC trend ad nauseum.) I can honestly say I enjoyed the movie. But my biggest take away: there was too much product placement in the movie.

Again, maybe it’s because I write about advertising and marketing (among other things) for a living, but I kept being pulled out of the story by the very obvious-to-me placements. A Cuisinart coffeemaker wakes Carrie up one morning. She gives Big a gorgeous Rolex watch their anniversary. There’s a giant HP logo on Samantha’s monitor. The girls hold up Pringles cans on the private jet. And Carrie even SAYS the brand’s name! In another scene, Samantha finds her Hermes Birkin bag acting as a pivotal plot point. And screams the brand name out loud. In the middle of a market.

What’s my biggest problem with the placements? They were too and obvious to me. I understand why they are in there. The movie is going to make a ton of money. Lots of women are going to see it. Women admire and love the franchise and the characters. So of course marketers want to link their brands to the movie and the franchise. But people, people, we’re not idiots. We really don’t need to pan that long on the coffeemaker and the Cuisinart logo, do we? We get it, we get it. Carrie and Big own a Cuisinart, so we should go buy one, too. (And I have nothing against Cuisinart. I actually WANTED that model way before I saw the movie.)

I think there is a very fine line between integrated, integral product placement and pure huckstering. And to me, lots of what I saw fell into the second category. Still, the movie was really good. It was a whimsical way to spend a Friday night. Even if I did have a big problem with the Aiden/Carrie plot line. I won’t say any more since it’s a big-time spoiler…

How’s your weekend going? Stay safe, and stay healthy!

It’s got a full flip out keyboard, lots of apps, a touch screen. I can check my personal email and my work email. I can text. I’ve even approved blog comments from the phone while sitting in a spin class. (I’ve also tracked an entire spin class playlist using the Shazam app.) Oh, yeah. And I can make and receive phone calls. My G1 is my indispensable toy. With it, I can actually leave the house and stay in touch with work, the kids, friends and family without losing my mind.

Okay, so about two weeks ago my touch screen stopped working. I was too busy to do anything about it. (Stupid, stupid, STUPID.) I just used the track ball to navigate around. That was fine until all of a sudden the rest of the phone died, too. I started getting an “android.process.acore has stopped suddenly. Force close?” error message. Now I can’t make or receive calls. I can’t check email, either. (For some wacky reason I can get text messages, though, and use my browser.) That’s why, early last week, I called T*Mobile.

The nice customer service person explained that I was outside the one-year warranty by 12 days. Great. So they couldn’t really help me. They referred me to HTC, which makes the phone. HTC told me that they would take my credit card, charge me around $30 or so for diagnostics, but that a touch screen problem would probably be about $225 to fix. WHAT?!? I only paid $195.51 for the phone! Sheesh.

I hung up and moped around for a bit until it hit me: Could it be possible? Did I buy the phone with my American Express card? I went to my account online and, hands shaking, ordered a PDF of my old statements. Was it on the May or June statement? I ordered both. And there it was on the May statement: $195.51 charged at my local T*Mobile. Score! American Express extends your manufacturer’s warranty. So my one year manufacturer’s warranty became a two-year warranty.

I dialed the extended warranty line and got a nice guy on the phone. Yes, he said. I was entitled to make a claim. And did I want a check or a credit on my account should the claims adjuster accept my claim? Ummm. Neither, I said. I want the phone FIXED. It’s got my contacts on it. It’s got my photos. It’s got my apps. I don’t want a credit. I want my PHONE back. Doesn’t a warranty mean you’re going to fix it for me? But alas, that’s not how the program works, he said. I know, I know. I shouldn’t be complaining. But…sigh…I love that phone. (Insert bigger sigh and dramatic sob.)

Before we got off the phone he told me I have to wait for the insurance adjuster to deal with my claim, which could take up to 45 days. I can’t go without a phone for more than a month so I have a decision to make: What to do about my phone. Do I waste $30 on diagnostics when the HTC guy pretty much told me that touch screen problems are $200+ jobs? Do I go to T*Mobile to buy a new phone? Do I try the new cell phone repair store up the block? (Funny thing. The place just opened. When I first saw it I scoffed at it. WHO would need a cell phone repair shop, I wondered. Indeed!) I guess I’ll sleep on it. And in the meantime if you need me, text me. At least that function still works.

Which phone do you have? Do you love it? I only want a slide out keyboard, so please don’t tell me about how much you love your iPhone…

DJ Lance spins for the babies!

This week we spent the early evening at Brooklyn Bowl, which, to me, is really just a club that happens to also have bowling lanes. It was a launch party event for Yo Gabba Gabba’s live show. My big girl has watched the show. My baby, who won’t turn two until the end of June, hasn’t.

We went inside and saw throngs of people — kids, moms, dads and babies — milling around. All the characters were there, too, as was DJ Lance, who was actually using a turntable and spinning records. (Yes, actual vinyl! Each one encased in its sleeve and the sleeve encased in plastic.)

My big girl was excited to be there. The little one was a little scared. The noise, the darkness, the flashing lights. Once she settled down, however, she loved the music. Only ten minutes after we arrived, she stopped clinging to my shoulder and started dancing. Then she started clapping her hands.

It was a fun even even though I had to snag a bracelet from someone leaving (I was told at the front door they had no more to give) so we could get onto the dance floor. Once we stepped down onto the floor we participated in the meet and greets with everyone. I think my husband, who I am technically not allowed to write about anymore, was most excited. He really wanted to meet DJ Lance, who turned out to be one of the nicest, most down-to-earth people I’ve ever met. I asked him to do a video intro for the blog. Not only did he do it, but he did it twice since he didn’t get the name right the first time. The video will go up over the weekend or on Monday. (Have to let hubby work his technical editing magic on it.) In the meantime enjoy the photo, the following Favorites and the rest of your Friday!

Leafware = I have a new compost bin. I entertain a fair amount during the summer. I hate plastic.

I’m hoping this statement — if I was doing a truth table — would come out all true. (I’m expecting a sample some time soon, so I will let you know.) Leafware, as the company says is  “leaves of specific trees and vines, sewn together with bits of stem” to form plates, bowls, and trays. If you buy them in bulk they come out to about $.50 each. I’m personally willing to give it a try, especially since I can throw it into my compost when I’m done. Again, I’ll let you know what I think.

BetterWorldBooks. I am a reader. I’m also someone who writes stuff that goes into newspapers and magazines. And yet I hate the thought of how many trees I’ve probably killed doing what I do for a living. This is why this site may be one of my favorite new haunts. Every book it sells ships free in the U.S. (the international shipping fee is $3.97), and the company offsets its shipping by buying carbon offsets from Carbonfund.org. It also collects old, unwanted books and sells them to support literacy efforts. To date, the company says it has diverted 33,082,876 books from landfills. Not bad. Now do they have my next book club book?

Let’s Go Chipper! app. I got a press release about this one. Sounded pretty neat, so I checked it out. It’s an educational storyline (books, movies, activities and iTunes downloads) for kids ages 2 to 6 that teaches them about ecology. With the summer coming up — at least here in the northern hemisphere — the stories explain how to keep the environment the way you left it. A plus: Chipper, who is a chipmunk, is pretty cute, too.

That’s it for now. I’m back to work. Another few interviews to do today and then we’ve got a birthday party and I have a flip-flop party to go to. Whoohoo! What are you up to this Friday night? p.s. See that little brown box over to the right? The one that says Top Mommy Blogs? I am trying to move up in the rankings. Would you pretty please click on it and then click to vote for my blog once you get to the landing page? Thanks in advance! I only need 30 clicks through to move into the top 10 in the Eco category.