DIY Dia de los Muertos Skirt

Let me just be frank.

(But I thought your name was Catfish, not Frank ... wocka wocka).

But seriously, I've never been a big fan of Halloween, or costumes. I don't love candy, and when you're an adult, Halloween is one of those drunk holidays that has a big "Stay off the Roads" sticker on it. However, I was recently inspired by one Miss Katy Perry to get a little festive this year without resorting to a disposable polyester one-size-fits-all monstrosity. (I mean, what could be less green that an outfit made of petroleum products that you wear once, save for awhile, and then chuck in the garbage?)

And here's what inspired me:

(Photo courtesy of sugarscape.com)

While I'm not a fan of boob bows, I really liked Katy's full skirt with the wacky print. I've always enjoyed clothing that has a bit of novelty to it -- T-shirts with strange screen print images, vintage dresses, etc. I decided that my wardrobe had been seriously lacking in whimsy lately.

I decided to make a skirt a bit like Katy's, with a crazy print. I settled on a Dia de lost Muertos print (Dia de los Muertos is the Mexican Day of the Dead, celebrated November 2) that is Halloweenish, but which would also look kinda punk rock if worn in a dive bar, or would turn a few heads when worn to the grocery store.

First I had to adapt a pattern:

Wily likes to lurk around while I'm sewing, waiting for a piece of pattern paper to fall within reach so he can destroy it.

Katy's skirt is a circle skirt (like a poodle skirt), which is ... a big circle. I have a copy of the book, Chic and Simple Sewing, by Christine Haynes, which had a circle skirt pattern (there are lots of online tutorials for making circle skirts if you want to make your own pattern). Unfortunately, the largest size was quite tiny, so I used it as a base to create my own. Also, since the print on my fabric was "directional" (i.e. it can only face one direction) and circle skirts are cut on a diagonal, I added some panels of solid purple. Leave it to me to make things more difficult, even though I'm a beginning sewer.

The actual sewing didn't take long, although I got off to several false starts with a misthreaded sewing machine.

I finally got the sewing machine threaded and I'm ready to sew.

Here's the finished skirt. .

And here I am, ready for Halloween.

I'll definitely wear this comfy skirt again, meaning it won't get dumped like many one-use-only Halloween items. Of course, there are lots of ungreen things about sewing (in particular, the production of cotton is hard on the environment and organic fabric is extremely expensive) but when we create our own clothing, we're much less likely to dispose of it quickly. We also take at least a few steps out of the manufacturing chain. And, of course, it's fun.

Losin' the Green Groove

If you've read this blog for awhile, you may have noticed that I've been working like crazy lately -- including lots of traveling. But now, "normal" life is back and I'm having a bit of trouble getting back into the green routine.

I had gotten, perhaps, too over-confident with my green routine. I was carrying my re-usable cups (one for cold drinks, one for hot); my purse contained my re-usable bags in case unforseen shopping happened; and every morning I unplugged all of the small appliances. But I've lost the magic. I'm forgetting to do all of these important things.

But November is starting on Monday, and so it's a week for refreshment. I'm going to try to get my green groove back.

Another Winner from Alicia

My friend Melanie recently moved near an Asian grocery store, which has become one of my new favorite places to explore. I recently discovered this:

What, you might ask, is that?

This is lotus root. I've been looking forward to finding some lotus root for a few months, so I could try out the recipe for Maple-Roasted Lotus Root in Alicia Silverstone's cookbook The Kind Diet. The cookbook contains recipes that are good for people, animals and the planet.

Of course, lotus root isn't available everywhere, but I think you could make this delicious fall dish with any root vegetable. The recipes in The Kind Diet often involve Asian ingredients because Alicia is eats both vegan and macrobiotic, but I often make substitutions when I cook from it. For example, most of the dishes use shoyu (fancy soy sauce) instead of salt, but I use sea salt instead.

Here you see the the dish before cooking. It's a tasty mix of lotus root, leeks, sunchokes and garlic. You roast for about half an hour at 375 degrees and half-way through cooking, toss with maple syrup and shoyu ... or salt if you are me.

It would be a wonderful side dish at any fancy fall meal, but I just ate it as a snack.

A Bunch of Randomness

Deep breath.

Ok. I feel like life has sort of gotten back on an even-ish keel. So here are a bunch of random thoughts that have come out of my blog hiatus, some green, some not-as-green.

• If you're a regular follower of this blog, you may have been thinking: wow, that Catfish has been working a lot lately rather than blogging. And you would be right. My friend Kelly recently got me hooked on the British series Torchwood, which is about a secret agency that fights aliens. You can probably infer the level of work stress I've been having in that I completely related to Torchwood's many stories about how alien fighting is incompatible with daily life, just like my work (on the front lines of social justice, natch) is incompatible with daily life. (And if you want a good Halloween scare, check out the Torchwood ep called "Countrycide.")
• I like to shop. But consuming without thinking isn't too green. So, as Tim Gunn (yes, the "Make it work" guru -- one time I saw him at the Houston Galleria and he looks a lot older in person than he does on Project Runway) advises, I decided to take stock of my wardrobe before buying anything new. I spent a couple of hours on Saturday morning going through my closet. Luckily, my closet still retained some semblance of organization from the last time I cleaned it. This closet-organizing frenzy produced five bags for Goodwill (mostly because I'm in a new job where professional dress is a bit more professional than my previous job). It turned out that I mostly need to purchase basics: jeans, underwear, socks, and bras. Not romantic, but it's a lot greener to know what I really need and make strategic purchases than to just buy whatever I feel like.

The closet. So clean!

• Talk about recycling ... for work, I was recently in St. Louis. The conference I attended was held in St. Louis Union Station, which at one time was the world's busiest train station. Though train travel is no longer our main type of transportation, the station was not destroyed to make way for a Wal-mart. It was renovated into a hotel, conference center and ... okay, a mall. But it's encouraging to see how classic architecture can be preserved. This doesn't only save American landmarks, but it discourages sprawl from eating up American countryside.

Here's a 1909 image of the Union Station Grand Hall.

And here's the Grand Hall today, in a picture I took.

• I just like this picture. I took it at the Arboretum.

• And here's a song I like. I realize that this makes me a fourteen-year-old drama-club geek. So, I'm only 20 years off.

I miss you

Just letting you know, I haven't vanished. Just working 10 and 11 hour days this week. Should be back to normal soon.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the Arboretum:

Party Planet

You may have noticed that I'm a big fan of parties, party food, and party drink. But it's a proven fact that a party that is bad for Mama Earth is 42.3% less fun than a party that is eco-friendly.

Therefore, when I was invited to a potluck, I decided to try a recipe from Alicia Silverstone's cookbook The Kind Diet, which is dedicated to recipes that are easy on the earth because they are all vegan.

I settled on Artichoke, Mushroom, and Leek Crostini, which was also featured on Oprah earlier this year (click here to find the recipe on Oprah's website).

To save time, I used store-bought pesto instead of the homemade that the recipe calls for, and I mixed it with the homemade artichoke spread. I also couldn't find some of the Asian ingredients, like umeboshi vinegar, so I substituted white wine.

Fresh cut leeks are always gorgeous.

The crostini turned out to be a delicious and very sophisticated dish. They did take a little while together, so give yourself time if you're going to try these out. All in all, however, I highly recommend them.

Why Mama Earth Likes Fall

It's fall!

Autumn has always been my favorite season, but living in Texas, I come to the realization of fall's arrival a little later than some of you might. However, fall is really here, as evidenced by the fact that high temperatures are only in the 80's! Woohoo!

There are lots of green reasons why fall is Mama Earth's favorite season.

Walking

Let's just be perfectly honest. In Texas, in the summer, you don't walk anywhere. If you did, you would arrive such a sweaty mess that no one could get near you. Now that the temperatures have dropped, foot power is all you need to get around. Last night, I walked to Anvil Bar & Refuge to meet a friend for drinks, and was ecstatic to see that many Houston residents had the same idea as I did, leaving gas guzzlers at home to hit the streets.

Apples

Of course, apples are available year round. But out-of-season produce has probably been transported long distances, resulting in excessive energy use. To top that off, all that energy gets wasted to provide you with a mealy, disgusting apple that's been in the back of a semi for weeks. Now, we can enjoy in-season apples, particularly delicious varieties like Fuji and Honeycrisp that are only available this time of year.

Baking

During the summer, I don't use my oven because it heats up my small apartment and makes the A/C work twice as hard. I have a small toaster oven that I use from time to time. Now that fall is here, though, I can bring out the big guns, using my regular ol' oven to create healthy, unprocessed baked goods in my own kitchen, like the pumpkin chocolate chip muffins above. (Click here for the recipe).

Sweater Weather

Okay. So we only have about two days of sweater weather per year in Houston. But in the fall, when the sun isn't blazing, I can enjoy knitting big projects that would be torturous during the summer -- a lapful of wool in July is just no fun.

Fall TV

Hey, doesn't Mama Earth want to kick back and watch Fringe after a long day providing us with shelter?

What do you love about fall?

Saturday Interweb Round-up

Ah ... home.

There are productive things I need to do. I desperately need to clean my closets and unpack my suitcase and renew my vehicle registration. And there are productive things I want to do, like make a skirt and look at apartments for a spring trip to Barcelona and read this week's EdWeek. Instead, I spent a good part of today catching up with all of the TV shows on my DVR and spending some quality time on the internet. Sometimes, vegetating has to come first.

Here's some fun stuff I came across in internet land:

• Ever wondered what your carbon footprint is? There are lots of fun online calculators to help you figure it out. I would love to say that mine is lower than average ... and it is, until I add in the number of flights I have to take for work. Then my footprint jumps up. Where's a transporter beam when you need one?
• The Huffington Post Green section has great slideshows, and many of them don't preach at you, but just try to get you to marvel at the natural world. Check out their slideshow of "Adorable or Ugly" animals and see the craziness that evolution (and humans' ability to breed animals for certain qualities, such as hairlessness) produces.
• Halloween is just around the corner. Want to make a statement about the environment? The New York Times featured a BP oil spill-themed costume last week. If you want to be really green, you could make your own from thrift store duds.
• The oil spill has been making its mark on TV as well. On CBS's The Good Wife, our favorite ethically-compromised barristers drop a mention that they're defending BP. While on Community, a fundraiser to help the Gulf goes hilariously awry (Click here to watch the whole episode). This week's 30 Rock also featured shenanigans involving the NBC recycling bins. Green culture - taking over TV!

And finally ...

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Tiny Triumphs - Environmentalist Ear Pollution
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

Slow and Steady? I Think Not.

Fall is here!

This weekend, I took my first long weekend walk in the Houston Arboretum. These walks are a staple of my life during the "cooler" months (and by cooler I mean highs of 80 degrees instead of 98)..

I'm traveling (AGAIN!) this week, so I thought I might entertain you with some images from the Arboretum. First up ...

I found this little guy in the middle of the path at the arboretum. Since the trail maintenance people often drive around in golf carts, I was a bit worried about Mr. Tortuga. So I, rather like a paparazzo following Lindsey Lohan, used aggressive video-taping to herd our friend to safer environs. I'm sorry I scared him (as witnessed by the way he jerks into his shell around :12) but I think the woods are a better place for him.