happy halloweenie!

this all saint's eve we were ready with treats for neighborhood goblins.

the candles were lit to guide their way toward the candy bowl. 

And before we knew it, a scary tiger cub and his mama appeared! 

Ronan and Suzanne

All too soon, the scary tiger cub got his fill of swinging upside down and eating candy, and it was time to call it a night. 

my new blogcrush

this morning i found a new favorite blog - the gardener's cottage.

the tagline is simplicity, vegan cooking, gardening, beauty.

YES!!!

these photos are from her lovely house. my own house is a bit chaotic right now (getting ready for the new roof, woohoo!), so i look at her house and feel instantly soothed. totally fantasizing about a picture-perfect house, now.

Don't you wish you had an invitation to visit her and nibble on one of those yummy vegan banana nut muffins (recipe on her blog!). 

new book about Garvanza

A new book is out, all about our little neighborhood of Garvanza!

Charles J. Fischer, local historian, wrote it, with input from members of Highland Park Heritage Trust.

There's a sweet photo of our lil' house in it. It's a fun, informative read about the history of Garvanza. Lots of photos of area houses.

Thanks, Charlie and HPHT for making sure treasures like Garvanza are not forgotten!

c'est la vegan

One of my favorite vegan bakeries and vegan blogs is c'est la vegan.

Her baked goods are amazing. Her blog has beautiful food photos and great recipes. And Kim herself could not be lovelier - inside and out!

I learned about vegan mofo from her blog. Can't wait for the fun to begin, and I'll definitely be checking her blog for inspiration every day.

vegan mofo!!!

I just learned about the fantastic event coming to us in November ...

Vegan Mofo!!! 

A whole month of blogging about vegan food, from bloggers all over the world. How utterly fantastic!

I'm signing up right now. I believe the greenest part of our house renovation is the (vegan food-filled) fridge.

Looking forward to reading lots of vegan-food posts!

eastside ecohome tour

Last Saturday ecohomes on LA's eastside opened their doors for all us looky-loos to wander through and get ideas for our own homes. What we liked most about this tour is that most of the homes were incorporating green elements that regular folks with regular incomes could do. It wasn't a showcase of the newest, most expensive "green" products. We saw things like greywater systems, rain barrels, organic raised vegetable beds, and even bees.

Ryan and I were impressed with the number of homes utilizing greywater systems. Maybe half the homes on the tour had greywater systems, and one home was owned by a real live greywater system installer, california graywater corps:

Out of all the homes, Susan Carpenter's was our hands-down favorite in terms of the green home improvement projects she has done. Read her great article here on what she thinks were the best and not so good projects she did.

Even though she says in her article that the raised garden beds aren't her favorite thing, they sure do look sweet and lovely.

We didn't get to look inside anyone's fridge, but we believe the most eco-friendly move anyone can make is toward a plant-based diet. If this is news, check out the UN Report, Livestock's Long Shadow.

Great job, eastside ecotour planners, and thanks to everyone who generously opened up their homes. We can't wait for next year's tour!