The good thing about some parts of her halloween costume is that it could be used again on just any ole day! And True chose to do that the very next day. I think she looks mighty sweet in a bow tie and if I were her teacher I would be smiling at her all day long. Who wouldn’t love a little girl in something extra sweet like that?!! I think I am inspired to don my own bow tie very soon.

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of being invited to the GLAD® One Bag Tailgate held at USC and co-hosted by actress Ali Larter. I had never been to tailgate before and since this is my first one, I think I am pretty spoiled by it and will be hoping my next tailgate (should I ever go to another) is just as swankified.

Food was catered by Heirloom L.A. whose motto is “bring farm to plate” and the entire spread was utterly delicious. Everything was fresh and homegrown, at the same time beautifully presented. Yes, this was at a tailgate. Then you had the compostable plates made from fallen palm leaves and forks made of birch and everything was just so good for the environment.

Then I also had the privilege to get a bit chatty with the lovely Ali Larter. Despite appearing in movies and television, her most important role to her will always be mom to her almost one year old, whom she affectionately calls Teddy. In fact motherhood is what opened her eyes and made her more aware of the need to take care and give back to the environment. We both agreed that when you have a child, your heart just opens up like you have never felt before.

Some simple tips she said that can help us all waste less are using water filter system in your home or Brita pitchers. Her excitement to partner with GLAD® and USC in wasting less came easy because she grew up an avid sports fan thanks to her father. Therefore, an event where everyone usually comes with a lot of goods and leaves with a lot of trash, is the perfect event to get everyone to try to be more eco-conscious and realize what items could be recycled and composted. Also, to get people to make smart eco-friendly purchases based on that criteria of recycling and composting. She also spent some time Saturday afternoon speaking with some local youth about the importance of being eco-friendly and teaching them how to waste less.

And just like most moms out there, Ali even has her own favorite blog reads, which includes everyone’s favorite recipe go-to place, Smitten Kitchen. It is fun to know that even celebrities are blog readers!

The event was wonderfully put together and a great start at educating others how to waste less. There were containers where items could be put in and separated based on trash, recyclable, and compostable. Honestly, we do pretty well recycling in our own home, but we have never really thought about composting though Ben has wanted to make a compost bin for our garden. I think we will add that to our to do list because I can think of countless items we throw away that are compostable.

The entire event was thoughtfully put together and all geared towards nothing going to waste. To encourage less waste, GLAD® is also giving away ten $2,000 grants to high schools, so if you know a high school that might be interested, you can get more info here. You can peruse the GLAD® to Waste Less site and get all sorts of tips and information on how you can help the environment one bag at a time!

So tell me, do you have any good tips you do in your own home to help the environment?

Ever since I was a little girl I would always get excited for November and that’s because it is my birthday month! Ben and my family know that once the summer is over I pretty much start counting down. Now, it is finally here and in just a couple days I turn 30. Eeks! I wanted to travel somewhere to celebrate, but with Glow and all, we may have to postpone that a year.

This year I told Ben to keep it low key as I would be happy staying home, watching the last season of my favorite show 24, which we still haven’s seen because I will be sad when it ends, and grabbing burgers or going on a date for dinner. I know Ben is plotting a little something, so I can’t wait until Thursday! One thing I know for sure is that I will be getting a yummy breakfast in bed. That’s tradition over here for every birthday.

I have some new sponsors that I am pretty excited about and do still get giddy about the re-occuring ones too. Make sure you check them all out!

November things that make me wanna dance…

– My birthday! What can I say?!! I have always loved presents, I ain’t gonna lie.

– BFF’s birthday. She is a week after me and I can’t wait to give her her present.

– Fall weather coming to SoCal for real.

– Doing our Fall-ebration because we didn’t get to do it in October.

– Thanksgiving and stuffing myself silly with all the yummy food. Oh, turkey and stuffing, how I love you!

– Prepping for Christmas. I love all the Christmas cheer and coziness that ensues right after Thanksgiving!

My first month in my 30’s is already sure to be a good one. What things this month make you wanna dance?

This year I changed it up a bit and instead of our usual story, we decided to do a song and dance number and a barbershop quartet fit our newly grown family perfectly. Though if you watch the video, not everyone was involved or in the mood, but that’s life with little ones and you just have to roll with the punches. But I must say, rolling with the punches isn’t always easy. Nonetheless, I find their little show adorably heart melting. I mean, Brave’s not singing, but she makes the best faces and True is shy, but she isn’t when mommy’s behind the camera, and well Soulie, she is kinda being her little feisty self and not wanting to do anything. Then there’s Glow… and she just fell asleep. We Bratchers always love having a bit of fun dressing up! It always makes for good memories…

We can’t wait to go trick or treating tonight! Wanna see our past Halloween stories? Read The Three Little Piggies, Hannah and Gretel, The Untold Story of Oz, and Little Red Riding Hood.

It is a teensy bit long, but if you want a good laugh, here is a slightly different kind of sandman, the Metallica version, an improv done afterwards by True and Ben…

Say hello to Zoodies…

Zoodies are fun little hoodies for your sweet little ones. My Soulie loves her kitty zoodie and we think she looks absolutely purrr-fect. You can turn your little cutie into a cute little creature and keep them warm at the same time. Made from soft american apparel hoodies these are really soft and fun little sweater that you can be sure the little ones will love it!

Zoodies is giving away a dino/kitty zoodie for one of you. To win, here are some things you can do:

Say hello to Farm Dog Vintage…

Farm Dog Vintage a vintage shop with lots of sweet old things. This typewriter is just perfectly lovely and who can resist these vintage records. All old things have a wonderful story and the items in the shop I am sure have one they want to tell. Maybe there will be an item calling out to you so that you can continue its story in your own home!