Did you all have a nice weekend? We did! We worked at our church’s community garden, picked ten pounds of strawberries at a local family farm (we’ve already eaten half, including homemade strawberry mint lemonade last night!), Skype chatted with my family, took a bike ride, and went to a wonderful Easter Sunday service. Some pictures:

Isn’t the cross neat? Everyone was invited to bring a flower to stick on it, and by the end of the third service, it was beautiful!

We also checked off goal no. 1 on my 101 in 1001 list, paying for the car behind me in the drive-through line! If any of you are considering doing this, I would highly recommend it! I might be a huge dork, but it’s kind of a rush :) And every cashier I’ve ever encountered is either excited about it, or, at the least, unfazed, so don’t worry about that.

What did y’all do this weekend?

At the beginning of every month, I plan to write a short post covering what I accomplished in the previous month and what I hope to accomplish in the next one. I’ll also introduce you to one of my 101 in 1001 buddies (see them all in the sidebar!). Here we go!

March 2010: 5/101 goals complete, 19/101 goals in progress

Did I complete…
— No. 8 (Leave a lovely sticky note on a stranger’s windshield)? No… I procrastinated and procrastinated, and then when I finally got up the courage to do it, it started raining! And it’s been raining for three days now. No one wants a blurry note on their window, right?
— No. 19 (Buy or install new shelving for books)? Nope. I didn’t like anything in my price range that was available to buy new, and I wasn’t as good at checking Craigslist as I should have been. I so admire people like Dina and Chelsey, who I consider CL masters! Anyone have any bookshelf suggestions for me? I’m all ears!
— No. 91 (Learn to French braid my hair)? No, sadly! I was planning to have my older sister teach me when she came to visit, but we completely forgot.
— No. 92 (Learn to French braid the hair of others)? Same as above.

That’s right, I didn’t complete any of my March goals… life goes on!

Did I begin…
— No. 11 (Cultivate five habits to make my life more green)? Yes! I switched to J.R. Watkins All-Purpose Cleaner and rags instead of Clorox wipes.
— No. 33 (Eat vegetarian or three separate weeks — do not have to be consecutive)? Yes! We completed one week.

I was able to keep up with all of my monthly commitments (nos. 5, 7, 16, and 48).

from joettamaue

April 2010: 5/101 goals complete, 21/101 goals in progress

Plan to complete:
— No. 1 (Pay the bill for someone behind me in the drive-through line — my Easter weekend tradition!)
— No. 56 (Photograph my outfits every day for one month)

Plan to begin:
— No. 71 (Get Peach & Pearl a spiffy new look)

From Country Home

April Spotlight: Charity of Isle of View

Charity is one of my favorite readers because she’s awesome in general, but also because she comments so often! I was delighted when she signed on to the 101 in 1001 challenge. Here are my five favorite goals from her list:

— No. 4: Contemplate one verse per week
— No. 17: Find 10 new singers/bands to follow (leave any suggestions in the comments!)
— No. 72: Actually learn and use all of the features on my camera
— No. 95: Submit an article to a local newspaper
— No. 97: Sew a sweater pillow

You can see the details on all of my goals right here. Here’s to a great month!

As promised yesterday, a few more lovely ideas for a cherry blossom-inspired soiree…

Invitation from Bella Figura


Invitation from Mika78

Flower girls from Martha Stewart Weddings

Guest book from Martha Stewart Weddings

Tables from Martha Stewart Weddings

Centerpiece from Martha Stewart Weddings

Cherry blossom macarons from Cannelle et Vanille

Cherry blossom doughnuts from Cannelle et Vanille

Seeing as “host an outdoor party when fruit trees are in bloom” is one of my 101 in 1001 goals (albeit one of my more whimsical ones!), I might have to hold on to some of this inspiration for myself.

One of my 101 in 1001 goals is to “cultivate five habits to make my life more green.” I’m happy to say I cultivated my first new habit this month! Instead of Clorox wipes (which are wasteful, because each cloth goes in the trash post-use, and possibly harmful to my environment or the environment in general), I now use J.R. Watkins All Purpose spray in lemon, paired with old rags, to clean all surfaces. The rags go right in the wash when they’re dirty.

Besides smelling delightful and being ammonia, animal-testing, dye, phosphate, and bleach free, this spray cleans like a champ! It’s safe for tile, counters, wood, appliances, sinks, and walls, so it’s pretty much one-stop cleaning in this house now. Plus, the label is pretty pretty pretty.

Anyone have a suggestion for what my next new green habit could be? Here are a few things we already do:

— Turn off as many lights as possible, as often as possible
— Turn the heat down in the winter (approximately 61) and the AC down in the summer (approximately 72)
— Recycle plastic, glass, metals, and paper
— Try to ride our bikes on short errands (admittedly, we could be better at this)
— Use cloth instead of paper napkins at meals (my favorites, usually)
— Bring leftovers to work in reusable containers
— Print on the reverse of a used sheet when possible
— Use CFL bulbs instead of normal incandescents
— Wash all clothes in cold water
— Grow some of our own vegetables and herbs
— Drink water purified with a Brita filter and carried in an aluminum bottle
— Borrow books from the library or read them on John’s Kindle
— Recycle all old electronics, including cell phones and computers (Best Buy takes them for free!)
— Carry home groceries in reusable bags
— Donate or sell old clothes and items instead of throwing them away. We also try to buy used when possible!
— Pay bills and receive bank statements online

A few ideas I’m interested in trying:

— Switching from paper towels to unpaper towels (I KNOW J is going to resist this one)
— Switching from plastic storage containers to glass (coveting these ones)
— Switching from plastic produce bags to muslin ones (like these, these, these, or this one)

What do you think? Any suggestions? I’m all ears!

Bonus for making it this far: a pretty camellia photo from our trip to the Duke Gardens this weekend (with Meredith!).

P.S. If you’re interested in this sort of stuff, I would recommend checking out this post, this post, or this NY Times article.