Aunt Sally's Boutique and a Quick Alternative to a Sandwich

This winter I have to look somewhat presentable at least three days a week because I'm volunteering at the co-op on Thursdays, vending on Saturdays and--yay yay thank you thank you--waitressing at Mangetout, a local organic cafe, on Sundays.  This Sunday is my first shift, and I realized I'd been layering the same black turtleneck under all my sweaters for the past week.  I also noticed that the sleeves were stretched out and likely to dip into people's food if I wore it to work. 

"Yahoo," I thought.  "I need to go to Aunt Sally's Boutique."  Black turtlenecks are exactly the sort of thing you can count on finding at a thrift store, and today was no exception.  And because I might have a teeny weeny thrift store problem, I also came home with a cute skirt and an organic cotton tee.  Wednesdays are half price day, so these three items came to $6.  These are the first clothes I've bought since I started tracking my consumption.    

With the exception of socks, bras and shoes I'm planning on not buying new clothes this year unless they're thrifted, fair trade or handmade.  In the past I've taken this pledge for a few months at a time, but this time I think I can go a year.  I don't plan on doing much refashioning, though.  I've found in the past that going into a thrift store looking for interesting items to refashion only causes me to buy more.  I do enjoy wardrobe refashioning, but for now, because I'm busy and because I want to cut down on clutter, I'm only going to buy it if I love it and if any work it needs is minor.

No food purchases today, but I thought I'd show you what I made for lunch.

In the foreground is a raw vegan take-off on sushi.  Instead of rice, I used a mixture of parsnip, a little olive oil, salt and pepper that I buzzed up in the food processor.  The texture is similar to couscous.  I then laid out a sheet of nori seaweed, topped the bottom third (beginning about an inch and a half from the bottom edge) with Romaine lettuce, the parsnip mixture, some home-grown sprouts and some carrot peelings.  If you have a sushi mat, it's easy to roll your nori so that it looks professional.  But even without a mat, it doesn't look too shabby.  Use a little water to seal everything shut, then slice into bite-size pieces.  You can make a simple dipping sauce with tamari or soy sauce, garlic and ginger, or be lazy like I was and just sprinkle plain  tamari on everything.  That and a salad with a peanut butter-based dressing makes a dandy lunch. and takes under ten minutes to prepare.

In the evening, Jake and I went out again for a monthly treat: a free concert by local violinist Gabriel Kastelle.  Gabriel offers 40-minute long concerts/music theory talks in his studio on the first Wednesday of each month.  Although the concerts are free, donations are welcome and we did donate.  But it would be gauche to say how much.  So I won't include that in my consumption totals. 

I walked everywhere I went today, including to the cafe for our weekly pre-thrift store coffee. 

I was also the happy recipient of a gift:  After the concert Jake, another friend and I went to the Dutch Tavern where our friend bought me a baby Guinness. :)

Today's Consumption Totals:

Clothes: $6

Entertainment (coffee) $2

Miles driven: 0