one lovely blog award!

very exciting stuff!!!

the blue house was given the one lovely blog award by

emily @ sweet southern comfort.

she actually made my day with the sweet comment she left telling me so.

and i am so grateful... thanks emily, you rock.

but i just wanna say, i'm really grateful for each and every one of you, too.

i just wanted to start a blog to keep track of the junk i like and the junk i find awesome and inspiring... glad i could share it with you party people.

(so along with this honor, you're supposed to share some stuff your readers may not know about you... get ready. it's wordy.)

today i've chosen to lay out our simple life for ya.

my husband and i are making a serious conscious effort and movement to simplify our lives. have you seen the documentary, "bag it"? have you watched "supersize me" yet? DO. watch them both.

it made us step back from our very processed, very plastic american lifestyle and take a good hard think.

we've already taken some big steps, and we're constantly making smaller, but with big impact when added up, decisions that make us feel better about ourselves, our globe, our home and our diet, etc. etc.

some of the stuff you may not know...

we only have one car. and we live in a city that isn't tops in public transportation. but we've found it kinda works. we work in the same building so that's easy. we eat and go out alot of the times together, and when we don't... it's honestly not that hard to figure out between the 2 of us.

my husband had a big suv that ate gas just sitting in the driveway. so we got rid of that and just haven't gotten around to getting its replacement yet... and until its needed, i don't think we're going to. even though it sounds like the opposite, it's kinda liberating. and we're saving money! working on 4 months without it.

i've cut out almost every single nasty chemical from my morning routine. i use organic/biodegradable shampoo and conditioner. (still looking for a good face soap, any suggestions?) i moisturize with coconut oil... and GOODNESS. i love that stuff so much i'm saving it for an entire post all on it's own.

i only use 3 pieces of make-up to get ready in the morning. my eyeliner and mascara are bare minerals, and i'm just waiting for my concealer to be finished up before i replace it with something better. we're using tom's deodorant to smell so fresh and so clean clean. the only thing we haven't made the switch for is our toothpaste. we switched to the burt's beeswax brand about a year ago and i got my first not-perfect-report from my dentist so we switched back to the regular for healthy teeth. but there has to be a better way. i'm on the hunt, and i want your suggestions!!

there are lots of other small things we do/have chosen to quit but i'll move on.

did you know that i put parmesan cheese on anything that stands still?

i live for that good stuff.

i don't do wooden spoons. especially the kind that have been put through the dishwasher and are rough and cracky. that makes my teeth hurt just thinking up the words to type them. won't touch em. just won't do it. ick.

i also have the same hate relationship with nail files. something must have gone wrong with me and one of those as a child.

i'm almost a vegetarian but i love bacon.

i haven't liked most meat since i was a kid. in fact, i eat more of it now than i did back then.

but i love bacon.

that's a little bit about me.

weird. i'm aware.

but i love you.

and thanks for stopping by.

you do anything for a healthier you?

love yourself some bacon?

wooden spoons make your knees weak, too?

spill those beans.

SMOOCHES.

JILL