Nature

There are a lot of things I love about Southern California — access to gorgeous beaches, great shopping, the most amazing farmer’s markets and fresh produce. But the thing I’m reminded of most often is how gorgeous the flora is here. I officially love Southern California flowers.

Each morning, as I walk into work, I have to dodge snails as they slowly move across the stone block path toward the greenery that flanks the patio. I’ll admit that I used to find them an annoyance. Many of them would meet an unfortunate end, crushed – accidentally, I hope – by other passers-by.

The Jacaranda trees are blooming all around us in Southern California and I’m in love. I point them out whenever we are out and about. I can’t help myself.

For one of my first fashion posts, I used flowers as inspiration to create a fashion collage (part 1, part 2). Even after a year of posting, we liked the idea so much, we wanted to repeat it again this summer.

I feel very lucky that I get to travel to some pretty cool places for my job (Dublin, London, Paris, San Francisco, New York…). This week took me to Montreal. I haven’t been to Canada in a couple years; my last trip was to Vancouver back in 2012. I didn’t have much time to actually consider what I would do with my free time because I was so busy prior to leaving for the trip. But the day before I left, I managed to check out trip advisor for the top tourist attractions. What made my list? Notre Dame Cathedral and Mount Royal.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited my friend Ramona of Fab Everyday in Austin, TX. Although I had been to Austin one other time for Mom 2.0, I hadn’t gotten to explore much of Austin, other than the conference hotel and a quick trip to Torchy’s with some bloggers for a quick dinner. This time around, I had a few places on my list that I had hoped we would visit, and Hamilton Pool Reserve was at the top of my list.

Jade heard on NPR that the poppies were going to be in full bloom this past weekend because of all the rain and warmer temperatures we’ve had this spring. So, we took a quick road trip to see the Pichacho Peak poppies on Saturday.

Did you know the average American child spends less than 30 minutes outdoors each day and more than seven hours in front of an electronic screen? These statistics were shocking to me. Not only do our kids not get enough time outside, as the obesity rates soar, our kids are missing out on all of the amazing health and developmental benefits of nature for kids.

I bet your kids are talking about recycling in school today. I bet they made some earth-shaped crafts, or something similar. I’m sure their teachers talked to them about the importance of caring for our planet. All of that is great, and a worthy thing to teach kids. But have you ever thought about sustainability in your daily life or how to teach kids about sustainability? This article is meant as a way for you to introduce you to sustainability for kids.