Corny Christmas Card Video!

Open letter to December.

Dear December,

Listen. Can we start over? For your benefit, really. I feel like you might be thinking that with all the bells and whistles you have planned for later that you could just kind of sneak in and build up gradual like. This is not true-- first impressions matter. And frankly when you start off with:

- Wasting the morning on stressful errands
- An hour trying to make tissue paper flowers that end up looking totally busted
- General crankiness and the desire to gobacktobed

it kinda just makes you look like an asshole.

So I guess what I'm saying is, if you wanted to ply me with wine and cookies that might be a good move.

Yours 'til Santa claws,

Maren

Tips for staying upbeat on a gloomy day.

1. Turn on the Christmas tree lights even though it is only noon.

2. Avoid online window shopping as much as possible.

3. india.arie

4. It helps if there is a good-mood toddler around to say things like "Mommy-- giants knock on the door!" (Murphy is currently OBSESSED with giants thank to a huge movable one that lives at our local children's museum. He tells me that there are giants in the kitchen and on the phone like 20 times a day...awesome!)

5. Walk around the block and splash in the tiny puddles on the sidewalk.


fin.

Answering the call

I felt a slight breeze and heard a whisper that seemed to come from far away and from inside myself simultaneously. You vintage junkies know what I'm talking about the CALL OF THE THRIFT. It always pays off to heed the call, even if I am actually insane. This time it even told me which thrift store would grant me three wishes. And three wishes I was granted.

One and Two:


The book on the right is a classic picture dictionary that includes such gems as "My handkerchief has my name written on it" and "These are my long pants. I feel grown-up now." It was also illustrated by my boyfriend, Richard Scarry, although it is a very different style from the busy world we know and love.

The book on the left is pretty pbbfflliitt content wise, but has a wonderful twist. The whole thing is based on an old ad campaign for Health-tex, so all the illustrations feature the raddest health-tex clothes you ever did see. Like, yessssssss:


Three:

I saw it peaking out from between a bunch of boring Carter's onesies from several feet away. I knew, even before I saw the applique, that I was in for a treat. Boo- freakin- ya. Unfortunately I do not currently have any babbies this size. (No tags, the thrift store's estimate was 6-9 months). If anyone out there is itching for this one, drop me a line, we'll talk Paypal. This is the kind of find that makes me rethink that idea about opening an etsy vintage shop, whatcha think?

Thank you thrift muses. What rewards have you reaped by answering the creepy, zealous call of the thrift?

Episode in which I vlog a tired meme

Well it was bound to happen eventually. I love the gleamin' stink face I'm making in the preview still. Classic.

bird in a skirt

Today I am living in a fantasy world where I imagine that I buy a wardrobe of adorable dresses and live in them. I wear dresses now a lot more than I used to, but I feel that I would do so even more if I had these beauties. I mean, just look at them! It's quite the sickness, I'm even imagining which shoes, cardigans, and jewelry in my closet to wear with them. Easy there, self!

On a related note, the biggest obstacle I have to wearing dresses is that most of the year is cold around here and, try as I might, I just do NOT find tights to be comfortable. I feel I am constantly hiking up the waistband that just wants to roll down. Advice?

Also, if anyone knows of Mod Cloth gift certificate giveaways, send that info my way. A girl can dream, can't she?

Pity party!

What would have been fun to do tonight:

Mexican food and margaritas at Salena's with friends, then coming home and reading a novel or magazine while listening to music and intermittently chatting with my husband. Cozy.


What I am actually doing:

Putting my cranky toddler to bed early. Laundry. Eating the three leftover ravioli from Tuesday night. Walking around the apartment listlessly while waiting for husband to get out of work and not starting a million projects that need starting. Sticking my nose into a really old jar of Nutella and deciding not to risk it even though it smells...ok.

Things I plan to do this month

- Bake a pumpkin pie from a genu-INE pumpkin. We already did pumpkin muffins using the recipe over at Post Punk Kitchen and they were awesome, but we still have a huge jar of pumpkin puree from our CSA pie pumpkin.

- Eat delicious vegan gravy. There is a yummy sounding recipe that involves stout beer that I tore out of a slingshot planner several years ago and have still never tried. This is criminal.

- Make christmasy pom-pom garlands. I'm not ready to jump into x-mas mode, but if I'm going to craft my decorations, I figure I'd better start now.

- Put together a HUGE bag for the thrift store (I need to get some of this stuff out of my life!) Speaking of which, let me know if you are interested in my old zines or a handful of vintage things I was too lazy to create a shop in which to sell.

- Related to the last item, I think I am going to give another go to Project 333 or a similar plan. Somehow my closet always fills up with stuff I never wear. It's time to get it under control, yo!

- Make sure Murphy gets as much playground and outside-with-friends time as humanly possible before THE DREADED WINTER. I mean, the kid has snow pants, but yuck.

Anything can happen on Halloween

So, I promised pictures of my little man in his Han Solo costume, didn't I? Thing is, I didn't really get any good pictures of him in his costume. He's on the move like nobody's business. "Oh, you want to take a picture, Mom? I'll just shout 'CHEEEESE!' while I'm running away. That counts, right?"

Also a frightening portion of our day was this:



I know I shouldn't have had EXPECTATIONS for Halloween, but I never seem to be able to stop myself from the "Oh, he's going to love this" mentality. I should have known that the crowds and loud music at the children's museum Halloween dance would freak him out. Should have. But instead we tried to get him into it ("Come on, buddy, let's dance!" "Say trick-or-treat to Dorothy and Toto!")... and he retaliated by having a 100% melt down after his nap (yes, after!).

He was screaming and crying for at least 45 minutes and flailing around-- not wanting to be held but clinging to me at the same time. Parents, you probably know the kind of tantrum I'm talking about. Lots of feelings.

In the end, the only thing that calmed him down, was dropping his head onto my shoulder while I sang "Everything's Alright" from Jesus Christ Superstar* to him. We sat in the rocking chair and I sang and sang. Occasionally he would pop up to point out that his stuffed monkey has eyes or somesuch, and then he'd put his head back down and say "please", asking me to keep singing. It ended up being a better moment than any Monster Mash dance party could have been.

Okay, riding the carousel with his Chewbacca was a pretty fabulous moment, too.





*Just the first verse before Judas comes into it, not the WHOLE song. That would be sort of weird.

LAAAA, la la la la la lala, Katamari Damacy!

Today I am le tired, but I wanted to give a quick shout out and thanks to Modern Kiddo for featuring Murphy's Prince of All Cosmos costume from last year in their homemade Halloween costumes post! I was really proud of how our costumes turned out last year, and I'm excited to share this year's as well! Stay tuned- I promise to post about it in a timely fashion.

Oops, I did it again.

Okay, let's not even talk about how long it's been, right? I'll just say that I have decided that in order to actually get friendly with my fellow bloggers, I probably need to, you know, blog. Also, fuggetabout pictures. Most of the time. I know they make things interesting but I just don't like taking them so I will have to charm you with my wit instead. Uh oh.

Hey, here's a list!

- I know what I just said about pictures, but I'm pretty excited to show you Murphy's Halloween costume. Han Solo! It's gonna be so boss. I made him a Chewbacca doll from this free pattern at Draw Pilgrim. The one I made is a little wonky, but I think it will really be the icing on my little costumed-toddler cake.

- I'm applying for a job at our local cloth diapering store. So we'll see how that goes and also how much you will all be annoyed by my dancing if I actually become employed.

- I know everybody says this, but you know what's the best part of having kids so far? Talking. There is nothing like being woken up by a hug and a big "HI!!! Ernie, Bert! Down Slide!" Even if it also means the answer to the question "What do you want for lunch?" is "FRIES!" Oops.

- Thinking about doing NaBloPoMo even though by "doing" I really mean "say I will do and then maybe post a few more times than I would otherwise". Thoughts? Encouragements?

Hairy

I was feeling ambitious yesterday so I attempted to style my hair. I have pretty much never done this before. I mean, I can do a ponytail, and I can use a headband, and that is literally as far as I have ever gone.

I didn't feel too intimidated by this cute style, though, as it was well explained by Elsie over at A Beautiful Mess in her tutorial.

(The second picture also gives you a glimpse of what I'm wearing today [pink belt!] and my new thrifted shower curtain.)




If you've been nervous about attempting to style your hair- don't be! Just jump in and give it a try- you might be really pleased with the results.

Balloons, balloons!

This weekend was Park Avenue festival: your typical summer arts festival full of watercolors, junk to buy, crap to eat, and crowds! Not usually my idea of a good time, but it happens, like, 2 blocks from our house. Plus our friend Meredith had a booth selling her awesome robot mugs so we wanted to stop by and say hello.

but the most important event to come out of this year's Park Ave fest is the discovery that MURPHY FREAKING LOVES BALLOONS! Observe (while excusing our messy kitchen, please):





Ever since I've been singing this song nonstop:

Winning spirit

Thank you so much to the lovely ladies over at Modern Kiddo for sponsoring the sweet giveaway that I WON! This actually happened last week but I didn't mention it sooner because I have been too busy drooling over all the great goodies over at Apricot Culotte and deciding how to spend my gift card.

I finally decided on a sweet vest and pants by Ideo. I can't wait until they arrive and I will be sure to make an outfit post for Murphy sporting his new duds!

Thanks again to all involved in making this giveaway possible, and a hearty hello and thank you to anyone who may have stumbled this way from Modern Kiddo. Nice to meet ya!

Yards of awesome

Today I stumbled on an amazing gem. The kind of place so awesome, I'm almost wary to tell you about it because I want to keep it to myself. The place, ladies and gents (any gents out there?) is Crafts Bits and Pieces in Fairport, NY. It's a thrift store that only stocks craft supplies! I mean, are you kidding me??? Hellooooo to awesome vintage fabric! Welcome to retro patterns and notions! And it's all for charity-- woot, woot!

I bought all of these fabrics today:



Now I just need to decide what to sew! None of the pieces is bigger than a yard, so nothing too ambitious. I was thinking of making shorts and a hat for Murphy out of the neon navajo print. I'm really stuck about what to do with the one in the center on top. There are lots of adorable animals on it, but it is only a 14" piece. Ideas?

The shop also sells aprons made out of the fabrics they receive, and I bought a cute kid's sized one for Murphy. I love the animal print- it reminds me of the wallpaper in my childhood bedroom. It's still pretty large on him, but I can't wait for the days when it does double duty as apron for a kitchen helper and artist! (Photo brought to you by toddler blur-o-vision).



Finding this store today reminded me to be thankful for my relatively new love of sewing. I am telling you, I NEVER thought I would be the crafty type. Ever since seventh grade Home & Careers class I would swear up and down that I was NOT a seamstress, but I've really learned to love it and have gained some new confidence from my blossoming mad skillz. (Another thing I never thought I would do: use the phrase "blossoming mad skillz")

The driest month since this month.

I have decided to stop drinking for one month. It's a complicated issue for me but, basically, I've been getting just a little too bombed out of my mind in certain social situations lately. I don't like getting to the point where I "accidentally" have four more drinks, and I also don't like waking up in the morning with the dreaded sense that I was a spectacle the night before.

Sooooo...I've decided to call it quits for one month and see what I learn about myself in the process. The only exception I plan to make is for the toast at my dear friend's wedding this weekend, and I mean seriously I will only be sipping for the toast.

I feel pretty weird posting about this on my blog as it's more personal than I usually get, but I thought the accountability would be helpful. Also, maybe someone is reading this and thinking "hmm, I have been getting STOOPID wrecked lately, maybe I will try this, too." And probably...maybe...that's a good thing.

Open Letter to the Weather

Dear Jerkface,

Chill the eff out already! Just because you were being quiet and nobody was talking about you for five minutes does not mean that you need to freak out and start shouting "Hey everybody, look at me! 100 degrees-- BAM!" What are you three years old?

Why can't you be more like Seattle's weather, huh? Seattle's weather never makes these kinds of pathetic grabs for attention (although it is kind of a crybaby, har har.)

Weather, the worst part about this tantrum you're having is that you're leaving me no choice but to talk about it. You're consuming our daily lives with it. It's summertime-- can't we all just relax by the wading pool with some sun tea?

Looking forward to the return of your sanity (and mine),

Maren

Mom Shorts

I found this shirt and the shorts at the thrift store. The shorts are very mom-ish, but I cuffed them to make them a little shorter, and I think I have managed to style the outfit to minimize the effect.

At any rate, this is probably the most hipster-ish outfit I have, so I wore it in honor of my good friends Marlene & Pete leaving for their honeymoon to Portland, OR!

shirt- thrifted
shorts- thrifted
belt and shoes- f21
headband- goody goody!

"I Suck" and other stories

I've been avoiding you. I'm sorry, but it's true. Over the past month I have THOUGHT about many would-be blog posts, but none of them happen because of the grouchy jerk in my head who lets me know that I am boring and nobody wants to read what I write. Oh, she also let's me know how bad my photos are in no uncertain terms. Every day I sit down with my Goggle Reader and enjoy Harper's Happenings, Little Chief Honeybee, Katie's Pencil Box, Alphabet and other awesome blogs. I get lots of great inspiration from these folks, but they also set off that grouch again who let's me know that I could never do what they do.

So, there you have it-- if you didn't already know-- I have terrible self esteem. I have been trying really hard to change this, but it's hard to just toss away something that's been with you since elementary school, ya know?

One thing I will say: I think I've made real progress with my body image, and I very much owe this to the blogs I read. All the lovely ladies blogging about style have inspired me to think more about what I wear and to try more daring outfits, even if I am not a size 2 (or even a size 10, come to that). I feel better about the way I look, no question...now I just need to find a way to feel better about the person I am inside and the things that I do.

What do YOU do when you need a self-esteem boost?



p.s.- You know what actually helped a little? Writing this post. How 'bout that.

Home Sweet Home: Fairies Edition

My very good friend, Tanis (since third grade!), is the director of art programs at Artpark, a super cool state park in our home town. On Sunday they hosted a fairy house festival that Tanis put together and it was wonderful! We went to join the fun and see the fairy houses made out of natural materials. There were lots of fairy houses made by local artists, and there was also the opportunity for kids to go into the woods and collect materials to make their own fairy houses in the park. How cool is that? All of my pictures came out really blue and I sure don't know how to fix it.




Then after the festival, we had lunch at the Silo, right on the Niagara River, and I was reminded yet again that I was actually really lucky to have grown up here.

Maren and the Dream of Horses

Saturday afternoon I was indulging in a little nap when my husband woke me up and informed me that I needed to change into my jeans. My half asleep self mumbled, "ugh, why?" "Because you can't ride a horse in a skirt," said the hubs. Hooray! I've been wanting to go horseback riding for a long time now. It's something I've never done and I just wanted to know what it's like, you know? Anyway, after many not-too-subtle hints (i.e.- saying "when am I going horseback riding?" periodically), my dear spouse took the hint and surprised me with a trail ride for my birthday.

It turns out, riding a horse is a bit like raising a toddler. Old Tom was constantly trying to wander to the side of the trail to snack on the trees. Being the experienced layer of smack-down that I am, however, I let him know that I meant business, and we had a pleasant ride through the park.

Sadly, I did not remember my camera, so I have no pictures to share with you of Tom or the cool old bus sitting on the stable's property. Instead, I though you might like a sparkly animated GIF. You LOVE those, don't you?

Bowling Outfit

This is what I wore for my birthday party on Friday night. I was pretty excited because I found pretty much the whole outfit in one trip to the thrift store, but I didn't even do it on purpose. I happened to pick up each item and when I got home I said- "oh hey, that's an outfit! Can you even tell from the pics that the shirt is pastel plaid?

cardigan: thrifted (originally from Target)
shirt: thrifted (vintage Levi's!)
skirt + belt: thrifted
shoes: f21
frilly socks: payless

You can't really see my purse which is a little brown leather kiss-lock number that I found at a garage sale a few years ago, but you CAN see my bowling bag, which I found at the thrift store- with my ball, Annette, inside- for a dollar!

Super Birthday Bowling Party

Yesterday was my birthday. I am now officially the big two-nine. I have to say, this was one of the best birthdays I've had in a long time. Even though it rained like felines and canines. We had homemade pizzas for dinner and then headed out to L&M Lanes, which is really more like a bar that happens to have a few lanes. We proceeded to bowl terribly (or at least I did), drink good beer, and have a great time. Perfect. I feel so blessed to have these wonderful people in my life, especially my husband who put all of this together for me.

Oh- and my friend Marlene made Pistachio Rosewater cupcakes for the occassion (!!!), but we were not allowed to bring them into the bowling alley, so we did a cupcake tailgate in the parking lot afterward. How could the day have gotten any more awesome?

My First Outfit Post!

Today is such a nice day in our fair city that I felt inspired to put on a bright, sunny outfit and pose for y'all. For the month of May, some friends and I have issues ourselves a skirts-and-dresses only rule. I feel like it has been really good for me. I never really believed that how you dress affects how you feel, but now I see that it is totally true- I feel so much better about myself when I make an OUTFIT instead of just throwing on my jeans and a t-shirt. Anyway, it is outside my comfort zone to attempt to look cute, and even further outside to post it on the internet, but here we go!



Wow, what's up glasses glare! (sorry). This is an old house dress that I recently bought at the thrift store. I almost passed it up, but then I noticed the previous owner's initials written on a tag inside, and they were the same as mine! I thought, I obviously have to buy this because it literally has my name on it. At the time I still figured I would wear it as a nightgown, but I think it really works with a pink belt. I love the ric-rac!

dress and belt- thrifted
cardigan- Target
shoes- Old Navy

Thanks for checking out my first outfit post. I'm having fun with this, I think I just might do it again sometime!

Les Beaux Arts

Last night we went to see our cousin's M.F.A. thesis show. It was nice to get out of the house after 5 p.m. and do adult things. (We kept Murphy up past his bedtime for the occasion- and he didn't even implode!)

We got to view many graphic design goodies, and Murphy discovered the joys of his loud voice in a large, echoey room.

Plus, when we got home, we ate this for dinner:


beer, cheese, bread and fruit is our new "we don't feel like cooking but want dinner to seem awesome anyway" plan. We're calling it "continental night".

All in all, a pleasant evening.

Oh, and P.S.- that cheese with the brown wax? It tastes like sausage! I'm a vegetarian and all, but OH HELLO YUM!

Praise Seitan

Tonight I took Murph down to the corner store to visit daddy at work. Sure, I'm a nice wifey visiting the hubbs at his place of employment, but what really brought me out was the vegan buffalo seitan sandwich! (om nom nom)



I am so proud of Jon for putting together this vegan menu. Sure, most vegans are health-conscious, but face it- sometimes you just want an ooey gooey delicious mess, no matter who you are. If you're in Rochester on a Wednesday night, come out to Nathaniel Square Corner Store and get yourself some craft beer and AMAZING vegan sammies!

powder puff

I try to be conscious of the environment and health concerns, you know? I'm crunchy like that. For YEARS now I've been using this Nature's Gate deodorant which seemed pretty innocuous to me and smelled great. I recently looked it up in the Skin Deep database, though, and it scored a 4! If you don't know, the Skin Deep database rates the safety of personal care products and the scale starts with zero being the best. A 4 is worse than many conventional commercial deodorants! Well, I was very disheartened by this so I think I'm going the make the extra hippie-ish switch to using baking soda. The fun part is, I decided to purchase this vintage powder jar on etsy to hold the "deodorant":



Well, I had get something pretty to make me feel better about making the switch. I hope it works for me! Do you use a natural deodorant? How does it work for you?


In other news, I took Murph out thrifting with me the other day and I clearly wore him out! This kind of sleeping is unprecedented for him.

petticoat junction

I am just not finding time to blog! It seems like one baby falls asleep and the other wakes up. (I am babysitting my cousin's 4 month old in addition to caring for my guy)

I have been feeling inspired by a challenge, though. A friend and I both own lots of dresses and skirts, but never wear them. We decided to wear them every day for the month of May. I am actually feeling like I never want to go back to jeans! It really is amazing how good you feel when your outfit is PUT TOGETHER. I really want to share pictures with you, but I've been having camera issues. grr. Hopefully I will get that squared away and have a few glamor shots to share at the end of the month.

Right now the Lilac festival is happening here in Rochester. It is mostly a trashy carnival (think deep fried oreos), but there is also a beautiful winding walk through the park with tons of blooming lilac bushes! I hope the weather improves so that I can go out and smell the flowers (literally and in that figurative, meandering way).

I'm baaaack.

Well, the last month has been a total blog FAIL. I should really blame it on laziness, but I will also cite: lots of babysitting, Murphy's hospital stay (stomach flu dehydration- he's much better now!), and my sister's wedding in Boston. More on the wedding later. Right now I just want to share the craftiness that happened today during nap-time.



I made this hair bow using the tutorial over at A Beautiful Mess. Please excuse my frizzies. Anyway, it was as easy to make as it looks! I am trying to figure out the best way to attach the bow to a clip, however. Right now I've just got it hand sewn to a regular barrette and it is a bit slidey.

Back in the day

Remember the good old days? When there was no such thing as a luxury stroller or designer baby clothes that cost more than mom's wardrobe? When a diaper bag was not an uber-expensive custom purse but any old tote bag? When *somehow* parents got by without shopping cart covers, splash mats and miracle hi-tech swaddlers?

It's no secret that consumer culture is king. I'm not a fan, but I'm guilty as much as the next person. What really gets me though, is how easy it is to fall prey to it as a new parent. In those first few sleep-deprived, insane months, throwing money at my problems seemed like the only way to get any kind of order back into my life: "If we could only swaddle him tightly enough, he could sleep. We must need to buy this special thirty dollar swaddling blanket that is guaranteed to stay snug", "If it wasn't so cold, he wouldn't scream at 3 a.m. when we change his diaper, we must need that wipes warmer"

Since then, I think I've really learned to think critically about what my son NEEDS vs. what he really doesn't. Here is my minimalist take on a few "essential" baby items (and a couple that really are):

1. Infant car seat: Most people don't even realize that it is optional, since they have become so ubiquitous. I won't lie, they're convenient. I would estimate there were a dozen situations that I wished I'd had one. If I had lots of disposable income, I probably would have purchased one, but you CAN put a newborn into a convertible car seat, and you will save about a hundred bucks by doing so.

2. Shopping cart cover: germs happen, people. This is just one more item to tote around and fuss with. If you're really concerned that your precious one is going to lean down and bite the shopping cart handle, there is this amazing invention called the receiving blanket.

3. Crib bedding set: This one is such a hot button for me. The only actual useful item in a crib bedding set is the fitted sheet. And they charge you over a hundred bucks for it. Crib bumpers are included in these sets routinely, but they are now not recommended because they increase the chance of SIDS! Blankets and pillows are also considered no-nos. This seems like such a no brainer to me- skip the frou frou bedding set and get a few crib sheets. They can even be pretty crib sheets and you'll still save a ton of money.

4. Baby carrier/wrap: The BEST thing I bought. For the first year of my son's life I could carry him around attached me and it was reasonably care-free. No maneuvering strollers or lugging a heavy, awkward car seat. For the first few months, it saved my life. I would put him in the wrap snuggled up to me and an otherwise colicky baby would sleep through restaurant lunches and all kinds of errands. Please note that Bjorn is not the be all end all of baby carriers, in fact they are really not tops for baby's spinal development compared to other carriers. I would 100% recommend making sure you've got a moby/sleepy wrap when baby arrives, and if you end up loving it (which is likely), a great place to shop for a heavier duty, all around carrier is paxbaby.com. They rent out carriers so that you can try them before committing to the full price, and the owner is VERY knowledgeable and helpful. I know they seem pricey, but they truly are worth it. I would spend the $100 for my Beco Butterfly II again in a heartbeat.

5. Toys: Less is more. We have a no batteries rule in our house and try to remember the adage "The more the toy does the less the child does". There is a lot of evidence to suggest that the best toys are simple and open-ended, such as a set of blocks. Besides, how much money do you want to spend on batteries, and how sick are you going to be of those cute little lights and sounds the 200th time junior pushes that button in a row? I have had people complain to me that my son doesn't have any fun toys, but he has lots of fun with his blocks, books, and wooden puzzles.


Okay, I guess I can hop off m soapbox now. I want to make it clear that I am not dissing anybody's parenting decisions here. It's a hard game and there are a lot of choices that only you can make for you and your child. I'm just giving my own opinion and try to let people know that this stuff is optional, despite what the suggested gift registry list at Babies R Us will tell you.

Things I liked about today

One:


Eating leftovers of these delicious cheddar gougères for breakfast. We get Food and Wine magazine every month and I think this was the first time Jon actually made one of their recipes. Divine!

Two:


Good mail day! Instead of the usual bills and junk, today I got a Netflix, and a lovely little package from Jane Boston!

Three:


Loving my little guy. Any mothers out there know, you always love your kids, but some days you just feel it more than others. Lately I've been feeling tired and kinda fed up with being mom, but today he is just putting smiles on my face.

Four:


Bulk foods from the co-op! I felt very crunchy today bringing in my own jars to fill with lentils and wheat gluten. When money is looking a little better I hope to do most all of my shopping there. The maple syrup and wheat gluten will both play integral rolls in tonight's dinner: seitan "chicken" and waffles. ommnommomg!