The Friday Feedback Forum

August 27th, 2010 - filed under: Furthermore » Feedback

Oi oi! First things first I must give a giant THANK YOU to Melissa K, who was kind enough to drop a little something in my tip jar last week. Thank you so much lady! Everything you guys donate goes directly towards Bonzai-related ventures, to help me make the site even bigger and even better! So thanks for helping to make this all possible, Melissa!

And now, happy weekend!!! It’s time to get our chillax on, and as always, here on Bonzai it’s time for comments, critiques, thoughts, support, and suggestions.

So lay it on me! Let me have it! What are you up to this weekend? What’s your current obsession? Tell me three random things that make you happy today! (mine = half caf latte, a very clean house, Waits discovering how to make splashes in the bath) And here on Bonzai, what do you want to see more of? (the food? the farm? the fashion?)

As usual, the Feedback Forum will remain here at the top of the page all weekend, so if you’ve got an idea or a question or you just want to introduce yourself and say ‘Oi!’, you can stop back by any time. This is your community, so get involved and have your say!

I’ll be away all weekend, even *gasp!* without internet. It’ll be great to come back to all your comments! Shasta county, here we come! Woo-hoo!
Have the bestest weekend!

http://www.windycityvegan.wordpress.com windycityvegan

What gorgeous photos! Waits is such a cutie patootie.

Current obsession = rediscovering my Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine cookbook. I haven’t used it in years, but have suddenly felt inspired and now I can’t put it down!

Random happiness = my [three-year old] daughter surprised me by spelling ‘tuches’ last night; yesterday’s thrift store shopping spree was surprisingly bountiful; we’re going to adopt a goat!

I want to see more Bonzai fashion, please! And any raw recipes that don’t require a dehydrator or Vitamix are always nice, too.

Cheers, and have a great weekend!
Sarah

I’m currently obsessed with making my own soap and other forms of nesting while waiting for baby brother to arrive!

My happiness: little backrubs from my 2 year old, big backrubs from my husband, my henna-d belly

I agree with Windy City up there-more fashion :) I love the Friday Waits updates too :)
Kathryn

Happiness: 1. Cooler weather = beautiful morning on the deck. 2. A meeting I was dreading was canceled at the last minute! 3. Warm cup of tea. Yum.

I’m really enjoying the how-to’s lately. You’re covering a bunch of things I’ve been interested in for awhile (like homemade yogurt and Kombucha) but hadn’t gotten around to reading up on. I feel infinitely more educated :)
Annelise

Things that have made me happy today:

1. The prospect of hanging out with friends/video games/homemade pizza tonight

2. A tree in our neighborhood is starting to turn colors already!

3. My husband getting off work an hour early!

I have to second Kathryn, the how-to’s have been amazing! I love the Friday Waits as well!
Kate

Currently obsessed with: Work, reading “Ecological Intelligence”, Money, debt and deadlines

LOVE:

1. My eco-friendly maid service. I need them. I love them, and they JUST came to my house on Tuesday

2. Weekend trips to SAN FRANCISCO (where I have NEVER BEEN before!) to celebrate my younger sisters birthday

3. Finding other like minded folks. It makes the world seem a little less harsh, and a lot more enjoyable.

4. How you always come back so spunky and fresh after your getaways. Keeps the blog refreshing, and I can tell the difference in post quality (not that it ever sucks, but sometimes…you’re just WAY more excited ;-) and YAY you’re getting away this weekend, which equals extra spunk Bonzai next week :-P
Trish

What cute photos!

My current obsession is freezing and/or canning as much summer goodness as I can to stock up for those long winter months with only pathetic produce around.

What makes me happy today are the beautiful weather and enjoying it with my favorite little ones.

I’m looking forward to more DIY home stuff. I’m trying to gradually replace all of our cleaners, cosmetics, lotions, and potions with homemade, natural versions that actually work.
http://twitter.com/erosan erosan

Current obsession: studying! I enrolled on a free online degree program (from time to time government does good things). My career of choice? Renewable energies engineer. My government is giving me free education and I get to learn to engineer solar panels, eolic generators and thermal systems… how cool is that!?

Random happiness: 1. I can feel the baby moving on the belly of my GF now!
2. I’m going to Boston for a week –work related, but a trip is a trip, right?– and I leave tomorrow
3. My GF should be arriving home in a couple of minutes… yeah, I know it’s only for some hours I don’t see her everyday because we are working, but still… I miss her and am always happy when she gets home.
http://flickr.com/nineminutes ber (Melissa K) ;)

You’re welcome! After reading through your entire blog and bookmarking so many pages, it seemed like a good way to ensure that those links don’t disappear any time soon ;)

Up to this weekend: scoping out a potential seasonal campsite in a place where I spent a lot of my childhood. Fingers crossed!

3 random happy things:
1. 11 month old’s giggles
2. Cool, fall-ish weather
3. a few little things falling into place

I’m a big fan of your take on recipes/food, so I’m happy to see more of your ideas. I’ve been vegetarian for 15 years, but only recently have started attempting dairy-free. The vegan info is very much appreciated.

Have a great weekend! :)
Nahui

I’m currently obsessed with making soy milk and yogurt (I wonder where I picked that up?)and will be doing that this weekend. It’s just that I always thought making my own milk would be a daunting task, so I now I’m very proud of making my own.

My happy things:
1. The audience my doggies gather when playing in the park. It’s sort of a social experiment how random strangers just passing by stop and gather around to watch two tiny dogs playing, get a few laughs and then start a lively conversation among themselves.
2. Sitting in a bench with my husband, just watching the sunset.
3. Vegan microwave brownies

What I would like to see more of: I love your “how to” posts because for some reason they get me motivated to try things out.

Have a great weekend everybody!
SJ

current obsession: reading ‘god is not great’ by christopher hitchens.

my 3 happy things?
1. when i walked out to my car this morning a little before 7am i was SUPER pleasantly surprised by the 68 degree weather! it’s typically in the 90′s or 100′s!
2. my school money came in!!!! OMG! i can buy my FIRST MAC now AND go to japan next summer! AH!
3. i’m OFF for the next 2 days, and then school starts! i’m so excited now that i know i’ll be able to PAY for it!

i’d love to see more fashion and more raw recipes! i love it!
Christa

Current obsession: Sewing! Sewing! Sewing! Can’t get enough!

1) Having a dinner and a movie date with my mother. She and I have not always had the best relationship, but now we are really close and I loved hanging out with her on her birthday.

2) Getting done work at four and realizing none of the problems at work have to follow me home.

3) Knowing that I get to snuggle on the couch later with my husband.
http://sdvegan.blogspot.com Allison

Looking forward to:

Coming into work on Monday completely caught up!

Trying to go on a hike this weekend while it is slightly cooler.

Possibly going to see Scott Pilgrim for the second time.

I have a topic I am interested in for a possible article. I believe once you said that your whole house is wired up together technology wise and I would love to hear about a DIY sort of set up your house in the 21st century kind of post. Not sure if that comes across as clear as I mean it to.

Regardless, have a fabulous weekend!
Saundra

I’m getting excited/apprehensive about painting my living room a almost lilac purple and going to a friends house to let it dry.

Happy thoughts
1. Spending time with my gramma
2. Watching my 2 monster boys dig in the dirt and catching butterflies
3. Having a real friend who’s not my hubby for the first time in years
http://www.oregonweddingofficiants.com Maureen Thomson

Random Happinesses: 1. excited to discover all the goodies of my new hometown (Portland). 2. cup of tea and homemade granola in bed w/ my puter and some good blog reading. 3. hints of autumn in the air.

LOVE the how-to’s. I have all the ingredients to make your homemade deodorant. Keep ‘em coming. Other than that–no suggestions. Just be you. We’re lovin’ it!
Minna

I have had to be without the internet for weeks ever since I traveled to Australia. I liked the feeling so much that I’ve been decreasing the time I spend in the virtual world by leaving my laptop at home and not taking it with me everywhere I go. It’s been GREAT. I’ve actually been doing things! In real life! Seeing real people and enjoying my life :) Plus, it’s so much more interesting to return with heaps of new blog posts and articles to read! And new questions in my head to look up from the internet.

The past weeks we’ve been settling in in our apartment in Tartu, the university town of Estonia, and it’s the first day of school on Monday. SO EXCITING! So this weekend is for some celebration ;)

My current obsession is… the smell that spreads in the room when I drip some lavender essential oil in the water which warms up on the candleholder.

Although a cup of coffee made my day a living hell (I’ll never drink coffee again, I promise!), there were things that made me happy today :D Like.. My boyfriend playing the guitar all night, fresh dill pickles and that we got to take a chain dog for a long-long walk this morning!

Hope your weekend is awesome!
Squiggle

@Nahui – vegan microwave brownies?! I *need* that recipe! Pretty please? :)
http://www.dbwalton.com db walton

What I want to see more of… hmmm… I think I like all three – food, farm and fashion. And, probably in that order.

My obsession – good photography, by myself or by someone else.
Richard

This weekend I was out puting go beyond oil posters up on car an Oil company billboards :D link http://gobeyondoil.com/
I was wondering I suppose do you plan you weekly meals or do you just go with the flow and hope you get enough of what you need, the constant family crique of my diet has kinda made me think i should plan more, also I’be heard about hair thinning due to vganism and my hair is thinish so maybe i need to give it a looksie :)

Wait looks cute ;)
Melisa

My happy things: 1)an outdoor concert later with my wonderful family, 2)slowly becoming a runner thanx to the encouragement of my husband and a comment about c25k on this very forum (!) and 3)the approach of Autumn and Halloween!!
I would like to see more fashion! And more of everything else, too.
Pat

current obsessions: trying to make the time, to sew my son a matching top to his fathers favourite t-shirt (out of one of his fatherś old t-shirts…i love recycling them, and they make such soft tops for him)
my happy things: 1) I found the first red leaves this morning…Autumn has arrived here! 2) i found some decaf whole coffee beans in a shop, so at least i still can get the taste of coffee… if not the kick! 3) watching my baby boy sleep
Anne

Hi Sayward! I have a question about baking. I love baking, but I hate that I always end up using so much aluminum foil and plastic wrap. Do you use something in place of these things when you bake?
Kate

@Anne…

I bake bread, and the recipes ALWAYS call for plastic wrap. Funny, I’m pretty sure we’ve been baking bread (successfully!) before plastic wrap! You can use a damp towel to cover your bread, or put a plate on top of your rising bowl. If your rising dough gets REALLY big, use an upside down bowl on top (rim to rim) instead.

What do you use aluminum foil for? I’ve been able to get away from that with glass baking dishes, lining pans with ‘grease’ and flour, and….using up the last of my PAM.
http://mutualmenu.blogspot.com Joselle

I know it’s not Friday anymore but I just thought of something I’d like to see more of here. Home decor how-tos and tips. The glimpses of your home seem pretty awesome. And I am a home decor loser.
http://twitter.com/erosan erosan

@Kate: you can ditch the PAM if you want to… here is a little tip courtesy of madam Shirley O’Corriher. Grease your pan with a bit of butter and put it in the fridge for a minute or two so the butter will solidify a bit. Then, lube the pan again with a little cooking oil (just a little). The different densities/melting temperatures will convert your pan into “non-stick”. Believe me, I tried it and it works like a charm.
Nahui

@Squiggle: I found the recipe on vegweb.com (http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=6804.0) but I substituted some of the ingredients like olive oil and the flour.
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

Love love love reading through all of these love lists! What a joy! Thanks guys, this was awesome. May have to make it a weekly affair. =)

@ windycityvegan – I’ve heard of that cook book, is it a good one? Worth the investment?

@ Kate – #3 = yes! So so true!

@ erosan – Yeeeee!!! I hadn’t heard any more baby news and was starting to think I made it all up. But YAY! I’m so excited for you! Give that belly a rub and a kiss for me. =)

@ ber – Thanks again, lady! And yes to little one giggles, truly the best sound on earth!

@ SJ – ooh, I want to read that now. It sounds really intense though – is it thoughtful or is it just angry?

@ Allison – The tech situation at the house is not so much DIY as it is just straight up savvy. Damian is a professional geek and an avid Apple fan, so we’re pretty dialed in. Not sure it would make an interesting post, but maybe I misunderstand? Was there something in particular you had in mind?

@ Minna – Way to get out in the real world! I’ve been trying to do more of the same. The internet is so so so awesome, but it’s no substitution for actual interaction. =)

@ Richard – I totally go with the flow for meals, dependent entirely on what I score on sale. I go to the market every morning. This helps so much when you’re determined to buy organic and working in a budget! I’ve written more on this here.

A veg diet won’t cause hair loss/thinning, but you may want to make sure you’re getting enough zinc. That could be a dietary factor affecting hair (though there are *many* other possibilities and if you’re hair has really suddenly began thinning, you may want to consult a doctor) Luck!

@ Anne – I don’t use either of those when I bake – what do you usually use them for?
Kate

@erosan – THANK YOU for the tip! Baking season isn’t quite here yet in +100 degree AZ, but I will certainly revisit in like….a month? And then gush about how great it is. Thank you!!
http://www.windycityvegan.wordpress.com windycityvegan

@Sayward – Definitely spend some time exploring the book before you decide to buy it. I bought it with the expectation of getting a dehydrator soon after, but never got around to buying one. It’s a wealth of information and I still use it quite a bit, but I’ll definitely use it more when I get my Excalibur…someday!
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

@ windycityvegan – Awesome, thanks for the info. *sigh* Maybe we should start the desperate-for-a-dehydrator club. Cheers to Excaliburs some day! =D

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