We Celebrated Cinco de Mayo On Our Patio This Weekend. There Were Beergaritas, Pizza, Fried Chicken And A Particular Type Of Cheese That Was Soaked In Balsamic Vinegar. The Steely Dan Station On Pandora Accompanied Our Festivities. We Clearly Elude Definition.

We recycle.  Often our recycling bin is filled with old magazines, boxes from online shopping deliveries, empty yogurt and hummus containers, and wine bottles - which, for better or worse, offers a pretty good look inside the High House, really.  Besides recycling, I like to use natural cleansers and paper products as much as possible.  Although, I refuse to use natural paper towels because I require at least some kind of absorbency from my paper towels and have yet to find a 'natural' product that works any better than a piece of Kleenex.  And 'natural' toilet paper makes a fistful of leaves sound appealing...if you catch my drift.

Anyway, I like the feeling I get from using natural products or things made from recycled stuff.  Even if it costs a bit more, I think it's worth it.  But as much as I like the feeling of making conscious choices that are good for Mother Earth I don't like being guilted into it, and that's why I'm so put off by our coffee filters.

We ran out of filters the other day - I'd been telling myself I needed to pick up a new box of them but, of course, forgot to do it until one morning we were faced with having to McGyver a filter out of a paper towel.  That day at the store I wanted to pick up a new box and thought to look for a good natural brand, not just the brown version of the Melita filters we'd used in the past.  I found some 'natural' filters, but almost didn't buy them because they annoyed me so much.

The name of this particular brand is "If You Care."  Gag me.  It's so passive aggressive.  As a parent of teens, I fight the urge every day to use guilt to get my kids to do what I want them to do, but I hold off because it's not nice to guilt trip people and I don't want to be responsible for lengthy therapy sessions for them when they get older.   So there I am, an environmentally conscious mother of teens who fights the desire to use passive aggression when parenting, just trying to find some responsible coffee filters, and what do I get?  A massive guilt trip is what.   I bought the filters, but it didn't make me happy.

I think maybe they should come up with a new company name for these paper products like:  "Because you make great choices" or "Because you get it" or even, "Because you're cooler than people who don't recycle".  These are just a few options they could consider because this little passive aggressive approach makes me want to rebel and just buy the bleached white filters already.  That'll show 'em.

I'm wearing this:

It's a subtle nod to Cinco de Mayo.  Just noticed this outfit matches my house.  Bonus?

For Meatless Monday, we're doing black bean quesadillas and a huge salad with a creamy salsa dressing.  Corona with lime?  Possibly.

gratitude:  busy weekends, quick ab workouts, lots of water, sleep

thanks and love.