Weekly diary #59: I celebrated my birthday

Hi there, welcome back into my weekly diary, in which I want to show you how I live an eco-positive life. The past week I celebrated my birthday!

Thursday
So, my birthday was a hectic day yesterday. I mentioned in my last weekly diary that I hadn’t asked for anything, since I shifting to becoming more of a minimalist. But, I know out of experience that this can be hard for people celebrating my birthday with me. For me, their presence is enough. This year, I can say that I didn’t get any stuff! From my boyfriend I got two tickets to a handball game of the national Dutch team, in France! Oh my god, he said that my present would be amazing, but this I didn’t expect. I am so exited! He used one of our old photos as a card, how inventive! This is the best present, I swear. Today I had some orders for Loose to prepare and deliver. I had two orders in one day, I can tell Loose is growing and I am so exited! It also feels great to get to know people who really want to attack this plastic problem with me, it’s exciting.

Friday
My boyfriend came around for my birthday yesterday, and so today we went thrift shopping! I love thrift shopping, but I try to only buy things I need. I needed a chalkboard and I found it for 0,95 cents! Also, I needed a measuring cup and I found that too for 0,75 cents! It is plastic, but since is thrifted I find that okay. To me, that’s better than buying a new one from glass (since you need to be able to look through it). I did found some more things, for my garden. They looked so new however, I asked the cashier what was the deal with that. She said they had bought some new things to sell! I had some of those in my basket to buy, but then I asked if I could think about it for a moment (I always do this when I feel like I need to make quick decisions). She asked why I was bothered, and I said that I only buy things secondhand. She said they were made out of 100% natural materials and made by young adults who have problems. You know, it’s a good initiative, but not for this store in my opinion. I come here for second hand stuff, and that’s it. So, I didn’t buy any of those things. We also went to the library to lend some books, which is so much more sustainable than buying them. We had a drink too, and I discovered a new snack which is vegan and waste-free most of the time. Olives! Oh my, I used to hate those things, but now I love them. Strange how my taste can change. Now I have more vegan options for snacks when I’m having a drink! At night, we went out to dinner with my family and boyfriend. That’s what my parents gave me for my birthday (and some money too haha), I love getting experiences together. It was an all you can eat restaurant, so there were many vegan options! It was a great night.

Saturday
Market day in Enschede! And today I took a day off from work, so I got to go! That makes me really excited haha! When I can, I go to the organic market. It’s all organic and mostly local too. I bring my own bags and that way it’s plastic-free too! They never mind at the market and you have waaaay more options than in the supermarket (of which I’m not a fan anyway). I got pumpkin, zucchini, and corn from their own land and mushrooms they got form a distributer (they are produced in the Netherlands though). I am happy. I intend to make pumpkin soup, so I bought coconut milk at the supermarket too. It is in a can, organic and fair trade though, the best choice in my opinion. With the zucchini I want to make courghetti, which is spaghetti, but you replace the dough with the zucchini. More greens, less carbs, so overall healthier. The corn I want to dry, so I can make popcorn. That’s an experiment to be honest haha. At the supermarket I also bought vegan filet American in plastic. That’s something I can’t refuse just yet. I just like something else than peanut butter and hummus on my bread sometimes. At night, we went to dinner (again!) with the whole family in Haarlem at TenT. I had made a call before to ask if they could make anything vegan for me, and they did! Oh my, it was all so delicious and I ate so much! A starter, main and dessert! They asked if they could use honey and I said yes. I was in doubt so much, since I don’t know much about honey so far. I want to support the bees, and I read that if you buy organic honey, you help the honey population. But, I also read negative things about it. That the bees are often killed and starved (I don’t know if that’s the case with organic honey too). I don’t really know what to do just yet. I think I’ll stay away from it, since there are good replacements. There are other ways to help the bees, by buying organic food for instance. And creating a beautiful garden where they can flee around, not a box of concrete (like most people have).

Sunday
Since it was raining the whole day, this day wasn’t so special. I went to the gym and did some homework. I did have another order for Loose again! I did watch a documentary too.

Monday
I thought I had to work today, but it turned out I didn’t. So, I decided to go to my boyfriend. It was raining the entire day so we thought of baking a cake! A vegan one of course. It wasn’t plastic-free, but it was an impulsive thing and I didn’t want to ruin the fun. The cake turned out delicious! I think I liked it the most of all people, peanut butter and chocolate, hmmmm.

Tuesday
Today I woke up sad. And I don’t know why that it, but it was really hard to change during the day. When that happens I try to watch funny shows (a Dutch show called Zondag met Lubach is my favorite) and read a lot. And most of all, not think too much. That can be hard, but it’ll get you through the day. Luckily, I don’t have these days too often. I was wearing trousers I’ve had for years today and I realized I just don’t feel amazing in this. So, I decided this one’ll go. I asked mom if she wanted to make a bag out of it! She does that really well, so we’ll see! Also, on a sad day, exercising helps, and so handball training made me feel really good. Fun fact: I had cake with me to school!

Wednesday
Today I did some order preparing for Loose again! Yes, it’s one of my favorite things to do! Also, today we did a company visit with school today. We went to pharmaceutical company, oh my! I am not a fan of medicine in most cases, I think lifestyle can do a loooot more but doctors don’t say about that much these days. A sin in my opinion, with all the information available! The meeting was more about health and performance at work, so not about the core business. It was really informative, I learn every day and that makes me happy. Also, I decided to get rid of the pants I was wearing today. I find it too small. It is so tight that when I get home, I immediately want to take it off. That isn’t good in my opinion, clothing should be comfortable. I am becoming more critical everyday.

Yours sincerely, 
Romee