10 Reasons I Live in a City (& Love it!)

A typical Buffalo Neighborhood

I love living in the city. Moreover, I love living in Buffalo. Urban life makes me happy. I'm even working on a series of paintings about side walks and streets. Check out my other blog for updates on that. Heck I even have a Pinterest board called,"The Streets Were..."!

Let it be said, I love city life! I while I have only been subjected to the suburban lifestyle in small short burst, but the idea of it make me ______.  (Well this is supposed to be a family blog, right.)  I feel that a little less downright angry about genuinely rural life. I could imagine myself at least vacationing on a farm or in small town inn, with out getting too stabby.

I have family and even friends that for some reason prefer the suburbs, or country, I know the city is where I belong.  It is part of who I am, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  I am passionate about this, so my list might be a little long, actually I should probably write a whole book on this. Anyway, I am going to post my bullet points a few at a time.  So stay tuned.


This list is in no particular order.

Ignore the baby bump,
that's Pittsburgh back there!

1: I grew up in a city: 

There is something, again to be said, for sticking with what you know. Pittsburgh in the 80's was suffering from industrial decline, crime, and pollution. It was still a wonderful place to grow up.  I have fond memories of public school, PAT busses, friends and cousins that lived within walking distance. 
Pittsburgh, even in its muddy, dirty, under-doggiest, always had its good points and a lot have to do with being a vibrant central city.  As a little kid and a teenager, I benefited tangibly from being part of a community with research hospitals, theater and classical music productions, the Carnegie museums and libraries. There are intangible things too, like winning sports teams, extended family and community. All of these were accessible, largely, without a car.

Buffalo, is not Pittsburgh, but it still has a familiar network of places, people, and destinations that I can be meandered and discovered. I have lived her for nearly 16 years and I still and learning things about this place. I was born in a city and I feel like I understand urban pulse and it is comfortable to me.

2) I am rarely the strangest person around.

I'm sure it's everywhere,
but there's more weird stuff in a city

I don’t ever remember fitting in. For whatever reason, I tend to stick out. I have learned to accept that.  The nice thing about living within an urban community I am usually never the biggest weirdo around.  There is always someone with more tattoos, piercings at least.

The selling point of many suburban developments has long been homogony.  You live around people who all live in nearly the same style house, which everyone bought for the same price. For a long time minorities were not welcome. Cities thrive on the very crashing different communities together.

I married someone who was raised Polish Catholic, I am, by self-report, an African-American Buddhist. A city is, for me, the place where the bird and the fish can live together.  Even their children do not even stick out that much.

Nature in the city

3) Concrete grey is the new green

In my earlier post about making Every Day Earth Day I talked about house, I try to make green a lifestyle choice. While I do not think suburban life makes that impossible, there is a considerable carbon footprint associated with new-build, car only accessible development. If we take clues from our urban past and make the most of new technologies city life will be the green alternative for a sustainable future.

That’s all for now, more post about why to live in and love your central city coming soon! Tell me what you love about where you live, be it city, country or suburb.

Make Everyday Earth Day

Earth Day 2006

My first job as a kid was going door to door collecting donations for PennPIRG and their reduce reuse recycle campaign. I was 17, and at the end of that summer I went off to college. Its funny how you are so often formed by the experiences of your late teens. I'm still a vegetarian because a reading of Anne Lappe's, Diet for a Small Planet. I just never learned to cook meat.

So,  I'm a life long greenie, but Earth Day often goes by unnoticed.

Not a Perfect Parent

Maybe not first chair... but really cute!

I have not ordered any cod liver oil. I cannot stand the idea of giving my children cod liver oil.  I am sure there are bunches of articles that say that I should be; all of the best parents give their children cod liver oil.  The smell reminds me of a horrible roommate I had in college and I refuse to let it into my house.

I would like to think of myself as one of those greenie, crunchy, but bookish, attachment, Waldorf parents. I have always liked to research the right way to do things. I will admit it, I like being right. From the time I found out I was pregnant for the first time, I bought books, canvassed my friends and peers, did the homework, and was so sure that I was doing everything right. In the last 5 years, I have found that perfection is overrated and I simply cannot (and will not) keep up.

            Yes, I nursed my son until three.  I will likely nurse my daughter that long. I think the breastfeeding, and child led weaning is a healthy, normal and important part of childhood (not motherhood). I also realize that some people do not agree with me, and frankly I am sure that just because a baby has formula that their mother loves them any less. I know it does not make her an unworthy mother because she was unwilling to sacrifice her income, sanity, body, wardrobe, social standing, or long held beliefs.

Mother does not mean martyr, notice how the words are different?

Holiday Pop-up Market at the Rose Garden

This Saturday (November 19th) I, and some great local Western New York Crafters and Artist will be at The Rose Garden Early Childhood Center for their First Annual Holiday Pop-up Market.  I'd rather do my shopping here  than at the mall, or having to get up at 4 am just to be trampled at some big box chain store. Here you'll find local, and handmade items right in our neighborhood.  I'll be bringing some of the items listed in my Etsy Shop, some never before seen items & maybe a paintings. ;) Holiday Pop-up Market November 19, 2011 ~ 12-4pm Rose Garden Early Childhood Center: 257 Lafayette Ave. Buffalo NY, 14213

KLyPT /kliped/: craft and art from the edges: Little Crafts (and other Things) Esty Coupon Give ...

KLyPT /kliped/: craft and art from the edges: Little Crafts (and other Things) Esty Coupon Give ...: You guys must be spreading the word about my Etsy shop , and I want to give you something for it.
So here's a Giveaway for you! A drawing for 15% anything in shop (and I am add new things all the time). 

 Here's what you have to do to enter--

Like Little Crafts and Other Things by KLyPT on facebook-- leave a comment stating such, you can do this only once
AND
Share My Facebook Page Or My (facebook) Esty to your your profile: do this daily for one additional entry each day!
Or
visit my etsy shop and share your favorite item to your facebook profile: do this daily for one additional entry each day!!
Or

I won't be offended if I see a few Follow @KLyPT Mention me @klypt the giveaway or your favorite item in my shop and I'll throw in an additional entry for you once a daily.

Good luck! This giveaway is open until Sunday (Oct-16th)--  9 pm est.  When I will put all the names in basket and have my DD pick on out. (influencing her won't help, because she can't read yet)

Why Not to Hire an Architect to Build a Sandbox:Part 3

However, my poor children have no choice. The design bug bit both of their parents as young adults. My DH and I don’t always have the same taste or opinion on design (read: 3 years to paint one bathroom). However, what we agree on is a love the problem solving, imagining, making, and a hate of painting the bathroom. When we found out we were having my son, the first think I could think about was how to redecorate his room, and the kick-*ss tree house we were going to build. He was one before his room was done, but that is another post for another time.

This post is supposed to be about architects and sand boxes. This is going to tell you how we did it, but please do not take this as a How TO post if you need instructions for a simple, functional, and rational designs go here: ==>>Great Sandbox Plans <<== . As doctors make poor patients, architects make poor clients, so we both took these plans and proceeded to ignore them completely.  See the start of this project check out Part 1, and Part 2.

Here's the back story: Probably 3 years ago my husband drove by one of those traditional sandbox turtles, and garbage-picked it. It appealed to the both of us, re-used, retro, already to fill with sand and it covered the not grassy spot in the back yard perfectly. My son loved it for at least two summers!

.

(You can see the outline of the new one behind there)
Then DD turned one. The turtle was not big enough for the two of them. Something had to be done immediately!

So in and effort to fit a bit more sandbox in an already cramped back yard we came up with this design. I really wish I could find the old plans for this one, yes there were plans, just be glad I didn’t draft it in 3D. It didn’t take too many weekends, used a bit of log from a tree damaged in the “2006 October Storm”. We constructed it just like our raised garden and it would have been integrated as planting space when the kiddos lost interest. I say, “would have been” because about a month after its completion we decided to put our house on the market and move. Kind of like when the city decides to pave your street the year before they decide to dig up and replace the sewer, (and those are engineers…sheesh). Fortunately, family that bought our house also has a young son, and I’d like to think that he’s enjoying it right now.

So, with moving last fall, and winter, and the rainiest spring ever it was the first week of July before we started the new and fabulous designer sandbox.
The outline on the ground was my DH idea, and since we couldn’t have just make a simple rectilinear box, in fact, we couldn’t even make it an octagon, that would have been too easy, and as I said before we needed a challenge. So, it is mostly an octagon, except when it's not, (heptagon I think). We used 2x12’s for the walls and the seat, and 4x4 for the corner and bench supports.

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Here are a few more images

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BOO-BOO!

Of course, Sunday evening just before we would have called it quits for the first weekend, we have a minor job site injury. So there was a 6-hour detour to the ER, but DD is doing much better now, and as soon as the glue’s gone, we can get back into swim lessons and back yard sprinkles. Good thing we have the sandbox to entertain everyone.

It will probably take 2400lbs of sand

.

We stained it “Gettysburg Blue” I’m not sure DH really likes the color (it’s almost the same as that epic bathroom re-do that I mentioned earlier), but I bought the paint without a formal change order so there you have it.

Its blue!

The cover and sunshade (Ikea, but discontinued I believe) were in fact off the rack, but I’m sure I’ll end up hacking them up in the end. But that’s for next week’s project.

our shady spot

So in short the reason you don’t hire and architect to design your sandbox is that is they will likely go way over on time, materials and of course budget, pay no mind to site safety and in the end you’ll have a seven sided blue sandbox. 

Sun Sail over "over designed sandbox"

Why Not to Hire an Architect to Build a Sandbox: Part 1

Laid out on our driveway

Vehicle Loading

"Vehicle Loading:   Every effort has been made to provide the greatest number of options  for the recreation vehicle owner. Along with these choices comes the  responsibility to manage the loads that are imposed by the choices so  that they remain within the manufacturer's specified chassis weight  limits. Do not overload the recreation vehicle."
-Airstream Marketing Material

In other words.... Don't be a j*ck *ss.  I feel like this should be the warning label on life.

Nappies on the line

I just love these color in the sunshine!
Click here to visit Kelly's Closet for more about cloth diapers and diaper care.

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