The Green Initiative

Today I have a hair appointment.

Woot.

I'm going blonde. Oh yes... Or at least blonder.... For these last few weeks of summer I'm going to be a blonde that has more fun.

Or a blonde that packs up her house, moves, has a baby, buys a van and sends her oldest two baby girls off to school.

That doesn't sound like very much fun at. all.

But.

Here's the good news!!! We know where we're moving now!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!! Which I didn't know before the weekend, so knowing where we will be moving in two weeks is definitely very good news.

We just have to get there.

And finish packing up the house. Although my mom has been graciously helping me throughout the summer and we've made some pretty good progress.

The problem is, I'm so darn pregnant I can barely function.

True story.

I bend over and get contractions. I think about contractions and I get contractions. Oy, this baby is ginormous.

But anyway.

Things are coming together and I'm excited for the move and living in a real house for the first time in our little married lives.

Yep, we won't be sharing it in any way, we won't be cramped into tiny living quarters, we will have 26 hundred glorious square feet to spread out and make a home in.

I don't even know how to fill that kind of space. I'm not going to lie.

I'm sure we'll figure it out. Having four kids certainly helps... Yikes!!!!

Speaking of... Over the weekend Zach and I went on our little baby-cation and had an AMAZING time.

Oh man, I just love him.

He is the funniest person I know.

And basically all we did was hang out in our hotel room and eat at new and interesting places around where we were staying.

We are a bit of foodies. We LOVE to try new things, love all things ethnic and can be quite adventurous.

I mean, him more than me.... I hate mushrooms and am skeptical of all things ocean related.

He will try anything, loves things like kimchee and truffle oil and orders drinks like a Bacon Makers Mark that comes with an actual slice of bacon in it....

So gross, right???

:)

Anyway, so we had fun trying out different restaurants. I got to try a beef wellington, which I have wanted to try for YEARS.

Turns out... not so great... I mean, ok, it's good, but it is SO super rich.... Like, really, really really rich.

And I had one of the most amazing humus plates I've ever had.

Thanks to Crave.

Which is a nationwide chain, so you might have one near you.

We don't usually like to go to chain restaurants, but they were offering room service to the hotel we stayed at so I don't think it really counts. :)

Ok, which speaking of the hotel we were staying at....

I want to talk about it for a little while.

It is called The Element at Midtown. Which sounds super fancy and it's affiliated with Westin Hotels, so in reality it was very nice.

But here's my issue with it.... It's a Green Hotel. Leid Certified and what not.

Which definitely has it's ups and downs. Like for instance the paper products SUCKED. Toilet paper that was more like sand paper, paper towels that were a joke. You know those brown ones that poor school cafeterias use that don't absorb ANYTHING so you have to use like fifty just to clean up one spill and the whole time you're thinking, Um how is this saving the rain forest when I could just use ONE Viva paper towel and it will not only clean up this spill but clean all the counter tops and a child's face if needed and by consumption rates alone, I am SAVING the rain forest???

Right?

Same with the toilet paper.

There has to be a less is more kind of philosophy. Or Quality over Quantity???? I just don't think we're thinking this all the way through...

And then let's talk about the horrible towels. They actually hurt to use. THEY HURT! They were so scratchy...

And that was after walking out of a very disappointing shower. I was very excited about the shower. I'm not going to lie.

I have this great obsession with good showers. Plus, a hot shower can cure almost any problem in my life. I love them.

So, when I walked into the bathroom at the hotel and saw this HUGE square shower head, you can imagine my excitement.

Especially if you saw the tiny little midget shower I have to use on a daily basis. It even had a fancy name like.... Rain Head or something like that.

Little did I know, that the name for the shower head was an actual metaphor for the water pressure!!!

As in, trickles. It trickled water on my head as if it were actually raining on me.

Not relaxing at all.

In fact, mostly frustrating.

And maybe it wouldn't have been for people with hair not.... well, not like mine. But trying to get the shampoo and conditioner out of my hair was a NIGHTMARE.

No, not even that... Trying to get my entire head of hair actually WET was a nightmare. I could literally stand directly under the shower head and there were whole sections of my head not getting wet. I probably used three or four times more water with the amount of time it took to work on my hair than I would have if there would have been some good water pressure.

Ok and then the power to the room. In order to power the room you had to actually plug your key card into the wall, otherwise the room was only powered like 10%. Which I get that, it's nice and all for the environment. Do I really think one of these hotels taking this initiative can make a difference? Absolutely not.

Do I really think if every hotel in the entire world took this step it would make a difference???

No. It wouldn't.

But. It's a nice thought and people probably feel good about themselves whilst using it.

Still, I was there to write. That was the biggest reason we took off for the weekend, and I needed power. I can't sit at a desk for hours at a time, so I have to unplug my laptop, write elsewhere with it and charge it while I leave the room.... which is impossible if there's no power to charge it with after I've left the room....

And really what does it all matter, when the house cleaning service runs a four hour dishwasher with literally three dishes in it anyway while you're gone???

That was the great thing about the room though, every room in the hotel came with a full kitchen. Which begs the question how that many running refrigerators is helping the environment because they definitely did not lose power when we took the key card out... but, I'll let them work out the logistics.

Because I loved having a full refrigerator. I loved having a giant bathroom and a perfectly comfortable king sized bed.

All in all we had an amazing time. And even though I don't think we would stay there again it has nothing to do with the half-flush toilets, the confusing number of trashcans around the room designated for all different kinds of trash and recycling OR the very very dim lighting and more to do with the awfully uncomfortable couch and hideous ergonomic desk chair that made it impossible to get comfortable anywhere in the room.

Still somehow in all my complaining, I actually DID get work done, and managed to pay attention to my hubby.

It was well worth it. And the good news is Starbright might actually get finished afterall!

I did say "might" right?? I need to double check there is a disclaimer in there!!! :)

Finally. Hopeless Magic is a mere 26 reviews away from 100!!!! Which means you guys rocked it out over the weekend!!!!! And as soon as we reach 100 I will be posting a chapter from Kiran's point of view!!!!!

So please please please get to 100!! It's WAY to juicy to sit inside my head!!!

Thank you to everyone who has posted one. I am honestly amazing and so blessed to have those reviews on Amazon and Goodreads and B&N and everywhere else.

You guys are the best people in this world. Love.

Rachel

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