Monday, June 30, 2008

clothing exchange!

On Sunday I had a clothing exchange at my apartment. I invited a bunch of my friends to bring their unwanted clothes and accessories. My friends did this a few times in college. It's a great excuse to go through your clothes and get rid of things you never wear, and you get new clothes for free.

I think there were clothes from 8 or 9 women, although not all of them were there for the exchange because some dropped them off earlier. It was first come first serve so as soon as you found something you liked you could claim it. It was fun to see other people try on clothes of yours that you never really wore for no particular reason were much more flattering on someone else! Everyone went home with something 'new.'


The photos are after the clothing exchange! These were the things no one wanted. Just imagine how much stuff was there before!


I took the leftovers to Goodwill.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Fallen Fruit in Chicago?

Last week I visited the Lincoln Park Zoo, but what got me thinking was actually some mulberry trees along Clark. I remember reading an article about a group that makes maps of urban fruit trees for scavenging fruit, so I Googled around a bit and found it- Fallen Fruit in Los Angeles and San Francisco. They encourage people to harvest and use fruit growing on or overhanging public property. I find their website a bit hard to navigate (maybe because I don't know the areas they're talking about) but here's another article about the project.

Chicago should have something like this. I can tell you that I have since discovered a small mulberry tree at 16th and Morgan and another on 18th St. near Cuernavaca. Mulberry trees tend to be unpopular because they drop the berries all over the place and they can stain. Most people don't know that they are great for making pie, cobbler, jam, and more. What fruits and vegetables have you seen growing wild in Chicago?

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Pilsen is getting a farmers market!

I'm so excited! I'll finally have a farmers market within easy walking distance. I saw a flier for it at Kristoffer's Cafe and Bakery on Sunday. The market will be on Sundays beginning July 27 and will continue until late October. The market has a site here, which is currently for recruiting vendors.