Ideal Bite

Last night I heard a man say, with an extrapetit Timbuk2 messenger clutched in his hands, "This bag will be perfect for going-out at night." What he meant was, "Now I have an evening purse."

We both paused when he said it, but he knew it was too late to take it back - he'd spoken the words and they just hung there, waiting for due judgment. But, for once, I held mine back, because the truth is, real men schlep too.

-Assistant Editor Hanah...off to crump (very poorly) to some block-rocking Russki beats...

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Last night I heard a man say, with an extrapetit Timbuk2 messenger clutched in his hands, "This bag will be perfect for going-out at night." What he meant was, "Now I have an evening purse."

We both paused when he said it, but he knew it was too late to take it back - he'd spoken the words and they just hung there, waiting for due judgment. But, for once, I held mine back, because the truth is, real men schlep too.

-Assistant Editor Hanah...off to crump (very poorly) to some block-rocking Russki beats...

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So you can't afford the $110 Sea Bags tote Hilary and Jen are hot for. There are even cheaper alternatives for gearing up for the beach than spending time in the seasonal specials aisle at Walgreens. You'll lose some style points, fer sure, but win big wallet-wise.

• Brookstone Cape Cod Beach Chair

Alternative: create/dig a makeshift seat back in the sand; piece together some driftwood (watch out for splinters)

• Sea Bags

Alternative: Whole Foods reusable grocery totes ($1)

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...and I'm a gummyholic.

I have been addicted to gummy candies of all kinds (bears, frogs, dinosaurs - everything except spiders...I hate spiders) for as long as I can remember. It is definitely my sugar rush of choice, but given my semi-recent fear of developing diabetes, I've been trying to cut down on sugar.

I've already conditioned myself to eat something sweet after like every meal (dessert included), so I've turned to fruit leather-y things as a better substitute. I get the 365 Organic Fruit Strips from Whole Foods (eating a blueberry one as we speak), and they do the trick for the most part.

But if you can suggest any other gummy substitutes, I'm all ears.

-SF Editor Mike...off to take care of step two of 12...

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...and I'm a gummyholic.

I have been addicted to gummy candies of all kinds (bears, frogs, dinosaurs - everything except spiders...I hate spiders) for as long as I can remember. It is definitely my sugar rush of choice, but given my semi-recent fear of developing diabetes, I've been trying to cut down on sugar.

I've already conditioned myself to eat something sweet after like every meal (dessert included), so I've turned to fruit leather-y things as a better substitute. I get the 365 Organic Fruit Strips from Whole Foods (eating a blueberry one as we speak), and they do the trick for the most part.

But if you can suggest any other gummy substitutes, I'm all ears.

-SF Editor Mike...off to take care of step two of 12...

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So if you prefer wallets that’ll fit in your pocket, and yours is already busting at the seams with quarters for laundry and receipts (who, me?), you may not have the space to squeeze in today’s handy-dandy guides. If you also have a cell phone that’s with you 24-7 (alas), just take a few minutes to type the lists you need into your cell phone’s "notes" field, and save. Bonus: You’ll look very busy and important at the grocery store and restaurants when you go to check whether you should choose peach cobbler or a banana split.

Good luck inputting the fun words, like polyethylene terephthalate! (You only have to do it once.)

-Jenifer Morgan…off to muscle in another quarter…

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Here's hoping that today's tip inspires as great a level of discourse about water conservation (and, well, about our Ideal Bite team's lack of action) as it did last time: http://www.idealbite.com/blog/comments/drum_roll_please/. 

After rereading all the prior comments, in the spirit of true Biterly love, I did a crazy thing this morning. I actually DID put a bucket in my shower while it warmed up. While it certainly didn't catch all the water, and while my shower heats up pretty freakin' fast, I DID collect a bit of a lukewarmish puddle, which I promptly put in Snack's dish and then used the rest to water my heliotrope. (Snack was very excited at his part in the whole project until he realized that it was just water).

Will I do this every day? Probably not. Half my mornings, I'm running out

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Since you were dying to know, check out the results from the Great Bellybutton Lint Survey.

Some highlights:

• 96% of people with belly button lint had an innie.
• 73% of people with belly button lint were male.
• 80% of people with belly button lint had a happy trail leading up to their belly buttons.

-Toshio...off to contemplate something a little more trivial...

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I don't have a washer-dryer in my apartment, or even my building for that matter, so doing laundry can be a pain. As noted in the tip, stuff like Skivvies and socks don’t get reworn, but for pretty much everything else, I employ this highly precise technique to minimize hamper fillage:

1. Smell item.
2. Ask self, "Does said clothing item smell like a meadow breeze, tropical rain, or any other air freshener scent?"
3a. If Yes, hang up in closet or put back in dresser.
3b. If No, ask self, "Would you sit next to someone on the bus who smelled like this?"
3b-a. If Yes, hang up or put back in dresser.
3b-b. If No, place in hamper.

(Disclaimer: Results and frequency of dates may vary.)

-SF Editor Mike…off to do anything but laundry…

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I'm proud to say I adopted this one early on, although I was primarily spurred on by the storage-savings rather than the eco-savings. My file cabinet - yep, I've had one since college - was getting awfully packed, and I tend to be the fastidiously filed, color-coded-tab kind of gal so it was nice to tick that off the to-do list...permanently.

But identity theft? A good motivator, too, and scarier than Grams stumbling on your new sex toy or even hearing Barbara Walters (via D-lister Kathy Griffin, natch) discuss Astroglide. Eek.

-Chicago Editor Alison...off to find some good hiding places...

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