quote of the month...

okay, there won't be a "quote of the month" installment or anything, but as i flipped through the pages of the october issue of real simple magazine, the following saying jumped out at me:

"use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."

and it's been on my mind. so much of who we at the valley girl home are slowly becoming can be summed up with this simple little phrase. of course, to make it work for us even better, it needs an addendum of sorts. something along the line of "and don't forget to donate the excess." anyone care to work that into the cute little rhyme?

early this week, we spent a couple of sweltering afternoons parked in our backyard, just making do. lots of icewater and watermelon. our $3 garage sale slide was transformed into a "slippy slide," by simply propping up the hose in one of jeremy's (secondhand) shoes and turning it to the "mist" setting. viola. instant fun. but don't forget a towel at the bottom to prevent grass-burn!


their good fun afforded me a bit of time to tackle a project i've been "meaning to get to" for just about 2 summers. i bought these sandals in spring of 09, and after wearing them only a couple of times, the strap broke. company couldn't replace them for me, as they were sold out. so i kept them around, always meaning to fix the strap. in my past life, i would have simply tossed them. now, i'm making them do so i can wear them out. provided that my sewing holds, of course.







in use it up news, i just finished slow roasting a bunch of tomatoes from our garden. they turned out fantastically, and i'm planning on doing at least a couple more batches. don't want any of those long-awaited tomatoes to go to waste. i'm now looking forward to my lunch tomorrow, as i have goat cheese and fresh bread to pair with my bowlful of tomatoes. a photo may be in order. yum!