Business Review: Monument Cafe

The Monument Cafe in located in a beautiful building in Georgetown, Texas. Surrounded by raised beds and gardens, the sleek mid-Century modern building reminds me of a happier version of Hopper’s Nighthawks. When we are there, I expect to see men in fedoras to stroll in and sit at the counter. The simple decor makes the inside feel very restful and calm.

The food is equally pleasurable. We’ve been there several times over the last few months and have enjoyed everything we have ordered. The restaurant serves “locally-grown and organic vegetables, meat, and dairy to the greatest extent possible.” In addition to the food grown around the restaurant, the ingredients come from a network of local farmers developed over the restaurant’s seven year history. And the chefs are always experimenting with new ways to expand the local, organic options. Just recently, homemade ice cream was added to the menu! Read more

Deciding to Decide

This month the APLS Blog Carnival is focused on decision making. Deciding to live a sustainable life is a big decision, which is made harder by the fact that is then followed by many smaller choices. How do people decide where to focus their time and energy? What are those areas of focus? And what drops off in the meantime? Below are my (past and current) answers; be sure to check The Good Life on March 18 to read about the decisions others have made.

When my family first made a conscious decision to live a greener, more sustainable life, it was made up of only two people – my husband and me. At that point our top priority was saving money so we could pay off our debt. For us that meant scaling back across the board, exploring the world of thrift stores and used cars, and finding hobbies that didn’t involve expenditures. Having such a clear cut objective made lots of decisions easy and helped us make many of changes to our life. Read more