A Welcome, A List

Welcome, or, Bienvenue! In this, our newest and first joint blog, we, Lu 'n Am, have come together to muse about just what our title says: affordable, sustainable, creative, living. We're both still in our early twenties (Am can't say that for too much longer), and we feel that we have good angles on our combined topics. Lu is currently in college at UT studying art and education, while Am has been out of the hippie college (Warren Wilson, anyone?) she went to for a year now, and she studied history, political science and english.

Our perspectives and interests on these topics come, we think, from how we've grown up and where we are now in our lives. Lu spent her first seven years of life in France. Her entire family is French and most of them still live there. At the tender age of seven, she moved with her mother [maman], father [papa], and brother [frere] to this grand land of the United States of America (cue the music). She has lived in Eastern Tennessee ever since then. She also started drawing and painting at a young age, and with the encouragement of her family, has continued to pursue these interests in college. Lu is artistic & creative, to say the least, and has always had a love and respect for the earth, people and animals.(Lu's birthplace - Epinal, France)

Am has lived in the U.S. all of her life and has actually lived in the same area all of her life. She has lived in a small community in the mountains of Western North Carolina, called Asheville, since a dear child and every day has more respect and love for this place. Am also started drawing, more fashion drawings than anything, at an early age, but instead of following her creative being, decided to stay close to home and pursue her college career at Warren Wilson College. Am still sketches sometimes, but now fills her time when not writing and working for her online marketing company by taking on little creative projects to organize and simplify her home life. Since graduating, her passion for the earth has grown one hundred-fold and has now made it her life goal to become more sustainable and more friendly to the earth.(Am's hometown - Asheville, NC)

Lu n' Am hope to share with all their potential readers (themselves) and non-readers (everyone else) all their findings & musings in all things related to being & living affordable, sustainable, creative people & lives. So, as a starter, here is a list of our major blog-topics-related goals for this year of 2008:

Enjoy :)



-Am-
1. Be plastic bag independent. I want to never use a new plastic bag again. It's seriously bad for the earth; talk about a non-renewable resource.
2. Be chemical-free. Or at least, start being chemical-free, beginning with household cleaning products. It's much more simple that I thought it would be. I've actually already started making my own cleaning products. :)
3. Make/alter clothes on a reg. basis. This isn't really happening right now because I need to find a decent sewing machine before anything really productive happens. But I have all these creations in my and on many pieces of paper that are dying to become real.
4. Write & make a book based on the same topics as our title. I want everyone to know how to live sustainably and know that it's waaay super easy. And then, once it's finished (never?), give it to friends & family!


-Lu-
1. Finding ways of saving... our environment, our community, our health, our money, our education... Just saving.
2. Opening our eyes. To be aware of the art, architecture, and design that surrounds us & the important issues targeted through these mediums.
3. Inform others of the very inspiration and creativity that surrounds me on a daily basis.
4. Remind. To remind us of the beauty of this planet. To remind us of the intelligence -this can be rare ;) & creativity of a human being that has few & far boundaries.