Day 79:  I spent some time in Sante Fe with my daughter Mazi this past weekend.  We were heading down to Albuquerque to visit my boyfriend Richy, and also needed to do some shopping.  I was looking for a dress for Mazi because she is going to be the flower girl at my friend's wedding. We went to the mall, since there are a lot of options in one place and I really didn't want to drive all over.  At the mall, I am pretty out of my element, I always feel like a foreigner in another country (or another planet).  All this stuff for sell everywhere doesn't do much for me, I'd rather be romping around in the mountains in my little mountain town.  For the full mall experience, we had pizza there and I bought my daughter some ice cream at Dairy Queen.  When I pulled out my milk carton wallet, the kids behind the counter were fascinated, and wanted to see how it opened and closed with the screw top.  This, I like about the mall (and about life in general); unexpected interactions can happen anywhere, and you can make people think by being different.  Working on this project has created more of a rift between me and our cultural focus on consumption.  I feel less desire for new things, more focused on experiences.  It has also created more interaction with other people and conversations with strangers just based on whatever I've made that I happen to be carrying around with me or wearing that day.  I guess going to the big city this weekend got me ruminating about all this... When we arrived in Albuquerque later that night, we went out to a Thai restaurant called the "Orchid."  One of the things I love about visiting the bigger city is more restaurant options.  The food was amazing and our waters came with black straws.  Out of those straws, I made  a window hangie thingy for my car (is there a real name for something you hang from your rear view mirror?)

Day 80:  There is a spot near the river in Albuquerque that is covered in pieces of old glass and bottles.  I know it's pushing the definition of "recycled project" to take pictures as one of my projects, but I don't care.  The focus is still on trash and creativity, and most importantly, having fun.  It was great to spend an afternoon in the city down by the river, feeling like I'm not really in the city after all, wandering around, taking pictures, finding cool bottles.