gaiacreative

Baby carrier update

2010-06-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

baby carrier fabric design

So we didn't win the baby carrier fabric contest sponsored by spoonflower, but the carrier company, Boba (from our local Boulder), contacted us and purchased rights to the design anyway! So stay tuned for the release of our carrier. Here's the fabric design again, in case you missed it.

2010-01-14T12:22:00.001-08:00

ping-ing

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/chris-dannen/techwatch/most-people-use-web-talk-people-nearby-study-says

2009-10-26T13:10:00.001-07:00

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/chris-dannen/techwatch/most-people-use-web-talk-people-nearby-study-says

Posted using ShareThis

The Marketing Toolbox - Facebook Insights

2009-09-12T08:08:00.000-07:00

Traditional advertising is still a valuable component of any good marketing campaign, but it can be a bit clunky compared to the power of new online marketing tools which provide real time analytics with details on client interaction, demographics and more.

Take Facebook Insights, for example. This incredible tool gives page administrators an in depth understanding of how their audience is engaging with their Facebook page. Some of the features include:
• Interactions Over Time - graph of total Wall Posts, Likes, and Comments by week
• Overall Post Quality Rating – how engaging your posts are to your Fans
• Fans Over Time – graph of total Fans, demographics, top countries, top cities, top languages, trends in user acquisition and subscription

You’ll never get that kind of data from a print ad. But data doesn’t mean anything unless you can apply it.

With tools like this we are able to see a vivid picture of our clients/customers. We can then take the information and customize marketing campaigns for specific audiences, allowing us to truly maximize our marketing dollars.

Let’s talk about Facebook and how to increase our Fan base and their interaction with our page.

The key in all social media is to post relevant, engaging, high quality content. In a recent survey of US Marketing Executives the top benefit of using Social Media is Customer Engagement. See graph below.

All Facebook updates posted to your page immediately show up in your Fans’ News Feed. The key is simply to post relevant, engaging content that will appeal to or inspire your customers and clients. Post this information frequently so your messages are consistently in front of Fans. Post a topic that encourages Fans to reply or contact you for more information. Post information that is valuable and will make your site a resource, encouraging recurring traffic. A combination of the above tactics will make your message more viral – encouraging Fans to spread your message to others or invite other friends to become Fans. When that happens, it drives more traffic to your page and ultimately increases business.

Thinking about your interactive strategy? Engaging in a social media campaign has many benefits, including brand reinforcement, low cost, direct client communications, detailed metrics and more. Facebook is an integral part social media campaigns for many companies, from mom & pop shops to Fortune 500 companies.

Do you have an established Facebook page for your business? Would you like one, but just don’t know where to start? Or perhaps you’re wondering if Facebook would be the right fit for your marketing campaign. gaiacreative can help. We can assist you in managing your current social media campaign, we’re happy to consult with you on what type of social media will work best for you and launch your social media presence!

gaiacreative, llc. is expanding!

2009-08-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

gaiacreative, llc. now offers marketing, advertising, media buying, corporate identity, market research, public relations and interactive services in addition to the award winning graphic design you’re familiar with.

Here’s the scoop. gaiacreative is now two sisters – Sarah Douglas and Jessica Henley – who together are a creative powerhouse adept at developing targeted marketing strategies and attention-getting creative. Sarah has spent the last 10 years as a graphic designer, and founded gaiacreative, llc in 2005. Jessica’s joining gaiacreative after 13 years of ad agency experience.

Ultimately, gaiacreative, llc. is here to help you grow your business and garner results through intelligent marketing plans and inspiring creative carried out through a wide variety of media.

We’d love to work with you - please contact us with any questions, we’re happy to help.

gaiacreative is honored with an American Graphic Design Award!

2009-01-12T12:57:00.002-08:00

gaiacreative's invitation and program book design won a national graphic design award last year! Hooray! The job was for the Durango Discovery Museum's annual gala event, and featured a die-cut lightbulb invitation, translucent envelope with wraparound label, reply card and envelope, and diecut program book. See below.

The invitation, envelope, mailing label, and reply card.

The event program book.

A basic visual of how the invitation package went together for mailing.

Here's the info on the contest, straight from their site:
2008 AMERICAN GRAPHIC DESIGN AWARD WINNERS
This year, roughly 1,000 pieces were presented in our annual from among more than 10,000 entries, the fifth straight stunning year in which this milestone level of entries has been exceeded. Slowly but surely, over four decades, our Annual has become a meeting place for the best and the brightest.

Media diversity abounds: print and collateral, package design and in-store graphics, advertising and sales promotion, invitations and announcements, direct mail and catalogs, magazines and books, broadcast and film and — surprise, surprise — more internet and interactive pieces than ever. Diverse, too, are the organizations and clients: Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial start-ups, consumer and business-to-business ventures, political and religious organizations, governments and trade associations, universities and cultural institutions.

Moreover, the winning pieces come from many of the established creative minds and organizations of our time, and even more who are striving to excel, to gain recognition and to find a deserved place in the sun. This is a particularly satisfying mix, since GDUSA is tempermentally welcoming and accessible to a broad range of work and voices in an often insular industry.

five elements bags

2008-11-15T14:09:00.000-08:00

Check out this bag! It's one in a series of five that I designed for emagineGreen. They're part of the 'It's Elemental' collection, and these bags in particular were inspired by the five elements: earth, air, space, water and fire. It's really fun to be branching out into product and pattern design. The best part? The five bags roll up into teeny things that fit nicely in a purse or glovebox, so you always have your reusable bag at the ready. All five fit in a little pouch.

So where can you get these stunning bags? From emagineGreen! Visit my sister's site to shop away, and take care of your holiday gift giving in one step. Plus, then you can say you know the cool person who designed the bags...

Here's the whole set of bags:

Update: go and check out simplemom's awesome reuseable bag giveaway! Wow - I really love those oilcloth bags by ShopWise - very cool.

Personalized Cards for Kids

2008-11-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

Just in time for the holidays, gaiacreative is offering personalized cards for your little artist.

5x7 flat (not folding) cards and envelopes
Four styles - for girls and boys (birds, balloons, flowers, or whale). Please specify style when ordering.
Personalized with your child’s name
Recycled-content cards with recycled colorful envelope
Designed and printed in Colorado

All orders must be received by Monday, December 1. Cards will be shipped on Friday, December 12.

Available now on etsy as a set of 12 for $14, or contact me directly by leaving a comment to this post about larger quantities (ie set of 24 cards for $25, or set of 36 cards for $33.) Also, if you contact me directly, you have the option of adding your child's name and address to the back of the envelope - an additional $3 per set of 12.

whale

flowers

balloons

birds

envelope colors: grapesicle (top) for birds; orange fizz (below) for all others

grapesicle envelope (with bird design) showing optional name and address printed on back flap.

Shipping is $3 per set of cards; for multiple cards ordered for one shipping address, I will adjust shipping accordingly.

emagineGreen in Fast Company!

2008-10-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

OK ... a little more about emagineGreen ...

emagineGreen is in the November issue of Fast Company, a popular business magazine! You can read that article here.

I've been working with emagineGreen for the last year as their designer. Here's a brief description of emagineGreen, directly from the website:
emagineGreen is a direct sales company dedicated to turning curiosity about what is happening in our environment into positive action. Our purpose is to simplify the ‘going green’ process for millions of people who want a healthier home and environment.

Our greenCoaches (my sis being one of them) offer in-home ecoParties where they share environmental education and ecoFriendly products to help people 'green' their lives. The greenCoach opportunity is open to anyone, and it's a great time to get in at the ground level ... Let me know if you want more info.

Oh, and our founder, Tonya, was just awarded 'the greenest of the green' by Arizona Republic. Check out this article to read a little more about the background of eG.

Time off

2008-09-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

I'm logging off for a while (as if you hadn't already noticed!). There are so many other fun blogs to peruse - I know you won't miss me! Happy fall.

wallpaper + design

2008-08-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

The September issue of Sunset magazine features an article by a friend of mine, Christiana Coop, who operates Ferm Living (a hip wallpaper company in San Fran). Check it out. The coolest of the cool are featured in Sunset, so congrats, Christiana! Plus, the wallpaper designs offered by Ferm are really hip.

a day in the life of me

2008-08-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

on lobotoME's blog today. Find it here. And if you skim the post (it's a long one), be sure to read the gratitude quote at the bottom. It's good. Happy Wednesday!

five good minutes

2008-08-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

In my post last week about six elements to health, I mention stress as a major player to manage. (Nothing new.) I mentioned just taking five minutes - just starting with that - to set aside on the cushion; a mini meditation, if you will.

This weekend I was reading an article in this month's Delicious Living about Five Minutes. According to the doctor and author of this book, a mere five minutes can actually be really valuable. Here are some specific 5-minute meditations to try. Think I'll intersperse these throughout my workdays this week.

amazingly generous giveaways

2008-08-22T14:00:00.001-07:00

a couple of shameless plugs for two of my fave blogs...

Head on over to simplemom! Go here to see all of the goods you could win! The gifts are all in-line with simplemom's thoughts on a simple life: green and frugal living, productivity and organization, taking care of yourself, etc.

Simplemom has a lot of good little tidbits for us time-starved, overstretched mamas. I really liked her last series 'how to be disorganized and uproductive at home.' My favorite on that list was not taking care of yourself, which, as I know, will get you every time.

And it's not too late to take part in Jenny's 'Get your yoga on' giveaway at lobotoME's brain fog blog! Jenny had one of those cool scenic yoga mats on our girlZ trip to Moab last weekend. Om shanti. Have a great weekend!

six elements to health

2008-08-22T07:35:00.000-07:00

I was reading elephant magazine last night, a publication about 'the mindful life' out of Boulder, and read this:

There are six elements to health. In order of importance:

1. Thoughts
2. Breath
3. Hydration
4. Nutrition
5. Exercise
6. Sleep

The article is geared towards fitness, and most people are surprised to see that exercise is number 5 on that list. The author mentions that 90 percent of fitness is due to what you eat.

Last night I went to a vaccine talk by Dr. Roy Steinbock, a board-certified physician (pediatrician) in Boulder who takes a more holistic approach. I'll do a separate post with his suggestions regarding vaccinations, but what I want to mention about him here are (what I took away as) the top three things he stresses as vital for health:

1. Reduce stress
2. Proper nutrition
3. Find the middle path in all things (he has a Buddhist approach, with jives with me)

'Thoughts' (stress) and nutrition are high on his list too. Makes sense to me.

The woman who wrote the article in elephant, Ruth Hiller, suggests exploring your metabolic type to line up your nutrition correctly. She uses this book.

I did the short survey here and discovered I'm a 'mixed type.' To get more info, I need the guy's book, but overall, the results are pretty much what I already do ... a little of everything! (My only catch is I need to cut out some sugar...)

Read Ruth's entire article here.

So what am I taking away from all of this? For me, the most important things I can focus on (which do need improving in my life right now) are stress and nutrition. But for me, getting enough exercise allows me to feel invigorated and productive, which in turn affects how I eat and how I deal with stress. So I'd put that one up there really high too. This is nothing new! My plan:
1. Stress.
-Take stretch breaks at my desk and make them also breathing breaks. (Deep, full belly breathing).
-Attend sangha (Vipassana meditation group) 2x/month (more, if feasible!)
-Get back on the cushion. Start small. Five minutes a day. Don't I have five minutes somewhere?

2. Exercise
-commit every Sunday to writing out my exercise plans for the coming week. Schedule them. This is such a no brainer but I somehow still slack off on it. It's Friday, and I haven't worked out per se all week. And I'm feeling it. Argh. (But Ross and I are going for a bike ride in about 5 minutes!)

3. Nutrition
-again, a no brainer. Meal planning. Sundays. Need to get my tail into gear on this one. So far, I know that I want to plan on making two grain/bean salads per week - for dinners, then leftovers for lunch (ideal lunch food).

OK - all for now. Off on the bike!

101 things to do with zucchini

2008-08-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, so that title is a little misleading - this post really isn't about that. But I did happen upon an amazing blog (does everyone already know about this one?) called 101 Cookbooks - exploring recipes one cookbook at a time. Mostly vegetarian. My quick perusal of it last night had me really excited about this new discovery. I googled the words 'healthy zucchini bread' to find a new recipe, and about 15th down on the list was this one, which I'm going to try out. (Will report back on the results.)

It must have been fate that I discover 101 Cookbooks yesterday evening, because immediately after I did that little search, I checked my email, and a fellow mom friend, Corrie, had email me the recipe for some chocolate zucchini cupcakes (which our tots had consumed eagerly the weekend prior; see chocolate-smeared faces, below). The cupcake recipe Corrie emailed me, as is turns out, is also from 101 Cookbooks.

I see myself spending a lot of time gleaning recipes from this site. We've been grilling a lot of tofu this summer (it's really quite good that way), and she has mentioned here 'Lemon Achiote Grilled Tofu.' I don't know what achiote is, but it sure sounds good, and I'm going to read all about it. She also has a wheat pizza dough recipe on there that she recommends for grilled pizza - another one to try ...

bagless

2008-07-31T07:16:00.000-07:00

Last night Mirelle and I went to our local Vitamin Cottage (a small natural grocery chain based in Colorado). We hadn't been in a while, and in the time we've been away, the store's gone completely bagless. How cool is that? And they're the only Vitamin Cottage store in Colorado that is doing so. Can I just say how great it was to be shopping and notice that every other shopper had reuseable bags with them. (If a customer shows up without a bag, they can purchase a cloth bag for $1, or use a cardboard box, of which the store has plenty.) Hopefully it will be a trend that will spread, motivated by the city of San Francisco.

Since I've been working with emagineGreen, I've felt inspired to explore what else I can do to continue along my ecoJourney (an emagineGreen keyword!). I've always been what I would call 'green' (back in the day, I spent many hours at my high school shuffling fermented recycle bins around). But, like with yoga, there's always more to learn, and a path to continue on.

My plan right now is to figured out a way to use less plastic - namely: produce bags, yogurt containers, mixed greens/salad containers and anything else that can't be recycled. The action I'm taking so far is this: I have some great little mesh produce bags that I'm using, and I reuse all of my bread bags for other things, until they're pretty worn out. Vitamin Cottage will recycle used bulk bags (they package all of their bulk items for you) if you take them back in. I wonder where I could take the plastic bread bags? My solution thus far to the yogurt container dilemma is to buy kefir (basically drinkable yogurt) that comes in reyclable bottles. But ideally I'd like to get back to making my own yogurt. And the salad? Just buying leaf lettuce, not mixed greens packaged in plastic. I realized that a lot of these things take a little more time. With convenience comes packaging. Often not recyclable.

If you haven't checked it out yet, Gorgeously Green is a good book. I have so many library books on my bedside table at the moment that I haven't gotten to it yet - just perused it briefly. This is a fun read to inspire more progress on your path to green (or more green)!

nalgene with a purpose

2008-07-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

Repurpose your old nalgene (you know, the one you shouldn't be using anymore because of BPA leaching). How's that for a brilliant idea - a solar powered cap that fits nicely on the nalgene's top. I think the nalgene co. should start selling these at an über-discount, just to make up for all of the BPA they've put into the world.

two fantabulous summer recipes

2008-07-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

Whew! Summer is getting hectic around these parts. Suddenly my work load is well, laden with stuff. All of which I'm very very grateful for, but yikes! I think I need another one of me.

I was very good and {mostly} didn't look at blogs last week. Well, maybe just a couple of peeks here and there. But it was helpful to take the week off from posting. I've created a new timesheet to log my client hours as I work, with columns for each client, and one called 'personal.' It'll be my own way of logging all of my hours spent at my desk, scoping out blogs not excluded. I think it'll be quite telling for me.

Summer's humming along at its typical blink-of-an-eye speed. We had some friends over for dinner last night, and thought I'd share some recipes for two things very summer. The zucchini is starting to come in at a mind-boggling pace, so this soup took care of last week's bounty.

chipotle honey butter (for corn)
from sunset magazine, july 2007
combine 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (chopped up), 1/2 cup melted butter, 1/3 cup mild-flavored honey, such as clover, 1 garlic clove, minced, and 1/2 tsp salt. (You could blend it all up in the blender, but I just mixed it by hand.) Sooo good, especially on the Colorado Olathe sweet corn that's appearing (and quickly disappearing at the markets!)

cream of zucchini soup with fresh basil - serve chilled this time of year!
from munson farms (near us, in Boulder County). Visit them by going here.
Melt 2 Tbs butter in a 4 qt saucepan over Med heat. Add 1/2 cup chopped green onions (including the green tops). Cook 5 mins 'til softened, stirring occasionally. Add 2 lbs chopped zucchini - about 5 medium (I used some yellow squash too, and it added nice flecks of color). Cook about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add 3 cups chicken or veg broth, bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat, and simmer uncovered, 20 mins. Add 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves. Allow to cool slightly.

Puree the soup in a blender, then stir in 1 1/2 cups half and half, salt and pepper. Serve chilled with a garnish of sour cream or plain yogurt and a basil leaf.

Ciao!

blogging hiatus

2008-07-21T09:52:00.001-07:00

Need to check out of the blogosphere for a little while - I'm just maxed with work, and need to focus on that. I'm making a pact with myself not to visit any blogs this week either. (Going to be hard, but here goes.)

Here are just a couple of my favorites (visit them for links to more fabulous places to check out in the blogosphere)...

lobotoME
angry chicken
Small Notebook
The Artful Parent

weekend away

2008-07-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

While Mirelle was gettin' some pool time with cousins and hanging with my parents,

We were out in the backcountry doing this.

It was so nice to get away and unplug for a few days! We spent two nights in the Maroon Bells Wilderness near Snowmass Lake. I'm still trying to catch up on work, so will post more later this week.

step to the right

2008-07-10T07:40:00.000-07:00

of your left hemisphere.

If you haven't heard Jill Bolte Taylor's story yet, I highly recommend carving out 20 mins. Sit back, and be amazed.

She was also featured on NPR, and a short excerpt from her book can be found here.

Listening to this last night with Ross was a good reminder of the importance of regularly engaging my brain's right hemisphere. My meditation practice (very very sparse these days) is an excellent way to do that, even just a little time each day. I'm convinced on the power of meditation - after a four day retreat a few years back, I remember coming back to my life and being so absorbed in whatever I was doing; it was challenging to try to step back into the rapid multitasking pace of my 'normal' life.

crayon aprons and such

2008-07-07T12:03:00.001-07:00

Here's Mirelle sporting my old crayon apron I dug up at my parents' house a few months back. I love idea of making some of these as gifts for all of Mirelle's friends (now turning two). Ha! Very small chance that will happen, but I already found a good design on Skip to My Lou's blog. That one's not so much an apron, but a crayon roll. Super cute. Maybe someday I'll get the material and stay up late one night (or get up early one day, more likely) and crank some of these out. Could also just get this on etsy...

I'm also feeling really inspired by Artful Parent's blog to create a little art space for Mirelle. Oh, and hosting an art group!?! Maybe when I'm not working fulltime. Here are her suggestions for the top 10 art supplies for toddlers. I need to search around on craigslist for a good little art table.

We had a fun, busy weekend! Kept Mirelle up 'til 11 on the 4th. She's been making up for it ever since. The garden is growing, and growing, and I'm adding mileage to my long runs (still aiming for either the full or half marathon in September). We're heading out of town later this week for a few nights of backpacking while Mirelle hangs with my folks. She's going to be happy as a clam with them. And we are way, way, waaaay overdue for a backpacking trip. Do I even remember what to pack? (We went on a mini last summer with Mirelle - 1 mile in. I thought it was great, actually, but I was only carrying in Mirelle on my back ... Ross had everything else...!)

I'm hoping to post one more time this week before we head out. Putting together a little cheat sheet for my fridge of my 'go-to' recipes. (Inspired by angry chicken.) I'll post that if I get it done.

Gosh I love summer.

how to...

2008-07-03T07:53:00.000-07:00

get a lot of good things in your toddler at once:

Make these veggie burgers, then add a bit of melted cheese to the top. Worked for us!

1/2 c nuts or seeds
1/2 c cooked beans
1/2 c cooked rice
1/4 c shredded zucchini
1/4 c shredded carrot
1/4 c diced onion
1-2 cloves garlic (optional for the wee ones)
2 tsp spices of your choice
1/2 t sea salt
juice of half a lime

1. place nuts in food processor and process to a powder.
2. add remaining ingredients and pulse several times until mixture is well mixed and just starting to stick together.
3. Shape into patties about 3/4" thick. Grill or cook on skillet with olive oil.

We did black beans, pumpkin seeds, and if I had had it, a little cumin would have been good. I'll add a little chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (chopped up) to our burgers next time (not to Mirelle's though - too spicy.)

An Indian variation could use brown lentils and cashews, plus curry powder. Garnish with yogurt, cilantro, mint.

Thai option could have 1-2 t red or green curry paste and 1/4 c unsweetened shredded coconut.

Lots of options! (From this month's Vitamin Cottage newsletter.)

Now, off to 'gymnastics' with Mirelle. More like tumbling for tots. She's good for about the first 30 minutes - then starts to burn out. Gorgeous cool, overcast, post-rainy morning here today. Did something spontaneous yesterday ... hit the Boulder Farmer's Market for dinner instead of going to the grocery store. One point for me! Hehe. Happy Thursday!

rabbit, rabbit

2008-07-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

We remembered this morning when we woke up to say 'rabbit rabbit' before anything else. (Well, Ross remembered, and I followed suit.) Guess it's supposed to provide good luck or something - here's the debrief from wikipedia. Speaking of rabbits, our former indoor cat (now an outdoor hunter) is leaving a lot of dismembered rabbits and mice in the backyard. Argh. Then he comes inside. Yuck. What to do?

So what's in store for July? We're in full-on summer. A few things happening around here:

1. Ross and I are in the second month of our new budget/spending plan. We've done away with credit cards (which we would pay off each month, but paying with a credit card didn't help with the budgeting). Now, we have a set amount in a checking account to be used solely for groceries, gas, and any extras (everything from haircuts to new shoes to date nights to home improvement). We're using a debit card to track that money. Last month we went over by about $400 we're thinking, but the budget's pretty tight, so we may adjust a bit. We'll see how it works. It's definitely been effective in reducing any impulse buying. Oh, and did I mention we've been eating a lot of beans? (see #2)

2. Eating beans, grains, and fresh greens from the garden. Greens are so easy to grow (you just need a little strip of space), and you can keep harvesting them all summer. My favorite are beet greens - I have one row that I thinned (so we can have some beets) - the other row is lush with greens that I'll just continue to harvest (then they grow back). Cool weather greens like bok choy go to seed quickly in the high heat, so they're not ideal. Last night we had crispy kolhrabi greens, yellow eye beans, and butternut squash tortellini (a splurge). Those beans are sooo delicious - creamy like baked potatoes. Mirelle gobbles them up.

3. Finding new ways to reduce our carbon footprint when we hit the road this month and next. This month's Body + Soul magazine has some great tips. A couple of my favorites:
1. Rent a hybrid. We're hoping to head north to Jackson WY and Yellowstone in August. I wonder if renting a hybrid would save us on gas (and definitely wear and tear on our car...?)
2. Pack lightly. A lighter car requires less gas.
3. Park in the shade. Thanks to my dad, I'm already a shade junkie when it comes to parking spots.
4. Camp (not on the B+S list). We'll be pitching a tent. I guess if we splurged, we could look for an eco-friendly hotel here.

Other goals of mine:
4. Make the time to do more spontaneous stuff!
5. Do one crafty project each month. On my list:
-large canvas
-paint old school lockers currently residing in the garage (see how cool these could look inside? BTW, that's someone else's really cool nursery. Photo found on ohdeedoh.)
-budget for and purchase unfinished adirondack chair and toy chest (stain chair, paint chest)

OK, that's it for now.

<< Just re-read post, and it's kinda funny that I wrote 'make the time to do more spontaneous stuff.' Isn't that a bit of an oxymoron? ha ha. >>

Way, way past bedtime

2008-06-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

We had a really full weekend - saw lots of friends and family, ate lots of yummy food, sampled some delicious wines, and generally just said 'yes' to summer. Mirelle stayed up way past her bedtime Friday, Saturday and Sunday just to make it all happen. And we forgoed Sunday's nap too. We celebrated Sophia's second birthday Friday night, and welcomed Jay and Mimi to Boulder. We clinked wine glasses and bidded for silent auction items Saturday night in Denver at my cousin Eric's gala for his non-profit organization, while Mirelle ran around in the grass with Olivia, the 4-year-old of the hosts. Sunday we visited new second cousin Brayden (9 days old) and Great Grandma (almost 89 years old) in Colorado Springs, then had dinner with friends visiting from Albuquerque. Mirelle romped, frolicked, got dirty, sifted rocks, slipped in the grass, got grass stains on her PJs, ate drive-by dinners (ie put a forkful of food in her mouth as she motors by), and mimicked the wanderings of McKenna, our friends' little girl exactly 1 year older than Mirelle to the day.

Ross sent me this link to this great little article about discipline/permission and letting kids be kids. I particularly like this part:

So breathe deeply and pray for gentleness, patience and the ability to forgo perfect control or perfect behavior at every turn. Guide, and then let them run and tumble, and go by themselves, and sometimes fail. Let the little ones get wet and get dirty, let the teens borrow the car and go without you. They grow anyway, hindered or unhindered by us.

What are some other ways to let our little ones be a little more unhindered? What about ourselves? (This is definitely a challenge for me - I usually like to keep things pretty orderly and on schedule, both for Mirelle and for me.) Time to say yes to spontaneity and things not always looking tidy!

green girls' night + sangria

2008-06-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

Last night I hosted one of my sister's first emagineGreen workshops - we had sangria (really good recipe here), chatted about all things eco, from local CSAs (community supported agriculture), to composting, to our eco addictions (which ranged from Chlorox wipes to paper towels to boiling too much water in our teapots for just one cup of tea). It was a fun evening, and thanks to all my ecoPals for coming!

This weekend I'm aiming to support the little Louisville Farmer's Market again, hopefully hit some garage sales (looking for a little backyard playhouse for Mirelle), do a long run, and chill. We're also heading to a wine tasting/silent auction tomorrow night to support my cousin's nonprofit, revision international.

I also wanted to post a photo of the finished Adirondack dumpster-diving chair, now completely refabed and coated in a orange stain.

And one more crafty-related project. Ross bought this really ugly citronella candle, so I covered it with some iota paper yesterday before the Workshop. That's about as crafty as I have time for these days. Better, no?

JPG for Mimi!

2008-06-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

Mimi, this is for you to download - just click on the image (it will open in a new screen), and drag that larger image to your desktop.

(A rather roundabout way to get a file that keeps becoming corrupt via email ...)

Off for a long weekend

2008-06-20T06:13:00.001-07:00

We're headed to Glenwood this weekend - it's the annual Strawberry Days festival, so we'll take Mirelle to her first parade, eat strawberries and ice cream in the park, and spend some QT with the fam. Have a great weekend - see you next week!

see how the garden grows...

2008-06-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

Mid-June, and the garden is growing! I think it's past that tender 'will it make it?' stage, but now we have to hope the little flying beetle bug dudes don't chomp all of the greenery. Last summer they had a hey day with the kale and chard. Seems like they're taking a liking to the baby bok choy that is looking so tender and sweet at the moment. I'm wondering if I should just harvest it (early) before the bugs get to it. And soap spray helps, too.

Tonight's my sister's first emagineGreen workshop, and I'm going to show up in this tee I designed (also sold by emagineGreen, via my sister). Next Thursday, the workshop's at my house, so if you're in Denver, c'mon over!

I'm also going to talk up the lobotoME pads that emagineGreen sells at both of these workshops - I love using the FeedME pad for meal planning. Meals around here of late have involved a)some sort of bean, b) a grain or pasta and c)a veggie of some sort. I'm really into bean/grain salads - vinegar, olive oil, herbs, maybe some feta cheese. The key to beans is this: eat a small quantity of beans at any given time, but eat beans more often. (At least I think.)

Last week...

2008-06-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

I was a negligent blogger. I was maxed preparing for the Aspen Writers' Foundation's Aspen Summer Words coming up June 22-26. Working on numerous things, one being this Get Lit ad campaign for a concert with PremaSoul and DJRekha(part of the Literary Festival). I'll be up there for some of the Festival, and am planning on checking this out.

Premasoul comes on first, which I think I can swing, at 8 pm. (They fuse Indian melodies and mantras with jazz, blues, and R & B.) DJ Rehka, who I'd really like to see (profiled by NPR, here), is on at 10 pm, and well, my mommy self might not be able to swing that. We shall see!

Sneaky sneaky

2008-06-14T20:20:00.001-07:00

Some ideas for sneaking veggies into your tot's food (from Delcious Living) If they're not down with it as is...

avocado: puree 1/2 avocado with 2 cups smoothie
cauliflower: cook 1 cup florets, drain. Puree with a bit of water or milk 'til smooth. Mash in equal parts with potatoes; whisk 1/2 cup into 2 eggs before scrambling, or whisk 1/2 cup into 1 cup cheese sauce
pumpkin: blend 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree with 1 cup pasta sauce; or whisk 1/4 cup into 1 cup warm cheese sauce
spinach: puree 1/4 cup frozen, thawed, chopped spinach with 2 cups chocolate shake or 1 cup pasta sauce before cooking; or mix 1/2 cup into brownie or muffin batter before baking

Wheeeee ! !

2008-06-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

It's summer! We're charting out our plans for the summer - hoping to relish each gorgeous day and drink it all in! Ross rigged up the kiddie swing for Mirelle - not only with the existing rope provided by the manufacturer - but with the addition of about 5 additional feet of climbing rope. That thing catches some air.

A few ways we're celebrating summer:
:: we've now officially made our back patio our dining room for the next four months.
:: regular saturday visits to the farmer's market.
:: meadow music at chautauqua mtn park (kiddie music, dining al fresco)
:: 4-pass loop backpacking trip in the plans for early July
:: a week off in August (to Jackson WY area, perhaps?)

Yipee! Je t'aime l'été!

Everything you need to know

2008-06-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

about the democratic race in 8 minutes...

click here to watch. It's a good summary!

Happy birthday today to Mary and Katherine! I'm still working on catching up from being away last week, so will post more later this week.

One more quick post...

2008-06-04T13:39:00.001-07:00

Just found Mighty Girl's blog, and while glancing at it ever-so-briefly, I happened upon this post about having a postpartum body. I thought it was good, and just a little reality check about life after having a baby. I think it was around 9-12 months before I really felt like my old self. But I have to admit, after having a child, I was pretty tuned in to the fact that my body rocks, and a few little extra rolls here and there are tiddly winks compared to all of the amazing stuff it can do.

That just reminded me of a great body song I heard a few years back by Lisa Hunter. Here's an Oprah link on that same subject.

Headed out

2008-06-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

I'll be logging off for a couple of days - I'm headed to Scottsdale for meetings and conference with emagineGreen. Just wrapped up the first version of their website, amongst other things. My sister will be joining me on Friday as a start to her training as a greenCoach for emagineGreen, and I'm looking forward to hosting a workshop for her! If you live in the Denver area, I'll invite you. It's lots of fun.

I've also been working away on projects for the Aspen Writers' Foundation's Summer Words Festival. Planning on checking out some of the speakers later in June.

So, sayonara, until next week!

Tender Shoots

2008-06-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

The garden is starting to look more like a garden. Little teeny plants are sprouting up, and, well, I didn't mark the rows, so I have no idea what's growing where. I'm a bit of a disheveled gardener. I planted some flowers, too - sunflowers, zinnias and cosmos, and some sweet peas thrown in for good measure - and they're all scattered together so we'll see what springs up.

I'm also growing a climbing plant from seed that I can't think of the name of - oh, wisteria. The garden center has an 8-year-old wisteria plant growing over the trellis that covers the outdoor plants - it's an amazing thing. Purple flowers, windy branches and root ... we'll see what this little guy does. I planted three seeds in this pot, and they're all coming up. Not sure at what point I should plant it in the garden, or where ... We'll need to build a trellis!

The other thing growing around here is Mirelle's hair. And she's looking more like a little girl than ever.

So I'm outside watering the garden tonight at 9pm, thinking about how much work and water it takes to nourish these little seedlings into beautiful plants by the end of the summer. The summer provides that kind of opportunity: to nurture tender shoots into something great. Seeds become vegetables that I'll cook up into some yummy meal, and colorful flowers that will make their way to vases on the breakfast table and my desk. But that warm summer evening air brings with it optimism of the adventures to be had: plans to keep adding mileage to work up to a half marathon or marathon this fall, mornings to get out on the bike to work up to a hilly ride, and days to explore new places and fun things happening in the evenings. Oh, and some camping, too. Time to trade our little backpacking tent in for something a bit more spacious!

Oh, and one more thing. I've been googling for 'specialty/gourmet dried beans' for ever and ever, and never came up with anything. Angry Chicken's blog posted this morning about a source for these types of beans ... yahoo! I'm looking forward to trying some of these crazy varieties over at Rancho Gordo. And I would agree with her - the packaging is way cool. photo from angry chicken.

Maddy's shoes

2008-05-28T20:33:00.002-07:00

We watched our friends Jess and Justin's little girl Maddy tonight while they went to the Death Cab for Cutie concert at Red Rocks. Maddy had on the most amazing little girl shoes so I had to look them up.

See Kai Run - check them out. So cute. Here are some of my favorites:

Aaah, I want a pair, too!

Oh, and while you're there, get good ideas for your next baby's name! They can be named after a beautiful pair of shoes, right?

Dumpster diving for furniture - a favorite pasttime

2008-05-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

So Ross and I are known for pilfering furniture from dumpsters. Heck, pretty much everything in our house (except for the kitchen island and the rocker) are either from a dumpster, garage sale, or family hand-me-down. Even Mirelle's crib is from craigslist (but it's one of the nicest pieces of furniture we own!). Oh, and Ross made my desk. We have tales behind pretty much everything in our house: the requisite futon from college (just got rid of that last month after we inherited a red couch from Lisa, my brother-in-law's girlfriend). We have the old wooden drafting table we bought from a couple in Ithaca, NY - they retrieved it from a barn that had been occupied by birds (you get the picture). Our bed is from our mortgage guy and friend Brian. A table and bookshelf from my sister. A coffee table and couch from two different women in Durango. A wooden filing cabinet from our condo's dumpster in Aspen. My favorite IKEA chair and table from a garage sale in Fort Collins. Mirelle's lamp was mine growing up. And I could go on and on. Let's just put it this way: if our house burned down, we wouldn't have a large insurance claim on our furniture, that's for sure.

So this new piece? Well, that was sitting in our neighbor's trash this winter. We don't know her really well, so, I hopped across the street and dragged it back. It was missing arms and needed a little shoring up.

It lived in the garage rafters until this weekend. Ross created some arms for it and a back support beam, and I got out this awesome orange stain I had bought for my desk. Check out the colors. They are amazing. I want to do something with the olive green next. I think the color I picked is fruit punch. Anyway, it's waiting for its polyurethene coat, but I think it's gonna be a beautiful thing. I'll post again with the final product.

Rainy Thursday

2008-05-22T12:54:00.000-07:00

Alas, a span of three days have past this week, and no posts. I suppose I should say right now that this will become a new trend for me: I'm probably shifting to a 2-3 posts per week kinda schedule. It feels a little less forced to have a more casual approach to the whole blog thing.

Some things I'm excited about right now:
1. that summer is here
2. that Louisville now has its own Farmer's Market on Saturdays (can't wait to check it out this weekend!)
3. all of the incredible recipes I keep discovering in the Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper cookbook, my new favorite, like really easy macaroons (can't wait to make them again and dip them in chocolate this time)*
4. the pressure cooker/bean kick I'm on at the moment, and actually the cooking kick I'm on: a great way to wind down from a day at my desk.
5. the thought of doing a Hawaiian luau party this summer sometime, and the fun invitation I could create for it
6. running the Bolder Boulder on Monday with about 50K other peeps
7. that ross is actually going to start on the tiling project in our shower this weekend (or tomorrow, maybe??)
8. zumba class this afternoon

here's that macaroon recipe (but you should probably just go get the cookbook, it's that good):

Sally's Coconut Macaroons
Oven to 350. Spread a sheet of parchment on a large baking sheet.
In a large bowl, whisk together: 2 large eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, generous pinch of salt, and 1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract. Blend in 3 cups sweetened shredded coconut (I used unsweetened raw shredded coconut and it worked just fine). Drop generouus teaspoonfuls on baking sheet, and bake 20-25 mins until the macaroons are golden brown with crisp edges. Transfer to a rack and cool.

A weekend in the garden

2008-05-19T07:10:00.000-07:00

I know Memorial Day weekend is typically the kick-off to summer, but this past weekend might have rivaled it this year. It really felt like summer. A perfect weekend for mission:garden. My friend and gardeness extraordinaire Mary (who has a garden and yard in Fort Collins that needs to appear in Sunset magazine - she and John grow tomatoes that warrant cages special-ordered from Texas that need a ladder to be retrieved) was doing her annual plant buying this weekend here in Boulder with her mom Peg. I was invited along on the outing to the fab garden center, Sturtz and Copeland. Saturday. 8 am.

our empty little patch of earth

I took the 8 am thing seriously - I mean, Mary and Peg don't mess around when it comes to plants, so I better keep up, right? When I arrived, there was a cluster of people around the door, waiting to get in. Well, they were employees. And yes, that sign says 'closed.' Mary and Peg arrived shortly thereafter.

After two hours perusing the plant life, I had choice selection of flowers, herbs and veggies. My new veggie this year? Kohlrabi, a cabbage-like wierd-looking thingie that's great in stirfries. Tastes a bit like a broccoli stalk.

Me, Peg, and Mary. (I met Mary in Fort Collins when we were getting our undergrad degrees.)

The planted earth. Lots of seeds this year, so not much to show... yet. Oh, and some containers with flowers, too. Our soil leaves much to be desired, so we'll see what grows. Somehow we had a pretty good bounty last summer, so I'll hope for that again! One thing I did learn this year: plant the zucchini in the farthest corner of the garden, with lots of room for it to spill out into the yard.

Parents Magazine's baby announcement contest

2008-05-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

Yippee! I just found out that the birth announcement I made for Peapod (aka Mirelle) is in the runnings for Parents magazine's announcement contest. Woohoo! Just got an email from Amanda Kingloff, Parenting's Lifestyle Editor, asking me to send an actual invitation to them for the judging. (They've only seen the JPGs, above).

Here are the details I told Amanda about the announcement:

Here are a couple of photos of my daughter Mirelle’s birth announcement (showing front and back). Since we called Mirelle ‘peapod’ while she was in utero, it seemed fitting to use this peapod patterned paper from iota. The announcements included a colored corrugated backing; the back featured an entire sheet of the peapod paper; the front of the card just a torn piece of the paper overlapping the announcement. Everything was tied together with a piece of green velvet ribbon. (I had all of the pieces cut out and ready before she was born; the piece of paper with her photo and birth news was the only thing I had to create after she was born.) Cross your fingers!!

Friday, already?

2008-05-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've been a very negligent blogger this week. My apologies! It was one of my goals when I started this blog (well, when I finally decided to actually go for it), was to maintain it - that means a post every week day (or every other, at least). Oops. For some reason I was feeling some blog rebellion this week. Not sure what it was. But I'm back, today. What has been happening this week? Not only have I not been posting, I also haven't found a lot of time to exercise. Not even a little window of time. Work is busy (like usual), but what else? I'm looking back over my calendar from the last five days, and I think the reason exercise and blogging wasn't present is because I had other appointments and activities scheduled - and those took up my little window of time away from my work stuff. (Not really a great excuse, but c'mon, I'm reaching here.) Monday Mirelle and I had a chiropractic appointment. I know chiropractic care is controversial, but it's worked for me, and Mirelle gets checked out every couple of months for preventative care. It's really shown to be effective in preventing ear infections in little ones. (Mirelle didn't have any last winter, but she's also not in a daycare setting.) Tuesday I took Mirelle to the local science/kids museum with our friends Jess and Maddy in the morning. She loved the music room, the giant dinosaur, the balls, the lights, the mirrors ... super fun. Good reminder about all of the cool things to check out with kids in the big city. Well, anyway, somehow the week got away from me. And now it's the weekend, and we have big plans for our garden. More on that to come.

Here's one thing I've been working on this week. Creating a fancy invitation for the Aspen Writers' Foundation's annual gala. At $25K a table, the invitation has to be fabulous. This is the email blast image that's going out. The actual invitation will combine iridescent paper, metallic ink, a diecut ... It'll be a beautiful thing.

P.S. It's bike to work day! I walked down about 5 steps to get to work, so guess I did my part! Here's a cool little bike commuting calculator you can use to figure out cost savings, calories burned, etc (thanks for the tip, Lindsey!)

Mom time

2008-05-12T09:37:00.001-07:00

Whew! Happy Monday! A very busy weekend, but a lot of fun, and all revolving around moms. Thursday night my mom, sister and I headed to the tony Cherry Creek district of Denver and listened to Lynne Rossetto Kasper chat about food, entertaining, and the correct lighting for your dinner table (that's eye level). We nibbled on appetizers from recipes from her book: fried risotto, plumped ginger shrimp, and local mou co cheese from Fort Collins. It was a wonderful event, not crowded, and Lynne and her producer, Sally, were so friendly and receptive.

Sunday morning, for mother's day, Mirelle and I jogged in the Title 9K run around Boulder Reservoir. Lots of moms, dirt roads, beautiful cool weather ... a lot of fun. (Mirelle enjoyed the run from the comfort of the jogger, while eating a pancake.) Met up with mamas and dads afterwards for a little picnic.

Hope your mother's day was great!

Oh, and check out the new lobotoME pads I designed for Jenny over at her blog. I think my favorite right now is the FitME pad!

An Evening with the Splendid Table

2008-05-08T07:29:00.000-07:00

The Splendid Table's Lynne Rossetto Kasper has a new book, How to Eat Supper. I'd read some other reviews of the book on angry chicken's blog and soulemama's blog, and being a fan of the radio show, decided I needed to check this book out for myself. If you order it through the NPR site, part of the proceeds go back to NPR.

Anyway, got my book yesterday, and we made the roasted butternut squash and bowtie pasta last night ... absoluement delicieux. I loved the idea of heating up a low baking pan in the oven while you prep the veggies, and then throw them in the oven ... you're done! A lot easier than slaving over the stove. The whole cookbook (even though I've just begun exploring it) has wonderful weeknight recipe ideas.

And the best news? My mom, sister and I are going to hear Lynne speak at an event at Room and Board in Denver tonight. Yipee! And hopefully get a book signed ...

And if you've never heard The Spendid Table on NPR, check here for airtimes in your area.

Aliveness

2008-05-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

I made the stunning realization yesterday that the reason I enjoy going for runs (especially on dirt trails, next to streams, and past blossoming trees) is because it makes me feel really alive. It reminds me (subconsciously) about what I really am and about what I'm here to do. My body gets to work hard, I get to be connected and in touch with the natural world and the rhythyms of the changing season. I made this realization yesterday after being at my desk all day. At 4, Mirelle woke up from her nap and we went outside. Aah! It was such a glorious afternoon. Glorious is the most fitting description. Little blossoms were emerging on a red-leaved bush, the delicate first shoots of growth on the tree in the front yard were starting to shift toward leaves, purple flowers had already appeared on a creeping vine. I plucked one, two, three, four and five ! purple flowers and placed one in each of Mirelle's button holes on her sweater. We watched a fat robin dart from tree to tree. Since Mirelle notices everything, I start to, too -- we are a good team. I show her new things, tell her what things mean; she reminds me of the beauty and wonder in the mundane.

But spring is anything but mundane, and it was just then, laying in the grass with Mirelle, already a world away from the glow of my computer screen, that I remembered/woke up/realized what I already knew: that doing things that make you feel truly ALIVE are really what it's all about. And I remembered how I had felt the day before on my run: it was that feeling. I do love my job, but it's still a job: Working at my computer, sitting, moving from task to task. My work is so much easier at my desk if I instill some aliveness into my day, away from the computer.

Other things that have recently brought on a sense of aliveness: hot yoga class, being creative with paper/collage (need to do this one, but I know it works...)

More aliveness. More often. What does it for you?

Snacks for kids

2008-05-05T13:27:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday! Picked up the latest Delicious Living magazine at the natural foods store this weekend. I really love that magazine, and I love that it's free. Of all the magazines I subscribe to (Yoga Journal, Body + Soul, Sierra, Mothering), Delicious Living is one of my faves, and I don't even have to pay for it. They always have the best recipes. If you can't find one at the health food store near you, they're online, and this issue features some great snack ideas for kids.

Here's one I'll have to try out on Mirelle (a huge fan of this combo): Core an apple, stuff it with a mixture of peanut butter, rolled oats, and a touch of honey. Slice the apple crosswise, and voila! Apple rings with peanut-butter centers.

Some other ideas for kids snacks from that issue:
• Apples and cheddar cheese
• Graham crackers crumbled in cottage cheese
• Yogurt dip with fruit slices
• String cheese and whole-grain crackers
• Salsa with baked chips
• Whole-grain, low-sugar cereal and milk
• Raw-food fruit and nut bars
• Whole-grain pretzels and almond butter
• Cinnamon graham crackers and peanut or cashew butter
• Guacamole or hummus with jicama sticks
• Smoothies with yogurt, milk, frozen berries, and banana
• Organic dried veggies

Also, you may be interested in reading Jenny's post about kid's lunches here.

Oh, and I had breakfast on Saturday with my college roommate, Genia, who is now chef extraordinaire and owner of her own healthy, tasty meal business. If you live in Denver, you may want to utilize her services next time 'making dinner' doesn't make it on your to-do list for the day.

Obama in 30 seconds

2008-05-05T08:18:00.000-07:00

Vote for your favorite 30-second ad here.

All of the ads are really inspiring. Thanks for the link, Lindsey.

Kitchari

2008-04-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

Kitchari is a wonderful spring cleansing meal to make. Especially good on a cool spring day like today.

My main yoga teacher, Shiva Rea, often makes kitchari on a hotplate in her hotel rooms when she's traveling (which is often). She turned me on to the kitchari tradition, a soupy meal made from mung beans, basmati rice, and Indian spices. Kitchari, in the ayurvedic tradition, is eaten to improve your digestive fire and eliminate ama (toxins).

If you have a pressure cooker, I did a little experiment on Wednesday and it worked: I combined 1 cup whole dried mung beans, 1 cup basmati rice, and 6 cups filtered water in the pressure cooker. Sealed it, brought it up to high pressure (on high heat), then lowered the temp to keep the pressure up (around low-medium heat) and cooked for 10 mins. I released the pressure by running cold tap water over the top, opened the cooker, et voila, instant kitchari. I didn't add any spices - we just had it with a pat of butter on top. Delish.

Here's a kitchari recipe from Yoga Journal.

Combine some kitchari with a steady diet of hot yoga (which I practiced while my friend Elise was in town; hadn't done that in a while) and you'll be releasing toxins left and right!

I did a teacher training with Shiva back in January 2004 in Venice, CA. She took us out to her house in Malibu and we spent some time on her deck with an incredible view out over the ocean. Gosh that was fun. She's doing a 'pranafication' retreat for past teachers this summer ... a week long. I'm tempted.

Spring renewal (in a few areas)

2008-04-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

My personal spring renewal plan (a work in progress):

Skin:
Improved my skincare routine after a trip to Pharmaca. My revamped program is this:
(Oh, and let me just preface this by saying that this isn't an inexpensive routine. But really, isn't my skin worth it? That's my justification to Ross any way...)

Before bed:
1. Jurlique creamy balancing cleanser
2. witch hazel astringent (plain 'ol witch hazel, any brand)
3. couple drops of Jurlique Herbal Recovery Gel*
*the skin specialists at Jurlique don't recommend moisturizing at night before bed. I know, sounds crazy, but the aesthetician at Pharmaca said it's because at night, our skin is trying to repair and rebuild, and the heavy moisturizers can get in the way of that. The Herbal Recovery Gel 'feeds' the skin, so to speak, with lots of amazing botanicals.

In the morning:
1. Wash face with warm water
2. Jurlique moisturizer
3. Jane Iredale loose powder (SPF 20)
4. Spritz Jane Iredale hydration mist to set the minerals (I love this new way to protect my skin! For hikes or lots of exposure to the sun, I use Jurlique's SPF.)
*visit here for more info on Jane Iredale's mineral cosmetics.

Nutrition:
1. More beans and whole grains made in pressure cooker
2. Plan meals out ahead of time; get grains or beans soaking in the a.m. at breakfast for that night's meal
3. Plan on last night's leftovers for lunch
4. Continue with mulitvitamins and omega 3 oil (fish oil) capsules

Exercise:
1. Do something every day.
2. Mix it up: One long run a week, one ride a week, one zumba class a week, and yoga sprinkled in

Spirituality:
1. Mini meditation right when I get to my desk (even just 2 minutes)
2. Journal once a week (used to be every day ... I'm not going to push my luck now...)

Work:
1. Set watch timer to remind to stretch every hour

I'll continue to add to this list...

open the door to compassion

2008-04-29T21:52:00.000-07:00

Next weekend I'm teaching a mother's day yoga workshop (on Saturday). The inspiration for the workshop is from a 'mommy mantra' I read in a book I have of the same name. The mantra is open the door to compassion.

From Myla Kabat-Zinn, in Everyday Blessings:
When a child, no matter how old, feels our acceptance, when he feels our love, not just for his easy-to-live-with, loveable, attractive self, but also for his difficult, repulsive, exasperating self, it feeds him and frees him to become more balanced and whole. That is compassion in action. (But she’s not saying we put up with unacceptable behaviour.) We just might need to be mindful of what might be going on from our child’s point of view, and factor compassion into our response, rather than react automatically and unthinkingly.

Here's a thought on showing compassion towards ourselves as mothers, from Buddhism for Mothers, by Australian author Sarah Napthali:

In practicing compassion we speak kindly to ourselves and notice whether our inner voices are supportive and friendly or judgmental and demanding. We are patient when we falter, for parenting makes amateurs of us all as we confront its never-ending new stages. It helps to cultivate self-awareness, not guilt.

This whole compassion mantra is starting to play more of a role for me now that Mirelle is acting more assertive and entering tantrum land. (Or at least what I think are tantrums...)

screaming/crying as she tries to get to her pacifier, which lives in the crib...

Oh, and one more thing about mother's day: visit this site to donate money in your mother's name to help war victims. (The founder of Mother's Day, Julia Ward Howe, created the holiday with the intention of women uniting for peace.)

Durango clients

2008-04-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

Recent work I've done for my Durango clientele...

Logo for The Sol Center

Yoga schedule for instructor and friend Elise Fabricant

Recycled logo for lobotome

Gallery Walk night postcard for There's No Place Like Home, an eclectic shop on Main Street

High Water logo for a fundraising event for the Discovery Museum at the Powerhouse

music together

2008-04-24T18:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I'm a bit behind with work, and after being away last weekend, am still playing catch-up. Tomorrow morning is Mirelle's Music Together class. Gosh is it fun. I think I have as much fun watching her dance around as she's having dancing. (Mirelle's dancing moves consist of lots of knee bending and clapping.) I'm so glad my friend, fellow mama (and my Durango chiropractor) Mimi introduced Music Together to us with her little gal Sophia.

I've been reading the little book they send home on the first day of music class, and it's fascinating to me the impact early music education can have on children. More the reason to break out the instruments at home and make music, together!

Here's an easy tambourine idea: take two paper plates, fill them with beans, staple around the edges (I sealed the staples with packing tape), et voila! Perfect for scribbling with crayon, glitter, etc, and then ready for play.

Catching up with old friends

2008-04-22T07:19:00.000-07:00

I've been gone from my blog for a few days: my friend Elise was in town (visiting from Durango); then we drove to Glenwood to my parent's house and visited with our friends Paul and Stacie (in Basalt, visiting their family), spent Sunday morning with them and saw a lot of old friends (including all of the words pictures colours graphic design crew: Kelly, Margaret, and Kimi) at a little neighborhood Easter egg hunt. (There was 3 feet of snow on the ground at Easter, so they had to postpone the hunt...) A fun unexpected reunion with old friends and co-workers. Ross and I had a really nice long run along the new trail that's now connecting Glenwood Springs to Aspen (created on the old railbed); we'll head home this evening. We also viewed the nearly 1000 pictures from my parents' trip to Australia, Japan and China (they just got back about 10 days ago.) Lots of catching up to do.

Happy earth day, happy spring! It's just starting to green up over here on the Western Slope of Colorado ... but I know back in the Denver area the blossoms and buds on the trees are starting to appear. I love this time of year! We look a walk with my dad yesterday (Ross, Mirelle and I), and it was so nice to smell wet grass, see the daffodils blooming near neighbor's mailboxes, and just breathe in the scent of the world awakening from its winter snooze. This pic of Mirelle is one of my favorites from this time last year, taken in Durango.

Ready for spring cleaning?

2008-04-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

A few years back I made some of my own cleaning products with essential oil 'teas,' borax and vinegar. (I got inspired after deciding to make them for my friends Kathryn and Gardy's housewarming gift - made labels for the bottles I gave them - shown above.)

I'm still using the countertop cleanser and window cleaner I kept for myself. I also made a bath scrub with baking soda, lavender essential oil, and lemon balm leaves (my only complaint with that was that the lavender and lemon balm pieces were sorta a mess in the tub after it was all said and done - I would really grind them up next time before adding them). After I'd made the cleaners, then I bought a little metal wire basket, put the spray bottles and scrub in there with a blooming gerber daisy plant, et voila! These days I don't quite have the free time of days of old, but these are the recipes I used. I think I probably doubled these recipes to make extras for myself:

mirror and glass cleaner
1/2 c. white vinegar, 1/2 c. rosemary tea (made with 1 c boiling water and 4 T dried or fresh rosemary leaves), 6 drops rosemary essential oil. Mix together and pour into spray bottle.

disinfecting spray for walls, floors and surfaces
1 c mint tea, 1 c lavender tea, 1 teaspoon borax, 2 tablespoons white vinegar, 1 tablespoon unscented shampoo, 4 drops lavender, mint, or rosemary essential oil, or any combo of those. Mix together and pour into spray bottle. Shake before using.

tub, tile, sink and stove-top scrub
1 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup dried and crushed lemon balm leaves, 1/4 c dried and crushed lavender leaves, 1 teaspoon cream of tarter, 5 drops lavender essential oil. Mix together and store in shaker can. To use, sprinkle on surface. Use a wet sponge to scrub, then rinse.

Oh, and here's a little treat. Helps to make the task of cleaning that much more pleasant. A free countertop cleanser with the purchase of a Cloverleaf Sink Set from Caldrea. Enter code at checkout: SINK415. Thanks for the tip, Jace. Not only are Caldrea's products delightful, they're also very well designed. Always a plus.

Sippy cup debate

2008-04-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

With all of the buzz about bisphenol A (BPA) (found in many plastics), it's good to know there are some alternatives on the market when it comes to children's sippy cups. I've been a wary plastic user for many years (ditched my old nalgene three years ago for a SIGG), so I was glad to find this stainless steel sippy cup from Thermos. It's the foogo. It's really good at keeping liquids cold, too - up to 6 hours, they claim, which is good when you're taking the cup out and about with milk. I'm really happy with the thing - it's just a bit heavier than the standard plastic sippy cup, and it's recommended that you hand wash it.

Gen Green.org

2008-04-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

A cool new website my friend Mel mentioned to me: GenGreen is all about sustainable living with an emphasis on the local. You pick your state, then choose from a menu of businesses, events, transportation options, jobs, recycling centers - the gamut. A really great resource, especially with all of the Earth Day events coming up. (I clicked on 'events' under the Colorado listings and found out about an Environmental Film Festival in Fort Collins and EarthDay 08 at Centerra with a focus on local stuff (suprising considering it's a big box strip mall in Northern Colorado).

The site also list local Farmer's Markets (an important piece of info this time of year), as well as green tips and a green dictionary. I like this word/definition:

Cradle to cradle - The application of environmentally safe materials in the production of goods. Also, implementing strategies for material reutilization, including, but not limited to, recycling and composting, the efficient use of water and energy and the use of clean, renewable energy. And lastly, practicing social responsibility. This process traces the production of one product through its life cycle and plans for its reuse as a product in a new form.

Brekkie at our house

2008-04-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

Still life with brekkie

Our breakfast this morning made such a nice little still-life that I thought I'd take a quick snap and let you in on a typical brekkie at our house. I think 'what do you eat for breakfast' is sort of an intimate question ... breakfasts are so personal and I think most people have a pretty standard fare that they stick to. My friend Alice, for instance, is a yogurt and homemade granola kinda gal. Her husband is a raisin bran and diet dr pepper kinda guy. My mom has a buttered toast and tea ritual. My dad prefers oatmeal, or toast with lots and lots of jam.

My typical weekday breakfast? (Mind you, weekend breakfasts can be quite different.) Pretty much just a variation of what you see here. Lemon yerba mate tea with honey and milk, maybe some yogurt (today it was lemon brown cow), perhaps with grape nuts or granola, and/or some raisin pecan bread with butter and creamed honey from Colorado's western slope. And some grapefruit. That's Mirelle's menu too (sans tea) and plus an egg.

Breakfast is a favorite meal around here.

New Belgium Brewery

2008-04-14T05:39:00.000-07:00

We visited the wind-powered, über-hip New Belgium brewery this weekend in Fort Collins with our neighbors/pals John and Alice. (Quite a feat with a 19-month-old in tow!) If you haven't visited their new website it's a must. My friend Mel, who I met at Sterling Rice Group (I freelanced with SRG on the Yogi Tea package redesign two summers ago - more on that later), is now creative directress extraordinaire at NB, and they're turning out some beautifully-designed stuff, as usual. And their beer is pretty well designed, too.

While we were sampling some fabulous brews, we remarked on the word 'folly' from their tagline Follow your folly. Ours is beer. Here are the top three meanings of folly from Websters online:
1: lack of good sense or normal prudence and foresight
2 criminally or tragically foolish actions or conduct
3: a foolish act or idea
Hmm... so what is my folly? Traveling the world writing about colorful and foreign things might be one. This might warrant some more thought. What's yours?

We checked out all things beer, including this cool shrine. I'm a fan of shrines ... I'm remembering a book I saw once on creating your own shrine at home. More on that to come in a separate post.

Coral Camellia

2008-04-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

Saw this post on Coral Camellia (fabulous childrens wear) on design mom today, and the designer is from lil ol' Palisade on the Western Slope of Colorado (not far from where I grew up, in Glenwood Springs). I'm dreaming of Mirelle in this coat, but my bank account isn't.

This little outfit is so darn cute, too. Everything on her site is. Gosh she has some cute stuff.

If anything, some inspiration for those aspiring sewers out there ... in all your free time, right?

Handmade paper

2008-04-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

Back in the pre-child, pre-real-world days (aka college), I actually had time to make paper with scraps of paper, newsprint, junk mail ... whatever I could scrounge up. Once Mirelle is a little older, though, it'd be fun to break out the screen and do it again (it really is a lot of fun.) My sister sent me this link to make paper out of junk mail - looks like a good one. When I do make paper again, I'll post my process.

The paper at top has less texture and was therefore better for drawing/writing. In these papers above (also made many moons ago), I added in some torn leaves, rose petals (probably from an old boyfriend!), and other textural elements. I like the way the rose petals bled a little into the paper. Handmade papers could also add some cool texture to scrapbooking/journal pages.

Lovely journals from New Growth Design Studio

2008-04-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

My dear friend and fellow designer Kelly gave me this beautiful handmade journal/notebook at the holidays ... I'm still trying to decide what special thing to use it for. Each notebook is hand silkscreened by Sara Blette in her studio in Boulder. I discovered Sara's other journals on her website, and am particularly interested in this garden notebook, especially for my friend Mary in Fort Collins who is gardeness extraordinaire!

Time to start thinking about that muddy plot of earth in our backyard and be inspired by all things green and blooming! Even if you don't have space for a garden, is there a little area where you can plant a few things this Spring?

Support emagineGreen!

2008-04-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted yet about emagineGreen(tm), a company I've been working with since last fall. They are a women-run, direct sales company that provides environmental education and products designed to prompt behavior change (their market being women, who in America spend $1.7 trillion/year on household products such as paper napkins, garbage bags, and disposable water bottles.) I will have more posts on them in the upcoming weeks, but for now, they need your help! emagineGreen is a finalist for a backstage pass to meet Jon Bon Jovi and tell him about emagineGreen in person!

Please visit this website and VOTE for Tonya Ensign's entry (emagineGreen founder). You can see the results of the vote after you make your selection. It takes less than 2 minutes! PLEASE VOTE once per day until Friday, April 11th when the winner is announced!

Manic Monday

2008-04-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

Well, not really, but it does just feel like a Monday. And waking up to snow kinda makes it harder to motivate at the start of the week! We had a really nice weekend. Ross's parents are in town so Mirelle got some good QT with grammy and grandad. I took her to the first class in her Music Together session on Friday, and she loves it.

I've also been meaning to get her dialed in with some nutritional supplements, especially after a talk I went to with Dr. Roy Steinbock of Mindful Pediatrics in Boulder. He's an MD, but incorporates a lot of holistic medicine into his practice. Mirelle and I took a trip to Pharmaca (really helpful natural pharmacy in Boulder) and I bought her some Nordic Naturals fish oil (DHA) that tastes like strawberries. She's also taking a multi-vitamin that tastes like mango. And a probiotic (FOS/Acodophilus powder). Probiotics are really good for everyone, and 'absolutely essential for good health' says Dr. Roy.

I also spent some time preparing for a mothers' yoga workshop I'm teaching in May. More on that soon.

Archer

2008-04-04T07:45:00.001-07:00

A font I'm dreaming of ... Archer, the colorful slab serif.

Sweet but not saccharine, earnest but not grave, Archer is designed to hit just the right notes of forthrightness, credibility, and charm. Available here.

Falafel and pita and baba ghanoush oh my

2008-04-03T05:55:00.000-07:00

We had a fabulous feast last night - and discovered aside from all of the raw garlic in the yogurt and tahini dressings (well, and in the baba ghanoush), falafel and pita is a really good, fun kid food. We made standard garbanzo bean falafel and a parsnip falafel (coated in sesame seeds). Different ... good, but we like the original falafel the best. Mirelle was happy with either.

(The flowers are courtesy Mary and John from my b-day last week ... thanks guys!)

Greens, glorious greens

2008-04-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

The best way I've found to get my 18-month-old to eat greens is this: steam them, chop them up really small (no tough spines), and serve them with a peanutty-coconutty, yummy sauce (alongside brown rice and some baked tofu or tempeh). Here's my favorite peanut sauce recipe ever (not to peanutty, not too salty, just mild and delicious). If your little one is allergic to peanuts, try substituting cashew butter or almond butter. (You can save $ by skipping the jarred cashew butter and just grinding raw cashew pieces up with a little water in your blender.)

Sate Sauce (from 1000 Vegetarian Recipes, by Carol Gelles - a really good vege cookbook)

In a 1-qt saucepan, heat 2 teaspoons oil over med-high heat. Add 2 cloves minced garlic, cook 10 seconds, stirring until softened. Add 2 teaspoons curry powder, cook, stirring, until absorbed. Stir in 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk, 1/4 cup peanut butter, 2 tablespoons brown sugar (or other sweetener, like honey or agave), and 1 tablespoon tamari (or soy sauce). Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes.

And for more info on greens, Whole Foods has a nice little review. (Lovely rainbow swiss chard shown above.)

P.S. My favorite greens of all are beet greens (from the tops of beets) - mild, tender, and delicate, just with a little olive oil and garlic sauteed in the pan. Especially good when they're straight from the garden!

One more P.S. that I'm adding after talking to my friend Andi, who's making baby food for her little Sophia: the best way I was able to get Mirelle to eat greens as a wee babe was to puree the cooked greens up with some soft cooked fruit - ie pears or plums. The greens end up being brown, but really sweet, and you can feed them to your little one in place of a fruit. Sneaky mama...

Yoga Mama

2008-04-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

Great article from Yoga Journal that I read to my mama/baby yoga class about a mother 'living' her yoga.

A mother explains how parenthood has become a part of her practice.
By Janet Stone

Reaching down to pick up the mashed banana from the brand-new carpet, I inhale and plant my feet firmly into the "earth," feeling the four corners of my feet and the brilliant energy coming up my legs. That energy connects with my sacrum as I radiate my heart toward my shins and feel lengthening in my back body.

Then I notice that the oat milk my three-year-old, India, was drinking also landed on the carpet. A wail from the other room pierces my ears as Lilianna, my 11-week-old, attempts to ward off her sister's attacks. I lengthen through the back of my neck, engage my abdominal wall, press down through my feet, and stand tall. I sprint to the next room, where I find said larger child lying atop said newborn. My spine extended, Uddiyana and Mula Bandhas engaged, I lift India off her sister, while my shoulder blades move down my back and my jaw relaxes.

Things settle down, and we move on to muffin baking. Toes brighten as they reach to pick up a fallen tray while one leg feels the inner spiral, and the left hand extends through the fingers to stop the oil from overflowing the measuring cup. I practice pranayama to drown out the loud expressions (called whining) made by my baking partner while balancing the itty-bitty baker on my left shoulder.

I once had a daily two-hour practice. Now I practice from the moment my eyes open until they close. Sacred texts teach nonattachment, noncoveting, uniting opposites. Could there be a better teacher than children? Even if I slipped away to the Himalayas with an enlightened guru, I might not receive such constant opportunities to live my yoga.

'You Really Can Do Whatever You Want'

2008-03-31T05:21:00.000-07:00

back to that post from last Monday...

Here are some more things I would do if I could do anything I wanted:

:: spend more time being creative with tangible (not digital) materials (ie paper, glue, found objects, paint, etc.)

:: travel the world as a writer -- writing about luscious things in other places (farmer's markets, little hotels, summer festivals, etc.)

:: speak closer to fluent French and learn Spanish

:: live in a foreign country for a year or two

:: do more meditation retreats

:: continue to expand my yoga practice and skills as a teacher

more, for sure, but that's a start... If you get a chance today, start off your week with a couple of ideas that break you out of your standard view of what's possible.

artwork from Keri Smith.

Everybody needs a fancy coat...

2008-03-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

with a fake fur fringed collar and sleeves ... especially on a snowy spring day like today!

A good morning for an early (7:30 is early for a Sunday) yoga class, full of backbends (invited opening up to vulnerability, left me feeling really invigorated) and a warm chai afterwards. Ahhhh...

The teacher, De, read a really beautiful quote from Rodney Yee's latest book. Here's a quick backbend video from Rodney you can do at your desk this week. (Super simple. The commercial before the video is kinda annoying, but do something else while that's playing, like closing your eyes and taking some long inhales and exhales through your nose.)

Happy Sunday!

Meal Planning this Weekend?

2008-03-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

OK OK, I should be working, but next on my list this afternoon is to edit some designs for lobotoME, a company created by my Durango pal and fellow mama Jenny. lobotoME sells fabulous notepads and planners (really ideal for busy mamas, or, well, busy anybody). I designed this feedME pad for her last year, and it's super handy for those weekend menu-planning ordeals. Makes writing it all down and getting your shopping list organized really fun. lobotoME's releasing 4 news pads at the NY Stationery Show in May, so stay tuned for new pads, new designs, and more witty insight and tips from Jenny. Her blog is a really good read, too.

And I swear I'll get back to work now! Something on my menu for next week: falafel and baba ghanoush in pitas. Mirelle's down with the ethnic cuisine...

Earth Hour tomorrow

2008-03-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

Can you live without lights for just one hour? Cities across the world are shutting down March 29th at 8 p.m. Sounds like a great excuse to break out the candles! More info here.

If you love to dance ...

2008-03-27T19:20:00.000-07:00

I started going to Zumba classes in January, did other stuff for the last month, but went back to class again today ... it is sooo much fun, and just exactly what I need after sitting at my desk all day. Find a class near you on their website, and start shakin' those hips! It's like Spring Break at the gym. Love it. Their motto is 'Ditch the workout. Join the party.' Well said.

My parents are in China...

2008-03-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

...and I just signed another petition regarding the situation in Tibet ... the petition will be delivered to Chinese President Hu Jintao showing that a violent response to the Tibetan protests is not acceptable.

My parents set sail yesterday on a boat from southern Japan that will take them eventually to Hong Kong. With the Olympics looming, let's hope China might listen to the global community and approach the Tibetan situation with a little more dialogue and less violence and oppression.

Thirty-One

2008-03-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

In honor of my birthday, I took the day off work, had lunch with Mirelle and Ross, then painted a canvas (something that I haven't done since, well, college, and the resulting piece is well, interesting). The Henleys (my sister, brother-in-law, and their two girls) came to Louisville for a birthday dinner; Jessica and Sydney made a yummy sticky date pudding. (Family recipe.)

My sister found me this book for my birthday."Billed as fiction with a mission, this well-written supernatural adventure unabashedly seeks to convert young readers to an ecologically green philosophy." (from Amazon.) Sounds good to me! The author also keeps a blog to keep young readers inspired. Hooray for all things gaia!

Inspiration for today

2008-03-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

Hmm ... what would I do if I truly believed this?

artwork from keri smith.

I'd make more time to be creative with scissors, glue, and pretty papers. Right now I'm inspired by Ali Edwards. Speaking of which, I'm going to log off and do that right now. I'll add more to this list later this week.

Beautiful baby journal

2008-03-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

Watch out, friends having babies. I found this beautiful baby journal 'The First 1000 Days' at growmodern. It may just be my new favorite baby shower gift. I've been keeping track of Mirelle's first year and a half in a random journal, but I'm going to transfer it all over to this book instead. It's a beautiful thing!

Happy Easter, Happy Spring!

2008-03-23T18:43:00.001-07:00

Hope your day was lovely!

Here's Mirelle this morning, admiring the tiny chicks found in her Easter basket.

Petition

2008-03-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

Just signed this petition related to yesterday's post:

After nearly 50 years of Chinese rule, the Tibetans are sending out a global cry for change. Violence is spreading across Tibet and neighbouring regions, and the Chinese regime is right now making a crucial choice between tougher crackdown or dialogue.

President Hu Jintao needs to hear that "Made in China" exports and the upcoming Olympics in Beijing will have the support of the world's people only if he chooses dialogue. But it will take an avalanche of global people power to get his attention. In just 3 days, the campaign is almost half way to the goal of 1 million signatures!

Free Tibet

2008-03-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

I don't watch the news. I hardly even listen to NPR anymore. I'm really out of the loop (almost always) about our pop culture and the latest happenings. Sometimes it's just all too much to take in ... and the news is, well, so sad. I'm really saddened about the happenings in Tibet, especially the violent clashes between the Chinese and Tibetan protesters lately. I practice a style of meditation known as vipassana (well, now my meditation looks more like changing a diaper, scraping bits of food off the floor, and wiping off a yogurt-covered face than sitting on the actual cushion). So the best I can do right now is send metta, or lovingkindness (a vipassana practice), to the Tibetan and Chinese people, and all those in conflict.

May all beings be peaceful.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings awaken to the light of their true nature.
May all beings be free.
I'll add more details on metta in a future post.

Here's a press release from the Dalai Lama, sent a couple days ago. You can also visit Free Tibet's website for more info here.

May all beings be free.

Fluorescent bulbs and mercury

2008-03-20T07:18:00.000-07:00

Compact fluorescent bulbs (or CFLs) are an excellent choice when it comes to energy efficiency. But the bulbs can't simply be tossed when their life ends. All CFLs contain about 5 milligrams of mercury — a tiny amount, for sure (barely enough to cover the tip of a pen) — but that is enough to contaminate 6,000 gallons of water beyond safe drinking levels. You can read a more detailed article on CFLs and mercury here, and look for a recycling center near you to dispose of them.

These images are from an invitation job I did last summer for the Discovery Museum at the Powerhouse in Durango. It was a really fun die-cut job (so just imagine the bulbs being cut out where you see the outline around the shape...) The invitation was for their gala fundraising event held last September.

Mirelle draws a name...

2008-03-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

And the winner is...

Melissa Johnson!, Senior Account Exec at Bayard Advertising and one of my clients in Denver.

Thanks, everyone, for your feedback, comments, and support! Check back for more giveaways this spring!

A good day for green tea...

2008-03-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

Buena Vista

2008-03-16T18:28:00.000-07:00

Spent the weekend in Buena Vista checking out a New Urbanism neighborhood going in there.

Buena Vista is pretty low-key right now, but definitely up and coming. And beautiful, for sure. We stayed at nice little b+b,

had a really good meal at mothers bistro, and played some mean YAHTZEE.

Zwaggle

2008-03-16T18:23:00.000-07:00

My sister told me about Zwaggle -- a national network of parents who have come together to share kid stuff.

Basically, you receive Zwaggle points (or Zoints) by giving your gently used things to other families, then use those Zoints to obtain "new" things for your family.
They're touting it as 'financially smart' and 'ecologically responsible.'

Now I just need to sort through all of our stuff to get started... I'll let you know how it goes! I know we could really use a double stroller for our nanny to use...

gaiacreative card giveaway

2008-03-14T13:41:00.001-07:00

To celebrate the launch of my blog, I'm giving away a set of two handmade cards - made with colorful cardstock, translucent vellum, and satin ribbon, all wrapped up with corrugated paper and hemp twine. The cards come with two policy #10 envelopes (policy means they open on the short end.) The quote on the cards is Love: don't be afraid to seize it and features a little feather illustration from a stamp that belonged to my friend Jonathan Gibbs.

Enter a comment to this post before Monday March 17 at midnight; winner will be randomly selected and announced on Tuesday.

My word for 2008

2008-03-14T13:24:00.001-07:00

Enough said. What is yours?

Warm weather riding (and running)

2008-03-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about doing some sort of bike tour/marathon this summer. Now's the time to start training, or at least thinking about it. I sometimes think I can't take on one more 'thing' on my to-do list, but these goals are very me-friendly, and momME time is always a good thing to map out well in advance.

My friend and fellow yogini mama Andi introduced me to this ride that she's thinking of doing this summer, and, well, it seems right up my alley. Plus, their website is just downright beautiful. And it's a women-only ride, and for a good cause ...

Another idea is the Boulder Backroads Marathon in September. Hmm. The Galloway run/walk method is a favorite of mine, and makes it feasible for anyone to do long distance runs. I trained with a group in Durango in 2005, but bowed out because of weird ankle stuff. So running may still not be in my future. But the Galloway program rocks!

Planning any rides/races this summer?

8 million tons

2008-03-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

...of trees used annually to produce paper catalogues. Easy way to remedy the proliferation of catalogues stacked on your kitchen table: unsubscribe online here in three quick steps. Yay for trees! I started tonight by removing my name from Boden, Boden Kids, and Athleta. (It's all online anyway.)

Mirelle in iota

2008-03-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung! Mirelle loves sporting about in her handmade iota pants, courtesy of Kelly, designer extraordinaire and the force behind iota.

My second job as a designer out of college was with Kelly, at words pictures colours, and that is where I cut my teeth, so to speak. Kelly played a huge role in me creating design as my livelihood - to her I am very much indebted.

iota is her stationery baby, and it's doing quite well - from paper goods to fabric, and now to leather goods ... can't wait to see what iota debuts this spring at the NY Stationery Show. These are the patterns in Mir's pants:

re:vision international

2008-03-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

I've been working with my cousin Eric on branding and design for his new non-profit, re:vision international. The identity is done, and now I'm at work on the website. It's really fun for me to work with a cousin who not long ago I was feeding him in a high chair as one of his 'big cousins.' Eric's a cool guy.

This summer he, alongside re:vision cofounder Joseph Teipel, will be riding his bike from Alaska to Argentina, beginning on August 1, 2008 and ending in February, 2010. The Revolution campaign will research how communities across North and South America are affected by global warming, resource depletion, and extreme poverty, document successful ideas and innovations on sustainability, and deliver the message of Revision International.

Here's a video on the re:volution campaign.

And their current website can be found here.

2008-03-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

Christiana Coop, a friend I know through my friend Mary Sanders, has recently been featured both online and in the San Francisco Chronicle for her very hip digs. Christiana left her career as a lawyer to become the US rep for ferm LIVING, a Danish design company that produces some seriously hip wallpaper and wall decals.

Visit her beautiful apartment in San Fran and check out a couple of pics of her coverage in the San Fran Chronicle. Truly an inspirational woman! You can visit Christiana's clever spaces blog here. Oh, and you can read the whole Chronicle article here.

etsy site now up!

2008-02-17T20:34:00.001-08:00

gaiacreative's etsy site is now up and running! Visit my etsy shop and check out our yogi tees for babies, toddlers, and mamas!

Here's a preview:

darling organic toddler tee (and darling model, my very own Mirelle!)

so cute organic baby onesie (gracefully modeled by sweet Sophia, daughter of Andi, who owns the yoga studio where I teach a mama/baby class)

Super stylish and fun tee for the mama who does yoga - naMAMAste, modeled by Melissa, who teaches prenatal yoga at the studio

2008-02-11T07:14:00.001-08:00

Welcome to gaiacreative's blog! I am in the process of setting this up, so please check back soon.

:sarah