Thanking the Troops

In keeping with yesterday’s theme of awesomeness and Monday’s message to be grateful, this is the perfect day to thank our troops for all the work they do toward ensuring our freedom in this country. I recently came across a website called Let’s Say Thanks and it definitely falls into the awesomeness category!

The program is sponsored by Xerox and it is so easy to send a postcard of support.

First, choose the design you like best. All of the colorful and inspiring postcard designs were created by children across the United States.

Next, personalize it with a message or select from the pre-written messages of thanks right there on the site.

Hit ‘Submit’.

Yes that’s it! It is free and so easy to tell out military service men and women how much we appreciate what they do and at this time of year when they can not be home to enjoy the holidays with their families it is vital to show how much we care.

I encourage everyone to pop on over to the Let’s Say Thanks website and take a minute to send a message today! Mine has been sent, I used the postcard above, as designed by Austin, in Upper Saddle River, NJ. Thanks Austin, and thanks to our troops! Get home safe and soon!

Things That Make Me Feel Light

Happy Solstice everyone! Today, in about 20 minutes from when I started writing this post, at 12:47 the light here in Boston will be a mere 9 hours long; six less than what we’ll see in six months on the Summer Solstice. The good news about that is at 12:48 the sun starts making its way back here for longer and warmer days ahead.

In the spirit of the returning light I thought today would be a fantastic day to share my lightness list -- thinks I’m thankful for, happy for or just enjoy in general.

It starts with this photo of a sunset I took down my street in July of last year. It was one of the warmest days and nights of the summer and the sky was a blazing red as the sun dropped out of sight. Even in the city, there is nothing quite like a great sunset!

A cozy hug.
My nephews smiling faces.
Laughter.
Warm meals with warm company.
Music that punctuates an occasion perfectly.
Water -- to drink, swim in, bathe in, etc.
Reading the perfect line then realizing I wrote it.
Reading the perfect line that someone else wrote.
A well placed saxophone or keyboard solo.
Inside jokes with Matt.
Home made hot chocolate on the stovetop.
A really well made pesto.
Cheezy 80’s pop songs.
Road trips and travel to warm places.
Conversations with my sister.
Spending time with family and friends.

What lights you up during these cold winter months?

Going Back to the Beginning

A lot of you have probably noticed that there have been a whole slew of new reviews here at Green Leaf Reviewer. After an extended hiatus from the original purpose of this website -- to find, review and grant Leaf Ratings to as many purported ‘environmentally responsible’ items as I could find -- I have decided to get back into the swing of it again.

The desire to do this has both waxed and waned in recent months but I am greatly looking forward to this new wave of opportunity in the realm of Leaf Rating reviews for many cool products and services that I have had the pleasure of having sent to me of late.

Many companies have been very cool about sending products and all subsequent information so I can properly review the item and I have been so blessed to have this opportunity; to use their phenomenal products and truly give non-biased personal opinions as to their ecological impact. Thank you so very much, I have enjoyed working with all of you and can not wait to see who is up next!

As the one year anniversary of Green Leaf Reviewer approaches this fall I am reminded of all the people, companies, causes, services, etc. I have featured over the past year. The blog has sure come a long way from where it began but it is also more on track than ever as I have this amazing opportunity to write full time and I thoroughly enjoy dedicating oodles of that time to the research necessary to bring my most awesome and loyal readers interesting little Green gems on an almost daily basis.

The blog as of the past few months has become a Sunday through Friday endeavor and has been kind of nice to take off a weekend day that I can spend with Matt, family or friends. In addition it gives an extra day of top post exposure to the Eco Fashion Friday featured designer. With that recurring theme my eyes have been opened to many designers and I wholeheartedly look forward to continuing that series.

Melissa, my sister in law and guest blogger, has been a wonderful resource and although she has not posted a whole lot her own Green fire has been lit and she is blazing her own trail on a more eco path by joining up with lots of local community organizations and even jumping on the board of one! Way to go Melissa!

In addition to her great contributions so many of you have emailed me links, stories, photos, information and even your own stories and I am really grateful you all think of me when you come across something environmental. If it hasn’t been featured yet never fear, there is no doubt it will be soon!

I just wanted to give a quick hey to everyone and keep you up to date on the behind the scenes action as well as to say thank you for all that you do to make Green Leaf Reviewer the cool little spot on the web that it is. Please feel free to share this site with your friends and spread the Green love and if you have a product or service you would like me to review do not hesitate to get in touch with me so we can chat about it!

And now…back to the reviews!

♥love♥

Sharing Is Caring

Last night we had my mom over for dinner and it was a fantastic night full of laughs and awesome conversation, catching up and sharing the daily happenings of all our lives. As a housewarming gift she gave us a copy of Christina Pirello’s vegan cookbook Cooking the Whole Foods Way which I must say I am already completely excited to tear into and start creating from because just about everything in it sounds fantastic and mom has made a dish or two for us already at her place and they were fabulous (Leaf Rating review to follow!). In addition to the book she brought a couple other goodies but let me back up to explain them all.

A few months ago I purchased tickets to see Jason Mraz on his upcoming Gratitude Café Tour when he comes through Boston. Because Matt has gone with me to a countless number of this man’s shows, not to mention that we will see him open for Dave Matthews a couple weeks before the Boston show, he declined going this time so I invited my mom. To somewhat prepare her for the experience I figured it was only right to let her borrow his most recent studio release We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things and give it a listen. She brought it back last night saying she may even buy it, that it is really good. I had a feeling she would have that reaction! As she handed it back to me she also pulled a couple other cd’s out of her bag.

Back in April my mom and her best friend Eileen hosted their own birthday bash at a shnitzy function hall complete with a cash bar, full buffet style meal and live entertainment. They kept the entertainment portion to themselves for months as a surprise. There was much guessing among us who the performer might be -- Five O’Clock Shadow, John Gorka, Vance Gilbert, Ed Gerhard or perhaps Christine Lavin? The night came and a musician I had never heard of before got up to sing and play his guitar and, along with everyone else in the room, he blew me away. His name is David Roth.

David is a folk genre singer with seven albums available and the songs he performed that night were upbeat and fun selections from his catalogue. One song in particular, “New House in Orleans”, stood out as it was all about construction of his home on Cape Cod; after completing a 3-1/2 year rehab ourselves it resonated with me and Matt. I had been meaning to pick up one of his albums since that night but had not gotten around to it. Well last night my mom pulled a few of his cd’s out of her bag of tricks and said I could have my pick of one; David had been kind enough to give both of the gals a box set as a thanks for having him and some of the discs were duplicates to her collection. Score!

I scanned the discs for the song and found it on his album Think Twice a two disc set. I was so excited to load the discs onto iTunes this morning and give this new music a listen so when I got to the second to last song on the first disc titled “What Can I Do” I simply smiled. I would like to share the lyrics here and encourage everyone to check out this talented singer and songwriter as well then get out and do something awesome for someone else today!

“What Can I Do”
by David Roth

I heard somebody had a hard day out there
I had a hard one too
We could count ‘em all up and see who wins
Who do you think would have more
Me or you?

Feeling sorry might work, but not for long
We don’t have that luxury of time
Got an idea, might help us both
And it starts with a question of mine

CHORUS:
What can I do for you today
How can I help in some small way
It would be such a gift to me, its true
If you’d let me do one little thing for you
What can I do

There’s a whole lotta things that I can’t make
I can’t build a house or meditate
But I know there’s one thing I can create
I can make some time

Tho the older I get, the faster it flies
I spend it like crazy, no surprise
But when my pockets are empty
And my credit’s declined
I’ll know that at least I gave you some time

CHORUS

Such a noisy and crazy Earth out there
We are neighbors in crisis everywhere
Just in case you were thinking no one cares
Someone may prove you wrong

People all over this world need love
Some won’t be lucky to get enough
That’s why I’m hoping that you’ll understand
How we’ll both get ahead if I give you a hand

CHORUS

Thanks for the inspiration David, can not wait to pick up more of your wonderful tunes. ♥love♥

The First Lady Gives a Heartfelt Commencement Speech

Please watch all three of the following videos to see First Lady Michelle Obama’s beautiful commencement speech given at the University of California, Merced on May 16, 2009. This speech was presented to the first full graduating class as UCMerced. Her words are not only moving but humorous and well stated.

Part I


Part II


Part III

Thank You Mr. President

While doing some research this afternoon I came across a link to a noteworthy blog over at my friend Charmaine’s place. It is called Post to the President and the entire purpose of the blog is for anyone and everyone to voice their thanks to President Barack Obama. Comments are disabled so those who wish to offer thanks must do so via email and it will go up on the blog as a post (don’t worry, you can remain anonymous if you like). I think this is a wonderful idea and certainly if it picks up a lot of steam (hint, hint: pass it on!!) it might be something the White House staff picks up on so maybe President Obama will be able to see that amidst all of this stimulus controversy or foreclosure bailout brouhaha that there are still many people out there who want to express their gratitude to him and his staff for doing the best job they can possibly do.

Please take a moment to check out the site and if you are feeling it, send him your own letter of thanks! Click below to be taken directly to the blog.

It’s, It’s An Email Blitz!

In the past forty eight hours I have received a bunch of emails and many of them are related to causes that are dear to my heart -- The Environment and The President. In fact two emails in particular not only show support for one or the other but managed to combine both the environment and President Barack Obama into one message. Now that is something I can sure get behind!

Let’s start by talking about 1Sky. This is an organization dedicated to creating alliances with politicians to effect real change in the realm of fighting global warming on a larger scale. Yesterday they sent all of us supporters a message to let us know that when President Obama signed the recovery plan into effect it included $87 billion in green investments. From what they have indicated this is the largest expenditure the government has ever made in the area of clean energy. Hooray!

Of course 1Sky was not simply letting us know about this wonderful turn of events, they have asked us to please send a thank you note to Congress and President Obama showing our willingness to continue to support the efforts they are standing behind with this package. The great news is they made it easy to express our gratitude! Simply go to http://www.1sky.org/green-recovery-thankyou and enter your zip code. A pre-written message of thanks (and thumbnails of our local Senators) will pop up. Enter the required information (name, email, zip) and hit submit. Then please pass this link on to as many people as possible. Showing our support for their support ensures the gratitude loop for positive change keeps revolving!

Speaking of change…

Is it time to change that old, worn out T-shirt yet? Well perhaps I could interest you in one of these:

Jason Mraz and Rock the Vote have partnered up to bring us this 100% Organic cotton t-shirt in two fun colors. As if that wasn’t enough the inks are water based and all solvents are environmentally safe. Considering all of these factors, the shirts are not expensive like many tend to be -- small to XL, men’s or women’s, silver or blue will not cost you more than $25.00 (plus shipping -- please note that I found the shipping cost to be a bit pricey but I feel the cause is worth it!). They will ship within the next couple weeks and 50% of the purchase price proceeds will go directly to Rock the Vote efforts.

That gives a whole new meaning to ‘Rock On’ as these folks spend countless hours educating and encouraging voter registration. Plus how cool will it be to walk down the street with the caricature version of President Obama emblazoned on the front of a shirt?

I Want to Express Great Gratitude

It is hard to believe that it is the first day of the second month of a new calendar year. Since starting this blog in mid October of last year I have logged over ninety five posts, only three of which were not mine and it has been rewarding as well as exciting to dive even deeper into the world of eco love to find all these pearls and gems to share. Without many bloggy friends these posts would not have been possible and I sincerely want to thank everyone who has shared their stories, ideas, thoughts and posts with the readers out there. Also all of you who come back to read these posts every day you are truly awesome and it makes me so happy to know you are enjoying this blog. I would be writing it even if no one was reading but to know there are so many of you interested, concerned and open to discussing environmental topics makes my smile beam!

As the spring heats up and so do the temperatures I fully intend to rub the hibernation from my eyes and get back out into this great big world of ours to explore. I will be doing my best to continue posting as often as I have been up to now but there could be times when I skip a day or two so please do not hold it against me. Instead I strongly encourage everyone to get out there on those days and conceive of your own eco ideas and put them into practice!

Some of the items I discovered I must follow up with as February rolls on are…

☼ Matt posting his final entry on the entertainment center. Part I is here, Part II here.

☼ Me getting in touch with our local public schools to discuss recycling bin availability.

☼ Changing all our bulbs to CFLs (there are 2 left & will be replaced as they die out)

☼ Join 41pounds.org to reduce my junk mail.

☼ Begin replacing all petroleum based products with more natural counterparts (shampoo, dish liquid, packaged items, etc.)

Looking forward to continuing this great journey together in 2009! Thanks again from the bottom of my heart for your unyielding support.

Thank You

This blog started out as nothing more than an idea based on a desire to share information about how fantastic we can make our local and global environments if we all give a little heart and soul to the cause. I have been sharing snippets and bestowing Leaf Ratings for just under two months now and I guess it must be going ok because my little corner of the virtual world just received over 1500 hits!

It is not enough to simply thank everyone who has made the effort to follow, subscribe, read, comment and contribute to this eco-journey we are all on together so instead I would like to happily grant a Five Leaf Rating to all of you as a sign of my most sincere gratitude for your support.

Every bit of happiness and joy is sweeter when I share it with all of you!