In the Mood for a Little Rain?

This morning my mom sent me this really cool video in email. In the message it said to not watch the first time & just listen. I figured why not give it a try and oh man this is so cool it felt only right to share it with everyone.

While you enjoy this storm, don't forget the Perseid meteor shower is on for watching this evening in North America from about midnight through 5:00 AM. It is said to shower us with upwards of 200 streaking meteors an hour so grab a sweatshirt (if need be) and head out to catch the other show!

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

Poetry is a wonderful way to lighten a mood and lift spirits. On this soon to be sunny Sunday morning here at Green Leaf Reviewer I thought it would be nice to share a sweet poem that describes just how nature can make us feel happy no matter what our prior mood.

“Daffodils”
by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

What kind of nature makes you happy? Whatever it is I hope you are able to go out and enjoy it on this wonderful day! ♥love♥

Appreciating the Little Joys

I took these photos almost six years ago when Matt and I were driving along the Pike (better known as Route 90) on our way out to western Mass. Looking at them reminds me how small I am compared to the great big open sky but that I am not insignificant in this world where everything is connected.

“The Present…

…is the ever moving shadow that divides yesterday from tomorrow. In that lies hope.”
~ Frank Lloyd Wright

There is no moment like the one we are living right now and we choose to live it in the best way we know how -- as the grateful and generous people we have become! This video is just under nine minutes but it includes such soothing music and wonderfully inspiring quotes from so many interesting people it flew by faster than I would have expected. The quote I liked best came in at about 7:30, so true! I hope everyone takes a few minutes to relax and enjoy this calming but uplifting video during such a go-go-go weekend of shopping, and please feel free to come back to it anytime the time is right to be quiet and reflect. Have a wonderful weekend full of smiles everyone!

Timberland Is Reaching the Masses With Humorous Eco-Clothing Ads

In society these days it is sometimes difficult to get a point across without a big shock value ad. Using any means necessary to promote a product has become the norm from sex to drugs to rock ‘n roll and anything in between. The downfall of this is that eventually the general public becomes numb to the concepts and stops paying attention regardless of how big or bold the campaign is. This has become especially true with regard to television commercials and now that the tidal wave of green is spreading across the land advertisers must figure out a way to focus our attention on getting behind these products and services.

I typically do not watch much television as I do not feel that there are many unique, quality shows out on the airwaves worth my thirty to sixty minutes but what I do love to watch is sports, particularly football. When thinking on some of the advertising I have seen that sticks with me most of the commercials I remember have been while watching sporting events because these advertisers tend to use humor to make us remember their products. Yesterday while watching Sunday afternoon football (and the Patriots won by the way, woo hoo!) I witnessed a commercial that had me rolling so hard I knew it would become my focus for today’s post.

Timberland has a new product on the market called the Earthkeepers™ boot and they conceived of one of the most hysterical ads I have seen of late to introduce us to it. Here is the minute long commercial:



All I could say at the end of this ad was GO NATURE! The Earth is clearly sick and tired of us taking from her so when this guy arrives to enjoy a little bit of it, the planet fights back against his hypocritical values as he attempts to stomp all over her in his ‘made from all new material’ fancy boots. The Earthkeepers™ boot his friend is wearing has a lining made from 70% recycled material, the outsole is 30% recycled and do not worry, if nature tosses you into that raging river they are waterproof as well.

I do not tend to hike often and already have a nice pair of boots that I use for when I do but when those wear out I will seriously consider checking out Earthkeepers™. For promoting not only nature, but recycled material and eco-friendly clothing, as well as giving us a hilarious marketing campaign for an Earth friendly product that could be deemed ‘boring’ by the masses, I am granting a Four Leaf Rating to Timberland.

Innovation in product and how to promote it -- yippie!

Slowing Down To Appreciate It All

This will be one of those times that people who know me might be tempted to leave comments like “Is this a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ type of situation?” and I can understand why they would feel that way because I am typically a person who never stops and it may seem that I fly through life not noticing the little things but truthfully I do allow my overworked mind to absorb these moments and it makes every day that much sweeter.

For the past few months (especially during the last few weeks of mass production for yesterday’s craft fair) there have been times when I purposefully stopped my work-centric brain from spinning to take notice of some of these joys.


Saturday night dinner with our closest friends has become a regular occurrence and it is fantastic. We generally just hang out and chat over food and drink, relishing in the small time we get to enjoy each other’s company. There is something amazing about knowing there are people in this world who are always there for each other no matter what.

Recognizing how the seasons operate here in the northeast has been fun -- fall rain and wind is essential to bring all of those flaming colored leaves down, blanketing the land to prepare for the winter layer of snow and ice that will help to compost those leaves into the soil of spring so we can have even healthier, sturdy green trees in the summer. Winter is not my season of choice but it will be nice to watch snow collect on these trees from my “heat rises” third floor apartment window this winter.

Attempting to get back in touch with some of this stuff has brought the connection back to my relationship with Matt. If nothing else just having fun with each other again, embracing romance, laughing a lot, creating our own inside jokes, being supportive of each others achievements and remembering why we got together in the first place -- because no one else out there could really understand the dorks that we are besides each other of course! Well that and we both understand the importance of how rare it is to witness clowns not fitting into clown cars.

Yesterday in my email I got an update to one of my YouTube subscriptions, the official channel for Jason Mraz. I did not watch it until this morning and I have to say at first I though wtf? Five and a half minutes of a camera zoomed in or out on his face, sometimes breaking into a smirk, sometimes very serious looking, and at the end he simply says “You did it”. It seemed a little strange at first (watching a five minute crash zoom to the face of one of my favorite musicians was somewhat odd) but in the end this video is what inspired me to write today’s post.



In a busy world it is important to remember to take the time to slow down, even if just for five minutes, to recognize and truly appreciate all the things in life that bring us joy!

Geographic Space

Hello again faithful readers and I am so sorry to have let you all down with nothing to tear through yesterday but after literally being “trapped” in this house sewing, amping up to show off my upcycled bags at the FUMC Craft Fair this upcoming Saturday Matt and I decided it was high time to reclaim the art of the road trip and get me out of here before I turned into Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

We used to be insane travelers, every weekend we were taking off for somewhere we had never been before, photographing our journey and getting the chance to see the expansive country of ours over some fantastic tunes and conversation. Over the last couple years that all changed when we tried to become responsible adult types but yesterday we threw our responsibilities right into the recycle bin and headed off for the literal hills.

Now some of you might be saying, “yeah how’s your carbon footprint with all that gas you burned” and while I do admit we went through one tank of gas yesterday, we actually did think about our overall impact and tried to offset with some other choices. For example we:

☼ Planned out our trip so we did not burn through more gas by getting lost.
☼ Brought our own tap water in lidded cups.
☼ Brought a few pieces of the homemade banana bread I cooked Saturday.
☼ Stopped for only one meal on the road.
☼ Did not do a lot of stop and start.
☼ Used the passive heat off the engine to warm us most of the day.
☼ Traveled to a protected state park to get in touch with nature.
☼ Recently washed, waxed and cleaned out my car as well as performed light maintenance (tire pressure, oil change) to ensure she was running top notch.

We went to the Adirondacks yesterday, a round trip of about 500 miles, but considering I work from home and Matt takes public transportation every day to and from work this was the most significant miles we have done in about a year. So enjoy the photos below of our Sunday adventure in nature!

I start every road trip with a picture of Matt driving.


Lake George was our first stop and this is the summer theatre area. I dipped my toes in because it seemed like the right thing to do.

Next up, Adirondack State Park! Not as impressive in photos as in life; the mountains are enormous! I dipped my foot in the Hudson River as well and that time I did snap a photo. We encountered some of the larger mountains after it was too dark to take pictures and although I was really hoping we would, we never saw any wildlife like deer, moose or bears. I was really hoping to see a bear. Bears rule. Especially when safely inside the car.

In order to maintain a lessened carbon footprint we will not be able to do as many road trips as we used to, and certainly not the random trips we loved to take where we just got in the car and drove all over for an entire weekend, but the occasional day of travel when we generally maintain eco-conscious lifestyles can be a nice break from the pressures of adulthood and really helps get back in touch with the important parts of life -- good music, great conversation, nature and love.

Because, after all, how will we know what we are working so hard to protect if we never get out there and experience it?