New Greenie on the Block!

Good morning friends! For those who celebrate, it is Easter Sunday here in the good old United States. On this day a few interesting traditions have taken hold such as egg hunts, baskets filled with candy and other goodies, and dying eggs to turn them into funky colors.

I don’t really know where the tradition of coloring eggs game from but when I was a kid we used to pick up the little kits that were sold at grocery stores or drug stores, shake the powder into a bowl, pour boiling water over it then dip our hard boiled egg into the liquid with the handy egg dipping thingie that came with it.

Now that I am older, and don’t have any kids, dying eggs fell by the wayside. I hadn’t paid it much thought until I was reading Jennifer’s blog, Green Earth Goodies, this morning only to discover she had posted a fantastic tutorial on how to accomplish this fun activity using all natural ingredients that are better for the planet and probably already right there in your own home!

Here’s a snippet from the post:

“…depending on preference for depth of color (and keep in mind, these will look more like natural Easter eggs – earthy, soft and muted, so don’t expect the harsh color that comes from artificial food dye or kits); if you plan to eat the eggs, then you should move your glass containers into the fridge once the dye has cooled off…”

Obviously pastel colored eggs will be tough to achieve using the at home dye creation method but kids (or adults alike!) will have double the fun squishing up berries or veggies to use in the mixes too.

If you haven’t gone out to buy a kit (or even if you have) I suggest checking out Jennifer’s DIY Coloring Easter Eggs Naturally tutorial and giving it a try. Then be sure to use the eggs for egg salad, deviled eggs or any other treat you like after the day has passed.

Does anyone have suggestions for what to do with the leftover “dye”? Has anyone used this method before?

Would love to hear feedback, and please welcome Jennifer to the Greenie blog roll!

Redefine Christmas, For Every Occasion

For the past couple years my Mom has been both giving and receiving charitable donations as gifts for Christmas. Not only has it helped all of us to pare down the stuff we receive at that time of year but it makes us feel great to know that we are helping out another who truly needs it.

This year I had asked her to locate her favorite charity who’s mission was to keep music in schools. Sadly she was unable to find something so specific that was not regionally based (and outside of our own country at that) so instead she donated to the Surfrider Foundation; considering I love the ocean and music about equally it was a great choice!

For Matt a donation was made to the National Parks Association and it made us both feel pretty great to realize that both land and sea were taken care of this year.

My aunt replied to the email my mom sent out thanking her for her generous gifts and mentioned the organization Redefine Christmas. Apparently these folks have been getting a lot of press as of late as their message and thought is the exact same as my mom. Fantastic!

Partnered with JustGive.org and Changing the Present, the folks at Redefine Christmas help provide links to so many different charities there is surely one to fit every single person in all of our lives.

Many of you might be thinking it is odd that I am commenting on a Christmas charity just after that holiday has come to a close but I say no way! Let’s consider all that is coming up -- Valentine’s Day, birthdays, Passover, Independence Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, heck I bet there are holidays in a calendar year that people celebrate that I’ve never even heard of! What better way to show someone how much they mean than to give through them to someone truly in need?

I pledge this year to be the year of charitable donations, no fancy gift wrap, no expensive and newly created items that may or may not ever be used. No, instead for all of those holidays and more, this year is the year I give generously in other people’s names!

Who’s with me?

Thanks for the festive photo and the inspiration Mum, you are truly a pioneer!

Sun and Warm Weather is where its AT!

Last Sunday this happened in my hometown:

But...

Now I’m enjoying the lovely weather in the southern California desert! It’s close to fifty degrees warmer here than it is at home. I feel for everyone back there but Christmas in Cali is a very nice change. Not to mention we have been having an amazing time with Matt’s family which is a rare change from our usual as my family is the one centrally located in Boston.

We do miss our nephews and Matt’s sister and BIL of course but seeing an entirely different side of the family has been fun. FIL and Step-MIL plus Matt’s Aunt, Uncle and two cousins are here and we rarely see any of them so we’re making the most of the fun together!

My sister is also driving out from Arizona today (hooray!!!) and it will be fantastic to spend some time with her this Christmas as well.

If I’m a little spotty this week I apologize but I fully intend to enjoy this vacation of warmth on the other coast so I can soak up as much as possible before heading back to the likes of the photo above.

But don’t forget to swing back over after the New Year to read about the Green Gift Guide and giveaways!

No Matter What Holiday We Celebrate

It is always nice to remember to enjoy everything about this time of year. As I grew up celebrating Christmas I still love this magical holiday season and choose to see the good that can come from the little things we all do to help each other out at this time of year. At this time last year I was living in a small New England beach town and it snowed close to Christmas day so I sparked up the iTunes and started recording the scene. I will not claim to be a videographer or anything but I think a jazzy carol as a backdrop to snow through a wreath is pretty cool.

Below is the video and lyrics to the song. No matter what holiday you personally celebrate I wish for peace, love, safety, warmth, laughter, joy and lots of great food with those closest to you. I will be taking tomorrow off to do the same with my family so be sure to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.



Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on
Our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yule-tide gay
From now on
Our troubles will be miles away

Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more

Through the years We all will be together
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now

This Is Exactly What This Time of Year Is All About

Last year for Christmas my Mom started a new tradition within our family of giving gifts of charity to each other in lieu of stuff. It went over so well and everyone got involved. This year we decided our charity of choice was going to be something environmental; Repower America for alternative energy sources. Although a few members of the family did donate to this charity (and we excitedly received the confirmation emails), a couple others did something a little different.

Today we received Christmas cards from family in Arizona and when we opened them we were delighted to discover a cardboard card inside with the words “Give the gift of green” printed on the cover. I opened the card and to my surprise there was an American Express gift card inside, confused I began to read the fine print.

Turns out that the Westcor chain of malls sells these gift cards and they are meant to be used anywhere American Express is accepted. The cool news with this one is that through October 31, 2009 $0.70 of each purchase will be donated to American Forests. Westcor will donate a minimum of $100,000. In addition the card holder is created from 30% recycled paper.

In the spirit of attempting to avoid being caught in nothing more than a consumerist trap of buy, buy, buy just for the sake of spending money, this gift card will be one I will be happy to spend. However, in an effort to maximize the importance of the gift I plan to make it a two-fer by spending it on environmentally responsible versions the every day items we might run out of such as laundry detergent, dish liquid, face wash or shampoo.

They Finally Get Their Revenge

Happy Thanksgiving to all in the United States!

Be safe and have a happy holiday full of love, laughter and much gratitude!