happy holidays!

christmas lights that the babies cannot stop looking at, overflow of presents under the tree, overflow of friends and relatives, turkey, ham, pancit, egg rolls, sushi, portos cheese rolls, veggie meatloaf for the vegetarians, and good wine of course, white elephant gift game because we are too many to give, santa hats, perfect 70 degree So-Cal weather and karaoke till midnight! happy holidays!

image: my silver themed tree

newspaper wrap

Wrapped the white elephant gifts using less than 1 monday daily newspaper and previously used brown bags for the company party. Added ribbon so it seemed less like trash to people who are used to holiday wrapping and it became the cheapest, coolest wrapping paper around! 

roll-up bags

Barely got it together for a Holiday Sale I did this weekend in Eagle Rock. I sold my towels, cards and the newest item... these roll-up bags I made using organic cotton totes, some natural ribbon and snaps. It was fun doing the snaps, although I could feel it in my shoulder the next day. The two designs are also new, S-Curve in navy and Madrid in pink. Already have it in the shop, but will be working on better photos this week....

Apartment Therapy

Like many, I am an Apartment Therapy addict! They just have an honest, down to earth way of sharing information. Jon writes for them too, which makes it even better. Last night while reading my Dec issue of Blueprint, I noticed that they got a big mention on the Editor's page. Wow, I thought. This is definitely a sign of AMAZING things to come!!

Recent posts I've been loving...

The post about Eco-decorating via NYTimes is brilliant. All those fabulous event planners just hit the nail on the head on a completely new level. Sounds like they're sill trying to work out a few issues like waste, on a good note, it's just a sign that the eco lifestyle is becoming just that, stylish! I'm determined to make it an eco holiday this year :)

I am also thankful for the recycling magazines post. Finally, someone is addressing this issue! I had so many magazines that they made up half my belongings when I moved. There will be less guilt in this world.

in the philippines

what a long few weeks its been. this trip to the philippines was definitely one of my favorites. mainly because of the good mix of family, rest, and even a little bit of business. here are some of my favorite snaps. first we visit my grandma's house from the 50's...fish, a staple for any meal. this was for breakfast...jeepney ride to my uncle's farm...orchids from my uncle's farm to bring to my grandparents' graves...we are there Nov. 1 for all souls day where the party is at the cemetary...what surrounded us through a hike in the coconut tree forest...plane ride to Bohol in the south of the Philippines. a view of Mt. Mayon volcano known to have the most perfect cone...

these are called the chocolate hills because in the summer, the green dries out to brown and they look like chocolate mounds...

white sand beaches of Bohol Beach Club. this was the restful part of our trip, relaxing in the water, having spiked mango shakes, and getting a massage on the beach!some of parts of the beach were just made up of bits of coral...

Balay Celina

My aunt's rest house, now named Balay Celina, in the little town of Liliw, province of Laguna, Philippines is heaven. Designed by a local architect, its open floorplan and over all theme is Bali inspired. Most importantly, it is built to house mom's huge family (there are 12 brothers and sisters) which at times can bring together over 40 people on a given weekend. This is an overview of the main house...The front where we we usually hang out while waiting for our rides. This is a detail of the small pool and hand carved wood door...
This is where we all usually gather, for meals and just hanging out telling old stories. It amazing when it rains because it is covered and with a tropical climate, it is warm enough to continue whatever we are doing...
Over view of the space, even the chairs were hand carved...The guest rooms are open and sleep more of us on the floor when needed. There are also several sitting nooks to carry out the Bali theme...There is always fresh fruit, these are little bananas and lanzones. I always fall in love with the graphic tiles that feel ancient and modern at the same time...
The part that houses the kitchen...Flowers that grow in the back of the property and their buddah...
The cabana and the pool where you can take a morning swim sometimes in the rain! One Easter we hid all the eggs in this open area, crazy...
A view inside the cabana, a simple, but enormous structure which can house even 50 people on floor cushioned beds. Everything except the 2 bathrooms are made of the the bamboo and dried grass that forms the roofs. Windows are usually open at night which makes you feel like you're sleeping outdoors. The last night I was there, the sky was pitch black with thousands of stars...

The Liliw Church and a view of a rice field and Mount Banahaw where my mom's family has an amazing farm...

The ice cold river that runs down from the mountain. I have fond memories of when all of us would walk down to the river for lunch and swimming. Man on horse with a machete...
5 peso (maybe about 10 cents) per person tricycle rides which can seriously fit two behind the driver and three in the little side car. One of the many roosters that will crow at 5 a.m...

the food

clearly I took hundreds possibly thousands of photos over a 2 week period. i always do. can't help it. so many pretty things! many of them of course being the mouthwatering food... this is the buko (coconut) lychee shake. AMAZING....seafood lunch - green mango with salty fish, lapu lapu fish with black beans, squid, huge shrimp caught that morning, shaped rice and the beautiful mango shake...fresh buko juice straight from the shell...pinakbit, one of my favorite dishes made of eggplant, a few other veggies, bits of pork, and bagoong (salt fish)...

the always fascinated by rambutan fruit ~ red with all the soft prickly things all over it. my uncle has trees on his farm. he waited to pick these when we got there for lunch...

suman is sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf. you unravel and drizzle with sweet carmel sauce...

Batangas

I know I've been posting a lot today. Hopefully making up for the last month I've been away! Last one for today... my aunt's other house (she and my uncle are semi-retired and enjoy building houses), this one by the beach in Batangas, Philippines.  Wood is the theme at this rest house, all sorts of wood made by several craftsmen in the area. It's a wonderful rest home again big enough to accomodate the entire family. The sunsets are serene and the beach down below is like being on vacation all over again...kitchen and the first balcony...
indoor/outdoor shower and the dark wood staircase...craftsmanship in every detail of the house...always amazed that we all get a bed!playing scrabble by sunset...

infinity pool and path to a beach nearby...

iMac in tangerine

This week we will sadly have to say goodbye to our tangerine iMac. You can see from the dust, it's been in the attic for some time. They were so exciting back then (1999?) weren't they... I think I still have a postcard of all the candy colored computers arranged like just that - candy.

We will be recycling a total of 5 gianormous computer monitors, a scanner, a printer and a cell phone to California Recycles on Saturday at the Culver City Methodist Church. Knowing we were going to eventually do this, we have been collecting old computer hardware from family and friends knowing that if we don't take them, they will be sent to a landfill. California Recycles, will take them all apart and melt them down to be reused again.

catalogs cancelled

Called West Elm, JCrew, and FLOR today and kindly cancelled my catalogs. As the lady was typing, she recited my reason for cancelling - "shops online and going green :)"

Dwell Mag

The newest issue of Dwell is big, beefy, and all about green! Glad to see that "Sustainability is here to stay!"

Our New Prius!

Our new 2008 Toyota Prius Hybrid! Our lease was finally up on our other car making it the perfect oppportunity to green forward. We are getting about 39 mpg. Not bad compared to the 21 mpg on our other car. We were surprised that there were no deals to really negotiate at Toyota because the cars are flying off the lot. I've been hearing that a fully electric car you can plug into a regular household outlet will be out in 12-18 months!? That would be excellent!

Update: Despite the fact that we were still 2 bars until an empty tank of gas and that if you do run empty, a full battery will keep you going another 25 miles, we filled up for the first time this weekend anyway. It's been 3 weeks and we're at 43 mpg. Not bad at all :)

Drought Tolerant Garden

The native side of Santa Monica College's comparison of native and traditional gardens. I love the trees and shrubs, the pot submerged underground, the creekbed for urban runoff and gravel surface to let rainwater return back down to the groundwater supply. Find out more about it here.

LA Green Drinks 2nd Anniversary

Can you believe it's already October! Tonight we are trying our hardest to make it to LA Green Drinks in Culver City because it is their 2nd year anniversary. Barent Roth who was our Sustainable Works instructor started the L.A. chapter of this organization as a casual way to network and talk about green issues. We attended our first Green Drinks in at the Good Luck Bar in Silverlake a few weeks back and were impressed by how many great professionals we met who were passionate about the eco movement. There were about 20-25 people. The Culver City location, which is the original location, gets about 50 people attending, but I suspect there will be more tonight!

All Shades of Green and Ecoland

A new shop in Silverlake opened last week called All Shades of Green. I stopped by and picked up this comfy organic cotton ladies tank top by Ecoland. Their cotton is SKAL certified and the top manufactured in a sweatshop free factory. I was a little bummed about the excessive packaging, but it is made of 100% recycled paper and soy based inks.

Make It Right!

I love Brad and Angelina and their quest for goodness... This is Brad for the organization Make It Right in New Orleans with the commitment to bring affordable, sustainable housing to the Lower 9th Ward devasted by Hurricane Katrina.