MonkeyGrass Clippings

...and it begins...

Well, Thanksgiving is over, and the slippery slope to Christmas has begun! It seems to have really snuck up on me this year, since normally I have done cards (at least chosen and ordered them) and had a plan of some sort... We usually have a party, but the whole "annual" thing seems hard to get any traction on, since we only seem to be able to manage the "every other year"- much harder to explain on the invitation!

Since we're not having any sort of big shindig, I confess it is more difficult to get my energy up to get out all of the decorations. There are just so many of them! But, after getting busted on for the lack of Halloween decor by our son, we are bound and determined not to weasel out of the Christmas decor...    

I have at least done one thing, and that's find a teeny tiny creche for our mantle that I absolutely love! Our mantle is a beam, with the original mortise and tenon joints, reclaimed from a barn in Gloucester, VA, and it's got these little nooks inside that are perfect for this little set, courtesy of ebay.. I'll definitely get some other things out this week, though...

This should be a busy shopping week, even after the weekend, and we'll have more things going in this week as well. so if you're looking for gift ideas, it's a great time to catch some terrific little green gifts before they're gone.

One of my favorite new things are from Filz Felt- all of their items are crafted from 100% German wool felt, and we have placemats and tremendously cute Christmas ornaments coming in, but the coasters are already in, and they're terrific. I have a really picky problem with coasters, in that they are always getting wet, and after a while, they lose their purpose, since the condensation is dripping off the coaster itself. These have a great, clean look, absolutely wonderful colors, and from a practical standpoint, they are not at all drippy, and actually work!   

Happy Thanksgiving!

Whether you're like me, trying to multitask and remember when you put which pie in the oven, or just getting ready for a flurry of family meals and heavy doses of heavy food, you know it's Thanksgiving, and that means Christmas is right around the corner...Yikes!

I think it goes without saying that we're all probably spending a bit less and thinking a bit more about how we spend it, and we've been having these conversations with our kindergartner. It's amazing how we've spent so much time trying to teach him values and try to keep at least some degree of the hordes of plastic junk at bay. (That's not always effective, but we do try.) I asked today, though, if he thought that maybe this year Santa might need to put a limit on the number of gifts he brings. He informed me, very sweetly, that "You're supposed to get lots of things for Christmas." I didn't quite know what to say.

We've tried very hard to raise him so that he is not totally driven by consumerism, and luckily, he is definitely not a greedy kid- he never throws a fit in a store for want of something, and he very seldom wants something. The Christmas thing is tough though. As the parents of an only child, it's very hard for us not to want to shower him with everything he wants, along with everything we think he might want, and everything we want him to want... You really have to pull back and get it in perspective.

Still thinking of ways to do that...

Blame it on Facebook

Well, I have once again been remiss in my postings. Primarily because I've developed a new (and hopefully temporary) addiction to Facebook. It's really amazing how quickly something like that can become so addictive! But, now I'm back, and certainly hope to be more consistent as we move (very quickly) through the holiday season...with only 3 weeks, all of the worries about the economy don't really make me feel terribly confident that this is going to be a great holiday season. I know my gift list is going to be shorter, and that I will certainly have fewer things per person as well.

However, it is Christmas, so I will still be buying things, just not as many. The really important thing to remember, which, economy or not, should always be in our minds, is that it doesn't matter how much you spend, but what's important is getting people something that has meaning. The next important thing to me is that it's made fairly, traded fairly, and is made with quality, non harmful products. There are so many things we can give that don't cost much (or sometimes any!) money, and if we all just slowed down a bit, often we could figure out exactly what that "perfect thing" might be.

It's almost the holidays? You've got to be kidding me!

So, the people up the street have already got their Christmas lights up, which seems totally crazy to me, since despite the fact that I am in retail and ordered my Christmas and holiday items months ago, I still feel like it's months away! So, if you're like me and have not even begun to think about your shopping because it's still 75 degrees outside...check out all of the really awesome things that we've got in or on their way!

Terrific jewelry from Molly M, created from bamboo veneer, reclaimed suede and felt, and crafted into incredibly sharp, cool pendants and earrings. They're all great- I'm having a hard time deciding which one I want for myself!

  Also on their way are pieces by Smersh Design, crafted of sterling silver and concrete and cork "jewels" , some of which are also set with pearls. These are absolutely terrific too, and I'm already calculating which one I want (much to the major chagrin of my husband!). Be sure to check back, since they should all be up on the site by next week!

Tomorrow morning

Well, I should really be in bed, since I'm going to be on Virginia This Morning in the morning...early!

I'm still really trying to figure out exactly what I'm taking with me, etc., and what I'm going to be able to shoehorn into the 5 minutes I have on there. If nothing else, I have to at least work into the conversation that I have an actual physical location in Richmond, since they can't do that for some reason.

I could have been blogging for the past few days, but some friends managed to finally persuade me to log into Facebook, and update the absolutely zero void of my profile. Unfortunately after having done that, I got completely sucked in and have been on there, oh, maybe 50 times in the past two days. (Which, alarmingly, seems still less than many people!)

Do check out WTVR's Virginia This Morning tomorrow morning- I'm going to be displaying and discussing a number of really great home decor items, and some holiday items as well.

Brief comment

I'm trying to get some work done on the computer, watching tv, and I've got just a quick rant- While "greenwashing" really drives me nuts, and waters down the whole point of being "green" (which even sounds overused now), I think that the trendiness of "going green" really has made things more widely available, and has served to educate alot of people. It has, I think, also served to water things down some, though, where it's such a "trend" that that's all people think, and they don't really think it's important.

Which leads me to my rant. The commercial that just came on for a household cleaner (which I won't name here) features a mom who says "with all that I do, I don't have time to worry about the environment." I am sort of beside myself- I guess it's not a rant, because I am pretty much speechless. Huh?

And, what's up with the chemically scented flameless candle ad? Why is there a family of kangaroos in the ad, and why is is the kangaroo mother so stressed out?

Love it!

Well, if you happened to be watching Virginia This Morning on WTVR 6 this morning, you would have seen the first of my four segments on bringing more "green" into your home-  of course if you blinked, you may have missed it. Keep watching, though, because I'll be on 3 more Mondays in the month of November- covering Home next week, Babies the following, and finally, Kids!

One thing that is sure to make the cut next week are the oh so awesome Log Bowls from Loyal Loot Collective in Canada- omg these things are gorgeous! I've not even put them out yet, and am having a crazy difficult time parting with them- the literally glow, and have the most amazing natural/ high gloss contrast- I just keep walking past them and they just make me SMILE!!

They'll be in the shop tomorrow...sigh...and on the website by Wednesday, but here's a sneak peak...