A Purchase That Makes a Difference

I love these prints. What I love more is how everything about the shop selling them is win-win, regardless of whether you make a purchase or not. Each week Sevenly.org partners with a major charity and sends them $7 of every sale made that week. They've already donated nearly $10K this week. It's an amazing concept in that it builds social awareness and creates both tangible and intangible change. We need more of this.

On the heels of the Pope's call to end the cult of money, I thought this would be timely. I think those of us in rich countries could often use our money more wisely. I do think one of the major downfalls of living in a wealthy society is fighting consumerism. We earn so much more money than most people in the world, but what are we spending it on? (Granted, life's necessities are generally more expensive in rich countries, but still.) And while we can debate over how much money is too much money, or how much we 'should' spend on ourselves, or how much stuff is 'ok', I think it's unrealistic to expect everybody to suddenly change for the better, however you want to define it.

So why not at least start encouraging purchases that can make a difference? And if you happen to hear about a charity that inspires you to give to that organization directly, then so much the better. Even if the whole topic 'just' makes you pause and reconsider your lifestyle, then that is enough. I'm all about baby steps, though I think sometimes leaps of faith are also called for.

I often struggle with the tension between the balance of responsibility and the desire of self, of instant gratification in the form of a purchase -or even what I promote on my blog. I'm sure I'm not alone.  But I don't believe in being driven by guilt, but rather joy. There is so much joy in giving -financially, emotionally, or otherwise. May we all give a little more.

Eat This: Zucchini Boats

These zucchini boats have officially entered our regular meal rotation. Hitting a home run as fast, cheap, colorful, filling, and healthy, you just can't go wrong. Photo and recipe can be found here. An alternate version is to just use chopped zucchini middles + chopped mushrooms + chopped tomatoes + breadcrumbs + shredded cheese as filling (extra filling makes a nice cupcake-sized veggie casserole). 15 minutes and hey presto!

What are some of your favorite quick and healthy bites?

Party Planning: Sophisticated Safari

There's a big celebration slated to happen this summer: a milestone birthday and the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to go on a safari. My mother-in-law has asked me to help plan her party's decorations, so today we're off on our first supply-hunting trip!

Due to the logistical needs of certain important guests, we'll need to work hard to transform a dark and dated room into something special. We're going for a sophisticated black & white safari theme with lots of coral, peach and gold accents. Thankfully we'll be working with white walls, so we're hoping larger groupings of color will help people focus on the prettier elements in the room.

Fabric is going to be our main decorating staple. From simple no-sew tablecloths and napkins, to 'curtains' that will be draped over some frumpy window treatments (1980's floral swags, ugh), we have our hopes up high. I'm hoping Ikea will be our friend in this department. Once we see the actual colors of the fabric we can order complementary paper decor.

Paper decor in the forms of fans, pom poms and honeycomb balls (Wabenball) are also on the agenda. I've found a few German online shops that seem to sell what we're looking for -or at least the supplies, so we should be all set on that front. I'm also hoping to get crafty using images from this book, perking up napkin rings and other corners.

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One thing I just can't find is plastic animals. Rather, I can't find affordable ones -and no, I'm not going to pay 5 Euro just for one elephant when I need about 30! I've sourced the gold paint, so I just need the animals. I thought some gold-painted animals would be fun scattered around the tables and buffet. I think I may not know how to search well auf Deutsch. Any ideas?

Vielleicht einer von euch könnte mich helfen: Wo kann ich einfache Plastiktiere finden? Ich glaube ich kenne kein richte Deutsche Suchbegriff und kann deswegen nichts finden. Hier im Ort kann ich die finden, aber die sind ziemlich teuer, finde ich (fast 5- Euro für ein Elfen!). Auch bei Amazon gibt es keine Tüte von günstige Plastiktiere, schade.

I have to say I've been loving the painted plastic animal trend and am glad to have an excuse to try it myself (providing I can find some animals)! What do you think about it?

Balcony Blooms

Ever have those times where your life feels like it got put on pause? Among other things, my blog fell through the cracks last week with all the crazy Boston stuff, preparing to teach 4 classes for this week, and switching most of my files to a temporary computer while my regular one is off for repairs. Working from a temporary computer while trying to track which files (work files, blog photos, etc.) you've updated feels somewhat schizophrenic. Anybody else ever have to do this?

On the upside, spring has finally arrived...at the end of April. This is incredibly late for Germany, but I'm happy to see it nonetheless. Our balcony is planted and we've already enjoyed many a meal outdoors. It never ceases to amaze me how a bunch of 60 cent flowers from the hardware store can really brighten up a space. Pansies, bachelor's buttons, and forget-me-nots. We're also experimenting with a lavender plant and a kind of grassy-geranium. Once the trees leaf the plants don't get a lot of sun, so although we enjoy the privacy, we have to be mindful of what plants will actually survive in the low light. At least one of the trees is a big white lilac!

What's blooming in your outdoor space?

Getting Fit: Paddling

*My heart breaks for Boston after yesterday's explosions during the Boston Marathon. I had a friend running who was close to the finish line and is safe, but so many are not. Normally Patriot's Day (aka Marathon Monday) is such a fun and spirited day in the region; this year it is not. Sadly this happened when many who run to raise money for charities were coming in. Boston is such a sporty town. Sending prayers to Beantown.*

I used to live right on the Atlantic Ocean. It was wonderful to be so close to the sea. Not a day would go by where I didn't see it, hear it, or at least smell it. In college I regularly biked along the scenic shoreline, longing to be out on the water. My school didn't offer rowing, something I'd previously enjoyed in high school, so I had to be content to be close to the water. It wasn't until after college that I discovered the local outrigger canoe club, a more affordable option than the pricey Boston rowing clubs.

Granted, outrigger canoes are more at home in the South Pacific than a corner of the globe known for its massive snowstorms, but apparently there were enough Hawaiian expats who wanted to enjoy 'their sport' while living in New England. It was great to get out on the water several times a week and just paddle. There's something special about being on the water in small craft. You're right there on the water, not way up high like a sail- or motorboat. You can see and feel the water's resistance against your paddle and sense it's power much more intensely in a small boat. The pictures here are from an inter-coastal waterway that's really calm, but we always paddled on the open ocean, between the waves and sometimes surfing down them.

For a number of years I was happy paddling in one of our club's six-man, ~400lb (~180kg) boats. Then I started paddling doubles and singles privately with my coach and his wife and began to dream of one day buying a single for myself. Budget and storage issues prevented this, but I did invest in a great rowing machine that kept me in shape during the off-season and let me compete annually in a major indoor rowing competition, the C.R.A.S.H.-B's.

In the summers our outrigger club would participate in competitions around the East Coast, and sometimes we'd have friends-of-friends fly out from Hawaii to paddle with us. They'd bring everybody leis and shirts from their club and we'd send them home with one of our club shirts. Two of the more fun races were the 3 mile Lake Champlain Challenge in Vermont and the 15 mile Liberty Challenge -where we had to paddle under NYC's Brooklyn Bridge and out to the Statue of Liberty. Those were great, but my favorite was the longest and most scenic race: the 20+ mile Blackburn Challenge. This is also happened to a local race for me as it circumfrenced the island I lived on.

Last summer I had the chance to witness the race again. One of our friends had volunteered his boat as a chase boat, so I was able to join he and another friend for the morning. We had the first position on the race course and were able to watch over 200 boats and nearly 300 participants paddle by. Then we began motoring along the course, pausing to say hello or cheer on friends and old paddling buddies. Spending those hours out on the water was easily one of the highlights of my summer.

Later that day we spent time on the beach at the finish line as the boats continued to come in, seeing friends and family cheer, listening to sports journalists interview competitors and watching photographers snap away with fancy lenses. At one point, a friend who had competed came up to me and quietly said, "You must really miss this, huh?" He knows what my area of Germany is like and knows my paddling days are basically over. There are little rowing clubs here that row on our tiny regional river, but I tried that and it's nothing at all like what I did in the US. There are no long, open stretches and I just feel so caged.

So I've been trying a few new things. Staying fit is important and it's something I've been slacking on. We're slated to have some friends do a little outdoor photography session with us this summer and it's nice to have a goal in terms of wanting to improve how I look in pictures. I don't think I look horrible, but the main thing is I know I can look better and be healthier, so I'm aiming for a return-to-healthy.

What about you? What sports do you enjoy? What keeps you motivated to stay healthy?

First Sentences

Whenever I read a book I usually spend a moment thinking about the first sentence. Sometimes I'll also cheat a bit and flip to the back of the book to read the last sentence. Anybody else do this? I always think the first and last sentences must be the hardest to write as they seem to carry the most weight. The sentence above is from this month's book club assignment, Richard Flanagan's 'The Sound of One Hand Clapping'. I can't decide whether it sounds presumptuous or mysterious, compelling or off-putting. It's definitely a flowery style of writing that I don't typically go for.

What do you think? Does this sentence make you want to read the book? Do you look at first and last sentences? What are you reading?

Stitched Canvas Word Art DIY

I started this forever ago, but finally got around to finishing it (story of my crafting life!). This is a really quick and easy project to make unless you're crazy indecisive, like me. The walls have been frightfully blank in our kitchen, so I'm happy to have a larger piece of wall-filler next to my masking tape frame and unfinished -again, see?!- hangar art. The large artist's canvas' are pretty easy to find these days, so go grab one and get started!

Here's what you'll need:

• blank white canvas
• pencil
• good quality eraser
• embroidery thread (I used all six strands)
• darning needle or other large needle (needs to be strong to break through the canvas)
• embellishments (I made/used fabric yo-yos and fabric-covered buttons)
• Hot glue gun or fabric glue

I lightly sketched out a word with pencil and then traced my word with a simple running stitch. It was a little tricky maneuvering around the wooden supports on the back of the canvas, but totally do-able. Go back and erase any visible pencil marks and adhere your embellishments. See? Easy! This is definitely a one-hour project and it only took me forever because I wasn't ready to commit to my embellishments and drag out the glue gun. Typical. (Oh, and now I wish I'd done different embellishments, so, yeah...)

Mine looks a little campy, but it suits the eating nook in our kitchen, especially with our DIY jam jar lamps. Originally I wanted to have more of a scrappy modern ribbon look going for the embellishments, but I just didn't have the right things available. I can imagine this project going all sorts of places depending on the thread colors and embellishments one could use. I like the idea of a smaller canvas using some neon thread and maybe just stitching out a pattern or something...the possibilities are endless!

I actually really want to make another one for my office and have that on the eternally long to-create list as well. I have some bits of Liberty fabric and a smaller canvas in mind... What would you add to a canvas?