feng shui!

Just picked myself up a mini dressor (26X14X30)from the 1970's on Houston and Bowery!
I will post a picture soon or you guys can come over to see it. We checked out the roof today and its really open and sunny. we totally need to have a BBQ! This french dude who got to NYC last week helped me carry my new furniture carry to the curb and waited 15 minutes for a cab with me. He said he would like to offer me a drink which was quite peculiar language for the Bowery!

I keep seeing these ads on the subway for NYC Bike Month. Check it out here!
I almost bought a bike today but both my dad and my bf say its too dangerous!

Is NYC bike friendly enough?

GOING GREEN/ ENTERING THE SCENE

first vanity fair came out with a wicked issue
then elle magazine educated us on eco-friendly fashion
4-20 hit
earth day followed
hell, even wal-mart is going green!

you know when your ghetto super (star) begs you to recycle your tsingtao beer bottles that its time to get involved-

let's discuss a few tips on conservation that are so easy, a caveman could do it:

1. Clothing Swaps

The EPA estimates that more than 10 million tons of textile waste went to U.S. landfills in 2003. Why contribute to this problem? Get rid of last season's fashions with Swaporama, the brainchild of Wendy Tremayne, who desgined a program that brings people together and reuses unwanted fashions. Show up with a bag of old clothes and $10- then you can roam around and shop till you drop. Think of it as Beacon's Closet minus the snooty hipster 'tude.
http://www.swaporamarama.com/

2. Update your lighting

Make it your personal policy to buy energy efficient compact flourescent light builbs. You can now get a variety of shapes that perfectly match the color hue and lighting for each room in your abode. They look good and use 2/3 less power than regular light bulbs!

3. House Plants

Invest in large, live houseplants that will keep your indoor air fresher and put you in a good mood. Hydrangeas are in season, affordable, and stunning.

4. Save Water!

Place a water bottle filled with liquid or pennies in your toilet's water tank. This will cause the tank to use less water every time you flush. It is estimated that it will save you about a quart to half a gallon per flush.

5. Make Your Own Cleaning Supplies

Using simple ingredients such as baking soda, soap and vinegar, you can make cheap, easy, and non-toxic cleaning products save money, time, and your indoor air quality. This is especially important if you have kids, pets or if there are elderly people in your home who are sensitive to chemicals in the air so you and your home will be healthier.

6. Buy a Laptop

Even an oversize laptop runs more efficiently and takes less energy than a desktop.

7. Pay your bills online

It's faster and easier and - NO PAPER!

8. BYOB

Bring your own bag- Bringing your own bag to the grocery store saves everyone time and money. In the U.S., we use five hundred billion plastic bags every single year and only three percent of those get recycled. Supermarkets like Whole Foods encourage this by giving you A SMILE + 15 cents off your next purchase if you BYOB!

9. Green fashions are becoming H-O-T!

Anthropologie has tons of eco-friendly brands on their racks, and Levi's $65 organic cotton jeans are a best seller.

10. PARTY GREENLY!! (does that make sense?)

WHO: Solar 1
WHAT: GREENDRINKS NYC!
WHERE: 2420 FDR Drive Service Road East (at 23rd Street /Ave C and Stuyvesand Cove Park) NY NY 10010. Take the 6 train to 23rd street and walk east or the M23 bus to Solar 1. tel 212 505-6050 - look for a huge white tent on the East River!
WHY: Peak Organic Brewery, Sambazon, Whole Foods and Sunshine Organic Vodka are sponsoring!!!
WHEN: Tuesday, May 8, 2007, from 6:00pm - 10pm



"make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race"- the one and only MJ

waste management

Last night, with my birthday bash in full throttle, Saki bombs, joints and free packs (PACKS!) of Camel lights being passed around, I overheard some friends talking about battery disposal. Toxic waste, what? Well yes, apparently if you just throw your dead double A's in the trash, the zinc sulfate and copper sulfate can leak into our air and water supply and that is a big no no! So how do environmental conscious gals like [some of]us dispose of the batteries from our remote controls, electronic catchphrase, and other sorts of delightful gadgets that power endless nights of entertainment?

Just before the battery-waste debate got heated, someone made a shocking observation.
Wait a second, look how much waste we are generating RIGHT NOW! Beer bottles, caps, cardboard six packs, cigarette packs and butts, random plastic casing from wine and sake bottles littered our coffee table. And even though she was drunk, she was right! We humans do make a lot of waste, especially on special occasions like birthdays where we indulge in all that this fine earth has to give us.
In the New York Times this week there was a lovely peice The Year Without Toilet Paper about a young family living on 5th avenue who is experimenting with green living in a pretty all or nothing kind of way. In their year long experiment "No Impact", the family will attempt to live in NYC and cause no net impact on the environment. They will eat locally (within 250 miles) grown foods, abstain from carbon producing modes of transportation, buy nothing new, and generate no waste by composting their garbage! No Impact man and his wife, who openly admits an affinity for designer footwear- she purchases a pair of Chloe thigh high boots before the no new purchases rule goes into affect- are certainly blazing new terrain for us urban folks. Support their experiment by visiting their blog here. Most of us are probably not willing to give up our caffeine fix(no imported coffee allowed) or the convenience of riding a cab or an elevator. But, by incorporating this type of aesthetic into our lives, we would certainly discover some benefits. Baby steps....

tales of a travelling saleswoman

Fashionistas take refuge! Fashion week is officially over and NYC is now covered in a salty, grey snow that does not appear to be melting anytime soon. Is there a better time to discuss global warming? Whether you are carrying the latest Al Gore canvas tote bag or you think CO2 is just an acronym leftover from high school chemistry, global warming is making headlines.
Giant corporations and small, family owned businesses are being hit hard with new environmental regulations that require them to reduce their green house gas emissions or pay a price. Last week I traveled through Northern California to educate dairy farmer and cotton ginners and yes, even a kitty litter manufacturing plant on new air and water regulations that will impact their businesses. I meet all sorts of interesting folk, most of whom live amongst extended family and have to drive an hour to the nearest clothing store! Essentially, my job as a saleswoman is to convince them to work with me on offsetting the pollution from their businesses.




The moving scenery outside my driver's seat --vast rows of pomegranate and lemon trees, organic carrot crops, and cotton plants amidst the mountain ranges and wide open sky make the world seem like a much different place when compared to the crowded, noisy streets of Manhattan.

Do the two worlds ever coincide?

While designers showcased spring looks on the runway, did anyone think about where the fabric came from? How it was planted, grown, picked and processed? When we drink at trendy downtown bars do we think about the weather conditions, packing and transport that gets the pomegranates off the trees and into our Pom martinis?



On another note, does the American public even believe, consider, and/or care about American farm life? Given the amount of agriculture products that come from overseas, working the ground in U.S. may strike many as a profession left over the 1800s. But stay tuned! Word out on the pasture is that the new Democratic congress will be working on a progressive farmer's program that will be marketed in conjunction with the promotion of ethanol (corn) and biodiesal (soy) as energy alternatives.

So for now, as your trudge through the leftover snow in your winter fashion footwear of choice, perhaps you might think about how the city snow is black because of pollution. It is likely however that most of us downtown NYC residents will be contemplating whether global warming will affect the early onset of spring and dreaming of the perfect tea party chic dress we will be wearing when it finally comes.