Author Archive | Jennie Lyon

Green Your Thanksgiving With Recycled Centerpieces

I am trying to decide what type of table, centerpiece and name plates I want to set this year for Thanksgiving. We are having a full house (11 people to be exact) so I need a centerpiece that is simple, sweet and won’t take up too much room. I am in love with these adorable little flower arrangements in mismatched salt and pepper shakers from Sunday Suppers. Wouldn’t these be lovely with fall colored foliage, berries and flowers from my garden in them? A trip to my fave thrift store for shakers is an absolute now.

How are you decorating your Thanksgiving table?

Fall Family Old Town Stroll

Hello, Friends. How was your weekend?

Saturday afternoon when the mister returned home from work, we headed out to spend the entire evening strolling around Old Town. Our Old Town is full of lovely restaurants and adorable boutique shops and thrift stores and is one of the perfect ways to spend a fall afternoon.

It was really, really lovely. We were able to enjoy our early dinner on the patio, we thought we should definitely eat outside since winter will be upon us soon enough. Then we visited all of our fave shops and enjoyed walking around looking at all of the holiday decor.

Each year Eben is given a bird ornament as a gift, since he has a deep love and appreciation of birds. While visiting all of the decorated trees at our local home and garden boutique, Eben chose to spend his entire allowance on a bird ornament. It is adorable and now every night he wonders aloud when we will be getting out the holiday decorations so he can see his other birds.

When we left the boutique, the mister giggled and handed me a box. Come to find out while I was helping Eben decide on bird ornament, the mister was picking out a beautiful handmade necklace and a pair of earrings for me, just because. This is one of the reasons that I love him so much, he does things ‘just because.’

While looking around, I found the perfect little gift for Eben. At his school the 3rd grade students have started to journal and he is completely into it. He came home a few weeks ago and told me all about it and wondered if he would ever have his own journal to write in at home. It immediately went on my list and I found the perfect one for a boy, it is covered with different types of dogs. I am so excited to watch his face as he opens it.

All in all, it was the perfect afternoon. It was so nice to walk around in the cool crisp evening, see the twinkling lights strung through every tree, hold the hands of my two favorite people, support my local community and enjoy a bite of a fresh, warm sugar cookie directly from the oven on our way home.

Does your town have an Old Town?

Green Your Back to School: Curiosity Quest Goes Green DVD Giveaway

Television has never been a big thing in our home. We only have one which is only used once in a while to watch a family movie or maybe a great family program on PBS, Animal Planet or Discovery. When we do watch a movie or program together, it is usually educational or something that we are really curious to learn about. We really enjoy checking out the Nature Series on PBS.org. Our favorites so far have been: The Loneliest Animals and Frogs: The Thin Green Line.

Eben, the mister and I recently watched an episode of Curiosity Quest Goes Green from PBS and we were immediately captivated. The episode that we saw was called Curiosity Quest Goes Green: Students Go Green. Curiosity Quest is a nationwide PBS television show that is fun while being educational at the same time. The program takes viewers on an exploration of all types of different and interesting green quests. Each of these “quests” will take the audience to a new location for some hands on experience and answer questions such as “What happens to rain water?” and “Where do our recyclables go?”. The Curiosity Quest Goes Green series includes quests on subjects such as Vermicomposting, Food Composting, Green Toys and E-Waste. In this particular episode viewers’ were taken on a quest to a California elementary school that has gone green.

This would be the perfect addition to your home or classroom library. Curiosity Quest Goes Greens is the recent winner of a 2009 Telly Award and would also make a great gift for the upcoming holidays. You can find out when Curiosity Quest will be on your local PBS channel here.

I am giving away ONE copy of Curiosity Quest Goes Green to one of my wonderful readers.

How to Enter
1. Subscribe to Sweet Greens (if you haven’t already) and confirm the subscription in the email from FeedBurner.
2. Visit Curiosity Quest Goes Greens and tell me which other episode you would like to see?

Additional Entries
please leave a separate comment for each that you do.

Rules for Entry
  • Please leave a way for me to contact you if you win.
  • Contest ends August 28th @ 12am EST. Winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator and will be announced the following day. (I will announce the winner, if I do not hear from you within 72 business hours, I will pick another winner.)
  • You must leave a comment telling me which item you love in order to qualify.
Good Luck.
 
UPDATE: WINNER: Julie #9. Congratulations.

Great Green Find: Lotus Pad Eco-Friendly Yoga Mat Giveaway

I am all about living a healthy and fit life. I have built physical activity into my daily schedule, so that I will have “me” time everyday. One of my favorite ways to stay healthy and fit is doing yoga. My favorites are Bikram and Power yoga. Yoga is fabulous for relaxation, flexibility and it makes me feel more mentally and physically connected with myself.

For the past few months, I have been following the creations of a fabulous 100% Eco friendly yoga mat and accessories company called lotuspad. Lotuspad makes the most beautiful Earth friendly, 100% biodegradable yoga mats and accessories that I have ever seen. Katy Downy is the owner of lotuspad and started the company when her adorable daughter Eleanor was an infant, as a way to give parents an alternative to mats makes of toxic PVC. Lotuspad’s yoga mats are luxuriously soft and thick and come in an array of fabulous color combinations. {I love that the mats have different colors on each side} Lotuspad also makes the most adorable kids size yoga mats. I love that all of lotuspad yoga products are produced in small batches and limited runs, eliminating mass production.

Eben has taken several yoga classes and really enjoys it. {His favorite pose is tree pose, which he looks adorable doing}I did notice that he had a hard time getting my mat straight (since it is so large) and I think he would be over the moon for a lotuspad in his own size and color of his choosing. I also think that he would enjoy the softness and thickness of a lotuspad.{hmmm.. maybe for the holidays.}

If this weren’t enough lotuspad also makes the sweetest yoga mat carry straps. I love this idea, because when I take a class, I have to carry my yoga mat in a gym bag or tote and the carry straps are just so much more cute and convenient. I love the designs {they are bold and colorful} and the fact that the carrying straps are handmade locally in Massachusettes in small batches.

If you are in the local Boston area you are lucky, you can have your lotuspad Eco yoga mat and accessories delivered to your door from lotuspad using her local cargo bicycle delivery program. Isn’t that wonderful?

Katy @ lotuspad has been so lovely to offer ONE of my wonderful readers their very own carry straps in any design you would like. This is a giveaway I would love to keep for myself. You can also receive 20% off your entire order through July 30th, simply use the coupon code “sweetgreens” at checkout.
How to Enter

* Subscribe to Sweet Greens (if you haven’t already) and when you receive the email confirmation from FeedBurner, simply click confirm.

* Visit lotuspad and tell me your favorite Yoga mat carrying strap design (choose carefully, the one you list is the one you will receive)

Additional Entries
One entry for each thing that you do, please leave a link.

* Share lotuspad on Twitter and follow @SweetGreens and @lotuspad.
* Share lotuspad on Facebook and join Sweet Greens and lotuspad Fan Page.
* Stumble, Digg or Kirtsy lotuspad.
* Add Sweet Greens to your Technorati Favorites.
* Add Sweet Greens to your blogroll.
* Email a friend and tell them about Sweet Greens Fab Green Find:: lotuspad.

Rules for Entry

* Please leave a way for me to contact you if you win.
* Contest ends July 24th@ 12am EST. Winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator and will be announced the following day. (I will announce the winner, if I do not hear from you within 72 business hours, I will pick another winner.)

* You must leave a comment telling me which item you love in order to qualify.

Namaste

UPDATE:: Winner: Kara Witham #6. Congratulations!

Stem Organics: Organic Skin Care

This colder winter, er, I mean fall weather, is so harsh on my skin. I find my skin to be very dehydrated, itchy, and dry all winter. Whenever I do use a moisturizer on my skin, I feel like my skin sucks it up almost immediately, and then within a couple of hours, it is very dry again. My skin is super important to me. I think fresh, clean, and clear skin just makes everything better. It is nice to have skin that looks lovely and that you don’t have to worry about.
I received a lovely care package from Stem Organics, just in time to help treat my skin. First let me tell you, I am in love with Stem Organics. Stem Organics has fabulous organic skin care products that are free from harsh chemicals and full of lovely ingredients that your skin will devour.
All Stem Organics products include three key ingredients; Australian Kakadu Plum, one of the highest plant sources of age-fighting Vitamin C in the world, direct from outback Australia, antioxidant-rich anti-inflammatory Pomegranate, and organic Aloe. Stem Organics uses rich organic Aloe as the main ingredient for all of their products. I love this because Aloe is exactly what the skin needs to be balanced, and it helps the skin heal well and quickly.
Stem Organics products also include free radicals, age-fighting antioxidants, a natural anti-inflammatory, and skin super nutrients, certified organic and natural ingredients, premium quality and organic essential oils, vital essential fatty acids, and nourishing cold pressed and organic nut, seed, and fruit oils. Really, can it get much better than that?
The products that Stem Organics sent me are the Rejuvenating Face Oil, Perfect Complexion Masque, Gentle Cleansing Milk, and Smooth Skin Exfoliant. {Thank you so much}
The Rejuvenating Face Oil is a combination of Organic Camellia, Rose hip & Vitamin E. It is Vegan friendly and rejuvenates, repairs, and replenishes your skin with 14 precious organic and natural oils. Rejuvenating Face Oil is perfect for dehydrated, sun-damaged, aged skin, scars, and rough or uneven skin tones with its natural collagen-building essential fatty acids and vitamins A, B, and E. This product is my absolute favorite because it touches on all of the challenges that I have with my own skin. After using it, my skin feels hydrated, restored, and refreshed.
The Perfect Complexion Masque is perfect to treat and deep cleanse your skin. It also helps with fine lines and wrinkles. Which I am starting to get, so any chance I have to fight them off, I will be taking. The Perfect Complexion Masque is also Vegan friendly.
Gentle Cleansing Milk is another one of my favorites. It deeply cleanses by striping the skin of its vital natural oils. It leaves my skin feeling clean and calm, which is perfect for right before bedtime. Nothing is nicer than having clean, calm skin at the end of a busy day.
The Smooth Skin Exfoliant is a gentle yet effective exfoliant that uses Bamboo to promote smooth skin. It also helps to stimulate cell renewal and leaves my skin feeling smooth and clean. Who doesn’t like nice skin exfoliation? It just makes you feel better, right?.
What Stem Organics products intrigue you most?