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Green Community: West End Tavern Offers Organic Foods in Boulder, Colorado

December 7, 2009 4

While my family was in town for Thanksgiving, we spent Friday afternoon in Boulder. While we were there we had lunch at The West End Tavern. The West End Tavern serves yummy home style cuisine in a fun rooftop setting. It was a crisp day but the rooftop heaters kept us warm and toasty. It was nice to sit outside with a fabulous view of the mountains – the sun shining on our faces.

The mister ordered a Deschutes Green Lakes organic Amber and I had a glass of sustainable Next Pinot Noir. I loved the organic and sustainable choices on the menu. 

My favorite part of The West End Tavern are it’s eco practices. The West End Tavern recycles and composts nearly 100% of their discards. All of their paper products and straws are bio-degradable too.
The West End Tavern are PACE certified and 100% of their energy for the restaurant is offset with wind power and the restaurant uses natural beef, chicken and port and source cleaner ingredients that are natural local and organic. West End Tavern supports fisheries and purveyors that are environmentally conscious and that fish legally from sustainable waters. The West End Tavern also uses bio-degradable trash bags, dishwashing detergents and cleaning supplies.

Next time you visit Boulder stop in for a organic beer, sustainable wine and delicious meal at The West End Tavern.

Mary Jane’s Organic Farm and Bed and Breakfast

November 17, 2009 7

Lately I have been thinking that the mister and myself need a weekend away, alone together. We have plenty of date nights, but to get away for the entire weekend alone with no responsibilities, no agendas, just quiet time alone, sounds lovely to me. Where to go? Hmmm. How about Moscow, Idaho. Yes, I said Idaho. You have to see Mary Jane’s Farm and Bed and Breakfast, once you see if you will be start to think Idaho sounds lovely.

Mary Jane has a lovely organic farm with a series of wall tents with wooden floors, fabulous sheets, no electricity, an outdoor kitchen and a lovely clawed footed tub for a nice hot bath a la nature.
Wouldn’t it be lovely to lay with your lover in a hammock over looking the farm? How about taking a nice steaming bath together in the outdoor claw footed tub? Listening to the birds together? and enjoy the quiet sound of the farm together?
I would love to go for the weekend. Thoughts? 

Book: Green Chic Tips and Giveaway

November 16, 2009 17

I recently received a copy of “Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style” by Christie Matheson. It is a fun little green book that is packed full of fabulous ways you can save the planet while being fabulous at the same time. The chapters are divided into groups covering everything from food and wine to travel and cosmetics. This is a great resource for anyone looking for practical ideas that can help you sustain the environment and be fabulous at the same time.

To get you started, here are 3 simple ways that you can go green in style today:

  1. When shopping, toss small purchases like lipstick (or in my case, lip balm) into your purse and let the store keep the shopping bag.
  2. Take slightly shorter showers, try timing how long you are in the shower, and if you are spending 10-15+ minutes in there, make it a priority to spend less time. Shorter showers are also better for your skin and hair, since hot water is so drying.
  3. Unplug the chargers – when plugged in, a charger draws energy even if its not being used. When you unplug your cell phone, PDA, iPod, laptop, digital camera, etc; unplug the charger as well.
Make your day Green Chic and don’t forget to leave a comment for your chance to win your own copy!

Book: The Green Bride Guide: Engagement and Rings + Giveaway

November 13, 2009 4

I love going to the bookstore or library – it is one of my favorite pass times! As I am browsing, I am always impressed with the number of green books on the shelves. One that was recently sent to me is The Green Bride Guide (How to Create an Earth Friendly Wedding on Any Budget) by Kate L. Harrison. It is a fun book to read and easy to navigate. Each chapter focuses on a category that you will encounter planning your wedding. Kate is an environmentalist and green wedding expert making her book an excellent resource for any couple who wants to plan their special day with fabulous style and without harming the environment.

Each week I am going to share some tips from The Green Bride Guide. When I am finished, I will be giving copies away. Let’s get started with tip number one.

Let’s talk about the engagement + wedding rings
You have been proposed to and you accepted. Yay! for you. You are so happy and excited that you want the world to know about it. You want to shout it from the rooftops. There are many creative, affordable and sustainable ways for you to make your pre-wedding correspondence memorable and beautiful. Here are some earth friendly correspondence ideas:

1. Start a Wedding Blog
Blogs are a great way to organize pre-wedding parties, get feedback on your wedding ideas and keep your family and friends updated on your planning. Blogs can hold a ton of information and pictures and are the perfect eco-friendly way to share your wedding.

2. Ring in the Good News
Nothing beats the intimacy of good conversation. Phone your friends and family to tell them the good new, not only will you save time and money compared to sending annoucements, but it offers a nice chance to catch up with everyone who will be at your wedding.

3. Send a Fun Email
Email is a great way to tell everyone about your engagement at the same time. You can include a picture of the two of you as well as your engagement story.

4.  Use a Wedding Website
Wedding websites are all the rage right now because they are easy to set up and are extremely convenient. You can make last minute changes that would be impossible to do with paper. Wedding Websites are reasonably priced and have elegant, easy to use templates.

5. Choose an Eco-Friendly Ring

  • Choose a clear-conscience diamond (meaning that the diamond isn’t a “blood diamond” or from a diamond mine that is harmful to the environment.)
  • Use an heirloom diamond, if you are so lucky to have a family ring given to you.
  • Choose an antique diamond ring, where the diamonds were harvested priority to 1880 and before environmentally destructive mining occurred.
  • Choose a synthetic diamond. These are all the rage right now with earth friendly celebrities like Angelina Jolie.
  • Choose just one ring as both your engagement and wedding ring. One ring has a much smaller carbon footprint than two.
  • Choose a wedding ring made of an alternative gemstone or even wood.

When the mister asked me to marry him 12 years ago, his mother gave him an heirloom ring that had been in her family for years. My husband had it reset in a beautiful setting and since I knew I only wanted one ring as both my wedding and engagement ring that made the ring even more eco-friendly.

To enter to win your own copy of The Green Bride Guide leave a comment below telling me how you did you or will green your wedding?

Fall Family Old Town Stroll

November 10, 2009 4

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?

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