MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

Dear Friends & Family,

A pre-holiday mega-bug got the best of me this week, but I mustered up just enough energy to decorate our miniature artificial tree and make Christmas cookies for all the neighbors with my son Ryder. He begged for a "real" tree but ultimately bestowed his love on our little tree-in-a-box and announced that the only "early Christmas present" he wanted before heading off to his father's was that I feel better. True Christmas spirit, I'd say.

I am creating this Christmas morning post to wish all of our dear friends and families a merry, joyous holiday and to share a few of my favorite "alternative" trees, not to take anything away from the real cut trees that a majority of you have standing proudly in your living rooms, but to celebrate a year of slow but strong environmental changes, the true Christmas spirit that is measured in our hearts, not in decorations, and a beautiful, bright future ahead.

With all my love,

Amanda

It's a wrap.

The holiday season seems to sneak up out of nowhere each year. Weren't my son and I tumbling around in the Long Island surf not so very long ago? In an effort to sooth my denial/shock/resistance/astonishment and because a bunch of fellow parents have suggested I do so, I am embracing the season by posting a variety of green holiday tips over the coming weeks. No grinch in this house (although if I do recall correctly, he was a lively shade of green himself!).

With Chanukkah already underway and Santa Wish Lists in final draft stage, gift giving season is no doubt upon us. I am personally anti-gift wrap, favoring discarded newspapers, magazines and fabric scraps when an outer wrapping is a must. More often than not, I just hand over a gift with a smile. This year, however, I bought some recycled paper from a fundraiser at my son's school that was even printed with non-toxic inks. Friends and relatives will certainly be shocked to receive wrapped gifts from me! This inspired me to post my Top 3 favorite earth-friendly holiday gift wrap finds, giving us all a chance to green this wasteful tradition at long last!




http://www.greendepot.com/greendepot/product.asp?prod_name=Recyled+Paper+Gift+Wrap&pf_id=WNW&dept_id=42200&s_id=0&




http://www.greenfieldpaper.com/asccustompages/products.asp?fav=0&fpage=1&categoryID=19&productID=220&cartID=1039357330




http://www.containerstore.com/shop/giftWrapWonderland/holidayGiftPackaging/giftWrap?utm_medium=feed&productId=10026364&utm_source=google_products&sku=10050497

(Belated) Thanksgiving Post

Hello all,

Recently, busy days have amassed into busy weeks and before I knew it, the numbers 12/01/10 were screaming at me from my brightly lit blackberry screen this morning. Really, how is it December already?!? Barring the fact that I haven't posted anything here for weeks, I had the best intentions of composing a Thanksgiving post full of appropriate gratitude and sentiment. But I was too busy enjoying Thanksgiving, and all the family and events that went along with it!! My son and I played, ate, rested and bonded for a sweet four-day stretch in LaPorte, Pennsylvania with more than a dozen other members of my sizable family.

The holiday highlights included:
my mother's corn pudding and turkey soup
my brothers rescuing me from the mud
never having to spend a minute worrying about my son
a woman who gave me $20 that God told her to give me at a gas station on the way to PA
the outpouring of remote help from my parents, friends and family when Ryder and I blew a tire on the way home on Sunday (not a good time or day to seek automotive help in rural Pennsylvania)
long walks in the brisk mountain air (when I wasn't sinking into mud!)
very restful nights of sleep
an "Oh Hell" victory
a constant feeling of gratitude for my family

To me, Thanksgiving is rooted in a story from our history books that I don't believe 100%. But regardless of my opinion on the conventional account of what happened on these shores centuries ago, I still cherish the time to stop and be present to all that I am thankful for, filling up on just as much gratitude as I do turkey.

I hope everyone had an equally beautiful, gratitude-filled holiday. I will resume Baby Green posts soon. Till then, I leave you with a few images of the big rescue efforts: my brothers pulling me out of the mud, my son comforting me as we both laughed it off and my brothers pulling my sneakers out of the mud (I was prepared to leave them behind forever!!).

xx,
Amanda