Feel good about buying this holiday season

I've always found shopping for Christmas gifts to be a complete drag. In my opinion, the forced sense of commercialism gets in the way of drinking spiked egg nog and singing off-key to Run DMC's "Christmas in Harlem."

Last year, my family decided to give gifts to charities in one another's names and we could purchase or make one other gift. I printed up a sheet about the charity I had picked, and why I had chosen it, and then for my other gift, I painted everyone a little watercolor sock monkey card. Sock monkey baking, sock monkey walking the dog, sock monkey and a flower pot...you get the idea.

 I loved the holidays last year - less stress, more egg nog. Although I spent almost as much time preparing gifts for the fam, it was way more fun. I painted, I searched the internet, and instead of a gnawing sense of emptiness, I felt good about it all.

So when Domino mentioned the GreaterGood Network Stores this month (a pillow cover on page 144) I had to check them out. I searched through the Hunger Site to find the gifts below.

Here's what they're about: 

CharityUSA.com owns and operates the GreaterGood Network Stores, where every purchase gives back to a worthy cause, at no extra cost to you! A portion of the purchase price of each item you buy goes to your choice of these important causes:

• The Hunger Site funds food for the world's hungry.
• The Breast Cancer Site funds mammograms for women in need.
• The Child Health Site funds basic health services for children around the world.
• The Literacy Site funds new books for children in need.

Since its launch in June 1999, the Hunger Site has established itself as a leader in online activism, helping to feed the world's hungry and food insecure. On average, over 220,000 individuals from around the world visit the site each day to click the yellow "Click Here to Give - it's FREE" button. To date, more than 300 million visitors have given more than 500 million cups of staple food. The food funded by clicks at The Hunger Site is paid for by site sponsors and distributed to those in need by Mercy Corps and America's Second Harvest. 100% of the site's sponsor advertising fees goes to our charitable partners. Funds are split between these organizations and go to the aid of hungry people in over 74 countries, including those in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South America and North America.

Enough altruism. Let's look at some beautiful and affordable stuff, shall we?

I love the delicate pattern and rose/red color combination of these Tunisian Safia Ceramics - sauce dishes ($22.95). These are 4" across and an 1" deep, perfect for sauces, condiments, or snacks. The Hunger Site also sells beautiful Safia oval serving plates. This purchase would fund 50 cups of food.

If the other bowls are too "ethnic" or feminine for you, these Tanzanian Oval Wood Bowls ($16 to $20) would look great paired with white plates. 25 cups of food are donated with every purchase.

"Evil Eye" Kabbalah Red Thread Bracelet ( $16.95). Kabbalah, shmabbalah, I just like evil eyes. I have one in my home, and this would look great on my wrist too. Playful and colorful, and when you purchase one you fund 35 cups of food. 

The Hunger Site has a bazillion scarf options. These are two of my favorites: the brown and white striped scarves and wrap are made in Ethiopia ($16.95-$19.95). I like that the pattern and color are understated, but still retain an African flavor. The hand-loomed alpaca red scarf with fringe ($19.95) would be a great jewel-toned pop of color with either a brown or black outfit. 25 or 50 cups of food will be funded, depending on the scarf.

This Handmade Burundian Basket with Handles ($29.95), with its earthy colors and elegant shape, would look great on a mid-century modern credenza. The Hunger shop will fund 50 cups of food for this purchase.

Antique African Necklace $24.95. Crafted from ancient clay beads, some over 1,000 years old. I love long necklaces like this. 50 cups of food are donated with this purchase.

Fulani Wide Cuff Bracelet $17.95. Graphic and bold in brass with 25 cups of food donated.

I love that this purse has a classic beauty, is made by Bolivian artisans and fair trade imported, and you get to tell people it's made of llama leather. Milan-Style Llama Leather Purse ($74.95). 150 cups of food are donated for this purchase.

What do you folks do when holiday buying time rolls around?

AWOL - Always West Of Lincoln

My good friend Kori and I meandered up and down Abbott Kinney in Venice today. It's one of my favorite streets in LA - full of character, heavy on the sandy beach vibe, with lots of cute shops, many of which are a little rich for my blood, but fun to window-shop nonetheless. Here are some affordable finds from today:

Ananda,  (a standby when I'm Christmas shopping) had these interesting crocheted-covered lamps for $78 (no hardware included). I'm obsessed with doilies lately, so these caught my eye.

Small mirror balls outside a window of Ananda - they threw swirling speckles of light all over the inside of the store. I love little details like this. 

Ahhh, Neighborhood, repository of affordable jewelry that I can't resist (see my birthday gift below). This shirt fabric is lovely in its retro-ness but, alas, it fit me terribly.

We had to take a break during shopping to refuel; Jin Patisserie has a "tea for two" that Kori and I have made a bit of a habit of stopping in for when we're cruising Abbott Kinney. Earthy green tea does a body good. So does clotted cream, egg sandwiches, and strawberry mousse.

Wonderfully graphic painted brick outside one of the stores (with my toes for scale.) I like the versatility of white and blue as a color combination; it can be regal or bohemian.

Enough eating - back to gifts. Kid's clothes from Neighborhood make my ovaries twitch with desire - Jasper hearts Wren onesies with owls and Amy Tangerine-crafted Venice pride. Represent, newborns!

I also love the Supermaggie tees sold at Neighborhood. Graphic. Simple. Goldfish. Can't go wrong. I may have to buy myself a woman's double goldfish tee in the near future...

Kori bought me this Erica Wiener leaf and feather necklace for my birthday from Neighborhood after I fell in love with it. Thanks, Kori!

Tom's shoes donates a pair to a needy child every time you buy. So go ahead, it's an altruistic splurge. (flats, $62)

Street posters grabbed my eye as we moved from shop to shop. 

These should of said, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO EAT THE COIN PURSES. 

Zingara, a relatively new addition to Abbott Kinney, calls itself a "gypsy emporium" and that is indeed an apt description. The outside of the store has a large tent-like awning in bright colors with tassles and mirrored chips woven into the fabric. My favorite change purse is the one that looks like an elephant ear pastry. Mmmm....

Zingara's Newman's Own Day of the Dead display. The layering of cultures is one of the things I love about LA.

When I saw these outside of Zingara I thought: I MUST OWN THESE RAIN BOOTS. Totally awesome. Totally affordable.

Day of the Dead/Halloween streamers - $8. These papery skeletons dance in the air currents and look quite merry.

Ecclectic, quirky, colorful acrylic candle holders for $12. They also had some funky (grey and brown elbow-length cableknit, some in bright Peruvian-esque colors) fingerless gloves, including delicate cashmere versions, that would make great holiday gifts.

Although I didn't include any images from them, Urbanic Paper Boutique,  Tortoise and Firefly are some other excellent sources for gifts and housewares.

Playing for Change - documentary

Roger Ridley, one of the musicians in "Playing for Change: Peace Through Music" plays on "Stand by Me" in Santa Monica.

Tonight I saw a bit about Playing for Change on PBS. The website takes fo-evah to load, so be patient. While you wait for it, watch this great Bill Moyer piece. It includes footage of some of the songs in the documentary. Seriously, check it out - about 4.5 minutes in there is an awesome, world-wide rendition of "Stand By Me." It gave me chills.

Take street musicians from all over the world and layer them so they're all pieces of the same, lush song. I wish I'd thought of it.

The filmmaker/creator, Mark Johnson had this to say to Bill Moyers:

These collections of songs and interviews serve as a reminder of the power of the human spirit as well as a means of further illustrating our global collective conscience. We live in a world with way too many starving children and way too many warring nations. As a human race we come together for birth, and we come together for death, what brings us together in between is up to us. 

cupcake discovery

My friend Erica and fellow blogger introduced me to a most delicious treat - FROZEN CUPCAKES. Let me again abuse the power of all-caps: FROZEN CUPCAKES, PEOPLE. BELIEVE. 

The coldness brings out the textures and flavors in a way that made my tastebuds sing (bad karaoke covers of Journey songs, but still, they sang).

We had red velvet and coconut cupcakes and lychee tea - and we live close enough to one another to take the bike path to visit - ah, what a wonderful day off.

Santa Monica antiques

The Santa Monica Antiques and Collectibles show is held the 4th Sunday of every month (and a smaller version is held on the first Sunday). I went last week on a chilly and cloudy fall day...here's what I found:

These pillows and bolster are made by Euro Linens.

I love seeing the juxtapositions of themes, textures, colors and patterns. Outdoor markets like this one are a cornucopia of inspiration.

dinner party guests - dancer/model/artist edition

Exploded view part two

Spring

Part of the "Hunt for High Tech" series

Grow on you #2

These two artists would be on my hypothetical guest list for the ultimate dinner party. I'm not sure who I'd seat them next to though...

"LucyandBart is a collaboration between Lucy McRae and Bart Hess described as an instinctual stalking of fashion, architecture, performance and the body. They share a fascination with genetic manipulation and beauty expression. Unconsciously their work touches upon these themes, however it is not their intention to communicate this. They work in a primitive and limitless way creating future human shapes, blindly discovering low tech prosthetic ways for human enhancement..."

The breathing hairy shoes on Bart's site give me the heebie jeebies. And I like it!

Also check out The Hunt for High Tech video ;it's creepy, beautiful, stark and lush.