Earth Hour 2010

Don't forget! This Saturday, the 27th of March at 8:30pm (local time), is International Earth Hour. Millions of people in more than 80 countries will be participating by turning off their lights for one hour as a call for action on global climate change. Even the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, the Great Pyramids of Giza and Chicago's iconic skyline are planning to go dark for the cause. This article (http://ow.ly/1qNaP) has some suggestions on how to spend your hour of darkness... anybody have their own ideas??

Green

A little late for St. Patrick's Day and not at all reminiscent of corned beef and cabbage, nevertheless, I thought I'd start off showcasing some of my recent favorite finds with a couple green goodies. I've been collecting cutting edge products that have sparked my imagination and that make me excited about the future and I'm looking forward to sharing them with you over the next few posts!

First, I am thrilled to present my most recent purchase, a water bottle that can roll up and fit in your pocket! Now, I am a die-hard Nalgene fan and have carried one with me wherever I go since college, so this is big :). There are two earth-conscious companies that deserve mention here, although I ultimately went with the former because they offer a 1L size. Platypus actually has an entire line of products that are made of an incredibly durable triple-layer laminate and polyethylene lining (BPA free) that won't retain flavors or taste like plastic. They even have a wine preservation pouch! When not in use, it takes up very little space, which is key when all I've got is my backpack! Alternatively, Vapur has a colorful assortment and a great message. Did you know that it takes 17 million barrels of oil each year to make bottles for water just for the U.S. market?? Imagine the world over! Check out their website for more information: http://vapur.us/world-water-crisis.php - Invest in a water bottle my friends and take advantage of the beautifully clean tap water that we are privileged to have in this country :).

Another cool product on my wish list is this set of foldable, self-powered, eco-friendly speakers. Again, saving space is key and they require no batteries to boot! You can slip them right inside your laptop bag and easily carry them to any function. Made from recycled material, they have several designs to choose from, a blank set to let your creativity run wild or you can even send them your own custom design! Check out their new Rock-it device that turns anything (cereal box, paper cup, plastic bowl, even your refrigerator!) into a speaker: http://www.origaudio.com/ - awesome!

I'll leave you with this insightful film short about the fictional life of a plastic bag. It's 18 min long and it's a bit slow, so I don't blame you if you break it into parts, but the bag's last words really made the video for me. I never thought I would feel such emotion for, well, a plastic bag! :)

I'm back!

I'm back! It always seems that when I have the most free time, I have the least motivation to publish. The truth is, I've started a draft several times online and even more times in my head. Does anyone else find themselves thinking their blog throughout the day? When I'm jogging, everything from the bright spring colors and fellow joggers to the various scents that I consume along the way spur first paragraphs. Meals that I cook, friends that I hear from, magazines and the plethora of videos and news articles that I catch online spark themes and even the evening conversations with my parents can be poetic.

And yet... here I am, more than 2 months later! In the mean time, January brought the battery charging visit by my dearest Alisa. One week of relaxation, exploration and wandering. Seven days of cheek splitting smiles, tummy clenching laughter and one photo-shoot after another (I swear we must have set a record!) That is not to mention our riotous and racy romp north of the border! With a 'blue' theme (yes, we have themes :) we spent the first day stopping in nearly every shop along the road to the coast. Thanks to Alisa's skillful internet research we had a fantastic room with a balcony overlooking the sea and the city, just blocks from the water in a chic area of Vancouver. Our first thought after getting our bearings, was that we hadn't given ourselves nearly enough time to try all of the sumptuous offerings! One by one, we were bombarded by the aromas from the cookie shop, the shawarma shop, the chocolate cafe, the pizzaria, and the cupcake store! How to decide?? (hint: we didn't ;)

Next up, a stroll along the waterfront including a hilarious set of statues (photos taken), skeletal tree silhouettes (photos taken), the famous symbol of Vancouver and subsequently the 2010 Winter Olympics, Inukshuk (photos taken) and even a giant set of engagement rings in the park (photos AND a video of Alisa's version of "Single Ladies" taken :). All that and we were left with no choice but to stop in a couple of our favorite shops on the way back to the hotel... to stimulate the poor Canadian economy of course... and perhaps a little sugar for our dancin' feet!

Playing dress-up is something that Alisa and I never left behind in our childhoods (one could make the argument that we've just extended our childhood - another reason we get along so well ;). In fact, dressing up has become a veritable requirement of any reunion. Thus, Vancouverites witnessed these two American girls dressed head to toe in blue (and a little black and silver thrown in the mix), hit the town. We tracked down a super-secret, ultra-posh restaurant down town, along the way meeting a magician that mysteriously made ash appear on my very own closed hand! How could we not fall in love with this place!

Our last day was spent exploring more of Vancouver, especially the Olympic Venues. Vancouver is such a lovely city! Everybody that we met was, as cliché as it sounds, so polite and helpful. They were smartly dressed and friendly and truly seemed happy. If it wasn't as rainy as Washington, I could see myself spending some serious time there! Alas, all good things must come to an end and Alisa must return to her family. Skype video chats just weren't enough for her adorable little boy :). I always miss her, but feel so proud of us for making these reunions happen every year. Love ya Lis!

The day she left was the day I had told myself that I needed to start finding my new path - a fairly ambiguous goal. I'll save the trials and tribulations of this quest for later entries, but it has definitely been a challenge to nail anything down. Do I continue traveling? There are still so many places that I have yet to see and languages to learn and people to meet and foods to taste... Do I focus on finding a permanent job abroad? Do I commit to a job in the States for a time? Finally, get a place of my own that I can decorate and feel, as foreign a concept as it is, at home? And then there is the matter of defining my true north. What are my most poignant passions? When am I the most satisfied and what are my talents? ...so many questions.

So! As I continue my journey, I've picked up a new side job. I have plenty of time these days to work on getting back in physical shape so I have been running consistently (met my goal of a half-marathon in Feb :), using Wii Fit for yoga and strength training and I've found a dance class that I absolutely love! About a month into attending classes, the instructor, whom I admire a great deal - this girl can move! - asked if I had ever considered teaching. Absolutely made my day! I took some time to mull it over and next thing you know, I was choreographing 14 songs including hiphop, salsa, reggaeton, bachata, bollywood and I've even thrown in a Greek song for the fun of it. I had my first class on the first of March and I am simply loving it! I get a wonderful workout AND I get to share my music and moves with a group of lovely ladies!

I'll try to stay more current from now on. I've got a blog coming up with some awesome products that I've come across and also... drumroll please... a possible international trip coming up!! Stay tuned ;)