Valentine’s Day is one of those holidays that has a strange and murky history. Nobody knows for sure how it began, but the two most common tales are rather interesting. Some believe it is based on the life of Saint Valentine who in third century Rome was ordered to be put be put to death by Emperor Claudius II for secretly performing marriages for young lovers after Claudius had outlawed marriage for young men – his crop of potential soldiers.
It has also been said that Valentine was put to death for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons. Either way you look at, this Saint Valentine was a truly noble man with love for his fellow human.
Others believe that Valentine’s Day is a Christian take on the Pagan holiday Lupercalia. Lupercalia, which commenced on February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus & Remus.
Whatever the factual history may be, this special holiday has simply become a day to love and be loved.
Now I’ll be honest, for much of my life I have been known as a scrooge over this holiday. I didn’t exactly possess that classic beauty that boys were looking for in a mate, so needless to say I was quite the wallflower when it came to meeting that special someone. However, as I’ve aged I have discovered that there are many different kinds of love in the world. Like the love we have for our children, our pets, our families, our neighbors, our colleagues & so on. That is how I learned that Valentine’s Day does not have to be a dreadful day of loneliness. To me it has become a day to share my heart with each and every person who inspires me. And it doesn’t stop there; Valentines can be shared with more than just loved ones. We have quite powerful hearts and we can extend our love to the earth, to animals, and people all over the globe. So this year I challenge you to change your mindset about this holiday and join me as a thoughtful consumer by transforming your online gift shopping into a global love letter.
There are so many fun and unique online retailers that you can reach through www.nonprofitshoppingmall.com that can help you find the perfect gift for loved ones young and old while helping you support the non-profit organization’s that are dear to your heart.
I’ve put together a collection of some of the coolest online stores to find really standout gifts….
Rather than red roses, try a more exotic flower like the orchid. It’s such an elegant flower and with potted plants you will be giving a gift that will last much longer than fresh cut flowers.
It’s no secret that women adore diamonds but another thing they really love is jewelry that reflects their love of art and beauty. These few pieces from artfulhome.com are like nothing I’ve ever seen before. They have fresh concepts with striking craftsmanship.
Both www.chefscatalog.com and www.deandeluca.com provide irresistibly fine foods and kitchen goods that are sure to deliver a promising evening of indulgent romance. Few things are more enjoyable than spending the evening cooking an unforgettable meal with the love of your life. The time you spend working together in the kitchen, while sharing hopes and dreams together creates priceless memories. Here are some delicious gifts that will sweep your sweetheart of his/her feet….
The items below from www.chefscatalog.com are definitely not your common Valentines gift’s, but who says you can’t give a fabulous pannini grill or wine saver to the person you love? Gifts like this have a creative edge and they are fun for both of you.
At www.deandeluca.com you will find a wide variety of mouthwatering specialty foods. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but guess what fellas – the same goes for women. Most women wouldn’t admit it but trust me – if you lay out a fancy spread of gourmet cheeses, succulent meats, and that perfect bottle of wine….she’ll be eating out of your hand quite literally.
To finish off your romantic meal it helps to surprise her with a treat. But why settle for basic chocolates like every other Joe Schmoe out there when you can send her over the top with these mini cupcake chocolates. Each one is filled with a sophisticated ganache in three different flavors – champagne, strawberry, and passion fruit.
The gift giving doesn’t stop there. What about the kids, and the family pet? I happen to be quite the expert in gift giving with children and teens so here are a few ideas to help you earn the mom or dad of the year award….
At www.faoschwartz.com you will find one of the coolest toys I have ever seen, it’s called the “Muppet WhatNot”. Much like the concept of Build-A-Bear, the Muppet WhatNot is a fully customizable Muppet doll. The little ones will go crazy over this!! Here’s an example of two possible dolls your child can create….
And for the teens in your life? Girls are simple, all it takes is a fabulous new pair of shoes or some real quality make-up but you might want to go for a gift card on this one. It’s better to let the young ladies choose those items on their own, and it gives them an opportunity to do some shopping which secretly ends up being a second gift. Here are two great retailers to shop from….
Teen boys can actually be a tad bit trickier to shop for. However, there is one thing that every boy has in common – they all want to be rock stars!! Guitar Center can help them get started….
The 1974 Fender Stratocaster: quite possibly the most popular electric guitar ever.
There is also the Ludwig Junior drum set, perfect for blossoming percussionists – if you can handle the noise.
Finally, if you have a pet don’t forget to show it some extra love. They are always there for us when we get home from a hard days work and they love us unconditionally. Shouldn’t we show them the same devotion? There is a huge selection of goodies available for pets these days, but the leopard print chaise pictured below is my absolute favorite item, currently sold at Petco. It’s pure luxury for our furry friends.
I wish all of you the most beautiful Valentines Day in 2010. May your hearts be filled with endless love. Remember, this is a day for everyone….even the lonely. You can make an enormous difference in somebody’s life by simply showing them that you think of them….no matter how big or small your gifts may be.
As my Valentine gift to you I’d like to share with you my secret weapon for bringing joy to every person I see and meet. It starts with a motto – “Smile on, pass it on”. It’s very simple, just smile at every person you see and chances are they will feel special inside. They will take that joy you gave them and pass it on with a smile to the next person they see….and so on….and so on. These days a smile can go a VERY long way.
Here’s the deal… street culture retailer Karmaloop and artist Shepard Fairey have teamed up to create a one-of-a-kind t-shirt with 40% of proceeds directly benefiting the MTV Staying Alive Foundation. Fairey, best known for his iconic Barack Obama “HOPE” poster for the 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign, says “AIDS awareness is really important especially in areas where people aren’t as aware or it’s culturally taboo to talk about it. The goal of the T-shirt graphic is to say let’s fight this, to get the message out, to talk about the issue and to encourage safe sex.”
By shopping for your MTV Staying Alive Foundation/Shepard Fairey shirt HERE your purchase will support The Foundation, help raise awareness as to the increase of HIV/AIDS in America while keeping you fashionably hip at the same time!!
There’s no way we could let Earth Day go by without saying something of note – however – with the hundreds of thousands of articles, blogs and events already out in the e-sphere to commemorate the day, we didn’t feel like we had any new or unique content to contribute. We hope you’ll take the time to visit our Shop Green section and purchase something you need while at the same time acknowledging those retailers and products that are good for you and the planet as a whole.
In the meantime, I found this article written by Jocelyn Rice and Amber Fields in Discover Magazine called 20 Things You Didn’t Know About Recycling, which I found to be both strangely fascinating and just a little disturbing. I’m sharing it for just those reasons and hope you’ll forgive me if you find it a bit too weird for your tastes. This is a cleverly written piece and flows well, especially when read in order.
Drink up: It takes three months for a recycled aluminum can to make it’s way back on the shelf in reincarnated form.
Or build a bridge: In 2002 researchers from Rutgers University built a 42-foot-long bridge over a river using plastic beams made from polystyrene cups and polyethylene milk jugs.
Or construct a boat: During World War 1, enough metal was salvaged from corset stays to build two warships.
As of press time, the boat Earthrace was being prepared for an attempt to break the maritime around-the-world speed record. It will use biofuel, some of which comes from liposuctioned human fat.
No fat here: During Britain’ 2007 Recycle Now week, svelte models strutted down Brighton beach wearing swimsuits made of steel cans.
These boots were made for flooring: Nike gathers old athletic shoes and turns them into raw material for “sports surfaces” like tennis courts or running tracks.
Meanwhile in China, more then 1 million unsold copies of British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams’s latest CD will be used to resurface roads.
Last year Chinese hair salons caused a stir by unlawfully recycling used condoms, possibly donated by local nightclubs into hair ties.
Elsewhere in Asia, an enterprising dental technician established the Japan Denture Recycle Association in 2006 to cash in on the precious metals in discarded choppers. Proceeds go to UNICEF.
Each year Americans junk more than 80 million dollar’s worth of copper, gold, silver, palladium and platinum in the form of retired cell phones.
Cell phones, laptops, and, um, personal massage devices: New British laws mandate that old electronic appliances-including sex toys-cannot be dumped. They must be recycled with other so-called e-waste.
E-waste is for the birds: An Australian nut orchard converts the shells of vintage Macintosh computers into houses for pest-eating birds.
Humans need house too: when Luiz Bispo built his house in Rio de Janeiro slum out of construction waste last year, city authorities threatened to destroy it. Now the house-which floats atop a junk-filled river on a base of plastic bottles-is being touted as an icon of sustainable development.
Cities have long been goldmines for recyclers: Beginning in ancient times, tanners collected human urine to use in turning animal skins into leather.
In the middle ages, urine was also used to make saltpeter, an essential component of gunpowder.
Cities get recycled too: Masonry from Roman settlements made a handy source of stone for medieval church builders.
But enough is enough: In 1821 Turkish soldiers surrounded Greek forces holed up in the Parthenon and started stripping lead from the temple columns to make bullets. The horrified Greeks promptly sent the enemy a fresh supply of ammunition to discourage further recycling.
Using every part: There are now sheep-poo air fresheners. Sterilized sheep droppings are turned into packets stuffed with grass-or daffodil- scented material.
Green to the end: The Doggone Project in Mannheim, Germany, can recycle deceased pets into fertilizer.
You, too: Ecopods, a British company, sells stylish coffins made from hardened recycled paper, available in a range of colors including indigo and silver leaf.
So welcome to our first blog – this is all kinda new to me so you’ll have to excuse me if I’m not even remotely proficient at this. I’m sure I’ll get better with time and I hope you’ll hang in with me as I make my way, in what for me, is uncharted territory. As I’m sure you’ve seen from the changes on our homepage, we’ve been very fortunate to have Rene Syler support our site by leading the charge to make Breast Cancer Awareness an important focus for us this month. I encourage you to read about her long-standing work with Susan G Komen for the Cure and the circumstances that led her to make a very courageous decision to undergo a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy. I also encourage you to pick up a copy of her book Good Enough Mother. If you’re a mother, especially a working or single mother, she answers those nagging questions I know I always had tuggin’ at the back of my head like, do you think they’ll notice that these cupcakes are store bought and that I’ve just added sprinkles to give them that home-made touch or that I’m wearing my pj’s in the car because I just can’t get my son and myself dressed and out the door at the same time. She gives us all permission to do what we need to do in order to make mothering work for us. I loved it – she also goes into more detail about her life decisions, her work and the road she’s traveled and is still traveling today.
René is a Person Who Cares and we thank her again for caring about Susan G. Komen for the Cure and for taking a stand to help find a cure for breast cancer forever.
As part of our Breast Cancer Awareness feature, and as an introduction to what this blog is all about as it relates to our retailers – let me explain my vision for FRONT-LINE RETAIL NEWS. While we want to make sure you’re kept up to date on all of our retail offers and encourage you to look for them under our SALES + PROMOTIONS category on the Mall Pages, we also want to use this space to introduce new, innovative or one-of-a-kind merchandisers. Our first retailer we’re excited to highlight is designer Julia Wynn who’s based in Santa Barbara, California. Whomever it was that said one should stop to smell the roses was certainly on to something. I would never have run into Julia had I not stolen a little time to stroll Santa Barbara’s boardwalk and explore (in the way a shopper explores) the line of booths that stretched the distance between my hotel and the pier. It was during that walk that I ran across Julia Wynn, the ultra charming, ultra chic creator of the simply fabulous BOUVÉ (boo-vay), a beautifully designed, one-size, hat for all seasons. Her fun, fantastic head wraps are the fashion-magic piece every woman dreams of – especially on those rampant, outta nowhere and always-inconvenient bad hair days. With just a slight twist of the wrist, this must-have accessory takes you from ordinary to extraordinary in face-saving seconds!!
Are you wondering yet how this product ties-in to Breast Cancer Awareness month? It’s one of those ironic coincidences I think because the whole concept behind the bouvé was really quite simple; they were designed as versatile and playful fashion accessories. But as creative director Julia Wynn started to sell and market her fun, sporty product, she knew they were also quite special in some other deeply profound way. Her answer came when she discovered that they were wonderfully therapeutic as well. Without really intending to, Julia had created the ideal solution for both stylish and comfortable headwear for all women suffering from hair loss, particularly those who had lost, or were losing, their hair due to chemotherapy. Bouvés fill a huge need for these women, not just to cover their heads, but also to feel beautiful, stylish and nurtured as they work through the process of healing.
We say ‘hats off’ to Julia and her innovative headwear. It’s time to buy-in to some serious ‘hattitude’ and our timing couldn’t be better. With crisp fall weather ahead, ski and snowboard season just around the corner and the holidays nipping at our heels, when you buy a Bouvé or two through this site $2.50 per item will be donated to the nonprofit organization of your choice. During the month of October we encourage you to choose Susan G. Komen for the Cure and help them fulfill a promise to end breast cancer forever.
Other retailers that are giving back to breast cancer initiatives are Bloomingdale’s, Red Envelope, Ritz Camera, Limoge’s Jewelry, A Pea in the Pod and Organic Bouquet. Check out these retailers on our THINK PINK + SHOP FOR THE CURE page. Keep in mind that whatever they give, by shopping with us, you’ll be giving twice. Once through the retailer directly and again when you choose a nonprofit from our site. How cool is that? Pretty cool I’d say.So for my first ever blog I went on a lot longer than I thought I possibly could. We’ll be posting retailer updates throughout the month and keep you abreast on issues near and dear to us along the way as well. As a little sign-off piece, I thought I’d add this cartoon I found on cancervixen.com – true — there’s never a good time for cancer –but with your help, organizations like Susan G. Komen for the Cure can continue to do good work to help find a cure for breast cancer in your/our lifetime and I’m all for that!
Other retailers that are giving back to breast cancer initiatives are Bloomingdale’s, Red Envelope, Ritz Camera, Limoge’s Jewelry, A Pea in the Pod and Organic Bouquet. Check out these retailers on our THINK PINK + SHOP FOR THE CURE page. Keep in mind that whatever they give, by shopping with us, you’ll be giving twice. Once through the retailer directly and again when you choose a nonprofit from our site. How cool is that? Pretty cool I’d say.So for my first ever blog I went on a lot longer than I thought I possibly could. We’ll be posting retailer updates throughout the month and keep you abreast on issues near and dear to us along the way as well. As a little sign-off piece, I thought I’d add this cartoon I found on cancervixen.com – true — there’s never a good time for cancer –but with your help, organizations like Susan G. Komen for the Cure can continue to do good work to help find a cure for breast cancer in your/our lifetime and I’m all for that!
