Create-Celebrate-Explore

GMC 'Lend a Green Thumb' Event

During BlogHer11 I was invited, along with a few other local bloggers, to test drive the new GMC Acadia and GMC Terrain.  But this wasn't any ordinary test drive.  We were participating in the GMC 'Lend a Green Thumb' event.  We test drove the vehicles from the Marriot to City Farmer's Nursery and then onto a couple of local schools. 

Once we arrived at City Farmer's Nursery we were given a tour by the owner, who opened the nursery when he was 16.  He is amazing.  He lives off his nursery, literally.  Not only is his residence located on the property behind the nursery, but he grows and raises the majority of his food.  He only needs to go to the grocery store every 3 months or so.   You can read more of his story here.

And take a look at these precious twins born the day before.

This is much more than a nursery though, they offer free classes including cooking, canning, basics for homeowners, planting, they even have chainsaw carving demonstrations.  He is in the process of building a children's learning area too.  They sell a wide variety of products, everything you need really for your own garden.  There are animals to look at and Bill was telling us that visitors pop in with picnic lunches to enjoy in the garden.  They also take in turtles, bunnies and koi that can no longer be cared for by their owners.  They even have bees.

The lovely people at GMC who we were partnered up with for the afternoon were given a wishlist of gardening supplies from two San Diego schools that are starting school/community gardens: Helix Charter High School and Aseltine School (which is a school for students with learning disabilities).  With the help of Bill from City Farmers Nursery we loaded up our GMC's with all of the supplies requested and personally delivered them to the schools.

At Helix Charter High School we learned more about where the gardens would be located, what they would be used for, and about the funding of them.  Helix will have 2 gardens, one for the students and a second for the community.   Their long-term goal is to grow food that students can enjoy as part of the meal program.  Aseltine has a student garden which they use for fresh produce that students can also enjoy.  I love that these schools are growing fresh produce for their students to enjoy, plus teaching them about gardening along the way.

You can read more here:

Mt Helix Patch: Helix Charter High to Host Community Garden - and One for the Students

Sign On San Diego: La Mesa says it's ready to put down roots

Afer meeting with the schools, we headed to a lovely restaurant, Alchemy to learn more about GMC and the Community Gardens project from Judy at Master Gardeners San Diego.  I haven't been through North Park in a couple of years, and I will not confirm or deny getting a little distracted by thrift and antique shops while driving and poor Joe was starving, and by the time we actually arrived at the restaurant we were both delirious and had tears streaming down our faces from laughing so much. 

I have to give a rave review about this restaurant.  The food is absolutely DELICIOUS!  It was pre-ordered and so we got to try a little assortment including chickpea hummus, kalamata olive tapenade, fried green tomatoes, and other delicious dishes.

My verdict on the cars.  I want one.  No, I need one.  I prefered the look of the Acadia, but those air conditioned seats in the Terrain are all kinds of awesome.  Both cars were easy to drive and I didn't feel like I was in an over-sized obnoxious waste of space.  Loved that 3rd row seating too.   OnStar really need to learn how to speak Aussie though, because apparently my accent had the system a little rattled.   

GMC AMBASSADOR:  Although they haven't given me a car ... Joe, we need to speak about that.  Each of us was handed seed paper envelopes.  Each envelope contained a gift card (there was even one for us).  Our mission though.  Make somebody's day.  While out and about in our communities we are to hand out gift cards to GMC drivers to thank them for purchasing a GMC.  I have handed out one already and the lady was stunned, and yet very happy.  I saw her getting help loading groceries into the back of her GMC at the Commissary and she had 'retired veteran' stickers on the back, so I went up, introduced myself and handed her a gift card.  She was thrilled.  I cannot wait to hand out the others.  I just need to learn the art of being subtle and not stalk people in parking lots, or suggest to my husband that he should catch up to them on the road while we are driving. 

Grilling: Salmon with Couscous Salad

I love simple summer meals.  The kind where you send your husband out to the grill and you whip up a salad inside.  Not a lot of thought has to go into it and I find that it is a huge break for someone like me who can easily spend an hour or two in the kitchen putting together our evening meal.

One of our favorite items to grill is salmon.  We would normally use Maker's Mark and honey to marinate it, but apparently somebody forgot to buy Maker's Mark.  In the pantry though I found a bottle of Chandelier Chardonnay and Fire Grilled Garlic Marinade.  I've been purchasing Tavern Direct products ever since I met Lou Bivona at a dinner last year in New York. 

Ingredients:

• 6 pieces of salmon
• Chandelier Chardonnay & Fire Grilled Garlic Marinade
• 1 cup Israeli Couscous
• 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes (mixed medley)
• 2 cups Baby Spinach (stalks cut off)
• 6 Yellow Corn
• Fresh Bread Loaf
• 1 tbs Olive Oil

Place the salmon in a dish and pour over the marinade.  Cover and pop into the refrigerator for about half hour to an hour to soak in all of the delicious flavor.  While this is in the refrigerator, wrap the corn in aluminium foil and turn your oven onto 350C.

Now send your husband out to the grill  with the salmon and corn and put him to work - or do it yourself of course, but I don't deal with anything that has a flame, so the grill is his domain. 

Once the oven is ready, cut thick slices into the bread loaf (don't cut all the way through) and pop it on a tray and into the oven for 8-10 minutes.  Next, follow the directions on the Israeli Couscous container - which is basically: 1 1/4 cups of boiling water over 1 cup of couscous, cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes.  While the couscous is on the stove, chop your cherry tomatoes in half and cut off the baby spinach stalks if you haven't already. 

Once the couscous is cooled a little, mix in a little olive oil (to prevent sticking) and then toss in the baby spinach and tomatoes.

Finish slicing through the warm bread loaf and place a dish of your favorite garlic butter, or regular button on the table.

Everyone, including the twins, who normally won't eat grilled fish or chicken if it has a marinade on it absolutely loved this new flavor and I think it will have to become a staple in our house.  This simple summer meal was a big hit.

Note:  This meal feeds a family of 6.

TavernDirect.com donate 50 cents for every product purchased to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's®

TOMS Shoes: Painted and Personalized

Don't you just love TOMS shoes?

I recently purchased a pair for Marisol and took to them with some Elmer's Painters Markers.  You might remember I used these markers on the Invisible Nasties Felt Creations I made for the kids.

To say that she loves her new shoes is an understatement.

She wears this outfit all the time, it's by far her favorite, so to have a cool new pair of shoes to match, she was over the moon. 

To decorate them I simply sketched a rough draft of what I wanted to paint on the shoes, then I painted one section of the shoes plain black.  I know that sounds strange seeing as the shoes are black, but it gave the shoes a two-toned look.  Then I painted the image of the butterfly onto one shoe, and a motion swirl onto the other shoe so it appeared that the butterfly was flying across the shoes.  Then I added a little bling to the butterfly wings and put them out in the sun to dry.

Today I had to go back to the same store and purchase my teen a pair of exactly the same shoes.  He thinks their cool.  I've put them aside for Easter.  Shhhh.   Thankfully he doesn't read my blog.

Did you know that TOMS give a pair of new shoes to a child in need for every pair of TOMS shoes purchased? 

Also on April 5 is TOMS One Day Without Shoes campaign.  Go barefoot for the day and support children in need.

 

AS SEEN ON:

World of Handmade

 

Disclosure:  I was compensated for this TOMS and Elmer's Painters Markers project for Collective Bias

My Crayola Kids (+ a giveaway)

UPDATE: THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED

The WINNER drawn by random.org is:

Nicole Carpenter who said ... We plan on "sharing" the gift of imagination this season. My two children and I are going to sit down and make our own homemade Christmas cards this year,that way we can share with all of our family and friends.

***************

This is one page of a 6-page coloring book I created on Crayola's Story Studio for Flynn

(P.S. You might need to click on the photo above to read the story)

Isn't it adorable.  He's going to love it.   Especially the train.  I printed it out on card stock and am  going to bind it and pop it under the Christmas tree with a box of Crayola Crayons.

Want to make one too?  I have a code so you can try it out.  Now just make sure you don't use the code until you are ready to go because it only gives you access for 48 hours: Access code: PRY4DBJJ

So to give you a quick run-down of what you do, once you log on and use the access code, you upload a headshot of your child, that gets turned into a character, which you choose a story and costume for.  Once you are done editing your story (it took me about 30 minutes from start to finish), you can save it to your Crayola profile and print it out.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A couple of days ago I had a large box of Crayola products turn up on the doorstep from MyBlogSpark.  The box contained:

My kids immediately jumped with joy.  They love doing activities.  But, I sat down and explained to them about the gift of giving over the holiday season and that not all little boys and girls are as lucky as they are.   Without whining or complaining they more than happily let me donate these wonderful gifts to a local toy drive.  I'm so proud of them.   Although I did keep the box of crayons to give to Flynn with his new Crayola Story Studio coloring book ... but shh, he doesn't know.

Now here is where I get to keep on giving.

One of my readers will win:

• Glow Explosion Spin Magic
• Mess Free Color Wonder Sound Studio
• Model Magic Presto Dots
• A box of 64 Crayola Crayons with a Story Studio access code

That's right, all of the items that I received pictured above - value $83.  To learn more about these items, please check out the Crayola Holiday Gift Guide.

To enter, answer this question:

How do you plan on giving the gift of imagination this holiday season?

This giveaway will end on Thursday 16 December, 2010 at 10pm PST.   A winner will be chosen via random.org.

Entry is open to all U.S. Residents over the age of 18.

Crayola are on Facebook and Twitter.  You should follow them.

 

Disclaimer:  The Crayola products that I received (and donated), access code and the giveaway are provided by Crayola through MyBlogSpark. 

A Hallmark Christmas

I'm going to be going back a few months here so please stick with me. 

One thing I didn't share from my trip to New York for the BlogHer conference was the fabulous Hallmark Christmas Party I attended.  The reason I didn't share, I wanted to wait until a little closer to Christmas.

The party was held in the penthouse of The Buckingham Hotel.   The penthouse is fabulous, it's a 2-bedroom suite with a full kitchen, bathroom and living room, and a large terrace with views over the city and Central Park; which were absolutely amazing after dark.   The Hallmark team had come in and set it up just like a home for the Holidays; the entire suite had been decorated.   Santa was even in attendance (and he had a very familiar Australian accent too which I found amusing).  We decorated cookies, caught up with friends old and new, enjoyed some delicious food, and admired the beautiful Hallmark decorations.

Here are a few photos from the event.

You can view more photographs from the Hallmark Party on the Hallmark Gallery.

About a month ago, I received a really lovely package from Hallmark, complete with their light up and sound displayable cards, some keepsake ornaments and a couple of Night Before Christmas Recordable Storybooks.

Every now and then you come across a family that touches your heart.  They give back to their community, they fight for our freedom and no matter how hard things may seem at times, their hope just doesn't seem to waiver.   Although I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Lily in person, I do follow her journey, and we are friends (in every sense via the internet).   So instead of offering my readers another holiday giveaway, I decided to send Lily and her family the Night Before Christmas Recordable Storybook.  Please go and give her a little holiday cheer too.

Tavern Direct: Helping Children

During the week I (along with 4 other bloggers) had the privilege of enjoying a wonderful dinner with Chef Lou Bivona, co-founder (along with John Walsh) of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.   We had dinner at Filli Ponti Ristorante in New York and were able to savor the wonderful flavors of the TavernDirect balsamic vinegars and olive oil (Chef Lou is the Managing Partner).

The salad above had been tossed in the Autumn Fig balsamic vinegar.  It was delicious.  I added a little of the Blackberry Ginger on the side too.  Oh. My. Word.  I highly recommend it.  It was my absolute favorite and will become a staple in my kitchen

And this yummy dessert had the Summer Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar drizzled around it.  Balsamic Vinegar on dessert.  Something I had never even thought to try, but so, so good.

50 cents of every Tavern on the Green sauce, marinade, balsamic vinegar or flavored oil goes to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Please spread the word! 

Become a fan of TavernDirect on Facebook and Twitter

Elmer's Bag It Forward

I am honored to be one of 50 bloggers who had the opportunity to Bag It Forward this summer.

Elmer's and Collective Bias sent us on a mission to purchase a bag of school supplies for our own child as well as a bag of supplies for another child who needs a little help before school resumes in the fall.  I contacted a local organization, Peacock Acres, who provide residential care for foster youth.  They told me they currently have a boy in care who is starting middle school soon.  

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a school supply list, but the fabulous staff member I spoke with suggested getting a backpack and the basic school supplies.  Thankfully, we've done the 6th grade shopping trip previously, so we had a fairly good idea of what may be needed.

I am so thankful I was able to help start his school year off in such a positive way.  I only wish I had the opportunity to see his face when received his bag.   

Although we would love it if everyone could Bag It Forward and provide school supplies for a child in need, we know that isn't always possible, however Elmer's have partnered with Adopt-A-Classroom and will donate up to $10,000 if you participate in Elmer's Virtual Bag It Forward campaign.

The rules are simple:

• Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.
• Create a blog post giving a “virtual bag of school supplies” to other bloggers or write about your Back to School shopping trip at Walmart.
• Link back to the person who gave you a bag of school supplies.
• Let each person you are giving a virtual bag of school supplies know you have given them a bag.
• Leave your link in the Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward comment section. You can also find the official rules of this virtual #bagitforward program there.

Disclosure: My Bag It Forward experience was sponsored by Elmer's and Collective Bias.

Craft Hope: The Red Scarf Project

Craft Hope partnered with The Orphan Foundation of America and Vickie Howell (who donated a pattern) to provide college bound teens with a hand knitted or crocheted red scarf.

I hope whoever receives my scarf feels the love in every stitch as it warms them.

I only wish I'd had time to knit a few more.

Details:

Pattern: Vickie Howell's Star Stitch Pattern

Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Cranberry

Needles: Clover Takumi Bamboo Knitting Needles - size 9 5.5mm

Note: pattern amended slightly to account for different needles and yarn. I cast on 33 stitches and instead of counting rows, I continued pattern until the scarf reached 60" long.

Oxfam America Unwrapped

Oxfam is a organization my family and I have stood behind for many years.  My brother competes in Marathons, Triathlons and who knows what else (let's just say he's a fitness freak) and one in particular that he has done over the years is the Oxfam Trailwalker which is a 100km trek (run/walk) through Australian bush in under 48 hours with 4 participants to a team.  Each team commits to raising at least $1,000 to support Oxfam's work in 28 countries including Australia (my home country). I have always donated to not only support his team but also to raise money for a worthy cause.

Last year you may remember my Gifts That Give Back post which has a lot of ideas on how your gifts can give back to so many.  Oxfam America Unwrapped was one of the ideas I mentioned.

This year I was given the opportunity to participate in a blogging campaign for Oxfam America Unwrapped.

In honor of my brother being the one who introduced me to Oxfam, his gift this holiday season is to Irrigate a farmer's land for two months.

There are many, many ways Oxfam America Unwrapped gifts can give back this holiday season.  Here are just a few of the gifts you could give:

• Blankets for $18
• HIV testing and education for $35
• Field of organic cotton for $40
• A Goat for $50
• Support Indigenous Craftswomen for $90
• Train a midwife for $150
  
• Plant 500 trees for $250
• Rebuild a primary school for $1500

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Oxfam America Unwrapped and received a credit for a gift on the Oxfam site - a gift of a dozen chicks will be going to my sister.

What You Can Do With Leftover Candy.

With 3 children and living in a large community filled with children we had Halloween candy overload in our house from Trick or Treating.  Not to forget the leftovers from what we handed out too.  So we decided that we needed to pare down the amount quite considerably, otherwise, let's face it, I'd be the one dipping my handing into the candy jar repeatedly.

We decided to donate our leftover candy to Operation: Care and Comfort.  It's an organization who support the Troops.  They are collecting Halloween candy to be delivered over the holiday season.

If you would like some other ideas on what to do with your excess candy check out these links:

Parenting: 25 Things to Do With All That Halloween Candy

5 Minutes for Parenting: The Grinch Meets The Great Pumpkin

Check in your local area to see if their is a Dentist buying back candy.  The kids may love the little bit of cash more than the candy.