Finders Boutique

Never Been to Nashville

findersboutique — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:11:56 +0000

Ever been to Nashville? Me neither. But I can be there in seven hours by car, so it’s high time I make the trip. And I’ve found the place I’m going to stay: Hotel Preston.

The sleek boutique hotel furniture, the beds dressed in high thread count fabrics you want to dive into, and a sense of humor: at check-in, you can request a lava lamp, pet fish, or rubber duckie for your room.

Nashville is sure to stir you creative energies; when you get back to your room you may want to pull out your guitar and write a song, pick up a pen and notebook and write a story or draw a scene. With 24-hour room service, you never have to leave the room.

Stay tuned for the post Hotel Preston visit blog post… Nashville, here I come!

Solar-Powered Tote Bags

findersboutique — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:34:47 +0000

These green-friendly totes from GreenEnvyShop.com follow the rules of nature and ethics. They are organic, naturally dyed and tanned, and made in New York City under the guidelines of ethical labor practices. Makes you feel good about the purchase.

Now for the fun part. Say you’re out in a park having a nice picnic. You packed juicy oranges, a bottle of cabernet, assorted finger sandwiches and dark chocolate truffles (yes, it’s a date). Now, you pull out your iPod to set the mood with some nice smooth R&B but — it’s not charged!!! Don’t panic. Just slip it into the solar panel for you new tote and charge away. Slip in your cell phone too, so you can take pictures of this memorable event – you know it will be. And, Mother Nature will be proud, so she’ll hold off the rain until you’ve folded up the blanket and walked off into the sunset.

Support a Great Cause with Really Cool T-shirts

findersboutique — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:51:42 +0000

Summer is coming! It’s time to add to your t-shirt collection.Commonthreadz.org‘s eco-friendly cozy cotton threads feature artwork from designers and celebrities, with proceeds going toward great causes such as providing clothing, school supplies and medical treatments for children in developing nations.

And it gets better. You can become an active participant in volunteer trip. There is an associated cost, but you can raise funds to cover all expenses with your own fundraising page. A trip to Africa is planned for June. Who knows, maybe you will catch up with Angelina Jolie and family!

If you’re a creative, insightful type with great ideas and a gigantic heart, submit a fundraising project idea and help raise thousands of dollars for the cause.

Shimmie, Shimmie, Shimmie

findersboutique — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:21:32 +0000

The internet is such a wonderland. I came across Dancing Rahana Belly Dance Boutique and was reminded of a belly dance workshop a friend of mine talked me into attending years ago. I said “no way!”, but she pleaded and pitched it, and my curiosity got the best of me and I reluctantly signed up.

We arrived at the hotel ballroom where the even was hosted in our pajamas basically — the flier said to wear comfortable clothing — and walked into a room of about one hundred dancers, all adorned in skirts and head gear and jangling scarves. Boy did we feel stupid.Turns out the workshop was led by California’s finest belly dancers. We looked like fools trying to move our hips and arms and take steps just so. But we stuck it out. All of that laughter was good for our stomach muscles, if nothing else. (And we weren’t the only ones laughing).

There were booths set up that sold scarves and tambourines and henna tattoos. My friend and I picked up a scarf to wrap around our waist, and I also bought a tambourine which is within eyeshot of me right now.

Belly Dancing is supposedly a great workout, even if you totally suck at it. I find the scarf every couple of years and most recently, met somebody with a real name and a belly dancer name. I pulled my scarf out, looked at it, shook it, then hung it on a hanger. I am, however, willing to part with my scarf to the highest bidder!

If my hips could shimmie, I’d definitely get this video “21 Shimmies and 1001 Variations.” Sounds like a dirty little fairy tale. Or a kama sutra video, but no, it’s a work out. And an art. Plus, if you get good enough you can buy one of those cool costumes. If nothing else you can go as a belly dancer to a Halloween party and do your best Egyptian shimmie. Either way, I’m sure it’ll improve your sex life.

Hiking the Galapagos

findersboutique — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:00:50 +0000

It’s that time of year when people get geared up for the most popular New Year’s resolution of all – lose weight. Why not skip the gym membership and save your cash for an exotic hike through the Galapagos in Ecuadorian mountains along with some snorkeling and sea kayaking. Along the way see giant turtles, sea lions, exotic birds and more.

Check this travel option here. Or do a web search on: Ecuador, hiking.

If you’re not equipped to drop everything and fly to Central America, check your local Parks & Recreation website for hiking trails right around the corner.

The Complexity of Simplifying Your Life

findersboutique — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 18:26:37 +0000

I met this chat buddy recently. He has an ambition to simplify his life. Sustainable living, they call it now. Once upon a time, I believe it was called farming (although I’m sure disciples of sustainable living would correct me where I’m wrong). It sounds like a romantic notion, but it’s really quite practical. When I was a kid, I help ma can and freeze all kinds of vegetables and such – pickles, jam, tomato juice, we made sauerkraut, froze peas, carrots and corn and ate them all year long. All through the summer I’d dig potatoes for dinner and pick sweet corn right off the stalk and shuck them just a few hours before dinner. I had a professor in college, who lived in the middle of a small city and covered every inch of his small yard with plants – flowers, corn stalks, herbs, and many vegetables. It was a magnificient breath of fresh air admist blocks of well groomed or unkempt laws of traditional green or patches of green and brown with onion sprouts.

These days a lot of my food is probably produced is vats and sprayed to freeze dry, or comprised mostly of liquid acid, and sometimes I can taste the pesticides in my “fresh fruit.” “Always scrub them with Clorox,” my mom says. “WTF?” I say.

At any rate, there is a book one of my book clubs selected a few months back called “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life” by Barbara Kingsolver. Kingsolver, an author of fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction put herself and her family to the test. For one year, they ate only food they grew themselves or food they could buy from their neighbors. Kingsolver’s husband, Steven Hopp, an environmentalist, contributes to the Thoreau-like experiment, as does her daughter, Camille Kingsolver, a student of biology, anatomy and dance.

I skipped this book club meeting because I opted for another book instead. But my curiosity has been revived. I admit I’ve thought about being this free from working for someone else, to being in charge of my own life, with sunlight the only boss dictating the hours I work. Not to this extreme, but I was tired of working long hours, tired of not having time for my own pursuits, and tired of getting caught up in matters not of the heart, the distractions that pull us away from the core of what get lots deep inside of us all from time to time. (And sometimes takes a popular Christmas film to jumpstart it again. Yes, “It’s a Wonderful Life”).
Read more about the book here.

Blooming Tea Petals

findersboutique — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:22:10 +0000

I’m a sucker for packaging. Just look at this Numi Tea Bamboo package in all the glory of its “exotic hand-made dark mahogany bamboo case.” And a mini teapot to display the bouquet of flowering tea. Lovely. After you empty the contents of the package, you have a case in which to store more tea packets or sapphires or guitar picks or twenty mini highlighters. Whatever you like. What a great gift.

Truth be told, I drink multiple grande cups of coffee a day with periodic boughts of switching to a healthier non-caffeinated tea options. Until I read some contradictory evidence about tea depleting my body from some needed nutrient or…the aroma of a carmely cup of java sends one of those cartoon steamy fingers my way, leading me to the coffee kiosk in the mall or the Starbucks located smack dab in the center of the Barnes & Noble where I just happened to be leafing through a book about the antioxidant benefits of certain types of teas.

I will have to make up my mind, or forever be conflicted as the scientists.

Snowman Socks!

findersboutique — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:57:15 +0000

I confess. I have a sock fetish. They are magical, they inspire me, they can be warm and fuzzy or sleek and sexy. They make we want to wear pants that are too short , or shred the bottom two inches of my jeans, or sport pants designed with clear plastic from the just above the knee caps down. I just always seem to be in jeans or dress pants with tennis shoes or boots or peep toe shoes at best. I just can’t seem to figure out how to show off my cool, stylish, hip, sometimes silly socks. And I have more than one drawer full. My friends look forward to the fall/winter season to see what I’ll be wearing. I’m like my own fashion show with a private runway and a CD player plugged into the wall next to the couch where three of my friends anxiously await my awkward strut down the catwalk, pulling the legs of mean jeans up so they can see my latest styles. Sure, I should consider wearing skirts if I’m going to do this right. I’m working on it. But for now, I’ll just have to dramatically pull up my socks in the presence of strangers who may appreciate the art of sock wearing.

These snowman socks and the ensemble are inspiring. If only I could spend a few weeks in Amsterdam and get a window display gig, I could really show my stuff.

Sew in Harmony

findersboutique — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:49:44 +0000

> I told my husband I was thinking about buying a sewing machine — and he laughed. Not such a suprising reactin, onsidering my major sewing/knitting accomplishments to date have been: (1) A raggedly sewn skateboard pillow I made in the seventh grade and, (2) a three inch rectangle I knitted then got so frustrated by missing a knit or a purl or purl or a knit, that I pulled it apart and left it for never-to-be-finished.

Even so, my sewing ambitions are not become a Project Runway contestant, but rather to create simple square pillows, window decorations, tapestries for my bedroom, tote bags, sewing hems on jeans, and fixing all of those little snags I currently do by hand with needle and thread. Just simple things to change up the house without spending fifty dollars on a pillow, or spice up the bedroom without having to buy an expense photo or paint.

>So, I’m getting a sewing machine — some day. Maybe after the iPhone. Okay, I’m conflicted! But, I’ve done some research that you can benefit from here (or watch for ads staring Martha Stewart in home décor magazines).

Sewing machine information:

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/house_and_home/sewing-machines/

http://www.epinions.com/Sewing_Machines

http://www.viewpoints.com/Sewing-Machines

http://www.consumerreview.com/sf-6/befid-96329/pgnum-1/productlistcrx.aspx

Here is also an interesting site for fabric shopping:

Organic fabrics - http://www.harmonyart.com

Mexican Cocoa

findersboutique — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:01:42 +0000

If you have never savored the spicey temptation of Mexican hot chocolate, the scent of this candle will have you planning a trip to Baja. Scented candles are an iffy things for me and yet, it may seem a bit peculiar, the scent of food candles have always done me well. Flower scents or herbs or even cucumbers mixed with melons make my head hurt. This Mexican Cocoa candle is scent that summons images of exotic places filled with gorgeous textiles, handspun pottery, rumbling crowds that fade away as you close the shutters to your adobe villa and lay down for a calm evening of whatever you desire.