Need a pair of glasses? Try Warby Parker.

A while back a friend let me know about this company. 
Now that it's about time to get my eyes rechecked, they kinda came back to mind. 

So if you haven't heard, this is Warby Parker.  And with a name like that how could you forget it? 

Check them out when you need a pair of new glasses or shades (men or women).  You'd be helping yourself AND someone else who could really use it.

Christmas Gifts? how 'bout a HASHI

Well, as you know...if you live in Hawaii or have lived here, the plate lunch is one of the main types of staples here in the islands. It comes in a Styrofoam container with plastic utensils or wooden chopsticks. In the container we have a variety of meat/chicken/battered fish/fried shrimp, rice and mac salad. After we eat the local goodness, we just trash the whole thing...styrofoam and plastic.

Well, recently I've been becoming more aware how bad all that stuff is for the environment (I know, I'm really late to this party)...and not only that, but we are running out of places to put it (our trash). I know that second one is kinda scary. I never thought about running out of a place to put trash. I just thought it went to the dump and then the dump ate it or something like that...I dunno. Like I said, just never thought of that.

So one small thing we can do...or we can get this Christmas for each other is...

These 9 3/4" Black Wood Japanese Chopsticks (51314CS) have a beautiful black finish and a red lacquer tip that gives them a special Japanese accent with ties to the Japanese flag. Unlike Chinese chopsticks, which typically are made of unfinished wood, these lacquered chopsticks taper to a sharper, pointier end. The black and red design can match a variety of decors, atmospheres and tabletop settings, but are particularly suited to a modern restaurant with a contemporary design.

...a HASHI

...or chopstick

...actually A PAIR OF CHOPSTICKS!!!

Now I know that this might not seem like a lot and maybe it isn't. But it's a start. It's a step in the right direction. Plus you never know how great the trickle down effect might be! You know, like if we all get our own hashi, then all the L&L's won't have to keep purchasing disposable ones...THEN maybe plate lunches would get cheaper?!?!?!  I know it's farfetched, but still...you never know.

Anyway, the beautiful hashi that you see pictured above, I found on amazon...but said you can only get it from an external site. Can you guess how much it is? Find out here.

Did you check?!? I know...they are THAT EXPENSIVE. Plus did you see they were on sale? Wow.

Thanks to Kanu Hawaii for doing such great work in creating awareness and getting the word out.

Okay, that's all for now.

Oh and if you can buy local, buy local and support local people.  If cannot, then cannot.

Okay, now I'm done.

See ya.

Looking for gift ideas? HELLO SOMEBODY

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be blogging a few gift ideas. 
Just some things that have caught my attention.

First up...HELLO SOMEBODY

Thinking about buying shirts, jackets, or a tank top for gifts?  HELLO SOMEBODY has that...here.
How 'bout a watch? Or watches?  HELLO SOMEBODY...right here & here.
HELLO SOMEBODY, music?  here
Beanie, scarf, combo packs (pink, black)? <---there, there, & there (& there).

HELLO SOMEBODY has a lot of great products.

BUT the best part of this company is that when we make a purchase...we are taking part in things like this:


Hello Somebody and Light The Streets from Hello Somebody on Vimeo.

Earlier in November, I ordered a jacket/tank top/watch combo pack and it came pretty quickly...and I live in Hawaii!  I feel like it came within a week.  Another thing that I think was cool...my address was handwritten on the box my stuff was shipped in.  I just like that small business-personal touch-feel that it conveyed.

Anyway, that's that. If you have any questions...umm check out the website at:

hello-somebody.com

There's a lot more stories, pictures, videos, and information there.

Any Christmas gift suggestions for me?

Alrighty...until next time!

Gifts of Water

Last year around Christmas time, I got involved with a campaign called Gifts of Water.  A few of you joined in as well. Each of us chipped in $10 and our $10 added with many others became something more amazing than any of us could have done on our own. Today the village of Malindi Uganda has clean water to use for drinking, cooking, & cleaning! Before this, many people there suffered from skin diseases, bilharzia, tape worms, diarrhea, and vomiting due to the dirty water. But now, that is a thing of the past. Here's a little video showing what $10 can become...

Malindi, Uganda Safe Water Celebration from Water Missions on Vimeo.

For more information, check out their website:
http://www.watermissions.org/

Also, did you see that lake? Did you see that green water? That was what they had to use before!

Crazy.

Finally, just wanted to say thanks to everyone who joined our team (Team Wai Mau) and in doing so let the people of Malindi, Uganda know that Hawaii sends them some love.

WE'RE ALL In This TOGETHER

This played at Dole Canary Theaters a couple of years ago. I missed it. But it is finally being released to DVD/BluRay in July! I will for sure be picking it up. Anyone interested in watching?



Let me know.

TOMS shoes

Does anybody own a pair of TOMS? Do you like them? I think the next pair of shoes that I buy will be a pair of TOMS. I've been looking at these Ash Waxed Twill Men's Cordones for a little while. The only thing is I don't know how to pronounce that last word. Is it like: KOR-DOE-N-S? Or KOR-DOE-NEH-S? KOR-DOE-NEH-S would definitely be the funnier pronunciation, for sure!  If you know the answer, can you help me out?  I would be really grateful.

So probably most of you have heard about TOMS SHOES. If not, here is the really great thing about them:



TOMS shoes is something else that gets me thinking about the things that I buy and the effects of that purchase beyond myself. Unlike like my bottled water deal however TOMS has a positive affect on the world...and that is good. I don't know everything about everything that I have, but I gotta start somewhere. So why not shoes? I do realize that providing shoes for one child is not much when considering all of the problems in the world.  But for me it represents a more important thing: a mindset change. That instead of making purchases only for my own benefit, in simple and ordinary things I do from day to day (such as buying shoes or not buying bottled water) I can intentionally affect the lives of others in a positive way.

So back to the top...Do you have a pair and do you like them?

Or what is something that you support?

I want to know.

Can you believe this?

Thankfully after a short conversation w/ my cousin, I found out this was a hoax. He linked me to an article and you can read it here.

If you don't want to go there, here's some quick notes:
- this was an actual presentation at the inaugural "Venture Capital Fundraising Club of Silicon Valley"
- someone (not the actress) created a Rachel Sequoia Twitter account and now has more than 2000 followers (that's crazy)
- Also someone else not involved with the hoax project bought the domain name sharetheair108.com and started accepting sign-ups. (crazy as well...that someone did that AND that people are signing up)

As I watched this a couple of times...and also prompted by the comment of my cousin, it got me thinking about some stuff. Mainly the issue of 'greed'. At first, I had no idea where this presentation was going. I was thinking, "ok kinda hippyish girl making a presentation on air quality to some business people." Then the SALES PITCH came and I was totally caught off guard...and thought, "Man, people must be desperate if they buy into this." And apparently as proved by the above linked article, people are. 

But how can you do that? How can you own air?  To me it sounds crazy.  In fact it is crazy that there were/are people willing to invest money to attempt to do this! 

Segue (fyi, before I used spell check this word looked like this: Segway) to my cousin's point about how similar this is to the start up of bottled water and it got me thinking of the documentary BlueGold.  It basically says that the bottled water industry is causing the earth to become a desert. We are using the resource faster than it can be replenished.  This documentary might be biased conspiracy theory to some, but what is the argument FOR bottled water?  Watch the trailer or better yet, watch the movie itself and please convince me that bottled water it is a good thing.  I don't want to believe stuff like this is happening in the world.

Sorry this post got so depressing.

Anybody know a good joke?

...For Japan

Just bought this album & I would say to you, "Go get it!"  38 songs for $9.99 (at iTunes).  ALL PROCEEDS GO THE JAPANESE RED CROSS.

Now I know you might be saying how can $10 (I know it's actually $9.99, but just work with me here) make a difference?  Well, it can make a little bit of a difference.  BUT if 10 of us buy the album, then $10 turns into $100! AND if we tell 10 people to buy it (and they do), then our $100 turns into $1000!  AND ON AND ON AND ON! Also, if you don't like some of the songs, then you can just delete those.  Here's the link. (FYI: There are a few songs w/ "explicit" language.)

For those of us who'd rather not buy the album but just donate to support, a really fast and easy way is to help is to text REDCROSS to 90999.  $10 will be donated to the American Red Cross and billed to your wireless plan (All message and data rates apply).  Those monies will go specifically toward those in Japan affected by the disaster.  For more information here is the link to Red Cross.

Finally as we do whatever we're gonna do, let's say a little prayer for all those in Japan who have been affected, for those who are leading the country, and for those who are bringing aid. 

Thanks everyone.  I know this is just a little bit, but a little bit can become a lot.  As Mother Teresa said, "We can do no great things, only small things with great love."

Lord be with them.

(Hey if you know of other ways to support the relief effort in Japan, leave a comment.  Thanks)

HOME - the movie

Just watched this film on YouTube the other day.  It makes me think about my time here on Earth.  Makes me think about the world that my children will live in.  Here's the trailer.  What do you think?

Watch the full movie here.