Re: Fa La La La La: A Local Christmas Experiment

Hello and Happy New Year! I have been remiss in updating you on our Christmas Experiment. 'Tis late, but here we go. J and I were very successful in our Christmas Experiment (though, more accurately, it should be called a Christmas Challenge, as it was not really an experiment). We had a couple of challenges for ourselves as we embarked on our holiday shopping. Here are the updates:

• All of the gifts for our family were purchased locally or regionally. Only one single gift was bought at a "big box" store. The remaining gifts came from Sea Hag, Sam the Beer Man, Tom's, River Read Books, Ithaca Coffee Company, Laveggio Roasteria, Nyala Farm Alpacas, The Petal Pusher, Silk Oak, Spirit & Kitsch, Homespun Boutique, Creature Comforts, the vendors of the Otsiningo Park Farmers Market
• The two or three friend gifts that came from the internet were purchased from independent artisans selling their stuffs on etsy.
• All gifts were wrapped in paper purchased before we decided to take this challenge or in repurposed paper.

We did a great job on this challenge, and we got to know our local shop owners, farmers, artisans a little better. We really enjoyed our Buy Local Christmas.

Comeback Kid

I've been removed for a bit. Too long. So much is going on. The last couple of weeks of school were way more excruciating than I expected, and I've had a lot of additional trouble with my back. Most recently, I've been so uncomfortable that I couldn't find a comfortable sitting position that lasted for more than a few seconds. Friday, I had Cortisone injections in my lumbar spine to try to treat the pain related to my bulging disc.

I am finally starting to feel a bit better, and I hope to be able to catch you up on the following things:

• the update on my Spring 2011 internship
• the results of our Local Christmas Experiment
• Olive the dog?
• more?

Don't go away. I'm coming back soon. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of Olive's first snowball.

Fa La La La La: A Local Christmas Experiment

Since I'm still in school, and we have limited monies for Christmas gifts, we're trying some new things:

1. J and I aren't gifting to each other. Boo.... I guess my present from J is ... school? Blerg.
2. We're planning to buy all our gifts locally/regionally. This is savvy in regards to money and in regards to the environment. It means no Amazon, no extra monies for shipping and no carbon footprint for the transportation of an item from wherever it comes from to Broad Street, no disappointment if the UPS driver leaves a note instead of a package. Not only will we be supporting the local economy, we'll be able to give slightly larger gifts since we won't be paying for shipping from 5, 8, 12 different online purveyors.
3. Additionally, we'll be patronizing local shops, bookstores, farmers markets and craft shows and only hitting the big box stores if we have to.
4. We're not buying any wrapping paper this year. We'll be using what we have or what we find or what we can repurpose.

J and I both really love giving totally unique gifts; hopefully we'll be able to find and gift neat things despite the (lack of) local shopping options. I suppose I can concede on gift amazingness provided that we're being better to the planet and the local economy. If it goes well, we'll probably try it again!

image via Perfect Duluth Day

Autumn is Great and All

But all the special things that happen when its winter time are incredibly enjoyable.

Here is a list:

• Christmas! This includes:
• family festivities and a giant feast
• church
• anticipation
  
• preparing; cooking and baking
  
• decorating the tree
• splurging
• shopping for, wrapping and giving neat presents
• stockings
  
• Advent calendars
• reminiscing
  
• charity
• Christmas cards
• seasonal microbrews
  

Additionally:

• flannel sheets
• pomegranates
• down blankets
  
• down vests
• bundling up; layering

Now, I'm off to find my down booties and a sweatshirt.