We are offering the most wonderful giveaway ever this week – so do NOT miss the chance to win a Sodashi Gift Basket (valued at $500.00). Sodashi is a Sanskrit word that means wholeness, purity and radiance. The company was founded by Megan Larsen in Australia and is now available in the world’s top spa’s.www.sodashi.com It is completely free of chemical products and produces remarkable results. The gift basket includes: Clay Cleanser with Lavender, Rejuvenating Concentrate, Calming Rose Face Mist, Calming Face and Neck Moisturizer, Organic Relax Tea and Floral Body Oil. If you want to feel like the ultimate Gorgeously Green Goddess – here’s your chance.
To enter the sweepstake, leave a comment on the following topic “PROSPERITY” We will randomly pick the winner on tuesday.
GOOD LUCK!

USA today has done a comprehensive and fascinating report on the how bad pollution is in and around your school. Go to this article at USAToday.com and type in the name of your school, your city and state and the results will pop up immediately. It’s also really interesting to discover who exactly are the major polluters in your area. If your school had a bad rating and you wish to find out more about the local polluters and get the air tested, go to www.gcmonitor.og or email info@gcmonitor.org Would love to to hear your comments??

This year we decided to stay as close to home as possible for Thanksgiving. We considered a “Staycation” but I got tempted into a mini road trip, as there were a couple of organic farms that I was dying to visit. We are lucky enough to live in Central California, where even at this time of year, fresh and juicy produce is abundant. We headed to the little town of Ojai where we visited Steve and Olivia, who are “the farmer and cook” www.farmerandcook.com Steve is a brilliant organic farmer, who fills his tiny store with everything from his organic fields. Olivia then transforms this produce into the most delicious Mexican food. I ate a handmade (from scratch) tortilla with zucchini and goat cheese and my daughter ate the “best ever in the world” cheese quesadilla”. We sat amongst large CSA boxes, waiting to be picked up by the lucky locals.

That night we stayed at The Cheshire Cat Inn www.cheshirecat.comin Santa Barbara. It’s a cozy, old-fashioned B&B in the heart of the Mission District and in walking distance of a plethora of delicious local restaurants. This inn is attempting to go Green by conserving water and energy and eschewing the use of paper and plastic products.

Finally, we visited the Figueroa Olive Farm in the Santa Ynez Valley www.figueroafarms.com One of the owners, Antoinette, showed us how the olives are milled into her award-winning oil. She was kind enough to teach me many little-known facts about EVOO, as we stood in the pouring rain.
After visiting some friends, whose new home is just about as close to paradise as you can imagine – nestled in a valley between hillsides of citrus, avocado, walnut, persimmon, pomegranate and apple trees, we headed home. We all agreed that driving a few miles to find a patch of beautiful nature and actually discovering the source of our food, was a preferable option to a standing in long airport security lines. I know many of us don’t have a choice as far as air travel is concerned – our families are scattered, but it sure makes a welcome change to vacation as near to home as possible. As flight prices and greenhouse gases escalate, it makes sense to discover the joy of a good old-fashioned road trip.

Here is our winner for this week:

Aimee
I just met another message board member who lives very close to me, and we have been trading our local green favorites. At times like these I realize that the green community is growing larger and larger, which is very exciting!

Congratulations Aimee and enjoy your new top!

Also, I wanted to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the time with friends and family!

This week’s giveaway is the Raw Earth Wild Sky Top pictured on the Front Page. It is made by the wonderful design team, Raw Earth Wild Sky www.btcelements.com
Leave a comment on the theme “Community” and on tuesday we will randomly pick out a winner.

Apparently, over the last year – Nov 08 through June 09, Americans drove 53.3 billion less miles than the same period a year earlier. This was obviously due to escalating prices at the pump. It was hard on our pocket books, but gentle on the planet. Now that gas prices have temporarily gone down, many of us are jumping right back into our old habits. Apparently sales of SUV’s and trucks are on the rise again and people have stopped car-pooling and taking public transport. I urge all of you Green Girls to stick to your money-saving habits and drive less. With the economy hurting most of us, it won’t harm to save a few dollars when and wherever you can. However, most importantly, you can make a huge difference to pollution levels and green house gases, by continuing to:
1. Car Pool
2. Cycle or walk for at least one of your short daily trips
3. Think twice before jumping in your car to pick up something – is it really necessary?
4. Check your car tires are pumped to the recommended level at least once monthly?

Let us know if you have made any changes in your driving habits. Have any of you decided to share a car with your partner or a family member and if so, how is that working out?

Don’t forget to enter your favorite recipe into the contest. You have 2 days left – so tell all your friends! We are going to print them all on this website and on www.eatdrinkordie.com and the winning prizes are my favorite pans and bakeware in the world www.chantal.com I have tried virtually every “Green” pan on the market and you won’t find better than Chantal’s Copper Fusion Line. Thank you for those of you who have already sent in – we are so enjoying reading them.

I have to say – I have so enjoyed reading all your comments on Hope. They are inspiring and beautiful and I wanted you all to get a prize – still many more to come. So the two randomly picked winners are: comment #1 Natasha and comment #11 Kristin. Congratulations and enjoy your beautiful Catherine Michiel Pendant.
Don’t miss our guest blogger, Coleen Vinetz, this week – she has some inspiring thoughts to share with you all and also, it’s the last few days to enter the recipe contest!

I am so excited to introduce you to one of my favorite jewelry designers – Catherine Michiels. Her pieces are absolutely exquisite and would make the most beautiful holiday gift for any girlfriend you love. www.catherinemichiels.com

We are giving away one of her elephant pendants to 2 lucky bloggers that we will randomly pick on monday. Leave us your comments on the topic: HOPE. I can’t wait to read them and good luck.

In Obama’s great words “unyielding hope” is what I repeat over and over to myself. It’s time for great change and I have great hope now that we will be further encouraged to treat each other and this planet with reverence and respect. Being Green is about being conscious of how our each and every action affects other people, animals and the earth. I’m so excited that we are moving into an era where this paradigm of thinking will hold a top priority rating.
What are your hopes for the future?