Ok, so my darling friend and inspiring artist Jeff Mihalyo sent me this u-tube link in response to yesterday’s posting on elephant poo. Thank-you Jeff! Just watch it and you will be amazed…I got the chills all over. I think elephants are smarter than humans and have a thing or two to teach us…..and since we are on the subject of artists and elephants, here’s one of my favorite of Jeff’s paintings called Elephant Bridge.

Artist Jeff Mihalyo is seriously talented and cute too! Click here for more info on his work.

Yes, it’s really paper made out of elephant poo…I’m not kidding and it isn’t even April Fool’s Day yet.

Ok, so check this out. I spotted Mr. Ellie Pooh yesterday while at the Better Living Show in Portland. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know I’ve been talking a lot about the show lately and I was amazed yesterday when I was handed the most beautiful piece of paper and told what it was made out of. Yes, lovely card stock, stationery, business cards that look and feel organic are made out of elephant poo. You heard me right.

So, here’s the deal. Karl Wald left the corporate world to start Mr. Ellie Pooh, supporting elephants and humans living together in harmony in Sri Lanka. Elephants eat tons of fiber and then when they go pottie, the poo is removed and the fiber mixed with 25% post consumer waste is used to make these gorgeous paper products. No trees are harmed in the process, villagers make a living wage and the value of the elephants goes up and therefore, helps protect them from poachers….Yes, that is definitely something we support here….We love elephants…How about you?

My next business card run will be printed on elephant poo! Spread the word on this one…It’s a wonderful eco-alternative…

Linda and I lighting candles last night during Earth Hour from 8 to 9pm.

I’m silly grinning right now from ear to ear as I write this and remember my evening last night during Earth Hour when the entire planet shut off electricity for one hour. That’s the equivalent of taking several hundred thousand cars off the rode. Yes, seriously amazing, I know….

So last night, Jimmy, Linda and I came back to my house from the Portland Better Living Show and for Earth Hour, turned off all lights, heater and all electricity to celebrate our Planet. Jimmy and I were sipping on our strawberry milkshakes from Burgerville—a stop on the way home. Burgerville had gifted us with some free coupons while at the show. As a side note, Burgerville practices sustainability —-the strawberries as well as their ingredients are local and fresh! More on Burgerville later….Anyway, the three of us were trying to take pictures and laughing our heads off as each photo came out with strange shadows and funny shapes….Yeah, we were also kind of crashing from our long day at the show…I loved hanging out in front of a fire with candles surrounded by loving friends.

How did you spend your hour in the dark?

Me hanging with Sisters on the Fly at the Portland Better Living Show.

So check it out. I’m walking around Portland’s Better Living Show on Friday (3/28), looking for some pink inspiration and I run right into these gals, from Sisters on the Fly–a group of fabulous women (it’s grown to 1,000!) ranging from ages 88 to 21 who take yearly adventure vacations and invite sister friends from all over the country to join in. I just love it!

So anyway, on their yearly adventures, they bring along their bedrooms which are vintage 1950’s trailers (!!) each individually decorated…Three of these vintage sweethearts were on display at the show and ooooohhhhh baby, super eco-adorable. No bathroom, each one offers a cute adorable mini- fridge (a block of ice in there works just fine!), oven and stove–the latter doubles as a heater. I felt like I was 7 years old all over again playing in my doll house. An eco-chic girl’s dream! I got great video footage of the inside of these vintage sweets, which I will post this week. You are going to love it!

Look at the sister’s Cowgirl Caravan….So utterly pink….

Thanks for being so sisterly, Sisters on the Fly. It was such a pleasure meeting you. You are all so warm hearted and kind. It’s no wonder your numbers keep growing! Thank-you for being eco-mindful and recycling these fabulous trailers. It’s inspiring.

To sign up for a sister adventure, click here.

An inspiring guide to yurt living…

A few years ago i saw a beautifully decorated yurt in Domino Magazine and fell in love. How eco-chic to live in a sustainable yurt, fabulously decorated with personal style and…it’s totally affordable. Just gazing at the above photo invites my shoulders to drop a whole 2 inches…

Cut to yesterday at the Portland Better Living Show, I’m standing inside a yurt (available for purchase by Go Yurt) with Becky Kemery, author of the book, ‘Yurts Living in the Round’ talking yurt..

Becky at home outside of her yurt in the mountains of Northern Idaho.

You’ll see more in the video blog segment, but after learning that Becky herself lives in a yurt, I had to ask some seriously pink questions…like what’s the bathroom situation like and how’s the heating in the winter. The answers were unexpected….bathroom situation is comfortable and the wood burning stove serves to heat the space and quite efficiently, she added. Bottom line: She loves it!

What inspired me was her overall commitment to living in harmony with the planet. Her energy felt very grounded and centered. That alone is enough of an endorsement for me…

There will be a yurt in my future…and it might be in Albany. How about you? For more info on yurt living click here.