Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Holiday tid bits....








Since I have been over the top busy between Grace, holiday parties, redecorating my office/playroom,  and finishing up the holiday home tour, I have neglected my blog! Here are some tid bits to hold you over until I post pics of my holiday home!



How shabby and fab is this?!?!


This totally is my mom's style tree, a seaside christmas! Love her new nautical furniture!


I also want to mention something totally worth doing! How many of you couldn't find the perfect holiday photo? How many of you would love to print large canvas photos for your home? How many of you would like to give a photo as a holiday gift?
I kept going through my photos thinking, "if only I could change this, then the picture would be perfect?" Well, now you can! Want to change the background? Check! Add makeup? Check! Fix a little flab? Check!

A new site:
http://PhotoshopMeNow.com/

For an inexpensive fee, you can make the changes you want! Presto! Chelsea, the women behind the creations, is highly talented and easy to work with. She has experience in photography and has a creative touch! Check it out!

Another must see...icaughtsanta.com!
Want Santa by the Christmas tree? Coming down the chimney? Eating milk and cookies? Sleeping on the sofa? Stealing a kiss from Mommy? For less than $10 anyone can bring back the wonder of Christmas and be a hero to children by catching Santa "in the act."



Till next time, out shopping!



Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Altruisim










Charity – in fact, altruism in general – is a very difficult concept to explain in a general sense. What I’ve found often is that you either have an innate understanding of why you give or you don’t, and introducing the idea to someone who doesn’t see the benefit is likely to get a shrug of indifference. The best I can do is explain in detail why I give to various causes.
As I often wonder, why oh why did I volunteer for another project? Another Saturday, another Sunday? Deep down in my heart I know why I always get involved. Regardless of the amount of work it involves or the "inconvenience", it simply makes me feel GOOD and a true sense of happiness in my heart. After an event, my heart is more satisfied than when I went purchased those shoes online. Although I will never fill an SUV full of piping hot beef stew again without some serious spill proof lids, I will keep cooking for the soup kitchen. Yes, I inherited the "gene" of the bottomless drive to keep giving from my mother and grandfather ("Poppi"), whom would give the shirt of their backs without a thought...and sometimes to a fault. 

I believe that giving is motivated by humans’ deeply held need to find meaning in life. For most people, meaning is deeply intertwined with community connections (defining community as narrowly as family to the full community of life). Humans want to feel a sense of connection and a sense of purpose to life. Giving (time, money, energy) is a central way that we strive to find meaning.
Much has been made of selfish motivations behind giving. No doubt some giving is motived by selfishness. However, if we look to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (a central theory of what drives human behavior) we find that while humans are driven by items that benefit them, once these needs (food, sleep, security, etc) are met, they are driven by the desire for self-actualization.
Because what is good for our community is good for each of us (in that individuals in thriving, happy communities are generally happier themselves), there is a way in which giving comes back to benefit the giver. This feedback loop is wonderful, but I believe that humans’ motivation to give is rooted in their desire to find meaning through community, not the hope that doing so will benefit them.
All of this is my thoughts on what motivations humans to give. The motivations of each individual giver are of course unique. But just as we eat to satisfy our desire to live, we give to satisfy our desire for meaning.
Here I sit, exhausted and burnt out making a list of what still needs to be done for the Old Lyme Children's Center benefit home tour and the thought, "why did I volunteer for this"?. I admit that sometimes this means time away from my family and friends. I started thinking and began writing... I am fulfilled because I know that this Christmas I have done good for my community.

Please join us in the celebration! I have tickets (in advance)to the home Tour and/or donations can be made out to OLCLC mailed directly to me! Any contribution is greatly appreciated, as many people have worked very hard to make a new playground possible for the school. I know it is a very busy time for many people, but am really hoping that it is a successful benefit. I am looking forward to a very merry weekend!



Sunday, December 5, 2010

Wrap it up!

Tis the season for wrapping with pretties! Most know that I have been feverishly working on decorating my home for a local benefit open house, so I have not been blogging too much. I thought I would share one of my most favorite ideas this season...gift wrapping with old maps. The french vintage look had to go along with my gift wrap, so... I took myself down to the good ol' Book Barn (a local recycled/used book store) and bought a book of vintage maps and French sheet music-blew the dust off and wrapped away! I used mostly maps of France, but even old subway maps and old newspapers would be neat! What about using magazines that are personalized specifically towards the interests of the recipient? More to follow once the holiday preview is over!






















Here are some other ideas that I thought were different via who else, but Martha Stewart!: Wrapping made from children's artwork!



How about wrapping each member of the family in a different color and skipping the gift tags? Thanks Martha!




And...last but not least...how about a jewelry organizer made out of vintage pulls for a gift?
That would be a good suggestion to give a husband and see what he can come up with!


Happy Wrapping! Did I mention that my house is COVERED in glitter?