if I had only realized it's now September.....

For those few people that actually find this blog and read it (Hi Mom!), I apologize for not posting anything since April!!! My, how the time flies!!!
Here we are in September, the Fall, my favorite time of year! Pumpkins, mums, leaves falling, a nice chill in the breeze... I love it! It is only fitting that while enjoying a lovely fall day in the city of Philadelphia, that my sister and I conjured up a fabulous idea!
The idea being to start a new blog.... One where we are honest. One where we lead you in the right direction. One where we dine. One where we wine. And one where we have a blast while doing it!
So, today be on the lookout for the first post at "if we were food critics....". We hope you all enjoy our opinions on restaurants around Philadelphia (and beyond)!!

Earth Day 2008

The 2nd Annual Earth Day party at the La Porte's was held on Saturday! We had a beautiful day! Great times had by all! The picture above is me, Steve, and my niece, Alex, hugging our apple tree in the backyard! Also here is a picture of my brother-in-law.....I thought he was the best treehugger!

As for all the festivities that took place, we had quizzes about Earth Day that everyone answered and prizes were given to the 1st and 2nd place winners! (Congrats to Craig and Kook!) We had Information Station were all could learn about global warming and what you can do to keep our earth cool! Also, we had trunk shows for Loop and Nest! The goody bags that were handed out had a plethora of information......websites to visit, a Natural Home magazine to read, samples of Dropps, Twist sponges, a Doodlespark card, information cards about Nest, and more! I hope all enjoyed the lovely day, the fun party, and celebrating the Earth!! Happy Earth Day!

Healthy Child, Healthy World

Today was the release of the "Healthy Child, Healthy World" book. It is a book that provides you with information on how to make your home a greener, cleaner, safer environment for your child and your family. Help support this great organization by purchasing the book at their website, Healthy Child, Healthy World or at Amazon. This is also a great gift for all of those expecting friends out there!

Beautiful California!

Steve and I just returned from a lovely and wonderful 10-day vacation in California! We started out in Napa Valley at the fabulous-I-highly-recommend-can't-wait-to-go-back Carneros Inn. What an amazing experience.....lovely views, lovely wines, lovely service. On Saturday, we took a wine tour (driven by Sarah of Magnum Tours referred by the Carneros Inn) and hit up 5 wineries!! The day started at Vine Cliff where we had a brief tour of their barrel caves and tasted the tasty Chardonnay. Then off to an 11:00am appointment at Swanson Vineyards. Here was different than any other....a seated tasting of 6 wines with cheese, caviar, and gelato. It was so fun....especially because we had the seating all to ourselves! We stopped quickly by the tasty Oakville Grocery, grabbed lunch, and heading to Kelham Vineyards where we had our picnic and tasted 8 of their fab wines! My favorite was the 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon. Then off to Far Niente. The grounds were amazing....beautiful landscaping and views. I had picked this place to go and have to say I was disappointed. The wines were good, but a cheesy tour of the estates vintage cars. We were more interested in the wine! Last place we visited was Shifflett Estate. Our driver had recommended and called Jeffrey Shifflett, the owner and winemaker. What a lovely way to end the day! One of my favorite places that we visited!!!

The next day of wine tasting was a treat! We went on a tour by John Burdick. It was just the 3 of us....he picked out the wineries and what an amazing day! Our first stop was Deerfield Winery, where we met owner, PJ Rex, and sat with her at her dining room table sipping her wines and chatting over the sustainable grape growing they do there. Then off to Glen Lyon Winery, where we met the real Ronald McDonald (no joke!), Squire Fridell. He was a lovely jovial man, full of stories, that we loved to hear! We ate lunch at his estate with a gorgeous view and in company of his adorable dog, Puck. Our last stop on Monday was Audelssa. Up in the mountains of Sonoma, breathtaking views, and a little bit of car sickness for me, but this was one of my favorites! The place was amazing and Dan Schafer, the winemaker/owner, was so informative. He was the one who suggested A16, a trendy Italian restaurant in the Marina District of San Fran, and by far, my favorite meal of our trip! Thanks, Dan!

After leaving wine country (sadly), we headed off for San Francisco and finished our trip there. We walked around the city, ate at lovely establishments like A16 and Gary Danko, and went to a speakeasy called Bourbon & Branch. It really was a lovely vay-cay!

Oh yeah, almost forgot on the best parts, Muir Woods!!! Amazing California redwood forest!! We made sure to hug them!!!

Woodsy Bond

I get daily emails from Sprig, and today they featured this lovely wallpaper. I absolutely love it!!! Woodsy Bond is eco-friendly wallpaper that is produced with less energy and no volatile organic compounds. You can pick between Flora or Fauna collections, but I love them all! I want to pick out one of these for my dining room.....it would feel like we are eating in a colorful happy jungle! :)

Green Lemonade

This is my new favorite website! Packed full of great information on green products, healthy organic foods, and other great 'green' blogs to visit! It's also designed so cute! I found it by the Mighty Foods blog. Check them both out and hope you enjoy too!

Eco-Baby Finds

Baby Bear Shop -Lately, there is news every single day of another friend or aquaintance that is having a baby! This is very exciting news and along with that excitement, I feel a bit of worry. Trying to be as 'green' as I can, I only want my expecting friends to be the same....for their health and their baby's. So after doing some research (and shopping for baby gifts!), I found this website - http://babybearshop.com/. An adorable website, adorable gift ideas, and a FAB product! They also plant a tree for every purchase - how great is that!?! Be sure to check out the website....or shop if you are one of the expecting! Happy Eco-baby Shopping!