Unicef - Great Gifts!

Finding content for my blog isn't the easiest. It's surprising difficult to think of stores and/or charities that offer charitable gift giving, and that are truly legit. Oftentimes I'll cruise well known charities and see if they have a gift section. And most of the time, they don't and just feature a place to donate cash (not that that's a bad thing! Donate away!). That's what brings me to today's post about Unicef. Not only do they feature tons of gifts (for adults, kids, stationary), but they are actually gifts that I would really give to friends and family! For instance, check out this bag. Here's the description from the Unicef site:

This carry-all is made from natural jute and has a cotton lining, an interior pocket and cord ties. The design is traditionally screen printed and finished with pretty blue and green sequins and translucent beads. Made in Bangladesh as part of a community project which gives some 60 women the security of earning a living, feeding and educating their children, while creating the bags from home.


The best part? It's only $15! Anyone who knew my mom, would know that she would have loved this bag. She LOVED elephants. I think my best friend Dani would like this too. It reminds me of all of her travels... I'm sensing a Holiday Gift in the making. I'll definitely be checking out Unicef in the future for gifts....

Doggy Lovers Unite!

Hi friends! Hope you are all having a nice week. I've been a single dog mom the last few days, hanging out with my basset baby Emma and was inspired to write today's blog all about Doggies! Look how cute she is!

So at the Big Dog Festival a few months ago, we saw the cutest basset, named Otis, who was rescued by Much Love Animal Rescue, in Los Angeles. He got adopted by a local family here, who have had a bit of difficulty adjusting to the rather unique basset traits (needy, food oriented, super loving). We're hoping he gets to stay at his new home, so that the cutie doesn't have to get rehomed... I'd be very tempted to take him in, if that ends up happening. Anyway, thinking about Otis inspired me to go on the Rescue's site and see if they have any cute products that help support their efforts.

Check out this adorable necklace! It was actually designed by Tori Spelling who is very active in this particular rescue. For those of you who have cash to burn, they have it in diamonds for a cool $350 . But for those of us who want a cheaper version, they do have a sterling silver one for $60 with pink or white crystals... So cute, right? For some odd reason, I can't upload the pic, so click on the link to see it.

Patagonia Forever

Hope your week is going nicely. Mine is chugging along pretty well. We just booked our tickets to India for late September, so now are frantically making reservations. If any of you have been to India (Northern), please drop me an email with suggestions!

Ok back to the blog. I know most of you have heard of Patagonia. They are actually based out of here, just a bit South of us in Ventura, CA. Patagonia is extremely philanthropic, giving 1% of sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment. Got to love that. Here are the details on all their environmental activitism.

As most of you know, Danny and I buy a ton of stuff from them, including all of our luggage! They have a lifetime guarantee on everything too, so if you buy one of their stylish down jackets, and the zipper breaks, they will fix it for free! Same with the luggage! And the best part, if they can't fix it, they will REPLACE it! Plus it's all very fashionable these days. I have a green jacket that looks just like a Marc Jacobs. I wear it ALL the time. Check out this down vest for fall. Match it with your favorite jeans, and head off to NYC! Aw.. a girl can dream, can't she?

Polo Pink Pony

Did y'all have a nice weekend!? We had an action packed one here in SB. We had our friends Carey and Brian up on Saturday- Sunday, with their adorable baby Chase. Then on Sunday, we were lucky enough to see our cousin, Gaby, play in a soccer tourney! Then the whole clan came back to Casa Klein for burgers and hot dogs. We had a great time... Today I also bought my sister-in-law a gift off the Susan Komen Foundation site. I'll let it be a secret until she gets it, but I certainly am using my own blog! It really makes gift giving easier when you've thought ahead about good charitable ideas..

Anyway, today I am focusing on the Pink Pony line from Polo! 10% of proceeds support programs for early diagnosis, education, treatment and research for cancer. The fund is dedicated to bringing patient navigation and quality cancer care to medically underserved communities. AND the stuff is cute! This shirt is one of the more affordable ones. If you're feeling like Melinda Gates, there are some beautiful cashmere sweaters . I've always loved the pony...

Fund Mammograms!

Hi friends. I hope your week is going ok... I need your help! Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman.

It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "donating a mammogram" for free (pink window in the middle). This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising.

Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

AGAIN, PLEASE TELL 10 FRIENDS TO TELL 10 TODAY

Then after you have clicked on the "donate a mammogram" link, then why not buy these adorable Diva Magnets? They also fund mammograms and are adorable. There is a whole line of these Diva Magnets. I'm sensing some future Xmas presents for the Diva's in the Klein/Lemkin family.

Sale at Presentsforpurpose.com

Hi there-- Hope you all had a nice relaxing weekend. We sure did. It was a beautiful weekend here in SB. We were sorry to miss our favorite Auntie and Cousin Brian, as Bri was sick, but we hope to see them soon!!!

I came across a really great end of Summer sale at Presentsforpurpose.com. This adorable necklace is on sale for $47, and 25% of the proceeds of all merchandise sold on this site goes to charity. Here's a list of their chairties. 25% of proceeds is a large amount to give, and it really makes me want to purchase many of my future gifts from them... What do you think of this necklace? Someone, please buy it for me! Ha.. Just kidding... Sort of.. ;-)

Happy Monday.

EchoSign - Save Paper!

Hi there- While today's post isn't necessarily a "traditional" gift idea, it really is a gift we can all give to the enviornment! EchoSign is actually a company that my ingenious brother founded. At its core, EchoSign is the easiest and fastest way to get a document signed. With EchoSign, you have unlimited document exchange, execution and tracking accessible anytime from anywhere. Now how does this give a gift to the enviornment?

Well, according to the Environmental Defense’s forumla, an average size corporation, merely by using EchoSign for 1% of its paperwork, could save over 10,000 pounds of copy paper annually and save over 100 tons of greenhouse gases. According to Environmental Defense, over 4.6 million tons of copy paper alone are shipped each year, generating greenhouse emissions equivalent to over 2,000,000 automobiles.

So in addition to saving not only time, money, and the frustration that comes with dealing with paperwork, you can also save as much as 10 tons of solid waste and 100 tons of greenhouse emissions per company per year (source: Environmental Defense).

Pretty cool, eh? So please, try sending your insertion orders, human resource documents, contracts, and much more through EchoSign. Oh, and did I mention it's FREE to try!?

Kitty Lovers Unite!

Hello! I hope you are enjoying my site and my gift ideas! If you look to the right, you can see that I added a Meebo IM box. You can contact me at any time by typing in a note. It goes straight to my IM which I pretty much have on all day. Isn't that cool?

Anyway, I was surfing around a ring of sites that all seemingly contribute to charity. There's a Hunger Site, Breast Cancer Site, Child Health Site, Literacy Site, Rainforest Site and Animal Rescue Site -- all of them feature a ton of gifts that have various charitable elements. I can't be 100% sure this isn't some sort of affiliate marketing scam, BUT regardless, since I'm in affiliate marketing, I can just hope that these guys actually do what they say they do. I found this particular pair of salt and pepper shakers that I will definitely buy for Big Grandma for Xmas. Anyone that knows Big Grandma, knows that she loves her kitties! And I know the Mimster loves her kitties too.....Wouldn't these look cute in her San Fran apt? The Animal Rescue site says it will donate 14 bowls of food for animals living in shelters if you buy these cute guys....

Presentsforpurpose.com

Hi all. I hope you are having a nice week. It's Fiesta here in Santa Barbara, and Danny and I have been enjoying the festivities. We're off to the Mariachi festival tomorrow at the SB Bowl...

Surfing the web this fine Friday, I came across this VERY cool site which donates 25% of their proceeds to chariable organizations, www.presentsforpurpose.com. It has a wide variety of gifts-- for men, women, children, etc. I particularly like this cute fashion watch. There's about 30 others in different colors and prices. This one is only $65. Perfect for your best friend's bday or for your favorite Auntie. :-)




















I know I'll be going here for my next bday gift. Have a great weekend!