USA Inc.

Happy New Year everyone:) After looking through the gifts I gave and received this year, it's to no surprise that maybe 10% of items were actually made right here at home. This is such a passionate subject for me so I'm going to blog about it. (Lucky you, reader) ;-)
Adam and I are all about buying and supporting local business. On the downside, it does make items more expensive. On the upside, usually the quality is superb. It is unbelievable how difficult it is to find things made in the USA. Recently, my cousin from Spain had her first baby girl. My grandma asked all of us to buy her a gift that we could pack into a box and ship off to Barcelona. The only requirement she asked, was that every single thing be made in the USA. So, Adam and I went on our search for cute San Francisco baby onesies. We walked into stores that had adorable clothes with the Golden Gate Bridge and Haight-Ashbury signs sprawled across them. When we asked the owners if they carried anything made in the United States, some of them didn't even know! After we picked out at least 5 different outfits and checked their tags to find them all being made in mostly China and one in Indonesia, we thanked them and walked out empty handed. We tried 4 or 5 different stores until finally finding this super cute locally owned store, Wishbone.
My point on this subject is just to barely touch on the sole fact of how many more Americans we would have working, if we started buying here at home. Really, on the forefront of what we as consumers can do, is just a small amount. But, by buying local you're at least able to stimulate your community in the circle you live in. The big picture lies much deeper in a government and state level that is worsening every single day. For example, our new bay bridge (which connects the east bay area to San Francisco), is currently being built and contracted by China! The UGGS I just got for Christmas say Australian wool, made in China! The bottom of your dishes, China! Your TV, China! The tags on most clothes you wear, China, China, China! You'll also find Vietnam and other Asian countries, but USA or even Europe, is slim to none. The reasoning behind all of this is because the people in these countries will work for cents, and it's all about the green. Money is the number one priority and it's a shame because this is where slave labor comes into play. That Louis Vuitton purse I walk by every day, yup, slave labor. This is such a jumbled entry, but it's frustrating because the reality is that if you want to shop locally for good quality things, you have to pay more. Paying more isn't always feasible for some people, which is why Wallmart (which we have boycotted for a number of reasons) is a safe haven. Wallmart has run so many business out of business it's disgusting, not to mention the life insurance they take out on their elderly employees, ah! I could rant non stop about that corrupt corporation but for your sake, I'll stop.
My very last point ends at stores like Forever 21 and even Victoria's Secret, both of which I'm leaning further and further away from. Of course you won't find any of the junk in F21, made in America, but I've known that all along. It used to be a great store to buy a cheap dress that you'll only wear once because it will fall apart after one wash. But I'm OK with that because it's cheap crap. Now, it's expensive crap, no joke! I was in there last week and low quality tops hanging together by a couple threads are now double the price. I called a girlfriend right when I left (empty handed) and she agreed. We can't believe our once "go to" store for a night out is so over priced but the quality is still just as bad. Then, I order a $60 cotton dress from Victoria's Secret. When I got it, I couldn't believe what I had paid. It was super thin cotton, almost see through with a tag "Made in China". Not to mention their bras that used to hold together so well before it was such a huge franchise, now loosen up and fall apart after a wash or two. All of this circles back to the money and I get that. This world, unfortunately, is run in a lot of ways based on the quickest and cheapest method.
Do I have a solution? Not really. Will I still shop at both of these stores? Probably, but not as much as I used to. I prefer to pay more for higher quality, and I've turned that way almost completely now. Although, even a $400 Burberry jacket I saw at Nordies the other day wasn't made in the USA either, clearly the quality was better. (cough cough slave labor) :( **Watch this documentary, "Santa's Workshop" on slave labor for a better understanding, we thought it put heaps into perspective.**
I guess all we can do is to try to put forth the effort to buy here at home when we can, because it will absolutely make a difference for local business. Just having the idea in your head is a step up from just buying buying buying, not caring at all who's hands are tediously (or not so tediously) working to make it. That is all. :)

DIY: Christmas Card Hanger

I titled this Christmas card hanger because it's that time of year when the cards start pouring in. I'm planning on hanging black and white photos on this after the holidays are over, so really, anything you would hang on your fridge you can hang on this. Adam and I took apart a pallet and individually dry painted them with white paint. Our walls are cream with white crown molding so I thought it would be a nice match.

After you have your slabs of wood, all you need is twine or a thick string of some sort, staple gun, wire and a hook. Adam added a hook to the wall and wire to the back of the wood to hang. (Just like you would hang a picture frame). Then, we stapled the twine to the back of the wood and wrapped it over and over again, stapling as we went to keep it super tight. Tighter the string the better, so the cards don't slip out. And 2 people for this really helped so one person could staple and one person could hold the twine tight. We put these on a bare wall in our hallway, next to our kitchen. Hope you like it too:)

Looks like a botched job but we couldn't get the large screws out! Still hangs straight though;)

I zig zagged a few times to fit the twine snug around the cards.

Here's the hook we used on the wall.

And there you have it. 

52 reasons

This has been the most meaningful gift I have ever given anyone which makes me extremely excited to share it! Something I haven't shared on facebook or talked to anyone about except my close friends and family, is that recently, a very close family member was diagnosed with a super scary form of cancer. I won't even go into depth on here because it's too painful and for me, being private about family things is important. If you have ever had the "C" word bombard itself into your family, you understand how hard it is just to feel like you're helping. For weeks, I didn't know what I could possibly do to help her. Then, lovely pinterest gave me a great idea.

I found a blue deck of cards (Blue because for us, it's a fighting color. All of our toe nails are painted blue:) and asked my entire family and her closest friends to help me in what I think is such a remarkable gift. Everyone gave me reasons why they love her. The outpour was bigger than I ever imagined! I ran out of cards and even debated using 2 decks. I wrote out the reasons on pieces of paper, and glued them on each card, punched a hole in the top, and found an old shower curtain ring to hold them all together. I cried while receiving email after email, both from those who raised me and those I had never met. This whole time I knew I was doing something special for someone I love, but really, she was doing something in me I never would have expected.