Chris and Kella Launch Suburban Camping Company! plus a little Seth on "shipping" which reminded me of their venture and Meditation part lll


Kella and Chris MacPhee have launched their amazing new business called Suburban Camping Company - operating in the NJ area at the moment - they bring the outdoor camping experience to any backyard and they make that experience amazing - "they offer the smell of burnt marshmallows, the feel of wet grass and the sound of storytelling"

I just love it!

Hubby and I are going to schedule the Tent for Two for our anniversary in August. It features a vintage-style tent set up in our backyard with a comfy bed and lots of old school camping props, drinks and even breakfast in bed - it is pure genius!



They have lots of family and kids packages including a wonderful little send off party for Harry Potter's final episode with cots and sleeping bags and an outdoor movie set-up - I'll post more on these later, but check out their site HERE!

(we will probably rent the movie, too - we have to decide which movie we want to watch on a gigantic outdoor screen - what is the best anniversary movie - probably something classic - maybe Kate Hepburn I love her)

Now I have really dropped the ball on this meditation series and I thought for certain week 3 (week 5 now) was the week these instructions talked about inward vs. outward meditation, but it turns out week 3 simply introduces the addition of 3 cleansing breaths

(which you must step outdoors to do - or at least stick your head out the window)

so after we have finished our meditation - in my case when my oven alarm sounds letting me know my time is up - we go outside and take 3 deep, slow cleansing breaths. This is a release and renewal step that helps with grounding. Even when things are really crazy we can always find time for this grounding step and something about deep breathing fresh air always helps me think straight. Next week our inward / outward focus with this thing gets introduced.

Seth's talk about "shipping" -

(what we do for a living is not 'be creative' what we do for a living is 'ship')

at the 99% conference is something makers will just love and reminded me of what Kella and Chris are doing with their new business! I think you will like it.


* breathe print at TwoPaperdollsShop

How Big is that Pig - stopping human antibiotic use in animals

Last week the NRDC filed suit (along with some other groups including the Union of Concerned Scientists) to force the FDA to do its job.

(which according to its website is to :

protect the public health by assuring that foods are safe, wholesome, sanitary and properly labeled; human and veterinary drugs, and vaccines and other biological products and medical devices intended for human use are safe and effective
)

Even though the FDA has known for decades that giving human antibiotics to healthy animals can create monster bacteria that threaten human health they have done nothing.

(nada)

Antibiotics are obviously a good thing and have saved us from diseases that were once death sentence. But now, multi-drug resistant infections are on the rise at the same time the development of new antibiotics, due to cost constraints, are at an all-time low.

70% of all antibiotics in the U.S. are being wasted on healthy cows, pigs and chickens for things like growth promotion (!) creating drug-resistant superbugs that put everyone at risk.

We all know by now not to take and not to give our children unnecessary antibiotics and our doctors carefully weigh their options before prescribing them to us, but The National Academy of Sciences has stated:

"a decrease in the inappropriate use of antimicrobials in human medicine alone is not enough. Substantial efforts must be made to decrease inappropriate overuse of antimicrobials in animals and agriculture as well."

All 27 member states of the European Union have banned the use of important human antibiotics for growth promotion in animals. Hundreds of the world's leading consumer and public health agencies have demanded this practice come to an end.

Here is the petition we can sign to ask FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to ban the use of antibiotics in healthy animals. I can't believe after so many years we are still talking about this issue and nothing has been done- hopefully this lawsuit will have some real teeth in it.

Happy Friday- Gotta Love a Short Week!

The winner of last week's giveaway for Whimsy and Ink's personalized flask (chosen by random.org) is:
Min: 1 Max: 382 Result: 33- Cinders!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter and a great big YIPPEE to Cinders!


A link to my post HERE on TeamEcoEtsy's blog giving a shop critique to wonderful organic "food for your skin" seller Natural Grace - I have a
great publicity tip
for makers in that post - you will want to check it out!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone- next week will include a funtastic upcycled tutorial and I will finally get back to my meditation series - tomorrow is my favorite local flea market - it is on the beach in Ocean Grove - if you are in NJ, it is a great one, but you have to get there early - we are bringing bagels for a beach picnic while the sellers set up.

(and by we I might mean me because it seems everyone else is working and Olive is much too neurotic to wander around in those kind of crowds without kicking back a couple martinis first and it is much too early for that - even for Olive)

Check out some new work in my Uncorked shop above ↑- 10% off any purchase in Uncorked thru 6/15 with the shopping code MARTINI.

Be a Sprinter, Not a Marathon Runner - defining clear stopping points

When I first heard this quote by Tony Schwartz, CEO and President of The Energy Project I felt a little WT-?

(use your own discretion for the last letter, I'm from Jersey you know what we use)

Be the hare and not the tortoise? Didn't the tortoise always win those races when the hare got distracted and headed off to Mary Mary's garden to munch out on carrots ..

(or am I mixing up my nursey rhymes here?)

Whatever the story was - the lesson, I am pretty sure, was to plod along slow and steady - this is how winners were created, races won and hares taught lessons about responsibility.

And I am a big believer in process (as in you have to love it!) and the fact that the end-zone keeps getting moved on me (as in I'm tired and need a nap and my mommy).

So, I thought about this again ... be a sprinter, not a marathon runner.

The key to productivity, Schwartz says, is to "recognize the power of renewal, and have a finish line." He claims that "we've lost our finish lines."

Hallelujah!

(clouds part, blue skies blind us - cue the chirping birds)

YES, we need finish lines! Someone keeps moving my finish line (could it be me) and I need it. The never ending pace of this online maker lifestyle is not sustainable -

and if we are concerned about the sustainability of our makings we need to be concerned about the sustainability of ourselves.

It's almost summer folks - the internet slows down (trust me on this, I've been on here a long time) - your sales, unless you have some makings focused on the season, will slow down - it's a great time to think about renewal - think about creating some finish lines for ourselves

(I'm getting myself some of those paper banners I can rip through, arms in the air, screaming I DID IT!)

before things pick back up in the fall.

Time to set some clearly defined daily stopping points so we are not ending our work days with a sense of incompletion or not ending them at all.

I have summer shows including Beckman's Handmade in Los Angeles and Chicago for the first time

(cue the nail biting)

but I am going to start taking a little time between projects for renewal and not just jump into the next thing, set some clearly defined stopping points every day - create those little "end-zones" because the truth is ...

I was the kid who always won the 100 yard dash (and standing broad jump actually) - the same kid who could never quite finish the mile without walking the last lap - I've always been a sprinter.

*awesome I Dare You To Run Like a Girl print by Penny Jane Designs