Foodie Summer Day

8am: Chocolate croissant and coffee on a small table on the sidewalk outside of the Cowen Grocery cafe. Talk of future dreams, weekly updates, and, of course, chocolate, with a dear friend.

6pm: Phinney Farmer's Market. One flat of berries - half strawberry/half raspberry. Two quesadilla slices filled with beets and seasonal greens.

9pm: Molly Moon's ice cream. Samples? Theo Chocolate and Carrot Cake. Choice? Scout Mint.

Yum.

(Four)th of July

My four-year-old niece went on a photo shoot on the Fourth of July. I present to you her first art show.

Safari on a rug.

Color Study - Red.

Artist Quote: "I'm going to take a picture of dad's beer."

Shout out to grandma.

The Dollhouse.

Fleeing Subject.

Emotion.

Pinochle, Plastic, and Fleece.

We had a great Fourth of July - lots of food and family time (and rain made it a little extra-special for yours truly!). And, of course, our four-year-old keeping us on our toes :)

Strawberry Fields Forever

It's no secret that summer is my least favorite season. Glaring brightness in the sky. Sticky sunscreen film on my skin. Heat. Allergies. Guilty feelings when inside on a sunny day.

But there is one redeeming quality of summer.

Berry-picking.

Every year, my love for berry-picking grows. It doesn't matter what kind of berry, just as long as I'm in a field, with a bucket, alongside friends, picking the sweetness bounty of the earth (one in my mouth, five in the bucket).

I went to Bellingham with some friends, and we decided to pick our first berries of the season on Saturday afternoon. A perfect way to spend a pre-Fourth of July Saturday.

Since Whatcom county is chock-full of u-pick farms just outside of the city, it seemed like it would be simple to find a farm to visit. But after many phone calls, internet searches, and discussion, we realized that finding a farm to visit was not going to be such a simple task.

Why?

Because we were committed to picking at a farm that cares for the environment. And, shockingly enough, they are hard to come by in a county that appears to be environmentally-friendly.

I admit that I do not always buy organic fruits and vegetables. But this weekend I was determined to respect not only the earth, but farmers who were committed to caring for their land by not using pesticides or fertilizers to grow their berries.

Calling around to a few farms, we found some pretty low prices ("$1.25/pound - what a deal!"), but quickly realized that any price less that $3/pound certainly meant that the farm used conventional methods such as sprays, pesticides, fertilizers, etc. I don't know too much about farming methods - I just know that spraying chemicals on the plants or the soil is not so good for anyone or anything involved in the whole process.

The only farm that was open was about 15 minutes away, and didn't sound too promising (rain = bad weather = small crop = not many berries left when we wanted to pick), but we decided to check it out. I'd been to this farm before, and knew it was quite small. But we figured that the farmers could possibly direct us to another organic farm if they didn't have any berries left.

We arrived, picked up some baskets, and walked with the farmer out to the field. Wearing a bucket hat and round glasses, he told us about his strawberries. He said he was surprised that people were coming out of the fields with full baskets of berries. Apparently they were hiding quite well, available to those who were willing to search for them. He found a few good berries for us, and sent us on our way. About twenty other berry-pickers were enjoying the early afternoon on the farm. Some twin two-year-olds kept running back and forth between the strawberry patches where their mom and grandma were picking. I enjoyed munching on the pieces of heavenly goodness that were lying unsuspectingly underneath lush green leaves (which were unfortunately causing quite a rash on my arms!).

It was a perfect outing. For us, the environment, the farmer. Although I am on a budget, I was more than willing to pay more for these organic berries. Because I paid the cost to grow berries as they are meant to be grown. Whole. Natural. Delicious.

The end of the story? The berries found their way to Fourth of July dessert. Scones, whipping cream, and sliced strawberries. Just a little bit of heaven.

Why is it that...

...I always am blogging in my head, but don't have the discipline to pull posts together?

I am becoming increasingly scattered and frantic as I add more and more to my life (and my thoughts seem to multiple at an exponential rate). I mean, who goes to the bathroom and comes out with a new career idea? This girl. Often. (Yesterday at six pm I decided that I'm going to become a career counselor at a community college, naturally).

Why can't I quiet down and focus my thoughts? Why does my mind go bananas on a regular day? Poor time management? Too much on my plate?

I don't have the answers to the above questions. I think it's a combination of too many people to meet, too many hobbies to pursue, too many books to read, too many things to learn + too many movies to watch, too many blogs to read, too many things to consume + things I have to do (work, sleep, eat, breath, exercise) + multi-multi-multi-tasking = my challenge at achieveing a balanced, non-frantic life.

My pastor is always talking about developing a rule of life - habits that help us lead the kind of life God wants us to lead: balanced, giving, prayerful, hopeful, etc. Perhaps I should focused on developing such habits. There are definitely changes I could make to my life, but it's difficult to decide what to cut down on when most of them are so life-giving. It's a cruel irony when these life-giving activities begin to have the opposite effect when I try to do too many of them :)

Oh, well, I leave this post with no new revelations (probably because I'm simultaneously facebook-chatting with a friend and listening to my Band of Horses pandora station, thinking about the laundry in I have in the dryer and the grocery list I still haven't written for tomorrow), but with a bit of too-be-continued reflection.

The discipline of blogging/journaling/reflecting is one I want to improve on, so, score me for a blog post tonight.

One day at a time...

Bookday

My birthday was wonderful for very many reasons: it was golden; tea, spaghetti, cheesecake, and donuts were consumed; Disney songs were sung; the lake was walked around; and rain fell.

But it was also wonderful because it involved an hour and a half at my favorite place: 2 stories of books - new, old, classic, foreign, you name it, you find it. Since discovering the Half Price books on Capitol Hill in April, I'd planned to pay a visit there on my birthday. So after spending the morning and afternoon enjoying a pot of tea with my roommate and a walk around the lake with a friend, I headed to Capitol Hill (with a backseat full of library books, mind you) to spend a delightful afternoon browsing through new potential friends. Here's a summary of my findings:

The Crisis of Islam, Bernard Lewis:

After having a challenging conversation with some friends about Islam this past week, I've realized that I need to stop talking about how I need to learn more about Islam, and at least take a step towards self-education. This book was a dollar and doesn't appear too intimidating which means I may just pick it up within the next few weeks.

The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis:

This book has been on my to-read list for quite some time, though I actually don't know specifically what it's about. As someone who faces pain (but who doesn't?), I am eager to be encouraged by the wise words of Mr. Lewis on this challenging subject.

The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton

My literary mentor + His journal about his trip through Asia = Pretty much the most excited I've been to read a book in a long time. The worlds of faith, culture, Asia, religion, adventure, insight, and reflection collide!

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith

For only a dollar, I should've picked up all eight copies! I'm forever lending this book out, so figure I needed a new copy because EVERYONE needs to read this series. Yelena was the lucky birthday guest to take this copy home tonight!

Burmese Language Book

On the Best Buy clearance shelf was a stack of Burmese language books. After a double-take, I knew I had to have a copy. It was just calling my name.

I also bought a journal, which brought the grand total to $13.95 (after a 20% Memorial Day discount).

Birthday bookday = Success.

I think this needs to happen next year. And maybe tomorrow as well.

Mr. Yunus

Thanks to my friend Liz and the power of Facebook, I discovered that Muhammad Yunus was speaking in Seattle.

As an aspiring social entrepreneur, I knew I couldn't miss this opportunity. I'd read Yunus' first book, Banker to the Poor, a few years earlier, and am in the beginning stages of learning about microcredit, so how could I pass up the chance to hear from Mr. Microcredit himself?

Emily, a classmate who'd lived in Bangladesh for a few years, joined me as we made our way downtown to city hall for the lecture. I told a few people about my evening plans, but none of them knew who Mr. Yunus was. Seriously? He won the Nobel Peace Prize, people - he's kind of a big deal.

We waited in anxious anticipation as we watched a preview for a documentary film coming out in the fall - To Catch a Dollar - that explores Mr. Yunus' work in microcredit. Hopefully more people will become aware of the power of microcredit through this film - I can't wait to see it!

As Mr. Yunus walked out on stage, the audience stood up in applause. A standing ovation before the lecture - I wasn't sure I'd ever experienced this before. The audience soon settled down and waited to hear what Mr. Yunus had to say.

Let me tell you, his words came at a perfect time for me. As I'm in the process of trying to focus my research and thesis, Mr. Yunus reminded me of my interest and passion in income-generating projects as a means to obtain self-sufficiency. He spoke of the power of social business, and how ordinary, illiterate people are using microcredit to develop viable income-generating opportunities for themselves and their communities. How much more then, he encouraged us, can educated, literate people unleash the power of microcredit to affect positive social change?

I realized during his lecture that though I'm quite interested in many aspects of human trafficking - border patrol, citizenship issues, cultural values, religious beliefs, etc., etc., etc. - I need to focus on income-generating opportunities because this is the foundation of my interest. Thank you, Mr. Yunus, for helping me focus!

Well, in accordance with my budget, I wasn't going to purchase any of his books that evening (though I desperately wanted to!). But by the end of the lecture, I slowly slide my credit card from it's usual perch at the top of my wallet as I stood in line to buy Creating a World Without Poverty (Emily had bought the book before the lecture so I'd had ample opportunity to gaze longingly at it as it rested between us). I purchased the book and we scooted over to the meet and greet line. Yes, friends, I was going to meet Mr. Yunus himself.

Now, I must say, I'm a bit starstruck. The closer we got to the front of the line, the faster my heart started beating. He's just another person, Ellie, I kept telling myself. And yet ordinary people don't win the Nobel Peace Prize, ordinary people don't create revolutionary economic systems, other people haven't changed the world for millions of people. Mr. Yunus is no ordinary man.

We strategized our approach before placing our books in the signing pile. Emily greeted Mr. Yunus in Bengali, and they shared a bit of conversation before he asked her if I spoke Bengali as well. She shook her head no, and then I realized what they were talking about. I said to him, No, I don't speak Bengali. And he looked at me and said (this time in English), how did you know what we were talking about?! I told him, context. We laughed. I then asked if I could take my picture with him, and he told me no, he would only take a picture with me if I spoke Bengali. We laughed again. I was joking around with Mr. Yunus. Seriously? I got behind the table and told him that I would learn some Bengali before I saw him again. I touched his shoulder. Emily took our picture. Did I just touch Mr. Yunus? We said goodbye and floated away, all the way back to the car.

The drive home was full of :I can't believe that just happened"s and "I am so glad we went tonight"s and "Can we look at the signature again?"s.

An amazing night. An amazing speaker. An amazing concept.

Time to Shop

Wednesday was the breaking point.

It's no secret that I do not enjoy shopping. Wasting time, spending money, and not knowing if I'm indirectly promoting slave labor. What's to love? The more active I've gotten in abolition work, the more convicted I've become. How can I support anti-trafficking causes when I wear clothes that people whose human rights have been violated made? It seems quite counter-productive, not to mention hypocritical.

I've successfully avoided buying new clothes for quite sometime. Chasing around after Mr. Binky means that my work uniform is usually hole-y jeans and sweatshirts. It's not exactly a fashion show when you have shoemarks and smeared food all over your clothes. In this manner, my deteriorating clothes actually come in handy. But when I was getting ready for an internship on Wednesday, I put on a black sweater and, suddenly, saw my clothes in a new light. A light that revealed how worn most of my clothes looked. I took off the sweater, knowing that I could never wear it again. That no one should ever wear it again. Ever.

Thankfully, I managed to pull an outfit together and made it to work on time. But the seed had been planted, and it was only a matter of days before I found myself riding up the escalator to the women's department of the Gap.

The Gap. A classic Ellie store. Few items. Multiple colors. Uncluttered store. Predictable. Classy. Simple.

The words of David Batstone (founder of the Not For Sale campaign) resonated with me as I browsed through the myriad of (adorable!) sweaters. The Gap received a B- on the free2work rating scale (a scale that rates a companies supply chain accountability and violation of human rights). Now, according to Batstone, a B- is not an A, but nor is it a D. A B- is much better than a D. So, for the sake of wearing clothes that don't look like they've been worn since the 70s (and because I had a giftcard), I purchased two sweaters from the Gap. And yes, they are the same sweater, just in different colors (perhaps that's the topic of another post...!).

I walked out of the store, plotting how I would dispose of my existing black cardignan - a sweater that should have been discontinued seven months ago, but was a near-daily part of my wardrobe due to functionality and comfort. There's no shape to this sweater. None. It hangs on me like a lifeless shadow of a once-beautiful garment. My new black cardignan had life and youth in it. It was ready to be worn. Ready to take on the world.

My next stop was Buffalo Exchange, a second-hand clothing store. I love the idea of recycling clothes, but sadly didn't find anything that fit me well, so I headed down to Urban Outfitters.

I had spent 10 minutes the night before searching various phrases such as "Urban Outfitters - Supple Chain Accountability" and "Urban Outfitters & Slave Labor." My research findings? Nothing except a few rants on a few blogs. Nothing on their website, and no ratings on free2work or the Better Buyer Guide.

But I went anyways. And found a cute sweater on sale. And when I looked at the tag, read that it was made in America. Happiness.

Today I wore that grey sweater. Putting on a piece of new clothing was a wonderful (and foreign) feeling. I felt good. I felt like wearing clothes wasn't just a necessary evil, but a fun expression of my style.

I'm not going to go crazy, but plan to do a bit more shopping this weekend, as well as to comb through my clothes and get rid of the many too-often-worn shirts.

I guess shopping isn't always such a bad thing - but it definitely is something we can spend more time thinking about instead of just rushing off to buy the latest fashion.

For more information on how to check the ethics of your favorite companies, check out:

www.free2work.org
www.betterworldshopper.com/rankings