Top Ten Things That Will Make You Feel Better in 2009!

1. Compost! Reduce how much garbage you generate. Give your food scraps to a gardening neighbor or local farmer, buy your own compost bin or vermicomposter (i heart worms)whatever you do, please do not throw food scraps into the trash! That is so 1980s!

2. Buy less! You're broke anyway right? Well even if you aren't you can at least leave the bag and put it in your own reusable bag. And if there is excess packaging on your purchase call the company and tell them they are wasting precious resources in packaging - they can save money and make products more affordable in the process!

3. Walk or Bike! I know, exercise sucks, but hey we all have a few extra pounds that we could do without and it is more fun to walk. You see more and it actually improves your mood instead of turning you into a road raging driver. You will be amazed how close everything really is. Really. Just try it.

4. Eat less...meat! I hate to say it because I love bacon, but really we don't need a lot of meat. You don't need to cut it out completely but make it more of a side rather than the main part of the meal. Eat a good, healthy protein rich breakfast (not a bunch of toast or a scone, but like eggs or lox or peanut butter on apples) and you won't get as hungry throughout the day.

5. Drink lots of water! not the bottled version, filtered tap water is just fine. But drink lots of it. When you think you are hungry, drink water. When you dream of cheeseburgers, drink water. When you are bored, drink water.

6. Laugh! Just for the heck of it. It will make you feel better and it is not only good for you, but it is contagious and good for other people.

7. Practice forgiveness! All of those grudges you are holding are not only giving you gray hair, wrinkles and a bad attitude, but it is aging you in life threatening ways. Write a letter to someone that you need to ask for forgiveness and then read it to them in person.

8. Be grateful! For what you have, who you know, what you do, for your family and friends and the trees and the wind and the air and everything you can think of. Instead of focusing on the negative, focus on all that is good in the world. Every night think of five things you are grateful for. Write a letter of gratitude to someone that you love. Then read it out loud.

9. Volunteer! Doing something for others for a change. Even if you are feeling martyrish, maybe especially if you are feeling martyrish, or woe is me, work at a homeless shelter, help children with special needs, go to a hospice training, plant trees at a restoration site, help the elderly, help children, whatever you do, do something for someone else.

10. Buy local. Okay, i know you have heard this until you are blue in the face, but it is true that buying locally helps your friends and neighbors. Looking for a website designer in Portland Oregon, try Joe and Mike Lepis at Alpha Multi-Media Solutions http://www.alpha-multimedia.com/, want a great strategic planning, community development and organizational consultant in the Pacific Northwest (i.e. big picture thinker and guru) try Charles Kingsley chazkingsley@hotmail.com, want to eat local food - go the farmers market, want to buy a gift for someone, go to your nearest main street...you get the picture. Plug your friends and colleagues and do what you know is right - buy local.

Okay folks, that's it. No pictures but lots of opining.
All the best to you and yours for a happy and healthy 2009!
Cheers
Kelley

Snow Storm 2008

I was not expecting to see snow on Vashon - but here it is! All 4-5 inches of it and more is on the way! The ferries ran throughout the storm, which at times was like a blizzard. Gusting winds swirled enormous flakes in all directions. We ventured out, saucers in hand, to conquer Cowan Road. Two young children were already there with their parents. They were starting about 1/4 of the way up the hill. We headed to the top. Our first run was a fit of stops and starts. The first blast was fast and totally out of control and Anthony ended up plowing through our neighbors garbage and recycling which had not been picked up by the garbage man. He relaunched and quickly ended up on the other side of the road, heading for a mailbox. It reminded me of my bowling game. Each turn the mighty ball thrown with the best of intentions: a fast swoosh down the middle of the lane in hopes of scoring a perfect strike. But inevitably we veered towards one side or the other - yet another gutter ball. I had not saucered in a long time and I am so glad we did it. Totally out of control, screaming and laughing the whole way down, we had so much fun. Back inside we brewed up some super chocolaty hot cocoa complete with extra large marshmallows and sat by the fire - ahhh.

Barack the Vote on November 4!

Anthony and I have had a chance to see Barack Obama many times over the past year and a half. Anthony went to the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem fairly soon after we got to New York and then volunteered at a rally in Washington Square Park. When we were in Portland we had a chance to see him at the convention center. We headed up to New Hampshire to go door to door before the New Hampshire primaries and after listening to polls that said he was going to win by 10 points we decided we had jinxed him (and that many people may still be harboring racist feelings) and are sticking to donations and voter registration. Anthony volunteered at a fundraising event and shook his hand. I went to a Women for Obama breakfast event at the Hilton in midtown Manhattan. I was probably about 50 feet away from the stage but was not able to get a good photo with my iPhone because of the bright lights. I had a chance to hear Hillary Clinton urge women to vote for Barack and sat next to a young woman whose sister is Barack's scheduler! I cannot imagine why anyone would not vote for Barack especially now after all of the republican free market, deregulation policies have fallen on their face at the expense of taxpayers who are losing their jobs and their homes. It is an outrage that we are even considering privatizing profits and socializing debt. I think the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. After 28 years of republican rule i think insanity is an understatement for where our country is from a psychological perspective. The rest of the world is watching and probably wondering "what did they think would happen?" Barack warned us almost a year ago and continues to be proven right on many of the big issues our country is facing right now. Vote Barack in November!

Chinatown: every morning!

Anthony has the pleasure of emerging from the subway every morning to the sights, sounds and smells of Chinatown. Ahhh! Take a deep breath as the smell of garbage merges with fish and rotting vegetables. Chinatown is where you go to get cheap food that is on the verge of going bad. Venture down to Columbus Park and watch people play majong and cards and listen to traditional chinese music while people do Tai Chi. This is one of the great things about New York - you can be transported to another part of the world simply by walking down the street. Across from the park on Mulberry Street grab some dim sum for $5 and sit at the park to people watch.

NY Tourist

We have had a great time playing tourist since we landed in New York. With concerts and rickshaw rides in Central Park, a circle line tour around the island of Manhattan, a tennis exhibition match between Federer and Sampras, to a Pink Martini concert at the Lincoln Center, we have not even scraped the surface of all there is to do...but we have two more weeks and my list has been honed and prioritized!

Scenes from Brooklyn

We live in such a beautiful part of Brooklyn - Fort Greene/Clinton Hill. With stunning brownstone buildings on tree lined streets and bustling commercial main streets packed with amazing restaurants, Brooklyn is an urban planners dream of utopia (sans 20' high piles of garbage, noisy trucks and car service horns). Our favorite main street is Dekalb Avenue where across the street from NY's only South African restaurant Madiba, you can watch a mean game of hoops. We live about a mile away from Prospect Park, which is probably Olmstead's best work. We met after work for a picnic dinner and concert in the park.

Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is so beautiful and on a gorgeous sunny July day, Anthony and I set off from our place on Myrtle Avenue to walk across it along with locals and tourists. It is truly an awe inspiring architectural and engineering masterpiece and if you ever get a chance to walk across it you should.

A Year of Being Bicoastal 2007-2008

In an attempt to play catch up, here are some photos from this past year....
1. Christmas in NY 2007 with the family.
2. All we do is eat. Our recent neighborhood favorite is James- check out the food blog I am doing with my sister for more www.theperfectpairing.blogspot.com
3. We go back and forth between NY and DC quite often. We decided to take one of the Chinese buses because they are so cheap - my sister coined the term Chinese Chicken Bus because of all of the reviews she read about how crazy they are. It was not bad, but I prefer the train. Why sit in traffic on a bus on our crumbling interstate system when you can ride a train on our ancient train system where Amtrak has to give priority to freight traffic! Our country is going down the tubes.
4. We went to Easton quite a few times too, including a visit to the Plein Air Festival in July and the Log Canoe Races in August.
5. Our trip to some of the local farms in the Hudson River Valley. Pigs are too cute to eat!
6. Our local hangout is a place called Rope- this is their pet penguin.
7. March - May 2008 Portland. We have so much more appreciation for our home in Portland after a year in New York. I took some time away during negotiations on the sale of Get Fresh including a couple of trips to the beautiful Oregon Coast.

So long New York!

It has been a little over one year since we first landed in New York and now we are off to Seattle! Anthony is going to open an office for his company, YRG Sustainability (http://yrgconsultants.com/). Early on there was talk about opening an office in Singapore, Hong Kong or Shanghai but first things first. Seattle will give them better proximity to the Asian market while allowing them to take advantage of all of the demand in the Pacific Northwest.
I sold the building in Portland, sold my business in Brooklyn and am working on expanding Sassafras Green Building Development and Consulting. In addition to working on my own development projects, I am consulting to the private and public sector on strategic visioning and implementation of sustainability projects and programs.
So back we go! To the amazingly beautiful clean, green and serene Pacific Northwest. We will be living on Vashon Island in a lovely mid century modern home with fantastic views of the Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains. We are looking forward to kayaking, hiking, camping and sailing our way through the San Juan Islands, Olympic Peninsula and Cascade Range. And of course, hosting friends and family in our cozy new home.
We have a couple of more weeks here in New York so we are trying to see and do as much as we can before we go. Check back for running commentary and photos!