Friday Finds - Spring Means CAMPING because campers have smore fun!

1. eden sunglasses by kaenon
2. patagonia lithia dress
3. gregory backpack
4. fadeout eyelet top
5. north face dome tent
6. orly genger by jaclyn meyer rope necklace
7. perception tribe kayak
8. cheerful welly print by sloeginfizz
9. collective names of animals t by xenotees

This month's Friday Finds are brought to you by the amazing wedding photographer Kella MacPhee. Thank you Kella!

Small Things = Big Difference or organic cotton weary makes me SCREAM

Most people think of cotton as an eco-friendly, natural fiber; it breathes, it's washable, it's a renewable resource, but cotton is actually one of the most toxic plants on the planet. And it's not the cotton's fault.


The problem is the boll weevil. Boll weevils are "virulent pests that infest the cotton plant." I thought we should all get a look at one in case it ends up in your t-shirt. <------

(just kidding, but it is kind of gross looking)

This is reminding me that hubby and I may or may not have a stinkbug infestation (check back on whining Wednesday for details).

So, anyhoo these little boll weevils are very hard to kill and the farmers have to use all kinds of pesticides to protect their cotton crops. Eventually these little critters become immune to the pesticide and mutate around it, like a cockroach, and then the farmers get themselves some brand new pesticides. And these are not highly targeted pesticides, so they also kill spiders and wasps and all kinds of other beneficial insects and throw the whole eco-system out of whack.

And when the cotton field gets watered and when it rains these pesticides end up in streams and our water tables. They are also highly toxic to farm workers. And even though your fancy new t-shirt has had the chemicals washed out (probably not all of them)- where does the wastewater from the cleaning process end up?

Bottom line think organic cotton. It's grown without synthetic pesticides and with attention to the ecosystem. By wearing organic cotton you won't be walking around in clothes laden with residual pesticides and you are not supporting the introduction of more toxic chemicals into our already overloaded ecosystem.

I am still left wondering though:

Why does everyone remember that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin?

(does anyone have a clue what a cotton gin is)

And was Cotton Weary the worst name for a movie villain ever? Discuss .....
1. Infusion amazing organic cotton and hemp bag
2. Gaia Conceptions stunning long organic cotton and hemp skirt
3. Neena Creates soft and beautiful organic cotton t-shirt
4. Totally fun mustaches organic cotton dinner napkins by Parrishhw
5. The unforgettable Chakrapennywhistle's organic cotton pillow
6. Totally adorable animal collective tshirt for children by Xenotees
7. UndertheRoot's sexy and stunning organic cotton pantalette

GIVEAWAY Xenotees Amazing NEW Scarves CLOSED

AND THE WINNER IS: JOYFUL GIRL NATURAL PRODUCTS! She has a great blog! Winner chosen by random.org Generator Min: 1 Max: 727 Result: 543

The girl who put the Tee in eTsy has added some AMAZING new soft-alicious scarves to her shop!

Noelle of the awesome shop XENOTEES has the most amazingly original t-shirt shop that you will just love!

Her designs are Noelle's own original creations (she is a clipart free kind of girl) and she is one of the most generous, kind-hearted and funny of all my Etsy buds! Her tee's are whisper soft, beautiful and totally addictive.

Xenotees added totebags this past summer and a gorgeous new scarf collection just last week!



WHAT YOU GET:

One lucky winner will receive your choice of a XENOTEES whisper soft SCARF!






HOW TO WIN:

Visit XENOTEES and leave a comment letting Noelle know which scarf you want to win!

For additional entries:

(5) Twitter this post
(5) Blog about this contest; linking to this post
(5) Follow my blog
(5) Follow Noelle's blog

Noelle is also offering 15% OFF non-sale items in her shop if you mention Polarity or Uncorked in the comments to seller section of your order through Oct 31- just pay for your items and she will refund you!

Let me know if you have done these things so I can give you additional entries. This contest is open to everyone.

DRAWING:

MIDNIGHT on Sunday, October 25th! Good luck! CLOSED

I Can't Help You - I am Just a Cookie

So, hubby and I went to a new place for Chinese last night and the food was yummy and the atmosphere was all modern-licious and we were totally satisfied except for one little thing.

(ACK no fortune cookies!)

The manager approached us as we were leaving to see what we were thinking about his hip little restaurant

(at least I thought he was the manager because his tag just said 'manager' so I figure that was either his title or his first name and a very lucky coincidence ... sort of ... for him)

and we noted our lack of cookies which sent him running off to grab us two.

So we left all happy, dappy with our little plastic wrapped cookies and we tore into them as soon as we were back in the car and had adjusted the overhead light just perfectly so we didn't miss anything.

(I should confess that I print out my horoscope every month - because I like to know what is going to happen and they are sometimes eerily accurate ... seriously - and yes, I sometimes peek ahead in books to see if my heroine is still around at the end)

Mine said ... NOTHING ... just a little blank piece of paper which somehow seemed very appropriate for me *sigh* right now

and hubby's said - "BITE ME".

Which is, of course, kind of funny, but not a proper fortune really because a proper fortune would read, "YOU WILL BITE ME", so this was more of an instruction cookie which had hubby laughing very hard and me a bit peeved that we had not received our proper fortunes.

"Your path is arduous but will be amply rewarding"

is the fortune that I have received so many times I have lost count.

This roughly translates to "the hard stuff will make you a better person" - but I am getting a little tired of the arduous path and hoping I am a good enough person to skate through life for a couple years or months or at least until next weekend.

But what do I know, I am after all, a person looking for my future in baked goods (where's that magic 8 ball when I need it anyway?) ...


1. Lucky Fork Shirt by Xenotees
2. Cootie Catchers by KatsKrafts
3. Fortune Cookie Baby Booties by SushiBooties
4. Mr. Magic 8 Ball by Artsy
5. Ceramic Fortune Cookies by YogaGoat
6. Vintage Fortune Tiles by FoundPaperCo

You are NOT a Loser ... (I am pretty sure)

OK- so I have some serious blog goodies to be given away on four blogs right now- that's right you are not seeing in quadruple - I said FOUR!

I know this is going to take you a few minutes to enter all of these, but these little lockets used to be cars (or car parts actually) and I think it would be worth a few minutes to win a car (uhm... part), right?!

Plus entering all four of these has got to increase your chances of winning, by what, at least a gazillion percent, right? I mean, if you enter all four of these and you don't win anything, well, I mean that still wouldn't exactly make you a loser ... but I would start to worry about you a little bit....

1. Noelle over at Xenotees in giving away my Kendra Zvonik Locket
2. Jen at IndixFix is giving away my Jess Gonacha Locket
3. Tia at CleverGirlGoesBlog is giving away my Unconventional Ida Locket
4. The amazing Helene at Helene's Dreams is giving away my Dilka Bear Locket


You gotta be in it, to win it, people!

Seed to Table

Instead of growing more and more of our own food, my hubby and I seem to be growing less and less. Partly because so much of it ends up in the bellies of the rabbits and groundhogs that get past any fencing we devise and partly because although our heads and hearts are green, our thumbs have not caught up. But this year we are determined to improve our output and get more home grown goodies to our own table.

We are hoping to get at least some of the the seeds into the ground this weekend. I am also planting a large cutting garden of zinnias. Having flowers to bring in each night with the veggies will make the effort more worthwhile for me.

When we can't grow our own it is often worth it to buy organic especially if the foods you eat most often are ones that tend to be the most heavily treated. More pesticides are found on apples than any other fruit (36!) - if you can't find organic- rinse them well, peel them and look for little produce stickers that saw New Zealand (they use about half as many pesticides as the United States).

You should also choose organic grapes, because grapes ripen quickly and tend to mold, growers hit them with multiple applications of various chemicals. The worst are Chilean grapes which are treated with as many as 17 chemicals (90% of the grapes eaten in the U.S. this time of year are Chilean). The key is always a very thorough rinse in cool or warm water.

You should even rinse your cantaloupes before cutting since your knife can drag exterior residues through the fruit as you cut it and cantaloupes often contain five of the longest-lasting chemicals including one banned in 1974 that still persists in soils and is taken up by the fruit. When you can - choose local and 100% organic.

Here's a few "organically" grown Etsy beauties:

1. Xenotees - Good Luck Fork T-Shirt
2. afiori - 4 Mini Pictures Il Giardino Segreto
3. SpoonerZ - Fork Top Family Necklace
4. Kootsac - Reusable Food Bags
5. BCStoneDesign - Mushroom Planter
6. CustomEyes - Vintage Egg Beater
7. BovineBubbles - Assorted Jams and Jellies