Where the Sidewalk Begins

March 11, 2008

Jet set...

Travel much? The hassle can be overwhelming with airport security. Get a registered Flyclear pass; members are pre-screened and provided with a high-tech card which allows them to access designated airport security fast lanes. First year cost is $100 plus the TSA vetting fee of $28 for a total charge of $128. Send in an application online and then visit a Flyclear location to get eye/fingerprint scan, bring two forms of federal id and you'll get your card in the mail.

WS Best Sellers list...

Williams Sonoma lists their most popular items for the chef in all of us. Here are my top 5...

Bialetti Gran Cala Cappuccino Maker $89

Cuisinart Wine Cellar $199

Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer $299

Panini Press $99

Set of Glass Mixing Bowls $34

Dwell Studio...

Target's DwellStudio line is stocked with all the decor you need for the new babe from jammy's to boppy pillows to cribs.

March 10, 2008

Engrave it...

Engrave Your Tech personalizes your electronics using laser engraving. Laptop, ipod, moleskin book, iphones, they can all have a unique artistic design. Make your edition - one of a kind.

Stylish Hardware...

Anthropologie's hardware is funky, old fashioned and beachy. For your dresser, doors or wall hooks, the assortment is a tangible treat.

Hilarie's Banana Crunch Bread...

1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 c mashed banana (4 small or 3 large)
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 c sour cream
2 c sifted flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 t baking soda
(chocolate chips ~optional)

Topping
1/2 c chopped nuts
1/2 c sugar
1/2 t cinnamon

Preheat overn to 350. Heavily grease three 7 3/8 x 3 5/8 loaf pans. Cream butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix bananas, vanilla and sour cream. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Fold into creamed mixture. Sprinkle half of topping on bottoms of prepared loaf pans. Spoon in batter and sprinkle with remaining topping. Bake 45 minutes, cool for 15 and serve.

Bookshelves...

Stack it, rack it, store it...where to put the books!

Umbra's vintage style biblioteca bookshelf or pisa book shelf
CB2's array bookshelf
West Elm's resmen bookshelf

Outdoor fun...

It's fun to be a kid outside, imaginations can run wild in the backyard. From all ages, the Early Learning Center in UK has fun items for the outdoor enthusiast child, like the Wooden Table Sandpit.

For us big kids, John Lewis has all the garden sport and leisure items you could desire! Giant dominoes, bocce ball, croquet, badminton and more.

Dry Creek Valley Wine Tasting...

You couldn't have reserved a more perfect day for the 30th Annual Barrel Tasting weekend. It was blue skies and 70 degree weather. Each year the Russian River Wine Road will have a program of wineries that partake in the Barrel tasting event, so you can plan your destinations.

The Wine Road is an organization linked to associated wineries and lodgings in the Alexander, Dry Creek, and Russian River Valleys of Northwest Sonoma County. "It’s not actually a 'road' in the sense of a single, continuous stretch of paved highway, but more of a treasure map to the many jewels nestled among the hills". Our stops on the treasure map began with Francis Ford Coppola's newly renovated tasting room in

Geyserville called Rosso & Bianco. It was beautiful here, to find out what varietals and features are available onsite visit Sonoma Wine. Our next destination was Mazzocco, a small family owned artisan winery between Alexander and Dry Creek. The West Dry Creek, Home and Stone Ranch Zinfandel's were my favorite here, especially when coupled with savory flank steak served on crostini's from the grill and finding a lush spot in the grass to lie in the sun for awhile was a gem. Afterwards we stopped off at A. Rafanelli, a small winery in Healdsburg with a lovely Cabernet. And last but not least, Passalacqua, where Mr. Passalacqua personally poured our group futures from the barrel itself. Sitting out back eating their famous chef's jambalaya, overlooking the gardens - this was a wonderful way to end the day.

March 5, 2008

I'm Irish and we need a holiday!

There is an official online proposition, 3-17, sponsored by Guinness to help make St. Patrick's Day an official holiday, with 895, 831 signatures to go to date. Make it official and sign!

End World Poverty...

A few years ago my sister read the book by economist Jeffrey Sachs, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. After reading it myself, we started to discuss the possibilities of becoming involved with the Millennium Project, initially headed by Jeffrey Sachs.

The Millennim Project was commissioned by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2002 to recommend a concrete action plan for the world to reverse the poverty, hunger and disease affecting billions of people. It has an incredible action plan of developmental goals set in place. As Sachs points out in his book, more than a billion people currently subsist on less than a dollar a day—the standard threshold for “extreme poverty.” Every year, hundreds of thousands die of starvation, malnutrition, or diseases like aids and malaria; tens of millions of children perish in infancy. And as the this persists it's suggested that the consequences of this extreme poverty reach far beyond the afflicted societies. 'Poverty, inequality and disease are chief causes of violent conflict, civil war and state failures. A world with extreme poverty is a world of insecurity.'

At the Millennium Summit in September 2000 the largest gathering of world leaders in history adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets, with a deadline of 2015, that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals...8 goals from eradicating extreme hunger to improving maternal health to ensuring environmental sustainability.

Our efforts continue. To get involved personally or with local affiliated programs, visit the Millennium Promise Organization, village by village, we can each help to fight poverty.