Fluffy & Friends

I have adopted a friendly bird (that I named Fluffy because he looks very soft) as a pet. Ryan suggested that Saturday night we go to Michaels and pick up a bird house for him. We picked up some paint and then I went to work. We haven't hung it up yet, but we are getting ready for him.







More pictures of Fluffy and his house here.

Putt Putters

Yesterday I asked Ryan if we could go putt putting. The last time we went to Play It Again Sports we grabbed a Buy One Get One Free coupon for Boomers mini golf. I won the first round and Ryan won the second round. We both go hole-in-ones. It was quite the squorcher out, but we still survived and didn't let it effect our game.







Check out the full album of pictures here.

Fire Season

Firefighters: Prepare for the Worst, San Diego

The raging wildfires to the north could be a bad sign of what's to come in San Diego. Cal Fire is warning homeowners across the County to get ready for what could be a long and devastating fire season.

The U.S. Forest Service declared extreme fire danger Thursday for the Cleveland National Forest in San Diego, Riverside and Orange counties, the North County Times reported.

Forest Service officials told the paper they were making the change because the recent hot weather, the ongoing statewide drought and a large amount of dead plant material have left the oak-and-chaparral-covered forest tinder dry.

The warnings aren't only coming from firefighters -- they're also coming from city leaders who want people to be ready for the worst.

More of the article here.

Labor Day

Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 7 in 2009).

The holiday originated in Canada out of labor disputes ("Nine-Hour Movement") first in Hamilton, then in Toronto, Canada in the 1870s, which resulted in a Trade Union Act which legalized and protected union activity in 1872 in Canada. The parades held in support of the Nine-Hour Movement and the printers' strike led to an annual celebration in Canada. In 1882, American labor leader Peter J. McGuire witnessed one of these labor festivals in Toronto. Inspired from Canadian events in Toronto, he returned the USA, to New York and organized the first American "labor day" on September 5 of the same year.

The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City. In the aftermath of the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the US military and US Marshals during the 1894 Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with Labor as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike. Cleveland was also concerned that aligning a US labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair. All 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday

TOMS on GMA

NOLA shoe drop on Good Morning America, tomorrow Sept 3rd!

As many of you know, TOMS was in New Orleans last week for Style Your Sole Shoe Drops at five local schools. We were fortunate to have Robin Roberts from Good Morning America join us to speak with Blake and help decorate the canvas TOMS with students.

The GMA piece will air some time between 8am and 9am tomorrow September 3rd. Don’t forget to tune in!

Check out the original blog posting here.

Hubby Hubby Ice Cream

Ben and Jerry's Celebrates Gay Marriage in Vermont

Same-sex marriage is legal in Vermont as of today and to celebrate, Ben & Jerry's has renamed its Chubby Hubby ice cream flavor "Hubby Hubby" for the month.

In April, the Green State became the fourth in the nation to allow gays and lesbians to marry.

"From the very beginning of our 30 year history, we have supported equal rights for all people," Walt Freese, Ben & Jerry's CEO, said in a statement. "The legalization of marriage for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont is certainly a step in the right direction and something worth celebrating with peace, love and plenty of ice cream."

But the move by Ben & Jerry's is largely a symbolic one. There are no plans to produce pints of ice cream with the Hubby Hubby label.

Sean Greenwood, a spokesman for the company, told the Boston Herald it takes 18 months to revise a product label.

Hubby Hubby sundaes, though, will be sold at Vermont Ben & Jerry's all month long.

MADE A SALE

I made a sale!! One of the girls that I used to work with bought FIVE of my Scrabble pieces!! She had me custom make 2 of them (with initials of her nieces names on them)!! YAY!!! I hope she loves them!! I hope she spreads the word and more people check my stuff out!! (Maybe it will be more than just a silly hobby one day, who knows.)