HEARTS 4 HAITI

About a week ago, I received a request from a dear friend in Canada. She wondered if I could help out with a fundraiser her daughter Cadence was hoping to do in her school. Cadence is a Valentine's baby who has a history of using her charmed birthday for good, so when she asked me to create a logo for her latest charitable venture, I jumped into action. Cadence's beautiful idea was to sell hearts in her middle school, rather than the usual candy grams and carnations, for Valentine's Day and donate all of the money to the Red Cross to assist the people in Haiti. A genius idea, don't you think? She called it Hearts for Haiti and with that, the heart above was born.

As I played around with the design of the heart, my 11 yr. old son (you know him as Pumpkin) was looking over my shoulder. You should know that he suggested using the "4" rather than "for" in the design to make it cooler (these are middle schoolers you know!). When I told him what it was all about, he thought he may like to do the same in his school. So as Cadence reviewed the proofs and approved the final design, Pumpkin got busy writing a proposal of his own to submit to his principal. Here is that proposal:

Hearts 4 Haiti Charity Fundraiser Proposal

Dear Mrs. XXXXXX:

I would like to propose a fundraiser for the people of Haiti who have been affected by the Earthquake. My mother was asked by a middle school girl in Canada to design a logo for a Hearts 4 Haiti fundraiser that she wanted to do in her school. When I heard about it, I thought it was a good idea and decided to see if we could do it at XXXXXXX School too.

The idea behind Hearts 4 Haiti is very simple. In the weeks before Valentine’s day, students, teachers and anyone can buy a Heart for $1 (see attached). They can sign their own name on it or buy it for someone else and we could hang the hearts in the school. I think a good place for the hearts to be hung could be the cafeteria, but they can really be hung anywhere. Then we can donate the money to the Red Cross to help the Haitian people with food, clothes, clean water, medical supplies, toys for the children, etc.

The benefits of having this fundraiser at XXXXXXX would be:

1. We would help the Haitians in their time of need.

2. It would bring awareness to the problems that the earthquake created in Haiti.

3. The school would look nice and be decorated for Valentine’s Day.

I would be happy to sell the hearts at lunchtime and find other students who would like to help. My mother also said she would help me organize and maybe a teacher would volunteer to help too.

Thank you for considering this idea.

XXXXXXXX XXXXX, Room XX

I am so pleased to report that Pumpkin's proposal was approved by his principal and Cadence's project is catching on like crazy with Hearts 4 Haiti being sold in not only her school, but many other schools (and other venues!) in her area.

If you would like to start a Hearts 4 Haiti fundraiser in your community, we will be happy to provide downloadable files to get started. Simply comment here with contact information or go to Hearts 4 Haiti's Facebook fan page and let us know you're interested!

Thank you Cadence for a wonderful idea and for inspiring my own son to take action on behalf of the people of Haiti. You are an amazing girl!

And if that's not inspiration enough, I've had this on replay all week long.

SNIPPETS OF MY LIFE

Life is still a bit crazy here, even with the kids back to school and the holidays behind us. Playing catch up after the holidays is proving to be as busy as preparing for the holidays themselves. But I do have high hopes of getting life under control by Friday. (How's that for a firm deadline?)

Until then, I thought I'd give you a few little snippets of my life this past week.

Pumpkin turned 10 on Monday. It really is unbelievable to me that a full decade has past since my first baby was born, and he still is just that, my baby. He of course hates for me to refer to him as such, but I correct myself and say he's my oldest baby and that seems to appease him. He was quite pleased with himself Monday night, having entered the double-digits and all, and went to bed with a smile on his face after a great day. About ten minutes after he was all tucked in, he came into my bedroom where I was doing a bit of organizing and handed me both his ipod and his Nintendo DS and said "Here mummy, take these from me, I don't want to be tempted." Meaning he didn't want to be tempted to play them when he was supposed to be sleeping. This having a ten year old may not be so bad after all. We'll see how long it lasts!

Petunia is very much a girly girl. She loves all things pretty and stylish and she really loves dolls. Specifically, American Girl dolls. She loves the books and the outfits, primping their hair, accessorizing - everything about them. Lucky for her, she has two aunties who are more than willing to indulge this love affair with all things American Girl. A day or two after Christmas, Petunia was playing with her newest American Girl doll and all of her accompanying accessories when I sat down next to her to take a peek at the new stuff. As I was fussing with the new doll, Petunia's face changed. She didn't quite look sad, but I couldn't identify the expression so I asked her what was up. At first she resisted answering, but then she said that she felt a little guilty for having so many American Girl dolls when some children don't have any. This, of course, prompted a discussion about how she is definitely very lucky for all the things that she has, but she doesn't need to feel guilty that the people who love her take great joy in buying her presents sometimes and as long as she doesn't expect or demand things, she has nothing to feel badly about. She was very happy to hear that she could play guilt-free, but she still had that look. I wondered if she would like to buy an American Girl doll for a little girl that was not lucky enough to afford one and her face immediately brightened. So, the plan is that she has 10 months to save $100 (not the exact amount, but I wanted her to be able to do the math on her own) and by November 1st she will have enough to buy a doll for a girl in need. We now have a decorated jar on our kitchen counter that already contains about $30. Seems that my girl is not only a saver, but also quite the fundraiser as well. We have told her that most of the money needs to be saved by her, but if family members want to make small donations, that is fine too. Fueled by this early success, she has now set her sights on buying dolls for two little girls!

As you may have guessed, the final snippet is about my little Peanut. A story that perfectly illustrates the personality of this spirited and silly little girl. 

After days of dragging on the inevitable de-Christmasing of the house, I finally finished packing everything up yesterday and was ready to put the big rubbermaid containers into storage. I'm sorry, did I say big containers? Because what I really meant was huge, ginormous, red and green containers filled to the brim with surprisingly heavy decorations. Add to the equation that I am only five feet tall and this is about to turn into an I Love Lucy episode. Lucky for Peanut, she was here to witness all of the fun. I dragged the first container over to the stairs with a plan to gently guide it down one stair at a time. Of course, with carpeted stairs, molded plastic and gravity, the physics of the situation were not in my favor and the container zoomed down the stairs dragging me along as I tried to avoid a crash landing and broken ornaments. Peanut shrieked with delight over the ride I had just taken and stood by waiting for the next show. Determined to finally be rid of these boxes (read: I refused to wait for my husband to get home to do this for me), I went back upstairs and started rolling the next box toward the stairs. Thrilled to see that I was going to provide an encore performance, Peanut began to chant: "Go Mama Go! Go Mama Go!" and continued her chant until the box was somewhat safely down the stairs and I came back up giggling and hugging her for cheering me on. Who knew motherhood came with it's own cheering section?

INSPIRATION

A new year is about hope. And inspiration. I dare you to watch this and not feel overcome with both. A great way to start off the new year, courtesy of PS 22 in Staten Island.

Hot, baby!

CAN I BOTTLE THIS MOMENT?

Seriously, is there a little jar that can preserve a seven year old girl's sense of self. Keep it for those moments that are sure to come where she'll need a heaping dose of it just to get by? I need to know. Right now so I can get my supplies and extract the goodness. Not all of it. I'll leave some for now and save the rest for later. I know, it's like I'm speaking in tongues right now, isn't it? But when you see what Petunia brought home from school yesterday, you'll understand.

Tucked innocently in her folder between math and spelling was this. A little paper, a one page diary by Petunia, about Petunia. As I scanned the sheet, at first treating it like any other school paper, the first thing that struck me was how well she knows herself. Sounds a bit odd to say. Who would know her better than her, right? But then think about if some asked you for two words that describe you - how quickly could you come up with them? How spot on would they be? Would you be afraid to be boastful? Take the easy, self-deprecating approach? Here's Petunia's answer: "honest and athletic." And you know what? She is honest and athletic. But that's not the part that got me. "Honest and athletic" was sweet and made me smile. Here's what made me cry. Here's what made me want to freeze this moment in time while I gather my canning supplies and prepare the kitchen. 

Three things I like about myself:

1. I am helpful.

2. I am beautiful.

3. and I care for others.

It breaks your heart in the best possible way. She is all of those things. And more. And the beauty of this moment is that she realizes that she's all of these things. So if I can bottle up the I am helpful and beautiful and I care for others, toss in a good dose of honest and athletic and save it for those moments when she's 16 and was left out of the group or 18 and her heart is broken or 21 and ready to go out into the world, please tell me how. She'll need it then. It could serve her well and I want to be ready with a big heaping dose.

THANK YOU VETERANS.

Veteran's Day is the perfect day for my children to think about and honor their grandfathers, both Korean War Veterans. Discussions and assemblies at school peak their curiosity and their questions are the perfect opportunity to ensure that the memory of these two men live on in their grandchildren.

My father served in the Navy and was very proud of his service to our country, completing his tour as a decorated hero. I have always been proud that he continued to serve this country throughout his life as a champion of workers rights, long after his years of Naval service were complete. A legacy that I strive to live up to every day.

His love of country led him to enlist in the Navy and after spending those years at sea, his love of the ocean led him away from his midwestern upbringing to Boston. Whenever we asked him why we did not live near our cousins, whom we missed dearly and looked forward to visiting every summer, he would always reply: "This is the place to be. If it weren't, we wouldn't be here." and as a young girl, that answer seemed more than sufficient. Of course now, I cannot imagine living more than a short ride to the beach, so I guess he was right. Every time in these two years since his passing that we head down to the National Cemetery where he was laid to rest, I am in awe of the beauty of the site. Despite the sadness that the cemetery represents, I am always glad that it exists as a fitting and worthy tribute to those who have given so much for this country.

My father-in-law, also a veteran of the Korean War, enlisted in the Army. I cannot begin to comprehend the horror that he must have experienced during his service. I just know that it affected him deeply throughout his life. His courage and experiences during the war earned him more medals than I have ever seen, other than those displayed in museums and galleries. To have these medals in our possession is a great honor and a reminder that much was given on behalf of this country. We took the medals out of storage to display in my son's room when he was still a toddler. When my own father saw the medals, he was deeply moved by the honors received by the man he never met. He said that he would like to be the one to prepare the medals for display in the case that we purchased and we of course said yes. To see my father take the time to properly highlight each medal in the case with such thought and care made me realize what a precious piece of our family history was being created. My son is slowly coming to understand the valor and sacrifice that this piece represents. That is likely the greatest legacy that could ever be handed down from two grandfathers to a grandson.

Giveaway Winner: Congratulations czamama! You are the winner of the holiday print giveaway!!! 

GAL TO GAL WALK

The Gal to Gal Foundation, an organization that I have been involved with through Wish Upon a Necklace for several years, is currently holding their second annual Virtual Walk! The Gal to Gal Foundation is dedicated to providing resources and support for women with stage IV breast cancer. I am in awe of the women involved in this foundation; they are nothing less than a dream team of dedication and good intentions.

The Virtual Walk is taking place from October 1st - October 31st and walkers will travel cross the country from Boston to San Fransisco, making stops in many major cities along the way. To participate, simply go to www.galtogalwalk.org, have some fun designing your gal and join the walk with a $5 donation. You can join the Pumpkin Petunia team or start a team of your own and then follow your progress in the support of women battling breast cancer.

This year I am dedicating my walk to two lovely and courageous women, Donna and Alicia, who are currently fighting their own battles with breast cancer. Their positive spirit is an inspiration and I have no doubt that they in this to win. ♥

TOP DESIGN

{photo courtesy of bravotv.com}

So is everyone watching Top Design? I really like this season so far and the contestants are a fun, eclectic group with some serious credentials, but what really strikes me this season is Todd Oldham's role as mentor. Did you notice how he quietly slips into the rooms and gently gives the most perfectly appropriate and brilliant advice ever?  I have visions of him paying me a visit during my daily routine, just when I'm getting frazzled and starting to feel overwhelmed, and saying:

"Jo-Ann, you're doing great. Hmmm, I see Petunia has cheerleading practice again tonight. Why don't you think about sending Pumpkin to a friends house after school so he won't be bored at the practice and have Peanut run laps around the house for ten minutes just before you leave so she won't have the energy to climb out of her carriage and will just sit and drink her milk. Think about that, I think it may work."

OR

"OK, you're making chicken for dinner again. How about instead of grilling it this time, put it in a pan with those potatoes and carrots you have to use up, add some fresh herbs that look neglected in your garden and broil the whole thing in one pan for an easy fall dinner."

Who doesn't need a Todd Oldham in their life! Do you think he makes house calls?

So tell me - are you watching? What are your impressions? What advice would Todd Oldham give you if he slipped into your house in the middle of the day? Come on, I want to hear it - the good, the bad and the ugly!

P.S. Enter giveaway here. Deadline tonight at 10 pm eastern time.

SEEING IN TECHNICOLOR

When it comes to photos of my children, I have always been drawn to black and white photography. There was something about the quirky expressions and creamy skin of a newborn captured in black and white that made my heart skip a beat. But lately, I find myself drawn to the other side. No, not the dark side, the bright and fun side of full-color photography.

This change has been reflected in my professional life as well. Where I once designed photo cards almost exclusively in black and white, I am finding myself creating designs around color photographs more and more. There was a time in the very recent past where I would create a group of prototypes around a client's photo that included just one, obligatory design based on a color photo. Now, I am finding myself designing around full-color photos more and more. This change has come about mostly due to client preference and client request. At first I resisted, wishing they would choose my favorite designs that seemed to always focus on black and whites. 

But now, I'm wondering if my signature style is evolving into one that embraces the vibrancy of color photography. I have a feeling that Holiday 2008 will feature a record number of  full-color photo selections as I see the preferences of my clients evolve. Where they once considered black and white photography "something different", the sweeping popularity of b&w has caused the tide to turn and full-color designs are quickly becoming the new something different.

As for my own personal preference, the jury is still out. I have to admit that I still almost immediately convert my favorite photos to black and white. The difference now is that, once the photo is cropped and edited, I am sure to save a copy in full-color as well. Looking at them side by side, I'm still torn and am not sure which way my heart is leaning.

So what do you think? Do you prefer the color or the b&w photo of each of my girls? And in general, is it black and white or color photography that has your heart? I'd love to hear! ♥