Our Best Advice

HOLIDAY EVENTS

Monday, December 21st, 2009 | Our Best Advice | No Comments

The year ending is about celebration with compassion for the travail and anguish many have suffered we must not forget. Do not solely celebrate a religious holiday event you identify with. Although we know our holidays are deeply meaningful for billions, broaden your world to include gratitude based on compassion, without a denominational orientation.

Our TIP for this holiday events season: The Charter For Compassion is an important declaration with membership partners growing worldwide quickly. Originally created out of Karen ARmstrong’s wish after receiving the TED PRIZE in 2008 (she’s the woman narrating the video above), check their site out and get involved. If you’re a Chef or Cook, see if there isn’t some probono work you can do to assist as I know many of you are already doing. Take an action today and add yours to the growing list.

Yves Behar and his team (see  fuseproject) designed a plaque which will be hung throughout the world in secular locations. Detailed in the Charter’s words, the plague’s design is made from sustainable maple in an isometric perspective of a book. The laser engraving and unique iconic design is reflective of Karen Armstrong’s message, hand crafted by Thomas Duffy, a superb designer/craftsman. Even if you order and send it to arrive as a gift after the holidays, you’ll be glad you did. You can email the charter or visit their website for more details.

iconic 1937 film Lost Horizon

One of my favorite films to watch during the holidays is a classic by Frank Capra, Lost Horizon (see trailer below). It’s a huge heart opener. Whether you watch it with those you love, give it as a gift (makes for a great last minute present), or use it as a meaningful story to serve foods creating a theme around spiritual awakening, take an action to introduce compassion into your life daily.

We are committed at ISA to act compassionately and work hard to find everyone work, getting people back to work, or help find jobs to make ends meet until an ideal one is available. We know some of you are sending money to family’s in some of the hardest hit economic areas domestically and abroad, with many of our clients working hard to assist bringing relief to areas of inhumane conditions worldwide. We share your effort and compassion.

This year I’m using a large vessel filled with evergreen branches along with willow and herbs from our garden in a mode to celebrate winter solstice and all the holidays combined. A large branch that needed to be cut now stands against the wall at the front door as our welcome to guests. After the holidays we’ll recycle it and use dried fragrant leaves thrown into the fireplace. TIP: Make sure not to use candles with a lead wick and burn only beeswax or soy to be eco friendly. We generally don’t use anything but candlelight at night to save on energy, and because it’s simply more beautiful light. The house is warm, the mood “tucked in”, the fire is on, and I like to burn fragrant candles both day and night to set a special experience, a reminder of illumination we all share. We offer our prayers of gratitude and appreciation from all of us at ISA, including to you, as we do daily. Thank You for your patronage, we value you greatly in our lives! Please come visit us in our new location we’d love to chat about jobs with you, or email us at our contact address.

HAVE A LOVELY, JOYOUS, AND COMPASSIONATE HOLIDAY SEASON!

Serving Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Bel Air, Benedict Canyon, Torrance, Hancock Park, Laurel Canyon, Los Feliz, Marina Del Rey, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Melrose. Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Encino, Woodland Hills, Topanga Canyon, Westwood, Hollywood Hills, Pasadena, San Mareno, Santa Barbara, Orange County, Ventura County, California, New York, & the greater United States…

Our Best Advice has been brought to you by www.ISAstaffing.com, renowned Best of The Best in Household Work and Domestic Help staffing. Visit often for other great ideas, use our Tell A Friend featured link to this blog, and our Domestic Staffing website to pass our HOT TIPS and renowned services. THANKS!

Tags: beeswax candles, Beverly Hills party events, Catering, Charter For Compassion, CHEF, CHEFS, Cook, Cooks, energy, fuseproject, Holiday Events, Holidays, illumination, ISA Staffing, Karen Armstrong, light, Lost Horizon movie, Parties, party planning, Party Staff, Party staffing, Recycle, soy candles, TED, TED PRIZE, Thomas Duffy

VALENTINES DAY – ECO AND ROMANTIC

Sunday, February 8th, 2009 | Our Best Advice | No Comments

Vintage Valentine Cards remind us that Humans have been giving each other love covenants seemingly forever. Go green with LOVE this Valentine's Day.

On this Valentine’s Day, Go “Eco” and “Romantic!” It is my understanding there is no such thing as a “selfish gene” as Richard Dawkins (the renowned genome scientist) believes. Love transforms all, and all exists in love first including “selfishness”, which is merely an aspect of ignorance as a fear based separation illusion. So my advice for this Valentines Day is to love more deeply, and our HOT TIP for today is to Go GREEN with LOVE on Valentine’s Day and every day.

In these hard economic times when so many are deprived of so much we all could put out extra effort to share the love broadly. What we can do is to create or give gifts that have minimal impact on our environment. This Valentine’s Day follow tips that keep the planet alive and also restore harmony. Hand made gifts are always so cool and takes it up as a more memorable exchange. Take photos of yourself making the gift and include a small handmade photo album with love notes as part of your present. Hand made “eco friendly chocolates” from recipes found on line are easy if chocolate is your thing.

Make an extra gift for a stranger as “potlatch”, the Native American Indian ritual of “give away”. Give a gift to someone you don’t know on the street as you pass them by, or donate to an organization that supports eco friendly giving. Don’t forget “Fair Trade bubbly” to go with your love if Champaign is your thing.

Avoid candles made of petroleum paraffin that produce soot and release harmful benzene and toluene chemical toxins. Find natural beeswax or soy candles with a wick that has no lead insert in it. Sexy and romantic can also be green. Forget the dozen red roses and buy a baby tree, or organic herbs that you both can plant in your lovers back yard together. Offer to cook the herbs in a memorable meal and give them a LOVE MEAL IOU included with your gift.

Take a romantic stroll around your neighborhood and spend time getting to know your neighbors by sharing the love. Leave them a treat in their mailbox with a Valentine’s Card. Don’t forget the age old “Breakfast In Bed” we all love; a gift that’s pocket friendly too.

vintage art deco valentine card

Give handmade Valentine’s Cards made with recycled paper. A great way to recycle grocery bag brown paper is to cut it up and turn it into hand crafted cards you paint and glue meaningful things onto. Use eco-friendly glue! Organic cotton T-shirts with your declaration of love painted on it can replace your Valentine’s Card. Roll it up and include a poem of love painted on a large green leaf from your garden. Have your significant other insert the leaf into a book with other books kept on top for a month, and it will dry out beautifully preserved.  If you’re good with computer graphics, you might design a photo collage made up of green hearts or wild grass or green flowers of love. Print it on nice paper and insert it into a frame you’ve made. Or, you can give a micro-loan in someone’s name included into your Valentine’s Day card through an organization like Kiva, an amazing and highly effective program helping small businesses to get started all over the world. Micro-loans as grass roots program will help get us out of global recession and likely become the permanent way of social networking economics.

As we know, this is a small planet in a big back yard we call the Cosmos. Think Cosmic Valentines. Rather then a day of celebrating love, give it up daily — offer it up “Eco” and “Romantic!”

Have A Happy And Green Valentine’s Day!

Serving Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Bel Air, Benedict Canyon, Torrance, Hancock Park, Laurel Canyon, Los Feliz, Marina Del Rey, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Melrose. Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Encino, Woodland Hills, Topanga Canyon, Westwood, Hollywood Hills, Pasadena, San Mareno, Santa Barbara, Orange County, Ventura County, California, New York, & the greater United States…

Our Best Advice has been brought to you by www.ISAstaffing.com, renowned Best of The Best in Household Work and Domestic Help staffing. Visit often for other great ideas, use our Tell A Friend featured link to this blog, and our Domestic Staffing website to pass our HOT TIPS and renowned services. THANKS!

Tags: candles, CHEFS, eco friendly, ecological, environmentally friendly, garden, Gifts, GREEN, handmade cards, Herbs, Holiday, Holidays, love poems, meals, natural, organic, organic cotton, plants, Romantic, romantic dinners, small planet, soy candles, Valentines Day, yard