New BFF-My GreenSmart Laptop Sleeve

by Jamillah Posted on May 18, 2012

Hi friends! So I have a new savior in life :) . As a blogger and a person who shuttles around to a lot of different places I need a laptop that is also made to travel (ha! pun!). And while I made a list last year for Steph of The Loud Mouth Lifestyle on ethical laptop sleeves and backpacks (post HERE), I have to confess I did not do a good job for myself! All the sleeves I found (ahem and I hastily ordered one) were for 13″ macbooks while I have a 15″.

So when the GreenSmart people contacted me to choose a product from their site I could not believe my luck. When I review products for this blog I have a pretty rigid set of guidelines: 1) I have to LOVE it 2) the ethics of the product and production have to be sound 3) the price has to be what I consider fair and reasonable for the product.

And I’m happy to say my GreenSmart laptop sleeve and all their products fit this criteria. SO! Come meet my new savior in life, my GreenSmart Saola Laptop Sleeve.

Let me tell you friends I’m so happy I found a great ethical laptop sleeve!!! I’m no longer the girl wrapping her laptop in a towel! Farewell towel!

Now what makes GreenSmart green? Well, ALL their products are made with fabric that comes from certified 100% post-consumer recycled PET bottles (i.e. soda and water bottles). You can learn more about this process from watching their 2 minute video HERE.

GreenSmart products are ethically made in China. In the above video there is also a slideshow of the factory where plastic bottles are sorted and made into fabric. GreenSmart also has information on their code of conduct regarding their labor practices on their site, and they are a proud supporter of the Fair Labor Association. You can learn more about their affiliations here.

My Saola laptop sleeve functions like a dream for me. My sleeve is really really light and the fabric and lining provide a great deal of protection for my dear dear laptop. But what I love most about this sleeve (besides it’s ethics) is because the fabric has a touch of stretch in it I can fit more than my laptop!

So any documents or magazines that I want to lug around with my laptop can neatly and safely be stored in the sleeve along WITH my laptop…pretty RAD :D .

I have to tell you I was a little torn deciding what to pick from GreenSmart I really loved this laptop sleeve and this wine bottle holder too.

I think the wine carrier makes a really lovely hostess gift, no? So cute and practical and you’ll be able to keep that white wine chilled on your way over :) .

Thank you GreenSmart for gifting me with something I totally needed in my life-my laptop thanks you too!

Visit GreenSmart and see all their products HERE.

Follow them on twitter HERE or Facebook HERE to keep up with their happenings including discounts, promotions and their involvement in the community.

Disclosure: I received a product or products in order to write my review. All opinions are mine and mine alone. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC 16 CFR Part 255 concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising.

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ASOS Africa

by Jamillah Posted on May 17, 2012

Before I left for vacation I told you I told you I had marked my calendar for ASOS Africa. The lined dropped on April 30th and did not disappoint me EXCEPT my most wanted piece is now out of stock (two short weeks, sad).

So be sure to get the things you want otherwise you will have regret…like me! :(

I love that this season ASOS Africa is really doing some bold print mixes and super modern lines

Visit ASOS Africa HERE. Read about their great fair trade manufacturer SOKO Kenya HERE.

See previous posts on ASOS Africa here and here.

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Site Shoutout-Little Nails

by Jamillah Posted on May 16, 2012

I was wandering around tumblr specifically for new nail blogs to read and found this gem called Little Nails and I am positively smitten!

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I am a big big pro tiny nails situation. When I go for my monthly mani (nail art I can do, cuticle trimming not so much) I typically will cut my nails first because my nail place refuses to make my nails little!

So Little Nails is really the perfect nail blog for me; love all her creations and love that they are on tiny nails like mine :) .

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Little Nails TUMBLR/Little Nails BLOG

So friends, do you have any nail blog suggestions for little nails like mine?

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What I Wore…as the Birthday Girl

by Jamillah Posted on May 15, 2012

So friends most of you know I celebrated a birthday recently…

That is right! I turned the big 3-0 :D . I was really looking forward to turning 30; the journey of my 20′s has really felt long (in a good way). Graduating college, trying out lots of media fields, and then slowly working my way to become a professional, and confident in what I do. There were just so many changes, I felt I lived two lives within my 20′s; so I have to say it’s kind of a relief.  For all you kids, 30 is a happy place and definitely on the short list of best birthdays ever for me.

(boots-cri de couer via loving eco/jp selects; skirt-thrifted via cause for pawz; knicks tank-gift from bf; sweater-i no longer shop here; rings-made her think and gifted)

Two things happened on April 28th, 2012- 1) I turned 30 2) the Knicks game one with the Heat in the playoffs. We lost terribly and ultimately got eliminated BUT I have to say considering my beloved Knicks have been plagued by injuries I am really really proud of the season we’ve had and am super optimistic for next year.

So what did I do for the big day….I had a Treat Yo Self Day! The boyfriend and I wandered around the East Village into stores I frequent and I treated myself: a fun neon sweater from Buffalo Exchange, BrooklynRehab salt & pepper shakers (available HERE) from Pink Olive are some of the things I treated myself to :) .

Would I typically buy salt and pepper shakers? NO! That is why it’s a treat and it made me happy :) .

I also finally bought 2 things that I have always wanted for myself.

I think truly every woman should own a precious piece of jewelry they love and bought on their own. April’s birthstone happens to be a diamond so I have always wanted to buy myself a diamond.

I bought this beautiful ring from Alexis Russell. It’s a raw 3 carat diamond set in silver. I LOVE IT! I adore the super traditional setting juxtaposed with the rough diamond. For me it looks modern and elegant.

I actually have wish listed quite a bit from Alexis Russel. Her pieces are made from recycled metals and conflict free gems and the jewelry is just so fine and beautiful. These earrings will be next but here are some other faves (all available HERE).

The other big treat for myself was an everyday bag. You’ve seen my black bad girl bag from Matt & Nat that I love but I also wanted a tan option that had the same function and was made just as fine.

I stumbled on the Sleazy Jane bag from O My Bag on boticca and I knew it was the one. Not only can it go cross-body or purse style (a must for me in any everyday bag) but the ethics of this company are great.

I typically only buy leather that is secondhand, but this leather is actually ethically made. O My Bag only uses hides that pass naturally and they also use a revolutionary eco tanning process that reduces water usage and is chrome free. The bags are also made by a fair trade cooperative in India where the hides are also sourced. Truly it is not your ordinary bag. You can read more about O My Bag’s ethical practices here.

Lastly my birthday was wrapped up with a surprise from my family. I have a large large family and typically don’t get to see all my cousins and aunts and uncles on my birthday. I hate being the center of attention so I often opt for several nice small dinners opposed to a large HAPPY BIRTHDAY  moment. But my mamacita surprised me with all my family and I have to say it was awesome.

I felt very loved, especially when my 3 year old nephew serenaded me with this One Direction song :) …sigh, moments I wish I recorded.

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I Heart the Internet

by Jamillah Posted on May 14, 2012

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Hello friends! Happy Monday :) . I hope you’ve had a restful and happy weekend…mine was full of happy with very little rest; but it was wonderful time spent with family and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Here are some of the wonderful reasons I hearted the internet to get your week started.

  • Above, the gorgeous Carey Mulligan auctions her jaw-dropping Met Gala dress on ebay for a great cause.
  • Showing anything is possible with work and time this janitor graduates with honors from Columbia University.
  • Another tale of fast fashion taking advantage of independent design…tsk tsk.

 

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Last Minute Mother’s Day Gifts

by Jamillah Posted on May 10, 2012

Gifting is nearly my favorite thing to do and mother’s day is especially dear to me because as most of you know I’m very close to my dear mamacita. You can meet her for a few seconds here (a.k.a my favorite post ever :) ).

So to help you find the perfect gift for your dear mama here are a  few last minute gifts for mother’s day.

Hand on heart- I picked really simple things that won’t take more than a bit of time and maaaaybe a trip to your local drugstore.

First off the CARD!!!

You will of course need a lovely card for your fantastic gift. Here are some wonderful FREE printables :)

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(owl card found via poppytalk here)

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For the Memory Loving Mom

I guess you could kind of say all moms are a bit memory loving. In any case, here are some wonderfully easy and brilliant ways to give photos a new life.

DIY Snow Globe-yes, there is water and YES it is easy! I’m a little amazed at this one.

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DIY Photo Canvas-I’ve made a version of these and they come out gorgeous and are soooooo easy!

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DIY Photo Coasters

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For the Crafty Mom

A crafty mama always needs a place to write her random crafty ideas and keep lists of all her fun “to do’s” and supplies. I love these two easy little pocket notebook diys. P.S-The second one is made of junk mail! Super cool.

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And I kind of want to make these sewing kits for myself. It would be great to just have all I need in one little portable cute jar.

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 For the Reading Mom

You can read all about the wonderfulness that is Better World Books on my post here. But really I think it is such a better option than an Amazon or a Barnes and Noble gift card and an easy way to give a gift and also give back.

Also your reading mama will need a lovely way to keep track of where she’s at. Here are some bookmarks that are quick to make and super duper cute.

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DIY No slip bookmark!! P.S I’m probably going to make this guy for myself. The bookmark slipping situation plagues me!

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 For the Mom Who Has EVERYTHING!

Friends, this is my mom seriously. It’s soooooo hard to get her a gift, she is teeming with ideas and and her house is full of things. But I think these are great options for the mama who has everything.

Give the gift of Giving

Does your mom have a special cause? If her best friend is a breast cancer survivor, I bet she’d love to help women in need get life saving mammograms. Or if she is an animal lover I’m sure she’d love to help build a home for rescue animals. Or maybe she’s a teacher and is passionate about education, I’m sure she would love to help a child in need go to school.

And how can you gift this?!? Easy! Global Girlfriends (who I’ve mentioned before here) have many great causes you can gift to your mama. They will email you a PDF of a certificate that you can give to your mom that will show her you gave her the gift of giving.

Give the Gift of Adventure

Ok, this might not be for every mama…I’m 100% sure my mom would kill me if I got this for her, but I think flying lessons are a raaaaaaaad gift for the right person.

Let’s Go Flying will help you find a flight school in your area that offer classes. It also has pretty great information in general. While this gift is not so great for my mama it s an awesome one for my dad and bro come June :) .

Give the Gift of Beauty

So it can be said it’s cliché to give flowers, but honestly I don’t think it gets old. I love having flowers in my home, my mamacita loves getting flowers and as an ethical option you can give organic flowers from Organic Bouquet.

Organic Bouquet “flowers are grown in a manner that is not only environmentally friendly, but also provides outstanding resources for farm workers and artisans by providing zero-interest loans, childcare, healthcare, education, environmental protection, and more. Certified Sustainable Farms employ over 60% women from surrounding villages and pay fair, livable wages that far exceed government minimum mandates.” (Quote taken from Organic Bouquet’s website)

And if you’re worried about the carbon footprint of your delivery Organic Bouquet has taken care of that too. They are a carbon neutral company, partnered with CarbonFund.org in a carbon offset program supporting re-forestation projects in Guatemala.

ALSO! You can give the gift of giving by purchasing one of Organic Bouquet’s lovely flower arrangements! They have partnered with several non-profits to create bouquet’s that benefit a specific charity creating Flowers For Good.

Another wonderful gift of beauty is the beauty boxes of BlissmoBox.

Blissmo will send a curated list of items to your mama every month. You can choose a category or have the Blissmo folks choose for you (beauty, home, or food). All the products from BlissmoBox are ethically sound and carefully selected.

I love the idea of giving a gift that just keeps giving!

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So friends, that is my roundup! Best of luck finding that perfect, perfect gift for the woman you literally owe everything to…be thankful and show her how much you love her on Mother’s day and everyday :) .

If you need some more ideas you can take a look at last year’s picks!

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Smile File-Love From St. Lucia

by Jamillah Posted on May 8, 2012

I really do love a good card. My favorite kind of card is succinct, sweet and smart (you might know this from HERE). So I was delighted while the bf and I were shopping for souvenirs on vacation in St. Lucia I stumbled on these beauties from Naïeli.

Of course leave it to me to find an ethical and sustainable souvenir for myself while I was on vacation, lol…I’m not going to lie, this fact made me really happy :) .

Naïeli is locally made by artisans in St. Lucia using recycled paper and vegetable inks.

My darling dude and I pick out gifts for each other when we go on vacation. So when I squealed and called out to him hands flailing like I do when I’m excited, he immediately said, “Well, here’s your St. Lucia gift.”

So these two cards from Naïeli were gifted to me by the bf  :) .

I mean even the back of these cards are just so so so so charming! I love how Naïeli shares that it’s printed in limited quantities. Makes my little souvenir feel very special :) .

And here are some pics from our wonderful trip.

Oh friends, it was so incredibly relaxing and easy and random (lol, St. Lucian people are apparently huge fans of country music). This teeny tiny island (27 miles long/ 14 miles wide) is so lush and full of surprises.

Are you ready for my favorite picture from vacation?!?!

Well first a little back story…I booked horseback riding for us without consulting the BF. Maybe a tad mean of me, but hey it was my birthday trip!

So my bf was nervous (confessed to me later) but lucky for him he got the most perfect perfect horse for his first ride! It was soooooooo naturally slow and docile that he was lagging behind in a real real way!

I snapped this picture from my horse which seems miles away from him in this picture, lol.

Omigosh I think this is the cutest picture ever! I’m not lying when I tell you just looking at this picture makes me laugh out loud and smile.

He’s just so far and cute!!! :D

I hope you enjoyed my little love from St. Lucia. I think St. Lucia’s tourism tagline gets it just right…”St. Lucia—Simply Beautiful”, is the most apt phrase for this place.

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I Heart The Interent-I’m Baaaaaaaack :D

by Jamillah Posted on May 7, 2012

Hi friends!!! I’ve been in such a happiness whirlwind for the last 2 weeks! Between vacation, celebrating my birthday and attending my friend’s wedding I desperately needed the time off from made-to-travel. But, I have to say I missed it and YOU!

The above picture I took on the Sunday drive back from Buffalo, NY where I attended a dear friend’s wedding. I love love love the sentiment of this quote. I think it’s a succinct way of reminding me not to fret too much about the future or dwell too much on the past…right here and now is what matters and I need to embrace and enjoy the now always.

Sooooo first order of business!!!

The winner of MarketPlace: Handwork of India Giveaway!!! 

CATHY DAVIS

You’ve won $100 to MarketPlace: Handwork of India!

(picked by random.org)

CONGRATS! CONGRATS! CONGRATS!

I will be emailing you shortly with details. And thank you to all who entered! I truly hope you keep MarketPlace in mind the next time you want to treat yo’self ;) .

Now one of the big big reasons I Heart the Internet is because of the wonderful and talented people I’ve gotten to meet and “meet”.  The ladies below have done a really tremendous job of guest posting while I was a flurry of activity and I am so grateful for their time, energy and thoughtfulness.

Their posts are FANTASTIC so in case you missed any here they are!

Week 1

How to Score a Travel Deal by Jillian of coffee, light and sweet

What Ethical Consumerism Means Today: Interview w/ the Andean Collection by Mallory of MissMalaprop.

Etsy Wishlist by Rocquelle of Consider Me Lovely

Bootleg It Yourself (BIY!)-Nail Dotting Tool by Vicky of my real life you can find her now contributing to Aestheddict Magazine.

Photos from Friend Day by Kateri of IretakStudios

Week 2

Indoor Gardening for the Urban Gal by Sara of Aquí

Ethical Travel Essentials by Madsion of  Fashion Tales.

The Miles of Hope Fashion Show by Casee Marie of The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower  and Literary Inklings

Inspiration at The Martin Luther King Monument by Katy Rose of Modly Chic

Profile of the Beautiful Fashion of Maiyet by Marissa of The Well Appointed Catwalk

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Guest Post: The Beautiful Work of Maiyet

by Jamillah Posted on May 4, 2012

 

It could only have been fate that led me to a meet a Maiyet employee just days after Jamillah asked me to guest post. I was at a bridal shower, pressing another guest for details about the luxury label she worked for in hopes of getting an interesting tidbit for my own blog. But when she mentioned Maiyet’s partnerships with craftsmen in developing nations, I new I had to save this gem for made-to-travel.

As an idea sprung from a human rights lawyer and a social entrepreneur, Maiyet dedicated itself to social responsibility from the outset. The label partners with nonprofit group Nest, and together, they seek out global partner companies that “exhibit strong leadership, are scalable and can positively transform their communities.”

The relationship is symbiotic: Maiyet gets rare, handmade pieces from around the world while craftsmen in developing nations get fair wages, advance deposits and, ultimately, economic self-sufficiency.

But despite its socially conscious underpinnings, there’s nothing earthy crunchy about Maiyet’s style. The first collection debuted on the Paris runways last fall to rave reviews and was soon picked up by Barney’s. This is probably where I should mention the third founder, Kristy Caylor, who once managed Gap’s Product (RED) line and led Band of Outsiders. Along with Creative Director Gabriella Zanzani (formerly of Celine, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren), the team elevates ancient craftsmanship to modern designs.

 

While a number of Maiyet’s pieces are made in New York and Italy, you’ll also find block printing from Jaipur, metal work from Nairobi and Medellin, and handwoven silks from Varanasi. It’s refreshing to see a brand that understands quality and luxury can come from anywhere. And it’s even more refreshing to hear of someone using “heritage” as more than just a catchphrase.

Thank you to Jamillah for the opportunity to guest post! I hope you’re enjoying your birthday celebration on the beach!

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