Love it! - Mother's Day coupon

If you're lucky enough to be in the NYC area - The Habitat Shop is having a great Mother's Day promotion - for our readers print this posting and bring coupon for 25% off all bags, scarves and robes! (valid through Sunday the 8th)



www.TheHabitatShop.com 143 W 19th street (bet 6th & 7th Ave)

Love it! - Holiday stationery

For all your Holiday stationery needs, there is a one-stop website shop that you need to know, BoatmanGeller.com. Family photo cards, Address labels, Wine tags, Recipe Cards - the wish list goes on!!







www.BoatmanGeller.com

Love it! - Holiday Giveaway Results!

Wendy Submitted a photo of Williams-Sonoma at the Mayfaire Town Center in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Melissa submitted a photo of Pottery Barn on 59th Street, New York City.

Tony submitted a photo of a Williams-Sonoma at the Oakbrook Center Mall in Oakbrook, Illinois.




All 3 winners, randomly selected got to choose a Williams-Sonoma Home Cashmere Throw in the color of their choice retailing for $270!

For the second Giveaway, Williams-Sonoma Home's Sister company Pottery Barn wanted to share in the holiday Spirit donating 3 Tomlin Weekender Bags, retailing for $129 each! And in that same Spirit, we at Dose of Design wanted readers to instead submit nominees for a person they felt was deserving of winning the Tomlin Weekender Bag. Three winning letters were chosen and here they are in their entirety:

#1
The person I am nominating is my sister. She is a nurse but at the moment she is not practicing. She is a stay at home mom with three young boys 4, 3 and 1 yrs old. She and her husband just moved into their first house this week too. But why I am nominating her is because in 2000 another sister of mine because gravely ill with stage 4 non-hodgkin's lymphoma. It was a very rare form of the cancer. Mary, the sister who is the nurse and the nominee, quit her job with a hospital in Chicago to become my other sister's private duty oncology nurse. So when my sister, Moira's husband was at work and was unable to be around Moira always had Mary. Mary would go with Moira to all her chemo treatments. Moira was given the green light in April of 2001 but wouldn't you know it the cancer relapsed a month later and she needed a bone marrow transplant. Again Mary was there with Moira as the chemo and radiation
treatments were more intense and harder on Moira's system. Moira was fortunate to have a bone marrow transplant in August 2001. Mary was with Moira in the isolation that she needed to undergo for three months afterwards. My name is Maureen Gallagher Burns. I know this person because she is my younger sister.
Palatine, Illinois

#2
Hello and happy holidays!
I would like to enter to win the weekender bag for my husband, he is so deserving of it. In May, Joe graduated from medical school and we moved to a new state so he could start his residency a few weeks later. Since then, he has been working long, long hours for very little pay (average about $2/hour!). Many people don't realize the sacrifice new physicians make when they just start practicing. In fact, there are laws protecting them from working more than 80 hours because it's so prevalent for them to be worked longer. My husband has worked so hard in the last six months and he truly does it because he wants to heal people. I am so proud of him. Since he has started he has treated many folks with H1N1, devoted hours to make himself available to the family of patients, worked with those who just found out they have cancer, and has gone in early and left late to spend extra time with his patients. The weekender bag would be perfect for my husband when he is staying all night at the hospital and carrying an extra set of scrubs for the next day! Thank you so much for your consideration!
Brittany
Wichita, Kansas

#3
Dear DOD,
My husband and I rent a room in our house to our dear friend, Kimberly. Kimberly is a nurse who works tirelessly on 12 hour shifts to take care of others. In her free time she leads a church group for college students and sings in the choir. She's always available when people need help painting and remodeling and is always willing to drive when someone moves or needs to take a trip out to Ikea or the furniture outlets (In the DC area that is a constant need). I'm 8 months pregnant and she is constantly going above and beyond to help us keep the house clean and ready for guests and talks about how excited she is to help with the baby. I would like to thank Kimberly for being such a selfless friend. She does all the small and ordinary things with extraordinary love and generosity. She loves Pottery Barn (and bags) and I think this would be a lovely surprise for her. Thank you! I love the blog!
Bethany
Washington DC

Congrats to all the winners and Happy Holidays!

Love it! - Holiday Giveaway!

Yes! The wonderful folks at Williams-Sonoma Inc. were generous enough to sponsor 2 giveaways with Dose of Design this year! For the first, Williams-Sonoma Home has donated 3 luxe Solid Cashmere Throws, each retailing for $268! The rules are simple, to enter you must complete ALL of the following:

GIVEAWAY #1

-Take a photo of any (1) Williams-Sonoma Inc. brand store.
-Pick ONLY ONE of these stores to take a photo of:
Williams-Sonoma Home, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, PB Kids, PB Bed & Bath or West Elm.
-The store's name and facade must be in the photo.
-Email Dose of Design that 1 photo as a .jpeg attachment to DoseOfDesign@gmail.com along with your Name, City and State.
-Your email will enter you into the pool of potential winners.
-3 random winners in no particular order will be chosen to each win a cashmere throw in the available color of their choice!
-All Entries must be received by December 20th.








GIVEAWAY #2

In the Spirit of "Passing it Forward" we at Dose of Design wanted the second giveaway sponsored by Pottery Barn to embrace the Holiday Spirit! They generously donated 3 Tomlin Weekender Bags with gorgeous leather accents each retailing for $129! (monogram not included) The rules for this giveaway are very simple, please include ALL of the following:

-Email Dose of Design (DoseofDesign@gmail.com) about someone you know that is deserving of this special gift, a simple "thank you" for being an amazing person in their own right. This second giveaway is about the selfless people that you know and have affected yours or other's lives!
-Keep your email to a couple of paragraphs.
-Include your name, full address and phone number.
-Your nominee's name, full address, phone number, how you know them.
-Entries must be received by December 20th.

*Friends and family of Dose of Design and Williams-Sonoma Inc. are excluded from these two giveaways.

FOR STORE LOCATIONS:
www.WShome.com
www.Williams-Sonoma.com
www.PotteryBarn.com
www.WestElm.com
www.PBteen.com

Love it! - Ralph Lauren Holiday Scents & Custom Shop

What makes a better gift than anything from Ralph Lauren! Their candles and scents are classic and always appropriate, but the packaging alone is worth the price! And with their new Custom Shop, monogram any of their timeless treasures from key chains and jewelry to sweaters and shirts for only $10-15 - Now that's rich!






www.RalphLauren.com - Holiday Candles start at $34
The Custom Shop - Engraving, Embroidering, Create your own, Made to measure!

Love it! - EARTH DAY! - American Forests Buy A Tree

While "design" is one of my greatest passions, one of my newest has become environmental preservation. Through American Forests, the nation’s oldest nonprofit citizens’ conservation organization created in 1875, you can buy a tree in your name or as a gift in another person's name. EVERY DOLLAR PLANTS ONE TREE! It's very easy to do. On their website, www.AmericanForests.org, click on the "Plant Trees" tab. There you can choose from a number of projects that you want your donation to benefit. Once you choose a project you can make your donation, $15 being the minimum. Then choose if it will be a gift or not. If it is a gift, they will ask you to fill out the address and name of the recipient who will be mailed a certificate saying that you have planted trees in their name - how great is that!

Another really cool program that American Forests initiated is the Historic Trees Nursery. The Nursery, a state-of-the-art facility in Jacksonville, Florida, propagates direct-offspring of trees that witnessed events and lives significant to American history. Hundreds of trees are available including offspring of Tulip Poplars that majestically stand at George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate, or the Oleander that blooms on Thomas Edison's Florida estate. Categories include Presidents, American Revolution, Women, Civil War, African Americans, Native Americans, Veterans, Country Music Artists, Authors, Inventors, and trees of regional significance. Through their Historical Trees website www.HistoricTrees.org , for $39.99 you can purchase a 1-3' tree derived from the original of your choice. Plant it in your own yard - now that's a story to pass on for generations!



More about American Forests:
American Forests' goals focus on assisting communities to restore and maintain healthy ecosystems in both urban and rural areas all over America, whether it's planting trees to restore wildlife habitat, ecosystems damaged by wildfire or working with cities to reverse the decline in urban tree cover. Today, the organization's primary campaigns are "Tree-Planting for Environmental Restoration" and "Reversing the National Urban Tree Deficit". Since 1990, American Forests' Global ReLeaf campaign has been planting native trees in rural and urban ecosystem restoration projects across the United States and around the world. About 85% of American Forests' tree-planting projects occur in the United States and 15% are international efforts. All are conducted in cooperation with local partners, foresters, or natural resource experts. To learn more, check out these links.

www.AmericanForests.org
Historic Tree Nursery

Love it! - Envirosax Bags

So I've been trying to "Green" up my life and while I'm no Al Gore, I'm making strides in my daily life, in my own way. It doesn't happen overnight, but I've made a commitment to myself and that's all that matters, right? There are many little and big things one can do, but one of the easiest things that everyone can do is to cut down on using plastic bags. I myself have a number of eco-bags and net bags that I use when going to the market in place of taking plastic. I also keep small roll-up bags in my shoulder bags so when I make unexpected shopping stops, I just pull it out and tell the store to keep their plastic. These totes by EnviroSax are so great looking and with all their stylish designs, there's something for everyone. You can buy them individually or in sets and would actually make great gifts. The company itself also practices what it preaches by operating under "Greener" conditions and abiding by fair trade laws. Here are some of their stats on plastic bags you might find eye-opening:

PLASTIC BAG FACTS - USA
-Approx. 380 billion plastic bags are used in the United States every year.
-Approx. 100 billion of the 380 billion are plastic shopping bags.
-An estimated 12 million barrels of oil is required to make that many plastic bags.
-Only 1 to 2% of plastic bags in the USA end up getting recycled.
-Plastic bags create pollution and kill wildlife in the USA every day of the year.

PLASTIC BAG FACTS - WORLDWIDE
-It is estimated that 500 billion plastic bags are used and discarded worldwide every year.
-1 million plastic bags are used and discarded worldwide every minute of the day.
-Single use plastic bags made of HDPE remain in the environment for up to approx. 1,000 years.
-Over 100,000 birds, whales, seals and turtles worldwide are killed by plastic rubbish every year.








EnviroSax Bags

Love it! - Ornaments

Don't try to bite into these savory treats - you might cut your mouth! These glass ornaments from Sur La Table will make your tree the yummiest on the block :)


www.SurLaTable.com

Love it! - Fish Lips recycled wrapping paper

Wrap your presents with a clean conscience! Fish Lips' environmentally friendly wrapping papers are printed in the USA on 100% Post-Consumer recycled paper with soy-based inks. These high quality, designer papers are a gift in themselves!






www.FishLipsPaperDesigns.com
$4/per sheet 22" x 33.75"
($20 minimum, any combination of papers)

Love it! - "A Passion For Gift Wrapping" by Carolyne Roehm

This is a really gorgeous coffee table book about the art of Gift Wrapping. Perfect for Holiday ideas, as well as birthdays, weddings and baby showers. Carolyne Roehm has amazing sensibility when it comes to pattern, material and color combinations. Whether you're getting ideas for your own gift wrapping, or just gifting the book itself, it's a sure bet either way!


Presentations: A Passion for Gift Wrapping (hardcover) $19.77 - www.Amazon.com

Love it! - Rwanda Path To Peace

After seeing these gorgeous baskets I couldn't wait to tell you all about them! Each one is unique, tells a story in it's design and a tradition passed down for centuries. Sponsored by Macy's and handmade my women in Rwanda, each sale goes to sustain their livelihood. To be able to buy such a stunning piece of functional art and at the same time enable these women to earn an income is a true gift.






The Rwanda Path To Peace Collection
Only at www.macys.com/rwandabaskets
Baskets $40 and up (each is unique, colors and sizes vary)

Love it! - Green Dimes

So I just signed up for a really great service that I just had to share with you all. It's called GreenDimes and it serves to end 90% of the junk mail you receive in the mail - the unsolicited offers, generic "Dear resident" mail and unwanted catalogs of your choice - all wasted paper that you end up throwing away. Since its start in September 2006 - they've helped 185,888 people, have stopped 492,400 catalogs, saved/planted 969,115 trees and stopped 3,096,813 pounds of junk mail. It only cost $20 for the year and in addition to ending your junk mail, with that $20 they will also plant 10 trees on your behalf through non-profit tree-planting partners. For each household address, you can list all the names you don't want receiving junk mail. It does not automatically cancel your catalogs, for that you would sign in to your account that you create after paying the $20 and then you can individually list the catalogs you don't want to receive. Green Dimes will have your name(s) removed from those mailing lists.

Please consider it or at least visit the website and check it out for yourself, it is sooooo easy to do! I signed up in 5 minutes and the site is really easy to read, understand and use. The actor Matt Damon who received the service as a gift from a friend was so impressed that he joined the company's Board and has helped to promote it. Please forward this posting to your friends as well, together we can make a difference!
www.GreenDimes.com