Test Driving

Happy Earf Day, Everybody!
This April and May is the month that we all are reminded by all of our magazine and media sources about how to save the earth by conserving engergy and recycling, and wearing used or organic clothing, blah blah blah. Even the fashion industry paper, Women's Wear Daily, has put out a green issue about sustainable textiles and sustainable designers, because it all trendy and fashionable to do things green, like drive a Toyota Prius!
1. This week I test drove a Toyota Prius, it was really fun! Whenever you want to start the car, park or drive, you have to press a button, it's like deprogramming yourself to grab that stick thingy in the middle before you drive. And because it's a hybrid, that means fewer trips to the gas station (my commute is 22 miles each way to work, in reverse traffic. But unfortunately, even though it feels like a faster driving car than Tomato, the Toyota Corrolla I currently am borrowing, it has an even floatier baby cradle-like ride suspension than tomato. I really care about how the car feels on the road, and during the test drive, we went over some small windy curves that literally made me nauseous! So after that experience, I'm not entirely sure getting a hybrid makes the most sense right now---- maybe if the Prius comes with sport suspension?

Toyota Prius Hybrid vehicle link

2. So I finally read that one green issue of WWD, and it's quite interesting, however it's laced with small little articles by an entity called Cotton, Inc. (you know, the "Fabric of our lives" commercial?) They support Conventional Cotton! There is one article inparticular about how educated the consumer is about organic cotton, and the facts and figures basically claim that the comsumer populace is uneducated and ignorant, and won't pay more for organic cotton clothing. They don't mention in the article when this little survey was done- I suspect it is the same research I fell upon at least 5 years ago when I was studying my thesis at Cornell. I think it's absolutely weird how Cotton Inc. feels so "threatened" by sustainable textiles!

Womens' Wear Daily reported on by Treehugger




Subaru Impreza 2008 -Conflicts in My Head

Aaccck! So I need to get a new car, I have literally not owned one/borrowed other people's cars since 2002, a whole five years, but soon I will actually have to own one, or else I won't be able to get to work! So, some of you might remember that last car was a 1997 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport Wagon, in red with the fake hood scoop that eventually got taped up inside! And I sort of want another one. At the 2007 New York Auto Show last week, they unveiled a TOTAL REDESIGN of the Impreza, and now I'm not sure what to think! From the outside, it looks like all of the other hatchbacks now, except for the AWD and hoodscoop! Ergh. It's a shrinky dinked version of the Tribeca, which had to be redesigned after only being a year on the market! ha!
However, the interior of the new Impreza WRX (the performance version) is super nice, and hence, the inner conflict- should I get a 2007 or wait until August for the new one? Will I like how the exterior looks by August? Will I want to trade in a brand new 2007 just because the new one is so much nicer? (sniff)

2008 Subaru Impreza WRX




Kimmie!!!

Have you ever heard of this TV show on FX called "The Riches"? It stars Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver, who are speaking in Southern accents (!) and my friend Teresa Huang is in the cast, in her first recurring TV role-her name is Kimmee! Yippee!!! It's on late Mondays on FX.
   

"The Riches" Monday nights on FX

Celebrity Personal Finance Gurus!

Check it out! Getting Suze Orman to sign her new book for my boss. I was all excited and nervous and afterwards, I had a celebrity high that you get from meeting someone you admire. She had a really fun 1 hour talk, that is pretty much all about her new book, "Women and Money" She yelled at a single woman w/o dependents for buying term life insurance. Public humiliation! She answered a question about the dollar value of taking care of kids at home. But basically, all the people in the audience were already on the "Suze Boat" and from what she was saying about how women like to take care of other people with their money before they take care of themselves, it was pretty obvious that those women who REALLY needed Suze's book the most were not in the audience, and and may never know to read her book in order to fix their lives up.
Anyway, check out the TD Ameritrade Save yourself plan offer in her book! It's so cool! I'm so excited about applying for this Money market account!
 

Suze the Life Changing Financial Guru Lady

A very sad girl

I was driving home tonight- listening to NPR's "All Things Considered" and they were discussing the hardship of military families who lost a loved one who was deployed. And I was so surprised when they introduced a woman named Wendy. She was a sorority sister a year or two younger than me who went to my undergrad school and then left to West Point to finish her degree and become an army officer. I don't know her that well, and haven't seen her since school, but my other sorority sisters do.

Wendy's picture and story

She was amazing in her interview. And so sad. And so deeply respectful to everybody involved in the war effort. I'm so glad I stayed late to work. I'm so glad I listened to NPR when I did. She really reminded people that whatever the people in the highest chain of command decide to do, it really affects the people and their families, the soldiers who have to carry out their orders. It must be crazy difficult for her. She also wished that everyday people had more conscious understanding of wartime and what soldiers and their families go through when they are deployed.

Girls who are cute

How cool is this? One of my friends, who lives in San Diego, got on the front page of the NY Times, because she just so happened to attend a surfing class when the journalists were here reporting on how trendy and business oriented surfing is becoming!
 Surfer Girl
She's soooo adorable in this picture! Makes me miss being unemployed, a little....

Another cute girl, A., is demonstrating that you can make FREE local phone calls on the Sergio Vega PARROT phone that is outside the ICA! That's right. Free! So go look up someone on your cell phone in the 617 area code to call and then call them on the parrot!

Patagonia's cradle to cradle- Missing that school I went to

Stuff that I learned at Cornell is coming back to life! At work, the higher ups and merchandisers had a big meeting about fit, and that the higher-ups hired a consultant to assess the fit of the clothing sold. They said that the pants here have the most consistent fit out of all of the womenswear apparel companies, and then they listed that there are so many ways that more clothing can get sold by improving the fit of the product. They have no idea that I studied so much about fit in school, and have done that class bodyscanning project...

The other thing that I was studying about was apparel sustainability, and not only shoes, but underwear is now going to be going through a cradle to cradle system! Yay for underwear! I just wish that one day that my company will get on this green bandwagon soon....

Check out the stupid yet cute video!

Patagonia recycling