Done Lately?

I'm not writing here much right now, but I have been busy on many many collaborative sites so I wanted to share a brief update about that...

I recently joined the MOMocrats. I've been blogging about politics on and off for a while, and doing it on the Silicon Valley Moms Blog gave a few of us the idea of doing it for our respective presidential candidates. I was frankly too busy to start another collaborative blog myself, so I just blogged about Hillary wherever I could (which has other advantages of reaching a broader audience vs. preaching to the choir), but some of my friends started blogging together about John Edwards and their site was great. We talked early on about working together once a nominee was selected and it was sort-of de facto that we would put our efforts together whenever that point came. When Edwards dropped out of the race, most of them began supporting Obama, but they also opened up the blog for everyone to participate and so I joined. I'm in the minority there as a Hillary supporter, but we have a great dialogue and it's a wonderful group of intelligent people. So I haven't written much yet, but stay tuned, especially toward the election.

For Playborhood, I did some research about preschools and wrote an article about the preschool search pertaining to kids and play. I also put that research to use when interviewed for Bay Area Parent magazine. And I wrote a brief article for Bay Area Parent which I believe will be in the May issue. I still write regularly for the Silicon Valley Moms Blog, including putting up a post last night about meeting Maria Shriver, First Lady of California, which was a real treat - especially after reading her latest book.

I spent last weekend in Sacramento being trained on legislative advocacy in the State of California since I'm now the Junior Representative from the Junior League of Palo Alto/Mid-Peninsula to the State Public Affairs Committee for the Junior Leagues of California. (I know it's a mouth full. Sorry.) What that means is that I get to review proposed bills, research them, meet with legislators, and vote within a committee over the next two years as to any legislation the Junior Leagues will support. As we focus on women and children, our issue areas are education, health, family support, and domestic violence prevention. It's a great learning opportunity and it's a wonderful feeling to know we're helping change lives.

Early last week, I compiled some materials that USACM had written about our positions on national technology policies into a paper that we submitted to the Yale Technology Law Journal for the Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference that supposedly will be submitted to the next presidential administration as recommendations on information technology policy. I like keeping active in the tech policy arena when I can, and as a member now of USACM for over 10 years, I enjoy the people involved immensely. Anyway we'll see if the paper is accepted. I would like to think the next administration could learn from USACM - some incredibly brilliant people are involved.

SFBayStyle is growing strong. With a large group of interesting writers, we're getting some great feedback and we're having a lot of opportunities to cover some fantastic events. What I love about creating our own blog about style and fashion is that we can do whatever we want with it, which to me means emphasizing the nonprofit, philanthropic and community component as often as possible. And we have nearly 300 articles up in under a year.

I recently began blogging for ecofabulous, a great site for finding everything that's beautiful and eco for homes, clothes, dining, travel, etc. I also covered the World Figure Skating Championships for BlogHer (Sports & Fitness) and I look forward to writing more for them in the future.

I'm still writing on occasion for Acceller's Digital Landing site. It's a great place for learning basics about technology - TV, phones, computers, etc. So I know my audience here is above all that, but you can send your parents there.

Looking back at this list, it seems like I'm doing a lot, and I am, but I like participating in a lot of different venues because it means I can write about all sorts of topics that I find interesting while working in the community as well. For anyone who wants to keep tabs on my current endeavors for whatever reason, see grangers.com. Otherwise, please be patient and I'll write more of my own thoughts here soon.

Philanthropy & SFBayStyle

I have a lot to post on this blog, but it may be a few days... I'm working on getting a couple of collaborative sites rolling. I've mentioned SFBayStyle.com before - it's really growing now. We're adding writers and events. We have a whole lot of nonprofit philanthropic events we'll be covering in the next few months. And we're working the eco angle as well, so environmentalists, stay tuned for that.

I've moved my art, music, fashion and philanthropic posts that are unrelated to tech over to SFBayStyle because it seemed to be a better fit, so Sairy.com will continue to house the old posts, but it's now really going to focus on what the tagline says - tech, politics (candidates & policy), philanthropy (nonprofits & causes) and culture that relates to those things... the original plan for this blog. That way since many people are only interested in one vs. the other & not both, they won't have to weed through whichever doesn't interest them in order to find what does.

I'll post later this week or next about the other launch I'm working on...

Alek Wek's Incredible Journey

If you can find a copy of August's Vogue, check out the article "From Refugee to Runway Star" about Alek Wek's journey from her life as a girl with severe psoriasis in the Sudan to England where she worked hard, studied and was discovered by a model scout, later to become an international supermodel. It's excerpted from her upcoming book, Alek, coming out next Tuesday the 28th. Puts things into perspective.

(Also posted at sfbaystyle.com.)

Patagonia's Latest Grantee & New Palo Alto Store

Saturday, the new Patagonia store in Palo Alto held their Grand Opening. With hourly raffles, live music, and community organizations in-house, it was really fun. (Not to mention the shopping. I came out with an organic cotton/hemp blend jacket and an organic cotton cap.) The new space suits the store well. I was impressed with their new line of shoes and they have an entire section devoted to eco books. (This is not new from other stores, but it's right in front where it's easy to see.) I was also happy to see that since their opening, they've gotten a lot of pro-environment petitions signed. That's something I've always admired about Patagonia.

A pioneer in technical and eco clothing, Patagonia is now making jackets out of recycled polyester as well as expanding their organic product line. I was also impressed by their children's clothing since I'd never really looked at that before having a baby. Our daughter's been decked-out in Patagonia since birth, but it was all gifts - this was my first time in one of their stores since.

Patagonia gave away a $1000 gift certificate at 4pm to a local woman through a drawing, they had some fantastic ice cream, courtesy of Rick's Ice Cream ("Palo Alto's gourmet micro creamery"), great cookies, drinks, and the Save Nature organization provided some very cool bugs to pet - an African millipede, a pair of not-so-scary domesticated giant cockroaches, and a couple of exotic walking sticks. Hidden Villa and the Sierra Club also had tables present. A $5000 grant was presented to Ventana Wildlife Society. They had the most votes on the Patagonia site for their organization. It was well-deserved.

I'll be going back to Patagonia again once the crowd subsides to do more shopping - they have some great skirts, shirts, tunics, jackets, shorts and cropped pants to last through summer and early fall.

...

(Also posted at SFBayStyle.)

Live Earth Store & Charity Auction

Live Earth is going strong with concerts still happening in the U.S.. If you want to get an eco-friendly t-shirt or belt to support the cause, check out the Live Earth Store. They have shirts made from bamboo and organic cotton as well as belts from recycled fireman's hoses. They look great too! Also take a peek at the shop if you want to see the auction of "high profile concert memorabilia" (via eBay) and a way to purchase carbon offsets, check out this Live Earth Shop link.

Also check out this cool widget for watching the Live Earth Charity Auctions...

Fashion Show Benefitting Leukemia & Lymphoma on Thursday

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society are hosting their third annual fashion show, "Five Designers and a Poodle", Thursday (June 21) at Mezzanine, 444 Jessie Street. The show features Colleen Quen, Rachel Roy, Bacca Da Silva, Simayof and "many more". VIP Reception begins at 6:30 and main event starts at 7:30, lasting until 1a.m.
General admission of $75 includes wine, food, fashion show, silent auction, and dancing. VIP reception tickets for $125/person include goody bags and more food options. Supposedly 100% of the proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (that's nearly unheard-of for nonprofit fundraising events.) To get tickets, call 415-989-0230 or email info[at]hathawaypr.com.
(Cross-posted at sfbaystyle.com.)

Recent Posts on SVMoms Blog & SFBayStyle

FWIW, I've been writing a lot of posts other places in the past couple of weeks. Here's a sampling:

On SFBayStyle...



• Closet Obsession - My husband may be one of the few metrosexual males who groked this post but it covers why I find closets fascinating.


• Fall/Winter 2007 Fashion Trends List - Published each season, my list covers all that I've read and viewed in magazines and online about the coming season's fashion trends.


• Wilkes Bashford & SF Symphony Present Fashion Show - I attended a fashion show last week for the SF Symphony and a local high-end retailer that was a lot of fun. Includes photos.



On the Silicon Valley Moms Blog...



• The Dreaded Daycare Dilemma - For those of you not from the Bay Area, you may not understand how hard it is to get kids into pre-school here but I had to get my daughter on a list when I was pregnant to get a spot just now for the coming fall; however, the decision wasn't so easy so I enlisted the help of my fellow mommybloggers while making the decision.


• Four Inspirational Moms on Perserverence - About a book co-written by 4 women, including former California Senator Jackie Speier, this tells a little about my experience with Jackie and what her book covers.


• Confessions of a Sugarholic... - A new shop opened in Menlo Park, the "Sugar Shack" and this post chronicles my own battles with sugar (it always wins) and how I feel about this exciting new business.


• Great Summer Reading - A book review of Momzillas, new well-written, hilarious chick lit.

InnVision and Downtown Streets Team Helping Palo Alto Homeless

Yesterday, "In Style Palo Alto", presented by Boutiques on Bryant Street, benefitting Downtown Streets Team presented a fashion show, silent auction and arts & crafts fair in downtown Palo Alto. The Streets Team and InnVision just launched a new campaign to raise funds to help homeless in Palo Alto by placing donation cups in downtown retailers and encouraging people to give there vs. directly to the homeless. This is a great idea as downtown Palo Alto sometimes has as many panhandlers as some neighborhoods in San Francisco.

SF Opera Fete & SF Bay Style

I'm not publicizing this too much yet because it's still a work in progress (no top bar design, no metrics, no feeds as of yet) but a few friends and I are putting together a new web site - SF Bay Style - sfbaystyle.com - that will encompass all aspects of stylish living in the Bay Area. This means we'll write about topics like eco fashion, stylish events, fabulous interiors and luxury hotels but we'll also cover stylish but inexpensive places to dine, where to get great deals on clothes locally, how to put together great looks without much time, and anything else that the market defines. We're trying to have fun with it and we're still learning and deciding how to frame i, so we're open to ideas and feedback.

I've put up a few posts on the site that are republished from here and SVMoms just to get the flavor going, but the first post that's new is one I wrote about Tuesday's San Francisco Opera Designer Fete - a fashion show put together annually by the San Francisco Opera Guild. I also included a couple of fun photos from the event. Let me know what you think.

Buzzfeed Likes My Anorak

Buzzfeed picked-up one of my fashion posts recently from the SVMoms Blog. Anoraks are one of the items that are supposedly in fashion this spring (and they were last spring as well, which means they most likely won't be next spring) and they caught what I wrote about that. (Buzzfeed listed my post as one of their top 3.) Some of the other posts on the topic are pretty good too. What would we do without web links?

Eco-Fads in Magazines & Atherton Green Event

Green is the new black, gray, white, and everything in-between this month. With Earth Day around the corner, everyone is jumpimg on the eco-bandwagon. San Francisco led the publication frenzy, with Town & Country and 7x7 not far behind. Oddly enough, Town & Country was the only one to include a section printed on recycled paper. I was pleasantly surprised by the level of research put together by each of these magazines on sustainable and environmental design and lifestyle options. Definitely a step in the right direction.

I'm helping with Atherton's Earth Week celebration on April 21st, putting together some eco fashion for the event. If you live in the Bay Area, come join the event - it's open to everyone, not just members of the Atherton community. If you don't live here, check out the site anyway because it is a fabulous model of how to educate people about how to make an environmental impact locally. (More news to come as we complete the planning.)

Fashion Week Live, SF Luxe & Sergey's Story

Yesterday, I attended Fashion Week Live in San Francisco. The mother of all fashion shows, it took my breath away. See my detailed post on the Silicon Valley Moms Blog. SFluxe linked to my post and several other good ones as well. Great photos.

Just before the post above is one linking to a fantastic article about Sergey Brin (for those of you who have met him at my parties) that tells the story of his emigration from Russia which I found really interesting, having never felt comfortable asking about that myself. Even when you've heard the Google story a zillion times, this one is different - it reminds me of how scary the USSR was and how courageous those who fought to leave had to be. I've always admired Sergey for his tenacity, but this article, focusing largely on his Jewish roots, attempts to credit some of where it came from. And it cracked me up because my husband always runs into him at Costco.

What's Next?

As this site and blog have largely been an experiment to date, I'm now working on a new plan to take it to the next level.

I have two very diverse types of traffic on this site, so it will be undergoing a transition in the next few weeks to months, depending on what I decide in terms of design and development. Also, since my posting goes in waves in terms of whether I'm blogging about politics, technology, arts or something else that particular day or hour, I've decided to offload some of the content so it's better suited to encouraging return visitors and community participation.

My current thoughts are to put my consulting and writing business off onto its own site (something that is much overdue considering I help other people with their sites all the time - although I've discovered this is a common phenomenon that the people who know the most about the web have the least amount of time to put into their own sites). The business site will host my blog about technology, politics, startups, security and the like.

I'm going to start a new fun fashion & style blog with my friend, Beth B, so the audience that comes here to read about that (a very popular topic) can move to that site. I also still plan to contribute to the Silicon Valley Moms Blog for culture, parenting, and local posts.

sairy.com will likely remain as it is, only acting as a mini-hub to direct people to wherever they want to find the writing that most interests them (Security Focus, SV Moms Blog, my new technology blog or upcoming fashion blog). I may give it a design face lift in any case. I'll keep you posted... some people have already expressed great ideas to me via email of how to proceed. I welcome other thoughts as well.

Vogue Letter & Linking Pain With Depression

According to a number of research studies, there's a link between depression and pain. Essentially they get into a vicious cycle and as a result of the trauma to the nervous system in both cases, they effect each other. I'm no expert on this topic, but I thought it was impressive that Vogue magazine covered it in a riveting personal anecdote. So I wrote a letter to the editor that was published in this month's (March) issue thanking them for shedding light on the subject. As a popular womens' magazine, it's important they feature issues like these in addition to fashion and lifestyle pieces.

While recovering from nerve trauma resulting from my daughter's birth-delivery and previously with repetitive strain injuries, I suffered from depression. It's no surprise that it can cause a person to be blue when s/he can't get out and do normal activities for whatever reason, but when I learned from doctors after my recent bout about the relationship between pain and depression, it made more sense as to why it's difficult to heal and break that cycle for many people - particularly those with chronic problems like back pain. For anyone who suffers from either chronic pain and/or depression, I recommend they learn more about the relationship between the two.

Oscar Gowns Galore

The Academy Awards are just starting now, but I wanted to blog the fashions as on the pre-show red carpet. Not being an expert on tuxes and not having been able (another story) to view any of the nominated films this year, I'm sticking with blogging about the gowns.

So the nominees for my favorites are...

- Penelope Cruz in a peach Versace with a train of ruffles
- Jodie Foster in a blue-gray mermaid style
- Cate Blanchett in dark gray sparkly goddess one-shoulder Armani Prive
- Reese Witherspoon in such deep purple it looks like black
- Gwyneth Paltrow in a sheer rose-salmon pleated Zac Posen
- Rachel Weisz in a gold-oyster Vera Wang with Cartier jewelry
- Emily Blunt in sparkly sapphire blue
- Nicole Kidman in red with a big velvet bow

And the winner is... Cate Blanchett. Stunning ensemble. All of them are absolutely gorgeous.

Bows prevailed, as did sparkles and beads. Mermaid style was the most popular gown cut. Grays, light mints, very dark blues and purples, white and various shades of pink dominated the colors.

Some of the other actresses (mostly nominees) in attendance at the event include Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Hudson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jessica Biel, Cameron Diaz, Celine Dion, Anne Hathaway, Salma Hayek, Beyonce, Kirstin Dunst.

Of course the men look remarkable as well - Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio, John Travolta, Clint Eastwood, Eddie Murphy, Daniel Craig first coming to mind.

But the overall best dressed award goes to my daughter, Julia, who chose Sharon Stone's designer, the gap, and wore the same fashionable hot pink color as Jessica Biel. And she's her own stylist.

Fashion & Beauty Industry Taking Eco-Friendly Steps

I've been waiting for this to happen - finally Patagonia isn't the only major company paying attention to making decent eco-friendly products. Sure, there are oodles of organic small-time retailers you can find online but most of it looks like potato sacks with arms added. Then Bono, champion of the world, launched (along with his wife) Edun, a company that designs and produces organic clothing with strong worker safety and quality regulations (i.e. no sweatshops and fair labor practices) made in Peru. I bought a jacket from Saks made by Edun and I like it. It's progress.

Hybrid cars have been gaining in popularity for the past few years - particularly Hondas and Toyotas. Lexus came out with the first luxury hybrid SUV. That got attention. This year, Bono paired with Gap to create Project Red, a fashion-oriented project to raise money to help fight AIDS in Africa. It may not be directly related to eco-fashion, but it's showing how fashion and philanthropy have become more intertwined and Africa's plight is definitely tied to the environment, particularly in terms of agriculture.

Stella McCartney, PETA advocate and a natural leaning mom, just launched the first designer organic skincare line called "Care", sold at Sephora. And it's about time, because eco-friendly, anti-animal testing, organic make-up companies have been gaining ground. Look at Whole Foods or online natural skincare retailers - there are a lot of choices now. It's no longer just Aveda and Jurlique providing clean options to be beautiful.

Finally, after Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth transformed him from a losing presidential candidate (depending on who you ask, of course) into a winning pop culture ecologist icon, everybody's talking eco. Even Congress, which is always a late adopter. So one could only assume the fashion industry wouldn't be far behind.

Now it's everywhere. Events like the Global Green party in San Francisco have gained press tying fashion and the environment together. Style.com has a "50 ways to go green: earth-friendly guide to spring shopping" on their site.

Women's Wear Daily today published "Models Go Green" about how Isabella Rossellini's daughter, Elettra Rossellini Weidemann, new Lancome Spokesmodel, convinced Lancome to begin taking a more environmental role.

She reportedly requested a carbon neutral program to offset her travel as a spokesmodel. As a result, Lancome partnered with Carbonfund.org in "retrofitting [their] four freestanding Lancôme boutiques to reduce their carbon footprints" and they launched a tree-planting campaign in conjunction with the launch of their new Primordiale serum. "Lancôme will plant a tree for each of the first 10,000 bottles of the new Primordiale serum sold in the U.S."

Designers and models have been shrugging off fur for a while now, but I think recent trends over the past six months are showing the beginning of a new movement toward greater awareness in the entire fashion and beauty industry. At least I hope so.

Spring/Summer 2007 Fashion Trends

Sunglasses are a must have accessory for any fashion nut, but they also offer great protection for your eyes. We offer many styles of fashionable sunglasses including discount polarized sunglasses and even many replica sunglasses such as replica Chanel sunglasses.
...

Spring fashions are already in the stores and Fall Fashion Week begins in New York on Friday, so while we still have a moment to breathe, here’s my collection of notes for Spring/Summer 2007 fashion trends gathered from a variety of sources. Overall, think “Blade Runner” meets “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. And check out my overview of the spring collections for a refresher.

themes:
romantic
sophisticated
independent
sci-fi/space
ballet
volume
jungle
dominatrix
80’s
muted colors
clean lines/angular-architectural
sports
poufy
all-American
uniforms

textures:
light knits
lucite & vinyl
patent leather
metallics
satin/taffeta
unstructured pleats
obtuse ruffles
tiered layers

patterns:
bold, wacky
polka dots
artsy florals
roses
doilys
horizontal stripes
graphic prints

colors:
whites/cream
black
black & white
neutrals
reddish bronze
grays
blues
gold
silver
navy
olive green
muted pastels
light pink
yellows
bright red
neon

clothing styles:
tailored suit jackets
cropped jackets
sporty jackets and anoraks
high-collared button-up pastel suits
short trenchcoats
ballerina wrap cardigans
cropped cardigans
one-shouldered tops
deep v-neck tops
white shirts
poet sleeves
puffed sleeved blouses
embellished sleeves
strapless gowns
open-back dresses & gowns
baby-doll dresses
strapless short dresses
t-shirt dresses
shift dresses
tunic dresses
little white dresses
shirt dresses
minidresses
shimmery fitted tank dresses
fitted v-neck dresses
dresses over pants/leggings
micro mini skirts
knee-length & below-knee skirts
little black skirts
a-line skirts
short shorts
half leggings
high-waisted pants
thin pants

accessory styles:
sophisticated hats
headbands
large hoop earrings
piled-on accessories (multiple bracelets or necklaces)
long chains
link bracelets
bangles
cuff bracelets
oversized cocktail rings
tiny accessory bags
gigantic totes
clear bags
clutch bags
chain link bags
satin bows @ waist ((oversized and belt-sized, with long tails)
pencil thin belts
super thick corset belts
medium brown leather belts
platform sandals
Mary Jane ankle-strap shoes
overlapped thick strapped sandals
t-strap shoes
wedge platforms
lucite heels
peep-toe heels
wood heels

hot designers:
Marc Jacobs
Derek Lam
Chanel
Proenza Schoeler
Ralph Lauren
Louis Vuitton
Ellie Saab
Michael Kors
Badgley Mischka
Peter Som
Marchesa
Tory Burch
Alexander McQueen
Versace
Carmen Marc Valvo
Cynthia Rowley
Balenciaga
Azzedine Alaia

...also check out last season's list of Fall/Winter 2006 trends.
And stay tuned for next season's list of Fall/Winter 2007 trends.

Vera Wang On Ice

Style.com has a video of Vera Wang skating and talking about her love for figure skating, and how it connects with music and fashion. (For skaters - don't get too excited - she does a scratch spin; nothing too difficult.) Skaters know Vera Wang for designing Michelle Kwan's dresses. Brides know her for her wedding gowns. Fashionistas know her for her relatively new collections including everything from cocktail dresses to fine china.

Fashion League Group - Golden Globes Through Oscars

In conjunction with another Silicon Valley Mom, Beth B, I'm running a Fantasy Fashion League group contest from the Golden Globes (Jan 15) through the Oscars (Feb 25). Anyone who's interested, please email me at the contact info on the bottom of this blog sidebar and I'll send you instructions on how to sign up for our group.

To read more about what we're doing with the league, see Beth & my post from a few days ago at svmoms.com. And for a refresher as to what the FFL is, check out my post from last fall.

Anti-Semitic Terrorist Skinhead Musical Getting Rave Reviews

Only in East L.A. could someone pull this off... "The Beastly Bombing (or a Terrible Tale of Terrorists Tamed by Tangles of True Love)" is a new musical, given high marks by a New York Times reviewer this past week, supposedly takes the farce operetta to a new level.

The Steve Allen Theatre, part of the Center for Inuiry-West, founded by Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov, took on the project, which started running the production in late September. Written by Roger Neill and Julien Nitzberg, it's reportedly Mel Brooks meets Gilbert & Sullivan. The Huffington Post loved it, with Michael Simmons writing "Laughter is close to love and heroin in the painkilling department." And several celebs have been spotted at the show, including Liev Shreiber, Diane Von Furstenberg and Paul Reiser on the night mentioned in the NY Times.

Here I thought that "Evil Dead, The Musical" was as looney as it was going to get, this one has songs entitled "Song of the Sensitive White Supremacist" and "I Hate Jews". Running for the next four months, the show has already achieved cult status and they are in negotiations with production companies in New York for a run there.