Party Planner Extraordinaire Brian Worley’s Girl’s-Only Valentine’s Day Fiesta
Eco Designer Carrie Parry Wins the Green Fashion Competition at Amsterdam Fashion Week
Giveaway: Drew Barrymore’s “Big Miracle” Movie Tickets, Whale Toy and Tee for An Eco Chick Reader!
The New Source4Style: THE Eco Fashion Designer’s Key Resource
Polished Beauty Bar: Indulge in a Healthy Mani and Pedi
Escapes Giveaway! Gorgeous, Recycled Plastic Heys Suitcase
by Starre Vartan · 02/07/12
Heys has long been known for producing quality suitcases and travel gear. And now their new eco-friendly line, EcoCase (they are made from 100% recycled plastic) proves they are conscious too. (And I think the hard-case style is pretty cool.)
So naturally, we are giving one away to Eco Chick and Eco Chick Escapes readers!
(Heys does make a soft fabric suitcase, also made from recycled polyester fabric, as well.)
The giveaway would be for ONE Turquoise EcoCase carry-on piece, pictured above.
To win: You have the chance to win the prize. How? Simply like the Heys Facebook page and Eco Chick Escapes Facebook page and let us know you have done so in the comments below. Easy!
Deets: Eco Chick does not sell or lend email addresses we collect. One reader will win the prize. Entrants must be 18 or older and located in the US or Canada. Submissions will be collected until February 15th at midnight eastern standard time. Good luck!
Flickr Image via TheeErin
Heroines for the Planet: Anna Getty
by Lindsay E. Brown · 02/06/12
One could peg Anna Getty any number of titles — holistic lifestyle expert, author, entrepreneur, yoga teacher, heiress, and environmental activist among them. But each come in a distant second to her most cherished roles, that of mother and wife.
What I found infinitely charming about Anna is that she doesn’t care how she’s labeled. Her main objective is to be of service to others and the planet, and so long as she’s doing just that, she’s at peace.
I asked Anna about her latest endeavors, how she helps others live more consciously, and whether being an heiress to an oil fortune has affected her environmental activism.
Lindsay: What compelled you to leave the glamour of Hollywood to pursue an interest in cooking?
Anna: To be honest with you the life I was living as a struggling actress was not very glamorous at all. I was working as a yoga teacher, a messenger and in a catering kitchen while pursuing my career. I did get the odd job but it was not consistent. I felt very insecure about myself and my future and ultimately when I thought about what I was doing studying for auditions, working my way through hours of traffic across Los Angeles to get to auditions only to be analyzed by a bunch of strangers in a room, I personally had not felt that I found my service or my calling in the world. Although I pursued an acting career for almost ten years, the shift came very easily once I made the decision. My goal was not to pursue my interest in cooking. I wanted to help people make more conscious choices about their lives, what they ate, how they took care of themselves, their families and children and the planet. I continued teaching yoga, took part of what I knew and loved ( cooking) and started forming my career. I feel like I cut and pasted or collaged together the work that I have come to do. The acting training did however bring me the confidence to do public speaking or work in front of a camera so it was not for nothing.
LB: What was the inspiration behind your cookbook “Anna Getty’s Easy Green Organic?” What about the process of creating the cookbook did you enjoy most?
AG: It’s already a few years ago but looking back, I was approached to write the book by my publisher. I had not intended writing a book, let alone a cook book. I had been a freelance writer writing for a couple different magazines and had been working with various non-profits in the green and organic movement so it pretty much fell together. Writing the book was very challenging because at the same time, I was offered a second book deal to write an eco-Christmas book that needed to be finished within a month of the cook book. So I had double the work. The best part was recipe testing and developing, experimenting with flavors, picking through the fresh locally grown, organic produce at the farmer’s markets and building a recipe around what I came across. I loved having my friends over for taste tests. We would open a bottle of organic wine and eat what I had made and I would get notes from them. It was a very fun and creative time in my kitchen.
LB: Are you a vegetarian now? What was your relationship with food like growing up?
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Party Planner Extraordinaire Brian Worley’s Girl’s-Only Valentine’s Day Fiesta
by Starre Vartan · 02/02/12
Ed Note: Brian Worley, an LA-based party planner who was most recently featured in People Magazine, and he’s shared some of his great ideas with Eco Chick (see below)!
For the girls who want to celebrate Valentine’s Day with their friends and have a fun night in, I have included a party plan to help celebrate a holiday that is notoriously for couples, in a way that celebrates their independence and zest for life! Decorate with Orange and Turquoise, rather than Pink and Red, or any other colors that make you happy and enjoy a night of gal-pal bonding!
For starters, here are two quick and easy appetizers to get the party started that anyone can make and are tasty as well:
Artichoke and Olive Dip:
1 Cup Pitted Olives (I suggest Kalamata Olives, the purple of them will give it a nice Valentine’s Day pop of color)
2 Jars of Artichoke Hearts, drained
1 Tablespoon of Capers
1 Garlic Glove
A Dash of Red Pepper Flakes
Sea Salt to add a little flavor, but the Olives should help out!
Mix all the ingredients in the food processor, but make sure to keep it chunky and serve with pita bread. Or if you want to really be healthy, serve with carrot sticks, cucumbers and celery sticks!
Mushroom Caps stuffed with Eggs and Spinach Tartlets
Mushrooms
Olive Oil
A Bag of Spinach
6 Eggs, beaten
A few Strips of Fakin’ Bacon
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Heroines for the Planet: Jill Danyelle, Eco Interior Designer
by Lindsay E. Brown · 01/31/12
Jill Danyelle is, quite simply, too talented to fail. Her artistic prowess, indomitable desire to evolve, and adoration of nature led her to recently launch the interior design business she was always meant to create.
She has triumphed as a therapist, eco-fashion designer and green fashion writer, and with hobbies that include art, photography and travel, it seems apropos that interior design would transform into her next business venture.
Jill recently found some time in her busy schedule to share with us how she incorporates sustainability into her projects, the challenges she’s faced as an entrepreneur, where she turns to for design inspiration, and how her travels have shaped her.
Lindsay: You started your career as an occupational therapist, then studied fashion design with a focus on ecology. What drew you to interior design?
Jill: Before I went to graduate school to become a therapist, I studied fine art in high school and college, so I’ve always had the desire to be creative. After graduate school I worked as a therapist and kept artistic hobbies, but at a certain point I felt that my creativity became too marginalized. I wasn’t happy and knew I needed to make a change. I experimented with some other careers, such as fashion design and writing/editing, but ended up crossing them off of the list for a variety of reasons.
I have always been drawn to design and style. I love to hunt things down and mix them together, but I like the problem solving and functional aspects of designing a space, too. I was thinking more and more about how design impacts our lives as I began to edit the contents of my own life and change the space I live in. One day it just hit me. I thought, “I like to work with people and I like to design spaces, maybe I should try this.” I felt I had something to offer, so I started doing interior design for free with friends and friends of friends and it took off from there.
Lindsay: Can you tell me about your new interior design business? Why did you decide to start your own firm?
Jill: Wow, firm sounds so… big. It is just me and some contractors I have on speed dial. I hope I never lose the intimacy of that as I really enjoy getting to know my clients. I have been an independent contractor for most of my professional life, even as a therapist. It just suits me, as I really value my independence.
Additionally, without an interior design degree and work history it is difficult to get a firm to hire you as an employee. I also know what I value in my work, so if you narrow things down to the firms that I would want to work for, the opportunities become even fewer, so the choice was kind of made for me. I decided to work for free on my own in order to gain experience and it ended up paying off. Working independently with paying clients was the logical next step.
LB: I pulled this quote from one of your blog posts. You said, “I always say that it is easy to be a critic, but to put energy into a creation and launch it into the world takes courage.”
How did you become so courageous? What challenges have you faced along the way?
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Eco Designer Carrie Parry Wins the Green Fashion Competition at Amsterdam Fashion Week
by Starre Vartan · 01/30/12
Eco-Chick fave Carrie Parry (check out Haley’s coverage of her F/W 2011 collection here) has just won the 15,000 Euro prize at Amsterdam Fashion Week for her latest collection. Congratulations Carrie!
“It feels amazing to be honored by such a prestigious group whose goals in advancing sustainable fashion are so matched with my own,” says Parry.
According to a press release: “Counting previous posts at Jonathan Saunders, Marc Jacobs, Norma Kamali, and fashion’s leading environmental non-profit Earth Pledge FutureFashion, Carrie Parry brings something totally new to eco fashion: a wardrobe of whimsical yet gorgeously polished staples boasting detachable and versatile pieces. The label recognizes the two sides to making fashion sustainable: (1) how garments are made — sustainably sourcing recycled, organic and carbon neutral textiles from domestic sources and artisanal communities around the world — and (2) how garments are worn — introducing the concept of interchangeable and detachable pieces and designing with an emphasis on versatility (day to night, season to season) so we get more wear out of the garments we own, and therefore need to consume less.”
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