“No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.” —Aesop

In hopes of talking less and doing more when it comes to helping others, I’ve started a series I’m calling Good Samaritan Saturday. On Saturday mornings, I’ll post a little something you can do to start your weekend out with positive vibes by helping to lift someone else up…

After witnessing Ellie’s very unique sense of style at the playground the other day, someone sent me a link to Chooze on zulily. I had never heard of them before.

They started as a brand that makes purposefully mismatched shoes to “empower kids with creativity, confidence, and their power to have a positive impact on the world.” They’ve since branched out into a lifestyle brand with mismatched leggings and funky bags.

clockwise from top left: Dream in Pop Turquoise ballet flats || Move in Treasure sneakers
Scout in Prep loafers || Jump in Wish mary-janes

Pretty cool, right? Well, the more I learned as I poked around on their website, the more I liked them.

They use only vegan materials in manufacturing and ship their shoes in “art boxes” which are reusable and made from recycled cardboard. On top of all of that empowerment and eco-consciousness, Chooze is a Good Returns company, which means they invest annual profits into anti-poverty programs. These programs provide women with training, support, education, and loans so that they can start their own businesses and work their way out of poverty. That means that while you’re empowering your kids to let their creativity shine, some of that money you spend will also go to empowering a family who could really use it.

Um, color me smitten.

Usually I wear multitasking like a bad ass badge of honor. Yes, I answered emails while carrying a whiny preschooler on my hip and navigating an extra large cart around the grocery store like a champ. Because I’m a BOSS.

Only not really.

Because, when I’m being totally honest with myself, multitasking never results in a job well done. My email will be partially incoherent, I’ll inevitably forget something essential at the store and my four year old and I will be so irritated with each other that we’ll both be whining shrilly and ready to full-on tantrum by the time I slam the trunk of the car.

When your attention is split in 87 different directions you can’t possibly do a good job.

So why do we (women in particular) place so much of our self worth on exactly how many balls we have up in the air?

Since becoming an ambassador for thredUP, a women’s and children’s online consignment shop, I started putting together a little outfit inspiration board on Pinterest. I share my favorite looks from that board on Facebook once a week, which has made me pay much closer attention to the things I’ve pinned (because, let’s be honest, I usually forget about my pins 3 seconds after I save them).

One of the things that has surprised me is that I apparently have an obsession with ankle boots.

“No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.” —Aesop

In hopes of talking less and doing more when it comes to helping others, I’ve started a series I’m calling Good Samaritan Saturday. On Saturday mornings, I’ll post a little something you can do to start your weekend out with positive vibes by helping to lift someone else up…

This week I want to talk about Crafting It Forward. Before I start, I’m going to be totally up front with you and let you know that I have not tried it out myself. But I do think their mission is reason enough to talk about them.

When summer starts winding down and my dread of a fall that will quickly turn to winter kicks up a notch or so, the one thing that always draws me out of my negative spiral is going apple picking with the girls. It’s so simple, but it works every time.

Apples make me think of fall spices and baking and boots and cozy blankets. I’m ok with all of those things, which makes me realize that I’m ok with fall. The air is crisper, which means I can layer on a scarf and playground trips are less brutal and sweaty.

Yes, we eat apples year-round. But something about the act of going out and picking apples flips a switch in my overworked brain. While I watch the girls run through the rows of trees and take tastes of apples or even complain about the taste of a particular apple, I know everything is ok. I just need to relax.

A couple of weeks ago, we tried out an orchard we’ve never been to. My sister has been wanting to go to Fishkill Farms because they don’t use synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. With a little more digging, I learned that they’re all about sustainability, which got me even more excited to check them out.

Also, the place is freaking beautiful.