Cyber Monday is cooler than Black Friday. Here are 10 reasons why.
If it weren’t for the Internets, where could you get:

1. Real squirrel feet earrings or necklace – your choice! Crafted out of recycled taxidermy squirrel feet.  Unfortunately — but not surprisingly — this item is sold out.

www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17478573

2. Hot pink yarn monster dress.
Usually $335 but also sold out. Which makes me wonder — where should we expect to bump into hordes of people sporting such a dress?

devaniweaver.etsy.com

3. A tickle me Ernie romper, $135.
Also by devaniweaver.etsy.com.

4. A “Devil Girl Spike Skirt.” Looks especially neat when paired with the Ernie romper. Also sold out.
www.etsy.com/shop/melissae

5. Swirly hats for kids. Big fan of Dr. Suess? Want to remake “How the Grinch stole Christmas” this year? Only $25.
www.etsy.com/shop/swirlyhats

6. A Treebeard Knit Beard: Look like a pirate-lumberjack-gnome-wizard while keeping your face and neck toasty.$35.
www.etsy.com/shop/foamywader

7. A corn broach. In case you really like corn and want to wear it. And stuff.  $9.
www.etsy.com/shop/SarahVonKim

8. A large plush syringe. Need a special pillow to pack for your month in rehab?  $15.99.  www.etsy.com/shop/theupstairsroom

9. A Bob Dylan felt finger puppet. How useful and practical is this? $14.
www.etsy.com/shop/mullishmuse

10. Golden Girls brass photo locket, $9.99.
www.etsy.com/shop/uniqueartpendants

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• Think it’s going to be hard to stay active and fit now with the coming winter season? http://ow.ly/Dc0D #
• Meet one incredible local H&G mastermind: http://ow.ly/DbZJ #
• I just saw a dude with a mullet and a nascar jacket walking a poodle. #
• Your heel break? Your armpits reeking havoc? Check out these wardrobe emergency quick fixes. http://ow.ly/FEr0 #
• Have you ever been hated on by sales associates because you don't look fancy enough? http://ow.ly/FEqd #
• Savoring the little traditions… http://ow.ly/DbYd #
• Mmm… felt. http://www.zaum.com/fashion/lola.html #
• My favorite Christmas card ever (and it's locally made): http://bit.ly/8xb9yh #
• Rent designer dresses like you rent Netflix! http://ow.ly/FEpv #
• Ten little things we LOVE. http://ow.ly/DbXL #
• The most important Web site you'll visit today: Cosmetic Safety Database: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com #
• Looking for a new workout to combat all that turkey? Check out our extensive list of local workouts of the week: http://www.workout.pmpblogs.com. #
• 86,400 opportunities to be thankful: http://ow.ly/Dc6u #
• The hate mail is getting thicker… must be the delightful holidays! Love is in the air! #
• Five steps to a beautifully remodeled home. http://ow.ly/DbXv #
• Women are half as likely as men to purchase sports equipment as a holiday present for their kids this year (Harris Interactive). #
• Eight gifts that support local artists, craftsmen and businesses! http://ow.ly/DbX0 #

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I’m about to have a punky monkey. A baby is another avenue for dress up and fashion expression. I’m more excited than is reasonable.

A great chunk of my enthusiasm is directly tied to this Etsy shop:
www.etsy.com/shop/PUNKYMONKEYkids

This store was started by a California mom who was frustrated that she couldn’t find “cool rocker tees for a cool price” for her little monkeys. Her clothes include punk skulls, tattoo-style prints, guitars and tigers and pirates and our personal favorite, a funky little skunk that says, “Love stinks” ($19.99). Pair it with a black tutu and you have the cutest, er, coolest baby on the block. Clothes come in size newby to toddler.

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On Oct. 11, 2008, Bobby Niebauer of Boulder died after a six month battle with Leukemia.  He was 19 years old.  Bobby was a very creative and free spirited kid.  After his death, his family and friends decided to have a tie dye party in his honor.  His funeral service was awash in colorful tie dye shirts worn by many.   Bobby’s spirit was very much present at the tie dye party.  His mom, Teresa Henry Niebauer, felt especially close to Bobby while tie dying.  So she and others kept tie dyeing in the months after his death.

In January, Teresa went on her second medical mission to Petit Trou de Nippes, Haiti, with The Colorado Haiti Project.  She took 20 tie dyed bandanas with her for the volunteers to wear.  Some of the children at St. Paul’s, the school supported by CHP, got their hands on the tie dyed bandanas.  They loved them.  Teresa had a vision.  She wanted to spread Bobby’s fun loving spirit everywhere.  She wanted to spread it to Haiti.  She wanted to make a tie dyed shirt for every student at St. Paul’s.  The idea for Tie Dye for Haiti was born.

Teresa recruited her sister, Patti Henry Tussey and good friend, Leslie Harvison, to help her manage the project.  Both Leslie and Patti were close to Bobby and like Teresa they felt his spirit in the messy fun of tie dye.  To date, they have managed 10 tie dye parties and created more than 300 shirts for the children at St. Paul’s.  More parties are scheduled in the weeks to come.

In addition to making a tie dye shirt for a child in Haiti, each party participant is able to make one for themselves that they take home.  The typical cost of a Tie Dye Party is $15 per participant.  In addition to the cost of the two shirts, there is enough money in the $15 fee to cover the cost of hot lunch for a St. Paul’s student for a month.

Party participants also create a small drawing that is sent to Haiti. The drawing is part of the art exchange that was started at St. Paul’s by longtime CHP supporter, Rev. Pat Laudisio.  Kids in Haiti speak Creole and kids in Colorado speak English.  They can’t communicate in each other’s language.  However, they can communicate through art.
These parties raise awareness about Haiti while making a bit of money to keep children fed. They keep Bobby’s Niebauer’s memory alive and are fun.  Most importantly the parties are creating a very special gift for the kids and staff at St. Paul’s.

On Wednesday, Dec. 9th, Tie Dye for Haiti will be at Columbine Elementary School in Boulder hosting their biggest party yet.  Fifty Columbine students are expected to participate with their parents help.  The Columbine effort is part of a parent involvement/integration group called TODOS (Together Our Differences Offer Solutions).  TODOS offers a variety of family involvement activities at Columbine including a twice-yearly community service project. Columbine is a predominantly Latino/low income school. It’s exciting to see this school participate in helping those who are less fortunate.

- From a press release

Forget Black Friday. I never shop on the day after T-Gives. (Yeah, I just used that.)

First of all, the deals just aren’t that great. They aren’t. I scoured the ads this year and didn’t find any deal even remotely amazing enough to get me out of bed at 3 a.m. to risk my life in the mob of insane shoppers. The savings are average at best, unless you are in desperate need of an expensive purchase, such as a washer and dryer (because let’s be honest, no one is in desperate NEED of a TV or iPod… maybe desperate lust, but not need), and for some reason you are opposed to Craigslist or saving money by buying products slightly used. Note: Most used washers and dryers at appliance stores  have warranties. Just saying.

Second, there is something fundamentally wrong with the scene. Something serously disturbing. I mean, a 6-3, 270-pound man was KILLED by the mob at Wal-Mart last year. If that’s not a sign of the End Of Times, I don’t know what is. Black Friday used to be the day after Thanksgiving. Then it was the early morning after. Now, stores open up at 10 p.m. ON Thanksgiving day. Soon, needless consumerism hype will take over the entire holiday and become our surrogate family. Yeah, I sound like a Boulder hippie dreadlock-wearing hemp-wearing pop culture hater. What.

Instead, I prefer to do my shopping over the MONTH, in peace, with thoughtfulness and with an eye on supporting local artists and good causes. Yeah, I’m self-righteous. But I also value my sanity.

Instead of being dragged behind the racecar of Black Friday, check out this holiday market next weekend:

The Highlands Winter Market and Holiday Fair
www.marketandfair.hmbusinessgroup.com
This event features local arts, crafts, products and services, as well as charities. And no one has ever been mobbed to death by maniacs here, as far as I know.

TIP: If you have kids, make sure you don’t miss my new favorite local children’s clothing designer, Baby Bean. These clothes are high quality and the cutest thing in the world — well, other than the baby bean you put them on, of course.

Lady Gaga was on Leno the other night.
Her performance perfectly epitomized my confused feelings about her.
On one hand, her outfit was stupid. Not creative. Just DUMB. Her shoulder pads were about 13 feet tall.
I wish I could find pictures, but apparently the big black triangles were so big they clouded the sun and prevented flash photography from properly functioning.
Also, her music is trite and pop-junk.

BUT. And with Lady Yaya there is always a but.
Her back-up dancers — men clad in black leather S&M hoods — danced through my dreams all night. (Not like that… well, not exactly.) And the first thing in my head when I woke up was her horrible pop-junk song. And after she was extracted from her gargantuan shoulder contraption, her outfit underneath was hot.  She looked like a Christina Aguilera hooker. Which is somehow a good thing.

But then came her interview with Leno. She was wearing her sunglasses, in studio, at night, whilst sipping tea. She was trying way too hard. I felt annoyed. But then she spoke. And she was very eloquent and intelligent and likable. And she took off the sunnies, eventually, and I nodded approvingly at her long blond wig and affectionately questionied her gender.  Like my feelings of equal hatred and adoration for her, everything with Lady Gaga is in question.

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Web site of the month: www.shopittome.com.

Looking for a way to save money but not sacrifice your style? Set up an account on this Web site — selecting your styles, favorite designers and sizes — and it automatically scours the Web and sends you a daily or weekly e-mail of all items that meet your criteria when they go on sale.  Looking for a new BCBG jacket in small, but too busy to search every online retailer?  Shop It To You will keep an eye open and let you know when it goes on sale at Nordstrom.  Best of all: Shop It To Me is free.

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Made special for dorks who cannot stop texting, even amid an arctic blizzard.

OK, I confess… I can think of many occasions where I wish I had such a glove. But still. All hail technology, the new dictator of fashion.

www.etretouchy.com

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Jenipher and me in Uganda this summer.

I recently lost a good friend of mine, Jenipher. She was a young woman who lived on a refugee camp in Uganda. I got to know her while doing volunteer work with the nonprofit Think Humanity (www.thinkhumanity.org).

Jenipher was amazing, from the day I met her four years ago. She quickly rose to the top of her class, her peers, the camp and the girl’s hostel where she lived and helped support and motivate other young refugee women students. Jenipher became hostel president. When we were in Uganda, she never left our side. I began rallying for her to placed on our administration team, which was (and still is) all men — typical of Uganda, but I knew she could hold her own weight (or more).

We found out last week that she suddenly died of malaria. This came as a shock, as Think Humanity’s most basic mission is to prevent death by malaria, and we were just there a few months ago distributing mosquito nets to ALL of the girls in the hostel, include Jenipher. AND we recently set up a partnership with a local hospital to take care of our hostel girls when they have serious illnesses. Jenipher slept under her net, she was healthy and strong, she visited the hospital when she got sick. She should not have died.

Of course, as with any nonprofit or travel experience, you learn cultural things that surprise you — things you would have never thought of. Shortly after Jenipher’s death, we learned that the mosquito nets we had distributed were of little good, because the girls at the hostel did not actually have BEDS. They were trying to drape the nets from the cement walls over repulsive mattresses on the floor. Bugs, including mosquitos can crawl right up mattresses on the floor, and, being designed for beds, the mosquito nets were not providing adequate coverage. That is how Jenipher contracted malaria.

I grew so angry. This was completely ridiculous. First of all, it’s such a basic need to have a bed to sleep in. Secondly, malaria is a completely preventable disease. One child dies every THIRTY SECONDS of malaria in Africa — and every single one of these deaths is preventable… and therefore unacceptable. We had to take action.

We are now selling African jewelry in Jenipher’s name, to raise money for beds for all of the girls in the hostel. We know the Acholi woman who makes all of these pieces by hand out of trash.

This is a 5 strand pink necklace with a triple bracelet to match. The necklace is $25 and the bracelet is $15. Buy both for $40 or buy them separately.

Event: Jewelry for Jenipher, Dec. 11 at the Holiday Inn Express off I-25 in Loveland. Help us raise money for beds and mattresses in memory of Jenipher Barega, who died Nov. 14 at age 17 from malaria.

We are also working with Overlooked.com, which has created some awesome shirts, bags and hoodies that will go to the cause. Check them out here:

www.weareoverlooked.com

All hoodies are on sale for only $32.50 & long-sleeved hooded shirts are only $22.50 now through Thanksgiving day!

Use the code “Think” to save 10 percent and also $7 goes to Think Humanity to help refugees in Africa.

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