Alabama's Lost Birthdays

 Alabama's Lost Birthdays is a wonderful facebook group that was created to help children that didn't get to have a birthday party or won't get to have a birthday party due to the tornadoes. While immediate needs are important, a special birthday party in the eye of a child could make their year.  Some of these children are lost their homes, lost parents, lost their friends, pets, schools, etc. Knowing how much my readers love to help plan a good birthday party, I thought perhaps some of you might want to help give a child a special day to make them smile! I would love to hear if you participate!

 Here is a link to the facebook page, please "like" them and pass along to your friends:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alabamas-Lost-Birthdays/121535981259190


Click here to find out more about the current birthday parties and wish lists: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alabamas-Lost-Birthdays/121535981259190?sk=notes

Elizabeth McKay Relief Effort for Alabama Tornado Victims

Here is another great way to support Alabama Tornado Victims:

Here is the shirt: http://www.emckay.com/product_p/4022.htm

This is the fund that all proceeds from the shirt will go to: http://www.ua.edu/tornadorelief/

Donate Shoes to Toddler Tornado Victims

For $14.95, you can buy a pair of shoes to donate to toddlers that lost everything during the recent tornadoes. Monogram Madness is based in Tuscaloosa and they are not charging shipping costs and will donate the shoes directly to those in the most need in their community.

For more information, you can check out their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Monogram-Madness/157007190997010

Click here to purchase a pair of shoes: http://monogrammadness.net/category_4/Shoes.ht

All donations are tax deductible if you save your receipt.  

If your company is doing a tornado related fundraiser, I would be happy to spotlight it on my blog. Just email me: 

magnoliasmarriageandmanhattan @ gmail . com

Every little bit helps.

 

Help Alabama Moms Affected by Tornados

Want to make a donation to the tornado victims from far away? Go to diapers.com and buy something from a registry set up to help victims! Look under the names Brooke Rhind and Kate Fix. There is no shipping fee and the items will all be sent to Birmingham. Kate Harvill Fix will be delivering them next week! (This is a friend of a friend that is doing this, and I have already done it...so it is legit!) There are so many people that need your help, but as a Mom I can't imagine not having diapers, wipes or food for my child. Please help.

Gulf Coast Vacation Recommendations Blog Hop

It might already be the beginning of August, but in my opinion the best time to visit the Gulf Coast is just around the corner. Late summer and early fall are magnificent on the white sandy shores of the Gulf. As I mentioned in my post about Ways to Help the Gulf Coast, this post is dedicated to helping you plan your family vacation to help support the communities affected by the BP oil spill. The restaurants, shops, and rental companies are hurting and many of them run the risk of going out of business. The best possible way you can help, is to pack your bags and go for a vacation. Go for a long weekend or go for two weeks! Thank you in advance for supporting my home and your backyard!

Here are my recommendations for Orange Beach, AL and Perdido Key, FL:

Restaurants and Bars

The Crab Trap
The Oyster Bar
The Shrimp Basket
The Jellyfish Bar
Hub Stacey's
The Point
Lillian's Pizza
Cobalt
Louisiana Lagniappe
Tacky Jacks
Pirate's Cove
Doc's Seafood Shack
Cosmo's
Geno's Freshcatch Grill
Bear Point Marina (Flippers) 
The Keg
The Flora-Bama

Places to Stay

Perdido Beach Resort
Island House Hotel
The Wharf
The Purple Parrot
Brett Robinson Realty
Kaiser Realty
Sugar Sands Vacation Rentals
Prickett Properties
Alabama Beach Vacation Rentals
Spectrum Resorts
Young's Suncoast
Pointe South Rentals


Please feel free to email me at magnoliasmarriageandmanhattan at gmail dot com if you need more advice or have questions or if you want your restaurant or rental company added to my list!

Now it is your turn, write a post about your favorite Gulf Coast vacation spot and link up here in the Gulf Coast Vacation Recommendations Blog Hop. Feel free to do another post with your favorite spots, even if someone else does it too. We all have different favorites! The more the merrier, spread the word!




Click the link above to copy the code and post this on your blog too! Support the Gulf Coast!

Ways to Support the Gulf Coast!

I just returned from a week on the Gulf Coast visiting my family. I spent time at my parent's home on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay in Alabama and I spent time at our beach house in Perdido Key, Florida. While I've watched the nightly news and read the articles online, nothing is quite like being in the midst of the oil disaster. Signs in downtown Fairhope, AL are up in restaurant windows advertising benefits and suggesting items for people to donate. To see the orange boom floating on the blue waters is surreal. It lines the waters and you can't help but remember it's purpose to collect OIL in the blue waters of Ole River and the Gulf. They might have a cap on the well for now, but so much damage has already been done to our coast.

We drove down to the beach on a Saturday. Normally in the summer, you don't want to go near Highway 59 leading into Gulf Shores due to the bumper to bumper traffic. This Saturday, it was eerily quiet. The parking lots of the condos lining the sugary white sands of Orange Beach, Alabama were almost empty. As we reached the peak of the Perdido Pass Bridge, I could see the first signs that things were not as I had left them only months prior. Large barges and ships lined the horizon of the Gulf. Strange contraptions dotted the coastline. Large dumpsters and tented staging areas filled the parking lots of the public beaches. Men in strange outfits walk up and down the beaches. It looks like a war zone.

A sign on one restaurant tried to remain lighthearted saying "We serve our oysters stewed and nude, but we promise no crude." During one of our lunches out at Hub Stacey's we were surrounded by people that were hired by BP to patrol the local waters spotting and recovering oil. My Mom's favorite fish market has remained open, but the owner said she's not sure how long their family owned business will last at this rate. Business is slow. They said the people are nervous to eat seafood, despite the highest amount of testing ever. Can you blame them? Even if they say the oil isn't there, fear is killing our Gulf Coast.

 

Our beach house is on the Intercoastal Waterway so we have been fortunate that the oil has not (yet) reached our beach and water. But, I couldn't help but think if maybe they had missed some as I hesitantly allowed my 18 month old son to walk the sandy shore for the first time. I panicked a little as the warm salt water touched his precious little toes and he reached down to touch the white sand. Was it safe? It looked the same, but what lies beneath the surface? Tears filled up in my eyes as I watched a dolphin emerge in the distance to take a breath. I prayed it would stay far from harm. Emotions overcame me as I spent extra time scrubbing my little one that evening, just to be careful. Will he ever know the beach as I do? Will it always be tainted?

In the meantime, I want to do everything in my power to help MY Gulf Coast. I am only a Southern born Mommy living in NYC, but I am going to do my best to convince you to do your best to help out in some way. Do something, anything!

Sometimes you've got to lift your head up and keep moving forward, one foot in front of the other!

Please, take your family to the Gulf for a vacation. If you have never been, I promise, you'll love it! You can swim in the pools if you are nervous. Play in the hose or the bring a kiddy pool! Eat at the local restaurants, ask questions if you are nervous. Support our community. You can still have fun! They need you right now.

Don't know where to go? Need some suggestions? Later this week I'll be posting a link list so that you can have the opportunity to share your favorite Gulf Coast vacation spot with everyone. Start working on your post so it will be ready to share! Email me if you have questions or suggestions to help spread the word! magnoliasmarriageandmanhattan at gmail dot com

Can't make it down to the coast, then buy a t-shirt or a hat. Donate to the charity of your choice. Please, do something. This is YOUR Gulf Coast too.

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

– Theodore Roosevelt

If you are looking for a way to support our Gulf Coast, I'm going to make it easy for you. In addition to giving funds to your favorite local or national charity, how about buying some merchandise!

Consider this your own little Save Our Gulf Coast One Stop Shop for all things related to helping out in one way or another. Now, pick something out. Go ahead...I know you like to shop! Support the Gulf Coast, a portion of ALL of the below products go to various charities that offer support to the Gulf Coast.

I posted about these before, but you can buy the 4 pictured items below: http://www.sossaveourshore.com/apps/webstore/
I have the t-shirt and A has been sporting his hat all over NYC!

T-shirt

Apron

Hat

Painting

Vineyard Vines Support the Gulf Ties 

 Toddler T-shirt

http://helpcleanupthegulfcoast.com/merchandise/

Now, I know you ALL would probably love to support the Gulf by drinking a cold beer. Right? Next time your out at the bar, see if they are carrying Abita's SOS.

Get Abita's SOS t-shirt or the Abita hat

Switch your dish washing soap to Dawn, we did. It's such a simple gesture and why not support an amazing company who is supporting our wildlife in a major way. Don't forget you have to enter the code on your bottle online to donate! Become their fan on Facebook.

You should be able to find at least ONE t-shirt or hat you like! =)

http://saveourgulfnow.blogspot.com/

http://www.mobilebaykeeper.org/support-join/merchandise

http://www.coastapparel.com/shop/index.php/save-the-gulf-coast-t-shirt.html

Did you watch Jimmy Buffett's benefit concert? Buy the tshirt he was wearing from his sister Lucy's restaurant, LuLu's. Check out all the One Love, One Ocean merchandise here.

http://fauxpasprints.com/gulfaid/

Listen to Music:

http://sophiebhawkins.com/

Write a Note:

http://ashleybrookedesigns.com/shop/paper-that-gives/id-rather-be-beachside-wildlife-relief-fund/

Shop Amazon and donate to the oil relief fund:

http://www.hopevote.com/


Frame a little reminder for your desk:

 http://www.etsy.com/listing/51347389/prints-for-the-gulf

 Even a little monogrammed something for us preppy girls to drink our SOS beers in:

 http://www.twothreadheads.com/

Is your store offering a product that will give a portion of sales to a a Gulf Coast relief fund or wildlife organization? Let me know and I'll be sure to post it here! If you aren't, why don't you consider doing something like that!

Thank you for your time and your support...

UNTIL THE COAST IS CLEAR!

Oil Disaster

Is this what our world has come to? Children playing in oil. I want to cry. I feel so helpless.

 There is now oil on my hometown beaches:

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/alabama_beaches_oil_gulf_shores.html

 They have asked people to stay out of the waters:

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/beachgoers_urged_to_stay_out_o.html

There is oil in our Mobile Bay:

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/beachgoers_urged_to_stay_out_o.html

They haven't stopped the leak. My friends and families jobs and homes are already being affected. Animals are dying. Restaurants in the area aren't hiring and are losing money. I just want to cry. Why aren't they doing more? Why can't they fix this? Why did this happen? I just want to SCREAM.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html

Here is a note a friend from Pensacola wrote us:

Please tell anyone you know that will listen about this.  Most of the rest of the country- even the feds- doesn't really comprehend the urgency of this situation or the environmental and economic devastation it is causing.  A look at rick's blog quickly shows the lack of action on everyone's part- BP and our federal and state government- to react quickly and in the most efficient way.   Florida is already on thin ice as far as our economy, and with tourism out for the panhandle for potentially years, this could be the nail in our coffin.

 

I'm so frustrated and feel so helpless i could cry. 

 

If any of you know anyone in a position to help, or put pressure on our government, please tell them to do so!   This may sound melodramatic if you haven't been keeping up with the headlines, but our way of life is ruined and i can't just sit quietly and watch it happen.  this is the kind of thing that affects all of us, and we owe it to each other to make ourselves heard. And most importantly, keep praying that this will end soon.

Say a prayer today for the people in charge of this mess, that they can stop the leak. Say a prayer for the birds, the fish, and all of the sea life that is dying because of this. Say a prayer for the fishermen, the restaurant owners, and everyone who relies on  summer tourism so that they can put food on the table for their families. Say a prayer for our President, that he will have the wisdom to help lead the people who are in charge of cleaning up this mess.

Kid's Tableware and Placemats

 

 A friend recently asked me for some tips on websites that might have monogrammed kid's bowls and plates and  personalized placements. Here are the sites I gave her if you're in need of something similar anytime soon:

 

http://www.laplates.com/

 

http://www.thepapercafe.net/placemats.html

 

https://www.pineapplegrovegifts.com/giftshop.aspx?cat=75

 

http://www.thepalmgifts.com/view.php?id=412

 

http://www.papercottage.net/bowls1.html

 

http://www.papercottage.net/plplse.html

 

http://sunshinepaperie.com/store/placemats.htm

Help a Bride-to-Be Out!

I received the below email from a reader. We did this once before for this sweet reader and she made it to the finals, but did not win. Let's help this bride-to-be win her dream wedding! Please read the letter and click on the link to vote. Good luck Gwen!

******************************************************

We've never exchanged emails before, but I'm actually an avid reader of your blog! Since being engaged, I've been searching the web for unique, creative and fun wedding ideas and have actually found blogs to be an amazing source of information and inspiration! And it just so happens that my wedding is the reason I'm emailing you.

My fiance and I are funding the entire wedding ourselves and are well on our way to the longest engagement in history! It's been almost two years with no end in sight! If it were up to us and money wasn't an option, we'd be married in a heartbeat. But unfortunately everyday expenses and student loans have gotten in the way and saving for our wedding has been much more difficult than we ever expected.

So we figured if you can't pay for a wedding...why not try and win one!

The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism is jumping on the "bailout" bandwagon and holding a contest called the "Bahamas Bridal Bailout". Five very lucky couples will win round trip airfare for them and eight others, hotel accommodations for four days and three nights for ten people, a photographer, wedding coordinator, wedding cake, flowers and champagne. All you have to do to be eligible to win is submit a 500 word essay detailing how you met, why you want to get married, how you got engaged, why you want to get married in The Bahamas, why they should bail you out, and basically why The Bahamas is so awesome.

How do you win? Well the "voting round" lasts from April 25 to May 17. This is the period during which anyone and everyone can go to the website and cast their vote for the couple of their choosing. Unfortunately each vote is associated with an email address and each email address can only vote once. After you place your vote on the website, you must log into your email account to "validate" your vote. Then on May 18 the "judging round" begins. The top 20 vote-getters from the website will then be judged based on the quality of their essay and how well they answered the questions asked of them, and five couples are chosen as winners.


As long as we get past the voting round, I think we have a pretty good chance of getting chosen by the "judges." Mostly because some of the other entries are just flat out terrible, but also because our essay is one of the very few that's written from a male's perspective. Yes, you read that correctly! My wonderful, amazing fiance took the liberty to not only come across this contest from an email he received from The Bahamas tourism office, he also wrote the essay. Well, he wrote most of it and then I added in the rest of the cheesy "Bahamas are great" stuff at the end so we were sure to address all of the questions. If your future husband trying to win a Caribbean wedding doesn't say "I love you", then I don't know what does.

We are sending out the link to all of our friends, family, coworkers, etc., but I thought I'd go another step and send it to a few of the bloggers whose websites have given me such great ideas (and hours of very entertaining reading) for my own wedding! There aren't too many blogs I follow, but I figured I'd send it out to the few individuals whose blogs I do enjoy reading since maybe a couple of votes could wind up making a huge difference for us in the long run!

http://www.bahamasbridalbailout.com/photo/1030/our-wedding-lifetime-making

Thank you in advance for your vote!

All the best,

Gwen

************************************

Thanks for helping out a fellow reader!!

GIVEAWAY---EcoTools!

Ecotools has sent me one set of the above makeup brushes to give away to a lucky MMM reader. Just leave a comment here and let me know why you want/need these brushes. You have until Thursday.

Ecotools products can be found at select Walgreens, Kmart, and Ulta stores or online at www.eco-tools.com. Have you ever tried them? All the brushes are made with synthetic taklon hair and have bamboo handles, making them incredibly easy on Mother Earth. I've been testing them out for you this week and they are really soft. I especially love the eye shading brush! Good luck!

Purina Breast Cancer Donation

If you go to Purina cat chow's web site and take a 5-question test on your knowledge of breast cancer, they will donate $1.00 – Not 1 cent, but $1.00 to the Susan G. Komen foundation. Only 5 questions will take a minute!

Here is the web site: http://www.catchow.com/pink/?DCMP...HQS=donate

Please pass it along to everyone you know. Thanks!

Fund Raiser for 2 Paws Up Rescue Group

Your Purchases Can Help Save a Life! Fund Raiser for 2 Paws Up Rescue Group

Kitten and Puppy season is upon us! There are many many little lives out there that need help saving. I am a volunteer with 2 Paws Up. Please help our rescue group raise funds to pull more dogs, cats, kittens and puppies from the high kill shelters, provide them with medical care, vaccinations, spay/neuter and to find safe happy forever homes.

ALL profits for ALL sales from Ladybugs and Lilypads on May 15th and May 16th will go to 2 Paws Up Rescue Group. We have everything from TOYS (look under Gifts) , FURNITURE, Diaper Bags, Clothing, Car Seat Covers, Shopping Cart Covers (these are a must!), blankets and TUTU's! Stock up on your children's clothing, gifts for new moms, baby shower gifts and birthday gifts! Think Christmas! Buy early and know that not only are you buying for a child but you are helping us save the life of a furry friend. Please tell EVERYONE you know.

-- Ladybugs and Lilypads

Christmas Card

When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, Please include the following:

A Recovering American Soldier
C/O Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington,D.C. 20307-5001

Make A Difference Today

Ok, I'm jumping on my soap box again today to ask y'all for support. Unfortunately, I think it is safe to say probably each of you reading this has been affected at one point by a trucking accident. With as much as I drive, I cringe every time I pass a truck on the highway. A very old friend of mine from grade school was killed at age 22 in a trucking accident on his way back from Thanksgiving Break in 2002. His parents have started an organization called Road Safe America.

They were actually on the Today Show this week. Click here to see the video:
http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=4f605846-72fd-4dd7-a3e2-fa6dc01fb4fa&f=00&fg=

According to the Road Safe America website,

When tractor-trailers and cars collide in fatal trucking accidents, 98 percent of the deaths occur in the cars. It's clear why: for a car to equal the force of a tractor-trailer, which weighs 80,000 pounds, traveling at 60 mph, it would have to be speeding at over 300 mph. Limiting trucks to reasonable speeds will make our highways significantly safer while preserving truckers' important jobs.

Their goal is to require electronic speed governors on commercial trucks to be set at not more than 68mph. Their website states,

Every year 5,000 people die and more than 130,000 people are injured in trucking accidents. Road Safe America is working to reduce semi truck accidents by limiting the top speed of tractor-trailer trucks. As virtually every driver has experienced, many trucks travel at dangerously high speeds.

If you have a minute today, please go to their website http://www.roadsafeamerica.org/
and sign their federal petition to help make our roads safer. Just click on the link (it says ALERT sign our petition in red) on the website and enter the Docket ID: 26851. Only the docket number and your comments are required to complete the petition.

Make a Difference Today!

Make A Difference!

Hi ladies! I got this email today and thought I would try to make a difference on this beautiful Friday. I know all of us have been affected by cancer at some point in our lives. This only takes a second to sign the petition to help.

Here's the deal:
There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the "drive-through mastectomy" where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached. Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support.

PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the website below.

http://www.lifetimetv.com/breastcancer/petition/signpetition.php