How many of you during the last month have done one of the following:
A) opened your eyes in bed and let our a scream due to the BIG STACH sleeping next to you?
B) cracked up hysterically in a bar because some hopeless bloke has tried to pick you up, but you could barely see beyond the unruly man-statement he has plastered across his upper lip (or even worse pouring down the sides of his cheekbones like some strange creature grown from hair)?
C) had all of your fantasies ruined by the used-to-be hottie dad in the school drop off who now carries around an ugly pet terrier on his face, taking away all sense of sexiness?
D) All of the above (poor you... you must be happy its December now!)
We have had to put up with a month of MO-STACHES all in the name of raising money and awareness for prostate cancer. Of course that is an excellent initiative, but sometimes the staches go too far...
Ladies, now its time to take back the next month's fashion statement... Its DRESSember! So bring out all of your dresses, from the casual throw-it-on, to the sparkly evening gown and wear a dress (or a skirt will do) for all 31 days in December!
Though sadly not as organized as Movember, Dressember is a young initiative to get women dressing for, connecting about and raising money for women's issues. Officially there is no set cause to raise money for, but I have seen lots of different causes being supported such as to stop violence against women and to maternal and baby health care, but all are related to women's issues. The great part about it is that you get to chose the women's cause the speaks to you the most!
Interested in going glam this month and bringing in the festive season with 31 days of feminine frocks and some fun? Here's how:
1) Visit the Dressember Facebook page and LIKE it to stay in touch with all of the other Dressember participants.
2) Chose a women's related cause to raise money for and educate yourself about it. Leave us comments if you need help finding a good one or visit the Dressember Facebook page for suggestions.
3) Put on a dress every morning! No more jeans and t-shirts. Just dresses! And in a pinch a skirt will do. Don't be afraid to go wild in your old bridal gown or your Mom's vintage 70's mini. The bolder the better! (And the more people will comment and the more chances you will have to ask for donations!)
4) Ask your friends and family for donations and tell them about the cause you are raising money for. Even small ones will do because every little bit helps. After all its actually more difficult to wear dresses for 31 days than it seems...
5) Post photos of yourself in your dresses on the Dressember Facebook page. Connect with other women and HAVE FUN raising money for a great cause.
I'll be participating this month, so check back in on our Facebook page and here on our blog for updates. I have chosen Sustainable Health Enterprises as my charity of the month. SHE is working on a great initiative to address women and girls' lack of access to affordable, sanitary, eco-friendly products and services for menstruation in developing countries. Stay tuned for future blogs about SHE.
For the time being... HAPPY DRESSEMBER!
Festive in frocks,
Candice
P.S. If you decide to join, please let us know by posting on our Facebook page!
"No, not really. I can't read. But I like to look at pictures."
"Well, I'll help you learn how to read. I'm reading about Ikea's great Soft Toys Campaign for the holidays. Did you know that every time one of us gets picked to go to a new child's home, 1 Euro is donated to help children get an education in developing countries?"
"You mean when I get a new home, my new kid gets a cuddly toy AND another kid gets to go to school all at the same time? That's GRRRREAT!"
You heard it straight from Fido and Leo over at Ikea... for every soft toy that is purchased at Ikea (worldwide!) between November 1st and December 24th, 1 Euro / $10 HKD is donated to UNICEF and Save the Children, so they can provide kids in-need with a child-friendly education.
Ikea currently has a great range of soft toys available, not just little stuffed animals, but also dress up hats, puppets, baby dolls with accessories that encourage creative pretend play for your kids.
And at normal Ikea budget-friendly prices, you can't go wrong with one of these under the tree because not only are you giving a stimulating gift to your own child, but you are helping disadvantaged children around the world get the education they need to lift themselves out of poverty.
Since the holiday campaign started in 2003, Soft Toys for Education has raised an amazing 35.2 Million Euros, supporting 8 Million kids around the world to get better teachers, classrooms, books and pencils. This year they are aiming to raise 12 Million Euros.
So if you need a fun kids or baby gift this year, find your nearest Ikea and support their Soft Toys for Education campaign!
Check out the Ikea soft toys in Hong Kong by CLICKING HERE
and see the soft toys in Australia by CLICKING HERE.
Around the world the holiday cheer has started. Shopping malls are dressed in red and gold, supermarkets are selling turkeys and cranberries and Jingle Bell Rock can be heard almost everywhere.
BUT... in spite of all of this good cheer and holiday revelry, children are dying right now in developing countries around the world. An estimated 9 MILLION children dye every year, largely from preventable causes.
And YOU can help by doing something really simple. Knitting a hat for a baby in Nepal just might save her life.
Save the Children has teamed up with MotherCare and Early Learning Center in Hong Kong to sell "Knit a Hat" kits. Simply purchase a kit, follow the knitting instructions and post your knitted masterpiece in the return envelope provided. Then Save the Children will send your lovingly knitted baby hat off to Nepal for good use and to help save a life.
If you don't know how to knit, don't worry! Join the the Mega Knitting Workshop on Dec 3rd and 4th at LG2 Festival Walk and you can learn how to knit a hat from one of the many volunteers.
So if your holiday juices are flowing and you want a creative and easy way to DO GOOD this Christmas...
How many of you would love to know that your children will be looked after by the community if you can't provide that care?
How many of you agree that the future of our society is shaped by our youth?
How many of you would love ALL kids to be happy healthy kids?
A few LUCKY country facts:
Each year there are over 50,000 youth suicide attempts
Suicide is the single largest cause of death among 15 to 24 year olds
There were 21,940 homeless young Australians between 12 and 18 in 2006
30,000 Australian children were proven to have been abused or neglected in the past year.
Children's Promise is an online movement that has a simple concept: Give an hour Change the Future. One hour's salary, profits or other income from this year is asked to be donated to create a better future for the children and young people of the next generation.
This movement was set up by a collaboration of professionals who believe that each and every individual can make a difference to the future of Australia's children.
The money donated is then distributed to non government children's and youth charities.
Some of the principal charities for 2011 include:
Child wise is an amazing charity which works to prevent and reduce sexual abuse and exploitation of children.
provides homeless young people who come from backgrounds of long term neglect and abuse with a home, a sense of family and around the clock therapeutic care. They also fund self development courses to get kids back on their feet.
Whitelion are committed to helping young people reach their full potential. Working with highly vulnerable young people involved with or at risk of involvement with the Juvenile Justice services. Whitelion helps young people to break the cycle of disadvantage and make positive life choices.
It is great to see programs like these continue to exist outside of government funding.
You too can easily contribute to creating a better supported environment for Australia's youth.
If you truly agree that our youth are our future; they must be worth investing ONE hour of your annual paycheck toward.
It's simple CLICK HERE to calculate HOW MUCH one hour is worth.
and ensure that your future will be supported by the generations that follow YOU.
And FEEL AMAZING that you have contributed to a UNITED Australian generational community.
P.S. Your kids will thank you for creating a more supported environment around them and their friends.
P.P.S Out of an average of 1760 working hours per year 1 hour can change our future so DONATE JUST ONE HOUR
We are in the business of helping people to DO GOOD and we just LOVE to discover great companies out there that are making a fantastic effort at giving back to and making a difference in their local community.
Bravo Coffee, a coffee roaster, wholesaler and café company based out of Sydney are one of our latest DO GOOD heros. We recently blogged about their barrista training program about the homeless. Click here to read that post.
Now in celebration of their great community outreach program, we are giving away a AU$10 gift voucher for you to use at the Bravo Café in Enmore and to experience their fantastic program for yourself.
I'm in the process of clearing out my flat for a big international move. I realize as I'm sorting through stuff just how much crap I have that is completely unnecessary. Some days I measure my productivity by how much stuff I can throw away or giveaway.
But last weekend, all of that "crap" took on new meaning for me. A friend had organized a Box of Hope packing afternoon at a local pub. Friends gathered with toys and small gifts for disadvantaged boys and girls in Hong Kong and around Asia.
While packing a box with some socks, a plastic ball, some stickers and crayons, I remembered the days when I lived and worked in Africa. In the rural villages of Rwanda, having a whole box of new toys to play with, even small things, things that I would consider throwing away without a second thought, carried so much value and cause for celebration. The glimmer of hope in boys and girls eyes when they received something new which was only for them was inspiring and humbling at the same time.
I remembered all of my "worthless" stuff and reminded myself to be grateful for every last piece of it. And to pass on that gratefulness and joy to a child in need.
This year Box of Hope is targeting to give 8,000 boxes of gifts to disadvantaged children in Hong Kong and Asia. Tomorrow is the LAST DAY for participating in this GREAT and really worthwhile project. Here's how:
1. Visit the Box of Hope website and read what to include in your box by clicking here.
2. Go out and buy lots of little things to put in your box. The famous Central Lanes or WanChai market, stationary shops and Japan Home Center are great places to buy the contents. The total contents should be about HK$100. Beware this part is actually a LOT of FUN and its EASY and QUICK!
3. Deliver your box to one of the locations in Hong Kong listed on the Box of Hope website. Click HERE to find locations.
4. Smile and feel good for a job well done.
Remember TODAY IS THE LAST DAY! Run out on your lunch hour and get shopping!
With gratitude,
Candice
P.S. Leave us a comment if you have made a Box of Hope this year!
P.P.S. Be sure to visit the Box of Hope Facebook page and leave them some love for what a great job they are doing.
Thanks to everyone who entered our first ever DO GOOD giveaway! We had fun reading the answers to our question -
How do you DO GOOD daily to protect our planet for the future?
The answers were diverse... from the serious "I recycle" to the silly "I am working on an alien death ray" to the practical (and maybe stinky) "I don't flush."
The winner of last week's giveaway was Elliot Marsh! Congratulations Elliot! We hope you enjoy the tickets to see Sprout. Please comment on our blog here and Facebook page what you thought of the show!
Next week we'll be giving away something delicious and Sydney based again (sorry HK and US and other fans we'll be getting to you in December!!). Stay tuned on Friday for the details!!
Year after year it is known as one of THE BEST places to shop for holiday gifts and great stuff for yourself and the best part is that its all to raise money for various charities in Hong Kong - from education to orphanages to handicapable causes to the elderly. Its a fantastic event that always raises several hundred thousand HK dollars.
This is GoodieDo's first year participating in the event and we'll be sharing a table with our friends at Organic Family, a beautiful line of organic and ethically made baby clothes. We are SO excited! Please visit us on the 5th floor!
So don't miss out on your chance to do a lot of your holiday shopping in one place. There is a also a mini-spa and a bake sale with goodies to die for! Also don't forget the fashion shows that are on over lunch time and in the afternoon. Also there is a FABULOUS Lucky Draw with AWESOME prizes to be won.
GoodieDo will be having our own contest too. Leave your email address with us to be added to our mailing list and we'll enter you in a lucky draw to win one of our gorgeous Whitney Eve scarves in the color of your choice!
Its one of my favorite shopping events of the year and we are thrilled to be participating this year!
We know a lot of you out there are doing lots of little things (and big ones!) to make the world a better place. You recycle, volunteer, raise money and simply try your best to give back to your community and the world.
Well, we want to help you SHARE these things and INSPIRE others to do the same, so we are starting a program of great GIVEAWAYS to encourage you to DO GOOD.
Our DO GOOD giveaways will be simple and honest and LOTS OF FUN! You’ll have a chance (mostly a random chance or maybe by popular vote) to win great prizes from GoodieDo and our partner companies and organizations that also make it a priority to give back.
We are SO excited!!! Let’s get this party started!!!
Here’s the low down on our first DO GOOD GIVEAWAY.....
If your date nights are getting repetitive and lack a little originality, we have you sorted this month!
GoodieDo is teaming up with Tamarama Rock Surfers Theater to giveaway 2 free tickets to see Sprout, and eco-production at the Old Fitzroy Theater in Woolloomooloo.
Sprout is a vision of an environmentally ravaged Australia of the future, where everything run out or fled. Amongst this desolation, four people start new beginnings. They grow new roots. They crack through dirt. They bud and sprout. Its a play about love and growth and an inspiration to protect what’s left of our planet.
3. Fill out the form and answer the question “How do you DO GOOD daily to protect our planet for the future?"
4. Visit our wall and post your answer to share and discuss with our fans!
The lucky winner will be posted on our Facebook page next Tuesday, November 8th and will be contacted by email. You’ll get a choice to attend any showing of Sprout on Tuesday through Sunday until November 19th.
Please spread the word through Facebook, Twitter and your blogs. You can use our Comment box and Share buttons at the bottom of this post to do this easily!
We hope you have fun with this and all of our future DO GOOD GIVEAWAYS!
GOOD luck! Candice
P.S. Your answer doesn't have to be big, just something simple like recycling helps... but great ideas and big ideas are welcome too!
P.P.S. We’ll be giving away stuff up to 2xs a month. Return to our blog, Facebook and Twitter pages regularly to find out how to enter the latest contests!
Some people might say I’m promiscuous... something of a free woman... there are worse words for it, but I won’t use them here in polite company.
But...I have renounced my wayward habits.
I AM IN LOVE... for REAL and FOREVER this time.
My affairs started off with the big book store chains as a impressionable teen. They gave me a soft oversized arm chairs and vanilla lattes to fuel my late night exam cram sessions. I had endless loves to chose from... drama, mystery, childrens or cookbooks. I was seduced and I loved every minute of it.
But my tastes and desires became more curious in university, preferring the independent types... the older ones... those with a story to tell and secrets to reveal.
Leaving school and out in the real world on my own, I became more practical. Time and money was an issue, but I always needed it. I’d take it where I could get it... libraries, used stores, airports, any place would do as long as they had my fix. Occasionally I’d go corporate and let Amazon work their magic. It didn’t matter.
But not now... not ever again. I’ve found my ONE TRUE LOVE. A love to take me through the good times and bad, for better or for worse, one that will actually make ME a better person and even make the world a better place. It is love at first sight.
I have renounced my lurid affairs with “other” booksellers... used, new, chains, internet, independent... and I pledge my love and give my hand to BETTER WORLD BOOKS.
What kind of bookseller could make a junkie so loyal, you ask?
One that makes me feel empowered, important and a part of something bigger.
Better World Books is a online bookseller with a mission to create a better world, one book at a time.
Some of my favorite words all in the same sentence... CREATE A BETTER WORLD through BOOKs!!! Ahh... music to my ears.
There are so many ways Better World Books is using books to promote literacy - through collection of used books, to donating a book for every book sold, to supporting literacy and education programs like Room to Read, Books for Africa and Invisible Children (all groups we HEART big time). Better World Books is a GoodieDo hero through and through and now our one true bookseller love.
I never really boasted about my former affairs, but here are some super accomplishments from my true love:
Donated over 5 MILLION BOOKS
Raised over US$10 MILLION for LITERACY programs
Reduced landfill waste through recycling or reusing over 70 MILLION POUNDS of BOOKS
Offset 23,000 LBS of CARBON through their carbon offset program
I know that Better World Books can’t only be true to me, but to all of their devoted customers around the world. Its bittersweet, but I encourage you to try them out and fall in love too.
Go to WWW.BETTERWORLDBOOKS.COM
Search, browse and click until your passions are sparked and your heart is content (or yearning for more).
Buy a book, or two or three or....
Enjoy FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE.
Let your heart fill knowing that someone in need has also received a book (or two or three or...).
Pledge your love and give your hand to Better World Books until death do us part.
Your impassioned bookworm,
Candice
P.S. Please post a comment here to let us know if you have ordered from Better World Books or plan to! We’d love to hear about your experience!
provides homeless young people who come from backgrounds of long term neglect and abuse with a home, a sense of family and around the clock therapeutic care. They also fund self development courses to get kids back on their feet.
This year 
