Giving Local

Thanks for stopping by for another installment of Green Means Go(od)!

My giving local experiment hasn't worked out quite the way I wanted it to this year. I haven't visited any local Denver shops to purchase gifts. I did, however, take advantage of "shopping local" when I visited Minneapolis last weekend. I had a great weekend visiting one of my best friends - sans children. We spent Friday night catching up with two friends of mine from grad school and attending an intense criminal defense attorney Christmas party (and I don't use "intense" lightly!). On Saturday we relaxed a bit and spent the afternoon in Stillwater, Minnesota, about 30 miles outside of Minneapolis.

I wasn't having a lot of luck finding gifts for my family. Then we stumbled on the Stillwater Olive Oil Company. It's a teeny tiny shop that only sells olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Amazing. I tasted about 10 olive oils before settling on some really great ones for some people on my list. I even found some great accessories, like spouts for the bottles.

At a small home store, I spotted a spinning art toy that Benny has been coveting. He'll be surprised that Santa is so tuned in to what he wants!

Otherwise, the local shopping will be fairly nonexistent this year. We're using Amazon for a couple of gifts, found some sheets for Benny's bed at IKEA (gasp - so not local) and went to Target (gasp again) for some new underwear and socks to stuff in his stocking.

But, we are staying true to our experience gifting plan. We're taking Benny out for a night on the town next week (his request) and we have a special weekend planned for my parents. I can't divulge much about that until after Christmas. I'd give this year's buy local project a C at best. I'll try harder next year!