a peek inside the fishbowl

Mark bought that Katy Parry song off iTunes the other day (Here’s the video. It is brilliant in its cheesiness.)

We were listening to it and Sarah came in the room.

“Sarah,” I said. “This song has a bad word in it.”
“Which one?”
“The B-word.”
“What’s the B-word?”
“I don’t know if I can tell you.”
Sarah thinks for a second, leans in, and then whispers: “Is it BUM?”

Mother’s Day is Sunday May 10th!

Moms: Do you know what your kids are buying you for Mother’s Day?

Dads: Don’t let your kids buy ashtrays or rubber dish washing gloves. (Consider yourselves warned! You’re welcome.)

Dads might want to tune in for the next week. I’m going to be giving a few ideas for great Mother’s Day gifts, and I’m very pleased to be starting with this one.

First, are you familiar with a store called Ten Thousand Villages?

There are 50 stores in Canada and two in Ottawa. There’s one in Westboro:

Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit fair trade retail store, providing vital, fair income to artisans in developing countries by selling their handicrafts and telling their stories. They work with artisans who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed. The income they earn allows them to provide their families with food, education, health care and housing.

Isn’t that amazing? Ten Thousand Villages is indeed an amazing store. (And I’m not just saying that. I poke around in there all the time.) But let’s get back to Mother’s Day. I think I can safely assume that most mothers would not want a gift that could have possibly been made by another mother’s child in a country far away.

Ten Thousand Villages has a lot of great fair-trade gifts that would be perfect Mothers Day: jewellery, chocolate, coffee, scarves and pretty housewares.

Check out these lotus capiz shell tealights. There come in four colours, blue, white, green and orange. (HINT: I’m partial to the blue, but here’s a pic of the green, ohhh, I can’t decide!)

They would look classy and gorgeous on any table, inside or out.

There are all kinds of things that are great for the patio: recycled glass pitchers, glasses, planters, bamboo items, etc. There is something for every price point. You really need to get to the store and see for yourself.

Now for the giveaway!

The kind folks at Ten Thousand Villages are giving away a pair of sterling silver and topaz drop earrings for one lucky Fishbowl reader. They valued at $53 and come from Nepal. The official description:

“Softly coloured, translucent topaz stones are nestled in a beautiful, sterling silver setting. These elegant earrings, hand crafted by remarkable producers from Nepal, are an embodiment of skill and artistry.”

And here they are, aren’t they gorgeous?

Fancy carved setting not included!. :)

The earrings are made by a group called Mahaguthi, Craft with a Conscience. 85% of these artisans are women, and use traditional skills to make products.

If you’d like to win these earrings, you need to:

• a) Let me know, in the comments below, how you like to celebrate Mother’s Day.
• b) Be prepared to pick these beauties up at the Westboro store. Ottawa residents are at an advantage here for sure. ;)

I’ll close comments on noon EST on Thursday May 7th and do a random draw that afternoon. Please make sure you leave a valid email address.

If you’d like to read more about Ten Thousand villages their local site is www.alternativetrade.com. Their national website is www.tenthousandvillages.ca and they’re also doing blogging at http://villages-ottawa.blogspot.com

Over to you! Good luck!

p.s. don’t forget about the other giveaway that’s on right now. It would make a good Mother’s Day present too!

… is at Dow’s Lake, RIGHT NOW.

There are a couple of gorgeous patches of naturalized daffodils growing right in the grass near Carling Avenue. If you wait too long you’ll miss them.  

p.s. I have another Giveaway coming up today or tomorrow. I’m just finalizing the details! In the meantime, if you’re in Ottawa, don’t forget to enter the draw for four free tickets to see the opening night show of The Changeling at the NAC.