Obama or McCain?
Wear your support for either candidate with Hidalgo’s limited-edition rings and don’t forget to vote. Find your local polling place at marinvotes.organd get your rings at hidalgojewelry.com
Toys to Feel Good About
Marin resident Hillary Sciarillo founded San Rafael–based Yellow Label Kids as an ethically produced line of toys and accessories as well as gifts for home. Sciarillo wanted to provide an alternative to mass-produced products while benefiting primarily female artisans in developing countries. Each Yellow Label Kids item is made following fair trade practices and is handmade by an artisan who is paid a living wage. Products include knit toys, party banners, puppets, clothing and blankets. Yellow Label Kids will be at the Marin Babes and Babies event on November 9 at the Mill Valley Community Center. Mention Marin Magazine to receive a 15 percent discount. Products can also be found in Whole Foods and Pharmaca locations or at yellowlabelkids.com
Art for Homeward Bound
This month Homeward Bound opens the Next Key Center, which will include a public art installation by Berkeley artist Mildred Howard. The artist used donated silverware, which she embedded in the kitchen’s counter. Howard’s sculpture will also take the form of a series of freestanding bronze keys in shapes progressing from bent to straight, designed to mirror the progress envisioned for formerly homeless residents in the center’s 32 studio apartments. For more information, visit hbofm.org
Skirting It
Mill Valley resident Stacey Fleece, along with two former colleagues, has written Skirtworking: How to Network Using SKIRT, based on the tools and lessons she learned starting an all-women’s networking group. skirtworking.com
Viva Volute!
San Anselmo–based Volute Wine has found an answer to bans on glass at local outdoor venues—a new shatterproof aluminum, single-serving wine bottle. The eco-friendly and recyclable design is lightweight and the wine is made from Bordeaux’s choice grapes. Volute comes in three varieties: a white sauvignon, a rose cabernet and a red merlot. volutewine.com
Mother’s Day Surprise for Sale
San Rafael resident Lucille Campilongo was shocked when her daughter and son-in-law surprised her on Mother’s Day this year with a published version of a manuscript she prepared for her daughter back in 1980. Now everyone can read the cookbook 28 years in the making—Lucia’s Survival Guide and Cookbook—featuring over 30 authentic Italian recipes. Find it on amazon.com
Solar System — A Bright Idea
It used to be people drove their cars to the drive-in theater; now the theater is again taking cars off the road in a whole new way—180 to be exact. The emissions from that number of vehicles will be offset over the next 30 years by the installation of a new solar system at the Fairfax 5 Theatres. The historic theater, built in 1952, is the first major multiplex in the United States to go solar. 415.453.5444, northbaymovies.com/fairfax.html
Not Your Average Soda
Nutrisoda has been touring up and down the West Coast with its Good Life Tour, including a stop at the San Rafael Wine and Food Festival and the Sausalito Art Festival. The tour included an interactive virtual tree-planting booth. Each tree that is virtually “planted” will benefit the nonprofit organization Trees for the Future. Nutrisoda comes in five flavors including Immune (tangerine and lime), Calm (wild berry and citron), Focus (mango and peach), Radiant (pomegranate and blackberry) and Energize (mandarin and mint). The drink is offered at a special price of 98 cents during November at United Markets in San Rafael and San Anselmo.
For What It’s Worth
Do you feel the $140 million David Geffen paid for a Jackson Pollock in 2006 was too much? How much would you pay? Well, on November 15 Studio 333 in Sausalito is inviting you to be an art appraiser and name your own price. Fifteen percent of all proceeds go to Hospice of Marin. 415.331.8272, studio333.info
Tea Time
Sonoma can now call itself home to the largest solar-powered tea company on earth. Last month Traditional Medicinals, along with Akeena Solar, flipped the switch on the 1,450-solar-panel system, cutting the corporate headquarters’ and tea production facilities’ electricity bill by 80 percent and generating over 430,000 kilowatt hours per year.
Not Your Typical Wine Country
With wine country so close to Marin it can be easy to get stuck in the same wine tasting rut; however, the launch of Napa Valley Adventure Tours in the area’s Oxbow Public Market aims to change that. Bringing together active and experiential travel, the company can set up hot air balloon tours or hiking, biking, climbing and kayaking tours while still incorporating all the food, wine and history that brought you to Napa in the first place. Napa Valley Adventure Tours (Napa). 707.259.1833, napavalleyadventuretours.com
Artful Appetizers
Good art, good food and good wine seem made for each other. At the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, art history seminars were once complemented by wine and cheese. Over time, the accompaniments grew to even bigger appetizers and the valley’s best wines. Members of the group thought it was time to share their original recipes and art with the community — thus creating the Sonoma Palette Appetizers cookbook. From crab mousse to bourbon chipotle wings, each recipe suggests a wine pairing and is adjacent to an illustration by a member artist. $20 at Sonoma Valley Museum of Art (Sonoma). 707.939.7862
Ready for the Holidays
Santa Rosa’s award-winning Marizco Landscape Management is now bringing green landscape design to Marin. The company specializes in green practices including hybrid vehicles and alternative powered machinery, which saves clients up to 65 percent on water and maintenance costs. Owner Pierre Marizco started the company with one truck and one lawn mower, and now, only a few years later, the landscaping business has more than 50 employees. 707.546.9100, marizco.com
