We were joking one day about a time when gentlemen (and women) didn't resort to shouted profanities, extended middle fingers or vicious personal attacks to express anger or contempt (are you listening Congress?) What happened to a time when the most effective smackdown was a frosty but civilized "I bid you good day sir," delivered with a subtle but insolent curl of the upper lip. So we were a bit giddy when we saw this sentiment in t-shirt form at glarkware.com. Take a stroll around their site (uh, once you're finished here,) they have some pretty smart and cheeky work including these Movie Manners Courtesy Cards admonishing fellow movie-goers to shut up and watch the movie.

Good-tasting, good for you, and good-looking, too. Today, we went to a Chicago lunch/breakfast favorite, Toast, on Webster Avenue. Our meal was great, as usual, but we really flipped for their bottled water. It's called Topo Chico, imported from Mexico. Been around since 1908 and very delicious, the bottle is mega-fabulous; took it with us for design inspiration. Check it out here at a favorite website, mexgrocer.com (soft spot for their religious goods, and, oh, also for their beverages.)

We have many wardrobe obsessions but the "It" bag is not one of them. We do like a bag that's extremely well-made and beautiful, perhaps even provocative in its design but the logo on the bag is rather incidental; it's the style, the structure, the quality, the function, the beauty.

But recently, we've found our own "It" bag or perhaps we should say "We LOVE It" bag. The "Bea" handbag from MZ Wallace New York is absolutely perfect. Carefully crafted, unbelievably beautiful, functional to a T and you can beat the hell out of it with little worry. Despite its smallish profile, it accommodates our 12" laptop, a couple of file folders, makeup bag, keys, this and that. It's available in a variety of materials; the Gunmetal version, our current schlepp, is shown at right. One nice but unexpected touch...the shocking pink lining inside.

We had to tell you about it because we think it is just spectacular, especially for the price; it has the quality and style of a bag many times its cost.

We should also mention that the customer attention at MZ Wallace is top-notch -- warm yet highly professional. Take a look at the Bea bag here.

This August, we were in Norway and toured the Leprosy Museum in Bergen ("Where is this going?" you're asking.) Having learned much about the devastation and courageous eradication of this disease, we were exiting the museum when we peripherally-sighted a small room featuring the enormous video image of an African woman in strapless dress, draped in a beauty pageant banner, crown atop her head. Intrigued, of course, we took a detour through this incongruous exhibit and were rewarded not only with learning about the most remarkable of organizations, Miss Landmine, but also with an opportunity to lend help. More on that later.

Miss Landmine, brainchild of Norwegian theater director Morten Traavik, is a beauty pageant that raises awareness of the plight of landmine survivors but also makes a non-conformist statement on what's beautiful. The ten contestants, one from each Angolan province, are victims of having a limb blown off by a landmine, legacy of Angola's 20-year civil war. The women range in age from 19 to 35, most injured while children, tending fields or running from soldiers. During the pageant they will be required to demonstrate their skills and take part in an interview and the winner will receive a golden prosthesis fitted to her specifications. The first of what is hoped to be several annual pageants (finances a determining factor,) will be held this April in Luanda. Traavik says, "This is the beginning of a national network in Angola for women with [this kind] of background which now doesn't exist."

The story behind Miss Landmine illustrates the power of an idea and applying the passion and discipline to make it happen. Morten created Miss Landmine after visiting Angola where he noticed two things -- the country's enormous landmine problem (according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines 80,000 people are estimated to have been injured) and the Angolan love of the beauty pageant. Traavik says, "We tend to associate beauty pageants with exploitation of women, but this felt very different. This was much more of a celebration, much more of a carnival in many ways."

Traavik found his contestants through organizations working on landmine issues in Angola. The beauties were flown to the Angolan capitol of Luanda, where they participated in a photo shoot; they were paid $200 a day and given the clothing and jewelry they wore for the shoot. "They really had great fun," Morten said, noting "it was something even a bit deeper: about being able to shine and being treated as someone good-looking, beautiful, flashy and funky -- all the kinds of things that usually are not attributed to such a group of people."

And this is what captivated us when we toured the exhibit, the exquisitely bittersweet irony yet hopefulness of celebrating the beauty of a spirit that continues to endure despite unimaginable hardship. Our mission is to use GREER for the positive, through the products we sell and design, the way we conduct ourselves, the way we serve our customers and our communities, so it seemed natural for us to get involved. Returning to the hotel, we sent an email to Morten, writing that we felt the logo was so compelling, such a powerful symbol of his powerful idea, we thought it would have strength on a T-shirt, one that could be sold to earn money for the organization. We offered to create and sell the shirts and donate all of the proceeds to Miss Landmine. Morten agreed and we designed and printed the t-shirts available here.

The first Miss Landmine pageant will take place on April 4, 2008 to coincide with the United Nations' International Day for Mine Awareness And Assistance In Mine Action. Judges will include Angolan dignitaries as well as representatives of foreign embassies and non-governmental organizations. Perhaps the best part is that all of us can participate as part of the international people's jury by visiting www.miss-landmine.org and voting for our favorite candidate. As of this writing, 6799 votes have been cast.

As the Holiday season approaches we need to write about Heifer International. When we discovered them several years ago, we first loved the name and then embraced the mission. What sets Heifer International apart from other charitable organizations is the direct link between what you give and what is received and a strong component of self-empowerment.

Basically, Heifer International allows you to donate livestock to a family that can then use this sustainable resource to feed and/or clothe themselves. For example, you can donate a heifer ($500) or a share of a heifer ($50), a sheep ($120), a pig ($120), even a water buffalo ($250.) You can have fun with it. One year we gave a flock of chicks to our daughter's pre-school teacher. Another year we gave a particularly hard-working employee a donation of honeybees (because she was such a busy bee, get it?)

To learn more about Heifer International click here and consider weaving this organization into your Holiday gift-giving.

If you have a Chuck Taylor fetish (like us,) you're going to go crazy on this site where you'll have the sublime experience of an old-school classic boldly swaggering into the new age...in very high quantities. Americanathletics.com features over 150 styles of high-tops and almost 200 low-top styles with choices for men, women, children and even infants (which we would like to dangle from our rear view mirror...the shoes, not the infants.) The site is pure self-expression for the feet with everything from Skull and Crossbones high tops to sleek, suede John Varvatos lowtops to the nutty Yes/No and Multi-Eyelet sneakers shown here.

Creative, innovative and hot (in every way,) Joe Viboonviriyawong is the sweet genius behind Vilaiwan Fine Jewelry, an almost surreally magnificent collection crafted with precious and semi-precious stones and huge quantities of imagination and style (when we first met Joe, he was wearing a fake fur vest, skin-tight jeans, a black turtleneck and the turquoise necklace at right....FABULOUS!)

Born in Thailand, Joe's earliest creative memories are of his mother, Vilaiwan, asking him to use his burgeoning gifts to help design new settings for her jewelry line. When design became his passion, Vilaiwan sent him to the US to study and turn his passion into a career. He received his masters in design at UCLA and his professional design degree at The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in LA, graduating number one in his class. In honor of his mother's support, Vilaiwan Fine Jewelry was born.

Joe's vision is of jewelry not just as mere accessory, but as art with the wearer's personality and energy acting as the canvas. Each piece is hand made and many of the materials are limited and available only to Vilaiwan. Most of the collection cannot be mass-produced and many pieces are one-of-a-kind.

Joe is also one-of-a-kind; the size of his talent is equaled only by the size of his heart. One of the kindest most generous souls we know he is truly a gift to this earth. We are grateful to call him a friend.

If you'd like to see the Vilaiwan collection on-line click here.