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One of my new projects is a new blog. It will be a lot like this one, more personal, more fun products I find, and more in depth into topics I am interested in: namely the health of babies, kids, and their environment.

I hope it will be launching this weekend. And I hope you will come check it out!

Yeah, I am kinda thinking that I can’t pull off the lads and lassies either. Ah well, such is life. So what are your favorites?

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

I hope you all are having a wonderful day today with your loved ones. I have never been a huge fan of Valentine’s Day. I think it’s all a bit silly really. But…. I am a fan of love! I love thoughtful gestures, homemade cards, drawings and paintings, a special meal, lovely poems and stories, hearts, and pink, believe it or not. I just wish we were able to get away from the commercialism of the holiday. To express love we don’t need to give jewelry, or candy, or flowers. What a message we are sending our kids.

So today I urge you all to express your love in a much more creative way (to your kids, your spouse, your partner, your grandkids, whoever) and then come back and tell me about it before midnight PST on Feb. 20! The best answer is going to win a $25 gift certificate!!

Winner Update: Your responses were all so lovely. Some really struck my heart… I couldn’t decide between them, so I had to choose a random winner instead (using random.org). I want to thank you all so much for sharing your stories. Congratulations to Mary! She wins the $25 gift certificate!

Well, we’ve been having a lot of fun with our progressive sale. And I know a lot of you have too! A large part of why I started Clementine NW is that I truly believe in choosing fun, organic, safe, sustainable products especially for the most vulnerable of us all.

The biggest silver lining in the decision to close the business is being able to provide more people with the option to choose and eco-friendly product that they might not otherwise. I hate that so many fabulously designed products made with fair labor and with a focus on protecting our babies and the environment is cost prohibitive for so many. But, as in so many things, you get what you pay for… unless it’s on sale (everything is still 40% off)!

I also love giving away things for free!

So to get to the good stuff…

We’re going to be giving away a whole lot of great stuff that we’ve collected. We’ve got some Kathe Kruse baby toys, Yes To Carrots body butter, Born Free glass bottles, a fun Boogie Wipes gift basket, and a ThinkBaby bottle with sippy conversion kit. We’re also going to be giving away several free shipping coupons!

So here’s what you need to do to have a chance to win.

You must:

1. Leave a comment on this blog post with either your favorite eco-friendly product or best tip for going green with baby. Be creative! (1 entry)

Optional:

1. Make a purchase after Feb. 4 on Clementine NW and leave 5 comments here with your order number. All purchases WILL receive a little something extra. If you win a free shipping coupon you can choose to have your shipping costs refunded from your Feb. purchase or use for a future purchase. (5 entries each purchase)
2. Share our sale/giveaway and leave a comment describing how you did so with any appropriate links. Use twitter, Facebook, blogs, e-mail, message boards, etc. Please do not spam. (1 entry each method, up to 10)
3. Make positive change in your community and leave a comment sharing how you did so. (1 entry for each action, up to 10)

Please be sure that we have a valid e-mail address for you. We will be giving away something every week for the rest of the month of February, so keep those comments coming! Then watch your inboxes each Friday!

Update 2/12/10: We’ve got our 3 winners for today’s giveaways! Congrats to Saira, Serena, and Aura! Everyone else keep entering for next week’s giveaways!

Update 2/19/10: We’ve notified our 5 winners! Congrats to Sara, Taryn, Jane, Kayley, and Julie! … Keep entering for our next February giveaway next Friday!

Update 2/25/10: We’ve got our final 3 winners for this week’s giveaways! They’ve been notified and have 3 days to respond. Now go check our newest post for an announcement!

We’ve still got everything from FIG organic hoodies to classic board books to products for labor ease… and a whole lot more.

This week we are also trying to do something special to help the children of Haiti. Cool Mom Picks introduced us to the organization, Soles4Souls, which receives donations of new and gently used shoes and gives them to people in need. This is something I really wanted to help with.

For every $25 purchase, Clementine NW will be donating one pair of children’s shoes to Soles4Souls that will go directly to children in Haiti.  Additionally, if you want to purchase a pair of Robeez or IsaBooties to be donated directly to Soles4Souls, let us know in the comment section at checkout.

I also urge you to find your nearest donation spot, or ship them directly, to drop off your gently used shoes.

I tend to get my news information in the car , since I can listen between shuttling kids and running errands. I was nearly in tears yesterday hearing the voices of family members in the U.S. not knowing if their loved ones are ok. And hearing some of the rhetoric being thrown around infuriated me.Tens of thousands of people may be dead. This is horrific. And it’s truly sad to me is that last night the number one trending topic on twitter was ‘pants on the ground’.

I recently read a study that said more people are apt to help when they believe they are helping one person, one victim, and our brains almost turn off when we think of potentially 3 million suffering. 3 million needing food, water, medical attention in a country that is far removed for most of us. But we can help. We can help. We can help one person.

So don’ think of the millions, think of one. Think of this child, help this child:

Photograph by Eduardo Munoz, Reuters

Clementine NW is joining Milagros, Black Wagon, and Bella Stella in donating 10% of sales through Monday to Mercy Corps. The Portland-based Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. We are not helpless, we need to be the change we want to see in this world.

And please consider donating directly. Even $5 can make a difference. Truly.

Your purchase will support several mom-owned, small businesses, businesses committed to the health of our children as well as the health of the environment. You get to give gifts you can feel good about giving.

Through January 24, everything in the store is now 30% off! Some of your favorite items are going quickly, so it may not be wise to wait…

This is the final week (and a half) for flat rate shipping. After this, shipping costs will be based on total weight.

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