Forestbound Original Bag Company bags and totes are the beautiful but sturdy creations of a Boston designer named Alice Saunders. Saudner’s work span the historical to the functional but artistic.

In her originals line, you can find totes made from salvaged historical textiles like WWII era work material to 1950′s feed sacks. In her newer line of cotton bags called the Greylock Collection you can find Saunders branching out from the salvaged textiles to produce a sturdy tote in “5 different styles of bags available in numerous colors.” and “made from #8 cotton duck, [with] super soft & durable leather straps.”

Saunders has garnered increasing acclaim for her work, even creating a limited collection for Anthropologie. While many styles are sold out via the online store, fear not! We’ve spotted a leather bag and others at gallery and boutique Aviary in Jamaica Plain. To boot, Saunders designs and sews every bag right here in JP.

Sign up for their newsletter to keep tabs on stock.

His name is Jeremy McComb and from what I can tell from his bio, he grew up in and around Post Falls, Idaho.  He is a talented musician and songwriter.  He worked at a radio station in Spokane where he met Larry the Cable Guy.  This meeting got him a new job as Larry’s tour manager.  He traveled and made some connections and played and wrote music.  He even earned a grammy nomination for a movie soundtrack.

From his first album, 3 singles were released and one of the songs, Cold, broke the top 50 on the Music Billboard Chart.

My favorite is from his newest album.  It’s called Easy as Breathin’.  It’s got sweet lyrics and a beautiful melody that stays with you long past the song ending.  You can download any of his music on I-tunes.  Support a local boy and check out his music!

Here are a couple music videos to go with his first two releases.  He has some clever, fun lyrics and an obvious sense of humor.

And by the way, one of our coasters, the Aftershock is rated number one in the country…so come visit!  This is what it looks like.  I love the color scheme…blue and green.

But you will never find me on this ride.  I don’t do roller coasters, especially upside down with your feet dangling!  Here is a YouTube video someone took on the ride so you can get a feel for what it is like.  It made my heart race just watching it!

Ok…back to the candy part.  When you take people from out of town to Silverwood, you tend to do things out of your normal pattern.  For my hubby and I, our usual pattern is to race into the park, snag us some comfy chairs at Boulder Beach and pull out the Kindles.  We do a water ride or float the lazy river when we get hot and sometimes grab a bite to eat.  So when we bring people to the park, we get to try new things and see places we don’t usually go into.

These are my folks visiting from California.  They aren’t into big roller coasters and water rides, so we spent the day exploring the other nooks and crannies in the park. First stop was the Candy Store….

I don’t know if I’ve ever wandered through this store before.  But it’s pretty cool.  It’s full of old candy!  Dot candy on a strip, wax candy, pop rocks and these favorites:

Candy cigarettes.  So politically incorrect now, but we used to get them as kids and we survived (and eating them didn’t cause us to start smoking–cuz we don’t smoke!)

Sugar Daddys…these were a yummy but incredibly sticky mess.  They got onto everything!

Bit-O-Honey.  These weren’t my favorite…but everyone else liked them.

Nerds…remember when that was a big insult to call someone.  These days I can’t even begin to type the words that come out of kids mouths!

But I don’t remember these being on my favorites list:

These critters are literally popping up everywhere this time of year in North Idaho…but I had never thought of eating them!

Perhaps BBQ flavor would make things better…..

I don’t think BBQ would make it better! ugh!

These were my favorite as a kid….the Marathon bar!

Unfortunately they don’t make them anymore so they didn’t have them in the Candy Store at Silverwood.  I looked online and Cadbury makes a new version with a much stranger name….

It looks the same…but Curlywurly?  Not as good a name!

Yes I go to the local farms and pick food to can.

Carver Farms is just over the border in Washington…It’s much closer than going to Green Bluff up on Mt. Spokane.

Yummy strawberries for jam!

I got a little distracted from picking…by the water wheels…they are fun to take pictures of…squirrel moment.

So back to sour cream…

I read labels when I’m at the grocery store.  The sour cream label caught me by surprise…

The ingredient list on the Darigold sour cream container was a little shocking.  Cream is the first on the list…but what the heck is the other stuff??  Oh thank heavens…it’s Gluten Free! lol

So then I read the Daisy brand and was relieved to find…

The only ingredient was cream!!

It may have been a few cents more to purchase…but at least it’s the real thing!!  Why do they do this to food?  I just don’t understand how the stuff in it can be good for anyone.  It seems that my label reading has become justified again!  Why do humans need to mess with things that aren’t broken!

Let them be inspired to invent the next great thing (other than a video game)!

Here is a link to an article in the CDA Press about Carson Magee.

Yesterday at the farmer’s market, there was a nice lady with a little table set up with a bunch of books laid out on it.  My husband and I love to read, so of course we had to pause and check out the books.  The lady at the table happened to actually be the author, C.K. Crigger.  She was born in North Idaho, but now lives in Spokane Valley.  Turns out she has a few series of books on Amazon and in local bookstores (which we have very few of anymore).

Now, I haven’t read any of her stories yet, but from the excerpt on the back, they sounded intriguing.  Yesterday she was highlighting the third book in her series about the character China Bohannon. China is a career woman…but the stories are set back in the 1890′s, so that leads to problems right there.  She works for the Doyle and Howe Detective Agency and she can’t wait to get her own case.  The stories are fictional, but mixed with historical facts surrounding the Pacific Northwest.  So if you are from this region you will probably recognize where the trouble takes her.

If you would like to read more about China and her adventures, she also has a fun little blog.  C.K. Crigger’s website is:  www.ckcrigger.com  Her books are for sale on Amazon.  There are Kindle versions available on Amazon of many of her books.

Learn more about this creative local author!

It’s my Nature Gallery.  You can buy prints if something tickles your fancy or if something catches your eye.  I really won’t mind one bit.  Actually, it would be wonderful to be able to pay for my girls to go to college on my meager Idaho teacher’s salary.

Here is a picture I put together with a really neat quote a friend gave me.  Click on the picture to go to the Nature Gallery.  I made a copy of this to hang in my daughters’ bathroom…just to remind them to be themselves.

This is only half the loaf…it almost made it to dinner time…almost…

We also got a couple huge tomatoes.  Yeah, just two because they weren’t cheap  A farmer up near Sandpoint grows them in a heated greenhouse.  He said he starts the seeds in January…man that gives me tomato envy! ugh!

Don’t these look yummy?  They smell even yummier!

But the variety of food isn’t at the local markets just yet because it’s still so early in our growing season…unless everyone were to have a heated greenhouse….yeah, that won’t be happening anytime soon at our house.

So I refound this website called Full Circle.  It popped up under my friend’s name on Facebook.  I had forgotten about this company.  They deliver organic food to either your home or a local drop off place…weekly!

In North Idaho they have drop offs in Hayden, Dalton Gardens, Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene and soon to Sandpoint.  I’m hoping if they deliver to Sandpoint, that they may consider Rathdrum since we are along the way too.  If we could get enough people to sign up…I’m sure it could happen.  I think I know just the store to ask to be the drop off location!

Each week you get a ‘box’ of food.  It varies upon the season and availability, but they are all organic fruits and vegetables.  You can vary the size and amount you order.  You can order every  week or just pay by week as you want or need the food.  It’s also my understanding, that you can also delete things if you don’t like them or you are allergic to something, so you are only paying for things your family will eat.  But be daring and try some new things too.  That is the fun of it.  There are more foods out there than the regular things you eat.

Anyone else in Rathdrum interested in helping me get a delivery spot here in town??  Let me know!

I love buying local and the Farmer’s Market is the epitome of it.  Locally made, locally grown, locally sold, locally supporting your friends and neighbors.  Plus there is dang good food there too!  The bread is to die for good!   This time of year there are more seedlings than actual vegetables…but that’s ok because I need those too.

What they also have are handmade items and other locally grown things that you don’t eat…like…flowers!

Tulips are my favorite and a new local farm is bringing these unique tulips to market today.  They are multi bloom tulips…I snipped their picture from their blog to show you….There is more than one tulip per stalk!  How cool is that?

Here is the farm that grows and sells these flowers:

They are local in Post Falls, Idaho.  They also sound like they will have tomato and cucumber seedlings perhaps today.

Just wondering…they grow Fava Beans.  Do people really eat them?  Are they good or just super healthy for you and devoid of flavor?

I have a hard time saying the word without thinking of the movie Silence of the Lambs.  How about you?

They both have an amazing eye for what this old-need-a-lot-of-fixing-up charmer could become again.

Personally I think this rivals anything from the pages of Martha or Better Homes and Gardens!  So if you want to see more of their awesome remodel, head over to This Old House.  If you think it’s as awesome as I do…please go to the bottom of the page and rate it as a “Real Winner”

Thanks!

Heather…if you win, you have to invite us over to dinner…k?

SIDS is a term that scares every parent.  Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is just that, sudden death.  SUID is a similar tragedy.  Sudden & Unexpected Infant Death.  They are both tragic, unexplained deaths of a baby before their first birthday.  For most of us, the first year of life is full of joyful firsts, but for roughly 4,600 families each year in the United States, their baby’s 1st birthday doesn’t come.

The American SIDS Institute and the Nathional SUID/SIDS Resource Center are national websites that provide information about how to prevent SIDS/SUID from pre-pregnancy strategies through the baby’s first year of life.  You can find statistics, definitions and information on current research, safe sleeping methods and links to other informational articles, research and websites.  But what they don’t provide is local training classes or support from others who share loss of a child.

North Idaho now has it’s very own nonprofit committed to providing support for those whose lives have been affected by the death of a child from SIDS or SUID.  It also promotes safe sleep practices through awareness and education outreach.    The Inland Northwest SIDS Foundation is official. One of the founders is a local mom, Liz Montgomery, who knows all too well the pain from the loss of a child from SIDS.

Their NonProfit became official at the end of March, so the website is still under construction, but they can also be found on Facebook.  They offer education, support, and awareness on safe sleep for the people of the Inland Northwest.  Idaho is the main focus, but they are willing to help anyone, in any state, looking for help.

They offer Safe Sleep classes locally for schools, daycare facilities, or other parenting groups that would like their staff trained.  Safe Sleep classes teach ways to reduce the risk of SIDS, best practices for safe sleep, as well as going over common sleep myths.

If you would like to schedule a Safe Sleep class, if you are looking to attend a Safe Sleep class, or if you would just like a brochure with more information about Safe Sleep and SIDS/SUID call The Inland Northwest SIDS Foundation at 208-55SIDS1.

I was trying to figure out when the Kootenai Farmers Market started up again and I came across this website.  Six Rivers Market is like a farmer’s market online.  It is based out of Sandpoint, so if you live up there you have it made. (click on the logo above to go to their website)

You look and see what the local farmers have available.  You shop online between Friday and Monday and place your order.  Then you pick up your order at Di Luna’s in Sandpoint (207 Cedar Street).  I was searching around on the website and it looks like you can get $2 delivery for areas surrounding Sandpoint as far as Cocolalla and Priest River.  Don’t think they come as far south as Athol or Rathdrum…that I could find.

With things like slime beef and goats with spider dna…I’m not sure what to do for food anymore.  What else don’t we know about?  I was watching the national news the other night and they had a news reporter telling about the increase in autism and not knowing why or how it is occurring.  They included in the story that it could be things in the environment causing it.

Then, wouldn’t you know it, they follow with the story about the pink slime that stores are using to fill their meat to make it leaner.  Then following that story was a story about how scientists just combined goat and spider dna so they could create ‘silky’ milk?  ick!

Apparently the newscasters didn’t publicly note the irony of those two stories following the piece about autism.

I am so ready to have a garden again…and for our local farmer’s market to open back up.  If we keep getting this snow…I’m not sure when we will get fresh veggies around here!  Mother Nature…please take pity on us….soon!

But the editor/publisher/owner decided to retire.  He definitely deserves his retirement, but the rest of us are all still living our working/parenting/yard working lives…and we are missing the paper.

A while back I had heard that someone was interested in starting one, but had not seen anything else about it for a few months.  But last week, I was in Rathdrum’s new Dollar store–yes, we have a dollar store now–and saw a business card on the counter for the Panhandle Sun!

After a search online and an email, I discovered the first issue is slated to be out this week! Yeah! I can’t wait to have my weekly local paper back again!!  I also found out they will have a website edition as well.  When the website is up, I will be posting that as well

So this Wednesday, be on the lookout for the 1st edition of the Panhandle Sun in businesses around Rathdrum, Athol, Spirit Lake and Bayview!

Today’s choice:

We’ve known about this deli for a couple years, but just haven’t made it in until today.   It’s located in Post Falls at 700 East 8th Street.  It’s just off Seltice, behind the Napa Auto Parts store.    If you know where Walgreens is in Post Falls…you are almost there!

I’ve grown up going to delis.  They were part of our family’s genetic dna.  But Big Bear Deli has added a yummy twist to the average deli.

Delicious breads…my husband had a marbled rye with his sandwich.  I had a half a french dip…a half  sandwich that was as big as most places offer a whole sandwich!  CC’s BLT had layers of thick slices of bacon.  And they made Q, the picky eater, a simple tuna sandwich on thick white bread.

My husband spent the whole time planning what he would have the next time we come to eat.  The signature bacon cheeseburger looks pretty good

Oh, and I am almost forgetting to tell you about the desserts!  Cathy, the owner is also a great baker!  She is the cupcake queen!

This is a picture of some of the ones she had on her website.

Last year she made CC’s birthday cake…oh man was it good!  So today she had some fresh made vanilla cupcakes with a creamy dollop of chocolate frosting and topped with a garnish of bits of toffee and chocolate.

The girls both had one…

Q was a bit pickier with hers…she isn’t a fan of toffee, but she loves chocolate.  She also has a funny way of eating things…

First she picked off the toffee…and you see what she did with it…

She ate the chocolate pieces though.

Then she ate the vanilla cupcake.

Last but not least…she ate the frosting off the top! LOL…It’s always entertaining to watch her eat!

I heard that it was put on by the Chamber of Commerce, but I could be wrong…

I thought we had a great view!  This fellow must still be seeing stars in his eyes today!  From his silhouette…I’m thinking maybe a fireman?

Whoever did it…thanks!  A big, huge, love when it’s my idea, kind of thanks!  The family looked at me odd when I made my request to go watch the show.  They were thinking small town…somebody’s back yard…fireworks from the reservation kind of event.

No, this was amazingly professional and lasted about 15 minutes.  So not quite as huge as the Coeur d’Alene Resort, but respectfully the right size (because we were frozen by the end) and they even did it at 6:45 so it was a family friendly tradition.  I say tradition, because I hope they do it again next year!!

Here are a few shots of the fireworks…

Happy…

New…

Year!!!

2012….here we come!

]]> http://lifeinidaho.com/2011/12/06/get-your-christmas-bling/ Wed, 07 Dec 2011 06:55:23 +0000 lifeinidaho http://lifeinidaho.com/2011/12/06/get-your-christmas-bling/ I found a great local shop last weekend. It’s called Accent Albums and Gifts.  It’s a little out of the way place. It’s not easy to find, but if you are determined…you will find it.  The store’s address is 7791 Aqua Circle off Government Way in Dalton Gardens.  The building is called the Aqua Center and it’s right on the curve as Aqua Circle curves to the south.

I can’t tell exactly what I bought because I have to keep some Christmas gifts as a surprise from my daughters, which is incredibly difficult now that they are teenagers.   But let’s just say…the girls are for sure going to get their “bling on” with what I found.

The owner, Sherril, has quite a large assortment of purses, wallets,  jewlery, sport signs, clothes, hats, suitcases, sports bags, photo albums and sports related scrapbook supplies.  The tiny shop is filled to the brim…and if you don’t see what you want, Sherril is more than happy to find something to fill your need.

There are lots of great purses!  Lots of bright, fun colors…with lots of added bling of course.

Lakeland’s colors are green and gold…and there is plenty of zebra and paisley…and green of course.

Lots of sparkly, showy, fancy jewelry to add some fancy bling to a neck or wrist!

And fun cheer signs…they have other sports too.  Golf, volleyball, soccer, basketball and more.

And who knew that travel could be so fancy!  If I buy suitcases for my girls, will they take it the wrong way and think I’m trying to get rid of them??  LOL

So if your looking to add a little Bling to your Christmas this year….this is the perfect spot to shop!

There were a LOT of flavors to choose from too! Fancy French Vanilla, Cable Car Chocolate, Reeses, Red Velvet Cake, Cookies & Cream, Egg Nog, Pumpkin, Cake Batter, Greek Style w/Touch of Honey, Peppermint, Watermelon Sorbet,  Mango Tango, Original Tart, and No Sugar Added Strawberry!

There were even more toppings.  From hot fudge to gummy worms to crumbled cookies to fruit to whip cream and sprinkles and beyond! Just about anything you can think of to put on top…it was there!

I’m kind of boring…I picked the chocolate yogurt and put chocolate sprinkles on it, but the girls went crazy.  I’m honestly not sure what flavors they had because they had soooo many toppings on it!  I can tell you though that all the bowls were emptied by the time we left!

JAMMS has three locations now.  The one we went to was on Government, near Costco.  They also have a second one on Sherman in Downtown Coeur d’Alene and a third one opened recently in Moscow, Idaho.

You can even ‘like’ them on Facebook and get all the JAMMS updates

So the next time you need a fun family reward or a sweet treat getaway…get down and try out JAMMS!

I wasn’t going to do any Black Friday shopping, but circumstances arose that I would be up at 5 in the morning and driving by the Spokane Valley Mall…so since I was in the neighborhood….and since I had three teenage girls in the car with me…it seemed like the stars had aligned.  We did about 4 hours at the mall.  Which was enough.

I learned that Bath and Body Works is one of the hot spots.  Their store was insanely busy, even at 10:00 in the morning!  The store smelled horrible…too many scents being tested at the same time.  I grabbed a vanilla lotion while in line and took a whiff trying to save my sense of smell!!  I also learned they have too many employees.  It was bad enough that the aisles were clogged with shoppers looking for the good deal, but then add the 15 employees standing around asking if you needed any help.  Yes, I needed help!  But not the kind they could provide…I just mostly needed them to get out of the way!!

I also discovered that you need to be really careful in Claire’s.  Besides the fact that most of the stuff in there is total junk and not made in America, their signage is deceptive to young shoppers.  My younger daughter spent about 20 minutes picking out just the right 10 items on a stand that had a sign that said 10 for $10.  It took awhile, some nudging for her to hurry up, and battling another older woman who kept trying to turn the display carousal while we were looking at jewelry, for her to finally choose the perfect 10 items.  When we got to the register, we were told that not all the items qualified for 10 for $10.  There was a small note at the bottom of the sign that said that the original price had to be less than $10.   Then, to top it off, you could only get the items for $1 each if you had 10 items!  This was no longer worth our time.  I had my two items and I had her to pick out 3 or 4 of the reasonably priced items and wrote my check…The total was $40.55.  Much more than I had planned to spend in this store, but my daughter was excited with her purchase.  Then the 14 year old assistant manager explained that I couldn’t write a check for over $40…it was company policy.  Really?!  55 cents was going to make all the difference in whether my check was good or bad!?  So I dug out 55 cents from my wallet, laughed when she gave me the coupons for the next time I shopped at Claire’s and proceeded to leave the store and hunt down a coffee shop!

Another thing that amazed me yesterday was how many people asked me if I needed help.  I must have had that deer in the headlights look or something.  I tried just saying no thank you at first, then I changed to “I’m just with those girls”, then I just ducked my head and didn’t make eye contact, finally I just sat on the bench outside of the stores when I could!  I knew that was the best choice when in Hollister I was asked, “Can I help you find anything?” and I almost answered, “Yeah, can you find me the light switch and the volume control on your music?!”

I did get some Christmas shopping done…mostly for my hubby.  So I can’t let slip any of my great finds because he is a snooper!  I have to hide things well at my house…or rather at my friends’ houses!! The girls were happy, especially my oldest…she got new shoes. She is always happy when she gets a pair of new shoes!  It is something genetic passed down through the women on my side of the family.  The weirdest part of the new shoes…they are the same size as mine!  We share shoe sizes now!  Goodness, how did that happen?

I’m happy to have survived Black Friday shopping.  But while watching t.v. last night there were commercials advertising:  ”Black Friday continues on Saturday” and another one that dared to say “Come enjoy Black Saturday shopping!”.  I’m sorry….they only get one day!  They are welcome to have as many sales as they would like through the year, but Saturday is taken already!  And don’t forget Monday is Cyber Monday…. sooo….this Saturday….well, it belongs to local businesses!

That’s right, it’s Small Business Saturday! If you haven’t already heard of this, it’s a day when you need to get out and shop local and support your neighbors and community!  Actually, every day would be better!  Buy local, buy American.  Let’s try solving some of our country’s economic woes ourselves!

I work every day and don’t have time or the inclination to sit or sleep in a cold tent away from my home.  I don’t agree with their tactics, but do I think they are right?  (Well if you watch the news, not all these people understand their purpose…it’s like watching the Jay Walker questions on the Jay Leno show…the answers they give the reporters are rambling, full of profanity and often just plain rubbish)

Do I think Wall Street and big monopoly businesses are to blame?  Not exactly on their own.  I think our government, which has not been listening to the public, plays a part in the blame game too.  It’s like those parents that let their spoiled children do whatever they want instead of just saying “NO!”  But I also believe that you and I are to blame as well.  Where do you buy your household goods?  Where are your clothes made?  Do you go to a fast food chain for dinner or a mom and pop restaurant?

Those Occupy people aren’t going to change a thing…unless of course they are spending lots of money locally and supporting local businesses and our local economy while they Occupy their spot in our community.  Gosh, are these people from our community??

As I like to see things….glass half full….we are part of the solution not part of the problem.  Here’s what our community needs to do.  BUY LOCAL!!  BUY AMERICAN!!  It’s not always easy to do.  I get that.  I live that.  I wear it…but it’s time we try.  Here’s an interesting fact I found on the website called: Rely Local

Did you know that if every resident of Rathdrum, over the age of 18, spent an extra $10 of their monthly income in a  locally owned Rathdrum business, it would generate $467,881.34 that stays in our Rathdrum economy over the course of a year!!  Yes, that’s almost half a million dollars!!!

These local businesses could hire more people.  These same businesses support our children when they have to fundraise for school events.  They help other businesses get started in our empty store fronts.  They donate and support charities in town that help the less fortunate among us!  They keep our lovely town of Rathdrum alive for our children to grow up and hopefully live in as well with our grandchildren (ok, not that I’m anywhere near old enough to have grandchildren yet!!  But eventually down the road after college…way after college…lol)

So…here’s your challenge:  Can you spend $10 a month in Rathdrum?  We just did tonight.  My daughter came up with a clever costume idea and bought it at Rathdrum Drug!  It’s your turn now! Let me know what you do!!

Here’s the address for those of you, like me, that plug places into your map app on your phone:

15825 North Westwood Drive, Rathdrum 83858

But it’s really easy to get there.  Just find Super 1 on highway 53 next to Lakeland High School.  They are tucked away right behind the grocery store.

These are my yummy strawberries from this summer’s garden.  I just pulled some raspberries and blueberries out this morning too!!  Yummy!

This time of the summer, the nursery is full of wonderful sales.  It’s not too late to get those perennials planted.  Westwood Gardens isn’t open year round, but they do open up during the winter for the Christmas season.  We bought our first Christmas tree from them last winter.  It was a gorgeous tree that was fresh and lasted a long time, even with our wood stove roaring.