Flock of Chicks, $20

You can be all, “Dude, I got you a bunch CHICKS for Hanukkah!”

from Heifer International

My coffee is organic, fair-trade, shade grown and whole bean. Always. I’m a total hipster snob about it, I know. I also love micro-roasters, which, like a micro-brewery would for beer, make small artisan batches of coffee instead of churning it out, loveless style, in a big factory. Also, I have always loved small business, especially ones that employ eco-friendly, socially conscious practices, so I was pretty excited to find out about Good Dog Coffee, which is a micro-roaster based in Maryland. They brew coffee that hits my four requirements, and they teamed up with Manos por Patas [the organization in Puerto Rico that helped us rescue Tino] to make a “Sato” blend ["Sato" is the slang term for strays in Puerto Rico.] A portion of the proceeds goes to help them.

I waited until I’d had a few cups before I talked about it, because I didn’t want to endorse a product that sucked. This is why the bag in my photo is opened and rumpled, not pretty and smooth. This is serious journalism going on here!

I love the coffee. It’s up there with some of the best I’ve had, and the price, $12.95 per pound, is exactly what I would feel comfortable paying for a coffee of this quality with the proceeds going to charity.

At Thanksgiving with Rob’s family, a “pick a name out of a hat and buy for that person” idea was suggested for Hanukkah gift exchange. I happen to like this method, but Rob and I have already decided that we’re doing donations this year in lieu of gifts. One, it’s less expensive. Even though we’re ok and will be for a long time, we’re being cautious. Two, there are people we love doing work we believe in, and they need help. I’d rather save lives than give unnecessary things. In my own mind (or “heart”, if you will), this kind of holiday has been a long time coming, and I’m excited. I’m not condemning frivolous gift-giving; it’s fun, and joyful! But right now it’s not where we’re at.

I have to figure out how to present a donation gift. I was thinking individual pictures of dogs that we’d be helping printed onto cards. My sister-in-law gave cards out when she donated money to Noah’s Ark, and those were cool.

Any other ideas? I don’t want to be cheesy.

__

P.S. Be sure to check out my gift guide, coming on December 8, which will feature fun and frivolous gifts, as well as where and how you can find charities to donate to for holiday gift giving. I will share all the methods I’ve come up with on presenting these humanitarian gifts. Also, if you are doing a gift guide on your blog, send me the link and I’ll feature it here. I’m curious to see what my fellow bloggers are cooking up!

Oh no! Why are these adorable bunnies all blurred out?! Have they committed a crime?

YES!

Do you know that the image of a Pe… er … “certain brand of marshmallow bunny” is copyrighted, and that you can’t sell photos on Etsy of these “certain brand of marshmallow bunnies”, even if you don’t use their proper name in advertising. Even if you’re just a nice girl, living in Brooklyn and selling art prints to raise money for charity. Even if you write the owner of the image after receiving a (very nice but firm) take down notice of this certain brand of marshmallow bunny and ask nicely, because, Oh my God they’re just photos and THEY’RE SAVING DOGS AND DON’T YOU KNOW THAT SAVING DOGS IS IMPORTANT WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?

I know. I should fight the man. But The Man is pretty big, and I’m not even certain if I’m right. Lots of really smart people have gone back and forth about copyright laws in cases such as these, but I personally am not sure what the legal correct answer is. All I know is that I got a take down letter from the owner of the image of this “certain brand of marshmallow bunnies”, and I can’t sell my prints of them any more in my sad, empty Etsy store.

So…

I’m giving them away. I still have some copies of each of these left, and I am upset because they were my best selling prints and made a lot of people happy. So, lemons into lemonade.

If you would like one for free, here’s what you do:

1. Make a $10+ donation to Manos por Patas/Hands for Paws here. (I was selling them for $10 and kicking $5 from each to them, but now they get the whole thing. Also, postage is free for you. I’m eating the shipping, so bargain! Woo hoo!)
2. Send me proof of your donation, your home address and print preference to theambershow at gmail dot com
3. Feel smug knowing you were able to help a worthy cause, damn the man, and save the empire.

You’ll be getting rid of my prints for me and helping out some great little pups who are way cuter than marshmallow bunnies.