I was planning to head out to Tennessee after Christmas to catch up with some old friends and hang out with new ones. I guess I was feeling the southern state of mind, because I stopped by the Billy Reid store here in NYC before I left.  It’s not unlike his Alabama store, but definitely not as cool. I mean after all, in AL, you are quite literally walking into his home. Regardless, he had some end-of-year-sales and with Billy, you know you can get high quality-with all of his construction, manufacturing, and detailing done in the states and over in Italy. I picked up a couple dresses and was crushing on the plaids (which are going to be super big these upcoming seasons… Goodbye 80s, Hello 90s). I’m still into those oversized bows around the collar, so I swiped up one of those blouses too.

I stuck around and talked with his business partner as well as the store manager, Maytol, who mentioned that they’re bringing up some bands from TN/AL to perform in store and recently opened the doors to a new Nashville store, which I regretfully admit didn’t get to go see while I was down there. If there is any time in my spring months between book talks and life, I definitely want to head down to Alabama again during “Alabama Adventure Week.” SO MUCH FUN! I haven’t been down there since 2006 when filming Alabama Chanin with Sara and Hamish for a TV pilot, but I yearn to head back out there. I just have to stay away from the mac & cheese, chocolate gravy, buttered biscuits, and sweet tea. That stuff will kill ya!

Anyway, I rocked out my best TN digs with Billy Reid’s Made in the USA plaid button down; John Patrick Organic vegetable-tanned jacket; Terra Plana recycled/veggie-tanned boots; Serfontaine organic cotton blue jeans from Kaight; alpaca-acai seed bracelet; bottom necklace a vintage recreation by The Dirty Librarian (don’t you LOVE that name? Ahem, Sarah Palin); and a bone carved necklace with Sioux horse I picked up at a pow wow when I was like 12 years old. 

 

 

So as I was planning to head to TN, a notification flashed on one of our climate change listserves. There was a report of a major coal ash slurry spill 40 miles west of Knoxville on December 22nd. Major news sources such as the NY Times were late in reporting on it- (figures) and considering this is the worst coal ash spill in history, I wanted to head down, meet with residents and survey the situation. Thanks to Garner, I was able to arrange all that. One of my newfound friends- Jeff Wyatt Wilson- from Wilson Independent - in all his awesomeness - took a road trip with me over to Kingston to film a-la VBS.TV style for Discovery Earth Live and other outlets. Dave Cooper and friends were able to get me to the heart of the impoundment break to document the residents’ stories. I let them all know that if they need an outlet to report on or have any questions on who to turn to for some answers, they know my number. More on all of this later….

Charity: Water’s December 2008 ball took place this past week at the Metropolitan Pavilion. I got to have some down time with Scott (the founder) in Mexico, which doesn’t really happen all that often. Scott gave a riveting talk in Mexico at The Summit and it brought nearly a third of the group to Charity’s benefit, which was a good enough reason for a reunion. It was a tremendous turn-out. They raise $450,000 for clean water projects across 17 different countries and 100% of the money raised goes directly to the programs. In addition to the Summiteers (Josh, Eben, Graham, Nikki, Ben K., Ben H., Caroline, Natali, Elliot, Alex, Ryan, and the list goes on)– I got to see Esther again, who had just come back from documenting Charity’s projects in Kenya (and provided most all the photos you see here). Would love to have her join me again this coming year to Mozambique; let’s see what we can work out.

Regardless, if you’re interested in giving to a charity, I’d highly recommend looking into Charity: Water. You can check out their “Give on your Birthday” program, which has been a highly successful fundraising model. Though I know there has been issues with regenerating aquifers in various parts of the world because of improper well drilling and lack of water conservation, the Charity mission is a strong one and restores faith in people’s idea of what charity is because 100% of the public’s money goes to basic water and sanitation facilities in developing nations.

It was terrific to catch up with Adrian. We pledged to get some friends together for another dinner at his house. And if you fashionistas are curious about my outfit: It’s a brilliant hemp-silk vintage-inspired dress handmade by Carasan with hand-sewn glass beads and a fair-trade kalamkari purse by World of Good. As mentioned in an earlier post, the awesome feathered headgear was acquired at the coolest little Brooklyn sample sale from a number of my sustainable style peeps. Photo by Emma Grady over at Treehugger.com.

Emma, Rose and I pose for a picture.

Photos by Esther of Esther’s photos from Rwanda

The displays were impeccably done. Scott’s team does an impressive job in communicating Charity’s message.

I had plenty to talk about with the Teen Time Live crew.

Esther and I take a T.O. for a sexy little shot.

a cute candid capture by Andrew Bicknell

Imagine this for 3 miles….everyday.

Great, another guy in a kilt!

Traver Rains throws his best Blue Steel.

Adrian addresses the crowd

…which was a pretty packed house.

Michael will be heading off to Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique soon–about an hour from where my partner and I work, so it’s on my to-do list to put them in touch with one another.

Kayla, Adrian, and some other cool chick

The party afterward was cool too. Josh Peterson, Jamie Daves and I talked politics. I still can’t get over how BIG Jamie’s hands are. Look at them compared to my waist. Holy Sh*t Balls!

Jamie busting a move. Whoa big daddy!

I don’t know what I’m doing; looks like I’m scared stiff, but look at Kayla getting all sultry and stuff.

Who was I having fun with on the text? It had to be late, late and I can’t recall who I was texting–or who was texting me. Was it Alex? Ahhh, your guess is as good as mine.

Hello, Kitty Kat!

Josh and Jamie. I joined Josh the following day for a get-together dinner with Scott and others. Josh just moved to NYC by way of SF and will be helping Scott and the Charity: Water team out with organizational structure. Yes, he’s one of the converts from The Summit!

Disco inferno!

Photos compliments of Esther Havens, Andrew Bicknell, & Emma Grady