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As you know, every day is Earth Day.  Especially here at Gorgeous and Green! A local and green certified Event Planner, Karine Brighten, also treats each day as earth day.  Apart from being green certified and having connections with local green vendors, she is also committed to education as we are.  This past April 22nd, the traditional Earth Day, she put on an event in Berkeley that highlighted her commitment to the environment and her belief in eating and living as a vegan.

I asked her to share more about her event: 1. What was your vision in creating a vegan earth day in Berkeley? My vision for the event was to start a new tradition, and that new tradition was to celebrate the link between veganism and a healthy environment in honor of Earth Day. There are many events in the San Francisco Bay Area that take place on this day, but none that focus specifically on the positive effects of veganism on the environment. My goal was to have people leave the event feeling inspired, and with tools that they can use to help the planet.

2. Please describe the event and who you chose to include in the day? The event consisted of the screening of an award-winning feature documentary, “Call of Life, Facing the Mass Extinction” by Species Alliances. The film investigates the growing threat to Earth’s life support systems as a result of dwindling biodiversity.  Following the film there was a panel discussion of 4 experts in vegan lifestyle, nutrition, and sustainability. After the panel discussion there was a catered vegan reception that everyone loved!

3. Do you feel like your vision was achieved?  What else would you like to include in up and coming vegan earth days? I couldn’t be happier with the ways things turned out! The event sold out and people walked away feeling motivated to make changes in their lifestyle. The tradition will indeed continue next year, and I hope to make it a full day event.

Gorgeous and Green was hired to provide the cute edible baskets for the event:

in Green and Health, G&G

I added a few hydgrangea inside the branches, so they could peak out as people see it from different angles.

Here you can see wisps of asparagus leaves  and kale trailing from a simple bouquet of roses and gerbera that were left over from a past event.

Last week at Revival  Gorgeous and Green reused this chemical glass vase.  Since the opening is so narrow, I can only put a couple of stems in.  This time a little local flowering kale and a nice flowering branch.   I love using flowering kale or cabbage, not only because it's hardy and has lovely petals and color, but because it is tied to a good friend of mine. My flowering kale comes from a local grower and wholesaler in Half Moon Bay, Dave Repetto.  I have developed a great rapport with him and he is always clear with me about his flowers and his more sustainable practices, including not spraying pesticides on most flowers.  Besides the fact that he's local, I know he employs a good amount of local people and he is kind and fair.  My local business of selling local and sustainable flowers (and gifts and cards, and...)  in turn supports so many other local businesses and people, and the ripples go on and on.  

In the big vase I had some lovely flowering branches that had such great movement up and out, I just added a few greens and hanging amaranth as well as one large flowering kale right near the middle.

And for the entrance, one more kale in a short vase with some sprigs and branches.

In Green and Health, G&G

Gorgeous and Green does the weekly arrangements for the restaurant Paisan, in Berkeley.  We usually do just a few pieces, they have a small space and just a few touches of color brighten it up.  These were created by my assistant Ryan.

some small arrangements for a few tables

Last week at Revival I used a lot of green for the arrangements.  I love all the different textures and strange looking living things that show up in these arrangements.

Hi all I frequently update on our lovely floral designs, but I tend to leave out so much of what is actually beautiful and lovely for sale in the Gorgeous and Green boutique.  If you've been to the boutique, you probably know about all the lovely tillandsia we have and the great cards all printed on recycled paper, but there's always new items and small changes, almost on a weekly! We always have locally hand-blown tillandsia terrariums or what I like to call air-iums,  (since they float in the air and hold airplants).  The local glass blower and I like to work on new shapes that will work for the plants and add a new element of design.  I recently started offering a few flat glass terrariums for the airplants to live in, one of which you can see here:

These flat terrariums allow it to rest right up against the wall, so you can hang it from a nail or hook in the wall. I have a new collection of locally made pottery designs from the artist Anna Vaughn, who's eye for color, texture and ornate designs go well with the delicate but very earthy style of the shop.  Her art pots continuously sell very well in the boutique, so get them while you can!  They take her a lot of time to create!

I also recently started carrying lovely, vintage and sustainably made jewelry from local artist Jessica Fein.  Her beautiful and sometimes big rings and earrings make quite a statement, and also great gifts.  The pieces I hand select for the boutique are from her vintage collection, so they are often in short supply.  Here's a pic of some of the rings we have nestled in an old silverware box I repurposed:

And here's a pic of some of the orange and yellow local, non-sprayed and even some organic flowers we have outside, I love all the brightness that has come with summer, that's now finally here!

In Green and Health, G&G

Here's a crawling arrangement I did with thimble berry bush.  It seems to be crawling around the corner of the wall.

This arrangement features the spindly branches and fuchsia lepto with thimble berry and orange juice roses from a local grower in Petaluma.  I love the vase because of it's shape and character.  It's a wide v shaped vintage vase with touches of gold.  It's probably from the 40's although has a hint of 20's charm.

Here's the hot pink lepto with the big branches.  It's hard to tell but this thing was probably 7 feet tall with those branches.  The lepto itself was 5 feet tall.  It was a local bush, probably getting out of hand before it was trimmed down.  The pictures don't do these arrangements justice, because you lose the dimensionality of it.  Those branches are kind of creeping and winding around the branches.

small entrance arrangement, kind of wild with curling equisetum and kangaroo paw

and the ominous but fun big metal, here filled with scallop kale and flowering kale and some thimble berry and kangaroo paw

In local Green and Health,

G&G

Small arrangement of chestnuts and amaranth, probably fall

small arrangement of organic jade sunflowers, gerbera and amaranth, late fall

Dimly lit, but you can see more chestnuts and amaranth with gerbera.  This one looks like it's got it's claws out and is ready to grab you.

Definitely fall, with the red and yellow changing leaves on branches

Dimly lit again but you can see more fall leaves, organic sunflowers and organic hanging amaranth

Here I've paired the arrangement with local pumpkins and squash.  And that is a big iron pot I've got the flowers in.  Revival is a kitchen after all.

more fall colors and squash

some belladonna paired with reds and oranges.  Love that organic broom corn.