Tips for a Festive and Green Holiday!

I love Christmas time! This is my favorite time of the year. It is the time to get together, be thankful and set our new goals for the upcoming year.

Being from Venezuela and far away from my family makes me feel a little sad but at the same time I love to live here in Portland!
Portland is a great city and I am very proud to live in the great "Green" City of Roses. Here we recycle, reuse and reinvent and we are very environmentally conscious.

Here we have some tips to help to create a Green Holiday:

• Purchase gifts with minimal or recyclable packing (view Metro's waste-wise tips at www.oregonmetro.gov/holidaytips).
• Give a gift of experience, like tickets to a play, a spa service or a trip to the Zoo.
• After receiving a new gift, donate older, usable items to a local charity.
• Walk or use transit and shop at local retailers.
• Buy carbon offsets for greenhouse gas emissions caused by holiday travel (visit www.CarbonCounter.org).

And remember:

• Be a conscientious shopper.
• Create new expectations.
• Sometimes less is more.
• Set your goals.

Holiday Tree Recycling.

Holiday tree recycling is easy! . Be sure to remove everything on it such as ornaments and lights.
Here are some options for recycling for your holiday tree:

1. Put out the whole tree with your yard debris ($4 to $6 per tree)
2. Cut up the tree and put it in your green roll cart or in cans or bundles next to your cart ( no charge for roll cart pickup; $2.50 per additional can or bundle; all decorations must be removed)
3. Donate your tree to a non profit organization to recycle. Call the Metro Hotline at 503-234-3000 for drop-off or pick-up information (recycling fees usually range from $4 to $8)
4. Trees will not be accepted with garbage and will only be accepted with yard debris.

For more information: Call your garbage and recycling company, visit www.portlandonline.com/ods/carts or call the Curbside Hotline at 503-823-7202


RECYCLING WORKS!

Price vs Value

I love this,


" It is unwise to pay too much, but is worse to pay too little.
When you pay too much, you lose a little money-that is all.
When you pay too little, you lose everything because the thing
you bought was incapable of doing the thing you bought it to do.

The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little
and getting a lot-it cannot be done.
If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something
for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough
to pay for something better"


John Ruskin
English Philosopher 1819-1900

Women in Business Holiday Market!

What a wonderful time of the year! I love this season...and I know that a lot of us are planning to spend this Holiday time with friends and family in our beautiful city of Portland.

Here in our city we can find a huge number of venues year round. But especially this season you will find great and fun holiday events, bazaars and festivals to attend.
Today I would love to mention "The Women in Business Holiday Market and Fundraiser for the Oregon Food Bank" at the beautiful and interesting Kennedy School, Saturday December 6th from 9:oo am to 3:00 pm.
This is a great opportunity to get all of your holiday shopping season completed!

"The Women in Business Holiday Market" is an event organized by the lovely lady Tonya DeCroce. This will be a gathering of over 20 women business owners, including Decor By Josi.

Also taking a place will be the silent auction of the Oregon Food Bank. We have on-site parking, complementary gift wrapping (while supplies last), raffles and much more for the whole family.


I hope to see you there!

The Wild, Far East...

To Perfume Pagoda, Vietnam

I recently returned from a wonderful trip to Asia. My lovely husband and I decided find out more about "The Wild, Wild East" and we chose Vietnam and Korea. I have to say that this was one of the most exiting trips that I have ever taken.
It was culturally rewarding, with a mix of flavors and colors. Oh the Colors! Colors and palettes are one of my favorite topics as an interior decorator and I have to admit that I am not afraid at all to use them in my creations.

I had the chance to be surrounded by beautiful and bright colors reflected in their landscaping, decor, textures and even their food...mmm!

Street market at Old Quarter, Hanoi







There I came across an interesting article about how the fashion experts are predicting the Color Palette trends of Spring 2009. This makes me think that although Spring season is associate with fresh hues, according to the experts we will see the comeback of the hot and bright colors along with the neutrals. This can make for fun wild matching and mixing.

Of course as a trend these colors will be also translate into the world of interior design and media. Here you have the top ten colors included in "The Pantone Fashion Color Report-Spring 2009", offering a selection of bright and neutrals providing "Optimism and Stability for Spring 2009".

• Lavander: This is a lighter, more mystical version of the purple of this fall. Using this clean hue along with brighter colors can be a nice soft addition to any room.

DD Allen -design kitchen

• Palace Blue: This hue seems to be a designers favorite for the Spring of 2009. Classic, spring navy-like tone and makes it sparkle.

Lounge chair by Baker

• Super Lemon: Fun and optimistic outlook of the palette and will attract the consumer's eye.

• Salmon Rose: Conveys an optimistic outlook. The subtlest of oranges. It is flattering and beautiful with a Summer glow.

• Fuchsia Red: It makes you think sensual and seductive. Will be present in clothing, as well lipstick, nail polish and decor. With its blue undertones, this cool red is a real show stopper, adding a sense of elegance and mystery to the palette.

• Rose Dust: Not your tipycal color beige. Rose Dust breaks away from the average neutrals related with Spring; adding subtle rose undertones.

• Slate Grey: With its bluish-green undertones, cool Slate Grey brings the perfect neutral that can be combined with any another color of the palette.

And finally we will have the presence of three greens, a must have for Spring colors:

• Vibrant Green: It will bring the true verdancy to the palette.

• Dark Citron: A citrus-inspired green, is relaxing and more serious adding an element of sophistication to the mix.

• Lucite green: Clean, clear subtle hue with a slight shimmer.

Don't be afraid to bring a splash of bright colors into your life and spice up your space!

Decor By Josi offers a full and comprehensive color palette development for your projects at home or office.

An exiting week!...Reuse and Debut!

What an exiting week, last week! I love that kind of day when everything that is happening is full of new things; to learn, experience and enjoy.

Early last week I had the chance to join "The R.E.X Project" Tour (Reuse Everything eXperiment) in SE Portland. Myself along with some of my colleagues had the great opportunity to share laughter and amazing stories with the lively and lovely Shannon Quimby, the creator of this fabulous project.

The Quimby's family home is full of wonders and clever ideas. When Shannon and her husband Glenn learned that the house they bought not long ago would have to be razed, they decided to salvage and reuse everything-literally.
Shannon has a clever way of finding new uses for everything....Bravo Shannon!


Later the same week I finally had my TV debut, Yes!
About a month ago I received an email from a former client and friend, telling me that she was involved as a producer for the "Cita con Nelly" show, ("A date with Nelly"), a spanish TV show broadcasted in the spanish station Univision Northwest.
She invited me to be a guess of the interview series, to share my designer skills, tips and experiences to the Hispanic community and I said....Yes!


















"Cita con Nelly" is a weekly program of variety directed to the Latino community in the Pacific Northwest. The show has been hosted by the lovely lady Nelly for the last six years.
It was a great WOW moment when I looked at myself on TV and it is my big introduction to the media word.


Finally, we are a week before Thanksgiving Day. My best advice to all of you is start to recheck
your "To Do list " and be ready to get together with your loved ones ....Spread the beautiful colors and aromas of the season along your home and enjoy!




Happy Thanksgiving Day!