holiday craft swap!

exciting news! we are doing a holiday craft swap! spread a little holiday cheer with a hand-crafted gift from the heart…it can be anything you want, and it doesn’t have to be specific to any holiday. you can make something with a wintery theme, cold weather accessories, something decorative for the home, or just something to make someone smile.
if you haven’t participated in one of our craft swaps before, here’s how it works:
sign up by friday november 27. to sign up, fill out the simple form here with your name, email, and mailing address. people outside the united states are welcome to join, but if you live in the u.s., you can indicate if you do not want to ship internationally. i will match you up with a partner and send you their email and shipping address.
you have until friday december 25 to make a gift and mail it to your partner. we have set up a group on flickr here where you can discuss your ideas and inspiration as you’re crafting, and upload pictures of your crafts when you make/receive them.
if you need some help getting started, check out some of the crafts people made for swaps in the past: 2009 valentine swap, 2008 valentine swap, 2008/2009 winter swap.
so sign up and start crafting! can’t wait to see what people make!

meeshie’s banana bread

another employee here at the home office shared this recipe – her all time favorite, which is her mom’s banana bread recipe. it is affectionately titled “meeshie’s banana bread” (her name is michele, nicknamed meeshie).

meeshie’s banana bread
1/2 cup soft butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 or 4 medium bananas)
1 tbsp milk
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
in a large bowl cream butter, vanilla, and sugar until light and fluffy. beat in eggs. in a separate bowl mash together bananas and milk. in yet another bowl combine remaining dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda). blend dry ingredients into creamed mixture alternately with the bananas.
for bread fill greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. bake on 350 for 1 hr 10 mins.
for muffins fill cupcake wrappers 2/3rds to 3/4ths the way up. bake on 350 for 18-22 mins. (makes about 24 muffins)
let cool ten minutes then turn out of pans and let cool completely.
enjoy!

free people portland’s 1st birthday!

i’m not the only one celebrating a birthday this weekend…so is our portland store!

to celebrate they’re having a party tomorrow, november 14, with refreshments, raffles, and more! they even made adorable gift bags, pictured above, that include handmade hair clips with peacock feathers and satchels made out of free people shopping bags! so cute.
happy 1st birthday portland free people!

november 2009 gift catalog shoot

good morning and happy friday…
take a look at this cute behind the scenes video from our november 2009 gift catalog shoot. this shoot and catalog are extra special because they feature our customers as our models! the girls in the catalog are from our open model casting that was held over the summer.

the song in the video is “hobo girl” by the fruit bats…if you haven’t heard their latest album the ruminant band you should check it out…just sayin.

meet our in-house yoga instructor!

one of the awesome things we have at the free people is yoga! if you don’t do yoga…i highly recommend you try. it’s an amazing workout, and you feel incredible afterwards – body and mind. paige chapman, our in house yoga instructor, shared her experiences with me, including an amazing retreat in mozambique, africa. read on to learn more about paige and the style of yoga she teaches. she also teaches at yoga child on 9th & south in philly.

when did you start doing yoga?
“i started doing yoga in college when i was about 19. i was in the dance company at school and thought it would be a good way to compliment my dance training as well as keep me in shape during the summer.”

why did you decide to be a yoga instructor?

“i fell in love with yoga immediately. since i started, it has brought me so much joy, peace, and an overall feeling of well being. after graduating college, i moved to NY where there was a very well respected teacher training that i could do on the weekends while working full time. it took me eight grueling months – eight intensive three day weekends a month with yoga classes and assignments in between. i joke that i never was more stressed out than during my yoga training, but it was by far one of the best decisions that i ever made. i didn’t actually start teaching full time until i moved back to philadelphia about three years ago.”
your classes are a blend of hatha and vinyasa…can you explain what that means?
“hatha is probably the most recognized style of yoga in america and is what was typically practiced as yoga started becoming popular here in the 60s. i like to think of it as a very classic form of yoga before we got into all kinds of crazy styles, the use of heat, etc. although still challenging, it’s not overwhelming to beginning students and i like the fact that its slower pace allows for concentrating on form and body alignment – rather than just rushing through the poses which can often lead to injuries. vinyasa is more of a flow style, linking the asanas (poses) together with breath and quicker transitions. It gets the heart rate up and therefore brings more of a workout factor to the mat. i like teaching a combination of both so that you feel like you really got the body moving, but there is still the quality of being mindful about your practice. when all is said and done, yoga was created to ready the mind for meditation. i want my students to feel as rejuvenated, relaxed, and as peaceful as possible when they walk out of class.”

i read that you recently taught a retreat in mozambique, africa…what was that like?

“the retreat in mozambique was absolutely incredible. a friend of mine whom i got certified to teach with in new york, married a south african, and set up a yoga studio in johannesburg (http://www.yogawarrior.co.za/). she invited me to teach the retreat with her at a magnificent eco resort on a completely undeveloped coastline in mozambique (http://www.pontamamoli.com/index.html). you sleep in wooden bungalows with monkeys jumping on your roof, swim with wild dolphins in the ocean, go whale watching, horse back ride, watch elephants in the distant reserve, and eat local organic food. the combination of the natural serenity of that location along with teaching yoga was quite an extraordinary experience.”
what is your favorite place you’ve travelled to as a yoga instructor?
“africa was hands down the most fantastic and exotic place that I’ve traveled as a yoga teacher. it’s going to be hard to top, but i’m going to try!”
what inspires you on a daily basis?
“that’s such a good question for us all to answer. i would say being in nature (even if you’re in the city – it could be watching the leaves change), kindness from friends and better yet – strangers, and doing what i love to do.”
why do you think more people should incorporate yoga into their exercise routine?
“bottom line, it just makes you feel so good! our daily routines can be intensely stressful and sometimes we don’t even know how much tension we walk around with. over time, it takes a toll. whether you’re a beginner student that’s really tight and stiff or an advanced student that can do all kinds of fancy poses, yoga brings the same benefits: it calms the mind, makes us conscious of our breath, eases tension, brings awareness to the way we hold the body when we’re out in the world, and perhaps allows us to become more mindful – opening our hearts to what’s happening in our lives just a little bit more.”
thank you, paige! i don’t know about you all, but i want to go on the africa retreat…it sounds unreal…

book club selection 1: on the road by jack kerouac

good morning everyone…i am so excited to announce about the launch of the book club! we have chosen on the road by jack kerouac as the first book featured in the free people book club! this is one of my favorite books of all time, and I can’t wait to hear what you all have to say about it.
since we’re new at this, we’re just going to learn as we go…if you look to the list of categories on the right you’ll see we’ve created one for the book club. you will still be able to see the posts on the main page, but if you ever want to see only book club posts, click there.
here’s how it’s going to work:
on the road is broken into three parts, so we’re going to give you all some time to read the first part and then we’ll start discussing! check back for a post – maybe in the form of a question, a highlight, not quite sure yet – on monday november 23 about part one of the book, and leave any comments you have in the comments section as you normally would. but make sure you don’t spoil the ending for anyone who might not be finished the book yet…
happy reading!

yoga for a cause

do you love animals? do you love yoga? do you live in philly? then you’ll love this event…

this saturday, practice yoga studio and the monster minders present upward dog: a yoga benefit for paws. the event will take place in the beautiful sanctuary at fleisher art memorial (8th and catherine) at 4pm, with two full hours of yoga led by ellen greenberg, owner of practice yoga studio on fabric row.
this event is free but there is a suggested donation of $25 that will go to the philadelphia animal welfare society to aid in their efforts to save shelter animals.
you can rsvp for the event here.
sounds like a win win situation to me :) is anyone attending any cool yoga events this week/weekend?