YumSugar

YumSugar Gift Guide: The Hipster Foodie

YumSugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:00:52 -0800

A friend of mine, who fits the classification of hipster to a T, also happens to love all things gourmet. Initially, I was at a loss for what to get her, but I quickly discovered that there's an array of niche gift items that converge at the juncture of food, music, and cutting-edge cool. Case in point: I have to get her this book about underground dining, and because she loves to push the envelope, I know she'll flip for this shopping bag.

Want more gift ideas? Browse the selection below or check out all the gift guides on HolidaySugar.

Trend Alert: Celebrity-Crafted Food Carryalls

YumSugar — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:00:00 -0700

These days, virtually every celebrity - from Lauren Conrad to Jessica Simpson - has his or her own womenswear, footwear, accessory, and fragrance line. But celebrity lunchbags and farmers market totebags? Lately we've seen the celebrity, fashion, and food worlds collide, with all sorts of celebrity-designed carryalls for everything from our groceries to our lunch.

PartySugar and I might have been on to something when we said that we prefer to carry our farmers market goodies in style. It seems others were thinking the exact same thing. First, Whole Foods announced Sheryl Crow would be custom-designing its latest green grocery bag. Then celebrity chef Mario Batali jumped on the design bandwagon, randomly unveiling his own line of sleek lunch bags. The latest? A collaboration between Jennie Garth and the Sierra Club.

While I'm a bigger fan of some of the designs than others, if this trend encourages shoppers to be more eco-friendly - wasting less resources on plastic and paper grocery bags and lunch bags - then it's for the better. What do you think of the trend? Would you buy Sheryl's, Mario's, or Jennie's bags?

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Off to Market Recap: Picnic Gear

partysugar — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:00:23 -0700

Picnic season is in full swing and if you plan on packing a meal and heading to a local park, you'll need the proper picnic gear. From a basket to a blanket, planning a picnic requires the essential tools. To ensure that everyone hosts fabulous picnics, you headed off to market in search of the most perfect picnic gear. You looked for picnic baskets, plastic serving ware, and anything else that screams picnic. You saved your discoveries in the Yum Market on TeamSugar with the keyword tag, Picnic Gear.

I love this fun, floral bag that jspeed found. The matching plates are festive and the colors outdoorsy. Not to mention its tote like shape is very modern picnic basket. For more picnic gear, scroll to the right below.

Carry Your Lunch in a Tote for the Cure

partysugar — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:15:17 -0700

With more and more people using canvas tote bags to transport goods home from the grocery store, it's only natural that this concept would carry over to brown paper bag lunches. Instead of packing your lunch in a paper or plastic baggie, pack it in a reusable tote, like the fashionable ones pictured at right.

Created by Lean Cuisine in partnership with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, these lunchbox bags are good for the environment and help fight breast cancer. For every purchase of one of the insulated $9.95 lunchboxes, Lean Cuisine will donate $5 to the cure. What a fabulously stylish way to promote awareness.

Simple Tip: Keep Reusable Totes in Your Trunk

YumSugar — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:50:50 -0700

From drinking less bottled water to making more educated seafood choices, I've been all about adopting a greener lifestyle. But simple as it sounds, the one thing I could never quite nail down was bringing reusable totebags to the grocery store.

Every Sunday, without fail, I'd pull into my local Trader Joe's, and catch the "Don't forget to bring your reusable bags!" sign in the parking lot, only to realize that I'd left all of my totebags at home. After repeating this mistake too many times to count, I finally collected all of my market totes and put them in the trunk of my car. Now, I have an array of bag sizes that come in handy not just for my weekly groceries, but also for takeout, dinner party leftovers, and anything else you can imagine.

Where do you keep your reusable bags, so you don't forget them?

What's Your Favorite Farmers Market Tote?

YumSugar — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:45:13 -0700

In honor of this weekend's colossal Slow Food Nation event, PartySugar and I are celebrating sustainable living by using (and showing off!) our favorite farmers market totes. Now we want you to do the same! Snap a pic of you with your favorite reusable farmers market bag and send it to us. I'll feature all the submissions in an upcoming post.

After we've received all of the entries, we'll pick one lucky winner to get her very own YumSugar tote! I can't wait to see your favorite totes.

Show Us Your Farmers Market Totebags!

partysugar — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:15:02 -0700

The culinary world is gearing up for Slow Food Nation. The festival, which celebrates local, sustainable farm-to-table food, is in San Francisco over Labor Day weekend. Slow Food encourages people to purchase seasonal produce from farmers markets in an environmentally-friendly manner. That means toting the goods in a reusable bag rather than a disposable one. In my opinion, carrying a fabulous farmers market tote is just as glamorous as sporting a designer handbag. Currently, I'm obsessed with this large, bright-blue tote by Chronicle Books. The tote perfectly demonstrated the publisher's motto ("see things differently") because it folds up into a flat book when not being used.

To celebrate Slow Food, we've (YumSugar will share hers later this week) both taken pictures with our beloved farmers market totes. and now we want you to do the same! Snap a pic of you with your favorite reusable farmers market bag and send it to us. You can use the Look Book feature on TeamSugar, post it in a blog, or on your own website. When everyone's submitted their photos (due date: Sept. 1), I'll do a giant post featuring everyone's pictures (and you don't have to cover your face, we're just shy!)!

To be included in the roundup, notify me via email with "YumSugar Farmers Market Tote" in the subject line, or personal message me with the following information:

- Name you want me to use
- Where you're from
- What farmers market you shop at
- Details about your favorite totebag
- Link to your Look Book, blog post, or website OR photo of you holding your favorite tote
- One short sentence on why you chose that tote

After we've received all of the submissions, we'll pick one lucky winner and send her her very own YumSugar tote! I can't wait to see your favorite totes.

Don't Forget to Show Us Your Farmers Market Totebags!

YumSugar — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:00:19 -0700

Currently, I'm bringing back this navy blue Marc by Marc Jacobs tote that I bought last year. It's soft and flexible, yet able to hold everything I buy. I love the way it pokes fun at itself as well as designer labels in general.
To celebrate Slow Food, both PartySugar and I have taken pictures (she debuted hers earlier this week) with our beloved farmers market totes, and now we want you to do the same! Snap a pic of you with your favorite reusable farmers market bag and send it to us. You can use the Look Book feature on TeamSugar, post it in a blog, or on your own website. When everyone's submitted their photos (due date: Sept. 1), I'll do a giant post featuring everyone's pictures (and you don't have to cover your face, we're just shy!)

To be included in the roundup, notify me via email with "YumSugar Farmers Market Tote" in the subject line, or personal message me with the following information:

- Name you want me to use
- Where you're from
- What farmers market you shop at
- Details about your favorite totebag
- Link to your LookBook, blog post, or website or photo of you holding your favorite tote
- One short sentence on why you chose that tote

After we've received all of the submissions, we'll pick one lucky winner and send her her very own YumSugar tote! I can't wait to see your favorite totes.

Off to Market: Picnic Gear

partysugar — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:00:12 -0700

Picnic season is in full swing and if you plan on packing a meal and heading to a local park, you'll need the proper picnic gear. From a basket to a blanket, planning a picnic requires the essential tools. To ensure that everyone hosts fabulous picnics, let's head off to market in search of the most perfect picnic gear. Look for picnic baskets, plastic serving ware, and anything else - like this canvas wine tote ($39.00) - in between. Bookmark your discoveries in the Yum Market on TeamSugar with the keyword tag, Picnic Gear.

Happy hunting!

Geeksugar has created an explanation on how TeamSugar's bookmarking feature works so check it out if you are feeling confused.

For a list of my favorite places to shop online, read more

Bed Bath & Beyond
CB2
Cooking.com
Crate & Barrel
Ikea
Linens and Things
NapaStyle
Pier 1
Plum Party
Pottery Barn
Sur La Table
Target
Restoration Hardware
Williams Sonoma
Wishing Fish
World Market

Gail Simmons on Eco-Friendly Weddings

partysugar — Fri, 29 May 2009 08:00:41 -0700

Last week when I spoke with Gail Simmons about weddings, I was blown away by her inspirational ideas. Although she may not come across as a green goddess when she's judging Top Chef, she's actually very eco-conscious. Having an environmentally friendly wedding was very important to her and her now-husband, Jeremy. To find out her suggestions for throwing an eco-chic event, read more.

Send a save the date email. Instead of sending formal save the date cards, Gail chose to save paper. She let her loved ones know when and where her wedding would take place through a short, but sweet email.
Cut back on the invite. Gail examined every aspect of the invite and asked herself where she could use less paper. "I've never understood why wedding invites come with two envelopes. What is that second envelope for? Why is it necessary?" She ditched the extra envelope and sent information on hotels and lodging to only out-of-town guests.
Use recycled paper. This is a no-brainer! Gail printed all of her wedding stationary on regular sized, 100-percent recycled paper.
Don't waste the flowers. "Flowers are such a big thing, but they are wasteful. They cost so much money, are on a table for a couple of hours, and then what?" Gail came up with a clever way to lengthen the life of her wedding flowers. While she and her guests were dancing the night away, her wedding planner gathered the vases and wrapped each bouquet in craft paper. When her friends and family left the wedding, they were given a bouquet of fresh flowers to take home!
Give an eco favor. Gail's wedding favor was a reusable farmers market tote bag. "My friends still use them to this day."

Did you go green at your wedding? Share your stylish eco-tips with us below!

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