Spicy Squash Pancakes

The Sweet Camero t-shirt is perfect for those rock n roll summer nights! Pair with skinny jeans or your favorite shorts!

Men’s cufflinks from Yes and Yes Designs would be the perfect birthday present for any guy with a summer bday. The cufflinks are laser cut from the cover of old books! How cool is that?

For the Dudettes:

This 100% cotton dress from Mata Traders is perfect for summer dates, picnics and drinks on the patio!

Be festival ready in this breezy number from India Ella. Made from recycled Indian saris these unique dresses are just beautiful!

Browse some of our stellar vintage collection on Etsy.com! We have awesome vintage belts, earrings, necklaces, charm necklaces, rings and bracelets! Vintage clothing coming soon!!

The Sweetheart dress by Nooworks is a shape we’ve had before by them but the prints are too amazig to pass up! This bright neon floral is perfect for a summer date! The shape is so flirty and feminine and it’s a great weight of fabric. Can’t you tell we love it!

The Meegs tank top by Alternative Apparel is your go to summer staple. The fabric is lighter than air and it comes in three awesome prints! Pair with just about anything!

For the Gentlemen:

Get in on the tank top action for summer! The double ringer tank for Alternative Apparel is you go to for summer. The old school color combos and soft fabric will keep you cool, in every sense of the word!

The Shipwrecked shoe in brindle is like a sandal and a boat shoe combined! The comfort of a sandal and the style of a boat shoe. You can’t miss with this hit by Sanuk!

So stay cool this summer kids and by clothing with a conscience!

Happy Earth Day! Celebrate earth day with these simple ideas.

Plant trees. As the date also roughly coincides with U.S. Arbor Day, over time Earth Day has taken on the role of tree-planting. Planting trees helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, cleans pollution, secures soil in place to prevent erosion, and provides homes for a lot of biodiversity

Make nature crafts at school or home. Get together with your family and build a birdhouse or make a bird feeder to encourage the local bird population, which plays an important role in every ecosystem. For an extra-special Earth Day craft, use objects that would’ve otherwise been thrown away to create beautiful works of art.

Learn more about the environment. Earth Day is a good time to make a commitment to learning more about the environment and how you can help to protect it. Borrow some library books and read up on an issue such as pollution, endangered species, water shortages, recycling, and climate change. Or, learn about a region you’ve never considered before, like the Arctic, the deserts, or the rain forests. Think about the issues that concern you the most and if you haven’t done so already, join a local group that undertakes activities to help protect the environment in your area.

Reduce, reuse and recycle all day long. Buy as little as possible and avoid items that come in lots of packaging. Support local growers and producers of food and products – these don’t have to travel as far and so reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Take your drink container with you, and don’t use any disposable plates or cutlery. Recycle all the things you do use for the day or find other uses for things that you no longer use. Carry a cloth bag for carrying things in and recycle your plastic bags.

Hold a garage sale, donate, or reuse household items. Many of us take up a lot of natural resources with stuff we don’t really need, want or use. Ironically, there’s a still lot of people who don’t have basic necessities. Plus, a lot of your unwanted clutter can be used by local charities to resell for much-needed cash.

Clean up litter. Rid litter from our roadways. Many groups use the weekend of Earth Day to clear roadways, highways and neighborhood streets of litter that has accumulated since the last clean-up day. Many companies donate gloves and bags for clean-up groups and villages organize bag pick ups. Once the group has collected the trash and placed the recycled bags along the road, get the village public works department to pick the bags up. It’s a wonderful community project. Great for scout troops, rotary clubs and the like.

Hold educational sessions about the environment. Teachers, professionals, students, anyone who cares about the environment and is willing to teach others, can all provide environmental lessons for others. Most schools already celebrate Earth Day in the classrooms with activities but there are many other ways you can teach about the environment. For example, give a speech at your local library on how to compost with worms; take a group of children down to the recycling center to show them how things are recycled; recite nature poems in the park; offer to teach your office colleagues how to make environmentally-friendly choices at work during one lunch hour. Everyone has environmental knowledge they can share with others.

Buy or make Earth-friendly cleaning products. Try making up a simple vinegar-and-water counter cleaner, or swapping out your bleach cleaner for a less-toxic orange-based one. Just try it. You don’t necessarily have to give up your heavy-duty cleaners–just try using them when you really need to disinfect, rather than simply clean.

Engage others in conversations about your environmental concerns. Don’t be preachy, just appropriately present some facts and then explain your feelings about them. Encourage them to respond and if they have no opinions or they seem to not know much, help them learn some more by imparting your environmental knowledge in a friendly and helpful manner.

Cook a special Earth Day meal. Plan a menu that uses locally produced foods, is healthy and has minimal impact on the environment. Favour vegetable and bean products, as these use less resources to grow than mass-farmed meat. If you still would like meat, look for locally produced, organic meat. Try and have organic food completely. Decorate the table with recycled decorations made by you and your friends.

Consider buying a carbon offset to make up for the greenhouse gas emissions you create on the other 364 days of the year. Carbon offsets fund reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through projects such as wind farms, that displaces energy from fossil fuels.

Ride your bike. Use your bicycle or other forms of human powered transportation to commute to work or school and to run errands.

Remember: Every day is Earth Day. Anything to help our environment is a perfect thing to do on Earth Day and every day. Don’t restrict yourself to just one day a year; learn about how you can make a difference to environmental protection all the time. And put it into practice – every day! Originally posted here.

We are just loving these bamboo arm sunglasses in the best Summer fun frames! The frames are made from recycled plastic and the arms are sustainable bamboo! By Blue Gem Sunglasses

The Feeder Polo is also perfect for the Spring! It’s the softest blend of recycled poly and organic cotton. And just check out the awesome color! Looks like an ocean!

For the Gals!

Just get a load of this adorable peplum dress! Nooworks really nailed it here with the artist designed wave print, the killer color and the sweet shape!

The Pagoda Pockets dress from Mata Traders is really perfect for a picnic in the park, a shopping stroll or an evening date. Hand screen printed and 100% cotton!

If you can’t guess we have Spring fever! Come by and check out all the goodies we have to enjoy the weather!

St. Patty’s Day Bead Recycling a Success!

Branch Out and the Green Light District teamed up with the ARC of Greater New Orleans again this St. Patrick’s Day to help them collect beads and other throws for their recycling program. The ARC dropped off colorful bins and we had them set up for the parade this past Saturday.

Parade goers could donate their throws after the parade in the bins. So thank you to the ARC and to everyone who donated beads to make this St. Patty’s Day Recycling another success!

The Peplum skirt is right on trend with the flirty peplum detail but the hang made print from Africa makes this skirt truly some thing special. Great with a simple tank or a dresses up blouse!

We also love the Star Skater dress which is perfect for the up coming warm weather. But just pair this baby with a cute cardigan and it’s perfect for a chilly but sunny March day!

For the Gentlemen:

This comfortable lightweight pull over has a nick name- the nautical pull over! The terry like fabric and navy and white stripes just says sailboats and lakes to us. Get in the Spring Summer spirit with this top!

This casual cardigan is perfect for this transition weather. It looks great with jeans and some colored shorts which are hot this season!

Spring is upon and in-store we have some great sales so stop by and check us out!

The unisex New Orlenas Street Car t-shirt is perfect for a local or as a gift for a visitor. The tee features the street car map with all the local stops labeled. Available for women too!

The  men’s Sworty shoe is a great all purpose casual shoe. We carry it in both red and navy for men and navy for women as it’s a unisex shoe!

For the Women:

The Darling Dress is the perfect dress for Valentine’s Day! The flattering cut and color works on anyone and would be so cute dressed up with some hot pink pumps and pouty red lip!

We also just love the Morgan sunglass for the ladies. The glamourous slightly over sized shape is perfect for any stylish gal and they come in tortise or black!

Hope you all have a great February!  

Make your own King Cake this year and skip all the disposable packaging and preservatives that come with store bought. Plus you can involve the kids and impress your friends!

Ingredients

• 1 (16-ounce) container sour cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 (1/4-ounce) envelopes active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 6 to 6 1/2 cups bread flour*
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• Creamy Glaze*
• Purple-, green-, and gold-tinted sparkling sugar sprinkles

Preparation

1. Cook first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring often, until butter melts. Set aside, and cool mixture to 100° to 110°.
2. Stir together yeast, 1/2 cup warm water, and 1 tablespoon sugar in a 1-cup glass measuring cup; let stand 5 minutes.
3. Beat sour cream mixture, yeast mixture, eggs, and 2 cups flour at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until smooth. Reduce speed to low, and gradually add enough remaining flour (4 to 4 1/2 cups) until a soft dough forms.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes). Place in a well-greased bowl, turning to grease top.
5. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until dough is doubled in bulk.
6. Punch down dough, and divide in half. Roll each portion into a 22- x 12-inch rectangle. Spread 1/3 cup softened butter evenly on each rectangle, leaving a 1-inch border. Stir together 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle evenly over butter on each rectangle.
7. Roll up each dough rectangle, jelly-roll fashion, starting at 1 long side. Place one dough roll, seam side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bring ends of roll together to form an oval ring, moistening and pinching edges together to seal. Repeat with second dough roll.
8. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 20 to 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
9. Bake at 375° for 14 to 16 minutes or until golden. Slightly cool cakes on pans on wire racks (about 10 minutes). Drizzle Creamy Glaze evenly over warm cakes; sprinkle with colored sugars, alternating colors and forming bands. Let cool completely.
10. Cream Cheese-Filled King Cake: Prepare each 22- x 12-inch dough rectangle as directed. Omit 1/3 cup softened butter and 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon. Increase 1/2 cup sugar to 3/4 cup sugar. Beat 3/4 cup sugar; 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened; 1 large egg; and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly on each dough rectangle, leaving 1-inch borders. Proceed with recipe as directed.
11. *6 to 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour may be substituted.

This recipe uses bread flour, which makes for a light, airy cake. You still get tasty results with all-purpose flour–the cake will just be more dense.

Recipe Originally posted here.

*Creamy Glaze

Ingredients

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 to 4 tablespoons milk

Preparation

1. Stir together first 4 ingredients. Stir in 2 tablespoons milk, adding additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until spreading consistency.