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MerriMail Issue Six Sneak Peek

The Beauty of Fresh Experiences

Your Gift - Water Carafe from HomArt

Our experiences shape us. Think about all of the different ones you've had throughout your lifetime. Some of the most memorable may have occurred while visiting friends and entertaining guests. The loveliest times are those that make you feel welcome during your visits and anxious to return after you leave.

This issue is about filling your life with more wonderful experiences, from making your guests feel welcome and comfortable in your home to ways to behave when you're in theirs. Your gift: a simple bedside carafe. Filled with fresh water, what could be more inviting? Perhaps a handmade rug full of cheery colors for guests to put their feet on when rising from slumber. Or maybe fond memories of playing in water as depicted by Jeff Scher in his animated film L'Eau Life. How about jumping in a giant puddle of fresh water in the middle of a museum?

While we share just a few experiences with you in this issue, imagine how many more lie ahead? Every day is filled with them. It's how we react and respond to each event that truly creates our memories and ultimately shapes us into who we are and who we want to be.

Be Merri,












In This Issue

Your Gift :: The Water Carafe

Designed to hold water or other drinks, this elegant carafe designed by HomArt is small in size and has a simple yet sophisticated design. To add a little warmth to your bedroom or guest room, place this carafe on the bedside table. At night, fill it with water to quench your thirst without leaving the comfort of your bed. Using a carafe will also help you save money and the environment by reducing the number of bottled waters you consume. Salud!

At Home with HomArt

In 1992, Kevin Mundt and Dave Thomas opened Areo, a home accessory shop in Laguna Beach, California. A mere two years later, the duo began designing their own collection of hand-fi nished home accessories. With only 10 products and a hand-drawn catalog, HomArt was launched. Today HomArt introduces more than 3,000 new designs each year and supplies products to over 1,000 retail shops. The four-person design team creates approximately 200 to 400 new designs a quarter.

"Our main goal is to provide unique home designs infused with California style and to provide them at an affordable price," said Todd Frabotta, HomArt's National Sales Manager. "We take pride in making sure that all of our products are designed in-house by our design team, which enables us to set our own trends."

To view and purchase additional original HomArt designs, visit www.areohome.com or call 1-888-814-7988.




And gentle winds and waters near, make music to the lonely ear.

PARISINA , Byron

Roll Out the Welcome Mat

Family-owned and operated Wolfe Brothers, Inc has been making Hit or Miss rugs and carpeting for more than 50 years. A novel look for any home, these rugs are one-of-a-kind and are handmade from dyed sock remnants, making them environmentally friendly, a great conversation piece and the perfect welcome mat for guests. John Creed, Vice President of Wolfe Brothers, says, "We're making a unique product that is keeping our landfi lls less full. With the design of each rug, we're helping the environment by using sock remnants to create something pretty and useful. Our rugs wear like iron." With a design cycle of eight weeks, approximately 90 percent of these rugs are handmade. To create a sophisticated, chic and custom look in your home try Hit or Miss carpeting. Call 336-874-2612 for more details.

Be Your Best...

Host, Hostess or Guest

Whether you're the host, hostess or guest, you should always be on your best behavior. We include a few suggestions on how to do just that.

A Few Water Conservation Tips

Learn more tips about conserving water from American Water Works Association.

Reduce Reuse Recycle

Understand the recycling symbol's hierarchy.


Skimming the Surface

Dance Through a Fountain Inside The Smithsonian

Celebrate the re-opening of the Kogod Courtyard inside of the Smithsonian's Old Patent Office Building, also known as the Reynolds Center, which houses the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Jeff Scher :: The Animated Life

Jeff Scher's short film L'Eau Life is a celebration of water. Music, memories and movement all work together magically to capture the joy that water brings into our lives. In the film, Jeff showcases the motion of water, as well as the way we move in it, by using watercolors as his medium.

Check out The Animated Life, Jeff's blog, which is a part of the New York Times Op-Ed Web site, to watch his series of fi lms. New films debut on his NYT blog on the 8th of each month. His latest is White Out, an homage to snow and companion piece to L'Eau Life. As he said during our interview, "Snow is water just a few degrees off." You can also explore Jeff's work via his own website, at fezfilms.net.

Hydration Fascination

Chicago-based writer Christopher Weber explores how water plays a dominant role in our health. Chris writes frequently about health and healthcare, examining medical issues through the eyes of ordinary folks. He is currently developing extended projects on cancer culture and on alternative medicine.

HOW TO: Build A Rain Garden

How would you like to have a lush oasis of tall native grasses in your yard? You can build one - called a rain garden - to enjoy while also helping improve the environment.

Check This Out: Design for the Other 90%

Learn how an array of designs, ranging from extremely simple to sophisticated engineering projects, and organized into six different life-sustaining areas - shelter, health, water, education, energy and transportation.

From the Bottom Up

You may have seen him on CBS Sunday Morning or on a river barge in your hometown. Chad Pregracke grew up with the Mississippi River in his backyard. At the age of 17, Chad began cleaning his beloved river after noticing all of the trash in the water. In 1998 he founded Living Lands and Waters, a non-profit based in East Moline, Illinois. Ten years later, this organization has grown from a one-man crusade to over nine staff members that train thousands of volunteers each year to restore numerous bodies of water all over the country. Their efforts have resulted in over four million tons of trash being collected from America's rivers and countless accolades. LLW is currently planting one million fruit or nut-bearing trees in the waterways to provide food for natural wildlife. Read Chad's book From the Bottom Up to learn how his simple idea of doing little by little evolved into big changes in our world. Explore more at livinglandsandwaters.org.

Washing Away {from baptisms to bubble baths}

Water has been known for its restorative powers in every religion throughout the centuries. Sometimes the simple act of taking a shower or a bath can give us a sense of renewal.

Resources

Blog Updates for Issue Six

Check out the latest updates and join our online conversations related to topics covered in Issue Six.

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