Check out our new bungee wrap video. Enjoy!
December 5th, 2010
Holiday Gifts, Exclusively at BOBOwrap.com
New gift items have arrived and we are so excited to give you a first look.
1. Ladies Who Lunch, Insulated Lunch Tote with Bamboo Handles
A lunch tote elegant enough to use as a purse!
2. Almond Delight, Chocolate and Almond Dipped Cookie Sticks
A favorite snack in Korea, these crispy delights from Lotte Confectionery are simply heavenly.
3. My Own Lunch Bag, Cotton Reusable Lunch Bag that You Decorate Yourself
Colorful Fabric Markers are included to make lunchtime an eco-fun activity.
4. Sushi Snacker, Sheets of Roasted Savory Seaweed
Everyone who loves sushi knows that seaweed is an amazingly delicious and nutritious food. Now enjoy the crispy savory goodness anytime with these roasted seaweed sheets. Just cut with scissors and enjoy alone or with steaming hot rice. Yum!
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June 7th, 2010
Dads Rock! (And So Does Your Gift ^^)
June is for Dads and you can tell yours how much he rocks with a gift wrapped with love and care. Here’s a variation on the Bow Tie wrap that provides a useful little pocket for a card.
First, put your item or items in the center of a wrapping scarf on the diagonal. Fold 2 opposite corners on top or the item.
Take the pointy corner on top and fold under to create a straight edge across the middle of the item. This is where you can tuck in your card later.
Neatly bring up the remaining 2 corners and tie a snug square knot.
As a finishing touch, I picked a sprig from my wonderfully fragrant mock orange bush to tuck into the gift alongside a card.
This warm silvery wrap is a new arrival called Platinum available in our EveryDay Collection. The adorable “You Rock” Father’s Day card is by Tumbalina.
March 17th, 2010
My Love Affair with Ireland
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! My own personal obsession with Ireland began after reading Frank McCourt’s masterpiece, Angela’s Ashes. He wrote his story of grinding poverty with such truth and humor that I found myself bawling and laughing hysterically in turns. I literally rationed out the last few chapters as I couldn’t bear to let go of this heartbreakingly hilarious tale of misery and hope.
The tears would stream from my eyes as Frank’s father would time and time again leave his starving family and head for the pub to drink away his week’s wages and my heart leaped as Frank somehow found his way onto the boat that would take him to a new beginning in America. You might not think that Korea and Ireland have much in common, but there are some similarities that might surprise you. Take this quote for example:
“Could he not find in his heart the generosity to acknowledge that there is a small nation that stood alone not for one year or two, but for several hundred years against aggression; that endured spoliations, famines, massacres in endless succession; that was clubbed many times into insensibility, but that each time on returning [to] consciousness took up the fight anew; a small nation that could never be got to accept defeat and has never surrendered her soul?”
This quote by the Irish independence movement leader Eamon De Valera, could easily have been said about Korea. Both countries lay in a strategically central location and while Ireland was pummeled for centuries by Scotland and England, Korea endured the same plight in the hands of Japan and Manchuria. Maybe this is why both countries today are famous for their hard drinking and hardscrabble ways.
“We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English.” – Winston Churchill.
I went on to read all of McCourt’s books (none lived up to the first) and was miserably disappointed with the movie version. McCourt brought his tale to life so magically that I literally dreamed about the damp green hills of Limerick and at one point considered going on the Angela’s Ashes tour with a group of hard core Japanese fans. I even read Frank’s brother Malachy’s book which hardly deserves a mention and yet I still savored every morsel of information about the life and times of the McCourt family.
It’s hard to imagine that life could really have been that bad and yet Malachy McCourt says that in reality, their life was worse than Frank wrote. Asked about how they managed to survive and go on to such successful lives (Malachy became a Hollywood actor), he says, “Insane outbreaks of laughter saved us.” Whether or not you’re Irish or Korean, I think we can all relate to that!
Read more about the life of Frank McCourt: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1911633,00.html#ixzz0iRtAkxrt
St. Patrick’s Day Sale! Save 25% off all green BOBO wraps till Friday March 18th. Use Code: LUCKY10
February 22nd, 2010
Go Green or Bust
This past week, my family and I went on a ski trip to Stratton Mountain, Vermont, and noticed a lot more green going on since our trip last year. Not only were they now offsetting 100% of their energy output and greengrading many of the ginormous appliances that go into snow making, I noticed extensive use of plastics made from corn rather than petroleum and recycling bins all over the resort including the hotel rooms.
Stratton is a charming ski resort that feels like a mini Beaver Creek. No history or deep roots behind the town like Aspen or Park City, but everything feels clean and efficient with a little touch of luxury. Though it has a long way to go before challenging Grand Targhee Resort of Wyoming to the top slot of greenest ski resort, Stratton has won distinction by the Clif Bar Golden Eagle Awards for Excellence in Energy Conservation/Clean Energy. Not too shabby.
The weather conditions this year were sadly about the worst I’ve experienced with puddles all over the place and a wicked wind that thankfully died down on the third day. East coast skiing never could compare to skiing out West but the worse than usual conditions made me think that if anyone has a vested interest in stopping global warming, it would be the ski resort industry! Climate change could prove disastrous to an industry already hurting from a weak economy. In fact, the Washington Post reported that slopes on the East Coast last year closed months ahead of time due to warmer weather, some losing as much as a third of their season.
The Citizen's Climate Lobby imagines a grim future for ski lovers!
In addition to the eco-conscious changes that I noticed at the resort, I would have loved to see even more exciting initiatives like perhaps refillable shampoo and soap fixtures in the hotels vs disposable bottles made from corn. Or how about installing more hooks and towel bars to encourage people to reuse towels instead of having them washed and replaced after a single use.
In any case, we all had a blast and the kids didn’t even seem to mind the wind and ice. Swamped with work this year, I was tempted to skip our winter vacation this year, but I’m glad we didn’t. I remembered a line from one of my favorite books on raising kids by H. Jackson Browne called Life’s Little Instruction Book: “Take family vacations whether you can afford them or not. The memories will be priceless.” He’s right.
February 14th, 2010
Lion Heart
While we celebrate Valentine’s Day here in the States, across East Asia, the biggest celebration of the year starts today: the Lunar New Year. The year of the tiger starts today, but my mind is full of the story of a very special lion. You may have seen this story a while back on the news, but it’s a great one to share with all your loved ones on this day of double celebration. It never fails to make me cry!
Harrod’s department store in London is famous for its legend of being able to sell you whatever it is you’d like to buy. One day in 1969, Ace Bourke and John Rendall were browsing the aisles when they came upon an adorable lion cub looking sad in cramped cage. The two friends fell in love with the cub, paid the equivalent of $4000, and left the store the proud owners of a pet lion they called Christian.
London in the 1960s, was a much different place than it is today and not only did Christian entertain customers in the custom furniture store where Ace and John worked, he also went for regular walks down the city streets. He was obviously a very special lion and never bit anyone which is more than I can say about Coco, my 10 pound maltepoo! Lions are social animals and are often seen lounging with their pride, one on top of another.
Playing wheelbarrow! Ever playful Christian is always up for fun and games.
To Christian, his human friends were his pride. He was gentle and he loved to play with the neighborhood children.
Christian playing with a neighborhood child
Whenever I see this video, I can’t help but bawl my eyes out at the wonder and the power of love. I am overwhelmed at the feeling that there are so many animals as well as children out there who are at this moment in need of love and good homes where they could thrive.
2010 is predicted to be a tumultuous year, but the Tiger’s influence offers us courage, while inviting bold actions and risk taking. I definitely feel the urge to take some bold actions to reach out to kids in need of love and affection and this year, BOBO will be partnering with various organizations whose mission is it to help kids every single day. Happy New Year and Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone! Here’s to all those out there who love the story of Christian as much as I do and vow to live each day with the heart of a lion.
Majestic Christian adjusts to life in the wild and is the head of his own pride in Kenya.
For more pictures and information on Christian the lion, check out Animal Planet.
