A lot of people like the idea of volunteering but when it comes down to actually doing it, life can easily get in the way. Work and school schedules may prevent you from committing to an organization long term or the idea of leaving your neighborhood in your free time is just too much to bear. Maybe you think you don’t have anything you can offer or that it may even be depressing. These are all reasonable worries but the beauty is, there are hundreds of things you can do and once you get started with an organization that is the right fit, you will most likely find it fulfilling and even fun. There are so many groups out there that really need your help, whether it’s just one hour, one afternoon or an evening a week. I’ll give you some examples of great organizations but my personal favorite is New York Cares. They just make it so damn easy to do so much good!

For example, in the listing of NY Cares current projects, the events include:  ’Bedtime Stories’ at the library while parents attend ESOL classes, ‘Culinary Explorers’ teaching children how to prepare healthy and tasty snacks, taking kids to the Bronx Zoo, building a garden shed for a community garden, planting flowers and bulbs at a park, soup kitchens, helping adult immigrants with basic computer skills, morning math games with 4th graders (perhaps the oldest age group I could actually help with math), English conversation partners with Arab-American families, walking dogs at the animal shelter, yoga classes for children with autism and other disabilities, photoshop tutorials, ‘Young Authors Club’ and perhaps most fun, ”Mad Scientists: Participate in hands-on science projects with real-world applications with middle school students from Girls Preparatory Charter School. Possible experiments include exploring the anatomy and growth of plants, testing the freezing temperature of ice cream, and examining your own DNA.” Um, yeah! That sounds awesome! The list goes on and on. There really is something for everyone!

I have volunteered as a dog walker, reading with kids in after school programs and most recently as a mural artist on New York Cares Day. This is a special city-wide volunteer day held every fall to revitalize our public schools. It has been such a fun and fulfilling project for me over the past two years and it always re-lights my spark to volunteer more. You never regret the time you spend, you can invite friends to help out (thanks again, guys!!) and you also meet really great people. The nicest thing about this organization in particular is you can volunteer as much or as little as you like. I’m a freelancer so I can never sign on to the 6 week commitments but I can commit to weekends and the random week day off. With so much flexibility and so many projects, you are bound to see something that calls your name.

You can check out volunteering opportunities with NY Cares plus more listings at NYC.gov and if you are outside of the NY metro area, try  VolunteerMatch.org or 1-800-volunteer.org as well. For holiday specific volunteer opportunities, you can go here.

Here are some other great organizations that could use your help if you are particularly fond of furry friends (and maybe your landlord isn’t):

Animal Haven

ASPCA

BARC

Bideawee

Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals

Give volunteering a shot because this Big Apple has plenty of people who could use your help and the internet / cable / your bed / _______ will still be there when you get home.

P.S. Here are some of the murals we painted on NY Cares Day 2009 & 2010!

You might not have the time, desire, or budget to go all out on a costume, but if you’re in the mood for dressing up for Halloween without a lot of effort, or if you’re just coming across this on October 30th, a printable mask could just be the right idea for you.

JHill Designs, one of my favorite print artists (click here to see her amazing flash card-inspired artwork), created these adorable animal masks, downloads are $3 each, or $8 for all three.

Sweet! Star Wars masks!

Want to tap into current events? Head on over the HuffPo for your Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rod Blagojevich, or Kanye West printable mask:

David Bowie or Jason, anyone?

Or maybe just a gross monster?

As you may have noticed, Halloween is an important holiday for New Yorkers, by which I mean an important excuse for excessive partying and debauchery. The annual Halloween Parade in the Village is an institution, and definitely worth checking out at least once in your life. But the huge crowds, the barricades and the occasionally freezing weather make the whole experience more stressful than fun, at least in my humble opinion. Here are a few other ways to celebrate the best holiday all year:

• Go to Nightmare: Superstitions, the best haunted house in New York. It’s expensive, yes, but it will make you scream like a little girl. Why is it so scary? Because the creepy crawlies and ghoulie ghouls will touch you… actually touch you! In the dark! And no one wants to be touched by a stranger.
• Also scary and full of inappropriate touching: the haunted corn maze at Schmitt Farms on Long Island. http://www.schmittfarms.com
• Go see the Misfits at Irving Plaza. Unfortunately it’s the Misfits without Glen Danzig, which is pretty lame, but it’s still Halloween appropriate.
• Or go see a Misfits cover band in a cemetery in Jersey City, which will be cheaper and definitely more fun. http://rockitdocket.blogspot.com/ Halloween is all about cover bands, and this event has quite a few: The Descendents, The Cramps, Motorhead, REM and even Neutral Milk Hotel… hmmm, that’s an odd choice.
• The World/Inferno Friendship Society, the original cabaret punk pioneers, play on Halloween almost every year. I have very fond, drunken memories of seeing them almost 10 years, on one of my first dates with my husband. Sigh. Now I feel old. Looks like the evening show is already sold out, so why not check out The Voluptuous Horror Of Karen Black at Santos’ Party House. Looks embarrassing fun. I hear they are pretty terrible live, but it’s more of a burlesque show than anything else. Also, I really like that “Alaska” song. It’s pretty catchy.
• Paint a pumpkin
• Make your own treats: Maple Pecan Popcorn, anyone? It’s simple to make and vegan when you replace the butter with non-dairy margarine.
• Bring it to a midnight screening of Poltergeist at the Landmark Sunshine movie theater.
• Last but not least, check out the premiere of The Walking Dead on Sunday night on AMC.
  Zombies! Oh gawd! I’m so excited. It looks better than the comic book.

Photo by John Althouse Cohen.

For under $10, the cost of a can of spray paint, you can make an otherwise boring tray (or most anything, really) look more expensive and/or fit with your décor.

• If the tray has a finish on it, sand it down lightly.
• Clean the tray by dusting it and wiping it down with a damp cloth. Allow it to dry completely.
• Go outside (no spray painting indoors, okay?) and lay down some rags underneath your project.
• Spray the tray with long, even strokes for as many coats as it takes to cover the whole thing, following the directions on the can.
• Allow to dry overnight if possible.
• Enjoy looking at your masterpiece!

I’ve also used spray paint (this time, gold) to make over an ugly wooden frame:

Before you buy something new, look at what you have and ask yourself: could this be better with a coat of new paint? For less time than the trip to the store and certainly less money than the cost of a new frame, tray, or what-have-you.

Game night might not be a regular occurrence in your household, but every once in a while, when you have some friends over, wouldn’t it be nice to play some good old fashioned board or card games? Start stocking up on the games here and you’ll always have something fun to keep you busy on a rainy day. Oh, and psst: games make great housewarming/hostess gifts too!

I know that Summer is the popular guy in class but Fall has always been my personal favorite. Yeah, Summer has a good tan and doesn’t make you go to school, but Fall smells good and means crisp air, crunchy leaves on the sidewalk, new outfits, Trapper Keepers, and sneakers are back! Plus, as far as seasonal holidays go, you guys can keep 4th of July; Halloween is obviously the coolest!

As it’s still early in the season, here is a project that will keep your pumpkin around for the next couple weeks instead of slowly caving in on itself until Halloween rolls around. Plus, it’s mess free and you can even use the pumpkin itself for bread, pie or roasted seeds at the end of the month!

TOOLS OF THE TRADE: Pumpkin, photo print out or drawing (to scale), scissors, Sharpies, and dry erase pen.

1. For the image you plan to use you can blow up a photo or choose from lots of awesome silhouettes out there in the cyberworld. There are plenty of templates out there but I choose to keep it personal and made mine using a picture of my dog Gigi. Obviously.

2. Start by cutting out your silhouette as carefully and detailed as possible.

3. Next, tape the silhouette down to hold it in place.

4. Using your dry erase marker (which wipes off with warm water when you are done. So mistakes are no problem!), trace your silhouette. Remove the tape carefully as you go around.

*Tip* if you prefer to carve out your silhouette and avoid any pen marks, you can trace it by poking tiny holes with the end of a paper clip or safety pin. This way you have a very faint tracing to work off of.

5. Once you are done tracing, remove the silhouette, make any changes with your dry erase and then carefully trace over your lines with a sharpie. If you would like to add a border, draw out an oval on scratch paper (folded in half a la elementary school helps for symmetry) and trace around your silhouette with the dry erase pen. Then trace out the oval in Sharpie.

6. Next, fill in the body of the shape. I recommend a jumbo sharpie to cover more ground! You may need to do two coats to cover the orange.

7. Once the Sharpie is dry, you can simply dampen a paper towel and the dry erase will come off easily.

Voila! Step back and admire!

For more cute no-carve ideas, here is a series I recently made for Real Simple Magazine.

Here is a pretty amazing carving pumpkin idea – leave it to Martha’s team of crafters!

Oh and before you go! Here are a couple recipes to make the most of your pumpkin, inside and out!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

*Classic Roasted Pumpkin Seeds*

1 1/2 c raw whole pumpkin seeds

2 tsp soy margarine

1 pinch salt

- Preheat the oven to 300°.

- Toss the seeds in the margarine and salt mix.

- Spread the seeds on a sheet in a thin layer

- Bake 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

* Sugar and Spice Roasted Pumpkin Seeds*

1 cup pumpkin seeds

1 Tbs melted soy margarine or vegetable oil

1 Tbs granulated sugar

1/2 to 1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

[Same baking directions as above.]

For more flavor options try: garlic salt or powder, black pepper, cayenne, chili powder or Italian seasoning. Recipe found here.

Happy Halloween, girls!

Lead image from Louise Dungate Knitwear.

So fall and consequently, winter is upon us. Time for ruddy noses and icy toes. Some people don’t favor the colder months, but I’m a fan. Being a romantic sort, the colder months give me a chance to wallow in my nostalgic notions, curled up by the fire with a good book or imbuing the house with the perfume of my simmering mulled cider. You too can revel in the nippy weather if you follow my fail-safe checklist.

1. A good coat. If you choose to heed but one of my suggestions, then let this be the one. A good, nee excellent coat is key to looking good and more importantly, feeling warm this season. After years of wearing adorable vintage numbers and spending the majority of my time repairing the lining, re-sewing the buttons, occasionally freezing through the decaying fabric and finally replacing the coat, I decided it was high time I invested in a very warm, flattering, and (this is paramount) good-quality, coat. I bought my pricey beauty through Burberry three winters back. I had such bad sticker shock and class guilt, I kept it in the closet for a week with the receipt in the pocket and the tags attached. Finally, unable to not wear it any longer, I cut those tags off and I’ve never looked back. I’ve worn this coat nearly every day for three fall/winter seasons and the only repair I’ve had to make is to re attach a button. I stress the a. That’s it. The coat still looks like a million bux and I look forward to busting it out again this season. There’s plenty of ways around the luxury price-tag, too. Scour Century 21, Daffy’s, Ebay etc. An excellent quality coat will last and last so you should be able to find a fabulous and sturdy second-hand one that will still keep you warm and your pockets lined.

2. A Scrumptious scarf and hat. With any good coat, you’ll want a yummy scarf and hat to go with. I like the hand knit chunky variety. You can find beaucoup de knits at etsy.com and bigcartel.com.

3. Boots. I favor the wet-proof wellie type to protect in the slush and the rain. You can wear them with thermal socks to keep your piggys warm. And nothing says jolly old bird like a sexy pair of cords tucked into a classic green pair of Hunter’s topped off with a smashing wool peacoat.

4. Cognac. Or whatever warming digestif floats your boat. I love bourbon too, but it’s tough to source out here in the EU. Nothing caps off a cold evening more perfectly than curling up on the couch with a snifter of the good stuff.

5. A warm and cozy blanket. Whatever tickles your fancy: you can go for the knit afghan type or the uber-luxe cashmere throw or even a family heirloom quilt—whatever will keep you snugglerific. Which brings us to the next one.

6. A good book. Now that we’re on the couch with our cognac and our cuddly blankie, we’ll need a good book to curl up to. I love a little Wuthering Heights for when I’m feeling romantic and tragic. I just finished The Memory Keeper’s Daughter and The Gastronomical Me, both heart-wrenching and well-written tomes. Love love love. And perfect for those moody blustery nights.

7. A fine cuppa tea. Sometimes you’re not feeling boozy, or it’s 10 AM on a Saturday (not that that’s stopped us before). However, a fine cup of tea, or if you’re feeling a bit more decadent, a sumptuous cup of cocoa, should bring the blood back into your extremities. Serve it on a tray with your best tea service and you’ll be feeling royal and pampered.

8. A bath. Ah! What a nice hot bath can do to warm the soul and the spirit. I like to add salts or bath oil (Jo Malone bath oil being my absolute favorite) and bring in the aforementioned book and/or cognac.

9. A bathrobe. Now that you’re all warmed up from the tub, it won’t really help if you freeze your goods off once you get out. Wrap yourself in a luxurious towel to dry off and then don a sexy robe/kimono/what-have-you. Ain’t nothin’ sexier than looking and smelling bath-fresh, hair up in a towel turban, thigh revealed from your robe as you walk to the kitchen to round up that second cuppa tea.

10. A hobby. Now that you’re stuck inside, take this time to dust off that lonely guitar in the corner, or bust out those needles and merino yarn and knit yourself a chunky scarf, or get yourself a little watercolor set and paint a summery seascape whilst dreaming away of sunnier times ahead.

*And now check out these gorgeous items! All were carefully sourced, taking care to utilize as many handmade, independent items I could find. Have fun and explore the fruits of my labor.

And now, I’ll bid you adieu with my favorite wintry verse. Winter by William Shakespeare.

When icicles hang by the wall
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail;
When blood is nipt, and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl
Tu-whoo!
Tu-whit! tu-whoo! A merry note!
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

When all around the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson’s saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian’s nose looks red and raw;
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl—
Then nightly sings the staring owl
Tu-whoo!
Tu-whit! tu-whoo! A merry note!
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

Sometimes in life, you just know. And yesterday morning, upon waking, I just knew that if I didn’t find and purchase a last minute ticket to the Jay-Z/Eminem concert at Yankee Stadium and instead sat home on my couch in Jersey City watching Bravo and eating the remnants of my pantry in some sweatpants, I would have never, ever, EVER, EVER forgiven myself.

Finding someone to come with me wasn’t my proudest moment, but whatever. And after close to a dozen “nays”, I really thought I’d be going alone. I mean, not having any cool friends who will drop their existing plans and a bunch of money on a chance of a lifetime rap concert is no reason to miss it yourself, right? Luckily, an initial decliner decided to be awesome and spontaneous and disposable-incomey and came along, ’cause she knew, too. We found tickets on StubHub for a little under three times the sixty-bones some dude bought them for and were on our way.

First of all, our seats were amazing. I’m talking less about their approximation to the stage, which wasn’t great, and more about the fact that they were on some sorta wheelchair access terrace, which served as the greatest dance floor in concert history, I’m sure. We had all this ROOM! Everyone else was in a numbered seat, ya know? But we had plush folding chairs designated to numbered spaces on a huge, private landing; that we flung our bodies about all fucking night. Some of the other (re: booooooring) terrace dwellers were less than thrilled with us, but seriously, get over it. This is a rap concert. Stop sitting there and wave your god damn shirt around your head when Jay-Z asks you to!

The show opened up with B.O.B., who is apparently the dude behind that song about “beautiful girls” being “all over the world” and how they “got nothing on you” and also that song about “airplanes” and “shooting stars” and really needing a “wish right now.” I kind of like those songs, so that was exciting. He was good. We were ready.

Next up was Eminem. Shit was getting serious, and dude was on point, if not a tad voicetrack heavy here and there. He performed a lot of his newer hits, (“Love The Way You Lie”, “Not Afraid”, “3 A.M.”) which were both emotional and titillating, but also excited us all with some classics (“Without Me”, “Lose Yourself”, “Cleaning Out My Closet”, “The Way I Am”, “The Real Slim Shady”) and guest performances from 50 Cent who slayed me with some throw backs like “Patiently Waiting”,  “I Get Money”, and the undeniable,“In Da Club”, Dr Dre, who performed “Still D.R.E.” and the always awesome “Nothin’ but a G Thing”, with Eminem doing Snoop’s verse, and lastly, D12, Em’s posse, who performed a few of their ditties, including “My Band” and “Purple Pills”, which pretty much took me back to my freshman year in college faster than my fancy feet were tearing up Terrace 314.

At this point, the crowd was going bonkers. Jay-Z was coming. Who is he bringing? What are we in for? Is…gulp…Beyonce gonna show up?? Can you even believe your life right now?!?! AHHHHH!!!!!! Hugging Each Other! You’re my best friend! No, you’re my best friend!!! Two huge digital clocks reminded us how much time we had to contemplate these things before Jay-Z took the stage. No New Years could ever stand a chance to the mass countdown that ensued.

At ONE, the lights dropped, a silhouette appeared, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” started playing, and my heart exploded in my chest. Jay-Z was in the motherfucking house. He kicked it off with “Run This Town”, and right on cue, Kanye West appeared for his verse and stuck around to perform some of his hits like, “Can’t Tell me Nothing” and “Good Life” as well as the first ever live performance of the “Power” remix and “Monster”, featuring my new favorite raptress Nicki Minaj, who, to my delight, graced the stage. Next guest was Swizz Beats for “On To The Next One”, my hands down favorite track on The Blueprint 3.  I, of course, died. But was reborn with Hov’s solo section of the act, including performances of  ”D.O.A” and “U Don’t Know”.  Another guest appearance from Memphis Bleek brought us performances of “Hard Knock Life”, and “Big Pimpin”, along with a performance of “Renegade” with Mr. Mathers himself. Also, let us not forget Jay’s RIP Tribute to Biggie by blasting “One More Chance.” I mean…I can’t even…I don’t even…

Another pleasant surprise, Chris Martin, joined Jay on stage for “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)”, “Most Kings”, and awesomely, “Viva La Vida”. He was then replaced for rap game newcomer Drake for “Miss Me” and the live premiere of the Drake-Jay collaboration “Light Up”, as well as shouting out some love for Lil Wayne over there on Rikers Island (Wish u were there, Weezy!)

But then. Just when I thought I couldn’t handle any more… I hear the first notes of Alphaville’s 80’s smash hit “Forever Young” and watch as Beyonce enters center stage, singing the chorus of Jay-Z’s 2010 remix. Slap me and call me a twelve year old girl, cause I am one, apparently. I was overjoyed. Afterwards, my friend looks at me and says, “that was Beyonce’s voice!” and it was like, the deepest thing she’s ever said. We were drunk. And having the time of our lives. Shut up.

To finish things off, we were served a heaping platter of Jay-Z classics including, “Dirt Off Your Shoulder”, “Jigga”, “Izzo”,“Encore”, “I Just Wanna Love U”, and, of course, “Empire State of Mind.” No Alicia, but I was fine with it. She’s way too pregnant. I would have been nervous.

Jay-Z ended the night by delcaring “This is historic: They ain’t never gonna be another night like tonight”, and he was right. I danced, I sang, I screamed, I might have cried a little, I dunno. But what I do know, is that I woke up feeling like I was hit by a truck.

Best $200+ I’ve ever spent.

I have been wild about stationary ever since I was a kid pouring over the Sanrio collection. My tastes have matured since then but I am still crazy about all things paper and pen. I particularly like making my own stationary with found paper like maps, graph paper, wrapping paper, etc. For this eco-friendly stationary, I have been collecting security envelopes (from bills and bank statements) for the past few months. I try to go as paperless as possible but things still find their way into my mail. You may have noticed the envelopes from Big Brother and his goons are lined with a dense pattern to prevent your snoopy neighbor from checking out your personal beeswax. Well, some of these are actually kind of awesome when seen from a stationary perspective. This project is fast, easy and will make you feel good knowing that the envelopes were on made on The Man’s dollar, not yours!

TOOLS OF THE TRADE:

- security envelopes

- double sided tape

- mailing labels (not necessary but handy).

That’s all? That’s all!

1. Get a little batch of security envelopes going. Sadly, these are way too easy to come by!  Carefully, slowly, pull the seams apart. You can dampen them with a wet sponge to break down the adhesive but I’m too impatient to let them dry again so I just pull them. A little paper may tear but as long as the edge is clean, you are good to go!

2. Turn the envelope inside out and start by taping the bottom flap on to the smaller top flap.

3. Then tape one side flap and leave the other open for your letter, of course!  For the mailing address you can be a smarty and write it on the letter in the right spot or just stick a large mailing label on there! Voila! All done!!

As promised, I have brewed my own beer… and it’s delicious! It does not taste like soap! It’s a golden-red ale, super sparkling and foamy. Yum.

Quite a relief actually, because for the past few weeks I’ve been slightly concerned that I was slowly brewing a poisonous, foul concoction that would make me sick. I have to be honest: I found the whole brewing process intimidating and confusing, and I was sure I’d done something wrong.

In hindsight, taking a class at The Brooklyn Kitchen would have been a good idea. Instead I just bought this book and the Introductory Kit from Brooklyn Homebrew. It contained all the information I needed, except for the most basic. For example, do you know how to siphon liquids from one container to another? I sure as hell didn’t. Nor did I know how to put the top on the plastic bucket (with a mallet, my husband informed me. I thought it just kinda rested on top. Ha.)

The kit comes with all kinds of equipment: plastic buckets, a thermometer, siphoning tube, more random plastic tubes, a bottle capper, bottle brush, bottle caps, etc… I used most of it but not all. I just didn’t know how! I skipped the whole chapter on the hydrometer (it indicates the alcohol content of the beer) because there were too many charts and numbers. Might be a good idea to revisit that.

Luckily, everything turned out well. Apart from the hydrometer, I really did follow most of the instructions. The most important one was sanitization: everything that comes into contact with the brew has to be clean and sanitized. I found the best solution was to keep a bucket of sanitization solution (a simple bleach and water solution) ready to go whenever I was working on the beer.

The most annoying part of the process? Finding 40 empty bottles of beer. You can either collect the bottles over a period of time, that’s pretty easy. You can even buy empty bottles all ready to go. Even easier. OR, you can empty and clean 40 rancid bottles all at once, like we did. That sucked. Especially since these bottles had been laying out in the sun in my friend’s backyard for a month, rusting (that bottle brush sure came in handy.)

Having done it once, I’m ready to do it again. It’s not a fast or easy process, and learning the process was occasionally frustrating. But the end result is worth it. I have a case of delicious beer that is uniquely my own. I’m so proud!

Next up, barley wine.