Make plans: Summer of our best intentions

For us in the Northeast US, summer is entirely too short. Winter seems to last 8 months, autumn takes its sweet time, and spring lasts about 2 weeks. Plan your summer pleasure A few bits of considered advice have made their way across my screen lately, and it all boils down to this: we as adults […]

Food and fashion: Chef Nancy Silverton

  Chef Nancy Silverton is a Marni fan, and can't cook unless she's got the right outfit.     When you eat my food you understand me as a person more. And when you see the way I dress you understand me as a person more. For me, the two fit together. – Chef Nancy […]

Shop with Manuma for World Fair Trade Day

  Today is World Fair Trade Day 2018. Our Facebook shop is open, featuring a selection of handmade jewelry from our refugee artisan neighbors here in Hartford. You may also shop directly in our Shopify storefront, here. This partnership was formed to provide a wider market for our entrepreneurial neighbors. In that spirit of amplifying […]

A certain kind of woman: an unconventional Mother’s Day gift guide

An unconventional, but thoroughly considered, list of suggestions for wives, partners, girlfriends, stepmoms, grandmothers, aunties, moms. Mother’s Day gift giving is not terribly creative. It’s extremely gendered, even Victorian. We think we’ve put together some subversive suggestions to help you think outside the box. True, not every suggestion will suit every woman. But every woman […]

Upgrade your beverage for Earth Day with durable, reusable straws

The last year or so has seen a number of documentaries, news stories, and campaigns re-emphasizing the problems we have created for ourselves with our addiction to "disposable" single-use plastics: shopping bags, food packaging, and especially drinking straws. Most people don't really need them, although they are convenient. If you have a long commute, or […]

Fresh Eire: Contemporary design from Ireland

This will not be the typical St. Patrick's Day-themed design post. There will be no reference to the following: claddagh rings, shamrocks, leprechauns, potatoes, cartoon policemen, Aran sweaters, alcoholism, anything green. I want to talk about examples of cool, modern Irish design.   Mourne Textiles Shaggy Dog handloomed wool cushions This loopy weave was shown […]

A manifesta for 61 (#reclaimingmylines)

Resolved to: give 0 damns.  Gina Barreca is a treasured comic, writer, and revered crone here in Connecticut. Her recent column on turning 61 was not a gift wishlist, but a list of what she hopes to KonMari the hell out of her mindset, and the values she wants to focus on now now that […]

Plan your bliss: effective goals and intentions for change

The dark of our long New England winter is the perfect time to clear what no longer serves us well, and to listen to our heart as we set our goals and aspirations. Here are a few of our recommendations for journals, workbooks, or paper agendas for you to put pen to paper with your […]

What’s it to me? Fair Trade Month

Solidarity Center For 2 years, I worked as a social work case manager, helping newly arrived refugees and survivors of human trafficking adjust to their new lives in the U.S. On a regular basis, my co-workers and I would discuss our work, new issues that came up with clients, new things we learned, but always circling […]

What is Fair Trade Certified?

Oliberte Fair trade is the market-based answer to charity. Instead of perpetuating the charity cycle, which just creates dependency on handouts, fair trade principles ensure that farmers get a fair price for their harvest, based on the market, i.e. supply and demand. Trading is done directly, without a middleman, which would otherwise take a chunk out of the […]