Shopping My Way to World Peace This Holiday Season

Hi Mothers with Moxie,

I am troubled by world events in Cairo and other parts of the world over a movie about Islam. I thought I would share this piece on peace again. We are one big world and we wish the Arab nations the experience of the stability of democracy and pray for them. It is through connections like commerce that we will ultimately achieve world peace. God bless the Arab nations and the promise of the Arab spring.

Here's a my piece on World Peace from 2010. I'm reaching out through ebay to the seller in Cairo to see if she too is a mom. I'll let you know what I find out.

Margee

The holidays are a wonderful excuse to hit the mall and the specialty boutiques of town. Plus, there’s nothing like a holiday market, church bazaar or art show for one-of-a-kind gifts. Finding a special necklace, bowl or sweater is such a treat, wherever you find it. And the searching is magical too, getting out with the crowd and seeing all the beautiful things people dream up.

I believe in buying American-made and locally as much as possible. But as the holidays are swiftly approaching, I’m finding myself drawn to the internet to wrap up the season. Here’s why.

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

My son has been studying Economic Interdependency in 5th Grade Social Studies. Truly, I believe it’s the study of World Peace, though trust a 5th grade textbook to make even “shopping” seem dull. By definition, it’s about how each region can’t make all the things it needs and has to trade with other regions. For example Ohio has crops and minerals but no oranges (or huge overcrowded theme parks), Florida has the opposite problem. So we’re interdependent, we have to purchase goods from each other.

DIY Design

In reality it’s much more fascinating; it’s the study of world peace one light fixture at a time. I’m no Domestic Diva. But I do occasionally dabble in trying to make my house look nice. When I was young, my heart was set on a Mushroom room, with toadstool seating and grass carpeting to carry out the theme.

 Luckily, my mother never gave in to my whims. As an adult, I’ve decided on a Moroccan/Egyptian influenced bedroom, something exotic to spice up, um, the walls. I think I got the idea from the one HGTV Rate My Space episode I caught this year. Who says TV isn’t educational?

To carry out this theme idea, I started with a backdrop of rich burnt amber on the walls. I added Asian touches like mosaic-styled throw pillows and tropical potted plants. OK, only the two touches so far and I found them at Pier One. But it’s a start.

For lighting, I wanted something dramatic. But the 1001 lighting books at Home Depot yielded nothing. And the antique stores certainly are fond of their prices. On a whim, I googled “Asian Light Fixtures.” Or maybe Middle Eastern. (5th grade Social Studies hasn’t covered where exotic light fixtures come from yet.) Of all places, eBay came up.

Through eBay, I found and ordered this amazing looking Moroccan Star from this place Click2Egypt. Yeah, sure it’s Egypt, I thought, more like Egypt,Ohio. But after someone named Zahereen emailed that it would be 21 days to ship, I thought maybe.

Sure enough, the box arrived from Cairo, the real one. Complete with squiggly lettering. Amazing. Because of the internet, a woman just like me, in Egypt was able to ship me my perfect light fixture. And I was able to send her Yankee greenbacks via PayPal. And that’s the story of world peace, because how can we go around warring with each other when we’re so linked.

Desperately Seeking Decent Skirts

Early in my holiday shopping, I decided my daughter needed some winter skirts. I started at the large department store. But the clothes for 8 year-olds were all black and white, rock star and trampy. Call me crazy but I’d like my kids to look like kids, not Madonna circa 1980. (Madonna doesn’t even want to look like that anymore.) After a dedicated hunt, I came home and got on the computer. A few clicks later I found, ordered and PayPal’d colorful skirts of sufficient length from Land’s End and Hannah Anderson. Skirts: Done. Avid Online Shopper: Born.

Though I wouldn’t miss the rush of holiday shopping and Black Friday for anything, I’m heading online to round out my list. And I won’t just shop locally, I’ll shop the nation and the world. In Egypt, I hope my pal Zahereen is doing the same, getting her coffee from Turkey, her nutcrackers from Germany, her shampoo, Tide and toothpaste from the US and her oranges from Florida. Because when we all depend on each other for the things we love, how can there be anything but World Peace? Happy Holidays.

What's your favorite purchase this holiday season? Did you find something special and unique?