Farmer Fashion

I stopped by Agnes Scott last Friday during the Georgia Organics conference to help out at the welcome table. Since I was coming from work I was wearing a fitted dress, pumps and a blazer - a perfectly respectable outfit for the office, but soooo out of place at an organics conference. Most attendees were wearing some combination of cargos, denim, dreadlocks, birkenstocks, shirts made out of flax or bamboo and some kind of reusable tote.

I'm a big supporter of the whole the farm-to-table, organic, living green movement (who isn't?!), but I rarely associate it with the stylish types...that is until I saw this guy:



His outfit is so organics-conference-perfect that I nearly fell out of my chair when he walked into the building. Instead, I played it totally cool by stealthily running after him and pretending to take a photo of the tents outside so I could document his outfit on this blog. The shorts aren't too short, the shirt is perfectly broken in, he manages to rock those mules (usually a strictly European male accomplishment) and how great is that little red feather in his fedora? Even the hipster beard is great. Who's with me?

CL

Urban Hiking 101

Lauren and I have been supporters of the Atlanta Beltline ever since its inception - or at least since we first heard about it over a year ago.

(For our non-Atlanta readers, the Beltline is a HUGE city-wide urban development project. It's still in the initial stages, but will eventually encompass new development, public transit and greenspace that follows 22 miles of historic rail circling the city center.)

So when I found out about a group of urban hikers getting ready to go on their third Beltline tour, I (easily) convinced some friends to come with me:


(L to R: me, Matt, Ameila and Lain)

I was foolish enough to let Lar take all the pictures, so there are none of her from our hike. Needless to say, she was the most fashionable of the bunch.

There were about 25 of us total in the group. We ended up walking about 6 miles of the Beltline in about 3 hours and spent a lot of the time listening to Angel, our tour guide who knows everything about the Beltline AND use to be a train conductor (he's the one in the orange shorts).


Of course no urban hike would be complete without graffiti. Scarface and the cow face were our two favorites:


The best part about the hike was getting to see the city from a different perspective. Imagine taking a train through your local city, but on foot - if that makes any sense. Some of you Atlantans might recognize the local spots in the photos below.

Starting at the top, left to right: Taking a break in Atlanta's Glenwood Park neighborhood, City Hall East (formerly the Sears building), Krog Street tunnel, and the rail bridge over Ponce de Leon Ave. facing east (that's Paris on Ponce on the left).


By 3 p.m. we were all exhausted, hungry and sunburned, but it was so much fun we're all looking forward to the next hike. For some more photos from the hike, check out the Urban Hiking Atlanta blogpost.

After a couple of hours of walking on rail, rocks, sand and branches, Lar, our friend Amelia, and I agreed the following would make up the perfect urban hiking outfit:

• Shorts, tank top and hoodie.
• Sneakers and tube socks.
• A large water bottle that won't leak in your backpack or one that attaches to a beltloop with a carabiner.
• Sunglasses that aren't so cheap they leave indentations on your checks (these are the only type of sunglasses I own).

So, dear readers, we hope this post inspires you to go out and explore your own city by foot - preferrably with a great group of friends and, if at all possible, a guide named Angel.

- CL

BYOB

Decatur Metro recently mentioned that Whole Foods will be eliminating the use of plastic bags (officially beginning on Earth Day, April 22) only a few months after Ikea started charging its customers for using their non-reusable plastic bags. I'm glad this trend is finally catching on in Atlanta - other cities like San Francisco and Oakland have banned plastic bags completely.

The local Publix and Krogers sell reusable bags, but I doubt they'll be following Whole Foods anytime soon. Still, there's no doubt that it's in everyone's best interest to start bringing bags with them to the store. I have a huge stash of tote bags in the trunk of my car with the intention of never using plastic again (I'll admit that once in a while I'll run to the grocery store for a quick errand and forget to bring a tote with me).

For those of you who don't already have a huge collection of tote bags, below is a (incomplete) beginner's guide to reusable bags.

Anya Hindmarch's affordable I'm Not A Plastic Bag bag was seen on every celebrity's shoulder last fall and sold out in a matter of minutes at participating Sainsburys in the UK.From left to right: Purchase Lauren Bush's Feed Bag for $60 and feed a child for one full year. For his Spring 2007 RTW Louis Vuitton line, Marc Jacobs slapped a stamp on the classic market bag (available for purchase at your local Chinatown) and increased the price tag by roughly 1,000 percent. One of Trader Joe's reusable bags for purchase. This one is especially nice because of its cheery graphics and large, circular base.
Join the movement at BringYourOwnBag.com.



Every time I go to the DeKalb Farmer's Market I see at least one person using Ikea's huge shopping bags. Note: the yellow bag is for in-store, Ikea use only and the blue bags are available for purchase.
I love the colors and grocery bag shape of Dutch designer Susan Bijl's New Shoppingbag, available for purchase at www.greenergrassdesign.com. They're a little pricey at $37.50 however. Even Whole Foods doesn't charge that much for their fanciest, reusable bag.

Last but not least is the classic string grocery bag. Perfect for fruits and vegetables and can be purchased at your local organic market.

CL