With every shoe sold, Etnies will plant a tree. The program is called “Buy A Shoe, Plant A Tree.” This year they are planting 100,000 trees in Brazil! (Last year they planted 35,000 in Costa Rica).
This is a photo of the Caprice Eco priced at $50. Cute, huh? Styles suit men, women and kids. Locally, the shoes are available at Dick’s Sporting Goods, at the Millcreek Mall; Journeys, at the Millcreek Mall; Pac Sun, at the Millcreek Mall; Shoe Fly Shoe, 7520 Peach St. Erie, Pa.

Styles go back to the 1920s

Stephanie Solomon, Operating VP of Fashion Direction for Women’s Ready-To-Wear says styles from the 20s and 50s are hot along with matching cardigans and neon bags. Some of the timeless designs are also 70ish —  I swear I had a dress that looked just like one in the Solomon video.  Also, color blocking is huge and we have a great feature on how to wear it by Lili Morton in Her Times Sunday, June 3.

Other popular styles from howdini.com include: Printed jeans & tribal pattern fashion trends for Spring 2012, How to dress with spring 2012 neon fashion trends; How to dress with the latest Mad Men fashion trends in 2012 and How to dress with men’s accessories for 2012 Mad Men fashion trends.

Enjoy the holiday weekend and shopping!

Pam Parker is an award-winning writer and editor for Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.

About nine years ago, my daughter was a freshman at McDowell High School and headed to the PIAA track and field meet in Shippensburg. She went three years in a row. And the girls team won states two years in a row, coached by Joe Sanford.
Today, a few 9th graders are headed to states. Read the entire article about all the young athletes on goerie.com, McDowell freshman Kelsey Swantek qualified for the 3,200 meter run. A distance specialist, Swantek won the District 10 Class AAA cross country championship as a freshman in October.

Villa Maria freshman Grace Trucilla qualified for the state meet with a photo finish in the 800-meter run at the D-10 final. We saw her dad, Judge John Trucilla, hours later at the mall.

As the awesome season of Dancing with the Stars comes to a close, I’ve followed a lot of it, and it was the most entertaining, by far. The finalists all deserved mirror ball trophies!

Congratulations to the three top teams Winner Green Bay Packer Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd; opera singer Katherine Jenkins and Mark Ballas; and Latin star William Levy and Cheryl Burke.

My family of cheesehead fans watched Triple D dance and bring that mirror ball trophy to title town Green Bay, Wisconsin — as urged by fellow Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews in one funny skit.

Observations great and small: I don’t know who dressed tennis hall of famer Martina Navratilova in that fishnet thrown over a sparkle bra and shag pants, but that was disrespectful. She deserved so much better.

Jaleel White showed us that “Family Matters” Steve Urkel (“Did I do that?”) really can dance with partner Kym Johnson. Legendary eight-time Grammy winner Gladys Knight is one awesome singer and dancer at age 68 with partner Tristan MacManus.

Congrats to Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd. Driver joins a series of NFL football players to win the trophy. Emmitt Smith won Season 3 and Hines Ward won Season 12. Several other NFL stars made it into the late rounds of DWTS.

Pam Parker is an award-winning writer and editor for Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.

A month ago, I wrote about how important it is to give graduates cash. Then, I received some terrific gift ideas via e-mail that made just plain good sense. The folks at Etsy sent me a list of 50 — I am pulling my favorites, but this link provides the whole list.

Dr. Seuss keychain. Featuring a quote from Oh, The Places You’ll Go, this keychain, and others like it, provide a bit of support for grads in unexpected places.

Tassel frame. Give your grad a place to show off his or her tassel and graduation photos by picking up one of these handmade tassel frames.

Business card case. Grads getting ready to leave college behind and take on the working world would appreciate the functionality of a business card case, which you can find in a wide variety of styles on Etsy.

High-quality diploma frame. A handmade cherry frame like the one listed here is an amazing way to let your grad show off his or her diploma.

Knit throw. Don’t know how to knit? You can still give a beautiful knit throw as a gift if you head to Etsy. There are lots of styles and colors to choose from, like this one that is colorful and looks super warm. I’d recommend one from the school.

QR code art. QR codes have made it onto everything, including the wall. This QR code art can be customized to give grads a special message when they scan it.

Lap desk. Let your grad be comfortable while typing away on a laptop by gifting them with one of these super cushy and customizable lap desks.

Pam Parker is an award-winning writer and editor for Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.

Bat one out of the park for Father’s Day, June 17, with a baseball wrapped in a photo of Dad’s favorite team stadium — collectibles too! Visit www.unforgettaballs.com where gift baseballs celebrating ballparks and stadiums cost about $17.50 plus shipping. Each ball includes a Lucite container. Add a wood base for $12.50; or hoist the ball on a trio of miniature baseball bats for another $6.75.

For avid fans, buy Dad 20 of them and line them up in a $65.95 beautiful display case. More great gift ideas are available from Restoration Hardware — really cool stuff!

Pam Parker is an award-winning writer and editor for Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.

I receive a lot of gift ideas for Father’s Day, June 17, in my email, and here’s a terrific adventure gift. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association wrote that 3,500 flight schools in the U.S. offer discounted introductory flights at around $99.

Let’s Go Flying, is a learn-to-fly initiative sponsored by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Their e-mails says “Forget all the boring gifts and help Dad be Top Gun for a day.” The closest school is right here in Erie at North Coast Flight School Inc.. Here’s the contact info: 814-434-0875, gshncfs@yahoo.com and www.flyerie.com.

Pam Parker is an award-winning writer and editor for Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.

_{Nearly 10 years ago, I wrote a story about the Woman’s Club when it was completely redecorated and restored. I was there today speaking during annual Woman’s Day events that included tributes to Asbury Woods Nature Center, Frankie & May Fresh Grocer and Mi Scuzi Ristorante. Thanks to everyone who joined me — it was great fun!}

_{The Woman’s Club of Erie has roots dating back to 1897, and its members founded the Visiting Nurses Association, donated to the Juvenile Diabetes foundation and Safenet, just to name a few. The building was the original Davenport Galbraith home, purchased in 1925 for the Woman’s Club. It is spectacular!}

_{The local club is a member of the international General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC), founded by Jane Cunningham Croly. The journalist Croly started GFWC in 1890, when she had been refused admittance to an all-male press dinner honoring Charles Dickens.}

_{For more information on the local chapter, contact eriewomansclub@gmail.com
Pam Parker is an award-winning writer and editor for Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.}

Thanks to Sherry Rieder of the Erie Times-News for wearing such cute shoes that I had ask about them.  She was wearing Alegria shoes and shared the website. On sale, comfy sandals are under $50.

Sherry also suggested Kirsten Borrink’s blog Barking Dog Shoes. Tongues will be wagging when you see the shoes — even Merrell Evera dress shoes you can cycle to work in and wear all day.  Red, gray, black and brown and $100 plus — now that’s a multitasking shoe.

Pam Parker is an award-winning writer and editor for Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.

It’s Women’s health week, and beyond the obvious things we should all be doing, like getting checkups and taking better care of ourselves, here are a few great things I found for better mental and physical health:

I think I remember reading about this, but it has new life. The 1997 Glamour magazine article “30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She’s 30” was so popular that Glamour created a book that included some advice from celebrities along with a Pamela Redmond Satran‘s advice on how to live alone. It all appeared on Huffington Post.

Great workouts that you can do at home: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/video/a-pound-melting-pilates-routine#/video/fitness/created/d/1

You can join the 2012 Woman Challenge – regardless of how young or old you are. It’s a free government site that allows you to log your activity and reap rewards.

Celebrate women’s health week.

Pam Parker is an award-winning writer and editor for Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.

I’m not into cooking, but I had to share this because I will make these graduation caps, and there are dozens of recipes out there. This yummy one from Bakerella sounds easy — they put the cups on lollipop sticks and use Ghirardelli as the hat tops. Mmm.

Another recipe from Taste of Home uses thin mints as the cap tops. And Taste of Home has recipes for similar caps … with brownies, cupcakes and more.

Graduation party ideas abound. Check here for some themes. We’ve had our share of graduation parties for teens and young adults. Here’s what we have learned. Kids love to eat, but they want to be able to eat and talk without making a mess. Just keep it simple:

Girls will eat salad. With every party we’ve had it’s the one thing we ran out of first.

Cookies disappear faster than cake. Those cakes with pictures of your grad’s face and school on them are cute, but cookies are easier to grab and go. We never had leftover cookies.

Subs sliced into small sections will disappear. Gone … with the salad.

Hot dogs and hamburgers beat roast beef sandwiches, chicken and meatballs.

One final word of advice: Do not serve alcohol to your graduate and friends. (Unless it’s college graduation of 21-year-olds.) Ever. They are underage, and it puts them and you at risk. If they leave your house, you are responsible for serving them. This is not a wedding reception. It’s a graduation party. If you serve alcohol to adults, then make sure that YOU are serving only the adults.

Pam Parker is an award-winning writer and editor for Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.