Eat.Pray.Love

For this post, I thought I would change it up a little bit. I want this post to encompass more of me and who I am. Last week on my birthday I lost a great friend, Anna. She was beautiful, funny, young, active and smart as could be. She was taken off of life support on May 20th around 3:30pm. Anna suffered from a Pulmonary Embolism (a.k.a a blood clot). It has been an emotional journey being away from all my family and friends while this has taken place. It has made me think a lot about what I am doing with my life, as well as, the direction I would like my life to go. I also have been thinking a lot about my friends back at home and how much they mean to me. So, late Tuesday night I sent this email out to my very good friends:

To my best friends,

I was watching Oprah the other day and Julia Roberts was on. First

off, she is absolutely gorgeous and I only pray to God I age like her.

Seriously, flawless! On another note, she was on promoting her movie

Eat.Pray.Love, which I can hardly wait to come out. I'm just about to

the middle of her new book, which I am truly enjoying:) But anyways, a

part of the show was asking all the people what their favorite thing

to eat was, where their favorite place to pray was, and their favorite

love. I really enjoyed hearing what their "favorites" were and since I

care about you all so much I wanted to know what your favorite thing

to eat is, favorite place to pray, and your favorite love(interpret

this as you wish)? I thought in light of this new movie it would give

us a chance to connect with each other being all of us are practically

in a different state/country. I know you didn't like the book Laura

but for the sake of all of us that did, please participate:) xx (no

o's just for you)

Also, as you all know my friend Anna pasted away last week. She was

young, healthy and active and happened to just being taken away in the

blink of an eye. It really has been diffcult and truly makes you think

about your current life, your family/ friends and how you want to

spend your life from now on because you never know what day will be

your last.

So, I want to let you all know how much I love and care about you.

Meeting you four has showed me what true friends are and how important

it is to keep people like you in my life. I honestly do not know what

I would do without and I'm struggling being away from you all as we

speak. I'm sorry to be all "emmmsss" but I just wanted to tell you

because I know I don't tell you enough. Thank you for being my best

friends and for always being there when I need you. I admire you all

for so many different reasons, and I only hope I am as good of a

friend as you all are to me. I LOVE you all again and when you get a

chance think about your "favorites":)

Ooopppss, I guess I should go first since I am starting this. My

favorite thing to eat would be a chocolate lava cake drizzled with a

raspberry sauce and fresh raspberries, my favorite place to pray is in

bed before I fall asleep, my favorite place to love is in mt.pleasant

because that's where I can feel the closest to all my family and

friends!

Xxxoooxxxoox

Me

I thought it would be fun to post their responses in this blog post. Here is what each of them said:

Sarah List-

Eat: air popped popcorn with real butter and salt
Pray: right now I like to do it early in the morning here on the balcony.
Love: Anywhere involving my friends and a nice cup of coffee.

Katelyn Fulton-

Eat: spicy, cheesy mexican food

Pray: in the shower...it's the quietest time of day I have

Love: outside on a beautiful day with my babes, hubby, family and friends

Liz Moceri-

Eat: A toss up between 'Carrot Cake' and 'almond crusted french toast with raspberry sauce and whip cream'

-yes of course karrah and I choose to live off of sweets - because like I said before 'We will die happy fat and broke together, between our shopping and sweets addiction' :)

Pray: In the shower- because its when I feel the most at peace!

Love: Interpreted two ways: 'Snuggling in a cozy bed with the one I love, because at that moment nothing else in the world matters', and 'enjoying a gorgeous day outside with family and friends'.

Laura Jay-

Still waiting for a response!

To learn more about what Anna suffered from, please check out http://www.preventdvt.org/ and always remember to Eat.Pray.Love:)

Look, I'm famous!

Well......I'm not really famous, BUT my biography and the link to my blog is up on TVE's website! Despite it only being a little write-up-which I wrote myself- it kind of makes me feel like an asset to the company. Working on the website was really interesting. Not too complicated but interesting in that you get to see the "behind the scenes" or "back end" of a website. The interns have been delegated the responsibility for keeping the website up-to-date on the events, travels and new products. Tomorrow I will post new pictures of the store and the products to the website, some of which are already posted on my blog.

Working on the website took up the first half of my day and the other half of my day was spent researching new products that can be created. Anne and Kelly are leaving for Thailand tomorrow. While in Thailand Kelly and Anne will be meeting up with SHE Thailand and the Duang Prateep Foundation to discuss and develop new products for the store. SHE Thailand focuses on pearls, while the Duang Prateep Foundation produces this beautiful printed fabric. As of now, the Duang Prateep Foundation is using the fabric to make wine totes, however TVE wants to do more with the fabric. It is made of 100% cotton and comes in a variety of colors. A few ideas for the fabric is to develop student travel id's (similar to the ones made by Vera Bradley), various sizes of make-up bags, passport covers and credit card holders. Below are a few pictures of the fabric that is currently used to make the wine totes:

Just in case you were wondering what the Duang Prateep Foundation is, it began in 1978 to work with the urban poor. In response to the Tsunami of 2004, the organization expanded its services to Phangnga province to help the remaining survivors, mostly children. This foundation supports orphanages, handicraft centers, kindergartens, community development projects, and much more. The women of Duang Prateep engage in income-generating projects to help themselves and to support local children's home, such as Baan Tharn Namchai, where The Village Experience works.

Ideas for SHE Thailand are pearl earrings, both studs and dropped pearls, bracelets with several rows of pearls, necklaces with a variety of sizes of pearls, etc. In researching, it is important to think of the resources these organizations will have available, as well as, the complexity of the product. Having a picture of the product or a simplified sketch is crucial. All while trying to keep in mind the young, college-aged consumer!

Check out my bio under the "Our Team" tab. Then, click on "Advisory Board!"

Night folks:) xxoo

Not only is this blog about my internship at The Village Experience, but I also intended to post about other things I will experience in Indy. Many of those things may revolve around food, as I am quite the foodie:)

Today on my day off it was nearly 85 degrees. Absolutely beautiful out! For lunch, I had met up with Emily at a cafe called, Taste. It was a cute, quaint cafe with a great ambiance. The cafe was setup where you had to order at the counter and then they would bring the food to you. As we were waiting in line we had the pleasure to stare at the dessert bar for a gooooood 10 minutes. I had the Pear & Roquefort Salad and Emily had the V-8 salad, along with their famous Pommes Frites with basil aioli (a.k.a French Fries). They were the most amazing french fries I have ever had!! Just writing about them makes my mouth salivate. The salad was also delicious, fresh pear, walnuts, organic greens and Sherry dressing. I thought the dressing was going to come on the side, however it was already mixed into the salad. When I go again-which I'm sure will be very soon- I will be sure to ask for it on the side. It was a little too much for my liking. Even though I declined the desserts looked absolutely wonderful!! To name a few, homemade bread pudding, regular, chocolate, and espresso creme brulee, chocolate cupcakes, a wide variety of tortes, and lemon bars. I will NOT pass the desserts up next time! haha...I'm sure many of you are now salivating!

I did not have my camera with me, so I couldn't take any pictures. But, if anyone is ever in the Indianapolis area this is a must! Here is the link to their website for you to check out: tastecafeandmarketplace.com

Now, go treat yourself to something sweet! See you tomorrrow! xxoo

Race to the Village=Success!

Last night was the "Race to the Village" party for the grand opening of our expansion! Lots of people from Indianapolis came out to help us celebrate. Barefoot Wine, Upland Brewery and 5 Star Catering provided the endless amounts of food and drinks. I'm still a little bitter about not being able to try the guacamole, but Anne said she would make some and bring it in to the store. It was crazy--- people were scooping guacamole on their plates as if it were mashed potatoes!! Anne's finances' family owns 5 Star Catering, therefore, I'm thinking she has access to their secret recipe:) At least I'm crossing my fingers that she does!:) I took some pictures of the final displays and some of the merchandise from the store before the party began. The weather was perfect, the food was delicious and everyone was having fun. It couldn't have turned out any better!!

Sewing Labels on My Birthday

Anne and Emily

Me

Emily

Kelly took these pictures this morning on her BB as we were sewing the labels into the hats and bags. Lovely background right?! Not to mention we had the opportunity to do this on my 23rd birthday! Happy Birthday to me:) haha

Store & New Expansion

I mentioned yesterday that I would post some picture of the store and the new side. Hope this gives you an idea of the our store looks like and the products we sell!

Oouiiii...CUSTOMS

Never have I dealt with customs or had any inkling as to what chaos they can provoke, however today I had that privilege. Anne, Co-Founder of The Village Experience, had recently been working with an organization called The Bombolulu Workshop (www.bombolulu.org).

The Bombolulu Workshop for the Handicapped, located in Mombasa, Kenya, works with some 150 disabled men and women artisans to help them overcome their physical limitations and empower them economically and socially to become fully integrated members of their communities. Bombolulu started in 1969 as a rehabilitation project sponsored by the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya.

In working with Bombolulu, Anne had helped them design and produce summer dresses, beach totes, summer hats, and bowls. The products were scheduled to arrive to the store before the party on Saturday. Fortunately, Anne had received a call from Tom who said the products had arrived to the US, but were being held by customs. Tom is basically a liaison between TVE and customs. FYI, it's just better to hire someone to deal with the customs then to try and do it yourself. The products are being held by customs because The Bombolulu Workshop failed to sew in the care label in each of the summer hats and beach totes. Apparently, all textile products that are imported into the US need to have a care label. Therefore, in order for TVE to receive the products we had to figure out a way to get a care label that could be sewn into the products.

So, we researched and contacted numerous companies that may correlate or relate to care labels, apparel tags, screen printing, pad printing, alternations, or fabric. After all our research and contacts we ended up with no possible way to buy a care label. Ending up with nothing, we decided we needed to be more creative. It appeared as if we were actually going to have to make our own label since there are no companies in greater Indianapolis that had the resources to do so (FYI--business opportunity in apparel care labels!).

Our idea: buy heat transfer paper and white fabric. In Microsoft Word, Molly created a set of care labels that we printed onto the heat transfer paper, which were then ironed onto the fabric. We then cut the labels out, which will be sewn into the products tomorrow morning at 8am. In order to gain access to the products that are being held by customs, Anne had to photocopy and send all of our passports to them. Before our arrival, customs will have inspected our passports and have run a background check on each of us. Who knew working with customs would be so difficult?



To sum it up, we had to actually create our own care label that will be sewn into the products tomorrow morning in front of the customs officials. If all goes well we should be able to bring the products back to TVE to be set up and merchandised. All I can say is..... ouiiiii vayyyyy customs!!!

First Day of Work

Today, on this (unfortunate) gloomy morning at 11am was the start of my internship.

When I first walked in I was greeted by Emily. Emily is responsible for researching and coordinating the events TVE attends. Emily showed me the new area TVE has expanded into and helped to get me settled in. She refereed me to the "Intern Packet", introduced me to the other interns, Molly and Kelsie, and reviewed the products TVE carries.

The beginning of my day was mostly spent on walking around the store and learning about the products. TVE has roughly 40 vendors so it will take some time to learn all about the products and their story. When I say "story", I mean how the product is made and who it is made by. Being a fair trade store, each organization/women's group/charity has a unique story behind them. Here is an example:

SHEThailand

The Story

SHE Thailand was started in 2006. SHE (Self Help and Empowerment) is a charity committed to helping women and children at risk in Thailand, many of whom are trapped in the commercial sex trade. SHE is dedicated to providing employment, vocational training, and counseling for women who want to help themselves out of this industry. SHEThailand works with roughly 16 women and their children. Women produce a wide range of artisan handicrafts such as gourmet chocolates, decorative boxes and pearl earrings.

Why The Village Experience is involved

The Village Experience discovered SHEThailand in March of 2009. The women and products they created captured our hearts. The Biddle family, an intergral part of SHEThailand, moved us with their tenacity to see these women find a way to change their lives.

For more information visit: www.shethailand.org

Other than learning about the products, I spent the majority of my day merchandising the new side of the store. The new expansion will focus on home goods. This varies from fair trade coffees, teas, olives oils, tea pots, nesting trays, dry cookie mixes, aprons, bowls, etc. All of which are great and are helping to support impoverished countries!

The new expansion is set to be revealed this upcoming Saturday for our party. Samples of the new products will be able to be taste tested, along with donated food, beer and wine from local Indianapolis companies. The party is open to anyone and will be from 4pm-9pm at TVE store's location 6055 N. College Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46220. I'm already looking forward to the party, meeting the customers and local partners of TVE. Tomorrow I will post pictures of the store and the new expansion!

See you then friends-- xxoo

What is this blog about???

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my "Indy Girl" blog! I hope you will all enjoy this as much as I am going to. It will be a great way for me to keep in touch with everyone and to help document my entire internship experience. For ones that are unsure of what this blog is all about, I will catch you up. In order to finish my Masters degree, I had to find a graduate-level internship where I would develop a project and work a minimum of 600 hours. If your asking yourself what is a graduate-level internship, I honestly can not give you a concrete answer. I guess we will both find out throughout this experience. Anyway, I was fortunate enough to land an intern position with The Village Experience located in Indianapolis, Indiana (experiencethevillage.com). The Village Experience (TVE) is a socially pro-active business dedicated to uplifting impoverished communities in the developing world through efforts in international trade and tourism. The concept of TVE features two components:

(1) International Tourism - trips to the developing world focusing on cultural education, humanitarianism, and adventure. They are designed to give the traveler a "real, off-the-beaten path, village" experience.

(2) International Trade - work with charities, micro-financing groups, women's projects, local artisans, and global cooperatives to develop fair trade products and create a market for them in the developed world.

On their website is a promo video that you should check out---It gives a great overview of the company!

My main responsibility at TVE is to develop a wholesale product line. This will be the focal point of this blog, as well as, my project for my Masters. I will post the "project plan" I developed once I begin working on it. Other than working on the product line, I will be physically working at the store, merchandising the products, interacting with consumers, attending promotion events, creating advertisements and fund raising. I will be quite busy with all my responsibilities, but I can hardly wait to get started!

I hope this is an adequate introduction to what I will be blogging about all summer. This is as new to me as probably many of you. I plan on posting lots of pictures and videos of my experience and other fun things while I am in Indy. Thanks for following and if you have any questions or comments please feel free to. This is my first blog and I would appreciate any feedback!

See you tomorrow when I will blog about my first day! xxoo