Ow. Made it. Port fountain postponed until my 40th. Other libations may happen sooner, like this evening. Apparently my bike is a heavy, steel framed beast and you're not supposed to ride the whole time in 4th - had no idea. Ow.

The Green Living show was at once a shopping fest, an infomercial, a networking opportunity and a gleeful, albeit lurching at times, step in the right direction. Some booths were green, others were trying and some hadn't quite got the right memo. I still couldn't fact the Burts Bee's booth (their new owner, Clorox, was also there) but made some new friends with another cosmetic line (need more research, but so far so wow) and was happy to see/smell/almost bite Lush. Fell in love with a bike (oooo so pretty), a chair (red cork, felt like soft leather) and a pair of boots (made out of hemp, car and bicycle tires, recycled plastic, cork and coconuts). Was endeared by companies who apologized up front for non-recycled paper ("there was a miscommunication with our printer, and we felt it was better to use them than not"), readily available green bins and biodegradable everything. Most things that bug me about trade shows were absent. Some of the things I've always wanted but didn't even know how to name were there. Will be going back next year with more time and some cash, but for now I've got about 70 new products and suppliers to research and see if they're everything they say.

Down the hall though, Elle magazine had their own trade show. Same building, same day. While waiting for company I watched row on row of cookie cutter housewives with their paper, single use Elle bags in hand, pink clothed mini-consumers at their sides walking back to the parking lot. Some kids heads turned in curiosity's as they passed the Green show though, hearing the cheers and drumming inside (the kids area had ongoing story telling and large puppets from the look of it), peered at the happy teen agers giving out saplings. There was a longing on the little faces that I don't think will fade. It was a strange and hopeful parade.