Sometimes eavesdropping on Twitter leads to hearing TMI about a distant interweb friends’ skin condition, and sometimes it leads to awesome discoveries.  Today I’m sharing the latter with all of my indie biz owner friends and all of those you thinking about maybe, possibly, one day trying to make some money out of your craftiness.  Through a series of tweets I stumbled upon two incredible and FREE accounting resources for us self-employed folks.  Like I said, these are new discoveries to me, so I’m not an expert and I haven’t read 100% of everything contained on these sites, but I’ve read enough to know they’re legit and could save a lot of people a lot of money & a lot of time.  Both of which are rare commodities when trying to run a successful small business.

The first stop was at the  Accounting Spot, an incredible blog dedicated to helping Etsy sellers and small business owners get their books in order.  There are so many free spreadsheets, Quickbook files, tutorials, and the like that I have yet to read up on all of it.  I can’t believe I just discovered the Accounting Spot blog this week, but I’m oh so thankful I did!

When I landed on the blog’s front page, there was a raving review of a FREE online accounting program called Outright.  Again, I feel like I’ve been under a rock since I haven’t heard of this yet, but I’m so excited to give it a test run.  From what I can tell, Outright is a super user friendly, simple, but powerful book keeping service that doesn’t require you to have a CPA to successfully set up and maintain.  One of my goals for The Meetup this month was to get all of my info out of my (super annoying) MAC based Quickbooks program and into a (less annoying) PC based Quickbooks program.  I think I’ll skip straight ahead to Outright and save myself the hassle.

One of the events that contributed to the extended blog hiatus was a minor-but-serious-enough-that-it-messed-up-my-day-to-day-life knee injury.  After hundreds of dollars and a few hours spent in doctors offices and MRI machines, I received a letter that officially concluded that there was nothing wrong with my knee.  Ugh.  The letter was accompanied by a prescription for physical therapy which I am three weeks into and am encouraged by the results of.  However, this has been a nearly four month process now in which I have been virtually inactive.  Throw the holidays and my lack of self control in the mix, and well, it’s no surprise the jeans are a little tighter these days.  But, I’m back in the gym on a limited basis and things are looking up.  So to encourage getting myself to regain the balance and momentum I had pre-injury (I was doing SO GOOD you guys!) I’m on the hunt for snacks and quick meals that are healthy and don’t taste like rabbit food.  Enter this weeks’ Sustainability picks.  Bon Appetit!

1. New York Naturals – Raw Vegan Spicy Miso Kale Chips

These bad boys are absolutely packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber and other super healthy stuff.  A great alternative to their fried potato counterparts.

2. Cook Outside The Box – Lentils Spice Kit (with recipes!)

My new found meal obsession right now is lentils.  I love these little guys!  You can dress them up in so many ways, and they’re packed with protein making them a great inexpensive meat substitution (though my carnivorous husband would disagree).  Since I’m new to the lentil world I think this spice kit and added recipes would help me mix it up and put a few more lentil tricks up my chef sleeves.

3. Deidre Wood – Ganache Truffles with Bolivian Rose Salt

Everyone knows cocoa is a health food and when you combine that with a great source of calcium (cream, butter, milk, etc.) it’s practically an anti-oxident and osteoporosis fighting power house.  Or, I just love chocolate, and what’s the point of taste buds if you can’t indulge them once in a while, right? :)

4. mnemognose – Best. Granola. Ever.

You know how they say the more you chew your food, the faster you’ll feel full?  I think this crunchy granola would be a great candidate for some serious chewing.  Mix it up with a bit of greek yogurt or on top of your cereal and voila!  Commence chewing.

I don’t really have a bucket list, but if I did these three things would definitely be on it: attend SXSW,  Cochella and take Ryan to Australia. None of those things are really on the horizon right now, so I’m thankful to NPR.org for providing a healing salve to at least one of them with their streaming of “The Austin 100″ SXSW Music Mix.   With over six hours of great music from artists appearing at SXSW 2010 like The Rural Alberta Advantage, Jenny Owen Youngs, Phantogram, She & Him, Spoon, and ninety-five others, you get a really good feel for what SXSW is going to sound like.  And it sounds awesome.

Make sure to keep up with all of NPR Music’s live coverage of SXSW 2010 by visiting their dedicated SXSW page and by following the All Songs Considered crew on Twitter. I can’t wait to live vicariously through them!

Ok, now this is just crazy. No posts for 3 months and now two in one day?!? Well I realized it was March 1st (Thanks to Cyn via Twitter) and time for The Meetup (formerly the Modish Monthly Meetup).  This is another one of the things I’ve missed so much since being out of the blog loop so I immediately dropped what I was doing and wrote a small (but HUGE) list of goals for March.  I’m thinking of it like concentrated orange juice.  It doesn’t look like a whole lot, but add a little water and BAM!  There’s a big ol’ pitcher of stuff to get done.  The top three are clients-have-paid-me- money, people-have-giveaways-pending, must…get…done kinda stuff.  And I have no doubt they will get done, but they’re huge goals for the month, so there they are.  The bottom two will most likely bleed into April, but who knows.  Now that I’m full time Paper Mangoing (EEK!) I’m getting a lot more done than I used to!  Thanks to everyone for letting me back into The Meetup community after such a long hiatus.  I can’t wait to read where you’re all at with your goals.  Best of luck!

“Peek-A-Boo” by Lovely Journey Fine Art Photography

Hi friends!  I know what you’re thinking, “I never thought Melanie was going to blog again”.  Well, never fear!  The day has arrived…kind of.  I just wanted to write a quite update to let you know that 1.) Yes, I’m alive.  2.) Yes, PaperMango is still kicking (and going stronger than ever!) and 3.) Yes, the blog is coming back to life.  After the chaos that was The Holidays, there was a big transition with my husband and I that has allowed me to do PaperMango full time!  It has been the most exciting, scary, giddy, overwhelming, and humbling few weeks and I’m finally starting to get my bearings back.  I’ve missed this space and the community that interacts here tremendously and I have so much new music and so many lovely sustainable things and giveaways to share with you, and I just can’t wait!  So, stay tuned my friends, good things are coming very soon.

PS – Though I’ve been unfaithful to my blog, I’m like BFFs with Twitter, so come follow me there!

Unihorn Swamp Hob by Infinite Divide Studio

Hi friends, just a little note to say this lovely lady has taken me away with her and, well, I’m swamped.  Things will be pretty sparse around the blog until 2010.  Which thankfully (and amazingly) is only a couple weeks away.   I’m so fortunate to be gearing up for my parents, brother & sister-in-law to be joining us from Dallas for Christmas.   Pair that with a couple of huge wedding invitation deadlines and I’m sure you understand the reason for the break! :)  I hope whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year (Festivus anyone?) is spent with good friends, family and food and that you look forward to all it brings.

See you in January!

It’s one week closer to Christmas and I’ve got one more eco-friendly and affordable gift guide to share.  Shipping deadlines are quickly approaching so don’t get caught by surprise and settle for running to a big box store at the last minute!  Spend 15 minutes thinking through the people you still need gifts for and 15 minutes shopping and buying from handmade sellers on Etsy, Artfire, or elsewhere.  Aren’t you glad I just solved all of your gift buying problems!  :)  You can start your shopping now with these four fabulous gift options!

1. Slightly Twisted Wood – Mahogany pie/cake server

There is so much to love about these hand crafted wood utensils.  Made from sustainable mahogany wood, it is a practical, elegant, eco-friendly, fair trade, good for the planet, and all around great gift!  And to top it all off, profits from the sale of this utensil are reinvested to help the workshop in Cuahichillo, Nicaragua grow to provide more employment for Nicaraguans and to promote sustainable forestry and reforestation.

2. Eleanor and Milo – Dog Toss Toy

This one is for the four legged family members.  These dog toss toys are made from 100% reclaimed fabric and thread.  And then they are stuffed with…yep, more reclaimed fabric!  You won’t be chasing around little puffs of poly-fill stuffing when your dog plays with this toy!

3. Shanineal – Treasure Bowl

Everyone needs a “stuff” bowl.  You know the place where you throw your keys, spare change and other odds and ends.  Well this bowl collects “stuff” in eco-friendly style.  It’s hand knit from a wool/mohair blend yarn, then machine felted and available in a fun variety of colors.

4. Pretty N Preppy – Reusable Water Bottle

These water bottles are not only absolutely adorable but they keep landfills free of all those disposable plastic bottles.  Made of stainless steel with a screw on, spill proof lid and perfectly fitted for your car cup holder.

If you follow me on twitter (hint hint, wink wink) you already know I’m a little excited that Christmas music is filling the air!  There’s just something so lovely about songs that bring back childhood memories, have a positive message (except for that whole grandma got run over by a reindeer thing) and that the whole family can get together and sing.  (Is this sounding like a cheesy after school special?)  However, there is definitely a distinction between good Christmas music and that horrible muzak stuff they play in the malls.  I thought today I’d share a few of my favorite Christmas albums so you have a couple weeks to enjoy!

It doesn’t get much better than Diana Krall singing fantastic jazzy arrangements of Christmas favorites. Download for $2.99 on Amazon.

I’m not normally a huge James Taylor fan, but his smooth silky voice was just made to sing Christmas songs.  This album is a great mellow album perfect for background music at your holiday parties.  Pick up a copy here.

Sara Groves has been one of my favorite sing/songwriters for a few years.  Last season she released this Christmas album and it quickly became a favorite.  This album features arrangements in her signature piano driven style and some original compositions as well.  Download or pick up the cd here.

And it wouldn’t be Christmas without Mannheim Steamroller’s intrumental arrangements.  All of their albums are solid and worth a spot in your holiday music rotation, but the Christmas in the Aire album is my personal favorite.  Pick yours up here.

This weekend I will be joining with other amazing Arizona artists at the Indie Chic@10th Street alternative craft fair.  The weather is set to be GORGEOUS so if you’re in the Phoenix area (or with in a day’s driving distance) head down to the ASU Art Museum and do some local holiday shopping.  There is free parking, or easy walking from the light rail and live music all day.  We’ll be set up from 10:00 – 5:00 this Saturday, December 5th.  The Tempe Festival of the Arts is also this weekend so it will be a great day to enjoy the Arizona weather and arts.

For more info and a preview of some of the other artists at Indie Chic check out their blog at http://asuartmuseum.wordpress.com.

Hope to see you there!

It’s Cyber Monday and I see you over there browsing from your work desk. :)  So here are a few amazing, eco-friendly gifts that are most definitely worth your precious Cyber Monday browsing time and your holiday gift giving budget.

1. One Green Poppy – Wool BYOB Bag

A fabulous gift for the wine enthusiast on your gift list.  Made of 100% recycled wool and black hemp canvas this bag will carry their favorite bottle in eco-friendly style.  And to top it all off, it’s machine washable for easy clean up after a picnic in the park.

2.Happy Go Licky – Customized  Silver Golf Ball Marker

We’ve all got a golfer to buy for and this customized golf ball marker will no doubt be the most unique gift they receive.   Handmade from fine silver, you can have both sides customized with initials, a good luck phrase or anything else that would be meaningful to your golfer.

3. Designs by Cathy – I Fly By My Own Wing Necklace

A handmade sterling silver necklace featuring a hand cut dog tag, wing, inspirational saying and an amethyst stone.  Made using eco-friendly practices.  A great gift for the lady on your list that has big dreams of flying high.

4. Green NOLAstye – Alpaca Flower Scarf

This adorable scarf is made from Alpaca wool, a renewable resource that is warmer than goose down, stronger than silk and has moisture wicking capabilities.  Who knew?!  Any girl on your list will love this unique and handmade scarf.