Sometimes I find myself in quite a rut- focusing on the negative aspects of my life rather than the positive. The past year of my life however, has been quite incredible (and I need to remind myself that.) Jobs have fallen in my lap and people have been placed in my path for a reason. And at times, when I get muddled down by negative thoughts I have to remind myself of the opportunities I’ve been so gracefully handed. Which quite a few, wouldn’t have happened without my main source of income.

My full time job (amongst many small ones) has been working at the eco-friendly fashion boutique, Eco-Tique, in St. Paul, MN. During the past year working here, I have had the wonderful opportunity of meeting Terri Bly, owner of The Nature of Beauty, and being able to work not only for Eco-Tique but her company as well. So today, I give a shout out to Eco-Tique’s top fall must haves which can be found at The Nature of Beauty.

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Business Travel. Nothing about it implies fashionable or fun. For me, it has always meant carting around either a drab grey laptop backpack for long trips or my utilitarian, generic black laptop-friendly briefcase for shorter stints. Sexy.

So when these new Laptop bags from Minneapolis-based Urban Junket arrived at our Ecotique/Nature of Beauty shop yesterday, my heart did a little dance of joy. Dost mine eyes deceive me? Could someone have actually designed a laptop bag that is sturdy, stylish and eco-friendly?! I rubbed my eyes to make sure the sleek black bag wasn’t just a sleep-deprived hallucination, and when I opened them again, Emily was pulling out the same bag but in a gorgeous ruby red. I quickly shoved her aside and grabbed the red bag like I was at one of those designer wedding dress sample sales you hear about, and took off, shouting “Mine! Mine!”

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It’s time to leave your creative mark on the grocery bag collection of LOHAS everywhere by entering Ecotique’s eco-Design contest! Located in the heart of a popular shopping destination, Grand Avenue in St. Paul, Ecotique is the Midwestern epicenter of eco-friendly and fashion forward clothing and accessories. And now they would like you to contribute your artistry to their next project: customizing 45 bags that will be sold exclusively in their shop and at natureofbeauty.com. Interested? Here are the details:

• The bag is approximately 15” x 15” and is 55% hemp/ 45% organic cotton
• Contest ends July 1st. Send a digital copy of design to eco-tique@live.com or bring one to Eco-Tique at 1045 Grand Avenue in St. Paul, MN with your phone number/email address.
• Winner gets a $100 gift certificate to Eco-Tique/Nature of Beauty (in-store or online), and their design will be printed on 45 bags to be sold at Eco-Tique and online at www.natureofbeauty.com/ecotique. The bag will also be featured in the store window and on The Nature of Beauty’s home page. If applicable, Eco-Tique will host the winner’s art show and sell the winner’s wares.

So get sketching, all you closet artistes (and yes, out-of-the-closet creative types are also welcome to enter); opportunities like these don’t come along every day!

Sandy Skinner, creator of ecoSkin, did not have that problem.

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I’m a big believer in the power of collaboration. After all, most of us are pretty talented in certain areas yet equally lame (or more so) in others. My most visible skill deficit rears its ugly head whenever it’s time to dress myself. I just don’t have an eye for fashion. However, Stephanie Green, owner of eco-friendly St. Paul shop Ecotique, most certainly does. So it made all the sense in the world for The Nature of Beauty to pair up with Ecotique in order to offer the ecoconscious consumer a one-stop, head-to-toe, fashion forward shopping experience. It’s like the Mall of America but without, well, everything in the Mall of America. But you get the idea.

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