As Mother’s Day approaches (and it is), take a moment to remember she who is responsible for your, well, being. Whether you’ll be shopping for your own mother, the mother of your children, or the mother of all gifts, there’s no doubt you realize how irreplaceable she is. To keep her in your thoughts as you search for special gifts this spring, we’d like to share some of our favorite quotes about mothers… enjoy!

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.”
- Tenneva Jordan

“All mothers are working mothers.”
- Unknown

“God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.”
- Rudyard Kipling

Insanity is hereditary; you get it from your children.
- Sam Levenson

There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.
- Chinese Proverb

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.

- Washington Irving

There’s still plenty of time to find the perfect gift for yo mama, so be sure to get it right. Whether you shop with us at Hayneedle or not, please make sure to remember just how special mothers are. Happy Mother’s Day!

Looking for the perfect present for your furry best friend?
Want to get a great gift for the dog lover on your list?
Look no further!
From the Modern Dog to the Pup Princess at Hayneedle you are sure to find an amazing gift for any pup personality. Here are some of my favorite picks to get you started!

The Modern Dog

1. Contemporary canines will snooze in style with the Modern Dog Bed. This bed is sure to be a classy yet comfy conversation piece for this pet pal.
2. Add some flair to doggie dining with this contemporary Raised Double Bowl Diner – a high dining experience for even the most delicate pup palate.
3. The Zen Haus Black Crate is one decorative den that will be sure to keep fido cozy and safe when he is ready for some rest and relaxation. This crate has so much style it doubles as an end table!

The Pup Princess

1. Every princess needs a throne and this Posh and Pink Pet Tent is sure to make any pup princess feel like royalty.
2. No bland wire crates for this pup! The Pink Two Door Pro Valu Crate will make it clear a princess has arrived.
3. When the weather outside is too hot, too cold or too rainy a true pup princess will be sure to resist a trip outdoors. For those dainty debutants try The Pet Loo – an easy to clean indoor pet bathroom system made of synthetic grass!

The Sporting Dog

1. After a long day out and about, this dog needs a cozy place to rest his tired paws. The Fatboy Doggie Lounge is sure to send him right to dreamland. Since this bed is moisture resistant and has a removable cover (available in 10 fresh colors) you will be sure to love it too!
2. When your car doubles as a travel kennel, convert your hatchback or SUV into roomier accommodations. This Vehicle Pet Barrier has a door built in which is perfect for a quick pat on the head when your backseat passengers can no longer resist those puppy dog eyes!
3. Any owner of a sporting dog knows that some days it can be virtually impossible to keep this dog cooped up inside for long. The Dog Palace Heated Dog House will give this dog a warm place to rest when he’d rather stay outside and play on those cold winter days.

Need ideas for the other pets in your life? From Fish to Ferrets, Birds to Rabbits Hayneedle Pets & Animals selection has everything their heart desires!

Enjoy your pet pal!

Happy Holidays,

Lisa E

I welcome your feedback. Just click into this post to leave comments, questions or suggestions.
Follow me on Twitter! @hayneedlepets

The turkey’s gone, the in-laws are gone (for now), and visions of sugar plums are beginning to form. All of this can only mean one thing… Holiday Shopping. But before you stand shivering in line at the mall, put this in your corncob pipe – we’re making present planning more pleasant with a little scavenger hunt.

Beginning Monday, Dec. 6, we’ll blog clues every day to lead you to a featured Hayneedle product. When you find it, post the answer on our Facebook page and get entered to win that item! The following day, we’ll announce the winner and clue you in to the next item. Be sure to tell your web-savvy friends – more participation might just mean more giveaways!

Here’s how it works –

When you see this on a product page,

you found it! Post that product on our Facebook page and you’re automatically entered to win it.

Each daily giveaway item will be announced at 10:00 am. Submissions will be accepted via Facebook until 11:59 pm that same night. Winners will be announced the following day on this blog at 9:30am.

Good Luck! See you Monday!

Thanks to everyone who watched the video about the setup of my raised garden bed and vegetable garden! I started out using the bamboo hooks with the intention of using wire to string the tomato plants for support.  But some friends who grow veggies thought that could be cumbersome and a lot of extra work. While they were still small enough, I switched out to tomato cages.  I’m so glad I did because WOW, did these tomato plants grow big!

I live in Nebraska, which means unpredictable weather.  A couple of weeks ago we had quite the thunderstorm with super high winds. I was at my step-mom’s house when a storm struck (we were making a pesto pasta dish out of fresh basil from the garden). After the storm passed I called home to Jason to see if our power was still on and if everything was okay. The words I was dreading came out: “Your garden looks destroyed.”

I came home after the storm had passed and ran out to the garden to see all of the tomato plants blown over. Thank goodness for the tomato cages; none of the plants broke! The winds did break a metal tomato cage, but I was able to wire it together. I have to tell you, these plants are pretty resilient.

For my first garden I’m feeling pretty lucky to have so much success.  I really think the compost soil mix helped to get the young plants what they needed to grow.

I’m excited to tell you that I got my first tomatoes from the vegetable garden about 2 weeks ago! I never really appreciated the fresh taste of a tomato until now. I can’t stop eating them. The first day when we got the tomatoes I’m pretty sure I ate about 10. Rather than hogging all of the tomatoes, I brought some in to work to share. I’m pretty sure you eventually could get a stomachache from eating too many tomatoes, but I’m taking my chances.

Now that I’ve grown some amazing vegetables I’m going to try my hand at canning. Stay tuned!

-Cayden

This summer has turned out to be extraordinarily busy for me!  Isn’t this when we’re all supposed to go on vacation?  Well, until I am able to really get away, I’ll practice what I preach and find the opportunities to relax any moment I can. As I say time and time again, in the words of my father, Eduardo Sr., “it’s all about balance!”

For me that balance includes taking care of my career, my family, my friends and myself, and deciding when to give each area the priority!  For others, especially those having to deal with any kind of health issue, finding balance can be daunting.

Ten years ago, my sister Monica was diagnosed with lupus.  It’s a strange condition that still remains a mystery to those who have to live with it as well as to the medical community at large.  Lucky for my sister, she has been dealing with what seems to be a somewhat “manageable” form of lupus. Similar to others afflicted with the disease, my sister’s lupus seems to be triggered by stress. People with lupus have what are called “flare ups” when the immune system seems to go on overdrive and starts to fight itself.  Sounds complicated, right?  Well, my sister was in the midst of a flare up prior to getting married. I wanted to assist her in her planning to ease the stress, so I helped with much of the coordination.  I also composed some original music for her ceremony.

Over the last decade I have become an advocate of lupus awareness and have been doing what I can to support The Lupus Foundation of America.  They have been a great resource of information for my family. This fall, I will be honored to serve as host for their annual Butterfly Gala in New York City.

Recently, I chose my sister’s backyard as the site for the webisode entitled, “Creating a Garden Oasis”.  But before we shot the webisode, I needed to do a bit of a makeover for her!  This is what the garden looked like before the makeover…

…and this is what it looked like after the makeover!

The changes were subtle and fairly inexpensive, but the difference was obvious!  It became the perfect garden oasis for our webisode and a place where my sister could relax!

My niece, Monet, makes a guest appearance in this webisode as my co-host!  Here we are walking Hazel in the park.

The whole experience made such a valuable impression on Monet, she decided to document it in a piece of art she made for me.  This is her artistic interpretation of being with me in front of the camera!

As I mentioned earlier, I composed music for my sister’s wedding.  One of the musical pieces is called “Velas”, which means candle in Spanish.  The piece of music is the background music for this webisode.  I hope you enjoy it!

The Fourth of July weekend was filled with family, friends, sun and fun.  I enjoyed a nice balance celebrating each day with a different group of people.  I was also celebrating having completed my eight-webisode series for “Hayneedle Your Home with Eduardo Xol.”

I also helped to celebrate the culmination of the census for 2010.  I was asked by the mayor’s office of Los Angeles to be one of the 100 voices of the city to educate the public on getting counted.  I taped a public service announcement in both English and Spanish, and as it turns out, Los Angeles is the number one major city to turn out in terms of participation.  I’m proud to have performed my civic duty.  Here I am with the executive Director of LA Counts 2010 at the culmination party in downtown Los Angeles.

There was another reason to celebrate with my family recently.  My nephew, Rodrigo, graduated from kindergarten!  My family has definitely grown to understand the importance and value of an education, so we try to encourage my niece and nephew by celebrating their accomplishments whenever possible.  My niece, Monet, is a year ahead of my nephew. Monet, along with my sister Monica, will be making a guest appearance in an upcoming webisode.  She was wonderful to work with!

In webisode #5, “Expanding Your Home’s Square Footage Outdoors,” we shot at the home of a newlywed couple who I’m doing on outdoor makeover for. Here is a picture of their back patio space shortly after purchasing their home, but before I started putting my hands on it.

Since they already had the frame for the perfect outdoor patio, I convinced them to pour a new floor of a charcoal grey concrete while removing the planters.  Here is a view of the new newly poured patio.

As part of the master plan, I convinced the couple to add a pergola to cover the area and make it a an outdoor lounge, but the timing for shooting the webisode wouldn’t allow us to complete it in time. In the end, we broke up the project in two phases to fit the client’s schedule as well as mine.  I’ll be documenting the process in a “behind the scenes” how-to webisode later in the summer, so stay tuned for that.

For “Expanding Your Home’s Square Footage Outdoors”,  Michael Anthony Clements, who co-produced my summer web series with me, convinced me to hang sheer curtains as a way to frame the room and complement the Tahara All Weather Wicker Conversation Patio Set we used on the patio.  The results are beautiful!  Take a look!

Checking in with Cayden’s Green Experience, we can see that it’s not just her interest in a more eco-friendly lifestyle that’s growing. Her first garden seems to be taking off as well!

If you’d like to follow Cayden’s transition to a greener lifestyle, follow her on Twitter @HayneedleGreen, and check back here for more blog updates on The Green Experience.

How about adding a little green variety to your life? There’s no better place to start a garden or to find eco-friendly products than at hayneedle.com.

From all of us at Hayneedle, have a safe and happy 4th of July weekend!

I won’t say variety is exclusively American, but Americans may be the best at embracing it. The dill-covered salmon curing in my refrigerator is what brings this to mind. Our melting pot of cultures makes for a stew rich with traditions, and one of them- a Swedish Midsummer celebration- is what’s dominated my household this week. But like any week in this fair country, it could be any of 10,000 other things worthy of celebration.

Speaking of celebrations, you’re invited to save up to 50% at Hayneedle’s July 4th Sale!

I can hardly wait to watch the fun unfold in my backyard tomorrow. American barbecue alongside the undeniably Swedish lutefisk. Bocce and ladder golf while waiting for my turn in the next game of kubb. Kids caroming in and out of the bouncehouse. What better way to work off all that pickled fish and make room for strawberries and cream? Or, if my guests prefer something more definitively American, they can always hold out for fire pit s’mores.

Whatever you’re celebrating, be it a wedding or the World Cup, a cookout or the College World Series, these June weekends are loaded with options. Heck, if you’re looking for a reason to get together tonight, just remind your friends that today is Log Cabin Day. For real. It’s Log Cabin Day.

For the fest of the season, or just the happy hour of the day, Hayneedle has all the essentials you need to entertain. From grills to canopies, from conversation sets to outdoor lighting, it’s all here. And in every one of these categories you’ll find an abundance of options, along with a powerful filtering system that lets you narrow your choices based on what you want. That’s true variety, and that’s how we know you’ll find what you love and love what you find.

We are well into Summer!  Here in California, we’re experiencing a bit of “June Gloom”, as they call it when the fog rolls inland during the morning hours.  Generally this keeps the temperature really nice once the fog burns off.  As I speak to my friends around the country though, I can tell it’s already really warming up everywhere else.

I recently completed shooting my third webisode, “Hayneedle Your Home with Eduardo Xol”.  For this webisode I focused on awkward and uncommon spaces.  I have one of these spaces- a long, narrow one right outside my dining room- so I thought it would be a perfect place to practice my philosophy.  Notice the concrete pavers I set into the gravel to create the “room”. Once I did that, I placed the Sandstone Akro Hose Pot/Planter next to the water faucet.  This would dictate where everything else would go.

Next you can see me shooting the “10 Second Tip” as we get ready to place all of the furniture.  You can’t tell by this picture , but there were a LOT of people filling that small space to shoot the webisode.  To see the video and get more information on the great products I used to transform it into a functional space, click here.

I’ve also been preparing for future webisodes, including one I will shoot in my sister’s backyard, since I’m already giving her a bit of a makeover.  Many of you might know that my sister was diagnosed with lupus several years ago.  It’s a very mysterious condition.  An important element in maintaining the symptoms at bay is relaxation.  On Extreme Makeover Home Edition, I help people in need all of the time all over the country, so when I’m home, I really do my best to help my own family out when I can.  My sister is a busy, young mom who works as a teacher, so I want to give her a space where she can relax and find personal health and balance.  Here’s a picture of the space I have to work with. Stay tuned for this webisode to see the makeover!

Speaking of personal health and balance…I’m doing my best to do the same as I manage a very busy summer schedule.  If I’m not committed to attend a public event, I tend to my plants and garden almost every day before dinner.   It really does keep me in check!

On the nights I have an event, and there seems to be many these days, I have to get myself cleaned up.

The next webisode coming up will be about poolside living.  I hope everyone continues to enjoy the summer!

Hi, I’m Lisa. I’m a member of the PPC Search Marketing team for the Outdoor and Pets & Animals sites at Hayneedle. I was recently invited to be a contributing writer for the Hayneedle Blog and to tweet for our @hayneedlepets account on Twitter.com. As an animal lover, I am so excited about the opportunity to contribute and share the experiences I’ve had as a pet owner, volunteer dog walker, and my time spent working as a CSC at a local vet.

My past experience with animals has helped grow my interest in animal welfare and admiration for the bond between pets and their people. My goals are to research and share pet related tips, topics, product reviews and specials I hope you’ll find interesting and fun.

As a company, Hayneedle prides itself on dedication to specific niche sites. As we all know, Pets & Animals require more than dedication. The products on these sites are much more than just items for your home, they are items for your pets; your furry, feathered or scaly family members. We understand you want the best for them and we devote time and resources to not only finding unique and quality products, but also to providing interesting and helpful pet related content and tips.

Hope you enjoy!

Lisa E

I welcome your feedback. Just click into this post to leave comments, questions or suggestions.
Follow me on Twitter! @hayneedlepets

Hayneedle-what does that even mean?

To me it means fun, variety, and something more exciting than other stores you’d  find online or down the street.  As a company, we offer products that are not always mainstream- products that are fun and completely different.

This brings me to one of Hayneedle’s newest stores, ElectricBikeSuperstore.com.  This site recently launched, and I had the pleasure of riding the Liberty Black 26 Inch Classic Electric Bike.  Not going to lie, at first I was a nervous, but was convinced by coworkers that I’d love the bike in no time… turns out they were right!

Now, my poor husband gets to hear me come up with all the reasons on why I now need this bike. It rides just like your standard bike, but is just more fun and effortless! If I could let you take a demo ride I totally would, but since we don’t have a physical store, you can settle for watching me ask Steve Page- an avid road biker and Buyer for ElectricBikeSuperstore- a few questions about the bike and take my first spin.

With a little luck, I survived with no wipeouts despite attempting to ride in high heels.

I started writing for Hayneedle over 5 years ago, well before we changed our name from “NetShops” and launched the Hayneedle brand. In fact, we weren’t even yet NetShops during my first months on the job. We were just a modest but ambitious handful of outdoor specialty stores, like PorchSwings.com, PatioUmbrellas.com, and Hammocks.com.

Hammocks.com on my first day… like the perm I had in college- pretty bad even at the time:

Hammocks.com today… more of an oh-so-pretty Justin Bieber flop:

When I see what Hayneedle has become, and the attention we’ve received over the past few months, I allow myself to indulge in a few morsels of pride. Here’s what I’m talking about:

• Kathy Lee Gifford has partnered with us to raise funds for Childhelp, a leading national non-profit dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child abuse. When you buy a hammock from Hayneedle, a portion of your purchase goes directly to Childhelp. And the timing is nothing short of perfect- is there anything that says summer (or Happy Father’s Day) better than a hammock? That it’s for a good cause makes it even easier to relax.

• You may have seen Eduardo Xol’s outdoor design posts here on HayneedleBlog. As part of our summer campaign, Eduardo is taking timeout from ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to help Hayneedle customers create their own backyard paradise. The Backyard at Hayneedle is the place to start.

• Hayneedle was recently featured on The Ellen Show in what turned out to be a, well, let’s just say “memorable” version of Blindfolded Musical Haystacks.

• More and more people are doing the Hayneedle Hustle for their chance to win a $15,000 shopping spree. Radio and TV stations across the country are talking about how Hayneedle is bringing variety to America, one backyard at a time.

Heady stuff aside, one of the most satisfying aspects of all of all this is when I get to answer those unavoidable so-what-do-you-do questions at gatherings this summer. Instead of the “What’s that?” response I heard for 4+ years, it feels pretty good to finally hear, “Oh, yeah! Love your stuff.”

Excuse me while I grab one more taste of pride before going back to work. Gotta look good for next year’s pictures.

My Memorial Day weekend was really nice.  I guess someone told Mother Nature to help us kick the summer off right because the weather in Southern California could not have been better.  I spent Saturday in my with friends.  We cooked out, ate, drank and caught up on life.  I try to do a bigger party about two to three times per year, usually during the summer months.  Memorial Day usually marks the first one.  Around thirty people from different points in my life showed up to say hello.  Here is a picture of my friends Dinah and Rob enjoying the holiday with me:

Everyone loved my outdoor furniture, but I did run out of seating.  If you’re planning a large party, a simple solution to this problem is to have extra pillows on hand in case you run out of chairs!

I hope that by now you have all seen the webisodes I’ve been working on.  If not, you can catch up here.  Planning and production has kept my team and me very busy.  Since the webisodes are about outdoor living, we have our production meetings outside in the area where we are going to shoot.  Here I am with my executive producer, Andy McEntee and the crew discussing the second webisode we produced in my backyard:

And here is the same area staged for the shoot.  Shown is the Cabos Collection conversation set.  It’s one of my favorites and apparently my dog, Hazel, likes it as well!

Combine colors to create your custom designed outdoor area.  That’s what I did by mixing the khaki upholstery that comes with the Cabos set and the accent pillows in sienna.  I completed the look by coordinating the colors of the flowers in the vase to match the colors in the furniture.

This outdoor room inspired me to create a drink I call the Cabos Cocktail using the same color scheme! I’m pleased to say it was good enough to share the recipe:

Eduardo’s Cabos Cocktail

• 1 oz. vodka or tequila (spirits optional)
• 2 parts of your favorite Bloody Mary Mix
• 1 part fresh limejuice
• 5 drops Worcestershire sauce
• 3-5 drops habanero hot sauce
• Sprinkle salt and fresh black pepper to taste
• Serve in a martini glass with a salted rim
• Garnish with an olive, pepper and onion
• Enjoy the summer!

Wow! Well, now I have a worm composter. Great, but what to do next? I found out the answer the first time I went down to the basement to check on my little worms to discover… I have ESCAPEES! I retreated upstairs until I felt brave enough (I may have had a glass of wine) to go back down to the basement and clean the worms.

I called the vendor first thing the next day to explain the situation. It’s not that unusual he told me, especially if you’re starting out with as many as 5,000 worms. He then asked if I’d turned a light on for them. I had not left a light on for the little worms. (Instructions are important ) Easy fix. I will turn the light on. But what to do with these fugitive worms?

Luckily I knew Bruce, one of my coworkers at Hayneedle, liked to fish. I asked him if he was interested in about 2,500 worms, and lucky for me (and him?), he was. So I made a temporary bed for his worms and brought them in for him.

Now I was starting to feel extremely confident that this is going to work well. I did not overfeed the worms, they were starting to eat the lettuce, and things were really looking up. We had about 3 weeks of smooth sailing, until one night I went down to check if my worms were ready for more food, and I bet you can guess what I found: more ESCAPEES!

Again, I call the vendor first thing in the morning, and at this point he is just laughing. “You still have worms jumping out?” he asked.

Yes. Yes, I do.

Basically ,when worms keep jumping out of a compost bin, it means there’s something they don’t like about their new home. The vendor advised me to make a fruit cocktail for the worms. “They will love it,” he assured me.

So last night I prepared a fruit cocktail for the worms: a blended apple…yum. Let’s see how it goes. I’m really starting to get used to these worms.

About “The Green Experience”

Think of “The Green Experience” as a little slice of reality Internet, where anyone can follow one of Hayneedle’s own, Cayden, as she chronicles her transition to a greener lifetstyle on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. Her endeavor began with a compost bin and 5,000 worms in her formerly worm-free living space. Follow the “HayneedleGreen” handle on Twitter and check back here for her blog posts.  It’s bound to be messy for her, but ultimately a planet that’s a little cleaner for the rest of us.

Everybody around the office is planning various and sundry Memorial Day blowouts … ok, some of them involve more napping than anything else, but no matter what you have planned, take some time to enjoy up to an additional 25% off your purchases from Hayneedle, now through May 27.  Whether you visit The Backyard at Hayneedle and score a sweet new hammock, or finally start your basement redecoration this weekend and need some bar stools for inspiration, you’ll find it all here.  Remember, our Memorial Day Sale ends May 27, so shop shop.

As familiar as I was with the expression “a can of worms,” it did nothing to prepare me for the parcel I received for my worm composter. Our supplier thought it would be really nice to send me extra worms. You REALLY only need to start out with 1,000 to 2,500, so when I opened a box filled with 5,000 squigglers, I don’t know if grateful is the best word to describe how I felt.

I was a little excited and quite a bit nervous to set up my worm composter. I knew the worms could would be okay in the box for up to 10 days, but I wanted to get the composter set up so I could move them into their new home; I would have felt guilty leaving those poor little worms in the box any longer than necessary.

My daughter Chloe helped me with the set-up process. We watched the instruction video a couple times to make sure we knew what we were doing. We laid the bottom tray on the kitchen counter placed a piece of newspaper on the tray before preparing the bed. Next we added water to the coco coir, making it wet but not too wet (when you squeeze the coco coir after adding water only a small drop of water should come out). Then we added a couple handfuls of newspaper to the coco coir.

Here’s Chloe intently watching the instruction video:

Pretty easy, right? Next you grab a couple handfuls of food so the worms can get chomping. I started with lettuce. We put a handful of food in each corner. Now-or-never time to add the worms… this was the most exciting and nerve-racking part! Luckily for me and Chloe, James, a generous and strong-stomached Hayneedle employee, came to my house to help add the worms to the composter.

Welcome home, worms!

The last step was to add a wet newspaper to the top to keep the worms moist. Phew, that was it! Now the question was where to put it. I decided our basement was the best place to put the worm composter, since ideal temperature for the worms is 40 to 80 degrees. I can tell you that putting 5,000 worms in the basement was a great idea. Check back later to find out why!

Summer is upon us!

I can’t believe that we’ve passed the first quarter of 2010.  Summer is upon us and it’s time to get ready!  This last year has been one of those years where everyone around me has been working really hard.  My friends, family, colleagues, all share the same story.  But I remind myself and those around me about the importance of balance and about the fact that we must take the time to relax with friends and family and celebrate life, which is why I’m really excited to announce that I am partnering with Hayneedle.com on their Backyard Summer campaign!  I’ll be helping to bring variety to America’s homes, one backyard at a time, creating backyard escapes where people can celebrate and relax together.

The campaign will begin at the end of May and run throughout the summer.  Earlier this week I did two radio tours lasting about 4 hours each day.  What this entails is me sitting in a radio studio in Los Angeles and the engineer patches in DJs from all over the country for me to talk to.  You’ll be hearing them on the air very soon.  Here I am sitting in the studio …

Last Mother’s Day, I celebrated with my family as we got together for our annual reunion.  My mother is the youngest of seven women.

Needless to say, we have a big family and they all live in the Los Angeles area.   This is the one day out of the year when all four living generations of my family get together to celebrate our mothers, ourselves, each other, and the importance of family.  Every year it’s held at my parents’ house in the beautiful town of Montebello, California, just East of Los Angeles.  Here is a picture of me dancing with my mother, Mirna.

I’m going to let you in on some personal details.  The party is still held in the house that my brother, Ernesto, sister Monica and I were all raised in!  It is the family home.  But I’ve been bugging my parents for years to update their backyard.  They built a beautiful pool when I was a kid.  My father has created, and still maintains, a beautiful garden, including his collection of bonsai, but the furniture and accessories are completely out of date!  I’ve gone shopping with my mom and when she sees the products in the stores, she always tells me that everything looks the same!  I’m very excited to introduce my parents to Hayneedle.com!  I’m going to completely makeover their backyard and I can’t wait!  Stay tuned for before and after pictures coming soon!

For more about Eduardo Xol, visit EduardoXol.com. Be sure to check out his personal blog for more content from the designer and entertainer.

You can also find Eduardo on Facebook.

Hi!  I’m Cate. I’m part of the team at Hayneedle and the mom of 3 funny kids – “Itchy” (12), “Scratchy” (10), and “Trouble” (6.).  I am also the author of the blog “Real Life with Kids.” I’m really excited about being a guest blogger here on the Hayneedle Blog!  My first post is a subject close to my heart, Mother’s Day.

I thought it would be fun to take a look over my most recent year of motherhood and grade some of the highlights.  One thing a year in the life of a mom never lacks is variety…

First Day of School: A+

Cons: I didn’t take pictures of them on the first day with their new teachers or old friends.  I didn’t send them with sack lunches with “I love you” written on a napkin.

Pros: I got all three of the kids to their 2 schools before the bell rang and as a bonus – all were completely dressed and had their teeth brushed.  Also – while doing a “pat down” prior to leaving home – I did stop Scratchy from bringing the full size, completely filled water balloon to school as a “gift” for his new teacher.  Probably I should get some extra credit for that one.

Halloween Class Party: B-

Cons: I was late because I was in a meeting that went over.  The kids at my table used frosting extravagantly on the pumpkin sugar cookies I helped them decorate.  They also made a really big mess with glitter.  One of the moms said, “Who’s the amateur who brought glitter?”

Pros: I didn’t use profanity or sprinkle any glitter on the “too smart for glitter” mom (you know I brought the glitter, right?)  I have always been a firm believer that glitter in your underclothes at the end of the day is a sure sign of a day well spent.  I encouraged the extravagant use of frosting.  My son and his friends had an awesome time – as evidenced by the orange and black frosting all over their hands and faces with sparkly glitter stuck in it.

Christmas Teacher Gifts: B+

Cons: The last day of school before Christmas break snuck up on me and I had no gifts for the teachers.

Pros: I got my fabu hubby to stop and get donuts for all the teachers on the first day back after break – because seriously – that is when teachers really need some love.

Band Practice: D

Cons: I lacked any motivation to encourage my son to practice his trumpet regularly.  I thought he should take up the dog whistle but I was informed that this was not an option in elementary school.  (does that mean it might be an option in middle school?).  With varying practice days at school each week we probably got Scratchy and his trumpet to school on the same day as practice about 62.5% of the time.

Pros: I got Scratchy and his trumpet to school on the same day as practice about 62.5% of the time.  Not one of those times did I bring the trumpet and forget Trouble or Itchy.  Sometimes I amaze myself.

Talent Show: A+

Cons: Scratchy wanted to participate in the talent show with two of his friends playing drums, trumpet, and I can’t remember the third instrument.

Pros: Scratchy wanted the $5 I offered him more than he wanted to participate in the talent show.

The beautiful thing about being a mom is that kids are funny, forgiving, and fortunately forgetful.  I asked Trouble yesterday, “Do you know you’re my Sweetie?”  He came up and gave me a sloppy kiss and a big hug and said, “Yes, Momma, I know I’m your Sweetie.”  At the end of the day I think that averages out to a 4.0.

Happy Mother’s Day to moms everywhere!

Hi. I’m Cayden, a buyer with Hayneedle. I started buying for two of our eco-friendly specialty stores, CompostBins.com and RainBarrelSource.com almost 2 years ago. Before I started buying compost bins I was not the greenest person in the world. I did not compost, have a rain barrel, or even recycle. But as soon as I started buying compost bins, I felt compelled to at least start recycling, and now I’ve finally made the leap to owning a compost bin, too- pretty exciting stuff!

Yet, I still feel pretty green-challenged and would like to take more steps toward a greener lifestyle. That’s the concept behind the Green Experience- through blogging, Twitter, and YouTube, I’m going to put my going-green experience out there. Follow me as I make a few changes!

Just a few weeks ago, I received my Worm Factory Worm Composter. I got the bin before I got my worms, so (lucky me) I did not have to make a temporary worm bed. I’m not going to lie, I’m not necessarily the type of person to go out into a field and start digging for worms. So it’s a good thing they just showed up at my door!

It was Friday, April 9th and I had been out for drinks to see off a colleague on her last day. I got home around 8, and that is when my boyfriend, Jason broke the news. “I think your worms are here,” he said before even saying hello. I can say that this is the moment when I started to understand what I was getting myself into. Or at least the moment when I wondered if I was getting in over my head…

Cayden's worms get familiar with their new digs.

Now that Earth Day is officially over the hill (Happy 40th, Earth Day!), we think it’s time to make every day a little eco-friendlier.  Our country actually has a green-minded resume that predates Earth Day by 100 years- it started with Arbor Day in 1879. With humble beginnings in Nebraska, Arbor Day gained observance in every state by the 1920s, and our country is a greener, shadier place for it. Once a wind-swept expanse of Sandhills and prairie grass, Nebraska today has three National Forests to prove it. Seriously. There’s are three National Forest in Nebraska. Cool, huh?

Nebraska National Forest

At Hayneedle, we’re trying to rekindle some of that pioneer spirit with something we’re calling “The Green Experience.” Think of it as a little slice of reality Internet where anyone can follow one of Hayneedle’s own, Cayden, as she chronicles her transition to a greener lifetstyle on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. Her endeavor began a  few weeks ago with a compost bin and 2,500 worms in her formerly worm-free living space. Follow the “HayneedleGreen” handle on Twitter and check back here for her blog posts.  It’s bound to be messy for her, but ultimately a planet that’s a little cleaner for the rest of us.

Check out what Hayneedle employees are doing to tread a little more lightly.

While our planet does its part to sustain life no matter what the calendar says, April is the month when we take a little time to consider our role as environmental stewards. For most, the reflection and celebration is encapsulated in Earth Day, which falls on April 22. An increasing number of cities around the world have decided to extend their observance to a full week. “Earth Week,” as its known runs from April 16 to April 22.

Since 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, we at Hayneedle have decided to extend the celebration even further. Welcome to Earth Month! For 40 days, we’ll be posting tips for on how to tread a little more lightly.

We’re not talking about running out and buying a hybrid or installing windmills and solar panels to get off the grid. Nope, just simple things that anyone can do, things that in the long run will conserve our resources and save you money. Like- here comes a shameless plug for one of our less sexy sites- remembering to change your furnace filter! (Plan to change it on the first day of each season, but check it every month just in case.)

Maybe you’ve seen a few of these tips on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Become a fan or follow us if you haven’t already. Besides staying save-the-planet savvy, fans and followers are usually the first to know about exclusive deals and discounts. So go ahead, hop on the social networking wagon. Just remember to  set your computer to sleep or hibernate when you’re done socializing.

Supposedly it was peace activist Anne Herbert who coined the term “Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty” when she wrote it on a placemat in Sausalito, circa 1983.  The idea, often distilled to “random acts of kindness,” has seeped into media and our psyches, even providing the gist of the movie Pay It Forward, a Kleenex-fest starring Haley Joel Osment as a translucent-skinned sickling with a heart of gold.  So what better name for our weird little 14% off sale, right? It’s a random act of retail kindness, and we did it to make you smile.

Our Random Act of Kindness Sale lasts through April 15. It features 12 of our top stores, all offering 14% off.  Who says consumerism can’t be laced with a little kindness?

Maybe today you’ll be inspired to commit your own senseless act of beauty, whether it’s paying for the latte next in line at the coffee shop, or picking up that piece of litter on the sidewalk instead of walking by, or taping a page of poetry to the wall inside the elevator of your building (our personal favorite).

However it manifests itself, a little kindness goes a long way.

Open expanse of green(ing) grass:  Check.

Pastel plastic eggs spread far and wide:  Check.

Mildly terrifying adult-sized bunny costume:  Check.

A riot of kids, ready to get cracking:  Check.

That was the happy, hoppy scene in the Hayneedle courtyard last Saturday morning thanks to our non-marshmallow peeps on the Activities Committee, who put hours of thought and effort into organizing the Hayneedle Easter Egg Hunt. Giddy kids and smiling parents proved that yet again, the annual eggs-travaganza was a success.

Poached eggs? Looks like Matilda (center) is exceeding the posted limit. Kittrick (wisely leaving the frame) knows when it's time to distance himself from illegal hunting.

Seeing all this fun firsthand made me realize that Easter-ish festivities and springtime fun shouldn’t be confined to just a weekend or two each year. If you have kids and are on the lookout for constructive kid-friendly activities, raising rabbits and chickens is an increasingly popular option. And it’s not hard to see why.

Kids get their pet fix. Parents don’t have to commit to a traditional “house pet” and all the responsibility that entails. In the case of chickens, the whole family gets fresh eggs, year round. As for rabbits, we don’t recommend coney stew, but plenty of warm, fuzzy companionship makes for a satisfying alternative.

With chicken coops and rabbit cages designed in all sizes and price ranges, raising fur and feathers has never been more affordable. If you can picture your children chasing chicks and bunnies across the lawn, these hobbies pretty much sell themselves.

Happy Easter from all of us at Hayneedle!

Disclosure: some of us at Hayneedle are giant nerds. But here’s the thing, we wear the distinction as a badge of honor. You could even say that we revel in our nerddom.

We nerd out about a lot of things: grills, telescopes, green living products… everything we sell, really. Behind every one of our specialty stores is a wonky team of experts who make it their job to know everything there is to know about the products we offer.

Picture that for a second. We’re not a huge team of baby crib experts. We’re an amalgam of aquarium geeks, model plane enthusiasts, radar detector whizzes, and then some. And since we’re an Internet company, you’d better believe we have some computer nerds here, too. But we’re all living here in relative harmony, in the world of variety that our sites promise.

So what if we’re a little outside the norm? Of course there is another word for all this geekiness. It’s “passion.” It’s about finding something you love and immersing yourself in it. Nerdy or not, we think that’s pretty cool. And we like to think that when you take a look at our sweeping variety of stores, you’ll inevitably find something you think is pretty cool, too.

Photo by Clark J., Hayneedle employee and StarParty member

Despite the disorienting weather patterns of late, some folks in the know are insisting that spring is finally here.  After the winter we’ve had, could you blame anyone for falling for such a huckster’s promise?

But here’s the thing: the calendars around our office are suggesting that the rumors are true.

A little Internetting adds final proof: spring is scheduled to spring on March 20, 2010, at precisely 1:32 P.M. EDT (though perhaps in many places without its usual torque). That’s tomorrow, folks!

With no fear of stating the obvious, we love spring. Colors come forth, and the world resumes its beckoning inhabitability. There’s no better time to emerge from our four-walled winter fortresses and spend a little time in the room with the highest ceilings.

Yep, we’re talking about your deck or patio. Remember that little slice of outdoor paradise?

It’s time to take it back.

With specialty stores like PatioFurnitureUSA.com, Hammocks.com, PatioUmbrellas.com, and dozens of other outdoor living specialty sites, Hayneedle is the world’s premier seller of patio furniture and outdoor decor products.

Everything you need to furnish your ultimate room with a view is at Hayneedle.com. Come see what we have in store, and get ready to get out more. Spring is in the air!