The Blog

Happy December everyone!

As we prepare to enter this year's winter season, and the accompanying cold weather that comes with it, we must trade in our summer flip-flops and bare feet for boots, shoes and sneakers. While those long days of wool socks and snow boots keep your feet nice and comfortable, the resulting stink that greets you when you get home and take them off is, well, let's just say less than nice and comfortable. For some of us, cold weather simply means hot shoes and stinky feet, and if you're like me then come mid-January you're ready to burn a good pair of sneakers just to rid your feet and your house of the toxic stench emanating from inside them. Well, those days are over thanks to the good people at SoleFog.

One thing you could always count on living in America was some really good domestically manufactured candy. As a country we produced virtually every piece of candy we ate leading to a booming manufacturing business in places like Chicago, IL, a place affectionately known as "The Candy Capital of the World". However, this long assured reality of American commerce is not so reliable any more. While much of the candy sitting on store shelves this trick or treat season is still "Made in the USA", a lot of it has been outsourced to China and Mexico, including just about every bag of candy corn on the market.

In fact, to add insult to injury, Brach's, a company headquartered in the candy capital Chicago with the self-proclaimed slogan "America's Candy Maker", has outsourced all candy corn production to Mexico, and with it American jobs. However, there are still a couple places making it the right way - right here in the USA.

Ah, it’s finally here, the time of year we’ve been dreaming about all winter long --- SUMMER! Bring on never-ending days filled with swimming, tanning, gardening and of course grilling! Going through mid-west winters can be pretty rough but its moments and memories like those that keep us here. Just the other night my brother and I we’re driving around town (with the windows down and music blaring, of course) and in-between singing along to the new One Republic song he said “I really wish we could bottle up times like this and open them in the winter. That way we’ll never forget why we live here.” I couldn’t agree more, being guiltier than most, come late-January I find myself saying “that’s it, I’m moving” almost weekly. Thankfully though that’s all behind us now and we can look forward to new adventures and great times with friends and family!

So far this summer we’ve accomplished some much needed gardening! If you’re planning on doing a little landscaping too then don’t forget to buy American made. Thankfully you won’t have to look too far as there are surprisingly a lot of options for gardening supplies at a variety of places. We shopped at our local Ace Hardware and Wal-Mart for our projects. Here are a few great American made products that we found along the way:

Buying American is a great premises, right? If you answered yes then you would be correct! So why is it that a lot of us don’t? After discussing this issue with friends, relatives and among ourselves these are some common misconceptions and conclusions we came up with:

1) $$$ Too Expensive $$$ - just like with anything else, you can spend as much or as little as you want. From clothing to home goods to pet supplies, there are so many different American made brands that get the job done without breaking the bank.

Have a Holly, Jolly, American Made Christmas!

Well, it's official. Only 4 shopping days left until Christmas! For many of you (like me) this means it's crunch time. Time to figure out every last detail that I need to get and create a "plan of action" to make sure that everything and everyone is completely FINISHED and crossed off my list. If you're in need of some gift suggestions for your family and friends then look no further than American made products and companies! Many of which, believe it or not, you can find at your local department stores! What are some good brands to check out you ask? Well, look at this, I must have read your mind as I’ve already compiled a list of some our favorites as well as brick and mortar places you will be able to stop in and find them!(fancy that!)