Gorgeous and Green Blog

Sustainable Flower Delivery and New Boutique Items

March 20th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

We are always bringing new items into the boutique, and slowly getting them up on the online shop as well. Here are some lovely strawberry dishtowels from Tina Produce, a local artist! We also carry the dishtowels in other berry prints as well as sets of four napkins. Blueberry, strawberry, blackberry and raspberry and mixed sets of napkins.

They are printed on various earth-friendly fabrics including a recycled hemp and recycled cotton fabric!

Here’s a nice arrangement with complementing colors that was delivered today for a special Grandpa in Berkeley. Slightly masculine and whimsical, I love the right complements of red, purple and blue.

Featuring local organic anemones/cedar/iris/dogwood, local gerbera and sustainable brazilia in a nice cobalt blue vase.

In Green, Local Small Business and Health,

G&G

A lovely delivery by way of Seattle

March 16th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

A few weeks ago, we were asked to provide a lovely arrangement for a local Terra Bella Client. They have been a long-time sustainable florist in the Seattle area, and I have been well aware of their work for a while, as there are not many of us who offer similar services.

Here’s a lovely arrangement featuring local hydrangea (small because it’s only early spring) local ranunculus, Veriflora freesia, and other lovely greens and branches. We attached a lovely hand printed and recycled card for the message.

In that vein, I’d like to just say that I love partnering with other sustainable florists. I hope one day those of us who vow to stay local and sustainable will grow and we will be able to offer sustainable and local floral decor services that spread across the globe, much like the large corporations that offer mainstream and cheap flowers grown in countries far away, cut by workers who aren’t paid a fair wage and sprayed with large amounts of pesticides and who knows what else. One day, maybe all florists will be local/sustainable and fair trade and we’ll go back to the small, healthy, community driven economies that was our story for so long.

For the time being, I vow that Gorgeous and Green will try to live that dream as best as we can and hope others will follow.

In Green, Fair Trade and Sustainability,

G&G

Sustainable Arrangements at Origen in Berkeley

March 14th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

I have decided to start blogging again about the creative arrangements we create for local businesses and corporate offices. Here’s a look at two arrangements that Gorgeous and Green provided for Origen, a local sustainable farm to fork restaurant in Berkeley that just opened last fall. We love partnering with local green and sustainable businesses, and appreciate the support when local businesses ask us to provide decor and designs for their business needs.

Here’s the large arrangement we created for the main dining room. We love including locally grown flowers and produce and try to use organic when possible. Check out the pop of yellow from the lemons…

And here’s a smaller arrangement for the bar that also has the lovely blooming branches, flowering kale and lemons as well as some pops or orange

In Green, Local Business and Health,

G&G

Brightening the day for local seniors and myself

March 13th, 2012 § 2 comments § permalink

A few weeks ago I donated some small rose bouquets to seniors living at a local senior center in Berkeley. I asked to go around to the individual elders who were living there, and hand them the rose bouquets personally. So many of them appreciated the token of beauty.

I wish our culture interacted with elders more on a daily basis. It made me feel great to be able to offer such a small gift and brighten up their day. I know that I will do my best to spend more moments thinking of and honoring the elders who live in our communities. It brightened my day too!

In Beauty, Community and Health,

Pilar Z.

G&G

Dusk Vintage Wedding Decor at the Brazil Room

February 27th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

Here’s a lovely set of pics from a Matt and Michaela’s wedding that Gorgeous and Green provided sustainable floral decor for back in December, that featured a very vintage color scheme and a touch of snow. We used muted greys, creams, pinks, lavender and blues for the flowers and greens and included lichen branches for a bit of added rustic vintage flair. The couple were married up at the Brazil Room in Berkeley’s Tilden Park.

We also did some lovely arrangements for the tables and ceremony space in mason jars and plenty of bouquets for the bridesmaids. Lots of locally grown slightly pink and green kale, local grey lambsear, local lichen branches, sustainable blue thistle and sustainable freesia. Here’s some close up shots of those flowers:

Beautiful, vintage charm and frosty!

In Green, Vintage Beauty and Health,

G&G

Local Gorgeous and Green delivery, on a bike!

February 23rd, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

Did I mention Gorgeous and Green is now offering local East Bay Flower delivery via bicycle? Thanks to our partners in crime, Pedal Express, a local bicycle courier cooperative, you can now get local flower and gift delivery from Gorgeous and Green in the immediate area for $12. We’ve added the option to the online store.

Take a look at the fun that was had while delivering a bunch of flowers and gifts to locals for Valentines Day. What a great way to get a Gorgeous and Green gift, without the carbon emissions!

In Green and Health,

G&G

Gorgeous and Green Vintage California Style

February 21st, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

Here’s a couple of pics from a Chicago couple who tied the knot here in the East Bay. They came all the way to California for a vintage style impromptu wedding with Gorgeous and Green decor that included local succulents, kale and craspedia. The photographer was Rebecca Wilkowski Photography, a green photographer here in the Bay Area. (We’re both green certified businesses and happen to be friends too!)

Succulents in wedding decor have been a big deal the past few years, and airplants are also becoming popular. Luckily we carry many airplants here at the boutique, and we often have succulents too!

In Green, Beauty and Health,

G&G

Love and the Online Boutique!

February 9th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

Hello neighbors and friends!

We’ve been getting ready for the big day of love, and the opening of the Gorgeous and Green online boutique: shop

We will be open every day up to Valentines Day, including Monday (our usual day off) so please come in to find something unique and sustainable for yourself or someone else. We will have a lovely assortment of flowers for bouquets, as well as the usual suspect, the rose. All our roses will either be locally grown in Petaluma, or they will be sustainably grown and fair trade Veriflora roses. For those who can’t come in, we will have online ordering available as well as orders via phone: 510 665 7974 for local deliveries.

It’s been a long time coming, but our online shop is finally opening tomorrow February 10th 2012. We’re happy to offer our lovely selection of local and sustainably made gifts and flower arrangements to online shoppers. We have lovely sustainable arrangements and local succulent terrariums that can be delivered locally by pedal express, a local worker-owned bicycle courier ! Yes, that means your local flowers and gifts can make their way to local friends and family without emissions. For deliveries outside of the local east area, we will continue to use our carbon neutral high mpg or biodiesel vehicles. We are also offering other sustainable, locally made and eco friendly gifts and items that can be sent via USPS. We will be adding more and more lovely items in the coming months, but hope this assortment will be helpful to those seeking gifts of love for themselves or someone else.

To give you a little taste of what we will be offering online, here are a few items from the shop:

Local Calla Bouquet with local roses, succulents and greens in twig vase.

vintage earrings by local artist “the smiling cat”

Local anemones in leaf wrapped vase

Large container of seed bombs with handmade bomb slingshot

Earrings by local artist Tangleweeds, made with recycled materials

We hope to offer many new up and coming local artists and sustainably-minded artisans in the boutique, so feel free and spread the word. We love what we do and want to spread the love to others getting and giving gifts and flowers this holiday and every day. After all, we love the earth too.

In green and health,

G&G

Gorgeous and Green