Today, I realized that the only holiday card that I received was from the bar where I work. And, while that makes this card even more important to me, it made me wonder if sending holiday cards via snail mail was becoming obsolete. As a fan of e-cards and actual cards, I can argue the virtues of both. But, seeing as how Christmas is four days away, some of you who’ve been stalling on mailing [...]

Last month, I entered a drawing on The Bright Side Project, and won two gift certificates for LavishGiving.com. I learned about Lavish Giving awhile ago, so I was superexcited about my prize! Lavish Giving sells some amazing items, such as decorative pillows, stylish leather planners, candles, and more. It’s a perfect site to visit if you’re looking to step up your gift-giving game. Additionally, they donate 10% of your purchase to the charity of your [...]

Some awesome celebrities have teamed up with Piperlime in order to raise funds for The Art of Elysium, an organization dedicated to helping children through music and the arts. Piperlime asked Brooke Shields, Rashida Jones, Rachael Bilson and Kristin Bell to shop Piperlime.com and share what they are wishing for this holiday and what they want to give to others. The site has been revealing one celebrity gift list each week starting on November 23 [...]

Today is the third day in my 29-Day Giving Challenge, and I’m feeling great! Doing good deeds for others, no matter how small, really does deflect some of life’s pressures off of me. Here’s a recap of my gifts thus far: Day 1 – I bought a children’s book to donate to Borders’ Holiday Book Drive to benefit local children’s organizations. Day 2 – I volunteered to help find a venue for the Multiple Solutions [...]

I had every intention of creating a holiday gift guide of charitable gifts, but since charity is so vogue right now, I’m more than happy to share some of the lists already floating around the internet. Britt Bravo (HaveFunDoGood.Blogspot.com) has compiled a list of 20 links to charitable gift guides on sites such as MarieClaire.com, Oprah.com, and Forbes.com (to say the least). Check out the list here, and see below for some of my favorite [...]

There’s so much that goes on in the world of fabulous giving that I decided to create an offshoot of my blog using Tumblr. So, allow me to introduce you guys to GiveInStyle.Tumblr.com! I want the focus of The Fabulous Giver to remain on things that you and I can do to incorporate charitable giving into our lifestyle, but I still want to shine some light on local events (outside of Chicago) and charitable celebs. [...]

A couple of weeks ago, I was surfing MSNBC.com and came across a clip of Cami Walker on The Today Show. Cami was on the show to talk about how the recommendation of an African healer led her to give 29 gifts in 29 days as a way to cope with her recent diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Let me get this straight. A young woman living with multiple sclerosis was going to talk about the [...]

Blogger extraordinaire, Afrobella, just posted the details of a Rachel Roy giveaway on her site! Per Bella’s site, my NYC socialite counterpart and amazing designer will be giving “one lucky reader a head-to-toe look chosen from her Fall 2009 collection.” The estimated value of the look is $600. *swoons* To make it even better, for every entry collected, Rachel Roy will donate $1 to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. To learn more about the [...]

I’ve had the opportunity to come across so many great people within the past year. Even if I’ve never met them in person, there are certain people that I have a connection to, especially if they share the same life outlook or passion for bettering their community. So, when I first “met” Bessie Winn-Afeku (@fabdogooder), I was immediately a fan. Bessie, a former beauty queen, has leveraged her intelligence, charisma, and concern for others into [...]

In recognition of World AIDS Day, Stella McCartney teamed with GAP to design this super cute tee for women and baby girls. Fifty percent of the proceeds from shirt sales will benefit The Global Fund. As you know, Gap is a partner in Project (RED) and even donated 1% of store sales yesterday to the Global Fund. The shirt ($28 for women, $18 for baby girls 0-2 years) is available at stores nationwide. -kb