Welcoming the New Year

It’s hard to say good bye to 2009 because it was a great year for us - we’ve met such wonderful people! We especially have enjoyed getting to know a lot of you at the Eastern Market in DC. It’s always a pleasure meeting face to face, although we also really appreciate our Facebook, Twitter and online friends!

Today, we would like to say thank you for your friendship and support! BOTF’s mission is to offer thought provoking designs while supporting American workers and businesses. It is also important to us to offer the choice of 100% organic cotton, which is grown in the USA. Through our conversations, you have shared your support for that mission and have also offered many suggestions and input. Please, keep it coming – we are listening!

We are looking forward to 2010 with excitement! New designs will be released and keep your eyes open for BOTF’s 12 shirt giveaway! More info to come!

Enjoy your New Year’s Eve celebrations….whether at home or out partying! Have a Wonderful, Happy and Prosperous New Year!!!!

Sincerely,

Joe and Bernadette Maluso

The True Gifts of Christmas

This year, we are truly enjoying the Christmas Season! A pile of beautiful snow was dumped on the DC area, and we thoroughly love it! Being Northeast Ohio natives, it doesn’t feel entirely like Christmas without at least SOME snow! So, Yippee!

With everything going on during this Holiday Season, please take a moment to breathe in the peace of friends and family. Sometimes as we jump through the hoops to make for a “perfect” Christmas day, we allow the real gifts to go unnoticed. All we have to do is stop, take a breath, open our eyes and hearts, and see what is around us. The magic is already there and can not be bought in a store.

As we count down to Christmas Day, we would like to wish you peace and happiness!

DC Party Capital

Wow - Fall has arrived and the holidays are right around the corner! Hope you are enjoying this crisp and colorful time of year. We are keeping very busy, but as always taking some time to enjoy life!
Grab a cup of coffee (or your beverage of choice) and take a moment to check out BOTF's latest release - D.C. Party Capital! Your request for some long sleeve styles came through loud and clear. Party Capital is available in long sleeve, a perfect addition to your tee wardrobe or great for gifts.

Be sure to use the coupon below for a great discount!

Three reasons Brand of the Free Designer Tees stand out in a crowd:

· Super soft ring spun cotton with designs that continue to turn heads. Look at the new "D.C. Party Capital" on our web site. http://www.brandofthefree.net

· "American Made" which keeps money in the US and helps our economy by employing local American workers at a fair wage.

· 100% organic cotton (and regular cotton in select styles) while using non toxic water based print inks. This makes for toxic free, clean and healthy garments that are environmentally sound.

If you're in the DC, MD, VA area come and see us most Saturdays at the historic Eastern Market on 7th Street near Pennsylvania Ave. in DC. We will be in the Hine School parking lot across the street from the main market.
As always, we would love your input. If you have any ideas or comments please let me know as they are always welcome.

Coupon GOGREEN35

Brandofthefree.net

Uncork the Fun

Has it really been over a month since I’ve blogged? Things have been extra exciting here at Brand of the Free. Area wine festivals are in full bloom, and we participated in our very first Vintage Virginia’s 28th Annual Wine Festival in Manassas, Virginia this last weekend. It was totally a blast! What an impressive festival, featuring 50 wineries, arts and crafts exhibitors, and incredible food and music!

It was a party, complete with exceptional Virginia wines, fabulous music and delectable food. We took a few minutes to grab some amazing crab cake sandwiches from Sherri’s Crab Cakes. All I can say is YUM! Joe got a chance to sneak away from our booth to sample some wonderful Belle Mount wines. Ray and Catherine Petrie are the proprietors and were very warm and down to earth. We definitely plan to visit their vineyard for a weekend getaway!

In the midst of all the festivities lies the true essence of the Wine Festival Experience…the wonderful people we met! So many friendly people stopped by our display, and it was a pleasure getting to know them a bit. We are honored and appreciative for all the support we received at the festival and every day. Thank you!

Our next weekend destination is Great Grapes in Cockeysville, MD on June 13-14. We have been hearing that it is one of the most “happening” festivals around! C’mon and join us…and stop by our booth. We look forward to meeting you!

http://www.brandofthefree.net/ Better Apparel for a Better World!www.twitter.com/brandofthefree

The Journey to Organic and Greener Living

Each journey is sparked by an initial idea or chain of events. I would like to take this blog in a different direction today, and share the events that led to my personal quest and interest in organic apparel. My journey toward a greener and more organic lifestyle began with a trip to the hospital.

Since I was a teenager, I experienced some really painful and sometimes debilitating symptoms, including excruciating migraines, chest pains, heart flutters, stomach pains and muscular aches and pains. It would happen off and on and when it became unbearable, I would go to my doctor. And each time, after many uncomfortable tests, I was told there is nothing physically wrong with me. I felt like my family, friends and doctors looked at me and saw “hypochondriac” and that it was “all in my head”. I tried to stay positive about life and just tried to ignore the symptoms.

A few years ago, I had chest pains and a stifling heaviness and pressure in my chest. My doctor insisted that I go straight to the hospital. I was admitted, and while there, I had many tests, and again I was told that my heart was fine. That’s when I got curious. Something made me think about the Chinese food I had eaten for dinner the night before and also for lunch, right before the symptoms started. I kind of remembered something being said by a friend about something called msg….

I did some research and found a site about monosodium glutamate (msg). After reading some of the posts, I realized that the stories were just like mine. After years of living with the same symptoms I had, the posters cut msg out of their diet, and most of the symptoms went away. A light bulb went off in my head (fluorescent light of course!) and I immediately started reading all the information I could find on the subject. After much research, I started a quest to eliminate msg, aspartame, sulfites and caffeine from my diet. I started focusing on fresh real food, including meats, dairy, fruits, and vegetables. Little by little, one step at a time, I stopped eating fast food, most restaurant food, msg laden snack foods, soda pop, and frozen or canned processed foods. No more boxed or canned soups, store marinated meats, gravies or quick meal mixes. Guess what? My symptoms all went away, and I feel so much better now! Every once in awhile I will eat something by mistake and suffer the consequences. However, I now know that I am in control of how my body feels. When you fuel your body with fresh, pure, and organic foods as much as possible, you will reap the rewards with a new vitality. And a little inside info for you-when you cut out the msg, you develop your natural tasting abilities again, and truly enjoy natural flavors. The chemical taste of fast food and processed food is no longer pleasant.



The next logical step for me was to realize that our skin absorbs chemicals from everything we put on it: lotions, cosmetics, hair care, and also pesticides, chemicals and toxic dyes and inks used on our clothes. I started to look for organic cotton clothes for myself and my family, and that lead to our support of organic farming and organic apparel. I developed a new respect for the care of my own body, and also the earth that I was blessed with. That led me to make small, greener choices. We started Brand of the Free.net as a company that offered American made apparel, and then branched out to offer organic products because it was important to us to offer the best quality to our customers. I believe we can all make small changes to increase the quality of our lives and the world around us.

Hopefully my story will spark some curiosity and you will research what msg truly is, and how it affects you and your children. You will be amazed at how our food supply has been invaded. Please email me @ bmaluso@brandofthefree.net with any questions you may have, or leave a comment to share feedback and/or personal experiences.

MSG Info:
http://www.msgmyth.com/
http://www.msgtruth.org/

Brandofthefree.net Better Apparel for a Better World
www.twitter.com/blmaluso

Model Nation

There is such a buzz in the air. As a nation, we feel the wave of change as we witness our first black president take office. Although we have many differences of opinion, I believe we can all agree that we want what is best for this country.

For a long time we have let our differences tear us apart. Sometimes it feels that we are not the United States at all. Instead we feel disjointed, looking for flaws and mistakes in our leaders instead of supporting the men and women who serve our country. There have been mistakes made by every elected official. You know that is true, because they ARE human, right? There is no such thing as a perfect human being. But there are human beings who make a commitment to themselves to make this world a better place, whether they are serving our country through the government or military or through raising unselfish, fruitful children who will help build communities and strengthen this great nation. We need to respect and honor all forms of service, especially when lives are put on the line.

As Martin Luther King, Jr. stated in his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech,

“But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred”
He goes on to say, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

These words are very powerful and really made me stop to think. We have a great, beautiful country. Let’s all be a part of building it into the Model Nation that it should be!

Please read the complete MLK speech. http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html

Brand of the Free Apparel - Model Nation T-Shirt
brandofthefree.net Made in America and 100% Organic