Natalie Portman can't be satisfied merely being a gorgeous, well-respected, fabulous actress with a Harvard education, and a penchant for thoughtful film roles.  No.  She has to go above and beyond, and prove herself one of those integrity-heavy people, who practice what they preach.  Harumph.

Ms. Portman is a known humanitarian/environmentalist/vegan, who has recently partnered with Te Casan to collaborate on vegan/animal-friendly footwear.

"Dazzling, playful, elegant and free of animal products, each shoe exudes the starlet’s own personal style. All of Portman’s proceeds will be donated to the Nature Conservancy, a non profit that works tirelessly to protect ecologically fragile lands and bodies of water."

As this endeavour involves shoes, and lovely, chic ones at that, I am fully supportive.  But please don't try to take my cheeseburger away.

I adore shoes, and if fashionable alternatives to leather and suede are made readily available, I will be the first in line to buy them.  My Stella McCartneys actually say "vegetarian shoe" on the sole, which is perplexing as I didn't think shoes ate anything at all.  But I digress.  Provide me with a viable alternative, and I'll take baby steps - in the fabulous shoes - toward being more of a conscious consumer.

I told you I've switched to using flourescent lightbulbs, right?

After a weekend in Austin, TX, I have yet another reason to indulge my girl-crush on Sandra Bullock.  She makes fantastic relationship choices (Ryan Gosling, and now, happy marriage to Jesse James), entertaining movies (Love Potion #9, Two Weeks Notice), giant donations to charity ($1 million to Red Cross/Hurricane Katrina), and now, she also makes environmentally-safe candles.

Bullock owns Bess Bistro in downtown Austin, and a recent addition to the restaurant is the teensy-tiny case of organic candles, behind the host desk, which are designed to complement the smells of food.

This is one of those ideas I hear about, and then say "oh for crying out loud - how did I not think of that?"  Because when you're cooking, and also want to have the ambience of candles...oh, who are we kidding, I don't cook.  But I do have food delivered, and the food smells typically do not really mesh with many of the candles I have strewn throughout the home.

Miss Sandy,

as I'm sure she'd let me call her, after we went shoe shopping together, is also known for being conscientious, and she actually put money into researching a way to create an eco-friendly candle - rather than just use the standard methods that often produce carginogens.

Carcinogens = bad

Candle scents = good

It's some challenging math, I know.

If you're in the Austin area, pick up a Bessence Candle at 500 W. Sixth St. 

And tell Miss Sandy that Saturday afternoon shoe shopping works best for me.

If you're not in the Austin area, but would like to be, stay tuned to HolidayGolightly.com...we're adding the trips soon!