You know the crumbs at the bottom of a box of dog treats?  Sprinkle ‘em on your dog’s dinner and get outta the way: it’s like Thanksgiving up in that bowl.  Our friends at Santa Barbara-based Puppy Dust have figured out a way to bring your favorite fido that kind of pure joy for every meal.  Made from human food grade ingredients and available in two yummy flavors, Puppy Dust is where it’s at if you’ve got four paws and a tail.

We’re telling you about this because a) We love dogs.  Obviously.  b) We love local businesses who do things the right way, which the people at Puppy Dust are and do and c) Norman made us.

The holiday guests are long gone, we’re back at work, and baby it’s cold outside. It seems like we’re supposed to blaze into the new year with a fire in our bellies and determination in our hearts. Actually, most of us just want something warm in our mug and a nice nap in front of the fire.  For real, January can be hard to embrace. We found 10 reasons to love it (besides the fact that it’s over half over).  Here they are, in no particular order:

1.  Depending on your point of view, it’s either playoff season or the end of football season.  Either way everybody wins.

2.  Everything’s on sale; also there’s nothing new to buy.  Again, a delightful paradox that offers something for everyone.

3.  You hosted holiday parties and people brought booze to your house.  There are probably a few bottles left.

4.   Still plenty of days to ski.

5.  MLK day.  Many reasons to love that.

6.  The long, dark nights are a great excuse to grab your partner/dog/Cashmoore blanket for a good, long snuggle.

7.  There’s still time to finish that knitting project/Russian novel before the weather turns warm.

8.  Satsuma tangerine season.  Enough said.

9.  Cheap last-minute tickets to warm climates.

10.  In spite of all the cultural expectations for new beginnings, everyone’s looking to stay comfy and cozy in January.  It’s ok if you put stuff off for a couple more weeks.

Got anything to add? For goodness’ sake tell us!

“… As you go the way of life, you will see a great chasm. Jump. It is not as wide as you think.”  – Joseph Campbell

Occasionally we can’t help but ask ourselves:  what have we been doing all this time?  Certainly not learning to weld, as Brian wants to take up.  Or learning French like Haley promises to do.  Or taking a ballroom dancing class, as Randy dreams of.  There are the necessities of course: work, family, friends, food, rest, exercise…  those take up a lot of time.  But if we were really honest with ourselves, we’d come right out and say that it’s (at best) daunting and (at worst) humiliating to learn something new.  Doing so brings us face-to-face with our short attention spans, physical awkwardness and habitual ways of thinking.  Which is exactly why we’re going to learn one new thing this year.  After all, nobody ever actually died of awkwardness… did they?

What about you?  What have you always wanted to learn to do?

We love EcoSalon’s list of New Year’s resolutions not to make – understandably, since an unofficial office poll reveals that none of us (except Courtney, who uses an excel spread sheet for hers) make resolutions ourselves.  Rather than changing who we are, our plan for 2012 is to refine what we’re already about:

1.  Have More Fun -  Even when we’re sitting in meetings or stuck in traffic, even when we’d rather be outside riding a bike or a wave, we’re gonna make what we’re doing fun.

2.  Do More Good – The Dalai Lama says (we’re paraphrasing here) that the key to personal happiness is to see to the happiness of others first. This year we’re going to look for every opportunity to stoke out our Santa Barbara community, our greater community and each other.  Simple stuff – like washing a pile of dirty dishes someone left in the office kitchen, sticking to our beach clean up days and donating to charities whose work we admire – is what we’re shooting for.

3.  Stay Comfortable – If we follow numbers one and two this one is easy.  Comfort starts with how you feel inside, after all.  Of course getting plenty of rest, eating good food and wearing über comfy clothes can help too.

Inspire us with your resolutions, both simple and life-changing.

First thing’s first:  if you’re anything like us you’re not exactly ahead of the game when it comes to holiday shopping…  that’s when a Horny Toad e-gift card comes to the rescue.  We’re only telling you because we love you.

Also, we want to save you from having anything to do with a gift fail story.  You know, like how getting an unsolicited parakeet is bound to end in some form of heartbreak. Or the way that gifting a bathroom scale rarely sends the right message.  And how offering a framed photo of your baby to people besides immediate family members is just awkward for everyone. And we all know at least one person fresh out of a break up who’s received a cookbook called “Easy Dinners for One.”

Of course, it’s not about the stuff… but if you have a great gift fail story worth telling, we’d consider it the best present ever.

For the fifth and final week of our Holiday Giving program we’re partnering with Telluride AIDS Benefit (TAB). Since its inception in 1994, TAB’s Gala Fashion Show has become a Telluride institution and favorite among both Telluride’s locals and visitors.  We love supporting this great cause for many reasons, not the least of which is that Horny Toad was born in Telluride.  Use the promo code DOGOODTAB on any hornytoad.com purchase from December 19 – 27 and we’ll give them 20% of the profits. As well, 2% of all our web sales for those days go to Telluride AIDS Benefit.  To learn more about TAB go to www.aidsbenefit.org.

Sure we sell great holiday gifts, but in our humble opinion the best thing about the season has little to do with commerce – we love the personalized, untraditional rituals.  For instance, Lindsay and her sweetie pick a Friday night in early December to head to the brew pub across from the Christmas tree lot.  After dinner and a locally brewed beer or two, they select their tree and spend Saturday decorating.

Kate and her husband string chili pepper, sea urchin and lizard lights around their beach house. They don’t get each other gifts but spend time planning a trip or home improvement project they will take on together in the next year.

Every year Paige and her wife go to the movies on Christmas eve.  They eat waffles on Christmas morning and bake a red velvet cake for that night’s dessert.

Kim has an annual Christmas day brunch at her house.  Her whole loud family comes and, miraculously, they agree not to fight for the entire day.

We want to know the special thing you do this season.  Tell us in the comments by 12/18 at midnight and we’ll pick a winner who will receive one of our luscious Cashmoore blankets, just in time to give as a holiday gift or snuggle up with on a good old fashioned New Year’s Day movie bender.

We’re proud to say that this week’s Holiday Giving recipient is Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS). Established in 1977,  they’re an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization whose mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans.  Use the promo code DOGOODSEA on any hornytoad.com purchase from December 12 – 18 and we’ll give them 20% of the profits. As well, 2% of all our web sales for those days go to Sea Shepherd.  To learn more about them go to www.seashepherd.org.

In our fast moving world, good mental health must be cultivated patiently… like fermenting wine.

The truth is, sometimes we do our best work when we’re not working at all.  It’s not unheard of for us to sneak away for a run, bike ride, yoga class or – when the surf’s good – a few hours in the ocean.  Sometimes we call in “well.”  Think of it as preventative medicine: true sanity requires a strong balance of work and play.

We say take some time off.  Go do what you love for a few hours.  It’ll reduce stress, increase happiness and, if you’re anything like us, inspire you to approach life (and work) from a fresh angle. You can tell your boss we said so.

Week three of five in the Horny Toad Holiday Giving Program supports NW Documentary which, in turn, supports our friends at Red Reel Video.  Use the promo code DOGOODNWDOC on any hornytoad.com purchase from December 5 – 11 and we’ll give NW Documentary 20% 0f the profit.  Additionally, 2% of all web sales (whether the promo code is used or not) will go to them.  To learn more about NW Documentary visit www.nwdocumentary.org.  To learn more about Red Reel Video visit www.redreelvideo.com.