I love this idea.

It's no surprise that Gwyneth and her e-newsletter, GOOP, get poked fun at quite a bit. I personally cringe over the name. Obviously not everyone can afford to live exactly as she does, but many can choose one thing here or there to embrace the same message she purports - healthy, stylish, mindful, simple, inspired, and good, whether it be where you go on vacation, what books you read, what culture's medicine you consider for your ailments, how you stay active, or what food you eat.

This week's newsletter mentioned an olive grove, Nudo, where you can either purchase their olive oils or you can, wait for it...adopt an olive oil tree for one year. They support small farming, cutting out the big mechanical processes wherever possible that lead to soil erosion and blander flavors. They don't use pesticides, either. To adopt a tree you start out by identifying which of the ten groves you'd like to adopt within, or you let them pick one for you. Throughout the year you receive two separate packages made from the fruit of your tree (and technically blended with it's nearby neighbors in the same grove). And they even allow people to visit their groves, even see their adopted tree, if they'd like. How freakin' cool is that? Receiving this awesome oil from a grove that you hand-picked and then taking a trip to Italy to see the grove?! Yes, please! While it is a bit pricey, at $105, I think this is such a neat concept! It would make a great gift for the spouse or significant other who's a foodie or amateur gourmet chef. Or a gift to oneself, even. A gal can dream, can't she?




- d.