Happy World Graphic Design Day!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy World Graphic Design Day!

Take a moment, look at something beautiful and be thankful for all the creative minds out there in the world today. They strive to make the world a more aesthetically pleasing place.

If you're curious... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Graphic_Design_Day

Reflecting on Roseanne

Sweet hubs and I recently re-watched the entire series of Roseanne. I was never a dedicated watcher when the show was on the air, but I did enjoy it when I caught it on occasion. 

Considering my age upon the original airing of the show, I always identified with Roseanne's children, Becky, Darlene and DJ - and of course Mark and David. I loved John Goodman's character, Dan - I thought he was such a great dad. Roseanne, on the other hand, usually annoyed me. I always thought of her as the bitchy, annoyingly vocal, incredibly naggy mother.

Now that we've reviewed the entire series, my outlook is a bit different. Maybe its because now, as a 30 year old woman, I can identify more with Roseanne since she was just slightly older than I am now when the series started. Now I see that Darlene was a bratty, snarky kid, but did develop into a headstrong, responsible adult. I see that Becky also, though incredibly self-absorbed (as most teenagers are), made some mistakes, but handled them with humility. And DJ really was an adorable little mischevious boy - took on a lot of responsibility himself throughout the show.

It's funny when you experience a film or television show at two completely different points in your life and you realize how differently they resonate with you.

Instead of finding Roseanne entirely annoying, I now can see that her character in the show really was multi-dimensional - not just a naggy, negative minded wife. I hope that one day when sweet hubs and I do have children, that we will be able to endure life's challenges and wonders with an obnoxiously appropriate laugh when necessary to keep going and accept life for all the good and bad it can dish out.

I'm glad I gave Roseanne a chance so that I could realize what she had to offer. Thank you, Roseanne. Thank you, for finding humor where most people would stop and throw their hands up in the air in frustration. Thank you, for standing up for what you believed in and still finding a sane balance between your feminist ways and being a good mother and wife. Thank you, for showing your viewers how to find joy in a lot of the smaller moments in life that usually pass by in the blink of an eye and go without notice.

Thank you for being you.

Small? Yes. Cool? Possibly so!

Last Saturday, hubs and I were sitting around and I was browsing some of my favorite interior design blogs, and I noticed that it was the last day to enter the Apartment Therapy "Small, Cool" contest. I looked around, and asked sweet hubs, do you think we should enter? First prize is $1000.

We realized we just needed to straighten up our apartment and figured, why not? So, we entered our little 400 sq. foot apartment into the "Tiny" category.

I received an email this morning from Apartment Therapy saying that mine and sweet hubs apartment has made it into the second round of the contest! We're so excited! Now, we have to get as many "thumbs up" as we can in the next 48 hours.

Hopefully we'll win.

You can vote for us here (keep in mind, you have to register first).

Images courtesy of Jesse Brown.

Jonathan Adler this, Jonathan Adler that!

Yes yes, I love Jonathan Adler. I just received the new Jonathan Adler newsletter via email, literally two minutes ago, and had to shout from the rooftops about just how much in love I am with his new "Surrender to Hollywood Glamour" collection.

I'm drooling.

So, as always, enjoy some photos of beautiful things, courtesy of Jonathan Adler.

Linus Dutchie 1 in Cream - $350

Ventana Mirror - $495

Channing Buffet - $2,500

Havenhurst Lamp - $425

Woodhouse Bed in Charcoal - $2,950

Something Pretty for Monday Afternoon

One of my favorite blogs and flower shops (which happens to be in my 'hood and that I've previously mentioned here), Saipua just posted some gorgeous photos from a wedding they did this past weekend.

It was too pretty not to share.

All photos courtesy of Sarah Ryhanen and the Saipua blog.

Read their entry and see more photos here.

Freedom of Creation

This morning, while browsing the information superhighway (ie. couldn't sleep), I came across a website called Freedom of Creation.  It's a pretty interesting design collective where they mainly seem to focus on technology and conceptual designs in many different mediums.

"At freedom of creation we believe in a future where data is the design product, and where products are distributed in the same way images and music travel through the internet today."
Janne Kyttanen, Founder FOC

I took a bit and browsed their store and came across some very fun products.  I especially like the Reality Check ring, designed by Josien Pieters.  Very clever.

You can purchase the Reality Check ring here.

Another of my favorites is the Dahlia lamp by Janne Kyttänen:

All images are courtesy of Freedom of Creation.

Grenkol

Not long ago, mine and sweet hubs friend, Ty, started a company called Grenkol.  Ty and his business partner, Brian, who share a love for woodworking, came together and make beautifully modern, yet natural furniture and home accessories.  I love their sustainable design and clean, modern lines.

In their own words:

"Grenkol is a furniture/product design studio based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. We work through modern shapes to create products truly unique to themselves. Our goal is to inspire space and environments with sustainable design approaches. We invite you to come see what we have made for you."

I'm particularly in love with their Domino Lamp series. I see myself owning one in the near future.

If you're in the NY/NJ area and want to check out their beautiful work in person, you can catch them tomorrow, April 17th at the "Not Yo Mama's Craft Fair" in Jersey City, NJ.

Visit their website: http://www.grenkol.com
Become a fan on Facebook.
Check out their Etsy shop.

All images courtesy of Grenkol.

Dream a Little Dream

Sometimes, you just dream of a place from your past and are so sad when you wake up.

It's true.

I'm missing the mountains right now.

Lake Toxaway, NC
Photo courtesy of Vij on Flickr.

Liquid Hand Soap - Who's the prettiest of them all?

As I've previously mentioned, I'm a sucker for good packaging. I'm currently looking for a great, wonderfully smelling, beautifully packaged and hopefully reasonably priced liquid hand soap.

When sweet hubs and I got hitched back in 2008, we had registered and received a beautiful bath set (the Palace Classic Bath Ensemble by Wamsutta) which included a toothbrush holder, a liquid soap dispenser, a solid soap dish, etc... unfortunately, the liquid soap dispenser rusted, so we had to dispose of it. Bed Bath and Beyond has since discontinued this series, so one can only assume we were not the only people who ran into issues.

The Palace Collection by Wamsutta

Anyhow, I've been searching around for the perfect liquid hand soap in a pretty package since it will be displayed with the remaining items from my bath ensemble set. So far I've come across some pretty excellent contenders:

Mrs. Meyer's - $3.99
Purchase here.

L'Occitaine - $22.00
Purchase here.

C.O. Bigelow - $12
Purchase here.

Bath and Body Works - $6
Purchase here.

Restoration Hardware - $14
Purchase here.

Murchison-Hume - $21
Purchase here.

So far my favorite has been the C.O. Bigelow in Lemon for packaging (I went ahead and bought this one), but scent and price-wise, I love Mrs. Meyer's lavender. Oh decisions, decisions.

To Become More Worldly

One of my goals in life is to one day become more "worldly".

I didn't do what a lot of people in my age group did in their 20's and spend their time travelling the world, taking advantage of the minimal responsibilities required at that age. Instead, I made the choice to work and go to school - and my choice in schools happened to be one that was in session year round, rather than on the semester system, which pretty much eliminated my chance of travelling, since for the two weeks I had between quarters was spent working.

But I digress. Now that I'm in my 30's, I'd like to rectify that choice and travel. I spend a lot of my free time researching where I could go and what I could experience. I'm clueless to the world - I'm an American girl to the core and have no clue how to go about travelling outside my great US of A. I can road trip with the best of them, but when it comes to other cultures and languages and currency, I'm lost.

I do have my first foreign trip scheduled in September. I will be going to Costa Rica with my husband and some friends. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also scared. I'm sure once I get into the swing of things, I'll be just fine.

I've caught the travel bug from my dear friends Rob and Becky, who are travel connoisseurs and I'll be forever thankful for them awakening this new desire inside of me.  They're the best travel companions in the world.

My dear friend, Rob (left) and my sweet hubs (right) in Costa Rica in March of 2010.  Photo courtesy of Rob Knight and http://www.dphotoa.com.

Curiousity Shops

There is something so endearing about curiousity shops to me. I really can't explain it.

I came across one with an online shop today called DL & Company: Modern Alchemists and Purveyors of Curious Goods, and found the coolest thing - its a "Bust of Dierdre" candle. According to the description, the bust "cries" for the first several hours that it burns.

“Like an echo from the caves of coccamaura, i came forth whilst Dierdre wept cool tears” – from a celtic fairy tale. The bust, "Deirdre" was a true collaboration between the two of us. Mr. Little presented Mr. Sellers with the concept of crafting a weeping bust that cried tears of wax. Mr. Sellers sculpted the bust based on a neo-classical inspiration. The functionality of the piece is quite remarkable as the back of the sculpture is carved on an angle allowing for the melting wax to flow through the opening of the eyes.

If it wasn't for the fairly hefty price tag ($450.00!) I'd order one in a minute. Hell, I'll take two!

For more information and to order, visit the DL & Company website.

All images courtesy of DL & Company.

Hello there, Springtime!

The birds are chirping, the sun is shining and Spring is officially here.  It's beautiful out!

Since sweet hubs and I were on our road trip to Atlanta last week, we weren't here for the start of the beautiful weather, but we did manage to get home just in time for a mini-heatwave to hit NYC.  Yesterday, the temperature broke the heat record of 89 degrees (we hit 92 yesterday) for the first time since 1928 on April 7th!  Crazy!  We did get lucky and our trip down south brought us back home before the insane pollen hit Atlanta - I'm incredibly thankful for that since my allergies are hyperactive.  An "extremely high" pollen count is considered to be 120+, which is the amount of pollen particles measured in a 24 hour timeframe per 1 cubic meter of air.  Yesterday, Atlanta's pollen count hit 5,733.  That's like inhaling sand.  Gross.

Anyhow, I'm thrilled that the sun is out and beautiful weather is here.  Maybe it'll stick around for a while!

Fancy Foodage

This past weekend, sweet hubs and I took a road trip down to Atlanta to see two of our friends get married (congrats, to the new Mr. and Mrs. Glisson!). While we were down there, we managed to eat at an amazing restaurant called the Woodfire Grill. Maybe you've heard of it? It was recently brought to semi-celebrity-chef-restaurant status since the chef, Kevin Gillespie, was featured on Top Chef. But I digress - those of you who know me in person are well aware of the fact that I am a picky eater. I eat some veggies, pretty much only chicken where protein is concerned and the occasional ground beef dish. Not adventurous AT ALL.  Well, I decided to break out from my normal, boring choices since we were about to venture into the world of culinary royalty (in my mind at least).

Kevin Gillespie

I ate things I'd never considered - there was a little spoonful of beets and some other delectable vegetables - I gulped that down. Next came an amazing salad along with several super delicious appetizers, which included things such as mushroom risotto (I don't do mushrooms), fried pork trotters (pig feet?! ME?!), pan roasted diver scallop and pan seared sonoma artisan foie gras (I passed on the last two). Then came the entrees, which again, were absolutely divine. We were given pan roasted washington state halibut (so fresh!!), wood grilled local bobwhite quail (amazing!), wood grilled berkshire pork loin (such a wonderful taste!), and wood grilled sonoma artisan duck breast (from the same duck as the foie gras). Everyone was salivating the moment the plates came out. We also enjoyed roasted local sunchokes and smokey greens. Yowza!

Now, if that wasn't enough, they had some amazing cocktails - my favorite was the blackberry cocktail... unfortunately, I can't remember the exact name, but I thoroughly enjoyed the two (or three?) that came my way.

After dinner, it wasn't quite over - it was dessert time. Again, no complaints here. I must admit, these were some of the best desserts I'd ever had - and I am a sugar addict. We shared the lemon meringue tart, the ice cream sandwiches (the cookie portion being merangue cookies!) and some deliciously amazing caramel/banana/cake concoction. Wow. That was some amazing meal.

I have to thank my dear friends for exposing sweet hubs and I to this. I am in love. Between the AMAZING food, the wonderful conversation (we were lucky enough to be joined by one of the owners of the restaurant and the sous-chef, who prepared our meal that evening (Kevin wasn't in), it was an unforgettable evening.

Enjoy some eye candy, courtesy of The Woodfire Grill.