spring here we come!

Hello April!!! Bring on the showers...I'm ready for May's flowers.

photo via Powi...(ponanwi)'s flickr

photo via me

my first blogger "award"

I was incredibly excited this morning to discover that I was included in Polynesian Princess's "bloggers I heart" post on her blog & that's the way life goes. This is the first time I have ever been mentioned in something like this & it's a very reassuring feeling to know someone out there appreciates the same things I do. Thank you so much! I'm honored.

& just in case you're curious, the others listed were (in no specific order): Irish Cailin, tried to live forever every day of the year, Climbing on the Words, & Definitely RA... all very lovely blogs.

If I were a truly good blogger, I would continue the chain & make the day of 5 of my favorite bloggers...but alas, I've got a thousand & one things I have to run off to do. Besides, it would take me at least 2 hours to decide which blogs to pick...maybe in a week or two once my schedule loosens up a bit. Keep an eye out...you might be included!

mugs mugs mugs!

Yes, I'm doing two posts in a row about Three Potato Four...but they deserve it.
Taking into consideration my mug obsession, I just couldn't fit it all into one post.
So here are my favorite mugs from Three Potato Four via list style:

1) Pomme (Apple) Large Mug 2) Pomme (Apple) Mug
...there is also a Pomme (Apple) Teapot & Bowl available.
All adorable.

The Deux Mug - Big Tree by Shinzi Katoh...2 in 1 fun!

1) This Set of Three Green Train Mugs is my heart's desire.
2) The Red Polka Dot Mug is tall & fun!

This mug-esque Tea Towel is technically a print of tea cups...
but tea cups are still mugs in my book.

three potato four

I discovered this online shop a while back but somehow or another didn't manage to post about it. Three Potato Four is an online "mom & pop shop" run by Janet Morales & Stu Eli. (You can find out more about them here.)

I love pretty much everything they have listed & I have literally spent hours ogling the shop.
Here are just a couple favorites...

Such a beauty.
Alas, at $350.00, this quirky little phone is a little out of my price range.

I absolutely adore these plates from Snowden Flood.

1) "London Eye" 2) "Birds on a Wire"

making my day

This photo from Yosigo makes me happy. Not only is it lovely, it's also titled September (& as a September baby, naturally I feel that September is the best month of the year).

via design for mankind

save polaroid!

As many of you know, "on February 8, 2008, Polaroid Corporation announced that it will discontinue production of all instant film."

I've always thought that there is just something about polaroid pictures that make photos instantly more beautiful.
(I just realized the puniness of that statement, but it was not intended...I am sincere).

The day instant film becomes extinct will be a sad, sad day for many.

That is why everyone should go check out savepolaroid.com or savethepolaroid.com!

They've both got a lot of information about what people are doing to keep instant film alive & how you can help.

via {frolic!}

volkswagen

This commercial reminds me of how badly I've always wanted a Beetle. (even before the new models came out).
...perhaps some day soon. I'm in dire need of a more reliable car.




via swissmiss

more curiosity shoppe fun

While I was admiring the mugs from my previous post, I spent a little time checking out the other fantastically quirky merchandise available on The Curiosity Shoppe.
Here are a couple of my favorites:

I am obsessed with the Prophesy Board.

In fact, I just ordered one!

It will surely be fun to play around with but even if it isn't,

I can't wait to hang it in my study...it's so fun to look at!

& I absolutely adore these Scrabble Cards by Neil Freese.
(In case you couldn't already tell from my posts here & here,
I just can't help but love all things Scrabble.)

graphic mugs

You know I was excited when I saw these lovelies

from The Curiosity Shoppe...

The red one will be mine!

via design for mankind

lily allen

English singer-songwriter, Lily Allen is one of my current obsessions.
Her music is a real delight.
The video here is of one of her most popular songs, "LDN" ...it has a fun, catchy melody that helps to balance out the smack in the face you get from the harsh reality of the lyrics.
I love it.
PS according to wikipedia, LDN is "Mobile Phone text language for London." (just in case you were clueless like me).



Another fun video.

craziest urinals

Hokay. So, it's pretty obvious that I'm not a boy...but if I were, I'm fairly certain I would be terrified to use any of these:


via slideshows.nachofoto.com

happy easter weekend!

Since I will be out of town visiting family this weekend, this will be my last post before Easter.
In honor of the colorful, candyful day I will share one of my new favorite projects with you.
Meet Bunnyocalypse - the marshmallow bunny apocalypse brought to you by Mike Hanttula.

Here are my favorite two:

Bunny vs. Water Torture
& Bunny vs. Skewers

The most recent edition, Bunny vs. Pasta Maker is very clever,

& all of them are hilarious...
but Bunny vs. Cola nearly makes me want to hurl.

Happy Easter!

sliding puzzles

Remember those little sliding puzzles you used to play with when you were a kid? & sometimes you'd just get so frustrated that you would pop one of the squares out so you could finally "beat" the darn thing...(or was that just me?)
Now you can play a slightly more mature version of the sliding puzzle developed by 1530 Design. You can even create your own design using any image you have saved on your computer.
It's loads of fun!

I've already made a couple of my own, including one from the picture below:

Click on the image to play!
It took me 3 minutes on the first try...
What was your time?

100 best last lines

This is a wonderful list of the 100 best last lines from novels by American Book Review.

My only major disappointment is the low placement of this personal favorite:
97. "There was the hum of bees, and the musty odor of pinks filled the air."
-Kate Chopin, The Awakening (1899)

The quote above gives me a convenient excuse to post
this beautiful image by Charles Dwyer, titled The Awakening.

list via Double Takes

mugs etc.

What a great idea! A truly lovely way to keep from burning your hands, keep your beverage warm (or cold if you like to drink milk from a mug like me), & spruce up a bland mug...
all at the same time!
Check out JuleeQue on Etsy to get one of your own!

& here is another lovely mug-inspired Etsy find. Quite a quirky idea, if you ask me!
Find it here from Jennifer Fox.

florida encounters

Finally! The post I've been promising for over a week... it's really not as exciting as I might have made it sound. We really just spent a whole lot of time relaxing & enjoying the beautiful weather.

After nearly 20 hours of continuous driving, Jason & I decided to go straight to the beach (finding the condo could wait)...& this lovely dusk is the first thing we saw:

We spent the week exploring the many beaches & islands of the area (Ft. Myers, Sanibel, etc.).
& we met this lovely bird (a crane?) on Captiva:

Back at the condo in Bonito Springs, we met a few more winged friends (they were duck-ish, but we think they were just pretending). Turns out they're big fans of Cheez-its, too:

On our last morning, we decided to spend a few last hours on the beach before committing ourselves to the car. This is when I started to realize how crazy all the birds are down there...they've been over-exposed to humans & no longer have the instinct to be wary. In a way it was kind of sad:

I almost forgot to show you this picture...it's also from Captiva. The entire beach is covered with shells like this:

If you look really closely (or click on it to make the picture bigger), you can see that some of these shells are still home to living sea creatures! I was a little scared to walk around because I didn't want to step on some little crab, or snail, or muscle's home...but it was just so pretty!

So there is my mini run-down of our vacation. If you're ever planning a trip to that area, hit me up for some great places to eat, shop...lounge.

origami fun

The background music in this video is as swissmiss says, "so wrong," but it has a bit of Irish spirit to it...so since we're celebrating Shamrock Day, take a look.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope none one got too many pinches on this lovely St. Patty's Day!

I'm sure you all know that St. Patrick's Day is actually a religious holiday (a feast day of the Catholic Church, to be exact). But did you know that the date of the holiday is occasionally moved by church authorities when March 17 falls during Holy Week (the last week before Easter, which includes Palm Sunday , Holy Thursday, & Good Friday)? According to Wikipedia, "this happened in 1940 when Saint Patrick's Day was observed on April 3 in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday, and happened again in 2008, having been observed on 15 March. March 17 will not fall during Holy Week again until 2160."
Technically, today wasn't St. Patrick's Day at all! Everyone missed it this past Saturday!

PS have I mentioned that I promise to get back into the swing of things soon?

photo via uwe hermann

enchanted

Enchanted comes out on DVD this Tuesday (the 18)! ...I'm a little embarrassed to be this excited...but I just can't help myself.
It's funny, charming & full of beautiful people (think Amy Adams, James Marsden, Susan Sarandon, & Idina Menzel...though I'm personal partial to the gorgeous Patrick Dempsey).
The music is amazing...& with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (think Wicked & Godspell), I wouldn't expect anything less.
If you haven't already, you should watch it as soon as it comes out...you won't be sorry!

Happy Pi Day!

Thanks to my good friend Emma,
I am now aware that March 14 is Pi Day.

Emma volunteers for an organization called StudioSTL (a really neat program that gets kids in St. Louis writing & then published!) & they do really fun fund raisers from time to time.
One such fund raiser (which was supposed to take place this evening but unfortunately fell through) has risen my awareness to Pi Day (Trivial Pursuit + pizza & pie eating contests!).
Thanks to Emma & the people over at StudioSTL for spreading the word about this quirky holiday!

PS I promise, promise, promise I will be posting more (stuff from the trip & some other really fantastics!) just as soon as I can finish playing catch-up!

image via swissmiss

safe & sound

I'm back! (more on the trip later).
& since I missed you all so much (I really did, believe me)...here is a big hello to all of you!

Wouldn't you love to see something like this in the mail?!

I certainly would...you pick the letters/word/phrase, the font, even the packaging. It is really a cute idea. Check it out at viaLetter.

via Design Mom

hot/cold mug

ok, ok...I know I said that I would be gone until next Thursday, but I just had to get this last post in before we take off.

This mug from Charles and Marie is amazing! As I've mentioned before, I'm a bit addicted to mugs...& this one is definitely on my favorites list. The mug starts out black with the word COLD printed across the front, but when you pour in your steaming hot coffee (or hot chocolate!) the mug turns white with the word HOT! What a wonderful idea!...(especially for pansies like me who have to wait for the drink to start to cool before they can take a drink.)

via swissmiss

on the road again!

Jason & I are leaving this evening (Thursday) to go on our long awaited road trip/spring vacation! We will be spending the next week on the sunny beaches of Florida...
& I just don't think I can wait another minute.
You most likely won't be seeing any new posts from me until next Thursday (the 13th) so I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

PS here is a little sneak-peak of the little guy I just started working on...after many, many hours of drive-time, I will certainly have him finished when I get back!








first photo via travelblog

pick a picture for your pencils!

I love love love this tutorial from Photojojo.
I love bright colors & coloring (as everyone should).
I love how Springy the picture used here is.
& I love that I can do this at home with my very own picture!

via Design Mom

crazy for swissmiss

A lot of my favorite finds have been coming from swissmiss lately.
If you've never done so before, you should really check it out.
Two more finds that are right up my alley include:
1)
I've posted before about my love of Scrabble...but combined with chocolate?! It's almost too much to handle!
used to be here, but now (very) unfortunately unavailable.

2) I don't think even Scrabble tiles could express the way I feel about this brilliant idea. I really, really miss my old Walkman...but I never thought to modernize one like this. When I discovered this post, I naturally assumed that these would be for sale on some fun site...so I searched & I searched to no avail. Apparently this was homemade & the only way to come across one of your own is to buy a Walkman on Ebay & make the conversion yourself!

via swissmiss

turtle, turtle!

Apparently I am becoming obsessed with creative usb ports...but I really am in love with this little guy! You can also find a sheep, gorilla, & pig here. The site is Swedish, though, so don't let the prices fool you...they're about $45.
Wouldn't one of these make a great gift?

via swissmiss

making my day

Watch it.
Seriously two of the funniest kids I've ever seen.
Enough said.

via big cheeks

angled frames

I really want one of these:
via design crush

hamburger phone

Everyone loved Juno, right? (...sometimes I automatically think that just because I love something, everyone else does, too).
& everyone who loved Juno also wants to be able to say the line, "Can you hang on for a second? I'm on my hamburger phone." & mean it...right?
Get yours here!
via 100 percent cottam

vanity fair

I must admit that in recent years I have not been very big on buying magazines...it's a luxury that I just can't really afford...
but I decided I could splurge when this cover caught my eye:I just love it. the colors. the glamour. the women.

& now I am oh so very happy with my purchase because I found this "portfolio" inside:

Clockwise from top left: Strangers on a Train (1951), Emile Hirsch & James McAvoy;
Rear Window (1954), Scarlett Johansson & Javier Bardem;
Vertigo (1958), Renee Zellweger;
To Catch a Thief (1955), Gwyneth Paltrow & Robert Downey Jr.

The above is a collage of my favorite picks from the Hitchcock inspired 'Hollywood Portfolio' in Vanity Fair's March issue. The original stills from the Hitchcock films are also available on Vanity Fair's site. It is so interesting to see the comparisons.
I now have an intense longing to watch each & every Hitchcock movie.

making my day

I wish I would have been this talented as a child.


via swissmiss