Considering Wildfox Couture...

I can't believe I just found Wildfox! They have great pictorals for their collections, worth a check. Shirts top to bottom $64, $64, $89, bottom pic clothing is not released yet.

Nestle's New Building

dezeen
I love Nestle's new building located in Mexico and designed by Rojkind Arquitectos. There isn't much about them on their site except that they are really active in the lecture circuit. As I've told you, I've been on a serious architecture kick for the last few months and I've been so blown away by the buildings that people are making and the spaces that we have available to us. These buildings are so much more reflective of our activities, rythyms of our lives, and natural surroundings than a square box with windows.
It makes so much sense to take into account what the surroundings are naturally when creating buildings. When I lived in Santa Fe, I loved that most of the buildings are a natural brown adobe so that when you scan the mountainscape, your eye just moves over the homes without losing the shapes of the mountains. I always said "if those mountains were in the midwest, we'd have built 5,000 ugly white houses and it would look like an ant hill."
Now it looks like that idea is catching on a bit more. Ex. in the Sahara desert they are working on a project to create manmade spaces that replicate sandstone but keep the desert creep at bay and allow for humans to live there more easily. Such an interesting concept no?

Ninjas vs. Pirates

from Salty and Sweet
My money is on ninjas.

An Actual Conversation

Overheard in Madison

"Why are you so stuck on age? What's so magical about being 28?"

Delete Billboards

Pleaseenjoy
Billboards are an eyesore. And until now, I figured they were okay in cities as the landscape is already kind of messed up but New Yorkers are tired of over-billboarding. Plus, lots of them are illegal so people are making money off of illegal eyesores. Great.
On April 25th, 2009, Jordan Seiler and PublicAdCampaign.com organized a massive takeover of these billboards called NYSAT. I really think it's about time. Hasn't advertising moved beyond billboards yet? Does anyone look at them? Do they work anymore?

Should You Work From Home?

Since I posted the couch below that made me think about working from home more often, I've been thinking about the perfect work from home situation. I think it's really relevant now in this economy as more people get laid off, more people start consulting businesses to keep overhead down, and more people choose to make their careers mold to fit their lifestyle situation.
I HOPE that no one is doing it because of ridiculous ads on TV. You know the ones.... with the middle aged couple sitting in a gross restaurant (supposed to be in Italy) smiling about how they paid for the whole thing after working from home for 30 minutes. Yeah, don't buy those tapes.
Anyway, my last business was out of my home and I have the option to sometimes work from home in my current position.
Working from home seems like a dream come true. You're in the comfort of your bed, in your pajamas, Cops or Real Housewives of NY on TV in the background..... and in a lot of ways, it is great to set your own schedule but it's also the most difficult adjustment you'll ever make. We have a few people where I work now that work from home a few days a week that can probably back me up on this one.
Here's the rundown after training myself to make working from home work for me.
1) Get in Touch With Your Inner Slave Driver. You don't have to be up at 6AM or even 10AM. You can take an afternoon off if the weather is nice. The thing is, you have to be even tougher on yourself when you work from home because no one will yell at you if you take time off. Or a lot of time off. You will have to learn to do every annoying thing a boss has ever done to you. And guess what? You have no scapegoat either. And some of your friends and family won't like it. Get ready.
2) Get Dressed. You can work in your pajamas. But don't. When I had a radio show that started at 5AM and ended at 10AM, I could show up looking however I wanted to. So I donned my slippers and sweatpants every day. And I got depressed. I was essentially talking to myself in a tiny room with no windows every morning for 4 hours. One of my mentors finally pulled me aside and said "get dressed dammit. you look like crap, and your show sucks because of it." It was harsh but it was true.
3) Get to know your local coffee shops. I have been a coffee shop rat since I was 15. Throughout my life I have had times where I feel like I'm accomplishing nothing and sometimes even packing up my things and working from a coffee shop gives me a nice schedule to work from. Plus you'll get some people watching in.
4) Hit up networking events. A lot. Remember all the contacts you made working at a large company? You'll have to make those yourself now. The contacts you had will dry up. People will not come into your life in a business setting unless you seek them out. This is hard because you feel like you know a lot of people and maybe you do but now you'll need people in your life that understand that you work from home. I think networking events are always a good thing but if you are shifting to working from home in some fashion, you'll need to get out and mingle more.
5) You will go crazy for a while. This is one of those things that seems obvious but it's really true. Be prepared to not balance things right for a while. You will feel like you should be having family time at your house but now that you need to work there, it's going to be rough. When do you work, when do you watch TV and what can you do simultaneously? I remember sitting on the floor with a bottle of wine, my business partner had shingles from stressing out and we were both drowning in a pile of tax paperwork and watching Tyra in the background. It was also almost 4AM. We had also been out earlier that night. We figured that it was a good time to do our taxes since neither of us could sleep. It gets better after a few months. Just warn your friends and family in advance that you are taking leave of your senses for a while.
6) You will become a zen master. Since you will start thinking of every single thing you could do that's not work. The light in the fridge that's been out for 8 months will suddenly become urgent. You will stare at a crack in your wall and it will become an obsession that you fix it immediately. You will call everyone you know and check on them, wish people happy birthday. You will probably fill out online surveys that you normally wouldn't do. In other words, you will be distracted by EVERYTHING. I am distracted by everything normally so this wasn't totally a new thing for me but know that the volume on pesky to-do knick knacks will go way up. You will learn to zen them out. In fact, the more you know about how to meditate and tune things out, the easier this part will be.
7) Get someone to help you. Having someone who works from home a fair amount tell you you're not insane and write out a schedule works wonders.

I'll Be Working From This Couch

First, this couch seems like the most amazing place to be in the world. Ever.
Second, I'd like to work from this couch every day. This should be in my office and my apartment. Brazilian designers Fernando and Humberto Campana made this and deserve medals, cake, or at least bumper stickers commemorating this achievement.

Boho Jumpsuit

by Donna Karan
Donna Karan has got some great stuff in their Spring 09 collection. I don't know about you but this 70's looking jumpsuit is gorgeous no?

Junior Boys - If Your Monday Needs Some Neo 80's

Hazel - Junior Boys, set to release in the UK May 11

Remember When We Talked About Belt Buckles?

via Black Crow Arts
I wrote some time ago about dressing down your work pants for a date or a night out and mentioned that a belt buckle could add some personality to your look. I've got friends that find the biggest ones they can find or the strangest. These belt buckles by Black Crow Arts look like a grown up version - they are really nice looking, made of guitar frets, and only about $100.
As a bonus, they also make wallets made of records.

Recession Chic Coffee

I love the retro chic design of this Cuban coffee drink. Bustelo's been around since 1928 but after seeing it in the New York Times today and a few celeb rags, it appears to be making a comeback. It's selling at 7-11's these days and costs much less than a Red Bull.

Zip Up Headphones....

This is a brilliant idea from Yanko Design.

Copa Cabana Stripper Skin

The very instant it's spring/summer I become unhealthily obsessed with anything smelling like coconut and over the years it's made me pretty picky about which products I'll use.
The perfect smelling coconut I've ever smelled was on 2 strippers in Chicago and I sat them right down at the bar and grilled them on their products ( so typical that I'm at a bachelorette party weaseling someone's favorite skin product out of them).
Anyway, here's my favorites:skin trip - Whole Foods


Lanvanila - Vanilla Coconut, SephoraYup, this is still one of the tops.... it's pretty oily so in summer you should mix just a little tiny bit with an unscented lotion. (Also what the strippers were doing FYI)

An Actual Conversation

Overheard in Brooklyn

"I really like PBR because it's cheap, and it's good, and..... there's always one in there."

Idolizing Rings

Large Double Multiply Ring by Deka Ray
Idol Ring by Mambo Queen
Rough Cut Ring by Zoe Catherine Kendall

How I'm Doing Salt

Crate and Barrel
My latest favorite thing is keeping salt in a little container with a spoon to dig it out. I saw it at Gabrielle's house and her husband tells me that's how they do it in Africa. I substituted with a small container at Anthropologie and using the smallest of measuring spoons. (Their container and spoon are both wooden and I looked for wooden but got impatient).
Also, the farmers market sells these delightful chocolate cookies with salt on top so it's been on my mind lately.
so NOW, this week I am on the hunt for what I'm calling "cool salt" and have found some really great stuff.
Spoons $20, grey salt, pink himalayan salt, salt set (Haleakala red and Kilauea black salts )
or, try this sparkling honey lemonade with citrus salt from Whole Foods.

Thanks Hong Kong

Izzue, a new brand in Hong Kong.....
via Bleach Black

Nomadic Design

by Winfried Baumann for the Milano Public Design Festival (designboom)

Created under the brand "urban nomads" all the projects of winfried baumann 
are combined and they are all concerned with mobility, housing, provisions and locomotion.

Is A Bad Attitude That Bad?

Now, I spend a lot of time thinking about this subject (read: I spend a lot of time convincing myself that I don't need to work on this). In first grade I brought a knife to school with me to protect myself on my 4 block walk home. First grade! Thank God I was in first grade a long time ago when apparently, this wasn't something to expel a kid over.
I told my high school British literature teacher I thought his assignment was "bullshit" and demanded an explanation as to what the point of it was. So yeah, real adorable child.
Over the years, I have toned down my penchant for not filtering my brain to mouth path pretty significantly. Enough to not get fired.
However, I wonder if I need to "mellow out" or if this is actually helping me along in my career.
Pros:
1) The squeaky wheel gets greased. It's very true. When I was working at the front desk at a radio station and the morning DJ got a DUI, upper management fretted over who could cover his show indefinitely. Because I had no experience, no real working track record, but a really persistent whine I got the position. This has actually worked out pretty well for me over the years. If you want something.... ask for it. A lot.
2) People will think twice about trying to salesman you. This is because people with a semi bad/loud attitude are hard to sell. They push back and because of this my boss respects my opinion. Sometimes people in positions of power come up with bad ideas and everyone tells them it's great in the spirit of being positive. I'm convinced that the higher you are in a company the harder it is to get a straight answer from anyone.
3) Repressing is bad for you. I'm a projector. If I'm mad about something, most people within a 5 mile radius will know about it. The upside of this is that in 5 minutes I feel better. It's out and gone, not gnawing away at me for months.
Cons:
3) You will come off as unapproachable. I've found out a lot of things post facto because friends "didn't want to tell me because I'd get mad." Insert promise to do better here.
4) You will be accused of being negative and judgemental. This is the hardest part for me to deal with. I don't usually mean to be negative but I simply cannot take "because" as an answer.

The strange thing is, a lot of the personality traits that our education system seeks to break us of actually can help us in business settings. Do we foster the brat (me) in the class that's always trying to poke holes in the teacher's lectures? I guess not. But at the same time, I'm not so sure that speaking one's mind at virtually all costs is so terrible.

It's Summer Drink Time Right?

via DrinkOfTheWeek
I'm not saying a person can buy my affections with strawberry goodness..... but you kind of can.

Strawberry Basil Mojito

3 fresh strawberries
3-5 fresh basil leaves
2 oz. simple syrup
2 oz. white rum
crushed ice
club soda

Slice the strawberries and place at the bottom of a tall glass along with the basil leaves. Pour in the simple syrup and muddle the mixture. Stir in the rum and top with crushed ice. Top off with club soda and garnish with strawberry slices.

Cheap Monday

Cheap Monday has some new shades in - $23 at Caliroots

An Idea I'm Thinking Of Discarding:

You know when you're wandering down the frozen food aisle of the grocery store and every single thing in those cases is designed and packaged exactly the same? It's pretty boring. I am sick and tired of looking at those and I started wondering why someone doesn't come up with something better looking. I mean, the ingredients are all "healthified and fresh" now so why does the packaging look terrible? They are all mostly white with orange or green. Nothing innovative or cool in the slightest.
Sooo.... I came up with this idea to make a rock/hipster style meal. And maybe name them after chemicals.....
Before you tell me this is a bad idea, just hear me out. The packaging could be using recycled materials and be either all different colors or black and rocker chic looking. Not everyone who eats frozen food is living in suburbia. Not everyone in suburbia wants to pretend their frozen food is from Whole Foods.
So my idea is then to name these things after deadly chemicals like "Napalm Nuggets" or "Agent Orange Chicken" or "Low Voltage Lambchops".
Maybe no one would buy those. But I would.

Wow.... hitting reset.

Swiss Miss
This video is amazing. It's incredibly difficult to hit the reset button on life so it's so inspiring for me to see someone doing it. Also, if you haven't listened to much Metric.... do yourself a favor.

Candy And Photography.

Obviously.... this made my morning. Rockmade, NY

Will You Try These?

Starbucks is coming out with an instant coffee line called Via. You just add it to a cup of hot water and it supposedly delivers a cup of coffee as good as from the store..... I am VERY skeptical and I will probably not be able to get into this one as I am now bordering on a coffee snob/addict. I can't help it really..... I was drooling over a coffee maker that was $400 this weekend. Instant coffee? Really Starbucks?

I Want A Girl Who Gets Up Early...

Fly On The Wall

Fly Pushpins by Alessi

Not That I Cook But I Want These Dishes

Urban Soule at Etsy via GrassRootsModern

I could almost whip up a box of Mac and Cheese for this!

A Blue Streak

Dress, Temperley London. Tank, Anthropologie. Scarf, Topshop. Shoes, Adidas and Melody Ehsani.

A Dumpster Of Design

Uhuru chair made from reclaimed bourbon barrel staves from Kentucky and used truck springs.

"That's my girl, always in a dumpster somewhere"

The above statement is true. Well, I don't spend time in actual dumpsters.... it's mostly junkyards.... does that sound remotely better? In summer I spend a lot of time reworking scrap metals and discarded furniture into cool stuff. When I stumbled on Uhuru, a Brooklyn furniture and design shop, I was in absolute heaven. Other people do this! That aren't homeless! Check out their stuff at 2Modern.
"This company creates utilitarian designs out of just about anything: reclaimed pine from demolished NYC buildings, old bicycle rims, recycled steel and other "such attractive waste." "

I'm Pretty Sure I'd Be Friends With This Guy.

David Fullarton

Right Now.

Look what Sprint made.

What They'll say

This color is my summer obsession. I want my nails this color, my shirts this color, it's not pink, it's not orange, I'm not sure what it is but I want it!
Stella McCartneyAlice + Olivia