Closed

The blog is closed. Other pursuits beckon.

Dog and sweater. Both cute.

Awww.



Get it (the sweater, not the dog) here.

Just a note

I wrote an article about Etsy last fall. After months of fruitlessly attempting to get someone to publish it, Tsia Carson at Supernaturale recognized its brilliance. So please, read it if you like (if you don't want to read it, you should still check out Supernaturale anyway cuz it's awesome).

But. There is a correction I need to make. When I did my research, Etsy had about 650,000 registered users. That number is now more like 750,000.

I feel better.

Best of snacking

These are a few of my favorite things... for eating or drinking late at night:


Potato chip: Tim's Sweet Maui Onion: You have one, and you think, "that's pretty good." Then you have another, and you think, "maybe just one more." Then you look down and the bag is empty.

Creme Brulee Cocoa from Land 'o Lakes: First of all, who knew Land 'O Lakes made cocoa? Second, I'm not sure if this is still being made, but it's worth the variety pack for six amazing cups of cocoa (make with milk).

Beecher's Flagship cheese: One of the many, many food items worth the trip to Seattle.

Marie Sharp's Habanero Sauce: It's on every table in Belize, and for good reason. Ok, it's not technically a snack, but I have put it on chips. And it was good.

Blue Diamond Wasabi & Soy Sauce almonds: If Oprah gave away cans of nuts on her Favorite Things episode, it would be these nuts.

Glasses, glasses everywhere

I'm generally not a person who gets all that worked up about kitchen stores. Cooking is fun (though not as much fun as eating), but it's not like I'm gonna get high on a really nice set of pots.

There is an exception. As my mother pointed out after we made a pilgrimage to Ikea, I really like glasses (she must have noticed that I picked up all 2,019 of them in the store). Napa Style has some really nice stemless champagne flutes etched with botanical designs (tumblers, too!). They'd probably look just as nice filled with grape juice, or a low-priced wine equivalent.


Aforementioned Ikea has lots of lovelies, too, from blue cocktail glasses to the super groovy Komedi model, right.

Nearly every glass offered at MoMA is miles above your average clear cylinder, from the inside-out champagne glasses to these bright, swooping, almost-but-not-quite juvenile curved glasses (below).


But the prize for Best Glasses Ever goes to the wares from WarauKoppu (top). If those smiling carafes don't make getting your daily dosage of H2O a little better, well, you don't deserve them.

Post-holiday happy-drums (you know, the opposite of doldrums)

Happy New Year!
Did I say the blog would be back in January? Whoops, I meant February. Fortunately, I'm making myself practically perfect in every way thanks to One Year to an Organized Life. I'm sure that once I get the hang of Zen organizing, this blog will be updated with regular precision. And I will never again lose my keys or have a hamper full of dirty clothes.

In the meantime, here's what everyone got for Christmas. I couldn't put it up earlier because that would have ruined the surprises. But now, the bearer of Santa's sack would like to brag. Just a little.

Several people got soap or soapy stuff from Fridays at the Farm, a wonderful little Oregon operation. The soaps smell awesome (I particularly like Goat's Milk Goodnight) and the packaging, featuring vintage photos from the makers' families, can't be beat. You can even give them your own photo for a custom label!

The "big gift" of the season was a stovetop smoker. we've already gotten some pretty dang good smoked chicken out of it; I'm really looking forward to attempting salmon.

For wine-loving recipients, I couldn't resist a wine bottle cozy from Napa Style. How great is a drunken reindeer on your bottle of cabernet?


Etsy was not ignored, of course. I found a tie that actually inspired desire at the shop of toybreaker. Admittedly, some of their creations are a little daring for my taste (so I'm a prude, but how would you react to someone in a meat grinder tie?), but the silk ties with flowers are nothing but gorgeous. Subsequent wearings have proved such ties draw unprovoked compliments.

Announcing the triumphant return...

...of this blog. Coming in January. Because if I post things here now, it will ruin my family's Christmas.

(almost as exciting as parkour off a mobile home)

Time for tulips

It's almost spring! Ok, so it's only January and it takes 20 minutes to defrost my windshield every morning. But each day the light lasts a little longer, and in my book, that means the hibernation is almost over.

Which hopefully means that the twig craze is about to go away along with barren branches. You know what I mean: the bronze willow stick earrings, the twig-with-bird-charm necklaces, the budding this, that and everything else. Enough already.

From tulip prints to tulip tattoos actual tulip bulbs, nothing says spring like the flower of windmills and wood clogs.

The tulip print shown here is from Prinsen Photography & Designs on, of course, Etsy.