my phone is off for you.

i have pretty strong feelings about cell phones at tables*. NOT ALLOWED**. i mean really people, is it that hard to either excuse yourself to take a call or just not answer it? the same goes for texts. i'm not too keen on sitting with someone while they are actively engaging someone else who is not physically in front of them. it drives me nuts and hurts my feelings (only a little). so when i came across this i fell in love, as in i want to order the five pieces of flair for everyone i know. plus how cute is that table setting? and the hot pink? ugh. perfect.

the hankies that block cell signal are kinda beyond wonderful too.

*i come by this honestly. an immediate family member of mine travels with a cell phone jammer. i know horrifying. though he only uses it when he deems it absolutely necessary.

**poor mas was subjected to my wrath last thursday at dinner ... he had a new phone, a new phone that didn't have a crack in the screen rendering the keyboard useless and causing him to not respond to two months worth of text messages. in his defense, he had started catching up with people before we went to dinner, but then we were sitting at our table and one message was sent, and then another ... that was the last.

{my phone is off for you started by Ingrid Zweifel a girl i am growing quite fond of by way of notcot}

read the printed word

crossing things off lists is kinda a favorite past time for me. sometimes i even put things on lists for the pure joy of crossing them off. but today, it is different. FINALLY i can cross *project with esb* off my list. because, yes a project that she approached me with over a year ago has finally been completed or um, at least started?

read the printed word is an effort to keep the printed word (i.e ink on paper) alive and well. in the age of iphones and kindles and interwebs sometimes we forget that half of the reading experience is tactile (or is this just me?). i mean your kindle WILL NEVER SMELL LIKE A LIBRARY BOOK and it will most likely die if you drop it in a bath tub. also you can't stick little notes in between the pages of magazines if you only have the pdf, nor can you rip out those pages of the things you like and tack them on your wall, your real wall, the one made out of plaster...

so if you like the whole ink on paper movement perhaps it might be fun if you joined our little community (ahem post a button!)? if there are enough of you we might even be able to convince esb that there needs to be a book club or something ... and that my friends, would be a lot of fun.

{image}

good things really do come from michigan

living in chicago, and mas being in school there, meant that we met an insane number of people from michigan. and that entire contingent was hell bent on convincing us that michigan (and everything that came from michigan) was the best thing in the world. i won't disagree entirely .. there are a lot of good things about michigan .. a lot, and this is one of them.


boxed water is better has maybe the best packaging design ever and a very enviornmentally responsible business plan (bottled water has always been a real pet peeve of mine). plus the people behind the brand seem to really care. once this stuff hits stores anywhere near me, i am stocking up. if only to decorate my shelves with.

{found over at swiss miss}

oz celebrates is 70th anniversary with some ruby slippers

shoes, glorious shoes. have you seen this campaign? a few designers were asked to reinterpret the ruby slipper for an auction to be held on the 20th of september benefitting the elizabeth glaser pediatric aids foundation. the following are my favorites, but you can see the rest and some pretty spiffy sketches here.

{my number one pick from tuleh, i am secretly hoping they will magically appear in my closet}

{l.a.m.b. by gwen stefani}

{um hello diane von furstenberg)

{botkier ... for a hard core dorothy}