Green & Red & Chaos = Holiday Crunch Time!

Though these photos were taken at a fun little shop in the Barri Gotic area of Barcelona (I just never posted them) I thought they would be perfect to put up now to share. There are a few reasons for this. One, the color scheme is perfect for the Christmas holiday season. Two, the chaos at which perfect pieces of furniture are mounted to the walls at zany angles (no levels used here!) reminds me of the last-minute shoppers rushing in and out of stores on Fifth Avenue; zigging, zagging, taking photos in the middles of the sidewalks of decorated windows and lit-up large Christmas trees, and above all feeling frenetic*. Three, this is a gift shop and its that time of year to give.


*This is a result of going to Toys ‘R Us three days in a row – two visits included the insanity that is the Times Square location. If you have ever been during non-holiday season and seen the hundreds of people in and out around the Barbie house, the ferriswheel, the large-scale Lego display, and every other department, now I want you to multiple the insanity by 3000 and that’s how it feels the days leading up to Christmas in the mammoth toy store. Whew. I am tuckered out just thinking about it.

The Cab that Makes You Sing.

I had a moment this morning that I have at least once a week. It was that moment when I say to myself "Only in New York..." Walking from the subway to my office along the crowded midtown sidewalk, up ahead I saw a girl with a microphone standing in front of a small red carpet and a funny-looking car. I heard her yell out "Get a free cab ride!" – too bad I was 5 minutes from my office otherwise I might have taken her up on her offer. Only as I got closer to the girl and the cab did I realize what the catch was: you had to SING for your ride! It was a karaoke cab giving free rides to those who would sing a sing IN the cab. I of course googled this when I got to my desk and found out it is a promotion for Memorex. They have a gadget that you can attach to your iPod that lets you sing karaoke to it.

So if your voice is in tune and you need a ride, get to one of the six NYC locations. I can't promise your performance won't end up online (because it will here), but you could save $20 in cab fare!

What the Weather Brought in the Last 24 Hours.

The snow came down on Manhattan streets yesterday in what can only be described as flying puffy cotton balls. It was a beautiful sight from a window in midtown as my coworker and I stood in the window of an empty office watching the white swirl down past us.

With umbrellas in hand and boots on foot, six girls came together last night to share a holiday tradition, wine and cheese, friendship, and sugary homemade cookies.

Fog and haze filled the spaces between skyscrapers this morning as well as the verticals of the Brooklyn Bridge. The FDR Drive was spotted with the bright yellow of small rectangles (NYC taxis) zooming by the gray low clouds.

Perfect ice crystals formed on holly berries in front of a Christmas-ready brownstone in Brooklyn on a walk back from the gym. The tiny red balls seemed elegantly strung on their thin, brown branches.

A chill in the December air inspired the daydream of a couple who wanted more than anything to cuddle up with each other all cold day long to watch movies and ignore the world outside. Alas, we are both at work today.

5 Reasons to Start Holiday Shopping.

Once I buy gifts it means I get to surround them in beautiful and well-designed giftwrap from the Container Store. I know, who would think that a store that sells caddies, boxes, and shelves would have such perfect giftwrap? Every year (since CS came to NYC) I like to take a stroll down their aisles and admire the perfect patterns and coordinating color combinations. This year is no different! The previous are a sampling of their wrapping paper for this year (and motivation to start shopping).

Pantone Gets Funny.

Anything Pantone makes me happy. Creatives with good senses of humor make me happy. Put those two together and you have the wonderfully talented and funny designers at Sandstrom Partners and their “custom-named” monthly color palettes. Just a small sampling but I recommend going to their site and not only seeing the rest of their calendar but the remainder of their gorgeous designs.

If Helvetica could speak.

*I wish I could credit the site I found this on but I have been on a ridiculous number of design blogs today doing package research and do not remember where I found this gem above (I of course had to type style it IN Helvetica).

Farms on the Rooftops!

Imagine if we could create farms on all of the rooftops in New York City? Imagine if more restaurants were able to use more locally grown produce, meat, herbs, and other foods? Imagine if someone had already began looking into this? Well, Jim Denevan already has. Check out his video (via the Absolut website from "In An Absolut World") and learn all about it.

The First Snow.

Saturday was a wonderful NYC night spent in fun dressy clothes, with close friends, delicious cocktails and a celebration of a happy wedding engagement. Once the party was over we found ourselves outside and to the sight of the first snow of the season! 19th Street had never looked so pretty...

I Have Been Tagged!

I have been tagged by a wonderfully talented best friend over at CM Illustration. The rules of the game are to write 6 quirky yet mundane things about yourself, so in the spirit of the holidays and tagging here I go! In case you were wondering, all photos were taken by me in the past couple of years (with the exception of the CD cover).

1. I have been playing soccer since the age of 5 and still continue to play to this day. I am a pretty relaxed (though sometimes hyper) person and consider myself a lover and not a fighter, but when I get out on the soccer field, it can be a different story.

2. The only pets I have ever had are goldfish (well, ALMOST only pet as I did have one crazy cat my junior year of college). This may not sound weird but the manner in which I get them is a little quirky; I am insistent on buying them in twos, calling one a boy and one a girl, and naming them in "duos" (ie. Hansel & Gretel).

3. When I have a stack of books, they MUST be organized in height order from tallest to shortest. Ask any of my roommates – I don’t have OCD!

4. Back in college when I first started eating sushi, I thought the green blob and the peeled white or pink slices served alongside my salmon rolls were things other than wasabi and ginger. Being a sushi neophyte, I thought it was guacamole and onions. Don’t ask me why I thought a Mexican sidedish was being served with a Japanese staple.

5. The Counting Crows have been my favorite band since the age of 14 when the cute, older, sophomore football player who sat next to me in biology introduced them to me (via his discman, no doubt). I know, I know, they are a little dated but I still am happily brought back to freshman year when I hear “Mr. Jones”.

6. Two jobs I always wanted but never had when I was a teenager were 1) a gift wrapper at the mall during holiday season (I know, I should have my head examined, but I LOVE decorating presents!) and 2) a lifeguard at the beach during the summer (who wouldn’t want to be paid to get tan?).

Here are the rules:

* Mention the rules on your blog.
* Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
* Tag six other
* Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they are tagged.


I have tagged a few of my favorite daily blog reads:

Design Crush
Richie Designs
Nerdy Fashionista
Design is Mine