Its Monday. Yah. Monday. This month's GQ features an interesting side note about the Colgate 360 toothbrush. I actually have been using it for the past few months, and quite enjoy it. Its really hi-tech spacey cool- and I love the gel handle bits. And the blue colorway is purrty... Did you know that it took 4 years to design this toothbrush? Another interesting mundane tidbit: Most people change their grip several times during a typical brushing session. 
This month's Martha Stewart Living is the "decorating issue" and features her amazing kitchen. Just as I was starting to ween myself of my gray obsession, Martha comes and pulls me back in. I love the images of her gray toned kitchen. 
It feels so fresh and warm with all the textures they put in. The stainless steel, the interesting patterns on the cabinet drawers, the organic glazes of the pottery, the veins in the marble sink... and I love the pops of white. She calls the paint she used on all the wood "Bedford Grey" and apparently this color goes throughout her farm. 
I also love how the fruit (although just props) totally comes out as an accent. A kitchen is all about food, and with this palette, any food visible really becomes the star. Actually, in retrospect, Martha was the first person that started my gray kick. Back during her Martha Stewart Apprentice show, I became fixated on the dark gray paint that was in her "conference room" set.
Currently, I have a few pops of gray in my house, but I think I may need to figure out a few more ways to incorporate it more... hm...
Happy Friday! I recently picked up this incredible book that documents the expansive work of design GOD, Max Huber. The book, published by Phaidon Press, chronicles his variety of designs that were avant garde then, and still hold up today. I love his use of bold shapes and overlapping colors. In art school, he was a frequent source of inspiration and has been highly influential in the design world.
This book features some 450 illustrations, many of which have never been published before. Even if you're not graphically inclined, this would make an amazing coffee table book. I've attempted a second try at my "flip through" video, via Youtube. It's still really blurry (because of the compression), but at least it's less shaky.
Well I've finally returned from NY, back into good ol' Irvine, CA. And let me tell ya, my mundane suburban home never looked so good... Now, don't get me wrong. I had a great time in the Big Apple, as I always do. Like the t-shirt says, "I (heart) NY", but yesterday's random chain of events was a great reminder to really appreciate your everyday.
On the way to the airport, my colleague and I decided to take the "Airtrain", which we actually took on our last trip, and it was great- $7 ($2 subway fare from Midtown, $5 to actually jump onto the Airtrain monorail thing) as opposed to say a $65+ dollar cab. We found it took about an hour, with all the stops- but that was no big deal. Although, next time, I may seriously reconsider, hehe...We finally arrived at the Howard Beach Station, waiting to board the Airtrain, when a crazy guy started screaming weird things. Stuff like he had a "plastic in his bag".. he knew how to fly a plane...etc... I think most people thought he was just... crazy, but harmless. We thought they would have had security out in seconds to stop him, but instead, it took awhile for the cops to arrive, and everyone was just sorta quiet and staring at the guy. Finally cops came, but then they told everyone to evacuate the area. We all were a little confused, but left the building. About 20 minutes later, they still didn't let us back in, apparently they were trying to make sure the area was secure. No trains were coming in, and we heard that all the stations were stopped. On the one hand, it was great that they were taking no chances, for safety and all. On the other hand, it became clear I was going to miss my flight. We were in the very residential Howards Beach area, with no taxis nearby. Luckily there was one cab service in the area and several of us stranded folks called in. We were able to snag a cab and jet back over to the airport, barely in time to make the second and last Jet Blue flight back to Long Beach.
I will be back home on thursday so stay tuned! Oh- one last geeky note. Ina Garten, aka The Barefoot Contessa was there promoting some of her products. She's releasing this brownie mix that I had a sample of- and three words: to. die. for. It has just a kick of espresso in it and I'm snatching up a few boxes of it as soon as I can find some! But, I did get her autograph- because I love Food Network... and I'm a geek. (this was taken with my camera phone because I was too shy -and lame- to ask for a picture with her.)
Oh! and speaking of Food Network, thanks to HM reader Riley for recommending the Chelsea Market, which also happens to be the home of Food Network. 
I had a chocolate croissant this morning there. That place is HUGE!
So this post should really be for my Blue Monday, but it's Tuesday...anyway, super thanks for all the suggestions everyone gave me for good eats in NYC. Yesterday, I ended up getting a little snack at F&B Good Food, on 23rd street between 7th and 8th. The food was fun and they had a huge selection of interesting items. I guess they are known for their gourmet "haute" dogs, but I opted for their "viking roll." 
This consisted of battered fish with tomato and horseradhish sauce. I also got some fried green beans with garlic herb butter (yum!) However, of course, being the happy mundane guy that I am, what really got me was the little wood skewer/forks that came with the beans! 
They were so simple and cute, and actually look like a fun DIY project if you have some popsicle sticks. So, if you're in Manhattan, check out F&B if you need a quick bite.
"I invented Post-its"... Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion
I love the flyer's accompanying visual, just a wall of Post-its. It reminds me of that brilliant ad campaign that Banana Republic had a few years back, where they used hot pink Post-It notes to coincide with a "work" theme, and also used them for their window displays.
Someone actually did a wall in their house using the same concept, that was seen via the last Smallest Coolest contest on Apartment Therapy. There's even people doing Post-it mosaics!
Every office I've worked at, I've also created some sort of Post-it collage of phone numbers, notes, etc.. that would continually grow. Kinda like a mini gallery... Do any of you do this too?
I got an e-mail recently asking me about the "circle things" in one of my flickr pictures, so I share with you its story. My stairwell in my house leads up to an open area. There is a half wall that surrounds it on the top, leaving quite a bit of space before you actually hit the ceiling. This leaves it very light and airy. However, this also leaves it sort of bare and boring. I wanted to put something "architectural," like some sort of screen or perhaps a slat wall to fill the space. (I still might do the slat wall... but not right now.) Anyways, I always loved seeing those geometric built-in partitions in old 1960's houses. Then one day, I was on Third St. in Los Angeles, and went into this store called Puppies and Babies. A super cute shop that has things for... puppies and babies... Anyways, their front window display had this cool circle screen thing made of metal. 
Now of course I couldn't afford to have a metal screen made, but I had ideas on how I could fake it. Fast forward to me on the floor, with scattared wooden dowels, messy hot glue, and embroidery hoops. The orginal plan was to do the entire space, but I stopped after four rows. I simply repeated the pattern of dowel spacer, hoop, dowel spacer, etc... Then I painted the whole thing the same white as the wall and ceiling color. And to attatch it? more hot glue!
Obviously this is not structurally sound, but then, it wasn't meant to be. As long as you don't touch it- it's fabulous! (and don't get too close to inspect it either, else you see all my sloppy craftsmanship.) Anyways, it's amazing what a little hot glue can do.
Fashion designer Mary Jo Matsumoto was so kind to tag me on her "things you may not know" questionaire, and she featured my answers today on her fun site Trust your Style. So if you happen to be curious, check it out (and NO, that image on the stamp of the woman in the pink wrap is NOT me!! hehe) But definitely check out her blog to see her other stylish finds- (thanks again Mary Jo!)
This month's Dwell magazine chock full of good things. There are some really great articles about sustainable homes, and also some great "mundane" visual treats-
Then, there's this super cool air-conditioning cover by Leslie Fry. She was inspired by the plastic inserts that are used for cookie packaging. Isn't that fantastic?
And finally this "fossil moderni" by meritalia.... I love the hollowed out shapes of these everyday object... overall, great issue- check it out!
Also, last night I was able to see Little Miss Sunshine. Incredible movie, and I highly recommend it. I laughed, I cried, and I had Rick James stuck in my head (you'll have to see it to understand)
On my last trip to Palm Springs, I took some photos of a few of the new housing developments that are happening out there. There are quite a few exciting new modern homes being made that pay hommage to the classic mid-century ones that Palm Springs is famous for. This one is from modernlivingspaces. Personally, I'd love to live in one of these. You get the mid century mod styling, but completely updated and new (and therefore no need for additional thousands of dollars in renovation that a typical MCM house would require...) The only thing I'm weirded about is many utilize septic tanks. Being raised in the suburbs, this concept is completely foreign to me. But I guess I could get over it. I'm excited that there are some brave developers that are offering modern-styled houses, as opposed to the tuscan/miditerranean/terra cotta tiled madness that is so prevailant in suburbia right now. Someone just needs to make some closer to home. Anyways. Cool houses...(sigh) I want one. Dare to dream on this first monday of August!
I became a huge fan of J. Otto Seibold when I came across his first book about Mr. Lunch. Since then, I've been faithfully following his work and books. However, once again, nobody told me that he has a new one out! The Fuchsia is Now, is Seibold's latest story. 
I know these books are intended for kids, but his style is just so darn cool, they can totally be appreciated by us "grown ups" as well. He's also recently done a project work with Target. He did all the illustrations for Target's Ready Sit Read program, as well as the flash animation for the site. When I was in the store recently (shocking, I know, me, in a Target... hehe) I stopped by the food stand and got a drink, and was happily suprised that it came in a cute Seibold illustrated cup! 
Seibold, also known as "jotto" also has an incredible site that showcases his Jottoworld, however, as of today I noticed his site (jotto.com) is strangely down or not working. But keep checking back, I'm sure it will come back up soon, because it's well worth it! Also looking forward to his next book- Quincy, the hobby photographer-...
Whoever is doing the copywriting at IKEA needs to get an award, because they are brilliant. Was checking out IKEA's website this morning, and if you scroll down a little, I noticed the little box on the bottom that says "Celebrate Your Everyday Life... 
Dimitra sent me a nice e-mail introducing me to her cool shop in Toronto, called UptoYou. She has a fantastic selection of items by designers from around the world. One item that immediately caught my eye was this "soda cup." This Soda Cup takes the bottom half of your standard bottle and by simply casting it in porcelain, forces you to recognize its beautiful form. It was designed by Maxim Velcovsky, for Qubus. By the way, UptoYou ships worldwide, so you can get a set right now! (thanks Dimitra!)
So I've already talked about my circle thing, but now I'm noticing a new shape popping up everywhere- the hexagon- especially for the wall- Target offered a 3 set of nesting tables/wall hexagons in their current Bronze Age collection, as well as West Elm's version.
Walter wall applications has this "hex" style, which are paintable and conveniently backed with 3M adhesive. 
Plushpod offers these "hive" wall shelves, which are made by Boom design- 
Boom design also makes these neat Twist cubes and "hive" cubes, for stackable storage.
Bees use the hexagon as their shape of choice for their honeycombs, so I guess it's only natural that designers be inspired by it as well. I think it's refreshing to see it getting all this buzz (sorry, bad pun.) Are any of you noticing hexagons too? Or is there another shape that's craving for attention?
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