icosa salt & pepper shaker from Tai Design

I recently got a set of these. Facets and function! They remind me of oversized D&D dice. They are so awesome. "...inspired from icosahedron." by TaiDesign. Porcelain. $32. Available here.

Ready for a walk?

That's the look I get when I say "Ready for your walk?"

It's been a whirlwind week for me- how about you? I've been quite bizzzy ever since the new year started, trying to complete an extensive project for work that's been a few months going now. Luckily, it's almost over, and after next week I should be back to semi-normal functioning. Things have been a bit overgrown and unattended to (like this blog) but one thing that has overgrown in a good way is my salad greens! look! They're huge! See here for the before at the beginning of the month. Time for salad! have a great weekend!

TGIF video break: Bars and Tones + Lemon and Lime

Bars & Tones from André Chocron on Vimeo.

Monoptik from Lutas on Vimeo.

talk amongst yourselves

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Sorry, being a bad blogger- still buried with this crazy project for work- talk amongst yourselves- i'll be right back...

Thomas Wold Come Together and Good Hotel

I am a big fan of Thomas Wold, and he recently sent me an email letting me know about his latest show called "Come Together." If you're in the SF area, definitely go check it out at the Curiosity Shoppe. Recently, Thomas created this AMAZING computer station in the lobby of the I-must-see-why-didn't-anyone-tell-me-about-this-sooner!?- Good Hotel. I love the detail of the old school turntable mounted inside the cabinet. So inspired. He also did fun "Piecemeal" coffee table, which was featured in Readymade Magazine. Read more on his blog.

Dansk: Flamestone and Fjord re-release

Well, looks like 2009 has started out being quite bizzzy for me. I've been swamped and it's already thursday! AND It's already half way through January! yikes! Well, in more exciting news, I spotted this in the recent Modernism magazine: Dinnerware legend, Dansk, has re-released two classic designs, their Flamestone stoneware, and the awesome Fjord flatware. I'm in love with the matte dark brown (especially the beverage pot!), and these designs have been updated to be dishwasher and microwave safe as well. The Fjord flatware is stainless steel and has teak handles. Check out the Dansk site for more info and to purchase.

Twist together shelves

Fun shelving concept from Twist Together Company, available at Supermarket.

TGIS video break: again and again

Hope you're having a great Saturday!

Minilogue- Animals

Minilogue - Animals from ljudbilden on Vimeo.

Aero Garden 3

Yikes! It's already January 7! Apologies for the lack of posting. Coming back to the work load that has been piling up over the break has left me buried. Anyway- One of the most interesting gifts I received this Christmas was the Aero Garden 3. I remember seeing the original size Aero Garden at the Chicago Home&Garden show a few years back, but this #3 version is a lot more compact and smaller. For those of you unaware, essentially the AeroGarden is an indoor "smart garden"- it's this space age-y garden machine. Basically you put these "bio domed seed pod things that house the seeds, stick them into the machine. In the bottom, you put water and there's a air bubble pump that "oxygenates" it- you also add a nutrient capsule in the water. There's a grow light on top that stays on for 17 hours a day. And that's basically it. Here's a more detailed explanation. Anyway- I planted the "salad greens" pods, and within a day, it started to sprout. Over the next few days, it continued to grow. Now it's almost two weeks, and here's where they're at:It's quite fascinating to watch them grow so quickly. Not exactly a bountiful crop yet, but we'll see what happens in another week or so. I've seen these also at Target, and they have a bunch of different types of plant seed kits to gro. More info here.

2008- where I was- 2009- where are you?

Happy New Year! How has your 2009 been treatin' ya so far? Well, having kept up this blog now for over 2 years, it's fun to see where I was at in January last year. Did you keep up any resolutions you had made? For me, 2008 was supposed to be about "upgrading". Here's a list of the things I had set out to do, and the results:

• upgrade the bathrooms- this was accomplished back over the summer in August. Seriously, it's amazing how one just one thing can suddenly shift everything. By finally replacing the vinyl flooring with real tile- my whole perspective on my master bathroom changed and I went from light blue and pop-y fun, to drastically darker but (hopefully) more mature and... swanky...

• continue the parentals redo (guestroom or master bedroom)- Luckily my parents went on another couple weeks long vacation back in April, which led me to be able to do another room for them. It's so much easier to do these when they're gone (probably because they'll have no say on my choices, hehe). Because I also had a ton of work going on, I opted for the smaller downstairs guest bedroom. It's weird space, and I extremely limited in my options. However, again, changing up the paint color was the catalyst for everything.

• travel more- Work pretty much dictated this one, and in the beginning of the year, I found myself in the Seattle area several times for a client. But it wasn't all work, there definitely was some fun in between. Palm Springs, NYC (work + play), Hawaii, and Vegas found a spot into my 2008 as well.

• get the garage "situation" handled- ok. technically, this didn't fully happen in 2008. But it did happen during this last holiday vacation. So for me, my 2009 isn't really going to start until Monday ok? hehe- But I did actually hunker down and get most of the horror in my garage organized. I still have a long way to go to my ultimate clean dream garage. But for now, I can finally see the floor and I can walk from my car to the door in a straight line without having it be an obstacle course. Also new shelving and a ton-o bins helped to tone down much of the visual chaos.

So overall- and for the first time- I actually kept up ALL my resolutions! Color me surprised and somewhat proud! woo hoo! Here are a few other highlights for me from 2008:

•Spray Paint bandits strike again.
•The Apartment Therapy book.
•Grey pumpkins.
•my modern wreath adventure- (BTW, I created a flickr set to document this year's holidays if you're curious.)

•and of course, probably one of the best (and worst? haha j/k) things that happened to me this year, my new buddy, Pepé. And yes, I just had to create a profile for Pepé on Dogbook. I am now officially one of "those people." (be his friend! add him!)

Speaking of Facebook, I just created a fan page. Be a fan! and if you haven't already, join the HM Facebook blog network page here.

I'm still trying to figure out what my goals/resolutions are for this year. Last year they came pretty easy to me. This year, not so much. So give me a few days and I'll get back to you on that. In the meantime, I'd love to know how your year went, and what you're hoping for in 2009! Also, I haven't done this in awhile, but I'd love to know where you're reading Happy Mundane from- I'm in Irvine, CA- where are you?

Thank you again for supporting and checking out this little mundane blog.

c-ya 2008

This fun video by eja217 of PopWaffle was just emailed to me- i found it quite amusing... (and at the same time I suddenly felt really really old.)

up or take it down?

One holiday tradition for me is that I have to have a major home clean up in anticipation of friends coming over. Forget the annual "spring cleaning"- I have Holiday cleaning! Nothing motivates you more to clean up than having a bunch of guests right? Anyway- attached is a picture of a variation on my centerpiece. I had to downsize it because we were having a ton of food on the table for a recent get-together.
Now that Christmas is officially over, and I have this last week of 2008 free- I'm wondering if I should put away all my holiday decor now- like tonight- or wait until after the new years? What do you guys normally do?

blue Munday: reality check

The original is great, but to be honest, this is probably more my reality.

Umbra Loft Collection at Target

I went to Target yesterday and spotted this display being put up (sorry for the blurriness! I snapped it mid walking) Looks like Target's latest collaboration is with Umbra. A new "Umbra Loft" collection is in stores now. I didn't have a chance to really investigate and it looks like they were still putting in pieces. You can check out some of the items here. I'm going to be stopping by another Target later today so I'll see if that one has a more complete offering. So far, I'm digging the "Sonata Salad Bowl with Servers"- love how the servers fit on the side the asymmetrical shape, and also this "nest salad bowl with Servers"- also liking the napkin holder, these candle holders, these quirky vases, and also the concept of this photo tray- it's a little cartoon-y but it could be a fun accent piece in the right setting. I'm strangely envisioning a modern take on an Alice in Wonderland/Mad tea party theme... anyways- Oh- and this Piatto platter is kind of fun too- Is this collection up at your Target? Did anything catch your eye?

Happy mundane holidays 2008

Pepé and I would like to wish all of you a safe, warm, and happy holiday! I'll be posting sporadically through the next week so keep checking back! Have a good one!

branching out on the table for the holidays 08

As I mentioned, the last thing I needed to do for my holiday decor this year was figure out some sort of centerpiece for my table. I knew I wanted to do something with branches, and I also wanted to incorporate some gold and shiny bits. So... this is what I came up with:
I reused more of the yarn (i still have tons left) from my ornaments from last year, and tried to pay homage to those crafty folks that do the whole "knitta please" thing and cover items with crochet. Unfortunately I can't crochet, so I just wrapped the yarn around some white branches. I also did a little mini variation of my white branch thing, and just sprayed certain masked off sections in gold.

The bottom stuff is an assortment of these plastic gold jewel thingys I found at the floral supply place. A pack of four was $8. the other silver ornaments was on clearance at Zgallerie. The votive holder is from Pier 1 from last year. The grey vase was an old vase I got from Anthropologie a few years back. I also stacked some spikey gold ornaments in a glass hurricane. It's my cheapie version of those fabulous gold spikey starbursts that Kelly Wearstler has from her accessories collection. I thought these matched the starbursts in my tree. I got these on sale at Macys.
"...Silver and Gold (and gray and white) decorations..."

in the can

I've seen the Daily Aesthetics range by Seletti before, but now they've come with a Platinum glaze which makes them look like metal! Spotted in the Jan 09 Elle Decoration, I'm not sure where you can get them domestically, but you can get the white porcelain versions here-

Blue Munday: rustic coastal modern

It's a cold and rainy day here in So Cal today. It's also just a few days before the holidays. I think this cover image from the Jan/Feb 09 issue of Inside Out, sums up my mood today- simple, a little grey, a little weathered, but with an anticipation of fun things to come... (love the feather on the tag detail!) photo by Sam McAdam, styling by Vanessa Colyer Tay

last minute madness

It's the last weekend before Christmas. I haven't had a chance to do ANY shopping. I'm in trouble. How are all you guys? All done? In the same boat as me? Somewhere in between? Oy. Gameplan needed. now. (image via)