i gots strawberries!

The other weekend, I stopped by the flower nursery to pick up a few succulents to spruce up the patio. They were giving away small strawberry plants as gift with purchase. I planted one in a pot and it's growing! I have three little strawberries- which is quite a miracle seeing as anything besides succulents seem to die a cruel, quick and mysterious death around these parts. They're not very big and a little mangled/ gnarly looking, but cute and special nonetheless. When are you supposed to pick them? Do you think they'll grow any bigger? or when they turn red, is that as big as they'll go?

home typography

Type + Towels= awesomeness. Spotted this towel at Target the other night and had to have it.

Color wise, the towel is more true in the second image- with the dark brown and blue-ish grey- so lovely. (the lighting in my bathroom blew out the color in the camera) Anyway, available in a set here. (but you can get them individually in store- I just got the hand towel)

TGIF video break: Tightrope

WOO HOO it's friday! time to get funky and on yo feet!

Janelle Monae - New Music - More Music Videos

streak dye bowl

Really loving the look of these streak dye bowls. I think they'd be perfect for summer lounging... I wonder if you went to one of those Color Me Mine type places, if you could recreate this look using different colors?... anyone ever tried anything like this?

gastrotypographicalassemblage

This amazing piece of graphic design history, by graphic gurus Lou Dorfsman, Herb Lubalin and Tom Carnase, is in jeopardy. Over the weekend, read a great article about it in a recent issue of Monster Children (Issue #24) magazine. The Center for Design Study has been trying to raise funds to save it. You'd think something as iconic as this would be preserved by now, but it keeps running into stumbling blocks and no major institution has stepped up to give it a proper home. Find out more info and/or donate to save it here. Also check out these articles here and here about what's happening to it and it's history.

TGIF video break: You've changed

Sia - You've Changed from piximory on Vimeo.

History of the Sugar Shaker

Awesome profile piece about the men behind the iconic sugar shaker- cool to know it originated in So Cal! check it out via LA Times (photo by LA Times)

mundane aesthetic: yarn art honolulu airport

One of the things I love about the Honolulu Airport are these two yarn/textile art installations. This time I managed to remember to snap some pics.

They're located in the Central Concourse on the opposite side of the little outdoor japanese garden.

I couldn't find any information about the artist. (anyone happen to know?) They look like they've probably there since the late 60's-70's. The lighting is horrible, but I'm glad they're still there and still so beautiful.

One random thing, for all you LOST fans... POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT: on the way to the airport, after dropping off the rental car, guess who was in the shuttle with me??

It's hard to tell from the blurry picture, (I was trying to be really stealth and incognito), but it was none other than actor Jeremy Davies! aka Daniel Faraday!! He's wearing a hat and sunglasses in the photo, but it was definitely him. He was apparently travelling alone and was pretty quiet and kept to himself. I'm sure he was in Oahu for Lost filming. That must mean they're bringing him back!!

adaptable dining table by muuto

Great concept for the "architects adaptable table" by mutto, spotted in the April 2010 Dwell. you can choose 3 different table tops, and 4 different frames, and 3 types of legs.

I'm thinking this could be great inspiration for an easy DIY update (with some paint and masking tape) to a plain wood table. It's basically a similar blocking technique, like I did with my chairs... hm... getting some ideas!... Check out more of mutto's work at their site- i'm sure you'll recognize many of their pieces- so cool!

painted bottle accents

I noticed this simple idea in two magazines this month- Paint a grouping of clear bottles for an easy spring table top accent. Any shape can work, and I'm imagining endless possibilities for color combos- The images above are from the March 2010 Real Living Australia (photo by Chris warnes, styling by marie nichols), and below, the April 2010 Elle Decoration British- (photo by penny wincer, stying by sania pell). I love the idea of a pop color, but also a grouping of subtle muted tones could look really lovely too-

In the Real Living example, they painted the inside of the bottles, and in the Elle Decoration, looks like they painted the outside- Have any of you done this in your home? any tips?

TGIF video break #2: Rocket

Rocket

GOLDFRAPP | MySpace Music Videos

TGIF video break : stylo

Gorillaz - Stylo from mario ucci on Vimeo.

Liberty of London for Target

I finally had a chance to check out the Liberty of London collection at Target over the weekend. I have to say- I think it looks fantastic. I love how they applied the prints to all sorts of product categories, and it all looks really good! Out of all the collaborations that Target has done recently, in my opinion, this one is one of the stronger ones. It's not something that I would necessarily have in my own house, (since I'm not really a floral print guy), but I totally can appreciate it. They've made it very easy to add just a little (or a lot) of spring whimsy into your home and/or wardrobe. I especially loved the stationery.

And this watering can is pretty darn cute.

The clothing looked pretty good too- and this might be a bit TMI, but I couldn't resist getting a few pairs of the men's boxers.

What did you guys think of the collection? Did you get anything?

Totem Votive Set by Eric Janssen

minimal, modular, modern... and made out of beech wood. must have. $26 for a set (two sets shown above) available at moma store

Brenda Cablayan

Everytime I get a chance to go to Hawaii, I make it a point to spend some time in Kailua, on Oahu. It's home to one of the most beautiful beaches (Lanikai Beach), and it's also home to artist Brenda Cablayan. I keep noticing Brenda's work in several Hawaiian local galleries and am always drawn to her pieces.

I love the everyday "mundane" subjects (obviously, hehe)- but also her use of color and composition. Everything feels warm and inviting, yet completely contemporary and fresh. See more of her work here, here and here. Pieces shown: "Walking in Shadow", "Life in Suburbs", "Makawao Suburbia", and "On the Road Again".

laggin'

Ugh. Mild jet lag + still getting used to Daylight Savings + battling realization and denial that it's munday and I have a big presentation I'm not ready for tomorrow= rough morning. In the meantime, here's a pic of a morning view that I would rather be looking at (as opposed to the mountain of work before me) to ease your eyes until I can post something more substantial...

island hop

Aloha my HM friends- Sometimes "the Island" just calls and you have to heed it- like Jack from Lost, "We have to go baaack!..." and so- I have found myself hopping over once again to Hawaii- Anyway- it's a really quick trip and I'll be back in a few days but I'll hopefully be posting periodically- You can also follow my tweets- In the meantime, sit back, have a fruity little refreshment- it's almost the weekend!

Tin Dragon

Although it hasn't exactly been ideal "picnic" weather here in So Cal lately, I've been having an interest alternatives to paper plates for outdoor entertaining. I like the idea of using nicer china, but I'd imagine that would get heavy and they're not exactly highly durable if you have are having a get together in a location outside your own home. There's always bamboo, plastic or melamine, but there's something kind of cool and unexpected about tin plates- Sadly, most of the tin plates I've seen are a little too "camper-y"- However, these ones by Mottahedeh, look incredibly chic and fabulous-

Spotted in the March '10 Martha Stewart Living (photo by Lucas Allen for MSL), I'm loving the dragon design- available here.

Actually- the fine china version (here) is pretty amazing too! (although a bit out of my price range!)

Available here.

TGIF video break : paint your face

great graphic visuals

stationery boxes by Sosuke Nakabo

The February 2010 issue of Monocle featured a little blurb on the work of Sosuke Nakabo. One of the pieces he designed recently is this witty collection inspired by stationery. They look like stacks of paper and post-its, but they are actually storage boxes!

Designboom has more pics of these when they were shown at last year's Tokyo Design week. Not sure if these were just conceptul or if they are actually going in production, but they are really fun nonetheless. More here. (images by and via Designboom)