TGIF: video break for kylie!

It's friday. OMG. its friday. finally. Time for some frivolous, light, happy, dancey, and unapologetically pop-y videos to get the weekend started. Kylie released two new videos at once this week! I love all the bright 80's colors! (watch them quick before they get taken down!)

In My Arms

Kylie Minogue - In My Arms (Clip Officiel)
Uploaded by Sebdk

Wow

Kylie Minogue WOW
Uploaded by Kyliefan2008

the odd couple

Great new cover art for Gnarls Barkley's upcoming album. Anyone know who designed it?
UPDATE: Could it be Siggi Eggerston?

Folk Rock and Roll tee

Love this tee- Love the colors and how it evokes a bit of folk art, but its also really modern at the same time. Designed by Wyeth Hansen and available at Threadless

mundane aesthet: snow in So Cal!

So this weekend I went to Palm Springs for a quick getaway. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great. It's been raining and cold. Not exactly desert weather. Oh well. One of the great things about Palm Springs is that in as little as 10 minutes, you can go from sunny sand to snow! So, I figured, if it's going to be cold, might as well be REALLY cold. I took the Palm Springs Aerial Tram, and went to play in the snow. I haven't seen snow in awhile, so it was fun to play in this extreme change of scenery...SQUIRREL!...only for a little while though. Then we came back down and tried to make the most of the sun that was up for a few hours... If you've never gone, the next time you're in Palm Springs, definitely ride the tram!

T-Pod by Elisabeth Soos

Saw this on Designspotter, what an awesome concept by designer Elisabeth Soos! The T-pod is such a cute and fun idea! Hopefully someone will put it into production... (images from Elsiabeth Soos site)

din-ink

Saw this on designboom- this was one of the winning entries in a design competition in Milan. Cutlery Pen caps! The theme was "dining in 2015"- seriously- Although I try to make a point of getting outside the office at lunch, I have been guilty of eating while working, and I suspect I probably would totally get this if it was ever made...

Lisa Solomon collections

Poppytalk has a great post about some of Lisa Solomon's collections she has in her home. They are so lovely... check out her post here. Lisa's site here.

Spray paint bandits: chair results

So here it is, the final results of my chair redo. I did two of them, but here is a shot of one. Overall I'm pretty pleased. I'm still on the fence about reupholstering the seat with a different fabric, but I can always change that later. I'm currently considering adding a rug underneath my table, but this is how it will be for now... Anyway- it's been a crazy few days around these parts (rain, chaos, craziness) so I'm jetting off for a quick weekend getaway. If I'm lucky, maybe even play in some snow! I'll probably post some over the weekend, so stay tuned and hope you're having a great friday!

Wavy Vase

Aren't these Wavy vases pretty? So elegant and love the black and white asian-esque wave design on them... They come in a few different sizes, available at Hip and Zen.

yellow and black: good shape design

It's been cold and rainy here in So Cal, so this "Line in Circles" mug by Good Shape Design seems somewhat fitting. A little crisp black and white, but also a nice sunny hit of yellow to take your mind away from all the gray (although I love gray, hehe). Good Shape Design also has another design in a similar colorstory (below). Check out more of his work here.
(image from GoodShapeDesign)

bad haircut

(sigh)... my lovely tree outside, who has given me many days of visual delight, received a bad haircut. My annoying (and evil?) homeowner's association sent me a notice that it had become "overgrown"... what. ever. But I guess, in reality, it really could have used a bit of pruning. So...it got a haircut. (Not a very good one) I'm sorry Mr. Tree. It will grow back... (... right?)

blue tuesday: rimini vase and bowl at Crate&Barrel

Crate and Barrel.
So.
Stunning.
Gorgeous.
Love.
Made by Italy's Bitossi.
Want.
Both.Now.

mundane aesthetic: black sand beach

Spray paint bandits strike again!

Yes indeed, the spray paint bandits have struck again. Ever since I did those branches, I've got weird white paint ideas on the brain (as evidenced by this, and this...) The latest attack has been something I've been itching to do for awhile. I posted it for my January Jumpstart that AT is having this month. Basically, ever since I saw this chair at Anthropologie, I've been wanting to mimic the same paint treatment to a chair (cuz sadly, $298 a chair is just... not happening). I just love the way the bottom few inches are exposed wood. For awhile I was looking everywhere for a simple bentwood chair. I mean, you see them everywhere, but when you want one- no where to be found. Ikea has one, but the way they constructed the back legs just isn't condusive to this treatment. Plus I was having second thoughts that the style itself was bit too... county? which isn't really my deal. So... in a fit of frustration, I just ended up buying these Ikea ROGER chairs, (although maybe i should have gotten the NORDMYRA... but oh well, too late) which are a bit more substantial and fit more with my place (or so I keep telling myself.) Anyways- this past weekend, the bandits attacked...Click here to read about what happened...

wacky japanese commercials

I don't know where this came from but it was just emailed to me and i can't stop watching it.


and then from there I clicked on to this one!

Ikea Madness

There's a really amusing and also quite educational section on Ikea's website right now, called "Ikea Madness"- I've always appreciated how Ikea recognizes the individual designer's name on their products, sometimes even having big posters of them in the store. The section of the website gives some the background and story of a few of their more popular pieces, complete with funny accompanying animations. Check it out here!

zojirushi rice cooker

Being asian, rice pretty much is a staple for my diet, so I'm no stranger to a rice cooker. Rice cookers, for the most part, are pretty ugly. Granted, the Japanese have come up with some super cute mini space-y ones, but usually, they decorate them with some kooky floral design and they're always white. About the time I started Happy Mundane (wow, back in March 06!) I went to the Chicago Home and Housewares show. As I was strolling through all the miles of gadgets and appliances, I spotted this little guy. It's from Zojirushi, and it's the Zojirushi NS-XBC05YR Rizo Micom 3-cup Rice cooker and Warmer. At the time, it hadn't come out in the US yet. I kept in contact with the PR rep for awhile and it kept being pushed back for release. Well, I just saw on Cookie mag's website that it's available now! It's yellow and kinda cute no? It has all these preprogrammed settings, like risotto and steam cooking. It also comes in a stainless version, but the yellow one is my favorite. Sunny and warm, just like a good bowl of rice... (ok, minus the sunny part) Available here.

edible googly eyes

I don't know why i need to know this, yet... I'm captivated and want to make some!!... edible googly eyes! (via evilmadscientist, via curbly)

Blue Munday: Stuart Haygarth

Stuart Haygarth has been getting a lot of attention lately in magazines and blogs. He uses discarded items and recycles them into beautiful works of art. A recent cover of Clear magazine featured a detail shot of his 2004 Tide Mark piece on the slip cover. It's a gorgeous rainbow colored display of random items. See the whole thing here. I also love this chandelier made of bottle ends.
And how amazing is this pendant light made up of disposable wine glasses?!

TGIF! Audrey Break- No bananas...

Ugh. It's been a long two days at work which have left me completely exhausted. So, it's finally friday and time for an Audrey Break!


and here's another version equally as charming, hehe