Neopolitan Cupcakes!

OMG. Where has this been hiding all my life?! salivating. drooling...
step by step link is here. (via Craftzine)

Parisian Yellow Fever

So much hotness in the April 2008 British Elle Decoration. I am in love with this Parisian apartment. I don't think I could actually live like that, because I am just not fabulous enough to pull that off- but, if I could- I am so there. I love all the white, the mix of modern and old. I especially LOVE how they painted the fireplace grey- and then took that paint and graphically extended it up and over, across the ceiling, and then all the way to the other side. Genius. And then in the dining room, the neon plexi box over the chandelier?! That's just too much hotness right there. I also love how it looks like there's a spray painted gradation in the hallway, but I think it's just the photo and the lighting (but how cool would that be if it really was gradated like that?!) I have to go sit down now...

Plastic Bag Animals

Check out these plastic bag animals that are tied to subway grates. They totally would freak the bejeebus out of me, but I'm still totally fascinated with them at the same time. More info from here. (via Craftzine via Drawn)

mundane tuesday: mraz

It's tuesday folks, one day closer to friday. Having just come back from a trip to the lovely state of Washington, I was able to experience a little bit of "winter"- (although shouldn't it be spring now?) As a So Cal boy, it was kind of fun to drive around in the snowy/then rainy/then chilly crisp air. I'm sure for those of you that have to live in it all the time, the novelty wears thin quickly. Needless to say, I'm glad to be home (although I have to go right back in about a week or so...) anyway- here's a quick pick you don't see here in So Cal very often.Snow covered tulips! It was fun to see the vibrant burst of color lightly covered in fresh fallen snow. anyway... it was sunny when I got back but now this morning its all grey and cold. So... its tuesday. and I'm wishing I was here:

mundane aesthetic: drive-thru

In line at the drive-thru

Trippin' on collections and deflated balloons

So I have to travel off again today- work has me going up to the lovely state of Washington, (which I visited just a few weeks ago- hello again Seattle!) In the meantime, the lovely Jan over at Poppytalk was so kind to do a little post on some of my collections as part of her "Collecting" series. Click on over here to see them (thanks Jan!)I'm a little tired, as my flight is suuuper early, so I'm feeling a little deflated- which brings to mind the amazing work of Susie MacMurray who I found via Designers Block. Susie makes these incredible pieces out of deflated balloons! Amazing. Check out more of Susie's work here
I'll probably post a few things over the weekend as I'm sure there will be tons of fun things for me to see in Seattle! Have a good one!

WYWO:season 3- the guest bedroom

So, as mentioned at the end of tuesday's post, here is the guest bedroom of the parentals. It's super tiny. I tried to get a good shot, but it's so tiny, I couldn't even do that. All sorts of random going on there. It's like this is the room where all unwanted or unused things go to die. As you can see, the bed pretty much dominates everything. I tried to move it around, but it pretty much has to be where it is. So, unfortunately, I can't get rid of it. My parents said they want to have a queen size bed in there for guests, and also another consideration- it has to be somewhat the same height because many of my parent's friends are older and don't want to crouch all the way down (ie. cool modern platform bed.) So... basically that means, I can't touch the bed. So what to do?... Well, one thing to point out is that this room is visible if you're sitting in the living room. So, if the door is open, you will see inside. Therefore, the color scheme should sort of transition or match what's going on outside of it. The way the house is set up, if you pass the guest bedroom, you then enter the kitchen and family room area. My first inspiration was from this post over at AT:Chicago. The colors are so spot on with what I did for the rest of the house! But what I really loved was the dark chocolate brown wall, which I think will do well in the guest bedroom. I think it actually makes the room feel bigger. It "visually makes the wall recede." (I just had scary flashbacks of a certain someone who "pops up" on a show from time to time.) Luckily, this room is so small, it shouldn't take too long to give it a little facelift... stay tuned...

Sitting Chairs

Via Mocoloco:
OMG. so cool. so cute. I'm hoping to get to NY in May, hopefully I can catch this exhibit. More here.

Blue vintage jars and vases

Oy. It's shaping up to be a Crazy week and it's only Tuesday. I've got to travel for work on Friday, which means lots of preparation until then, and lots of running around-head in five places at once- type of mental chaos. So... let's just take a few seconds to stop and look at some pretty shall we?

I love this image from the most recent Body+Soul magazine. Love the idea of just grouping all these blue vases together in a tray. I'd probably opt for a cleaner more modern tray, like maybe a clean white laquered one, but the overall effect is still beautiful. Love how they put in a few sprigs of baby's breath(Thanks to Kathy who pointed out those are not baby's breath but rather Queen Ann's Lace flowers, and I also realized they threw in some fern cuttings too). Also love this idea for all you winos out there (you know who you are) of making this cork trivet type thing.By the way, my parentals are out of town (again), and if you've been following my blog for awhile, you know what that means. Another episode of "While you were out!"- This time, I'm tackling the teeny tiny downstairs guest bedroom. It's really small and basically just has a queen bed and room for a table. That's it. Here's a refresher of the first episode, the living room, and the more recent family room. Here's a link to all of it at once. I'll post a new post with the scary before shot, stay tuned.

Koolhaas Houselife movie

I posted this on AT:LA this afternoon, but you got to check out these amazing trailers to this movie caled Koolhaas Houselife. See the trailers and read more about it here. (via Unbeige, via Daily Dose of Architecture)

blue munday: Security Envelope beads and art

I've always had a secret admiration for the patterns on security envelopes. That must be an interesting job to design those. Anyway, Gretchen over at Junk Mail Gems blog has made some brilliant pieces from them. Check out this great collage she made with some of the patterns she's collected:And even more impressive- look at these beautiful hand rolled paper beads!! They look almost like asian or ethnic pottery! Purchasing info via her site.
(via Superuse)

Contempt. 1963

Contempt. Jean Luc Godard 1963

Japanese parasol inspired lampshade!

Check out these cool pendant lamps from a Japanese boutique hotel. They remind me of those beautiful paper parasols, but modified to a modern drum shade pendant light... I wonder if you couldn't DIY your own version using some dowels and paper to wrap around an existing drum shade?... hm... The hotel is called Hotel Screen Kyoto. More info and pics here.

I would die.

OMG. Just going through some archive posts over at Martha Stewart's blog. I think I would have a heart attack and die at all the pretty if I could get inside this room. My head would explode. I mean.
Seriously. Read more here.
(images via Martha Stewart)

Waterless Carwash?

Ok, it's not really waterless, since it uses water, but I guess the point is that you don't have to bust out the hose for this. I'm really intrigued by this product by Lucky Earth. Check out this video of it.


Next time I'm at Whole Foods, I'm going to pick up a bottle and try it out. Full report coming soon... Has anyone else tried this? More info and another video at their website.

Real Simple Blog-o-rama! Simply Stated

If you've been following this blog for awhile, Real Simple magazine get mentioned here quite frequently. Well, it's so exciting to see that they're really pulling out the big guns with their latest section of their website called Simply Stated. They have some great bloggers at the helm! We have Holly from Decor8 handling the Home decor section, and Jennifer from Hostess with the Mostess doing Celebrations! (thanks for adding me to your blog roll!) Congrats girls!

There's other sections including technology, life and Soul, beauty and style, food, and I always enjoy reading Kristin Van Ogtrop's section (managing editor for Real Simple) called Adventures in Chaos. Anyway- check out Simply Stated over at Real Simple.

Motel 6 new prototype Phoenix

I'm posting this on Apartmenttherapy today, but wanted to mention it here too:

I love hotels. And being the happy mundane guy, I don't always have to stay in the fancy ones. Lately I've been enjoying just staying in more "normal" ones. They're cheaper, usually offer more ammenities, and as long as it's clean and the beds are good- I'm not that picky.

Now, having just read this article on Unbeige, I'm actually quite excited about this: Motel 6 (I'm not sure I've ever actually stayed in one...) has just unveiled a new prototype called "Phoenix". It looks pretty cool! It's sort of a cross between Ace Hotel Seattle mixed with a little Standard, a little Dwell Magazine, and a little of some of the boutique hotels I've seen in european design mags. It's bright and happy and I like the little retro booth-like sitting area. It will be interesting to see how the public will react to it. Read more about it here. (via Unbeige and ACCOR)

stefan bucher monsters

via unbeige

Happy Friday video break: Little Bit...

Lykke Li "Little Bit"

Beer Can Butterflies by Paul Villinski

When I was in college... I did an art project with cola cans that I cut up into devil and angel shapes. I thought I was cool. Artist Paul Villinski just blew my coolness waaaaay out of the water. He has made this series of A-M-A-Z-I-N-G butterfly installation sculptures out of 108 beer cans. He hand cuts each one from found beer cans in New York and New Orleans, and then they are suspended with wires so they can move around. Just stunning. Check out more of his work at his website. He's exhibiting at this weekend's CA Boom Show in Santa Monica, so definitely check it out if you're attending! (images by Annie Wells/LA Times and Paul Villinski's website)