Scottish Charm

Rowallan of Scotland is an awesome site.  I found this through my trusty Lucky At Your Service iPhone app.  Everyday they post a new daily lucky break deal.  Today's deal was for this awesome travel jewelry roll.  I put in the code to get 50% off and after I submitted my payment information, the amount grossed up to the original.  I quickly called the site's customer service number and a charming Scottish woman answered the phone and double-checked my order and confirmed that my card was not charged the full price.  I may call back just to hear her accent "...over and over and over and over again..." [excerpt from Camera Obscura's Honey in the Sun].

Hungry Like the Wolf

I found this great tutorial on making your own screen printed T-shirts.  I actually enjoyed it mainly for the humor, its allegiance to the wolf pack, and the fact that they added LED lights and a small device that plays sound onto the T-shirt.  Leave it to guys to beef up a shirt like that.  Enjoy!!!

Camera Obscura

I'm a little behind on posts but right before Thanksgiving, Gil and I had the opportunity to see one of my favorite bands in Norfolk, VA. Camera Obscura was finishing up their North America tour with a small gig in this little town.

Camera Obscura is a small band out of Glasgow, Scotland. They fit a genre of inde music called indie pop or "twee". Their first album was produced with the help of Stuart Murdoch from Belle & Sebastian, another favorite of mine. Camera Obscura usually sells out their shows, but people in Norfolk just don't know much about them. In fact, Camera Obscura doesn't know much about Norfolk. They were part of a Discover Music series organized by the local NPR station. They performed in a small performance hall that seats about 400 people tops. There was probably only 200 people there so it was a real treat and we got to see them up close and personal.

Here are a couple of my favorite songs they sang in succession...YES!!!!



Here is "Razzle Dazzle Rose", I love the trumpet.

At The Intersection of Great Design and Gift Giving

It's one thing to shop for the sake of shopping; it's another to shop for beautiful pieces and design.  There are few sites I like to go to when I want something that can be a statement piece (whether it's home decor or salt shakers) or a unique/not your typical run-of-the-mill gift for friends and family.

SCAD
I am probably the last one to realize that one of the strongest art and design schools resides in Savannah, GA.  The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is has some of the best up and coming artists and designers across different ranges - photography, architectural design, art, fashion design, etc.  I found their Shop SCAD store in Savannah (such a cute town for shopping and antiquing) when visiting my dear friend Marcia.  Here students can sell their designs and it's your own opportunity to own something different.  I bought some cute baby things for a friend that just had a little girl and a quirky T-shirt with a Boston Terrier for my sister.  The store itself is so cute I could scream.  The last time I was there, back in August, I saw a beautiful hand-painted dress.  It was a white smock dress with an impressionistic field of flowers painted at the bottom and faded as you progressed up the dress to the neckline.  It was too beautiful to wear but it would have been such eye candy to have displayed on a dress form at home. 

MoMA and SF MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) is no secret for great designs, but did you know it is a great place for gifts as well?  I think they have more selection online than in the store, plus if you aren't close to either New York or San Francisco then it's much easier too.  Fashion and shopping mags will sometimes refer to these sites for gift-buying ideas and I don't think they will disappoint so check out the main store MoMA and the SF MoMA.

This Is Auto
I can't remember how or when I found this site. It's definitely from one of the gazillion fashion mags I read, but This Is Auto is NYC-based and another site to go to for beautifully designed gifts.  At one point, I found a really cute Hannukah card with bendable candles that you could fold up for each day of Hannukah and personalized match boxes.  I think the site has grown up since then and now they offer more refined pieces.  It's not the most practical in terms of prices - they feature some designers like Missoni - but you can splurge once in awhile depending on how much you like the gift recipient ;-)

Etsy Bitsy

As mentioned in my previous blog, I am a huge fan of Etsy. It’s the online community for people to buy and sell all things handmade (and vintage pieces). The range is vast from artwork, paper goods and stationary to handmade clothing, knitwear, and jewelry. This ain’t no amateur hour on this site, some of these people are the real deal in their creations as this is their main business. I love that Etsy creates a new channel for them and promotes the entrepreneurial spirit.

There are so many people signed into this network that it can be overwhelming. How does one sift through all this stuff to find true treasure pieces? Let Elaine help you…Etsy has some very clever features that allow you to narrow down your search (click on "Buy" from the main site to get to these diddies):

Treasury – This function is a way for online members to play “curator”. Identify and group your favorite images from different sellers (not meant to be a self-promotion tool) and name your treasury collection. Etsy members create beautiful aesthetically pleasing collections based on color palette, an animal or holiday theme, etc. This is how I find and save sellers or items as part of My Favorites on my profile. That way when I need to buy a gift I can just refer quickly to My Favorites.

Pounce – This function allows you to see Etsy sellers that “Just Sold” items or find “Undiscovered” sellers. You can browse to see what sellers just sold to other Etsy members and it gives you a gateway to their shops and other sale items. I find that Pounce directs you to the real deal DIYers.

Colors – This is a really cool and fun function. Colors gives you an interactive color wheel; drag your mouse across the white screen and the different colors show up in varying shades. Click on the color you want to view and Etsy will suggest an item in that color scheme. More fun than practical and a great piece of technology.

Here are some of the treasury pages, these examples have a great use of color as their inspiration.  A truly eye-pleasing collection...

So those are just a few of the features offered to help you search through all the goodies. Be forewarned, it can be time zapper as I ended up scouring through Treasury pages for 2 hours the other day. I love it though because I get my shopping/browsing fix through this site.

I have so many favorites that it’ll be tough to post all at once. Here are a few of them for you to check out…more to come later...Enjoy!!!

• carolhannah – Yes from Project Runway!  Own one of her amazing designs; she has a weddling collection too!
• Lirola – Israeli designer that makes pretty, whimsical yet form flattering dresses, skirts, and tops
• ThimbleandAcorn –Fun, functional, and eclectic clothing designs
• SingleBbeautiful – Truly beautiful and simple jewelry for weddings and everyday wear
• GoldenSilhouette – Paper goods, stationary, and invitations
• Komodokat – Really cute and fun cartoon-like characters on hair accessories, cufflinks, jewelry, and paper goods

Joy-O-Joy!

Simple, quality, and elegant jewelry is attainable for us regular folks. If you think you need to spend tons of money for fine accessories, think again. On one fine Sunday in May, while in San Francisco for a wedding, I stumbled upon this little store called Studio 3579 near Dolores Park. The store was small and cozy with a nice extensive jewelry collection displayed that was up my alley. The line is called Joy-O Designs and the designer makes lovely earrings, bracelets, and rings that are simple in design and appropriate for everyday wear. I eyed some pretty bangle bracelets offered in gold, rose gold, and silver – I got all three! The gold ones were gold filled over sterling silver. Joy was super friendly and explained to me that often gold filled means the outside is gold with a different metal on the inside. The metal can be brass, nickel, silver, etc. so one has to be careful if they have a metal allergy. Her items are 14K gold filled or gold vermeil over recycled sterling silver which makes it a nice high-quality treasure for a reasonable price. Unbeknownst to me, the very bangles that I eyed were worn by the likes of Cameron Diaz. I felt very special! Joy offers great deal and prompt shipping. She has recently launched a sister line of eco-friendly jewelry which expands beyond sterling silver to other materials stainless steel, black zinc, and artisan glass to name a few. I snagged a few pieces from Joy O’s collection for myself and gifts to friends. Here’s a picture of me sporting the bangles. Check her out on Facebook and become a fan of her page. You’ll get access to promotional sales which are always a sweet deal.

In the spirit of Winter

White Winter Hymnal from Grandchildren on Vimeo.

I attended this party and all I got was this T-shirt…

I love T-Shirts. I should wear them more often, but I find myself “neckline challenged”. Guys may think a shirt is a shirt, but for women I think it is a little more complicated. Slim-fitting or loose-fitting, crew cut vs. v-neck vs. scoop neck, what the heck!!! So many choices and the wrong ones make me feel like a 10 year-old boy or a frumpy old woman.

One thing; however, that is never wrong is how witty and utterly hipster T-Shirts are becoming. Anyone can come up with an idea and it will surely (don’t call me Shirley) get printed. I personally love a couple of websites that offer clever yet not-from-Urban-Outfitters-so-the-masses-won’t-be-wearing-them type T-Shirts (black rimmed glasses and corporate angst not required).

Threadless is far from an obscure site, but it has a lot of choices ranging from cute to strange. They have low price points and allows you to accumulate points. So if you photograph yourself with their shirt on, you get Threadless points. If you see a shirt, refer it to a friend, and the friend buys the shirt then you get points. Combine that with following them on Twitter for sale notifications and your new T-shirt is practically free! If you are feeling particularly giving, you can score new designs and help an artist get printed or submit your own designs. Here’s one that I think is absolutely adorable called “We are on the same level” that has been reprinted several times.

I am also obsessed with Etsy (I will be posting a separate entry just for this precious site). This site is a DIYer’s dream come true. I love finding a new artist or someone through Etsy to get my hands on one-of-a-kind pieces. It’s also another great source for not-so-mainstream T-shirts. A couple of my favorites that caught my eye are alfieandrex’s adorable dog screen print shirts. This Brooklyn-based designer has silk screens for over 50 dogs so I’m sure you’ll find your favorite lovable hound.  My favorite is the french bulldog!

The second is of a similar genre with Mis Nopales Art. This California-based designer has an interesting point of view that blends Mexican/Latin American influence seen through his cutesy El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) type characters. He also has, of course, cute animals doing quirky things - mainly various dogs with angel wings and an awfully cute raccoon with an umbrella flying off with a fish under his arm. I’ll be scoring one of these for the boyfriend (aka “the b.f.”).

  

Sew Interesting

For the past 10 days I have been on a glorious hiatus from work (aka vacation).  I spent my time in San Francisco for a wedding and then the rest was a "stay-cation".  One of the things I have always wanted to do was learn how to sew.   I don't have any pipe dreams of going on Project Runway or making my own clothes but I do like the idea of making stuff.  

So with my allotted free time, I signed up for a couple of sewing classes at the local G Street Fabrics store.  It was an intensive two 6-hour days where I had a tote bag and a pair of pajama pants to show for all my hard work.  I never really thought about what went into sewing but it is a very involved process.  I learned things from fabric selection, sewing seams, pressing, tracing and cutting patterns, how to read patterns, to new terminology.  Did you know that "nap" and "baste" have totally different meanings in the sewing world?

The teacher was quite comical, an appropriately saucy African American woman who asked us all at the beginning of class what are expectations were because (and I quote) "these expectations probably won't be met" and "you won't be ready for Project Runway after one class".  She went on to limit our fabric selections for our projects since we probably would have been overloaded with choices.

All in all, I really enjoyed the experience even though the pajama pants I made ended up being capris (read the wrong pattern!).  I think the most stressful part was learning the thread the sewing machine and then reading a pants pattern.  I have a whole new appreciation for pajama pants -- cheap pajama pants.  I originally picked a nice print to make the pants but realizing that I needed 2+ yards and it was $19.98 per yard that I would be making $40 pajama pants!  So I settled for a scrub-like green broadcloth that are way to thin :-(  Oh well, it's my first time so I shouldn't be so hard on myself.  The teacher at one point said "you seem like a person that is used to getting things fast" and implying I should apply more patience...where would she get such an idea??!?

In the end I was more proud of the tote bag.  I think I am going to be just a tote bag maker for now.  Gil was impressed and had much lower expectations for me.  I think the key is to pick the right fabric, it makes a world of difference.  Here's a snapshot of the tote bag, I don't care to show you the pajama pants...

Shoe High

I went to a sample sale with my friend Renee. Our mission, find fabulous designer shoes at deep discount. The taller the shoe the better!

I found my true love, a pair of Christian Dior Anniversary Sandals. The little authenticity card that came with it says "We recommend that you do not wear your shoes more than two consecutive days." I don't know how I feel about that statement...

My Plug For the Week: TranquiliT

An obscure fact about my hobbies outside of work is that I truly enjoy practicing yoga.  I am absolute awe as to what my body will allow me to do.  It's a great way to relieve stress, muscle tension, and lift your spirits.  I have been going to a yoga studio in DC for almost 4 years now (short hiatus when I lived in NYC).  The place is called Tranquil Space and has a very vivacious owner named Kimberly Wilson.  This place is so cool, it's a little community and the teachers are great.  The place recently moved to a new location in DC, a much bigger and more beautiful place.  The whole studio is made of eco-friendly bamboo and reused wood from an old farmhouse.   A definite tranquil space away from the hustle and bustle of the city, work, and life.

  

Kimberly, the owner, has also come out with her own line of eco-friendly clothing called TranquiliT.  These are by far the most flattering wrap dresses I have ever worn.  I normally have much trouble with wrap dresses, they usually reveal too much neckline.  I also purchased the Grecia

n Maxi dress from the TranquiliT line and I am absolutely in love with the pleating detail in the front.  The picture does not do it justice.  In the words of the Gap Girls from SNL - you can belt it, cinch it - it's versatile!

The clothing offered is made of organic bamboo and organic cotton.  It has a jersey feel but keeps its shape through washing.  You can even cut it and it won't unravel like regular jersey.

The clothing is made in DC by a local seamstress so the prices aren't H&M/Target low but I think anyone who tries it will not be disappointed.  These purchases were a highlight to my weekend!  Ohm and Namaste :-)

Absurdity At Its Best

The condo building I live in has installed two new improvements in the mailroom area located in the lobby - #1 Automatic lights that turn on and off based on a motion detector and #2 Bulletin board to post information, want ads, etc. a communication mechanism for the "condo community".

Take a look at what are the only two things posted on the board...

If you can't see the picture, the one on the left is posting for a "Parking Space Needed" and the one on the right "Parking Space for Sale". It's not like there is clutter obstructing the view of the other sign! Brilliant people...brilliant...