Flowers

The bouquets at the farmer's markets in Seattle seem really cheap to this new come. I picked this one up for $5 on Saturday. Planning on indulging now before the novelty wears off!

the Dew

At a recent trip to the 'sev I espied these tricked out bottles of Mountain Dew. I like (though I don't imbibe the dew). Part of this artist series.

I vote

That we all dye our hair some gorgeous shade of red, and buy this dress. The world would be more beautiful for our efforts, no? The pin tucks are such a homey detail, but somehow they make it seem dressy. Genius.

In the whole wide world

There is only one like this for sale. I love the idea of being the only one to have something. If you buy this sweater I will be envious and proud. Ohio Knitting Mills is one of those companies/stories you just love the idea of, no?

Does it Taste Better?

Spotted these beautiful bottles in SF the other day. Pretty, yes. Worth $10? Not in my book.. but I like the idea-- and it would be a nice vase. Christian Lacroix's design looks very similar to some of Ikea's recent work, no?

Thank Heaven

Even though the fact that the whole world is starting to look the same (I about died when I saw a Starbucks in Bali) I have to honest and admit that I'm always happy to see a 7-11. Today on 7/11 they give away little slurpees, which I think is killer. If you haven't gotten yours, head out now. When I was in Singapore I found these new, mysterious, and fairly delicious treats at a 7-11 in the airport. Maybe when I grow up I'll buy a franchise.
(in case you can't tell these are pea flavored potato sticks-- genius)

To Cap it All Off

My friends and I were just discussing how we all feel like the best shape we've ever been in was when we were swimming a lot. This led me on a hunt for cute swim caps (since none of us are racing anymore, a little style can't hurt).
Turns out other people have swim caps on their minds as well. Joy turned me on to these amazing pictures by Koto Bolofo. I haven't found those exact caps yet, but here's some really good (and cheap!) alternatives:

The minimalist. (scroll down a bit to the bubble head crepe cap). It's the chin strap what does it for me.

I love the sculpted flowers on the "Latex Flower Swim Cap" (from the same site as the bubble head crepe cap)
This site has some good floral options, but their pictures are all copyrighted

As always, an ebay search turns up great stuff. In this case, most of the "vintage ones" are actually just the ones I've listed above. This one is dreamy though.

Plotting your escape

I've got a thing for the way the world used to be. This manifests itself in my collection of vintage maps, globes, ephemera and travel books. These ones are great. So great that maybe I now own a few.

Just in case you want to buy me a present today

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE this portfolio of Che posters from Cuba. In honesty anything from the shop would do. Just think about it.....

Travel in Style

I'm sick of those ugly black rollerbags everyone has. I finally found a super cute alternative, but then decided that it didn't fit my budget. I just put it up on on ebay (sobbing noise). But my budget goals could be your style gain.
Anyone got some budget alternatives?

Earth Day meets Spring Cleaning

Recycling is good for you, me, and the earth. The problem I sometimes face is that I truly love a lot of the cool stuff I have, and fear that if I donate it, it may not be as beloved in someone else's home. This fear, as you might imagine, means I have more treasures than a small, shared apartment can hold. Solution? Swap time!

Spring cleaning swap: The idea is that you need to free up some space, but which cool treasure to get rid of? Hopefully sending it off to the loving embrace of a fellow swapper will ease the pain, create some extra space, and let you anticipate getting mail from a stranger. Even better is the fact that swapping that stuff is a form of recycling.

The nitty gritty:
1- Select a treasure to be treasured by someone else.
2- shoot me an email at emilycox at gmail dot com with the subject line: Spring Cleaning Swap and please include
a) your name
b) your mailing address
c) your email
d) something about treasures you could make room for
e) what you hate to clean the very most
f) indicate if you are ok with an international partner
e) your blog or flickr url (not required but nice)
3- do this by may 3
4- you'll get your swap assignment
5- send off your treasure and eagerly await yours by the may 12

Who says you can't kill 5 birds with one stone?

Picture from Real Simple

Earth Day: Giving to your Mom

For Mother's day this year I've decided to give my mom something that will help Mother Earth. I've settled on reusable shopping bags-- something I've been working on being better about myself. After hearing my idea my friend Amanda hunted down all these great options. I actually think the best strategy is to get a couple of different kinds of bags-- some really sturdy ones for things like milk and detergent, and a couple of small portable ones, to keep in her purse for smaller purchases.

If any of you have sources for great reusable shopping bags, I'd love to hear them. Any other great earth friendly Mother's day gifts? I think my Earth day gift to myself will be one of these bottles-- bottled water is so bourgeoise, and bad for the environment.

Lost Youth

I keep buying back pieces of it. Latest acquisition-- the shoes of the endless tropic summers of my childhood: Salt-water sandals. True, Dandelion Wine mentions a different kind of summer shoes, but these will always be it for me. My mom liked them because they stayed on, were indestructible, and didn't deform our feet like flip flops did. I like them because they're simple, but comfortable. I got them in the slightly shimmery champagne color. I'm also considering black or red-- though we always had navy blue when I was growing up. This site has them at a great price. Thoughts?

Things I lLOVE about home 1

****BESIDES my friends and family****

Chocolate chocolate donuts. Those in the know get this one-- I almost feel like loving these makes you part of a secret cult. Available only at convenience stores in Utah, these little vices are worth every calorie. Really. I'm not a donut person normally, but these are amazing. And the fact that in civilized states there are drive through convenience stores where nice ladies will hand you one of these gems along with a delicious 79 cent fountain soda almost makes me tear up with home state pride. Even Nate S. (aka super food snob) was so smitten by these that he tracked down the original source and took a factory tour. Sorry for the lack of pix (none survived long enough for a shoot), but let's just say "you'll know them when you see them". In lieu of the actual chocolate chocolate donut, I present one of my favorite childhood reads: Homer Price

Nifty, thrifty?

I stumbled on these and immediately fell for them. Hard. But I wasn't a fan of the price.


So I turned to Darlybird (who first got me hooked on vintage floral studs-- I own 4 different styles of hers). And though she had many beautiful ones, none were the ONES. After attempts to get thrifty and crafty on ebay failed, I turned to esty. This search yielded these, and these, and most importantly the identical twins to the ONES these, and I bought them all. With shipping I got them all for less than the cost of the original. I love the world wide web!

dada! (or surrealism)

depending on what camp you're in. I love etsy's home page and all the clever groupings they do. This one of Magritte-inspired goods made me smile today.

tweet!

I am in la-la-love with these. Despite my highly developed scheming ability I can't justify them. Yet. Thanks for point them out poppytalk!

to bag or not to bag?

I have, ahem, a lot of bags. I bought this one at Target the other day. Do I need it? No! Do I need it? Maybe. Jordan posted on its sister bag here, but I think I'm partial to the geometric trees. Thoughts?