Friday, June 25, 2010

Limited Inspiration

I've never worked so hard in my life at a job. I find this leaves me with fewer creative reserves than usual but I defy the corporate creativity thief! It can have my left brain, but not my right.
Here are five things that make me happy and still give me a little right brain buzz:
I want this for Christmas

This too.

And this (looks like corporate has made me very greedy indeed). "This bookshelf called Hold On Tight by Colleen & Eric took my breath away. It comes with an integrated bookend (a cube with an oversized wing-nut that you can loosen and slide on a track to make room for more books). It’s minimal and brilliant. Make that cube white or red and I am in heaven." –Swiss Miss

Love love love love love, I would kill to design like this:

Our dog, Daisy needs one of these.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Tea Time—Nine Great Things Friday

Design in action; can you even believe how awesome these ideas for tea bags are?

You've probably seen the Forte tea products unless you've been hiding under a rock somewhere/haven't been dragged to a girly store by your Mom lately, but they have a great little pyramid shape to their tea bags. However, the rest of these are even more fun, if you ask me, and don't require you to buy a tea cup with a hole in the middle of it (though I recognize the brilliant marketing of making the customer buy the tea and its accompanying special cup).





My favorite is the "T" bag. Brilliant, it's simpler than many of the others, but I love me a play on words.


The one with the repeller guy reminds me of my friend Alison.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Monsters and Post-Its





















Oh my, I have found a fabulous new blog. Don Kenn Gallery is a blog by a man who draws monster scenes on post-its. Here's his blurb from the blog:
"born in Denmark 1978. I write and direct television shows for kids. I have a set of twins and not much time for anything. But when i have time i draw monsterdrawings on post-it notes... it is a little window into a different world, made on office supplies."
The only thing that makes me sad is that I've been working on a post-it portfolio for ages and ages and not much has come of it. Also, I have no theme to what I draw on my little 3x3 stickies so I'm very jealous.
Don also did a short film and posted it to Vimeo, please enjoy.

Said the Shark - True Love from Iwave records on Vimeo.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

'Tis the Season


We live in an age of availability. If you need fresh berries for a salad in January, you can have them. Squash in June? Done. Our produce aisles are lined with pristine varieties of fruits and veggies. Thanks to genetic alterations, irradiation, and chemical ripening we can have whatever we want; but have you ever been disappointed with what you brought home? "It looks so good at the store," mom would apologize as dad made a face at the table. (Our seasoned lawyer in the house sometime reverts to four-year-old tendencies when faced with unpalatable food.)

One can't depend on our nonorganic produce tasting as good as it looks; however, I've found that organic produce is a bit more honest. For the most part, what you see is what you get; which, of course, means it spoils faster, but at what cost wholesome produce?

After watching Food, Inc. I was inspired to buy organic. I learned that each time we choose organic and spend the extra cents to do so, we place our vote. We vote for sustainable, natural fuel for our bodies and the assurance that we know what is in our food.

So, I placed a vote. I bought organic bananas over our usual nonorganic a couple weeks back. At the store, a small selection slighly smaller organic bananas showed some small indications of mottled shades of brown, green, and yellow looked a little sad laid next to the remaining yards of slanted counter given to the perfect nonorganic bananas. I adopted the organic ones anyway. I was surprised when, three days after buying the organic bananas, they were already showing significant browning. Our nonorganic bananas last a week before even starting to brown. I threw the brown organic bananas into the blender for smoothies soon after. But think about it, what is being done to the nonorganic bananas to make them perpetually ripe? I sacrificed shelflife, but I think it's worth it to avoid whatever they're doing to regular bananas.

Though justified in principle, I missed my nonorganic produce. Instead of buying all my produce organic, I did one organic item per week so I could learn and adjust to their shelflife. My organic arugula wilted at an alarming rate (three days vs. the usual week/week and a half), the broccoli got gold at the tips too quickly, and my zucchini got a tiny bit softer than I'd like it. It's frustrating to buy produce that spoils more quickly for more money; it's like losing twice. It wasn't until this weekend that I realized that there was another way to buy organic and ensure better quality produce. Buy in season! [insert "duh" here]

My limited understanding of agriculture only registered berries and watermelon as in season, but the spread at the market told me otherwise. I asked around that day to learn more then I found this fabulous Web site: EatSeasonably.com! All you have to do is go to the calendar and click on the month and it will tell you the very best June has to offer and the other foods that are at their prime too. I learned that June is good fore more than strawberries:
Season's best—peas, broad beans (like kidney beans), and strawberries
Other in season produce—asparagus, zucchini, rhubarb, curly lettuce, cucumber, spinach, and carrots

Also, you can print this handy dandy page and post it in your kitchen so you'll always know what to pick up at the store when (it's designed nicely too).
Finally, to end this very long post, I'll share one of my very best and most favorited meals I make in the summertime. It's from RealSimple (bless 'em, I live and die for that mag). Enjoy and happy summer!
Turkey Burgers With Grated Zucchini and Carrot | Real Simple Recipes