Merry Christmas!

Stealing Second

I just saw the trailer for this movie and I think I sort of want to see it. It looks pretty funny with lots of awkward moments. I love awkward moments.

eau de meat

If you're looking for a last minute Christmas gift for Dad, Burger King recently came out with a meat-scented body spray called Flame. Nothing says I Love You quite like a bottle of flame-broiled fragrance! You can read more about it here.

Penelope Pinkstone

Ever wonder what your name would be if you were in a Harry Potter story? I know I have given it some serious thought. Just go to the Whomping Willow's site and you can find out! Mine is Penelope Pinkstone.

Colorstrology

My boss introduced me today to Pantone's Colorstrology which you must check out if you haven't already. It tells you your birthday color and what it says about you. I know it sounds a bit lame but it actually is sort of fun and after reading what my birthday color (June 15 = Apricot Nectar, Pantone 14-113) says about me, I was shocked that it was right on the money. I mean, it basically said I was smart and pretty.

To find your color, go to the Colorstrology website and click on your birthday month to find the color for that month.

"The color for the month of June is Apsen Gold...Yellow is known for stimulating the brain and increasing intelligence and mental agility. Wearing, meditating or surrounding yourself with Aspen Gold connects us to joy and is known for increasing our memory and communication skills."

Then at the top click on the day of your birthday and it will tell you your personal color. Mine was pretty accurate.

"You are easy to get along with and people gravitate to you. You are naturally generous and love to talk and communicate with others. You have an instictive attraction to beauty and art and gravitate toward luxury items. Your sensual nature enjoys life and all of its pleasures...Wearing, meditating or surrounding yourself with the color Apricot Nectar helps calm your mental restlessness..."

Seats

FLOW is a new website which promotes individual designers throughout the world. They have some really cool and quirky stuff you can buy (for lots and lots of money). I'm really enjoying this wacky stack-like chair and as much as I love the look of it, I'm almost positive I would break a bench made completely of vertical pencils.

Snow!

XXL Foosball Table

I can't decide if this would be fun or just frustrating with this many people.
Found via Crib Candy

More Christmas Ads

Other than iTunes, my favorite Christmas ads so far this year have to be the new Ikea ads in Canada. This "Joy" billboard is in Toronto and features weatherproofed, 3D objects representing their collection. The "Hope" ad, along with others, are located in various cities throughout Canada. You can read more about it here.

2 talented and handsome young men

When I was living in London I got hooked on the X-Factor (I love anything Simon Cowell related). I was able to see the adorable Leon Jackson win the finale. I just came across this duet he recently did with Michael Buble and it is fantastic! Enjoy!

More Lenka

Zach Schrock

I'm currently loving the photography of Zach Schrock. He makes it look so easy.

Found via Lost which I'm also currently digging.

Fruity Photos

I came across these images today and thought they were just too cute. It must have been a lot of long and meticulous work to set up these photos. Although the website they came from is not in English, you can still view the rest of the photos here.

Tis the season

Has anyone seen this year's iTunes Christmas giftcards?! I absolutely love the clever designs they used! Perfect stocking stuffers!

H&M Homewares Coming Soon!

Good news! H&M is introducing a line of homewares in early 2009! Unfortunately the line is only going to be available to select European countries to begin with, but hopefully it will hit the U.S. soon after because it's an awesome line! It includes pieces for all rooms in the house in a variety of different color schemes. This one is by far my favorite. You can read the press release about the line, and see more images, on their site here.


Photo via Husmusen.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Ellen,

Yesterday was the deadline to sign up to win 2 roundtrip tickets to LA for Ellen's 12 Days of Giveaways show. I never miss a chance to sign up for anything Ellen because I am determined to find a way to get to her show. To enter you had to write a short story about yourself that would be judged on how inspirational it is to others as well as how humorous it is. I couldn't think of any big inspirational moment in my life to write about so I decided to tell Ellen about something I deal with everyday. I wasn't planning on sharing my entry with anyone else, but after much encouragement from my pal Bruce, I've decided to share it with you so you can see just how funny I really am.

"Ellen, I suffer from a severe case of clumsynitis. Symptoms include but are not limited to: sudden impact with wall corners, toe stubbititus, foot function failure and butterfingers syndrome. This is something I have struggled with for several years now and something that has proven to be a daily challenge for me whether it is walking up (or down) a flight of stairs or attempting to hold several avocados at once. I am slowly fighting the fight to overcome this hardship and at the same time I am a walking (and tripping) reminder to others suffering from this illness that it is possible to live a normal and healthy life even if you are as clumsy as I am. I have shown others that it is possible to still be beautiful even with bruised knees from bumping the corners of the coffee table and papercuts all over your hands. I have shown others that it is still possible to be cool even when you miss your mouth when taking a swig of beer and it spills down your chin or when you knock over a shelf of books at a second hand store. I have shown others that it is still possible to be poised even when you trip on the sidewalk while in your hottest outfit in front of the most gorgeous guy. I live my life sharing my safety tips and bandaids with those around me and I will continue to be an inspiration to others struggling with this frustrating condition."

Also on my Christmas list...

this letter scarf from Veer.

Love this!

Design Classics

The Blue Art Studio sells some fantastic design posters including this alphabet poster of classic designer chairs. This would look perfect in my living room and is another thing I would love to receive for Christmas for those of you keeping a list.

Queen Elizabeth

For those of you looking to buy me a Christmas gift, I want this:


This Queen Clock is available online at Modern Dose.

Dr. House vs. Sherlock Holmes

Did you know that the character of Dr. House was largely based on Sherlock Holmes? Here's just a short list of how these two intelligent men are connected.

HOUSE:
Fights disease

Arrogant
Used Vicodin
Apartment #221B
"House"
Keeps to himself
Plays piano

SHERLOCK HOLMES:
Fights crime
Arrogant
Used Cocaine
Lived at 221B Baker St., London
"Holmes" sounds like "Homes"
Bit of a loner
Plays violin

This temple is making me thirsty

A group of Buddhist monks from Thailand have taken recycling to a whole new level and built this gorgeous temple made entirely of around 1.5 million empty beer bottles. Even the toilets and crematorium are constructed out of the bottles!

From far away you would never guess it was made of empty Heineken (green) and Chang (brown) beer bottles, but in this close up of the interior you can see how perfectly aligned they are.

It's a pretty innovate way to clean up pollution! You can see more images at TreeHugger here.

Stylish Recycling

Over at Branch: Sustainable Design for Living, they have a new take on eco-friendly items. Check out this pillow made from recycled seat belts! Probably not the softest pillow, but it still looks pretty awesome. Also in their online store they have this handmade "rug" made entirely of old belts which they prevented going from "waist to waste." I love all the rich colors in this piece, it looks a lot like a faux wood floor.

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

Tomorrow is our Thanksgiving potluck in the office and being an official member (and resident D.J.) of the Party Planning Committee, my job is not only to make the pasta salad but also to make the music play list complete with all songs that include the words "thank you." In my Google searching I discovered that the phrase "Domo Arigato" from the ever popular Styx song "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto" is, in fact, Japanese for "Thank you very much." Who knew?!? Intrigued by this I switched gears and headed to Wikipedia to find out more.
The song tells the story of the rock opera Kilroy Was Here in which a rocker was put in a futuristic prison for "rock and roll misfits" by an anti-rock-and-roll group called the Majority for Musical Morality. There are robots working in the prison and Kilroy is able to escape by overtaking one of the robot prison guards, a.k.a. Mr. Roboto, and hiding in his hollowed-out body.


Taking that even further I discovered that "Kilroy Was Here" was an American pop culture expression used most often in graffiti accompanied by a little cartoon man peering over a wall. How it originated isn't exactly known but it was really interesting reading up on all the theories as to how Kilroy came about. Throughout WWII this phrase and the little guy that came with it became a symbol of America's presence in the world, appearing everywhere in the country as well as anywhere the military traveled abroad. Pretty interesting huh? Is this news to everyone or just me?!

Paper Source

I love holiday crafts and I love Paper Source. I'm not sure I can compete with all the crafting geniuses out there but this contest might be fun to enter anyway. All the winning entries will be displayed at their corporate headquarters!

Are you a Gossip Girl or a Golden Girl?

Take this fun People Magazine quiz and find out if you're a gossip girl or a golden girl.

Etsy Find

Perhaps the only thing I liked about Kenley from Project Runway was her fabulous hair pieces. I've been wanting to try one out myself but wasn't sure I could pull it off. But a few of these pieces from eecouture's etsy shop are so adorable I'd definitely give them a go.

New Music Crush

Loving Lenka at the moment.

Tricky

These photographs really made me look twice. Wonder how many takes it took before they got it just right? You can see more realistic photos here.

HOT School Musical

I finally got to see High School Musical 3 last weekend and am not ashamed to say that I LOVED it! So much better than HSM2. There were several Grease-esque moments such as when the boys were fixing up their junker of a truck and broke into song and some awesome Danny Zuko dance moves followed. I even noticed a hint of Saved By the Bell when the seniors, in cap and gown, got emotional and sang about graduation. Zac Efron was looking his usual gorgeous self in his prom tux paired with tennis shoes. Elle recently did a photo shoot with Zac, Vanessa and Ashley from the flick. How great are these pictures?? I love the 50s vibe they give off, and doesn't Zac look so dreamy?! Click here to see the rest of the photos.

Sister Act Takes the Stage

This morning my friend Elyse sent me this link to a news article announcing that Whoopi Goldberg is going to be producing a stage version of the 1992 movie Sister Act. Although Whoopi herself won't be appearing in the show, I still couldn't be more excited about it! The show starts next summer in London, giving me the perfect excuse to finally go back!

How exciting would it be to get to watch a bunch of nuns rock out to "My God" live?!

Project Runway Challenge

A handful of our favorite Project Runway contestants were recently given the challenge to come up with a design for the perfect gown for our new First Lady, Michelle Obama, to wear to the Inaugural Ball. A few of them are a little out there but others are simply stunning. Austin Scarlet's was definitely one of my favs. I just love the high-waisted sash. Which one do you like best?

Idol Heats Up

Last season of American Idol was definitely not my favorite season. None of the contestants were as much fun to watch as past seasons. But I got to give it to them, they sure do look good in this photo shoot for Elle. How did they get Jason's hair to do that?!



You can view all the photos here.

More Lace

I am loving this lace tape from MATTER. Can't you just see it wrapped around some solid red and green wrapping paper under the Christmas tree? My sister loves this kind of stuff, it may be the perfect stocking stuffer for her...

Lacey Goodness

Today I came across the unique and gorgeous artwork of Joana Vasconcelos. Don't you just love how she makes everything feel so girly? You can see more images of her work here.

The Princess and the Pea

Seriously, how cool is this bed by Doshi Levien? What a cool way to bring back such a classic book.

Free Art!!

Lately I've been searching the internet (with little luck) for the perfect piece of artwork for our kitchen. I've passed on all the obvious pieces like this and this because I want something totally different and unique. But I've been running out of ideas as to where to search online, so of course I ventured to craigslist next to see what the Chicago locals were giving up. Through my search I came across the art of Patrick Skoff, a really talented artist with an awesome approach to art. Every week or so he creates dozens of new and beautiful paintings and leaves them in random places all over the city of Chicago and then posts photos of them along with clues as to where to find them on his website. How cool is that?? Free art!! It's so cool how excited everyone gets about it. As people find his work, they take pictures of themselves with the artwork displayed in their home and email it to him with a short note as to how they found it which he then posts on his website. I'm determined to find one of these masterpieces, but with his increasing popularity, if you don't nab one within 15 minutes after he posts the clues, you're out of luck!

Amazon gift card contest

The Downtown Boutique is hosting a great contest to win a $40 Amazon.com gift card! To enter, just leave a comment here on her blog, telling her what you would purchase with the money.

Me? I'd complete my Harry Potter collection. I currently have books 2, 3 and 7, so as you can see I'm missing quite a few. I bought book 7 in London, book 3 on sale for $4 at Marshalls, and yesterday on my way home from work I stopped in this great little used book store where I found book 2 for $4 as well. It was an amazing little shop, packed so tightly only one person could fit in each aisle at a time. The whole place smelled like dusty old books, which is a surprisingly wonderful smell. And the sweet bearded old man that worked there, asked each customer to shut off their cell phones as they entered the store. I spent quite a while in there, not even looking for anything in particular, and I definitely plan to return soon.

My most recent Amazon purchase was Augusten Burroughs' book Possible Side Effects. I was reading it on the train this morning and he wrote one short story about a trip he took to London, describing it as a place he "considers to be perfect." And I couldn't agree more. He just confirmed his status of being my favorite author.

Wanted to send my favorite west-coast gal, Jean, a little piece of Chicago so I ripped out the skyline for her. Sent all the way to LA for her along with some goofy pics of us in London together.

let me introduce myself...

I'm Jenny. A 23 year old non-smoker from Iowa, currently residing in Chicago. I spend most of my down time watching bad reality tv, attempting arts&crafts, starting new crossword puzzles (I'm determined to finish one all on my own, without cheating, but it has yet to happen) and reading all kinds of design/art/crafty blogs. Although I'm not much of a writer, I have been inspired to try my hand at blogging. Although whether my blog will be of interest to others is yet to be determined, so I'm giving it a test run. So to begin, here's a short list of things that are me.

1. I was famous for a short time. Don't believe me? Check this out.
2. I graduated from the University of Iowa with a BBA in Marketing and a minor in Art History
3. I've been out of college for 14 months and 9 of those 14 months I spent living and working in London and traveling throughout Europe thanks to BUNAC. I moved there with a few friends a week after graduation with no job, no home, and a lot of anxiety. It turned out to be the best decision I ever made. Every college graduate should do it.
4. Upon my return to America, I lived with my parents for 4 months of stressful job hunting, until I obtained a job here and promptly moved to Chicago.
5. I have never worked out regularly in my life.
6. I have 3 sisters. 1 older, 2 younger. And this fall, for the first time in our lives, we will live in 4 separate homes.
7. I'm a firm believer in library books. I love to read but have an extremely small book collection of my own.
8. I am in love with art history. Actually, I'm in love with anything old and beautiful. I still can't believe I had the opportunity to see this and this.
9. Last summer I was a paid movie extra...excuse me, "background artist" to be exact, in this movie.
10. I have no idea what I'm going to blog about each day, but I'm excited to find out.