Useless Verbalisms in the Form of a Free Calendar

Remember this post from a few weeks ago? Silly dada inspired fun.

Well, in in a rare moment of free time, Evan and I incorporated the silly dadaisms into a fun gag gift (or gift if you are serious about dada!) for the holidays: a 2010 Dada Calendar. My favorite part is the completely random array of illustrations, all of which were inspired by ... wait for it ... Webdings.

You can download the printable calendar for free HERE.

We had a little fun writing some fake marketing copy for it:

Ever wonder if your friends really get it? If they're paying attention or just feigning interest? Want to efficiently separate your co-workers into those with a sense of humor and those who deserve to be thoroughly annoyed?

The 2010 DADA Calendar will make your friends smile, and infuriate your mouth-breathing nemeses.

This fully functional, though slightly deranged calendar offers a treasure trove of verbal uselessisms and near-miss meanings that will delight those that get how not to get it. However, if you have to ask, you'll never know.

As a final detail to the design, we drew inspiration from the oft-overlooked, graphically-rich world of the Webding. Esoteric meanings and conspiratorial relationships abound for those foolish enough to contemplate their depths. Beware, for this way lies madness.

I Love You. You're Perfect. Now be on Sale.

I'm a bit obsessed with this yellow chair.

It makes guest appearances in my decor-related daydreams, and loves to keep me on my toes by mixing up the room in which it appears. Some days it's parked by the window in my bedroom. Some days it shows up in my office. Once it kicked the sofa out of the living room and made a home in its place.

In addition to starring in my fantasies, this chair is also the star of countless abandoned carts at Room and Board. I should formally apologize to the customer service representatives.

Needless to say, I really, really love it. I just wish I could find its doppelganger for half the price.

Anson Chair

Dave Matthews Seduction

It's 1996. You're sporting your fisherman sweater and a no-makeup look. You've just been invited back to the apartment of the cute guy from your postmodern lit class.

You exchange light banter about the nuanced meanings of Pearl Jam's "Don't Call Me Daughter" as you navigate your way through a sea of plastic cup-toting, flannel wearing Nietzche disciples on your way to his room.

The door closes.
He lights a candle.
He casually presses his stereo's play button

Wait! Is that what you think it is? It's the Dave Matthew's Crash Into Me mating call. Again.

Has this happened to you? I'm willing to bet that those of you who attended college in the 90s experienced a similar seduction scene.

If not, what were the romeos' songs of choice in your era?

Whoopie Pie Gift Kit + Giveaway

If you've been a blog reader for any length of time, you've no doubt read about my affinity for and addiction to whoopie pies.

After struggling with how to package them nicely when I give them as gifts, I got the idea to find a solution, and share it with others. I may be alone here, but I think whoopie pies make a pretty awesome gift: they're chocolate, they're easy to make, they're inexpensive (milk, eggs, sugar, etc.), and they make people happy.

I rejected many ideas until I settled on drawstring muslin bags and custom whoopie pie tags. Evan made me a line illustration of a whoopie pie for the tag, and I loved it. We chose a really nice double-thick cardstock and had the tags offset printed on uncoated paper. The texture is lovely and pairs nicely with the natural fibers of the muslin.

I'm excited about making the DIY package available in our shop, and in honor of that, I'd like to have a little giveaway. Simply leave a comment and I'll pick a winner on Friday morning. Good luck!

What's Included in the giveaway:

DIY Whoopie Pie Kit
8 whoopie pie tags
8 muslin drawstring bags
Whoopie pie recipe (my grandma's - it rocks!)

Visit our shop for more details.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Denise! Random number generator selected number 50!

This would have been so much cooler ...

... if the mom had moved.

So there we were, meandering about Montmartre, when this sweet girl dressed in deep red steps in front of a matching wall.

Photo op!

But no. The mom in blue stayed close. Protecting her innocent daughter from the selfish camera-toting chick who wanted nothing more than that red-on-red shot.

Mom: 1. Nichole: 0.

Blankets

I rarely get sick, but am down for the count with aches, chills, fever and a cough. Could it be the dreaded flu? I hope not.

I am stocked with tea, soup and other provisions, but realized that what I need the most is a cozy blanket. I've been dragging my comforter downstairs to the couch, but that leaves my bed naked, and a perfectionist like me tormented with the thought of an unmade bed.

The West Elm catalog arrived a few days ago, and a lazy leaf through revealed a pretty decent collection of blankets. What do you think? I like the natural colors.

Where do you buy blankets? Have any good leads?

Alysia Cotter

I enjoy seeing the world through Alysia's eyes. Shakespeare? Converse? She hit me right where it hurts.

Check out the rest of her eye candy here.

Happy Halloween

I can tolerate witches, ghosts, grim reapers, and all of the typical Halloween goblins, monsters and creatures. What scares me? Dolls. Creepy, eyeless, soul sucking dolls.

The flea market at the Abbesses metro stop in Paris is ripe with antique, scary dolls. The above were particularly haunting.

Happy Halloween, everyone. May your day be merry and full of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (admit it, they're the best of the treat bag).

Hear this:

I will learn to sew if it means I get to have this cupcake pincushion by Made in Lowell.

Cmon now, you all want this too, right?

Semplice

In 2003, we somewhat reluctantly packed up our NYC apartment and headed for Montclair, NJ. I say reluctantly because although we loved Montclair (Evan grew up there) and it was just 12 miles west of New York, I had the following three fears:

1. I wouldn't be able to find good Indian food (false)
2. My New York friends would never come to visit (true - you know who you are!)
3. I would have to trek back into New York to do most of my shopping (a big fat false)

After just two days in Montclair, I was itching to explore the downtown area, so I convinced Evan to abandon our unopened boxes and join me for a stroll. As we walked, I ticked off the important things: Used bookstore? Check. Liquor store within walking distance? Check. Indian Food? Whoo hoo! Bakery? Now we're talking.

It's safe to say that I was feeling all self congratulatory about moving to the perfect little close-to-NY suburb, and just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I stumbled upon Semplice.

They had me at the door. And after just one trip around the shop, I realized that it was the antidote to my recurring nightmares that involved shopping malls and muzak. The well-edited collection of paper and home goods seemed to have jumped off the pages of my favorite design blogs and assembled themselves into one perfect brick and mortar shop.

Six years later, it's still my favorite shop, and is my go-to for birthday and holiday presents. So I was shocked, thrilled and borderline dizzy when Evan returned from a visit with one of the owners, Kelly DelRosso, with the news that they wanted to carry our Perpetual Paris calendar.

Huh? Wha?

What began as a conversation about retail viability of the calendar grew into a larger conversation about wholesaling and wait for it ... front window display! Not sure what alignment took place in the universe, but I am thankful, and honored to be one of Kelly and Jim's (her father and co-owner) picks.

If you live anywhere near Montclair, stop by and check it out. And while you are there, you can ogle the soaps, cards, furniture and other lovelies that make the shop so special.

Semplice
465 Bloomfield Avene
Montclair, NJ 07042

PS. Check out the calendar in the window!

It's the Little Things

Who knew brooms would make me giddy? I snapped this photo at Harvest Days in Lancaster, and I keep coming back to it.

Happy Birthday, Evan

You're an awesome dad, an awesome husband, and damn ... you're just awesome.

A Little Project

When we were living in Paris last year, I collected hundreds of photos with the intention of using a few of them to adorn what I knew would be bare walls once we returned to the US.

I meticulously divided my folders into color palettes, textures, locations, etc., and spent a large amount of time brainstorming ideas for them. Huge canvases? A collection of 16 in small frames?

Right in the middle of brainstorming, I stumbled upon this brilliant idea by Sarah Palmer. And another interpretation by Click. Wind. Repeat. Yes! A perpetual calendar comprised of photos you take yourself? This was the inspiration I needed.

I already had some of the photos I needed to complete the project, and spent the next few weeks and subsequent trips to Paris collecting the rest. Evan got involved and suddenly the project took on a life of it's own. We decided that perhaps if we liked what we got, we'd go beyond the DIY version for our own walls and make it available in our shop.

When we assembled everything on the wall, we were thrilled with the collection, and so we moved forward with our plan. The challenge was in the printing. Our DIY version looked okay, but felt pretty flimsy on 110lb cardstock, which is as thick as most at-home and even commercial digital printers can handle. So we took the plunge and had the entire 49 photo collection offset printed on 17 point, uncoated paper. What a difference! The paper is delicious and I'm thrilled with the quality of the photos.

When I see the finished collage hanging on my wall, I'm so happy because each photo is a little piece of Paris I adore.

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Evan is of course completely responsible for the video (how does he do it?!?), which is part experience, part how-to.

And special thanks goes out to Catherine Mangosing for designing or package. Thanks, Catherine, we love it.

They're available in our esty shop and at Little Brown Pen.

Note: If you're ambitious, this is certainly a project you can undertake yourself. It was more time consuming for us because we had a very specific color palette in mind, but it was memorable and fun. Photojojo has a really cool tutorial and instructions.

Easy Tarts

Some days I want to hug the internet. I need an easy treat to take to a meeting, and BAM ... this drops into my google reader.

Just four ingredients, including two of my favorites: chocolate and coconut.

Check it out.

Pink

I am surrounded by boys. One husbaand, two sons and a male cat.

So it was especially exciting when we received the news that my brother-in-law Ian and sister-in-law Courtney had a little girl on Saturday.

Little Isabella ... all this pink is for you.

1. before bloom, 2. campari series: red (2), 3. raspberries, 4. The neutralization of a conversation, 5. Uthello fait des ombres chinoises, 6. Lamp, 7. Untitled, 8. Composition II, 9. Flowers in Red