Design*Sponge’s “Living In”

Over at Design*Sponge (aka my favourite blog of all time), they have a regular section called “Living In”, where they take inspiration from a movie and list furniture and costumes that seem to fit the film.  Today they posted a “Living In” for The Parent Trap – that adorable old movie with Hayley Mills (NOT the remake with Lindsay Lohan).

I loved The Parent Trap when I was a kid – I watched it over and over.  I really identify with the blog writer – like her, my vision of summertime perfection is basically a grown-up version of the summer camp from that movie.  And, since I’m heading back out to the cottage tomorrow for another long weekend, I thought this was very fitting.

Oh, and for you boys out there that maybe missed out on The Parent Trap while growing up, you might prefer the “Living In” for Stand By Me.  Same type of childhood summertime childhood.

Hide The Credit Cards: Personalized Stamps


I LOVE personalized objects.  I can’t get enough of monogramming (thank you Land’s End).  I’ve been looking for a good address stamp for a while – I want one that’s pretty but not too expensive.  I really like these ones from the Etsy shop Primele, but $62 is a bit steep. I might just have to make one of my own.

Or, I could go with an embosser – my mother had one, and as a kid I used to love embossing anything I could get my hands on.  I think an embosser might be the way to go – it’s more versatile than a stamp (you can emboss paper, envelopes, napkins…).  You can order a reasonably priced embosser and a whole bunch of different plates from Paper Source.   Now to decide what plate to get – my monogram?  My first name?  My address?  So many choices…

Vacation Rentals: Airbnb

I think I’m a bit late to this party… I just discovered the Airbnb website.  Here’s a description:

Called the “Ebay for space” by Time Magazine, Airbnb is an online marketplace allowing anyone from private residents to commercial properties to rent out their extra space. The reputation-based site allows for user reviews, verification, and secure online transactions. Listings include vacation rentals, private rooms, entire apartments, bed and breakfasts, boutique hotels, castles, treehouses, and many other traditional and non-traditional accommodations.

I’ve been poking around the site, and have noticed two things:

1. Next time we’re on holiday that isn’t home exchange, and we’re leaving our house empty, I’m definitely putting our place up for rent.

2. There are some amazing properties here – really cool, non-traditional vacation dwellings.  Like the airplane-turned-hotel in Costa Rica, a house shaped like a boot in New Zealand, two different castles in the UK,  and a mushroom-domed cabin in Calfornia (pictured above).   See the Top 40 coolest listings on Airbnb here.

Flickr’s Lookin’ Different…

Flickr’s new look is in beta, but you can try it out now.  Take a look at my picture here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/avehouse/4704434567/

Click “take me to the future” above the image.  See the change?  There are a bunch of new features, but my favourite is the easy access to “view in lightbox”.  Press the letter F on your keyboard (and then press F again to exit lightbox mode).  Gorgeous!

Books About Web Design

I am often tempted by books on web design.  Kind of like when I got really excited and pre-ordered the Smashing Book.  I’ve now had it for months, and I’ve hardly cracked the spine.

Now I see that the team behind A List Apart (an amazing online web design magazine) has launched A Book Apart, and their first publication, HTML 5 for Web Designers.  My gut instinct was to pre-order.  But then I remembered the Smashing Book.

Do I really want to sit and read about web design?  Or just mess around with it?  I think it’s a combo of both.  I need to learn more about  HTML 5, and soon.  If there was a dream team of instructors, these guys would be it.  So maybe I have to pull myself away from the computer screen and crack open the books.

Internet radio

I like to listen to music while I work, but I don’t always like to listen to albums all day long.  I like to mix it up a bit – I’m more of a radio girl.  But other than listening to BBC Radio 1 Scotland in the morning, and a bit of CBC throughout the day, I don’t have a lot of options.

I like the “genius” function on my iPhone, but that plays music I already have.  I want to hear songs I already like, with some new songs thrown in there too.   I used to LOVE Last.FM, which would play a customized radio station for me (it would “learn” my preferences over time, based on me giving songs the thumbs up or thumbs down).  But Last.FM started charging for their service, so I stopped listening.

I read this article in the New Yorker last night (about internet radio and music streaming services), and my interest in the topic has been renewed.  I’ve heard amazing things about Pandora, but it’s not available in Canada.  So now I’m going to try MOG, the other service reviewed in the article.  But at first glance, MOG looks like Last.FM (same features).  And I did spend all that time “teaching” Last.FM about my music preferences.  So maybe $3 per month for Last.FM isn’t so bad.   I think I’m going to sign up again.

In the ‘Hood: GUFF

Just around the corner from my house in Leslieville is a fantastic antique furniture store called GUFF.  It stands for Great Used Furniture Finds.  They have mostly mid-century modern stuff, but there are a few other things thrown in there too.  I love the pieces they bring in, and the best part is the pricing – these are seriously reasonable prices.  I check the GUFF blog regularly to see what they get in – pieces usually sell quickly (probably because of the amazing pricing), so it’s a case of the early bird getting the worm.  Have a look, or if you’re in the ‘hood, pop by the store itself at 1142 Queen St East (just west of Jones).

Killer Package Design

Even though I don’t design packaging myself, I like to check in and see what’s trending in that industry (and like everyone else, I’m certainly swayed by good package design when I’m shopping).  I enjoy browsing through The Dieline – a comprehensive website covering the latest and greatest in package design.  It’s an excellent resource for design inspiration.

How cute is that hot dog wrapper up there?  Read more about it here.