BUON VIAGGIO (PER ME)

The rest of August is going to be a little crazy, so I am signing off until the start of September. What will be so consuming that I won't be able to share my obsessive tendencies with you? Well, today I am headed to a friend's wedding in Pennsylvania and then I am jet-setting with the boyfriend to Europe for two weeks! It is all very exciting and will surely prove to be fodder for more posts and photos debuted here at the O.I. So be patient, dear reader, I will be back (with great things to share!) before you know it.

Because I have had to pack for myriad occasions--semi-formal rehearsal dinner, wedding, hours of walking and site-seeing, nice dinners out, etc.--my little carry on suitcase had to be meticulously packed, with many clothes doing double duty. I finally managed to limit myself to a handful of clothes in grey, black, dark blue and white in hopes that pieces can be mixed and matched. Figuring out what bags to bring, however, was a little more difficult. Since at any given time my "everyday" bag has to carry sunglasses, a bottle of water, two cameras, film, flip flops, snacks, lotion, my wallet, my cell phone and my ipod, the bag has to be pretty multi-purpose. I have found a couple of "keepers" that I thought I might share with you. (I hope you like them, because they will be up for the next two weeks . . . . )

Hable Construction's Lagoon Small Zip Cosmetic Bag $35

Perfect for wrangling chap stick, your passport, keys and more in the abyss that is the depths of a tote bag.

Le Sport Sac Erika Tote $72

One can always use a deep tote bag with a good zippered pocket or two. I love this print (and many others) from Le Sport Sac.

Boden's Fabulous Overnight Bag £249

Pricey, but super cute. I love the polka dots on this big weekender bag from Boden even if I don't love the price tag.

DOUGLAS COUPLAND'S HOUSE IS . . .

. . . in-freaking-credible. If you ever need a house-sitter Mr. Coupland you know who to call (though I may never leave)! In case you were wondering, in that bottom photo Doug is applying white legos to the outside of that column: very very cool.

Read the article about him in the NYTimes here and see more photos here.

GRANT HAMILTON: POLAROID SUPER HERO

I have been looking at Grant Hamilton's polaroids for a loooong looong time and, well, drooling all over them. I wish he had a store so I could snatch a couple up for my wall. Still, now you can bring his work home in another sense:

1. Check out his Flickr site and snag one of his iPhone wallpapers here.
2. Watch his polaroid documentary! Entitled "TIME ZERO: the last year of polaroid" it is slated for release in 2010. You can tease yourself with anticipation by watching the trailer here.

Take a look at his whole glorious portfolio here (note the adoring fans who comment on his work--he really is a polaroid super hero!).

OH MY GOODNESS YES

What a fabulous concept! Social Designer is offering a 500 pencil package, delivered to you in 25 pencil increments over 20 months. Not surprisingly, the website to advertise these multi-colored wonders is chock full of great display ideas and inspiration. The best part? The 500 pencil subscription is only $33! Go check it out here.

GARLANDS AND CONFETTI: A BRIGHT HOME

It seems I am seeing bright geometric spots of color everywhere! How cute are these glasses (unfortunately already sold out) and this duvet and pillowcase set? Great colors, bold graphic design---a perfect addition to any home! (Who says this duvet is just for kids?)

Check out the glasses at Fine Little Shop here and the duvet at Ikea here.

p.s. Don't both of these remind you of this?

MADE BY ANNA

Made By Anna is a great Etsy store which features paper collages, ceramic plaques and these awesome pouches. Designed to look like school paper, each pouch is made with carefully placed stitching to replicate the lines in college-ruled and graph paper. Adorable! Check them out, for a mere $20, here. (The prop styling of these photos is pretty sweet too.)

PARTY PERFECT

In keeping with my ongoing obsession with pretty parties (have you noticed all the wedding posts recently?), I am super excited to have stumbled across the very lovely (and very useful!) blog Party Perfect. Chronicling countless picturesque parties, Sara Hicks Malone is angling to make herself a party planning guru. One of my favorite ideas, used for Tevi's first birthday, is a photo garland. Check out more shots of Tevi's party here, and Sara's blog here.

(Oh I almost forgot! How INCREDIBLY gorgeous is Sara's blog banner? The colors are perfect, the polka dots are perfect--all in all perfect for a "Party Perfect" blog!)

MR. JONES AND ME

Oh my goodness. Me oh my!

These watches are absolutely gorgeous. I love them. I mean really love them (a five-year-old would be taunting me to marry them). Thank you Mr. Jones Watches for creating such elegantly colorful timepieces! The topmost watch (called "Cyclops") gives a guestimation of the time by the position of the black circle between the solid colored ones (right now it shows it is around 10:15). It is a limited edition of 100 and, at $185, there are only a few left!

The bottom watch is called "The Average Day" and will run you $165 (not a limited edition). In a bright ersatz pie chart, "The Average Day" watch marks out what the average person would be doing at any given time during the day. Thus the area between 9 to five roughly notes "work" and "eat". Take it from me---it's really cool.

Check all of the Mr. Jones Watch collection here as there are many many others to tickle your fancy.

CONNECTICUT TO DO

Alyson's Blueberry Nectarine Galette has been staring me in the blogger face for a long time now. And I have been good and have (somehow) managed to resist licking my screen. Well, since I am going home to Connecticut this weekend I am finally going to put myself out of my misery and go to my favorite farmer's market/farm and get lots and lots and lots of blueberries and peaches. And then I will make this galette. And then I will report back (hopefully with pictures that will make you drool too).

Until then, have a lovely weekend all. Go out and enjoy the summer sunshine while it is still around!

KAREL MARTENS

Flickr is a pretty amazing thing. As is the blogosphere. Through both I learned about the work of the epic Dutch designer and educator Karel Martins, specifically his awesome monograph "Printed Matter". Amazingly, Amazon is still offering two used copies . . . . . starting at $649.87. Sigh.

Still, check out some shots of the inside of the book on Flickr here, and the covers at Amazon here.

(p.s. Doesn't his work remind you of these guys? I am definitely going to see the retrospective in Berlin in two weeks.)

BOLD & NOBLE

I really really like the style (and styling) of Bold & Noble's poster prints. The consistent use of white silhouettes gives these didactic, old-school style prints a fresh and modern look. You can tell a design is really wonderful when an alphabet or encyclopedia primer looks beautiful in a kid's room or a living room. Wouldn't the animal pieces look lovely next to this baby?

Bold & Noble definitely just made my wishlist. Check out their goodies for yourself here.

WISHLIST: CHECK!

Wishlist-worthy? I think so. Check out these sexy soles in a variety of styles and colors (starting at $25!) at Marais here. Don't wait, though! The sale is only for a limited time.

(Thanks to Miss Katie from For Me--For You for the heads up)

PORTFOLIO PERFECTION

It's always fun to stumble upon new designers and browse through their portfolios. In the case of Charlotte Read (top) and Emmanuel Polanco (bottom) I couldn't stop browsing! Both have done a ton of great designs for print and personal projects, all of which are fun, bright and inspirational! Check out Ms. Read's stuff here and Mr. Polanco's here.

HOUSEWARMING GIFTS

In the spirit of my new apartment, I thought I would share some of the fun gifts I have come across that would be perfect to give a new neighborhood or a friend in a new place. All of them are reasonably priced at under $30 and all are guaranteed to please!

Top: Gourmet Sea Salt Mixtures, purposedesign, $16

Middle: Capri Blue Jar Candle in Aloha, Anthropologie, $28

Bottom: Roadside Signs Placemat Pad, Bob's Your Uncle, $20

The candle is proving particularly tempting as my place still smells like sweat (the moving crew) and floor varnish (long story, but they had to replace half the floor in my living yesterday). A tropical reprieve sounds pretty good right now . . . .

FEELING CHIC

I am finally moved into my new apartment--which, by the way, is far fancier than my old place--and can happily say I am finally feeling New York cool. This is all despite the fact that my living room has no furniture and I am currently writing this post while sitting on a large throw pillow on the floor. In my pajamas. Watching reruns of Law & Order: SUV. Snazzy huh?

Anywho, in keeping with my new-found feeling of coolness, I thought I would do another post about the ultimate purveyor of NYC cool: the Sartorialist. I recently stumbled across an awesome parody of the Sartorialist, created by the geniuses at the Pipeline, which consists of a flow chart detailing how you can get photographed by this amazing fashionisto! (Click on the chart for a larger view).

In other sartorial news, the Sartorialist (Scott Schuman) is publishing is own book of portraits! Love it! The best part? The reasonable price of $16.50. Check it out here (or the $100+ bespoke edition here).