WEEKEND UPDATE: GUSTER AT THE MET

Yes, you read that title correctly. This weekend (Friday, to be exact) I saw the band Guster give an acoustic performance in the theater at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The event was put on in conjunction with their Guitar Heros exhibition, and was presented as a conversation between the band and their latest collaborator: the artist Jon Sarkin. The event started awkwardly—two Met curators trying to force the band to talk about artworks that feature musical themes in their collection—but ended up being a really special evening.

I wasn't familiar with Sarkin's art before; turns out he makes drawings and paintings filled with brilliant color and obsessive scribbles. Apparently, Sarkin and Guster worked together on the art for their new album 'Easy Wonderful' and the video for their catchy new single 'Do You Love Me'.

The album art is almost cool enough to tempt me to buy an actual hard copy of the CD—the music is happy and fun enough (as to be expected from Guster) to listen to on repeat for the next two weeks. Perfect for a sloppy rainy day like today. You can take a listen for yourself here, see more videos promoting the album here, and check out Sarkin's other work here.

(Thanks to Amanda for hooking me up with the tickets!)

BROWN BAG IT

Because I am a graduate student and because I like to, I pack my lunch every day. So I am always on the look out for new products that will make my 'brown bag' a little bit more colorful, practical or fun. These are a couple of things that I can't live without and a couple more that I think have potential.

top to bottom, left to right:

Wrap N' Matt, Amazon, $7.19

Melon Ball Paper Napkins, Crate & Barrel, $3.95

Divided Keepers, Container Store, $3.99

Zelco Mangia 3 Piece Flatware, Amazon, $14

Nalgene On The Fly Waterbottle, Amazon, $10.99

Slimline Quaddle Lunchbox, Container Store, $9.99

Red Dot Baby Baggu, Baggu, $6

(Need more lunch-alicious inspiration? Check out this post here.)

A (COLORFUL) LIFE OF ITS OWN

For years now all of my friends thought I was crazy for organizing my bookshelf by color (hey, I am a visual person, all right?). Turns out, Paul Octavious feels the same way. Now wouldn't it be great if they all organized themselves like this?

(Thanks to swissmiss for the tip.)

THE WEDDING FILES: FINNISH DESIGN SHOP

Oh my goodness great design! Chroma Lab did me the wonderful favor of turning me on to the Finnish Design Shop. There are so many colorful clever products there I could faint. I mean, really, how amazing is that interlocking trivet? Or that circular knife? Awesome.

The best part?!! You can create a wedding/gift registry there. Done and done.

Check it all out here.

BUTTERFLY BEAUTY

As I continue daydreaming about my wedding, I am looking for color inspiration here, there and everywhere. Enter The Evolution Store! It's a huge online outlet for flaura and fauna of all kinds; I am currently drooling over the incredible colors and patterns featured in their immense butterfly collection. Apparently you can buy one of these beauties for between $29-$59, or closer to $99-$109 if you want it framed. While that is a bit out of my price range now, I am definitely posting these to my inspiration board and hoping to have a small 'butterfly wall' in my dream house.

If these are to your liking (or if you want a fossil, insect, animal skull, etc.) and suit your budget, you can check out the huge selection at The Evolution Store here.

(p.s. It seems there is a brick and mortar Evolution Store in Soho! I may just have to go and check it out. . . . )

MINICYN

I haven't done a post about a cool Etsy shop in a while and I am totally drooling over this one: MiniCyn. It features a whole bunch of cool silver pieces with faceted geometries, all for fairly reasonable prices. I am particularly in love with those earring studs . . .

Check out the goodness here.

(Happy Friday everyone!)

DISASSEMBLY

How incredible is this photographic series by Todd McLellan? He takes old household items—a typewriter, push mower, flip clock, etc.—and disassembles them, photographing all of the component pieces. Simply stunning.

Watch a great video about the process (and see more of his work) at his website here.

(Thanks to 2 or 3 Things I Know for the tip.)

THE WEDDING FILES: MICHELLE ARMAS

Despite the craziness of work and school, I do manage to have time to fantasize about my wedding (still, thankfully, a long way off!). Thus enter the beautiful canvases of Michelle Armas. Not only will they be major color palette inspiration but I am also planning on putting her work on my registry. I want to have a special section of (at least relatively) affordable works of art on my registry, encouraging my loved ones to give things that I will be able to admire everyday, rather than a set of china I might use once a year. As I stumble across artists I want to add to this I will post them here.

In the meantime, pick up one of Armas' paintings here and check out her blog here and website here.

(p.s. Her work kind of reminds me of a cross between Abstract Expressionism and Matthew Ritchie's paintings, no?)

OBSESSIVE, ORGANIZED, BUT NOT OVERWHELMED!

I have been busy. What else is new right? I started a new part time job this week, which is very exciting though a bit stressful. I am now working 24 hours a week and taking four classes besides. Yikes!

So how I am keeping things together? I have found online document storage to be completely essential. So here are two (free!) options that making accessing your documents on the go super easy.

Put your files into your Dropbox folder on one computer and they'll automatically appear on any of your other computers that also have Dropbox installed (Windows, Mac, and Linux too!). You can even download Dropbox apps for your smartphone or mobile device (iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry). Everything in your Dropbox is available from the Dropbox website too. Even better? As soon as you save something in your Dropbox folder it syncs to every device that you have set up to your account. So you can access that spreadsheet on your phone, at work, at home . . . anywhere! Simply put, it's a great way to back up your files.

Accounts with 2GB of storage are free and, with each person you recommend you get an extra 250 MB of storage. There are, of course, monthly plans that offer more storage too. You can download Dropbox here.

Looking for something a little simpler and more design-y? Try CloudApp. While you can create public folders (allowing you to share documents with others) through Dropbox, CloudApp makes it as easy as dragging your document into the menubar and copying a link. Done. You can check out CloudApp (also free!) here.

Enjoy!

LAST MINUTE VALENTINE

Last week I gave you tips for making Valentine's Day last all year. Today, I am helping out all of you procrastinators out there. Forgot to get your near and dear a little somethin' somethin' for the day of love? Never fear, Kate Spade is here! The Kate Spade B Mine Gallery has a ton of (free!) e-cards designed by some fabulous artists, designers and illustrators.

Go check it out here!

(Just further proof—like this and this—that everything Kate Spade is right up my alley.)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: HAPPY WEEKEND!

I just rediscovered this cool self-portrait I took (with the help of a friend, of course) with a large-format camera my senior year of college. It seemed like a good image to leave you with for the weekend. Hope you all have time to get creative this weekend!

Want to see more? Check out my portfolio here.

(Aren't those shoes awesome? They were sparkly and gold!)

MY (PERMANENT) VALENTINE

This morning I was lamenting the fact that I was behind on my Valentine's Day posts. But I realized something: why celebrate love only one day of the year? I really like the idea of doing small special things for your loved ones on unexpected days, surprising them with little notes or gifts just to make them smile. So, another idea: why not have your walls decorated with artwork that reminds you to spread the love? These are currently some of my favorites:

top to bottom, left to right:

I Love Us, KantanDesigns, $9

Personalized Couple Portrait, Rifle Paper Co., $250

I Have Always Known It Was You, Row Boat Press, $15

Heart Poster, Banquet Atelier Workshop, $50