HAPPY WEEKEND!

What are you up to this weekend? I am hanging out with my parents at our little beach house in Connecticut, even though the weather is supposed to be sticky and full of thunderstorms. Despite the weather forecast I am looking forward to lots of naps, good books and good food.

Here are some fun things to tide you over until next week:

How cool is this bird finger puppet? There are some great DIY crafts on this new-to-me blog Mr. Printables.

It's like a party in your mouth!

I want to check out this exhibition, pronto.

Oh and this one too.

I signed up for this class next Monday and I am really stoked about it!

This would look beautiful in my living room.

I was at an opening at the Whitney on Wednesday and one of my friends was wearing this. And she looked gorgeous!

This looks crisp and clean; this would look great with a slim cut pair of white pants.

I am in the market for new business cards (now that I am a full-time student again and married to boot). These look really cool!

I have been working on this new site; it's still under construction but I would love any feedback you have!

I am not into tattoos, but this is impressive.

Harry Potter nerds rejoice!

The island of swimming pigs?!!

Siri now helps people with more just directions and sports scores now. Kudos, Apple.

Out of juice in the park? There's a solution for that this summer.


Have a great weekend!

TAKING OUT THE TRASH

Apparently Copenhagen is on a mission to be the greenest city in Europe by 2015. To celebrate this ambitious and important initiative the trash can company Vipp created a scale model eight times the normal size and put it in the middle of the city center. Cool, right? I love when projects have a public art component, something to make a big impact.

Read more about the project here.

SOPHISTICATED SURREALITY

It's hard to pull off a truly surrealistic collage these days (mostly they just look weirdly piecemeal or lame!) but artist Sammy Slabbinck uses vintage magazines from the 1950s-1970s to create intriguing environments in his work. And I think they look amazing, don't you? I particularly love the boxing ring one (sort of reminds me of this!) because the disjunction is both seamless and singularly odd.

Check out more of Slabbinck's work here and see a great article about him here.

GOOGLE DOODLE DOES IT AGAIN!

Remember last week when I talked about how cool Google Doodles are? Well they proved me right, immediately! On Friday—the first day of summer—they had the fabulous Christoph Neimann (who I have written about here, here, here) create a celebratory doodle to ring in the season. And how well does this capture the spirit of summer? It's all about fun in the sun and spending a splash-filled afternoon at the beach. My favorite summer pastime!

See more goodness from Christoph Neimann here and more Google Doodles here.

COLORFUL CANISTERS

I agree with swiss-miss, this print is fabulous! It reminds me of this and this. Clearly I have a certain aesthetic I like, but there is something about a colorful grid of objects that always looks clean and cool.

Bonus, the print is only $11.95 at the Etsy store PigeonEditions. Check out the whole store here.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY: A LOVING TRIBUTE BY STEPHEN COLBERT

What a beautiful tribute for a wonderful person. We should all be so lucky to have family like this—both as loving and supportive as Mrs. Colbert and as faithful and kind as Mr. Colbert. I guarantee you will get teary-eyed watching this short video.

I am going home today to spend time with my family. There is no special occasion, I just want to be there to hug them, share a laugh and hang out. (Plus it is really nice out and they live at the beach!) I hope you get to do the same sometime soon too.

Have a great weekend.

p.s. I think I most love the line, "When you watch this show if you also like me, that's because of my mom." So true, so true.

THE ARTIST SPEAKS

Have you visited the O.I. in the last week? Well you may have noticed some technical difficulties. It turns out my account was pseudo-hacked and my domain name (www.theobsessiveimagist.com) was temporarily disabled. What a pain! But thanks to some savvy advice from a Google-wise friend and some technical wizardry all is back to normal! I appreciate your patience. It's been a crazy time here at O.I. HQ, as I just finished my doctoral exams (I can now officially call myself a PhD! Only my dissertation left to go!), quit my job and am trying desperately to get my apartment back in order. Lots of change but also lots to be excited about.

Anyway, my computer troubles reminded me of the great quote above by the graphic design genius Saul Bass (whom I have written about before here and here). And, in turn, reminded me of the amazing Google Doodle from May 8: a tribute to what would have been Saul Bass's 93rd birthday. Google Doodles always strike me as pretty clever—wouldn't that be an amazing job to design those?—but this one really captured the bold, graphic forward-thinking designs created by Bass.

Don't you agree? See all the whole impressive archive of Google Doodles here and learn more about Saul Bass's beautiful work here.

And thanks again for bearing with me! I've got some fun things planned for this summer so I can promise it will be worth it.  :)

p.s. Still don't get my obsession with Saul Bass? Check out this video; it's a simple, clear introduction to the ongoing influence of his work.

APPLE, INNOVATION CENTRAL

Wowsers! Did you read about Apple's presentation at the Worldwid Developer's Conference on Monday? Besides launching updates to the Air and the Mac Pro, they also announced new operating systems for both their computers (OS X Mavericks) and mobile devices (iOS 7). And, like everyone else, I was totally blown away by the redesign on offer for the iPhone. They have completely overhauled the look and feel of all their apps (bright colors now! yes!!!) and reinvented the way we access and use basic functions (sharing files, changing settings, looking at our schedule, etc.). I am so so excited about all the new features, I am not sure how I am going to wait until this fall for it to come out!

If this news gets you as giddy as it does me, I highly recommend watching the entire presentation on Apple's website here.

UPDATE: Before I forget, the video below is also proof of the beautiful minds behind Apple's design team. Gorgeous!

QUILL & FOX

I love stationery. And I love Etsy. So I am always excited to discover cool, new paper products on my favorite craft site and, of course, share them with you!

I present to you the gorgeous goods on offer at Quill & Fox. They sort of remind me of this, no? I am particularly enamored with the colorful postcard collections; how great is the Loch Ness Monster design?

Check out more loveliness here.

HAPPY WEEKEND!

What are you up to this weekend? I am pretty much on lockdown here. It's supposed to rain in New York and I working on a two-week take home test for school—the last assignment I have to complete before I can officially call myself PhD ABD (all but dissertation).

Whatever you have planned, here are some fun links to tide you over until you can get them started.


Aren't the dominos above beautiful? They could make me pick up the game again!

I need to get myself a new coffee table/desk. Thinking this, this and this tutorial could be good.

How pretty are these dish towels? They would look perfect framed and hung on a kitchen wall!

Always looking for ways to keep track of my to do lists. This idea could be good.

I can't decide if these are totally cute or a little lame. I bet they are comfy though!

The perfect father's day present?

Totally making this tonight. Yum!

My college art museum is doing amazing things. I wish I still went to school there!

This is pretty funny. :)

A super fun DIY with spectacularly beautiful results.

How to conquer that email mountain.

I just started doing this yesterday. It's a doozy!

Simple, effective tips for better photos.

Just bought this top (not the bottoms!) and I am in love.

So excited to see this glowing review of a stupendous show. Bravo, Carter and Nick!


Have a lovely weekend! I will see you back here next week.

SUMMER ESSENTIALS

I don't know about you, but I am ready for summer! I finally finished my last week at my job and am delighted to report that I am now a full time student again. Hooray! That means more time to get back to the things I love: photography, thinking up great posts for the O.I., cooking, reading, and spending time with my family at the beach. Sounds pretty good right?

So to get ready for a fun-filled jam-packed summer, I put together a quick wishlist of items that will have you prepped for lazy June days in no time. And can you tell I am on a black, white and yellow kick right now (see here!)?

Without further ado, here's your list of summer essentials:

one.
a statement necklace to rock with shorts and a crisp white tee
geometric wooden necklace, $30

two.
cool patterned pants to throw on for a night out
1969 printed legging skimmer jeans, on sale for $56.21

three.
lovely sandals that go from beach to bar
tabbie t-strap sandals, on sale for $98

four.
protect your tech in style from errant splashes or popsicle drips
clearly cool beach set, $38

five.
a true story that will make your mouth water and the pages fly by
heat by bill buford, $13.16

six.
a lightweight layer with sailor's style
babaton hobart sweater, $85

seven.
this is one beach blanket that won't get lost in the sand
beach blanket in signature zig zag, $50

eight.
big, plush and perfect for warming up after a quick dip
dot beach towel, $34