I HEART NEW ENGLAND

I'll be in Boston in October to attend The New Marketing Summit. Whilst the rest of the executive team goes to China to attend the Canton Fair, I'll probably extend my stay there and walk around the brick streets of Boston, kicking leaves and ducking into boutiques I can't afford. Is there some place I MUST visit while I'm there? Lucky for me Domino's own Rita Konig featured Boston in the latest issue; all is not lost!

LAID-BACK LUXURY MEETS THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND

I love everything about the tour of Anya Hindmarch's home in the latest Domino. First, she's adorable and has a really cute family of five, she let's her kids carve messages in the kitchen table for posterity and she's got great artwork that includes a few images of the Queen that are delightful {DFace and Chris Levine's "Lightness of Being" prints}. Oh, and she has the dream job of designing shoes and handbags.

JUST DREAMING

You know how sometimes you can sit in a comfortable chair with a full belly and just dream up all the cool things that would be fun to own? I'm doing that right now. I think I'd like one of these to travel about town. Would handle well in the snow, can carry a small family, looks cool. If this was the only criteria for a new car, it would be mine already.

MY DECO FILE

If you are like me you have dozens of folders on your C drive or your desktop labeled "inspiration" or "pretty things" and they are chock full of images that move or inspire you. But how do you access them or stay organized in any way when they are scattered EVERYWHERE?

Domino put some thought to it and just launched My Deco File. It's a one-stop-shop for storing all your images, no matter where they come from, with a simple way to organize them into whatever makes sense for you. I wanted to sample the tool and created a folder containing some of my favorite images from the Domino gallery. Check it out here.

WHEN THE CAT'S AWAY, THE MOUSE SHOULD HAVE PLAYED

I should have thought of this sooner. Nate has been in Las Vegas since Monday and it would have been the perfect time to add a rug to his office, hang all the art we've decided goes there, and made it look all cozy and pretty for him. Why am I only thinking about this on Wednesday night? Nate returns home on Friday...not nearly enough time to do anything credible. Well, one thing is for sure, he'll have another trip that is long and I'll be at home watching way too much "Cold Case". All the photos are from Apartment Therapy.

TIRED OF YOUR OWN PLAYLISTS?

My husband is always in the know with cool technology and applications. He discovered Pandora Radio and has been touting it ever since. Imagine this: you are in a Radionhead mood, but you don't necessarily want to listen to just Radiohead nor do you want to take the time to create a playlist.

It's time for Pandora Radio. Just type in the name of your favorite band and it does the rest. A beautiful and ecclectic "if you like this then you'll also like this" collage. Might I suggest trying "Love and Rockets." It's brings up some unexpected but perfectly brilliant like-songs.

For an extra bit of zing you can download this app onto your iPod touch and play Pandora Radio via wifi from there. With all the music taken care of, all you have to worry about is, say, pulling on your yellow rubber cleaning gloves and getting that last bit of deep cleaning done before winter sets in.


















*photo via getty images

WHAT A CUTE BOOK

"Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane."
When I have kids, and they are old enough to have an attention span beyond 20 minutes, I'll read this book to them when they are sick. They will snuggle up to be with their fever-sweat and I'll teach them the story of a rabbit that learns the importance of loving and being loved. Then I'll make them some tomato soup and tuck them in for a nap. Thanks Ryan and Ruth!

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

Cool design, no?

MORE THAN LIPSTICK ON A PIG!

If I did not have NPR to keep me company on my morning commute I don't know what I'd do. How would I ever know about the state of the economy...the latest on Palin and Barack...or about a couple of tatooed pigs? Shanghai Contemporary is a big art show that unfortunately would not allow these pigs to be shown as part of Wim Delvoye's art show, but they did allow him to show a welch man who allowed Delvoye to tattoo his back and sell it as a piece of art for over $200k. Once the canvas passes on, his skin will be removed, framed, and hung on some shmucks wall as a one-of-a-kind. Sheesh. I prefer the pigs!

CANTON FAIR

Ever wondered what a tradeshow would look like in China? Looks like I may be heading to the Canton Fair in October so I'll let you know. In the meantime, this is one I found from google images.

JCREW *SIGH*

I'm basically in love with everything on the J.crew slide show right now. You wouldn't know it for the flip flops and hoodie I wore to work today; in my dreams I'd dress like this all the time. Except for the days I hike around in the mountains.

*How cute is the Praha video?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECKY

My mother-in-law Becky's birthday was yesterday. Lame that I'm posting late; thank heaven for the mantra "better late than never". Happy Birthday Becky. Hope you take some time this weekend to relax.

HIP HIP HOORAY FOR HP LOVECRAFT

Hayley Parker is a 22 year old from Utah who hand designs/embellishes canvas shoes like these simple vans, turning them into masterpieces the likes of which Madonna pays up to $500 pounds for. Love to see talent like this take off! See a small selection online here. Wow, I sure wasted my time when I was 22; I wouldn't have even been able to sell my car for $500 pounds back then.

LAST DAY OF MAGIC: HELLO AUSTIN CITY LIMITS!

Nate and I have scheduled a quick weekend trip to Austin {part of Austin City Limits} on Sept. 27 to see The Kills. If you think this video seems a little violent, you should have driven by our house Saturday afternoon when a water fight/violent outburst broke out on our front porch {read: never start a water fight on the front porch after you've spent two hours cleaning the windows}.

THIS MOVIE IS STUCK IN MY HEAD

I've been doing a lot of traveling lately so I dropped many movies on my iPod to make the hours of flying pass by more quickly. I recently watched Into the Wild and now I cannot stop thinking about it. It was like watching someone live the dream I've had since I was about 19 {minus the starving in the magic bus, of course}. I think the part I loved the most was watching him run around on the prairie with horses. Happy. Unbridled. FREE. "Life was more exciting when I was penniless."
If you haven't, you should watch it.

BEST TWO WORDS EVER

Wouldn't you love to hear these two words? PERMANENT VACATION!
I sure would.























Photo from here.

SAVE THE DATE

Don't forget to visit Target on Sept. 14 to get your John Derian on.

BEAUTIFUL PAPERCUTS

While I was in China I came across two women doing beautiful papercuts. Very detailed. Very unique. Some are distinctly Chinese style and others are very ethereal and woodsy. Unfortunately you can't click on the images on the site to view them larger. But trust me, if you do decide to order one, they are high quality. This is just a screenshot from their site.

OH! CANADA!

Nate and I celebrated our third anniversary in Canada; a result of Nate having to be in Calgary on our anniversary. I finished up my work in Chicago and jumped a plane to Calgary and met Nate on a beautiful, sunny, comfortably brisk afternoon. We both managed to work in the hotel room; answering email and joining conference calls from opposite corners of the smallish room.

The next morning I had a few more calls for work, answered email, and then ran to the nearest spa for a quick facial. The worst I've ever had. The woman barely spent any time actually touching my face but rather left me under the steamer and relaxing with a mask on my face for 45 of the 60 minute experience. The times she did touch my face were equally disturbing while she massaged my face much like she was kneading bread dough. I spent the next few days recovering by treating my skin to enough sleep and the fresh clean air of the Rockies in Banff.

Nate and I spent four days in Banff and in those four days I, again, ran through the possibility of selling all my belongings {even the blue cottage} and moving there. I long for a time when I can live a more relaxed life. I don't mind being busy...but it would be nice to have my mind relaxed and at peace the way it was in Banff; wandering Banff Avenue, hiking Lake Louise's Six Glaciers, canoing the lake, walking through the snow after an unanticipated storm, breathing in air thick with pine and earth. Here are a bunch of pics from the trip.

Nate in a cafe in Calgary






















Hanging out along the Bow River in Calgary






















Beautiful Bow River





























Bridge over the Bow River























Lake Louise



























Lake Louise from a canoe























Amazing cerulean blue Lake Louise























Canoing Lake Louise: it ain't cheap but it's worth it




























Best guy in the world




























Fairmont Hotel at Lake Louise























Nate being attacked by a squirrel




























Hiking to Plain of Six Glaciers























View of Lake Louise from the trail




























Teahouse at Plain of Six Glaciers























Getting ready to do the last 1.5 mile to the glaciers























Air is thin; legs are burning























Nate hiking the last few hundred feet




























One of six glaciers




























Another look at Lake Louise from above




























Posies























Storm from the Fairmont balcony in Banff























Nate overlooking Banff from Norquay ski resort























Elk at Norquay























Gondola ride in Banff























View from atop Sulphur Mountain























Filipino family we met at the top























Canadian footwear recommendations