Happy New Year!

Fingers crossed for my sister having a safe, fun new year in times square tonight!

Is anyone really ready for 2008? I'm struggling to finish-out 2007 decently, after being on vacation for a week and now trying to get back in the swing of it all... 2007 was an interesting year.

The silver lining was finally being fairly settled in Charlotte and working for a firm I like / respect. The road here was a rocky one...

On that note, happy new year to everyone- hope you do something special tonight!

christmas cheer

A lovely Christmas wreath from Tintown design, out of South Africa. Christmas is almost here!!! And just as important, VACATION. Happy friday... you can almost here the reindeer.

Dear Santa (Domino-Style)

I just saw this on Domino's Daily Dose- I hate to copy and paste the entire thing, but it's pretty hilarious and well-worth reading the whole thing.

(nick olsen's dear santa list)

"My List
Dear Santa,
Here is my list for Christmas 2007. I've been a very good boy this year: I kept up this blog, started paying off my credit card, and went into work extremely hung over only, like, five or six times. So won't you help me out with a few of these items on December 25th? My new apartment has a fireplace so you shouldn't have trouble getting in -- granted it's straight out of a Jacob Riis photograph, not the high relief splendor I used to know -- but just wait until you see this place next year! Thusly I am asking for:

1. Peace on Earth (duh)
2. A bolection mantel with pale green marble surround and hearth
3. A Moroccan rug
4. An IKEA red lacquer kitchen or one in custom stainless steel from Master! Kitchen! Builders! in Chinatown
5. A mini-fridge as I am not a family of five (and a dishwasher and ice maker if you're feeling generous)
6. A flat screen TV compatible with my remote and widescreen format DVDs (not like this French Audiovox abomination I have presently)
7. A monogrammed shower curtain
8. A Dyson vacuum

And ....

9. A perfectly slim-fitting peacoat
10. Our curtain maker David Haag's Martin Margiela boots in tan suede and chocolate brown leather
11. Custom fit button-down shirts from Polo (if they ever start making them again! PLEASE Polo!)
12. A better haircut
13. Books without pictures

I'm sure I'll think of more, but that can get you started. Oh, and I could use a few elves around here to work on this shirred/tented ceiling idea have so maybe you could spare a few once your high season is over? Let's talk. Thanks Santa.
Nick

(Readers, tell me what's on your list this year!!!)"

Contests!

Tis the season for competition, apparently... but these are awesome.

DWR is doing their classic Champagne Chair Contest, and if I understand correctly, the chair must be made entirely out of the cork of a bottle of champagne. This is an image I found of previous entries on The One Train. These get pretty creative- can't wait to see what everyone comes up with this year!

Another one my sister sent me (nicely done, Meagen- you called it) was called One Sheet of Paper and is put on by the Hirshhorn Modern Art Gallery in Wash. DC. I think this is over / has passed, but these were some of the entries. Once again, a rather limited materials palette- one sheet of 8.5 x 11 white paper. Sounds simple? I think these people have clearly proved me wrong...

erin's travel bag #4

I am getting my things together for the trek home, and I was going through my purse to slim down the load when I got to my ziploc "airplane bag". I find myself keeping all my lipglosses in a baggie in my purse even after a flight for easy access. Also, I tend to be very forgetful and absent minded with important things (just ask anyone who knows me.)

Three things that are always in my travel bag, and purse for that matter, are lip/face/dryskin remedies. Very important for dehydrating winters, and plane rides.My favorite pick is the Vaseline lip thearapy with aloe, unfortunately you can only buy it in England or online at the Brit store.

A close runner up from the Vaseline lip thearapy is the ever so useful Smith's Rosebud Salve. And it is sold Stateside! My Aunt (actually cousin) Jolynn got me hooked on this stuff when I was a mere teenager and it has been a staple ever since. Both the Vaseline Lip thearapy and the Rosebud Salve are awesome for chapped, lips, cuticles, chapped skin and to put around your chapped noses during flu season. (sorry for the imagery.)

Thirdly, I always have an airplane bottle size of Fresh Rose and Marigold tonic. My coworker and I bought it in Vegas last summer and I must say it is the perfect perk to a dry face. Really good for the dehydration on flights too!! I like it better than the Evian Mineral water spray. (although that stuff is pretty good too.)

Cute Self-mailer

image via how about orange

I found this fun little FREE self-mailer via How about Orange. The design is by evie s. and you can download it here. I think its fun for the holidays or anytime!

get HAPPY!

photo via clinique website

Customization everywhere! I don't wear this scent but thought it was a pretty cool idea. Clinique has a service where you can customize your Happy Perfume with your favorite photo. pretty neat gift if you know someone that wears it!

I also saw in Lowe's stores you can customize your giftcards with photos.

strike!!

Saturday was Ben's birthday and we had a lil bowling get together at the new[ish] 300 Dallas. It was quite the posh place, especially for a bowling alley. They say it's suppossed to be like club, meets bowling with a nice bar and cafe. I think there is nothing wrong with a regular bowling alley but it was very fun, none the less!

My favorite part of bowling is the shoes. Yea, some people say they are gross and unsanitary, blah blah, but look at how cool they photograph! Especially under a black light. I just think they are the one thing that never really changes. They are always a little uncomfortable and seemingly ugly, but part of the ritual and I love it.

travelling my way :)

A friend of mine, Catherine Young, is amazing at capturing the best moments and expressions of her friends- these are from her trip to NYC. I wish I had a link to give you, but I saw these on facebook...

I'm so excited to be going home for the holiday on about a week, but I think the best part about this trip is that I'm driving. I'm hugely against checking baggage when I fly, so everytime I go home, I manage to cram everything into a carry-on and a 'small personal item.' That means that I have to be really frugal with what I take home, and that I don't have my own means of transportation while I'm at home... I tend to feel a litttttle stuck.

Well, for Christmas, I'm fortunately driving up meaning that I'll not only be able to pack as much as I can fit in my car, but I can also take myself wherever I choose to go in the Cleveland area!

This is probably the best time of the year to have that kind of freedom- can you imagine the lights & snow in Cleveland, begging to have their pictures taken by yours truly and my "new" (to me) canon slr? I'm pumped.

Tattoo House

One of my coworkers passed-along this awesome house today. The firm is located in Australia, so I'm assuming the house is, as well. The house is basically a big box, with lots of design decisions made to suit the budget- including the form of the house. It turned out really, really well, in my opinion- the details, as usual, are what make it, ie the stairs that are built-into the kitchen furniture. The house has these giant doors that fold open, and most significantly, a huge screen silhouette of a couple of trees over an almost-entirely glass wall that not only reflect / screen the heat away from the interior of the home, but create these amazing shadows throughout the day.

DEFINITELY check this out- as well as the rest of the firm's work.

Jessica Claire

I love this photo by Jessica Claire- that kind of statement from a front door? I can't imagine what's hiding behind it...

Wedding Dresses

J Crew always works a ruffle, eyelet, or heavy lace into their bridal work...

Ann Taylor- of course. Classy + elegant.

Style Me Pretty, a site for everything-stylish-wedding, which I (strangely) am obsessed with, highlighted a few new wedding dresses this morning. Some were shown by Project Runway's Austin Scarlett- so cute- and some were shown by other designers. These two were my personal favorites- not that they'd be 'the dress' for me, but I still like them...

channeling Debbie Gibson

So on a rampage last night to get presents wrapped and my tiny little tree decorated, I went to the Decorator's warehouse that is going out of business hoping to find some cheap ribbon (red to match my camper theme). However, they had NO decent quatlity red ribbon. So I bought a few rolls of black, pink and green for after the holidays. As, I sat around last night, I guess I began to channel Debbie Gibson. With a little encouragement and help from Ben the result turned out better than I could have imagined! The black and white presents with the gold, pink and white tree, so 80's!!

The Mid-Century Modernist

I'm in love with this website. I'm still trying to figure out the point- selling products, blog-ish kind of information, or a combination of both. But one thing is for certain- I love the art, photographs, links, pictures, ideas, shops and everything else they have to offer!

Mickey-D's

Check out this McDonalds in London done by Arne Jacobsen- so cool! Egg chairs and a surprising lack of the infamous red / yellow combination? I'm impressed...

Dwell House

This is the Dwell Next house, model house. It is in Hillsborough, NC. You gotta check out the progress pictures and the finished interior. GORGEOUS!!!

Dallas Design Guide

yay! Design Sponge did the Dallas Design Guide today. And I must say it is the most thorough one yet. Paige Phelps from the Dallas Morning News did it and her catagories ROCK! Makes you wanna come back y'all doesn't it?

Christmas humor

A friend of mine just sent me a whole group of Christmas-humor cartoons, but this one was, by far, my favorite :)

NHL Powered by Reebok

One of my coworkers in CO just forwarded this onto me- these are photos from the NHL Powered by Reebok Store in NYC- first a hockey stick sculpture and the other is an ice wall- pretty cool.

amy butler

Other than wanting her book [i've gotten a glimpse and the photography is delightful] and wanting to live in her groovy house [it was featured in Domino], she has a really cool shop selling pillows, notebooks and paper goods. I especially liked the red and charcoal combination on this pillow.

library continued

A few more books on my wishlist to buy for my design library... I guess today I am on the mid-century modern kick. [clockwise] Atomic Ranch, Shop America, Amy Butler's Midwest Modern, Americana Beautiful, The modern Ranch house, Mid-Century Modern.

cookies, cake, cupcakes, brownies

All of those sweet I have sitting on my counter right now. Why you ask? because my wonderful friends and family have baked all of these delicious goods for my birthday! It was a very fun weekend, starting yesterday when my coworkers took me to lunch at Tillman's Roadhouse. {very cool, and a must visit for anyone in Dallas} Then my friends took me out last night for a delicious meal at Patrizio's, today my awesome cousin Joslyn cooked me delightful chicken pot pie and yummy chocolicious cake. Thank you everyone!!

library

Reading Kelley's earlier post I realized that I still do not own the Snow Show book. [essential since our names are in it!!] I really want to expand my library overall, a few books I would like to add are [clockwise]: Snow Show book, Domicilium Decoratus, In the Pink, I like you: Hospitality under the Influence, Modern Glamour, and Hip Hollywood Homes.

ring in the season

I found these rings via Designsponge reader wishlists... this suggestion was from Julie at Another Shade of Grey. Elizabeth Scott's etsy shop has some beautiful handmade jewelry but I especially love the natural detail of both rings, they would be a perfect way to decorate your finger! [i am a size 7 if anyone wanted to know, :)]

Happy birthday Joslyn!

So today is my cousin Joslyn's birthday. This would make a pretty birthday cake (from Kelley's post a couple days ago)... sorry I'm a horrible baker Jos. Have a Fab day!

recap of la la land

It was a very short trip that involved mostly work… and by mostly I mean 85%. However, in our very short off times we did a couple pretty groovy things. The first night we went to one of our favorites, Ciudad, a Cuban restaurant within walking distance of our hotel. The food as always was delicious, and I got a pretty good photo this time that Gregg and I were studying on the loooong plane ride home. I think the thing we thought was most interesting is the interior is simple but the use of design in section is a good lesson for all of us (Patrick will be proud to hear!)

We had a couple meals in our hotel, The Standard, which is plenty of eye candy in itself… I have several photos of the lobby, the restaurant, and our rooms. I don’t even know where to begin with the rad awesomeness of our new “home” when we are in LA (as we will be staying there from now on…) so I’ll let the photos speak for themselves:
see more on my Flickr account.

To round out the trip, on our way to the airport we made a detour to Hollywood to have a Pink’s hotdog. Well worth the trip for this retro local standby.

The Snow Show- three years later.

I was looking around online for some agrarian architectural influences, and somehow came up with this image. I, of course, recognized it- there aren't too many buildings made completely out of ice.

This is the exhibit from The Snow Show on the Rovaniemi site by Zaha Hadid. They didn't have any knod to Kemi- the other site that we were fortunate enough to work on building, but at least there was mention to the project at all!

Cakes!

I know it's been a while- my apologies. Look at these wedding cakes I just saw on Style Me Pretty- LOVE THEM... and now I want cake.

sunny skies (hopefully)

I am off to downtown LA for showroom set up... hopefully I'll see some cool stuff! Keep ya updated. (we are staying at the standard... not the motel, but isn't that a rockin picture?!)

made by girl

I found this really awesome card website, made by girl. Jennifer Ramos has created this paper goods site to raise awareness for the environment and is taking a stand by making all her goods 100% recyclable materials. The cards are funky, quirky and fun and even better funny. Here are a few of my favorite picks:

cafe oasis

On Saturday, Shannon, Lindsy and I went to Oklahoma City for bridesmaid dresses (more on that later... we got to design our own!). On the way back we met up with one of Shannon's College friends to meet for dinner. The place Cafe Oasis, in the asian district, is described more as a "bubble tea house" but we had food too.

They had an enormous amouts of teas, coffees, smoothies etc. But what I found most interesting was after they made the fresh teas, they sealed the cups with these fun anime tops. They were perfect if you are taking it to go because they won't come off like a normal lid. When you are ready to drink, you puncture the top with your straw. I must say... the passionfruit green tea was delicious!

nervous system

I found these jewelry pieces from nervous system via cube me. Each piece is derived from biological and or a mathematical process. The two creators of this very cool jewelry, Jesse and Jessica, met at the Massachusetts institute of technology. Combining their skills they have come up with some very unique and beautiful laser cut steel pieces. love it.