Pearl Izumi Running Shoes.

This ad persuaded me to read it outloud to my co-worker. That makes it awesome. I'm not sure of the agency behind it, but thanks to Advertising for Peanuts who found it in the first place.

Rosanna Inc.

I've said before how I'm not the type of person to have only one set of dishes. I love design too much and it's too large a part of me to do so.

I recently discovered Rosanna Inc. where it's all dinnerware all the time. There are so many amazing patterns and designs to check out that I'm positive I could find at least five sets I'd like to have for myself. Here are some of my favorites. I'm especially into the number and Days of Christmas.

Ruler Ring.

I love jewelry - silver please, thankyouverymuch - especially rings and necklaces. I have a few unique pieces that tend to be my favorites, like my Thoreau quote necklace and the ring my friend, Aaron, made for me as a Christmas present a few years ago. I can completely see this Ruler Ring by Fancy falling into just that category. For $60.

You Are Here.

Love, love, love this poster from Johnson Banks. It's so clever and entirely too truthful.

"This project dates back to the mid-nineties, and was originally meant to be a tongue-in-cheek, semi-autobiographical but mainly fictional guide to graphic design for students. It soon spiralled out of control and became a bittersweet journey through the many different lives of a graphic designer."

This is the third printing of the poster and each time a few new blurbs pop up on it. You can get one at the Johnson Banks shop for £20 plus shipping.

Artist Crush: SQFT Gallery.

SQFT has some incredible rotating art and prints are generally one sale through the site.

The Gallery is owned and operated by Aaron Durnin and Kathleen Losche, who aim to use it as a conduit for emerging artist and designers in the Nashville area. Their focus is on two- and three-dimensional contemporary art. SQFT also features an ongoing exhibit of Aaron's furniture and metalworks. Twelve shows are held per year with the openings on the first Saturday of each month.

Luxery Apartments by Julie Rothman

Shore by Julie Rothman

Chandelier by Julie Rothman

Orange Beautiful.

I'm rather impressed with Orange Beautiful's well-designed site and owner Emily's sense of design and color. Her abilities are incredibly versatile.

Smoke Art.

The MAKE blog has recently posted some incredibly cool smoke art. This piece is a smoke "sculpture" from artist Mehmet Ozgu. Too bad I don't know any smokers any longer. Ahem. Then I could create some of my own.

Antique Crown.

I would find an occassion to wear this.
Like a Monday.

(It's at the Curiosity Shoppe.)

Urchin Orb Pendant.

I love this Urchin Orb Pendant from Union Street Glass. The combination of "sparkle and spikes" is mesmerizing. The pendant is available in eleven colors, but I prefer the clear. There are also three different size (large is shown above - 14 x 14") for sale - $1210 for the large, $715 for the standard and $284 for the mini.

The owners, Guy and Leanne Corrie, use old world glassblowing techniques to create innovative design concepts in a unique art form. Even though the shop has been around since 1980, they still only employ ten people and produce about thirty pieces a day. Contemporary art that's both beautiful and functional - love it.

Fold Flat Barbeque.

I want one. Pronto so I can have it around for the weekend Labor Day festivities.

The Fold Flat BBQ is brilliantly designed, packs super thin and opens up to provide a 45 x 30cm cooking area. Solidly made from pressed steel, the sides provide a built-in wind break. Since it's so portable you can head out any time you like to BBQ your little heart out. What an amazing contraption that's so well thought out. And only around $40.

Pastis.

Pastis is a French bistro located in the heart of Manhattan's meatpacking district. I'm sure you're most likely heard of it - seems like a lot of celebrities go there to eat and be photographed by the paps. But whatever because I'm nowhere near Manhattan and not raving about their food, but their identity and packaging.

Guiness Cupcakes.

These look awesome. I could use a Wednesday afternoon beer cupcake.

Happy 5th Veer.

It's been five years since Veer stepped into the perispherals of creatives everywhere. Not just a stock photo house, but a provider of good photography, illustrations, motion clips and typefaces. Someplace different that allows "us" to break out of the grid and make things work, filter out the mundane, and do the best work possible. Pretty cool. I know that Veer is my source of choice and lots of other designers feel the same way.

I almost forgot to mention Veer's incredible merchandise. Part self-promotion, part signature design. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Kern Zip Up $69

Extra Black Hoodie $59

Type City Prints $55/10

Start Here Linkable Notebooks.

Start Here linkable notebooks are evil genius at work. Simply slide the back cover of one book into the cover of another and voila. The process is never ending and your plans for world domination can procede in an organized fashion. Besides lined and blank notebooks they also carry planners. The pockets are also really handy for storage if you're not linking the books together.

Toro Tissue Ring.

My allergies and I are wishing we had one of these today.

The Toro Tissue Ring is an stylish alternative to the always unattractive tissue box. Made of stainless steel, Toro's simplicity is the result of a perfect balance of weight and size - just right to let one tissue through at a time while staying firmly planted on the tissue stack.

Illustrator Crush: Menta.

I discovered Etsy seller Menta a few months ago and can't get enough of her vintage-looking, Mexican-art inspired prints. Most are available for under $20.

Holly Golightly.

If you know me then you know that I love the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's and everything Audrey Hepburn. I was pumped when I saw this Holly Golightly sleep mask ($14) at Fred Flare. Love it - even if I don't understand how or why anyone could sleep with something over their eyes.

Le Beanock.

This is quite possibly one of the coolest inventions in recent history - Le Beanock. Basically a beanbag converted into a hammock that can hang at any height and angle. Le Beanock is crafted out of marine quality sailcloth finished with zig-zag stitching for extra durability. Chain and eyelets are another marine quality feature - making it more than tough enough for two people. We can thank fashion model turned expert sailmaker/weldress Tracie Herrtage for her innovative design. As of now Le Beanock is available in both natural and black, as well as small (250£) and large (495£) sizes.

Gee Beauty.

Yesterday sucked to put it bluntly. At work I was lacking my normal inspiration and creativity. Things only got worse once work ended. I went out to my car - ten feet away from the front door in the parking lot - to find that it had been broken into and the drivers' side all keyed up. Luckily nothing was stolen, but it was the icing on the cake that was my day.

This is where I would have rather been. Gee Beauty in Toronto. It just looks so relaxing. Unfortunately Oklahoma is nowhere near Toronto, but even browsing through their site was somewhat calming. I'm totally into their minimalistic packaging with quirky names like Inside every worn down pencil is a point dying to be sharp (eye pencil sharpener).

Fly-Bird.

Fly-Bird is full of curious little items that make every day life even more interesting. I love little tea-party ready sugar and creamer sets and the Anna set ($204) is divine. The Juicy Salif ($79) is an incredible piece of alien-like design that I would love to have sitting on my kitchen counter. And the Stackable Number Cups ($16) are stark white and beautiful. I can think of several things I could use them for other than drinking eight million cups of coffee.

Jasper Morrison's Coffee Machine.

I'm going to stick with my coffee theme for a little longer today as I introduce to you the Coffee Machine by Jasper Morrison. This beautifully modernistic machine is entirely self-contained: filters, spoon, measuring table, etc and was noted as one of Fortune Magazine's 25 Best Products. Love it.

Shameless Plug: Dean & Deluca's House Blend.

I've been a devoutee of all things Starbuck's since high school. Ever since the only place you could get some of that sweet, sweet caffeine near my hometown was at the Barnes & Noble twenty minutes away. Nothing could change my belief that their coffee is by far superior to all others.

Or so I thought.

A few month's ago I bought a bag of Dean & Deluca's Breakfast Blend and have been a changed woman ever since the first sip. It's amazing, I don't know what else to say. Not only am I loving their coffee, but their simplistic branding and design as well. Starbuck's will always be near and dear to me, but I fear our relationship may never be what it once was. Sigh.

Monday Goodness: The Mondays.

The Visual Dictionary.

I'm loving this site right now. The Visual Dictionary is a collaborative project to collect as many photographs of words as possible. They aim to do this by asking users to send in their images of words, whether they be "signage, advertising, graffiti, packaging, menus, written in the sky, tatoos, or made of grass" - if it's a single word they'll definitely accept it and add it to the dictionary.

How does it work? Simple, type in any word in the Search bar on the homepage. The Visual Dictionary searches and supplies thumbnails of all images related to your entry.

5.

Last Friday I purchased some Wrigley's 5 gum, I'll admit, mainly for the packaging. Most of the package is matte black with only the 5 and flavor-associated color being glossy. Besides that, I was intrigued as to what type of pieces of gum would go into such a unique-shaped box. Turns out they're regular old sticks, but arranged in three rows of five pieces each.

Afterwards I did a little brand research to satisfy my curiosity. There are two ideas about the source of the name. The first is that it has been 5 years since Wrigley's debuted Orbit. The second, and generally more accepted, is that it stimulates the five senses while chewing. The name could also possibly be a reference to the gum having 5 calories.

Alice in Wonderland.

This Alice in Wonderland dinnerware at Fishs Eddy is awesome. I love the pen and ink feeling of the illustration against the white background of the dishes. And the grotesque stretched Alice on the drinking glass is fantastic. All pieces are priced $4.50-$16.95.

Cube Jigger.

I'm an unintentional collector of barware. Most of what I own is retro in design, some of it actual vintage pieces. I run the gamet though and even own some crystal. I'm always on the lookout for cool pieces and accessories, which might explain why I own something like five cocktail pitchers alone.

The Aluminum Cube Jigger by designer Josh Owen is so innovative - it has different pour measure on every side. According to Josh "the design of the Aluminum Cube Jigger evolved from an experiment to compress the six most common liquid measures used to mix alcoholic drinks, into the smallest possible dispenser. the form was inspired by traditional box-shaped, Japanese sake cups, from which sake is sipped from the corners."

You can get your very own at at Unica Home for $20.

Photographer Crush: Alicia Bock.

These photographs by the very talented Alicia Bock of every day life are incredibly surreal and haunting to me. She's entirely self-taught, so that makes them that much more amazing. Check out her portfolio as well as her etsy shop.

V Chocolates.

V Chocolates has some incredible packaging going on. I love the baby blue box, which I'm convinced we equate with Tiffany's in our mind which then equals quality. Or maybe that's just me! Regardless, not only are V Chocolates (and toffee and berries) amazing to look at, but I'm betting they taste delicious as well. Master chocolatier, Ron Best, has been in the business of creating chocolates for more than twenty years.

Back to School.

This week is Back to School time in Oklahoma. It seems crazy to me being from Pennsylvania originally and never starting school until the very end of August, if not after Labor Day. Being the Paper Lover that I am, I was always excited to go shopping for school supplies. And I still am. Every year I never fail to end up roaming the school supply aisles of Target and buying at least one notebook (that I don't really need) just to reminisce. Now with places like Russell + Hazel and See Jane Work it's kind of like year-round Back to School for gals like me.

I'd mentioned a few months back about Thomas Paul coming out with a new line of office supplies and stationary, but until recently I couldn't find it anywhere. Now his entire collection is available through See Jane Work. I'm definitely going to have to get my hands on some of this!

A+R Store.

A+R is everything design and pop culture. The constant is design that charms, functions and inspires. Their hope is that "you find things you've been looking for all your lives, and stuff you didn't know you needed." I came across some beautiful pieces while browsing that I've not seen anywhere else. There's a lot of great design, so check it out.

Clockwise from top left: Minima turquoise bottles $32, Tord Boontje garland light $68, Cocktail forks 4 for $10 and Vast Design's tube coffee $95 for the set shown.

Caramel Apple Bars.

Oh my gosh. It's not fair that I saw these Caramel Apple Bars in the middle of the afternoon when I was totally jonesing for something sweet, ooey and gooey. These would 100% fit the bill and are so incredibly wrong that I had to share.

The Royal Couple.

Every big fan of The Royal Tennebaum's won't be able to resist this two-print set of Margot and Richie Tennebaum. They're fabulous looking and would be a phenomenal conversation piece. Each piece is 8 x 11" with a white border and signed by the artist. The $17.50 cost includes shipping from Canada.

Nalgene Kits.

I adore my hot pink Nalgene bottle. What was once a camping product to carry food mixes now has a cult-like following among college students and 20-somethings. Now Nalgene has taken another step forward by creating Kit Bottles - 32 oz bottles that are stocked full of things for First-Aid, Heat Stress, Auto, Dog, Emergency/Survival and Kids. Genius.

ferm LIVING.

Wall stickers are all the rage right now, the other day I even saw some at Target in their Back-to-School dorm section. And why shouldn't they be popular? They're easy to apply, remove and re-apply elsewhere (or so I hear). There's a huge variety of sizes, colors and patterns available, too, so there's most likely something for everyone. Besides that, wall stickers can be used on all flat surfaces: walls, ceilings, furniture, windows, mirrors, etc.

I have a few favorites that are candidates for my soon-to-be house. Right now the Branch and Berry Black from ferm LIVING are at the top of that list ($105 and $90 respectively). Okay, especially the branch. I would love to have it on the wall in some cozy corner where I could curl up and read. You can pick up your own at Design Public.

Billbirdhouse.

I'm completely infatuated with Bom Design's billbirdhouse at the moment. Because 1.) I love when products are a reincarnation of some other product (um, obviously billboards in this case) and 2.) I love when things are one-of-a-kind, which these defnitely are. No two could ever match. You can pick one up at Bom Design for 40 euros.