Just stuff I see that I like: 2.15.13

This past weekend's epic snowstorm brought us the February break that Fairfield Public Schools had taken out of the calendar this year. Seriously, the kids were off Friday, Monday and Tuesday; the intern was home sick on Wednesday (seriously. Five days she had to be sick, and she chooses the first day back to school), back to school Thursday, and they're off again for a teacher development day today, and President's day on Monday. So, the bright side of all this parent/child bonding (said through clenched teeth) was sledding! Movies (No, we didn't watch Lazy Sunday, but come on, can you really say Chronicles of Narnia without thinking of it?)! Books! And maybe a little too much time on their iPods so I could get something done. Because when you work from home, you really don't get snow days, do you?

Seen + noted this week:

Loving this new campaign from Expedia using airport codes from luggage tags to send a message. Clever.

And while we're on the subject of travel, here's AirBnB's annual report. I love the stories that it tells.

Because I'm a type nerd.

About a month ago, I was called for jury duty, and man, was I stressed about being chosen to serve. I wish that I had read this beautifully written article about an acquaintance's experience being called for jury duty before I had to go. Not only is it so eloquent, but it really puts things in perspective.

Instagram of the week:

I'm not going to bore you with snowstorm pics. If you live around here, you're still living it. Instead, how cool is this? This is Mattio's great-grandmother's passport. Unfortunately, his grandmother passed away this past week; one of his relatives brought this to the luncheon after the funeral. This was his grandmother's mother. I hope his grandmother was a well-behaved child, because something tells me you do NOT want to be on the wrong side of this woman.Weekend plans, anyone? We are--FINALLY--taking advantage of the snow and going skiing, and then since it's a long weekend, and Monday is a holiday, and there are sales to be taken advantage of, Zoesmom and I have some plans to do serious damage at Kate Spade. I mean, unless you are Mattio reading this, and if so then we are just going to window shop.Happy weekend!

Gift Guide: Women

Just so you know, I had this whole week planned for gift guides (because I don't know about you, but I am still not done shopping; and, quite frankly, there's no end in sight). Sunday night I was putting the finishing touches on this, the women's gift guide, and I decided to go to bed before I published it--you know, so I could look at it with fresh eyes in the morning. And then yesterday happened, and it was about 7:00 at night before I sat down--and when I did sit down it was at my friend's house for book club (which was awesome, btw), and so, here we are beginning gift guide week on Tuesday instead.

1. Seriously, how adorable is this Cheers necklace from the always reliable (and my favorite--can't you tell?) kate spade? What girlie girl wouldn't want to find this under her tree? $78 at kate spade
2. OK, OK. It's obvious I like kate spade. But come on, these gloves? How cute are these gloves? $78 at kate spade
3. This Tory Burch clutch is on the WAY expensive side... but worth it. Clutches are a total pain, in my opinion; I'm always leaving them behind, and they're downright horrible if you have children. But that goes to show you I must really love this one. Plus: orange? Patent leather? Yes, please. $325 at Tory Burch
4. This is one of the handful of items on this list that I actually own, and I can completely endorse. Let me tell you that if you know a girl who always has cold feet at home, look no further than these slippers. The warmth and comfort of Uggs, without having to leave your house in them (although, be forewarned that I have left my house in them... and really, I wasn't fooling anyone)! $90 at Zappos
5. Full disclosure: I am not a smelly candle person. They're just not my thing. But sometimes, the garbage makes the kitchen all smelly, and you've just got to fire one up. Last year I bought a couple of holiday scented Mrs. Meyers candles, and they just smell so... clean. The lemon verbena scent is just wonderful. A most excellent stocking stuffer. $9.99 at Mrs. Meyers
6. Who wouldn't love a cashmere sweater? If you're shopping for me, I love a good cashmere turtleneck (hint, hint). $178 at J. Crew
7. I'm not a lipstick/gloss person--I'm perfectly happy with my Kiehl's lip balm, and I'm good to go. So when I do find a lip gloss that I love, I want to tell the world. World, meet Stilla lip gloss (plus, it's a $110 value for only $25! I'm such a sucker for that!). $25 at Sephora
8. Another item that I own, I get more compliments on these necklaces than I ever imagined. They are great as a set (which is how I wear them most often), or on their own. Adorbs. Heart, $49 at Stella and Dot; Arrow, $49 at Stella and Dot
9. Finally, books! I just picked up Diane Keaton's autobiography just yesterday (as a gift! Talk about taking your own advice!). She is so likeable, that I can't wait to dig into it. $13 at Amazon I just finished reading Mindy Kaling's book, which is not only adorable, but completely hysterical. If you're anything like me, you'll want to invite Ms. Kaling to your next girl's night out, because you know that you will totally become BFFs in a matter of minutes. Trust me on this one. $12.50 at Amazon

Tomorrow is the men's gift guide. Have any additions to this one? Anything I didn't cover? Hit me up in the comments!

Shoesies II:

It's cloudy, rainy, yucky and all around gross outside today. I think lime green shoes (with a hot pink heel) are in order:

Oh look at that! Kate Spade happens to have a pair right here. I know I just bought a fab pair of shoes... but a girl can never have too many, right?

Dress me up:

I saw this dress the other day on the always fab Zooey Deschanel, and thought to myself, adorbs!



Then I found out it was from my fave Kate Spade, and I thought to myself, naturally!

So now, I'm thinking to myself, I just need an extra $500 and a reason to wear it.

It's my party... (well, not really MY party)

OK. First things first. How on earth do I get myself on the invite list to THIS party?



Ignore the fact that it already happened... This sounds fabulous! Even more fabulous is the design*sponge bag that came out of it:



Adorbs. As are many of the other bags...



Yup. I definitely need to get myself to a party like this one.

Adorableness wrapped around your phone

Another week, another trip back to the altar of all things kate spade to spend a little time gushing...

This time, it's over iphone cases. When I first got my iphone, I opted for a plain black case. Fishing around for my phone in my bag a few times indicated that that was a mistake. Enter cute, hot pink kate spade iphone case. Now my iphone is easily spotted, and adorable.

Just yesterday though, some new ks iphone cases were unveiled (and a blackberry case, but--sorry BB users--really. I'm sure you'll agree that the iphone cases are much more adorable). Seriously, how much do I love these (especially the rotary phone one):



Cute, cute, cute. Add one of these to my Christmas list...

Another post where I gush about kate spade

There are few things I love in this world so much, that it's borderline obsessive: shoes (obvs) and handbags are among those things--specifically, kate spade shoes and handbags.

The kate spade brand does a great job of being quirky, fun and classic at the same time. I have ks bags and shoes that are embarrassingly old, that I still use to this day (of course, it's always fun to add to that collection, too). So when I heard that the company was publishing a book (!!!) and it's based on the fun "things we love" section of their site (!!!!), how could I resist?



There's a great interview with ks president Deborah Lloyd and Ed Miller, who oversaw the printing, over at Felt & Wire. For print nerds (and, I suppose, sugar junkies) like me, it's like extra icing on the cake of awesome. Fun book, with some background on the different printing techniques?

I'll take 2. One in purse form, please.

Thoughts on Democracy

This Wolfsonian exhibit was featured in the Times a couple of weeks ago; it's a modern take on the classic Norman Rockwell paintings, the Four Freedoms. The new interpretations are anything but Rockwell-esque; but then again, we live in much, much different times.

Chip Kidd's posters, I have to say, are among my favorites:









There's a Thoughts on Democracy blog here worth checking out; and the original story in the Times here (click here to see the slideshow). The posters are powerful, I can only imagine the feeling one gets when viewing them larger than life-size (in the mall, of all places. How appropriate).

One final note: The kate spade creative team is responsible for everything from the logos to the advertising. Bravo!