Macy’s Windows

Saks fifth Ave window 1: based on children’s book, “A Flake Like Mike”

Lord and Taylor windows

The blatant commercialism of the yearly “shopping season” can get really overwhelming, but I do love traditions such as these that add artistry and creativity to the craziness.

calendar dreams...

Hey, I hate to brag on the creative scene in North Carolina but Mebane is the home of this online service for the ultimate in DYI fabric fun! The crafting revolution is going tech in all the right ways with sites like Etsy and Raleigh based groups like The Handmaidens.

pretty bird...

Upload your ideas and get sewing your dream weaver fantasies today…

Brazilian designer, Adriana Barra, is known and loved for her juicy beautiful prints on “boho” dresses. She has translated that design to furniture with a new collection from Micasa called The Moda home collection.

I’m guessin’ you gotta pay for high fashion…especially by the $7500 price tag of a cute little min-refrigerator.

If you’re like me, and can’t afford a life of high-style luxury, you can still immerse yourself in Adriana’s creativity and saturated chaos by visiting her website. Make sure you plan ahead though. she has made it easy to make yourself at home.

After you click in, you get a scene…and the scenes change as you move through the site. In fact, you can even travel with her and see different countries, as well as her pictures and journal entries from those places (you gotta read Portuguese though).

She has a “fun” area too, you can play games, or just pick out your fortune cookie.

Have fun at her site here.

Bring summer fun to your living room with this “Pool Table,” actually, it’s a coffee table, by Freshwest Design in the UK. It is made of thick swimming-pool-blue acrylic, giving it depth so it seems you could jump right in, and the little mini-diving board at the end can be the basis for a whole series of new drinking games.

via MoCo Loco

“Dirty Dishes” (or “The Girls” as they are titled) Tina, Kim and Kathy – and John Waters of course. I’m not sure I would ever want to eat with these iconic characters, but it could be fun smearing food all over their faces. Get ‘em from Adora Porcelain and various contemporary culture museums.

via Cool Hunting

  ‘In 1970 Gordon B Holcombe a pioneer in the design and construction of buildings utilizing coated fabrics predicted that,’ “Before the year 2000 the house you live in may come in a can of liquid and a roll of fabric-and be inflated like a balloon. And by the end of this decade, everything from your drinking water and the pools your children swim in and acre-size farms will be protected by air-supported domes.” Speciality Fabrics Review August 2008

As part of the Art on the Edge Festival which was held at the Progress Energy Performing Arts Center in Raleigh this past weekend, the Architects of Air put up a 10,000 sq ft installation called Levity III which brought to reality all the possibilities imagined by Mr. Holcombe more than 35 years ago. This was truly one of the highlights of my summer as I was inspired by the captivating color scape and the energy that playfully moved within. It was great to see the potential of material through imaginative architecture. Now my vision of an inflatable ‘Nap Pod’ seems a bit more feasible.

These Bloch Design fireplaces would be a total showstopper in the right contemporary setting. I’m in love with the look of a few of them. I have to admit though, I get a not so good paranoid image of the possibilities…

My imagination leads me to see myself crashing my shin into the glass hearth – OW!, then losing my balance and falling towards the glass. Assuming the glass is strong enough to not shatter with the force of my fall, my face and hands would slide down the glass, getting singed in the process, and I would lie broken physically and psychologically on the floor, looking at the evidence of my clumsiness imprinted on the glass.

(via Trend Squad)

Or How ’bout this “Sign of the Season” wreath from a recycled sign, by Boris Bally?

This reindeer ornament is stylin.

how about a mod Christmas with this creche from Alessi?

Or a pop-art Hanukkah with this Last Match menorah?

I’m not gonna trash where I ate. It was nice. The service was fine (except for the host…she needs some lessons in hospitality). The restaurant was attractive. The food was good. blah blah blah. It was blah.

I want to mention 2 places specifically as my examples of great restaurants – ones I will return to again and again: Mo’s Diner in Raleigh, NC, (here’s a Mo’s review) and Navarre in Portland, OR. I think the reason I love these restaurants is that the intent of each is very clear, and every element of the restaurant reinforces that intent, thus creating a wonderful experience for the patron (me!).

image of Navarre in Portland, Oregon.

I’m not necessarily talking about chichi interior design, choosing Philippe Starck or using all the latest Maharam textiles. I’m not necessarily talking about a chef with a “name” or food piled high for a “Gourmet Magazine” shoot. I’m talking about the experience.

Navarre and Mo’s Diner are very different from each other, but they both give a feeling of the proprietor’s vision. The dining rooms are comfortable, unique and unpretentious while still feeling nice enough for date night. Both places are small, so they are naturally more intimate than a large dining room. Each atmosphere fits so nicely with the style of the food and service that it just becomes a part of the enjoyment of the tastes and conversations. Everything down to the graphic design of the menus reflects the vision.

In a great restaurant, the service is impeccable, yet within it’s own style. Mo’s Diner has a semi-formal white table cloth service. The waiters are obviously experienced, and are amazingly unobtrusive. Navarre’s service is a bit more casual, with a tapas or family style approach to plating the food. The staff in either is knowledgeable about everything on the menu – like they really know about it – they have eaten it, seen it prepared and heard how excited the chef is about it…much much more than memorizing the specials and name-dropping a few trendy ingredients.

image of Mo’s Diner in Raleigh, NC

The food is fantastic, and the selection of plates is obviously taken seriously. The menu items change by the season or even the week. They are small menus showcasing what the chef is excited about, as well as what local flavors they have been able to get their hands on. In fact, these 2 restaurants take on a social responsibility involving the food they serve, knowing where the farms are, how the produce or animals are treated and how fresh the food is by the time it reaches their restaurant.

Have you ever gone to dinner at the home of a very good cook? And as they bring plates out you can see their passion for what they just created? You can see their anticipation while watching you take the first bite. They want you to love it. That’s what going to a great restaurant feels like. That is what Navarre and Mo’s Diner feel like.

All in all, the more authentic, understandable and whole the vision is, the more appealing the experience is. People can feel the soul to the place – from the atmosphere, to the staff to the food. And the ones that love it will return again and again. Restaurants that hide their lack of passion and vision by resorting only to fancy interior design tricks, exotic ingredients, and a corporate approach to service will be the hottest thing out there for a few months, but the lack of heart will ultimately leave people hungry for more.

CORRECTION 11/29/07
I just found a different picture of this decanter on the Point Click Home blog. It’s called the Cynthia Decanter. It is not a combo of metal and glass at all – that was a trick of the photography. It’s actually all cut crystal. I liked it much better as glass and metal… See the picture below.