For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious, we celebrate objects and rituals in all their glory!

9.26.2008

Knocked Out!

Chika forwarded me this AWESOME video which she describes as,"people getting punched in the head at 1000 frames/sec, but much art-ier."I mean, who would of thought that punching a bunch of people would create such a work of art....It's amazing to look at people's faces as they get hit....the distortion that happens is absolutely captivating to watch! I had to watch it multiple times!! It's both comical and fascinating all at the same time.
Watch more great videos by Pleix.

9.21.2008

The Future of Texas?: Tiny homes, still big toast





These tiny houses are so up L&G's alley it's ridiculous. What's better than taking the "waste" from cool old demolished buildings and building new places out it that emphasize all the charisma and charm of the originals with a great modern twist?

I want to have one airlifted here and put smack dab in the middle of the new L&G homestead. Too bad our backyard is about as big as one of these guys and that our pockets are drained :(

Great work Texas! (don't find myself saying that too often). Click here for Tiny Texas's site and more info/pic



Danish Desk Luxury



Thought I'd share some images of this incredibly incredible teak desk that was posted on ebay. Gorgeous mid-century teak, funky shape, nice details, and oh yeah, a swanky secret bar door complete with mirrored interior. Doesn't get any classier... Auction has ended and alas I was not the victor...last thing we need is another oddly shaped piece of furniture. But go there and check out more pics.

9.20.2008

The Good Old Days...

Chika showed me this fantastic graphic design blog, Grain Edit with lots of collections of graphic design posters/packaging/books/etc. from 50's-70's...which we can all agree was the best time to be a designer....oh the good old freakin' days....before I was even born. UGH! It's so unfair!! It's not my fault that I was born in the 80's!! What really got me was this recent post about these set of alphabet animal match boxes by Jose Maria Cruz Novillo + Olmos! It's like a kids' book, but 20 times better, since they're in little precious match boxes!! It’s all just WAY too colorful and clever…it’s unbearable for me to look at each of them. I can't stand it!! The monkey…looks like he’s picking his nose!? I mean COME ON!! SHUT UP!!
Okay, I think need to shut myself up now…. :D

9.19.2008

Impulse Buy

Impulse Boutique, Seattle, recently posted a bunch of amazing designer clothes for the new season....my favorite season...Fall! It's the time when I can start wearing layers, boots, and scarves and still stay warm and dry...for the most part. They've been adding great designs from Junya Watanabe, Yohiji Yamamoto, Isabel Marant, and tons more on their new online community shop called Totokaelo.
I'm really likeing the loose, drappy look. It seems very versatile in terms of being able to wear over and under layers. And I'm all about layering!!

L&G Moving On...Sale

There are times when people start to collect thing they don't use or need. They just simply find the need to have things...then there comes a time when people have to move to a smaller place (Our new home!) and realize that it's time to give up certain things they have collected over the years in order to move on. That time has come to for both Dylan and I. Yes...we are slowing coming to terms with giving up some stuff you see here and are offering some of our proud findings at the L&G shop. As I'm posting the Dansk Flamestone pot and enamel pitcher, Catherineholm pots, Langenthal Espresso cups, and all these other cool items, I keep finding myself changing my mind about posting it!! It's hard to let go of the things that I wish I can keep but I know in the back of my mind that it's for the best to just let go of them.
Which brings up the question...why do people get so attached to inanimate objects? Is it because we subconsciously project our own personalities and life on to these things on a daily basis? Is it that we're so used to seeing it and having it around that when it's not around, it feels like something is missing? Can I possibly ever let go of my owl figurines that sit so nicely on the shelf next to some antique books? Can I live without that one plate that has served us well on the few occasional social gatherings in serving cheese, or that bowl for chips, and snack mix..then the smaller ones for dips and such...Can I let go of the rocks, sea shells, and branches that I've collected from trips to the beach and hikes on the mountain? I can't!! Why not? I don't know! There's something innate about this whole hunting and gathering process. But it's another thing to hunt and gather things that are not under the category of human survival needs. I don't have an explanation for our desire to collect things. Nonetheless, I know that's one of my NEEDS in life....which is to collect objects to create our perfect nest....with useless junk. I mean, useless AWESOME junk. There. That sounds a little bit more justified now. :D

9.18.2008

DIY Apron with Ikea Fabric

Finally!! The moment that I've been waiting for....Seattle Ikea gets the fabric by the yard department! For the longest time, the Seattle Ikea never had the fabric department and I was always bummed about it. I would go to Vancouver Ikea just so to get some yardage of some sort to fulfill my itch. (even though that's usually just a detour after a dim sum meal, a walk in Stanley park, a visit to the art museum, and another Taiwanese meal in Richmond.) Nonetheless, it wasn't the most accessible.

So Last week, Dylan & I went to Ikea to do some shopping for our new home and I found this fantastic FIALENA line with this adorable bold black and red heart pattern for only $7.99/yd! I had to use it for something, so I decided to make an reversable apron for Chika (my biz partner)as her birthday gift!! So this is it! My first stab at making an apron....

It's reversable...
with pockets and button hoops on each side to hang hand towels or oven mits.

It took me a good 5 hours to figure out the pattern, cut it, iron it, sew it, and iron some more...I think I'll have to modify the design so it's not so tedious to make. It made me kind of depressed to see Ikea selling their clever aprons for mere $7.99. But I suppose that's not the point...the point is that I had fun making the apron! On top of that, I think Chika did appreciate it much more knowing I put all my "hearts" into make the apron for her...Well, she better!! I'll be checking her kitchen regularly to make sure she's not cheating on me with some other aprons!

9.05.2008

Très Bon Bon Kakku Fabric!

Just spotted this site Bon Bon Kakku where you can design your own fabric! Similar to Threadless t-shirt's designing format where anyone can submit their designs, and the winning design will get produced and sold on their site. Doesn't that sound fun!! Finally, maybe this is a good way for me to tap into the world of textile design....
All the designs spans the whole width of 149cm, which makes it even better when prints are at that scale. There's tons of fantastic designs and you can buy them at 25 Euro/meter. I only wish that the dollar isn't so crappy right now! Grrrr....like that dog.

Dance Dance Dance...

Remember my last week's post about how Goldfrapp's Happiness song makes me wanna take do-nothing-but-spin-around-breaks at work? Well, I found another great song by this lovely Swedish singer, Lykke Li to add to my dance break list. I've just finally purchased Lykke's new album 'Youth Novels'...it's SO good!! (Great cover, too) Now, I can do this dance dance dance of hers any time.
The music video captures that exact feeling that I was describing...a carefree lady in a adorable outfit dances around in the middle of a train station....

now..you don't have to do it at the station if you're no comfortable...just do it from your own home!! It's easy! It's like workingout while watching Jane Fonda's Jazzercize videos at home... yeah! It'll shave off at least 50 cals or so if you spin around for 10-15 minuntes straight....for the intermediate level, just spin around and move your arms up and down simultaneously to maximize the workout....and do a kick once or twice while you're at it, if you're REALLY up for the challenge. :D I say why the heck not! You go for it!

Okay, now get your butt off the computer chair and go spin around like you just don't care!!

Have a fantastic weekend!!

PSSST! For those who're in Seattle, Lykke will be at
Neumo's on October, 29th!! I'll be there dancing like a crazy person!

9.03.2008

A Bitter Sweet Farewell to L&G Apartment

Poppytalk once again has generously allow L&G to participate in submitting a post on their wonderful blog. Last week, I did a cooking with L&G post, and this week I finally was able to get my act together in taking photos around Dylan&I's apartment and and answer some fun questions for PHM Studio Spaces post!
Doing the post motivated us to do a farewell photo tribute (more photos!)to our first and probably the coolest place we lived together. Yes....we're saying goodbye to this amazing 1905 apartment in the middle of Capitol Hill, Seattle. I know it may sound crazy....and we assure you that it's for good reasons...we got a house!! It's totally a great thing...except it's just a little sad leaving the high ceilings, the old world charm, the claw foot bathtub, and the large kitchen....sigh.We can't really complain, because we're moving to Ballard, which is a wonderful area close to a bunch of new great things! It's a great Scandinavian community with a fun little Nordic Museum and Scandinavian Grocery shop . It's close to the beach, the best Sunday farmer's market, downtown Ballard with great shops and art walks, bars, and even thrift stores! We just have to keep reminding ourselves of the good positive things, even though we're moving into a not as cool of a place....soon enough we'll make it awesome!

Which reminds me one good thing...we get to pick paint colors for the walls and hang as much stuff on the walls!! I'm totally stoked!! and the kitchen....Dylan's getting excited about re-doing our kitchen plan with his Henrybuilt skillz....yes..spelled with a "z" to emphasize that it's not just any skills....as he has already made the first HB teak credenza for our living room!!There shall be lots of post about all our house renovations!!