clocky

too clever. this little alarm clock will take off across the room if you hit the snooze button! no more re-snoozing, which i have been guilty of a bit lately. it's a little pricey ($50), but it was too cute of an idea to not share (found on better living through design.) also availale in shag.

greendimes.com

what a nice idea. even though you could probably stop a lot of your junk mail through your own efforts (and for less that the amount this site wants to imagine it would cost you), greendimes.com seems to offer a nice service. for $36/year they will reduce your junk mail, protect your identity (by reducing the number of credit card offers that come your way), and plant a tree each month. seems like a decent deal to me. might be a nice gift idea, too.

beautiful

this necklace is just beautiful. it's from tiffany & co. but isn't outrageous ($150). it's very much my style and would look stunning on me if i do say so myself! add it to the list of other items i post here that i lust after... (found it on outblush)

cool blue hue for you

this is super cool. you hook the little clylindrical device on your faucet and it lights up the stream of water whenever the water is turned on. i would install one on my kitchen faucet, but i think it's too space-agey for my kitchen. maybe a good gift idea for mom? hehe. found it on uncrate.

wall art

i found some wall art i really like from kenneth wingard (via dress your nest). this would be great in either my bedroom or in my living room. i'm thinking the living room is a bit more desperate for decoration once the christmas tree comes down. plus, this won't break the bank too badly.

snow day... well not for me

i love the midwest. in 2 days, it went from 60 degree weather to 6 inches of snow. gotta love that. i was so tempted to call in to work today, especially as each and every newscast was advising people (which includes me) to stay off the roads and not go into work if at all possible. but, i'm at work. i got to spend 15 minutes scraping/pushing/heaving snow off my car. what i wouldn't give for a garage... the office is pretty dead. i'm surprised that there are even this many people here. hopefully the snow lets up around noon like they said, so that the afternoon commute isn't too bad. we shall see...

i love good luck

i'm so excited, but not after some serious frustration.

i've been wanting to see this play, argonautika, downtown through lookingglass theatre. i finally decided last night that i wanted to go this coming saturday afternoon, since the matinee is two-for-one tickets ($24 a ticket, rather than $48 and up for other weekend shows). i went online and, of course, sold out. so i called the box office. yes, they had 2 tickets, but they were obstructed view (cannot see the gangplank - unacceptable) and across the aisle from each other (not much for a date).

so i decided to check other saturday shows later in the run (only goes through dec 23rd). almost all sold out, one show had corner balcony tickets available (far from ideal), but i was about ready to take anything at this point. i checked some other shows and when i found nothing, went back to that date to buy the ucky balcony tix. not available. aaaaaaargh. so i was very bummed.

i called the box office back to see what they had, and she told me that two tickets were available for this saturday. i said, "right, the obstructed view ones." nooooo. two front row tickets near the center aisle had opened up right then... for this saturday. i snatched those up as quickly as i could rattle off my debit card number. whooohoo! i get to see this play - i was seriously afraid it wasn't going to work out. what great luck to call at just the right moment. i can't wait to see it.

reviews: variety.com, the reader, chicago sun-times, metromix, theatermania.com, timeout.com, chicagocritic.com,

adoring this sofa

okay, so i scrolled down on bltd (getting tired of typing it all out), and saw this couch from cb2. i love it, love it, love it. the lines are great, it's different but not too out there. the price is pretty darn good, too. if only i could justify $800 for a couch i don't need. i hope they carry this one a while (read: until i'm ready to buy a couch). i love the high arms and high back. definitely would need to give it a good sit, though, to check the comfort factor. looks like it would be fine, though, especially with a bunch of bright throw pillows. this would go perfectly with my current living room color scheme.

how i'd love a fireplace

this is really cool, if not a bit too expensive for me at the moment. i love fireplaces, but living in an apartment, or even condo, i don't have much choice in the matter. my previous two apartments had fireplaces but my current abode does not. even when i did have a fireplace, the cleaning, storing and buying firewood, and other un-fun aspects of the ordeal made me hesitate to have a fire, despite how much i love the ambiance and aesthetic they bring. this beauty runs on ethanol (organic, clean burning, etc) and doesn't require a chimney, gas line, or anything. you just mount it on the wall and fill up the reservoir and voila, fireplace in any room you want. there are empty spots on the walls in both my living room and bedroom if anybody has an extra $1260 (x2) burning a hole in their pocket. spotted on better living through design (quickly turning into my fave site if that isn't too obvious).

willydilly

also spotted on better living through design, this lamp is just lovely. i really like the lines and that it is simple, but not particularly predictable or boring. it's got a unique touch. also, it doesn't break the bank. you can get it for only $145 here. not too shabby.

sun in a jar

saw this on better living through design today and thought it was such a cute idea. solar panels store sunlight so you can enjoy it later on. i love how warm it looks.

preordered!

'tis the season already. the company choir practices in a room adjacent to my cubicle, so despite me feeling like it is waaaay too early to be singing Christmas carols, i get to hear them 2-3 times per week (groan). some may enjoy it but i do not. it does offer me a nice segway into this find, though:

for those of us with excellent taste in tunes (we know who we are), i highly recommend this cd box set of Christmas music from sufjan stevens (go hope). 5 discs for $19, plus all sorts of other cute and fun goodies - i challenge you to beat that. go ahead. try.

you can even go to the record label's website (asthmatickitty.com) and listen to any of 5 discs streaming (requires quicktime). i am doing that as i type and i'm totally sold. it is a mixture of classical carols/songs and original tunes, and i love it so far (and im only on disc 1). perfect to pop in while putzing around the house during that time of year (or whenever, i suppose).

i'm trying to decide if i should buy his michigan and illinois cds (only $10 each!) as well and maybe a t-shirt ($12 and made from american apparel tshirts, so they are sweatshop free and super fashionable), or if those go on my christmas list (hint, hint!). anyway, definitely check this out. oh, bonus, shipping is only $2. yeah. sold.

cute idea

yeah, this is a clever idea, but $250?! i might mod up something like this to have in the kitchen to get stuff off the high shelves above the cabinets etc. i think i could probably do it for under $25. definitely cute, though. for sale at urbanpeel if you want to fork over the big bucks. found this on better living through design.

this is very cool. it's modern and unique but has a definite warmth about it. the post mentions changing the angles of corrugation in the cardboard to create the designs. i would love to learn how to do this, wonder how hard it would be. i'm guessing pretty tricky, but might be worth the effort since i'm guessing this thing isn't cheap. via inhabitat.

more diy cuteness

also from poppy, cute idea for using those cute brightly colored maple leaves (perhaps too late in the season, but creative nonetheless). full instructions with pictures here. not sure if mine would turn out as nice as these, but might be fun to try.

fridge = lite brite

saw this on poppy (one of those aforementioned design sites) this afternoon. the instructions are highly detailed and very complex (you click through them by clicking the numbered images at the top of the page), but the end result is very fun. i don't think i would be able to justify painting my fridge to accomplish this end, but i'm thinking it could be adjusted to any magnetic surface. going to have to check out other portions of the website this is at. diy funness all the way!

new bike on its way

i'm very excited to receive my new bike. i had it shipped to mom and dad's so that it wouldn't be left at my apartment in the little bitty lobby. it is pretty slick and i'm definitely looking forward to lugging an appox 20lb bike up the stairs to my 3rd floor apartment instead of the 30lb bike i have been lugging up the stairs. it's a kestrel talon, which until i started shopping around, was not a brand i had even heard of. i also got a killer deal on it, which is good since i would expect be looking at upwards of $2200 or more for a bike with the features that this one has, and my budget was not near that.

a coworker was joking around last week at the amount i was going to pay, and said "well it comes with pedals, right?" and the answer, of course, is nooooooo. but i do have my pedals already purchased and ready to attach to the bike. i just need shoes to attach to the cleats to attach to the pedals. otherwise, i'm sitting pretty good as far as my gear goes. need some gloves, too, but those aren't too much of a worry. hopefully i can stop by and check out some shoes some time this week! these are the ones i think i want, but have to make sure they fit (as a bonus, they are also under my expected shoe budget, so keep those fingers crossed).

a gold mine in my parents' basement?

i have a few design websites bookmarked that i check every other day or so, depending on how busy i am at work. one of them is better living through design. they post several unique and clever items (mostly furniture and housewares) daily. i giggled when i saw this item, then gasped when i saw the price ($747 for the 16" bedside version!) i can't stop thinking about the (only slightly more tacky) gun lamps in my parents' basement. maybe spray painted gold, they would bring in a small fortune (wouldn't that be nice).

i'm an aunt!

forgot to post this earlier in the week, but my sister and her husband had their baby, lucy helena denning, on october 1st. everything went smoothly and mom and baby are doing great. you can see hospital pictures here, lucy's first day at home here (so precious), and some more random baby pics here. i'm excited to go up to michigan to meet my new niece. thanks, mindy, for having the baby 11 days early so i have the long holiday weekend to come on up!

teachers packing heat?

eek! i saw this story today while browsing the headlines. shootings in schools have been in the headlines way too often lately, but this just not seem like the solution. concealed weapons for teachers scares me and seems like it would cause way more problems than it could ever possibly solve. additionally, the expense and danger would be beyond reasonble.

how to fold a shirt

i think i'm pretty decent at shirt folding, but this puts me to shame. going to have to go try this on the next load of laundry.

hilarious

as a beginner triathlete, the start to an open water swim can be a scary prospect. this cracked me up.

i'll wait in line, thanks

ok, this is just sick. if i make it over to great america for fright fest, i'll certainly just wait in line. i like the scares and all, and it's cool to see the park all done up. the lines get annoying, but not enough to make me want to sign a waiver and eat a 2 to 3 inch cockroach. now, if i'm with people, i'll gladly let them do it and scoot in in the party of four that gets to cut in line as the reward. anybody want to go to six flags with me?

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excessive alcohol consumption contributes to poor decision making

i know, i know, not exactly a news flash, but this story just hammers it home one more time. i know pandas are cute, but trying to hug one? my favorite line from the story is this quote: "i wouldn't have jumped in if i knew what would happen." oh zhang, what did you think would happen when you jumped into a panda enclosure? they are in enclosures for a reason. poor gu gu, too, suffering the unsolicited advances of a drunk guy. disturbing that he tried to bite the panda back after it bit him... kids, don't drink (that much).

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cold case

today at work i clicked a random link to a cnn story and turns out it involed a hope college (my alma mater) student back in 1979. poor girl, i'm glad that they found out who took her, sounds like it was pretty brutal. i know where that motel is/was (not sure if it is still there or not). i wonder where on 196 that trucker found her. i take that route every time i go to visit the family up in michigan. i like that a hope film class was involved in the documentary that revived interest in the case. go hope!

community service

my employer is quite generous in that they allow us to take up to two half-days with pay to participate in community service activities. i took advantage of this last friday, spending the afternoon at fullersburg woods forest preserve in oakbrook, il.

we had a nice lunch upon arriving at noon, applied bug spray and headed into the woods. our guide, jim, pointed out poison ivy, hornet's nests, etc., then pointed at what we were to destroy. they had us lop off a bunch of brush that was being too aggressive and threatening to decrease the diversity of plantlife in the preserve. it was a lot of fun, and as far as i know, nobody got hit by the poison ivy. (i do still think that i'm immune - there is no reason i shouldn't have acquired it at some point in my childhood woods romps back in michigan - but that's not something i'm going to test and find out.)

afterwards, we had some time to wander the preserve's trails, got a little muddy, saw the old mill they have there, and walked along salt creek. it was a great afternoon out (much better than under the fluorescent sun in cube land) and it was fun to do something good for the community. actually learned quite a bit about the area, too, which was nice.

fake fun

i thought this concert ticket generator was a pretty fun little online plaything. i'm not sure how practical it is, but i definitely wanted to share it with those who hadn't seen it before since it is kind of fun to play around with. and the longer i think about it, the more cute ideas i am coming up with that this could be used for. hmm... we will have to wait and see.

too skinny to model? never thought i'd see the day

i was pleased to come across this this in the headlines this morning.

MADRID, Spain (Reuters) -- The world's first ban on overly thin models at a top-level fashion show in Madrid has caused outrage among modeling agencies and raised the prospect of restrictions at other venues.

at least some people in the fashion world are acting to combat the overly-skinny "ideal" that promotes unhealthy habits and makes even healthy thin women feel as though they are huge. hopefully this trend continues. i can't help but smile at the idea that models could be too skinny to get work. hopefully something like this can begin to encourage more realistic and healthy images of women in general, which, in my opinion, is nothing but good news.

they used BMI as an indicator (which while not a flawless measure, is better than nothing), which led to exclusion of 30% of women who had participated in the show previously. i'm curious as to what their cutoff BMI number was. i would hope that it was set at the "healthy" range bottom end (18.5), but part of me doubts it.

update: according to this article at timesonline.com, it looks like they used 18 as the cutoff point. they sent anybody with a BMI under 16 for medical treatment, which is likely a good idea. so, it is quite close to what is generally accepted as healthy. however, it is also important to keep in mind the limitations of BMI as an indicator of healthy weight (though it seems the limitations are more relevant to obesity determinations than to the skinny end of the spectrum).

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teensy little ipod

this is too cute.. holds 2gb of tunes, which is plenty for what i need on an ipod. i thought my shuffle now was small, and although i do get a little irritated by not being able to jump to a particular song, the cuteness and teensy (relatively speaking) price ($79 it seems) are calling to me...

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well i think the title of this blog says it all

i really do not need a blog. i really don't think that i have much useful info to shoare or knowledge to impart. but my sister and brother in law have one, and work is slow at the moment, and it was free..... so here i am and here this is.

i think i'll use this to just put down random thoughts and ideas and interesting things i come across from day to day. i imagine it will be heavy on my various interets, and also include random tid bits that i tend to come across. some have said i have a knack for finding random bits of cool on the internet, so i'll try to share those here.

anyway, been trying to keep busy and get outside as much as i can before winter comes and coops me up indoors. last weekend scott and i went camping at chain o' lakes state park, near the wisconsin border. spent most of the day saturday hiking, then went geocaching in the late afternoon/evening which led us to some really cool places that we wouldn't have come across otherwise (like this mansion). we had a great time, even though it did rain overnight on saturday, sending us home with a car full of wet everything for the ride back. pics here.