Wine Chiller/Sweet candle holder

Great wine chiller from Perpetual Kid that doubles as a candle holder. As the Ice melts, the water goes into the metal base. Clever and only $29.99.

Blog Readability Test

For fun thought I would test my little blog. Must have written some big words by accident. I tested a few of my favorite blogs and Inhabitat wins with a reading level of "Genius" . Have fun!

Gift Ideas (all for about $25)

Well it's a bit difficult to post some of my favorite gift ideas for this year, because I am buying them for some people who read this blog. So, my apologies. But here are a few that I can post without ruining Christmas.

Bogo Solor Flashlight
$25 You get one and the other is donated to a person in the world in need of it.
(I don't remember where I first saw this)
Don't Break the Bottle Wine Holder Puzzle
$25 (Sale Price: $21.50, 2/$41.00, 4/$79.80) Well this means you also have to get them the bottle of wine that goes in it. But it's a bit more interesting than shoving a bottle of wine into a gift bag.
(I think i found this at kaboodle)
Scrabble Tile Pendant Necklace
$15 (There are about 23 different designs) I would recommend exchanging the ribbon "chain" for an actual silver one, but thats just me. I think I love them so much because of the matching slide-top tin, oh yeah and the fact that it is a scrabble piece and supports independent artists.
(via MixtGoods)

QuickPod
$30 ($25 if you do it through gizmodo) This myspace generation (this does include myself) love to take pictures of themselves and this handy little gadget helps make it so much easier! Also, prevents having to ask a stranger to take your picture and trusting a stranger with your camera.
(via gizmodo)

Happy Turkey Day!

I'll be in Erie for Thanksgiving to be with my fam. Hope everyone has a wonderful day and are able to eat more than you ever thought you could. I tried to think of a good turkey day gift, but got nothing, so here's an easy and yummy appetizer recipe for you to enjoy!

24 square wonton wrappers (These are paper-thin sheets of dough used to make wontons and egg rolls, you can find these in the produce section, I had to ask)
1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
2 tablespoons finely snipped fresh parsley
1 lemon
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F. Press one wonton wrapper into each cup of a Mini-Muffin Pan. Lightly spray wontons with olive oil. *Bake 6 minutes or until edges of wontons are light golden brown. Remove from oven; set aside, leaving wontons in pan. (this is so the bottom gets crunchy, you can skip if you're running low on time)

Zest lemon to measure 1/2 teaspoon of zest (I cheated and just put in lemon juice, tastes fine); Combine artichokes, bell pepper, parsley, lemon zest, mozzarella cheese, mayonnaise and garlic to batter bowl; mix well.

Add half of the Parmesan cheese to artichoke mixture; Fill each wonton cup with one scoop of artichoke mixture; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake 8 minutes or until edges of wontons are golden brown and cheese is melted. Remove from pan; serve immediately.

So bad it's good....ok, not good...but funny?

So last night I saw Kohl's advertising for their Black Friday sale (Which starts at 4 a.m. which is ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as Grove City's Midnight on Thanksgiving sale) In the commercial the dog gets up, makes coffee and whatever, wakes up it's owner and then "talks". Now, I don't know if their budget wasn't big enough or if they didn't have enough time, but, wow, it doesn't seem like they were even trying to make that dog work. But I do really like the muted colors and the way the red pops. (one negative criticism and one positive criticism. I'm fair.) Maybe it was supposed to be funny. Not funny haha, but funny so bad it's funny?...maybe?...



(after some looking I found the clip on VH1's best week ever and they agree with me)

His and hers Key Holders

This is one of those things I've always wanted for some reason. If you know me, you know I tend to lose things, and if I really am my grandmother's granddaughter it will only get worse for here on out. At $24.95 I won't hesitate to get them. (when I have have a place to put them)

(Don't remember where I first saw these, but you can find them at Perpetual Kid)

Bunnies Suicide

(Cleaning out my e-mail and found this from a co-worker, see more HERE)

Test Your Vocab and Feed the Hungry

For every vocab word you get correct they donate 10 grains of rice through the UN. Not much but it ads up, as you can see there were 212,660,970 grains donated yesterday. It's a win win situation, I don't know about you, but I always have room for some new words in my vocabulary. Check it out, pass it along, have a little fun and help a little.

(Thanks to BB-Blog)

Hi. Bye.

This little illustration by Reuben Miller made me smile, and then want to take it back.
(thanks bb-blog)

Use Electricity Wisely

I like it, it's clever, but what happens during the day?

(I suppose they could print it so that the left hand side is really black and fades to gray then white, so it looks like the light is always on. But it still wouldn't have the same effect.)

(via: AdFreak)

Wine Glass Chandelier

Another functional and beautiful piece. A source of light and a stunning way to store your wine glasses. Glasses are not included in the price, which helps keep the price (and shipping, I'm sure) down. This allows you to choose your own wine glasses and pretty much design it yourself.

(via Better Living through Design quotes price at $299, but you can buy it here for $379)

New Plant Species Descovered: Sea Bananas

Ok, ok, not really, they're from a cargo ship that had a "little accident" and it's contents washed up on the shore of two Dutch North Sea islands. Pretty much everyone on the island got a bunch of bananas, which is awesome.

(via Nothing to Do With Arbroath)

Climb for Hope

One of my fellow designer at work (the one on the far right) is participating in Climb for hope. They will be climbing Cotopaxi in Ecuador in January and have been working VERY hard to make it happen. The Trib just did a write up on their team I thought I would share.:

"...Cotopaxi, at 19,388 feet above sea level. It is one of the world's highest active volcanoes. The group will spend six days acclimating and doing smaller training hikes before traveling to the climbers' hut at 15,744 feet. The next day they will begin their push to the summit at midnight and spend the next eight hours hiking to the top of the glacier, a climb that is not technical but does require a harness, ropes, ice axes and crampons." (read the full story here)

---

What you can do to help:
The five members of Team Pittsburgh are hoping to raise $50,000 for breast cancer research in honor of the 50,000 women who lost their lives to the disease in the U.S. last year. They still have a long way to go. Donations can be made on their Web site, climbforhope.org and at REI in the South Side Works. They are also having a fundraiser with information as follows:
Where: Mullaney's Harp & Fiddle, Strip District
When: 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 14
What: Happy hour and silent auction, with music by Corned Beef and Curry. Bid on a variety of items from restaurant gift certificates to sports memorabilia.

FOUND comes to Pittsburgh

FOUND
November 17, 2007
Pittsburgh, PA
Future Tenant
2 shows! 7 pm and 9 pm
821 Penn Ave.

Oooooh! I'm so excited! If you've been living under a rock and don't know what Found is, check one of my earlier posts.

Yay!....bummer....yay!

I forgot to post this when I got it 2 weeks ago. Not because it's not fabulous I just haven't had the time. But now, alas, I still don't have the time but I feel like writing about it. So at work we got the fab new iMacs (yay!), but my CD drive isn't working already(bummer), but then I got the new Leopard(yay!), but then my mail wouldn't work (bummer), but then Gary fixed it (yay!)....So far we have had a love hate relationship. It is quite foxy, but is that enough? Yes.