Industry Chic

At first glance, this chair/bed from Ikea looks like it belongs in a maternity ward, but I think with some colorful throw pillows, it would be a really cool addition to any modern living room or bedroom--as long as the space permits. My bedroom has plenty space for an oversized chair and I think this might be the top candidate. Plus, without an guest room, I'm always looking for ways to accomodate my buddies. I'm really diggin the industrial look that keeps showing up these days.

Here's some more industrial faves from CB2:

Place Your Orders Now!

Yay!! Cynthia Rowley is Designing for Target again. Her newest collection, Whim will be hitting stores any day now. It's a bold array of over 500 items-- pinks and blues, but doesn't leave out classic things like this modern serving tray. And $10 for a stainless steel serving tray, count me in. I want a house for fabulous backyard get-togethers. This dark apartment just ain't cuttin' it any mo.

Country Codes Poster

Ah, I love it. So nerdy. This poster (above) from Byte Level Research shows the through each country's colorful country code domain. The poster is cool but too informational-like to be considered for hanging up as art.

I wish there was a version in the style of the city posters from ORK Posters. (shown right) Hey Ork, when's Houston going to get some love?

This Weekend In Houston

Inner Art Corridor Open Studio Tour

Well looky here, my Mom wants to try something 'fun' this weekend and she got an email from local artist Allan Rodewald about the Houston Inner Art Corridor Open Studio Tour:

There is no doubt Inner Art Corridor’s spring Open Studio Tour has it all. The ultimate line up of artists, artist’s spaces and neighborhood venues wrapped up within a five mile radius take claim to Houston’s mantra of diversity. Warehouses, galleries, trendy wine bars and newly established eateries all there for your pleasure and visual delight.

Studios will be designated by bright orange balloons and will be open 1-8 pm on Saturday and 1-4 pm on Sunday. The weekend looks a little rainy, but that shouldn't stop anyone from getting out and walking around. I saw some umbrella's on sale at Old Navy. Getcha some!

The pictures above are from Rodewald's studio/home, which is amazing. I remember going to a show of his when I was in high school and I was like, ok, hands down you are the coolest person my parents know --five seconds later-- gosh Mom, you're emabrassing me.



Market Weekend
Shop Saturday and Sunday, April 26 and 27, 10 am – 5 pm
$5 Saturday and Sunday General Admission

Lawndale’s 20th Century Modern Market is the only antiques show of its kind in the Southwest, exclusively featuring design of the twentieth century. This year’s Market will feature specialist dealers from around the country, offering a variety of media including furniture, glass, ceramics, metalwork, textiles, objects d’art and fashion. Each year in conjunction with the Market, Lawndale offers a free public lecture pertaining to this important era in design.

College Station Comma Texas

Over the weekend I spontaniously joined my friend Matt's (& Natasha) trip to College Station. I hadn't been there since 7th grade for an Aggie game so I didn't know what to expect. For the non-Texan readers, College station is where the Texas A&M campus is located and is known for its conservative values.

I knew I'd see a different side of it, by the company I was keeping, but I didn't expect to march down Northgate with a full-blown circus parade and attend a fabulously themed Nautical Party. I also got a chance to tour "The Neighborhood," a small community of barrack-like homes, housed by art students who made their little part of college station look like Austin(keepin' it weird, y'all). The pictures above are from The Neighborhood.

Check out Matt's pictures here:oneoctobernight.com The albums titled Circus and Nautical should give you a good idea of the nights events.

I had such a great time with Matt and Natasha. Thanks for much for making me feel so welcome.

spring *green* clean

So.. How did you spend your Earth Day? Although I didn't exactly plant a tree, I made sure to do some sort of recycling. I reduced the clothes in my closet by about fifty percent. More space, less crap.. feels so much better. There's a couple bags of clothes ready to be dropped of at Sugar Land's new Goodwill.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to not buy anything I don't absolutely love or need (the two conditions are not exclusive). Admittingly, I use to be a total victom of the "but it's on SALE!" excuse. I find myself with a closet full of 'deals' that I feel lukewarm about in the first place. Ever since I implemented this new rule, it's much easier to find something to wear inthe morning, my clothes are much better quality and it has saved me money.

Sometimes it's hard to let go of something becasue it used to be your favorite or it has some sentimental value. But if you're not wearing it anymore or it's looks too raggity, let's be honest-- you don't need it! Here's a couple of tips for cleaning out your closet: How to Clean out Your Closet an dMake Space for More Good.

Hug a Baby Panda

'cause it's Earth Day.
More cute pandas here..

Green Bling

Abejas is one of the coolest boutiques in Houston, IMHO. I haven't been there in a long time so I was browsing their web site and came accross this treasure. Not quite blingbling, not quite costume jewelry-- It's a crystal locket filled with raw *diamonds*. For the high-end hippy, Abejas also offers necklaces with saphires or rubies. You can get one in every color if you're willing to shell out $700 - $3,000 a peice. I want it now, Daddy!!

Paper Cuts

There are some really cool things you can do with an X-ACTO knife. Jon showed me these pieces by Peter Callasen. I think making something like this would be really relaxing. Just you and the knife. It's insane that something so intricate comes from one piece of paper. If you look at some of the other works on his website, you can just imagine how much planning it takes to construct 3-D models from a paper and have the scraps remain as a part of the art.

I have a slammin' X-ACTO knife set at work (15 blades, what what?) and all I've been doing is cutting out squares. I'm going to try something like this.. we'll see what happens. Thanks for Jon, my informal contributing editor, for showing this to me:)

Tokyo Flash

This isn't news for anyone who regularly reads Boing Boing, but these futueristic watches from Tokyo Flash are simply perfect for channeling your inner-nerd.

After seeing Daft Punk last Summer in Monterrey, Mexico (A!-MAZE-ZING!)I'm wildly attracted to these robotic time pieces. Jon's been itchin' for something like this (wink wink, Mr. Covington.. graduation gift?). Each watch has its own unique, complex system of telling time. If you hate SUDOKU, move along.

Last Chance!

This weekend at the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston, the Design Life Now: National Design Trennial is closing up shop. Check it out before it's gone! Looks worth a damn to me.

P.S. The logo isn't outdated, for real.

From the CAMH website:

Design Life Now: National Design Triennial presents the experimental projects, emerging ideas, major buildings, new products and media that were at the center of contemporary culture from 2003 to 2006. Inaugurated in 2000, the Triennial seeks out and presents the most innovative American designs from the prior three years in a variety of fields, including product design, architecture, furniture, film, graphics, new technologies, animation, science, medicine and fashion.

Design Life Now: National Design Triennial focuses on four principal ideas that characterized elements of the design world during the last three years: emulating life; community; hand-crafted and do-it-yourself design; and transformation. On view throughout the exhibition is the work of 87 designers and firms, ranging from established design leaders such as Apple, architect Santiago Calatrava, and Nike, Inc., to emerging designers like Joshua Davis, Jason Miller, and David Wiseman.

Spring Goodies

CAN. NOT. WAIT. FOR. SUMMER. Spring will have to do, for now. This Spring 2008 Built By Wendy Madras top reminds me of everything summer encompasses-- light, cotton, and WEARABLE. You could go to a nice party or hit the beach in any of her clothing.

I'm always so impressed with this woman. Wendy Mullin is a self-taught designer who always makes flirty, fun but super cool, campy clothes. Whenever I get frustrated trying to sew I remind myself that it takes patience and maybe one day I could make beautiful things like Wendy. I'm not EVEN close to being close to what she can do and she obviously has a knack for designing. A girl can hope, yo.

For the Sophisticated Keg Partier

A couple weeks ago in Austin, I went to a pretty cool party on West Campus. It wasn't the typical UT party.. this had the faboulous DJ known as LAX-- so it wasn't a typical anything party. There was a keg of course, and with that, a shortage of cups. By the time my friends and I showed up we resorted to drinking our beer out of extra large mason jars and coffee cups. Hmph. I'm not too old for this..

I know I just gradauted and all, but I think with the exception of that party, I hadn't been a regular at any keg parties in a looonnngg time. Anyway, these glass cups from CB2, Crate+Barrel's little brother, are a nostalgic nod to the keg years. I want some, stat!!

Papercraft Calendario

So, I know we're a fourth through the year (eek!..time flies), but it's never too late to have calendar that will help you brush up on your preferred language days-of-the-week and months.

You can go here and generate your very own dodecahedron calendar. I printed my spanish calendar on bright green vellum and it's my favorite thing in my office. I apologize for the blurry picture-- camera phones kinda stink.

Kate knows Poppy

I was browsing through Swoozie's in Sugar Land yesterday and I got sidetracked by Crane & Co's Kate Spade stationary. Swoozie's had a limited selection and upon further (online) obesessing, I found these yummy Poppy invitations. Although these are pretty universal, the lady has a cheecky little card for every occasion.



OK, also dying over these sassy, quip thank you cards. The print is hardly legible from this picture but each card reads:

it's perfect
you shouldn't have but i'm glad you did
how did you know?
you've done it again

loving it.

Howard Edward Butt for Life

Houston Business Journal is reporting that Kroger is starting to recycle their plastic bags. Welcome to the trend Kroger. That's great, really. HEB is still better.

Pretty Poppy Prints

Have I mentioned my latest obsession with all things poppy? (if you've seen my polish for the past three weeks, you might get the hint-- OPI Cajun Shrimp is what I've commited my nails to for the rest of the summer).

I found these wood printed typography prints at Etsy, by greenchairpress. They would look cute in any room. The Etsy store has cool prints in every size and color and is priced for a poor soul like myself.

Escape to Wobegon

In 2002, my high school english teacher read a racy excerpt of Wobegon Boy to our class and I instantly fell in love with all things Garrison Keillor. This past weekend I picked up Pontoon from Half Price Books and was impressed with the pretty jacket. If I didn't know about GK, I probably would have grabbed this anyway just by judging the cover (yes, I do). I especially like the initials imprinted on the book itself.

I'm only a couple chapters into this book, but I can already tell it's a hilarious and cozy read. I kind of wish I didn't have sewing tonight so I could go home and indulge.(I haven't mentioned I'm taking sewing-- I'll post pictures of my "project" once we actually start working on it.)

Good Stuff

The weekend went by too fast. Thanks for Chelsey & Michelle for visiting-- I had a such a great time. We spent all day Saturday checking out Montrose, Rice Village and Highland Village. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful.

We had lunch at Hungry's, which might be my new favorite place. The chicken avacado sandwich was absolute heaven. Their food definitly holds a candle to San Marcos' Root Cellar Cafe. (Shout out to The Rae!).


Saturday we hit up a few places with the guidance of Matt Murand. One of our stops was Dean's Credit Clothing Company, a place I had been to before, but this time there was a ridiculous amount of rug-cutting. I was happy to discover that on the second Saturday of every month there's theme parties.



Next month is Ninja vs. Cowboys, and June will be the super awesome Lisa Frank unicorn dance party. Book your hotels now-- this one is going to be bitchin.

I went to the Lisa Frank website to snatch a picture of one of her unicorns, only to find out that it's name is Rainbow Chaser and her secret talent is dancing. Perfect.

Weekend!!

This probably goes without saying, but ever since I started working, weekends are completely golden to me. I savor every hour, no matter how it's utilized. Whether I'm running errands early Saturday morning, veggin'-out on the couch with Jon or exploring a city I lived in for years*... weekends mean so much more to me than ever.

So to everyone who's been reading-- Have a GREAT weekend!

*tomorrow's mission.

Wasting Time, Saving Paper

I print and print all day long. I'm feeling guilty for it, man. About 10% of what I print actually gets used for something legit. The rest of gets set aside into my ever-growing scratch paper stack.

I decided to put a little more function to my savings by making a notepad. I cut the sheets into quarters (with a large paper-cutter), punched hoes in it, and binded it with a reusable metal prong fastener. They have a 480-sheet capacity-- heavy duty stuff.

If you don't happen to have these convenient prongs lying around, a pretty little ribbon would do the job just fine. Give it a try.

Little Camie

My little brother broke his collar bone yesterday. Send him some love.

Mortified

These are my journals. All 19 of them, numbered. I’ve been writing in them since my first semester of high school in 1999. Over the last two years, I’ve hardly written anything. (That’s changing though...thanks, Blog.)

A good chunk of them (2002-2008) are great to look back on for me. I see so much growth from myself—first love, the divorce, developing my independence and contemplating decisions to choose a career. It’s not always easy to read but it’s nice to see where I’ve been and where I am today.

All of the early high school journals are terrible. I mean, self-involved, narcissistic bratty high-school stuff. I pretty much would spend all my class time pouring over these things, scribbling out the latest goss about who I like, who likes me, what I was wearing and how awesomely awesome I was.

I literally shudder when I peek into those things. I’ve thought about pitching them out so many times. Why not? I’m not exactly saving them for my memoirs. Maybe, I think, they could offer me some insight into my future teenagers’ lives? But, this girl isn’t getting preggers anytime soon.

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Miss Chelsey Dyer. She told me about a particular This American Life( a Chicago Public Radio program) broadcast she’d learned about from work. The broadcast is called My Experimental Phase and included an excerpt of a live performance series called Mortified, in which people read their childhood diaries in front of an audience. Pure brilliance. Mortified is exactly the word I’ve been looking for when I read the young journals. After very little research on Mortified, it's apparent that it's a big favorite across the nation. How have I missed this for so long?

The one Chelsey shared with me was of a writer named Sascha Rothchild who read her diary from when she was 13, going to public school for the first time and experiencing stuff that not many people get exposed to until they’re in college. It’s hysterical and I urge everyone to give it a listen to when they have time. Fast-forward to her story around the 49-minute mark. You’ll be addicted.

Richmond, You Hip and You Don't Even Know It

The Fort Bend County Tax Office's basement lounge in Richmond, Texas.

Raincoat Room

Domino Magazine has this bit where they take an outfit and use it as inspiration to design a room. In the May 2006 issue they took a chic little lady in a raincoat and made the Raincoat Room. I got pretty excited since I already had an obnoxiously yellow Kate Spade blanket I found on sale at Marshalls (score!).

When I moved back to Sugar Land, this was my big project for the first couple months. It's still a work-in-progress and it's been really fun finding stuff for my room. I think an upholstered headboard would totally make the room complete and I'm determined to learn how to make one.

Can you tell which room is mine? The grainy cell-phone picture might give it away...

Also, shout out to Dara Quackenbush, my former PR Professor! You're making me nervous reading my blog! How am I doing???

Target, I Love You.

Yesterday I went on a 70-mile errand for work and popped into the new Super Target in Dickinson, Texas for lunch. I didn't kick it old school and have a hot dog and an icee. I opted for a wrap via Archer Farms Market, but I digress.

How cool are these shopping baskets? Love love love it. Ever since Target hired Peterson Milla Hooks Advertising to do their commercials (amazing), I've been totally crushing. Just a sucker for indie-tunes and visual puns.

Welcome to le Blog

Hi Everyone. Thanks for coming to Cosas Pequenas Felices.. for those of you who haven't discovered the wonder of BabelFish, it means "little happy things" in Spanish.

Since I started working, I have a lot more time on my hands-- (it shouldn't work out that way, should it?) I've had more time to notice a bunch of cool things going on around me-- so I decided to create this blog to share anything spectacular that crosses my path. It's going to be a hogdepodge of crap. Enjoy!?