By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
We wrote about Tilley earlier this past summer and shared our article with the company. I had the opportunity to speak with Alex Tilley himself, who shared news of some of the new exciting products that they are introducing. I love the new fall and winter hats, but am head-over-heels with this bag that is making its grand debut today. It’s called the Tilley Intrepid.
After seeing it “in person” I can vow that is one of these heirloom-will-only-get-better-with-age-hand-it-down-to-your-grandchild quality bag. The Intrepid is fashioned after a WWII Canadian officer’s shoulder bag with all the updated [...]

I love convertible anything… Convertible clothing, shoes, furniture, cars… and now, jewelry. And combine convertible WITH playful… Well, I’m completely smitten.
Somewhat like the Buckyballs that I wrote about here, the Klik Klik pieces are polished metal spheres, cubes and wands that actually become wearable jewelry, the configuration of which is only limited by one’s imagination.

KLIK KLIK™ jewelry is a kit of 300 nickel-plated neodymium magnets that snap together to create thousands of custom bracelets, anklets, necklaces, chokers, armbands, rings, and more.
A basic kit is available directly from the website for $65 and an “expansion” kit is available for $35. The [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
While spending the summer in Ontario, Canada I noticed many women with the same pink keychains. Attached to their keys is a pink string with 4 cascading balls, from small to large. After seeing it on several occasions, I felt there had to be something to these keychains so I finally asked a woman about it. She told me that it was her Thingamaboob. Her what?
She explained that she is a breast cancer survivor and a Thingamaboob helps remind women about the importance of regular mammograms. The largest [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
Each year we send our children off to school with a plethora of new items and throughout the year they have invariably lost most of them. To help keep my sanity (and my budget) and help my children keep track of their belongings I have discovered the labels of all labels. Oliver’s Labels have unique Found-it™ codes on each label  that connects you and your lost item through the Internet. If you ever lose an item with a Found-it™ tracking system code, have no fear! When someone finds it they will be prompted to go to a special page on the website  with instructions [...]

As autumn is breathing down our neck, it’s nice to know that we don’t have to forgo all notions of lush green foliage for the next few months. Indeed, take a look at these very unique planters. Woolly Pockets are flexible, breathable, and modular gardening containers. “Woollies” can be used indoors or outdoors. They are made of felt derived from 100% recycled plastic bottles that allows the soil to refresh its oxygen supply. This is important for “breathability”, a gardening best-practice explained here.  And, the built-in moisture barrier – that keeps all moisture contained in the, well, container – is [...]

A brilliant, deceptively simple idea. It only appears simple because now, we see it and go Ah! Of course! But it took a talented designer like Alejandro Aravena to bring us the Chairless… so that we can now go Ah! Of course!

Aravena’s work philosophy follows the principle of “irreducibility”, which means that he strives to reduce all his designs to their most utilitarian form. So, when he saw a picture of an Ayoreo Indian sitting on the ground with a tight strap around his knees and back, he knew that this was the ultimate simplification of a chair, the ultimate [...]

In the unlikely event that this has not already been obviously implied, please know that we, succulent wives, love, love, love food. And drink. And it would appear that we have been on a food rant lately. Perhaps it’s the approaching cocooning season that is prompting us to consider more cozy, comforting pleasures…?
In any case, I wanted to share some great recipe sites that I’ve just found. Some are new and others, new-to-me. This all started when I decided to weed out my pantry from tempting but yet unused gourmet-ish items (like the anchovy paste and dried Chanterelle mushrooms) – [...]

Happy music. Happy Sunday.

I was invited to review Cooking for Isaiah by its publicist. The sub-title “Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Recipes for Easy Delicious Meals” had me immediately accept the offer.
And it’s not just because there is a gluten-free diet fad sweeping through Hollywood and the nation at the moment (though I may approve of this one). For our family, the gluten-free and dairy-free diet has been a preference ever since 1996 – but not because of Celiac disease or other related allergies. In our case, this is when a preschool teacher told us that my then four year old son was exhibiting signs [...]

As mentioned in my last edition, I relish attending the summer’s art festivals.  I have such admiration for the artists who spend much of their summer on the road… So what happens once the season is over? In a continued effort to provide independent artists with more visibility, here is a little shout out to give them some extra exposure to reach art lovers outside of the art fair sphere.