Today is Fun

My kids are out of school today and tomorrow. We are planning to fill that time by prepping the house for Halloween. (Can you believe tomorrow's October? — hooray!) I think I'll also have my kids pay a visit to Today is Fun, a site Laurie sent to me, that posts daily ideas for entertaining kids.

Today's idea: practice tip-toeing.

Join the Club

My sister Jordan has come up with the most wonderful idea. Sign up for a subscription to her Pretty Little Things club and she'll mail you a pretty little something once a month. What will the little somethings be? I have no idea. But if you've ever peeked at Oh Happy Day for even 30 seconds, you'll be as confident as I that these packages will bring nothing but delight.

Can't wait to sign up!

Not in My House

Cleaning out the medicine cupboard today. Went to a mind-blowing event called Not in My House, where I learned that 1 in 5 teenagers (that's 20%! of all teens) are getting high with legal, prescription drugs. The drugs that teens are playing around with are extremely serious, but at the same time completely common — things like Vicodin, OxyContin, Ritalin, Xanax. More than 50% of these teens obtained the prescription meds from their very own home. And when the teens combine different drugs (drugs they consider "safe" because they're legal) the combination can be deadly.

Easiest way to keep this epidemic in check? Talk to your kids. Keep track of your prescription drugs while you're taking them. And get rid of your unused pills. Period. Want to learn more? Go here to see what the experts say. And go here to see what to do about it.

A part of me wants to ignore this and believe my kids are too little to have to worry about it, but then I thought about how many teenagers I invite into our home for babysitting or other gatherings. Best to make sure the medicine cupboard is empty of anything tempting.

A great (and sobering) event — sponsored by Abbot and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. I learned much and got a kick in the pants to clean out my cupboards and talk to my kids about this. Bonus. I got to hang out with Jennifer of Snapshot & 5MFM (see her great write ups of the event here and here), as well as Amy of LIParentSource and One Mom's Memos (see her excellent write up here) — and get a tour of the gorgeous penthouse apartment that hosted the important and informative gathering.

The good-looking (and lockable!) wall mount medicine cabinets featured above are available from Heal's.

Hand Knit Sweater

Remember the Nie Nie Day auctions? Well. I bid on half a dozen or so different auctions and was lucky enough to win one of them. And just the other day, the gorgeous prize arrived on my doorstep. A handknit, cashmere baby kimono. Made by Phoebe Beacham. Complete with it's own beautiful wire hanger.

Won't this make the most wonderful baby gift?

Cherubim

Like parents all over the world, we just checked on the kids before heading to bed. And discovered Oscar fast asleep, clasping his cheeks in a way that can only be described as angelic. Aren't sleeping kids so easy to love?

The NY Botanical Gardens

Our best Saturdays are half work, half play. The morning was spent doing laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning our bedrooms. The afternoon was spent at the NY Botanical Gardens. And as luck would have it, the Gardens were celebrating Harvest Days during our visit (happy surprise!). The kids made apple sauce. Put together field notebooks. Made apple prints with stamp pads. Decorated gourds. Put together corn husk dolls. Pressed apples and sampled the cider. And the whole family worked together to make a scarecrow for the Family Garden.



And then, just for me, we paid a visit to the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden — the roses bloom in June and September — and they were spectacular. I was especially drawn to the peachy orange ones.

When we were tired, we rode the shuttle around the grounds and argued over which Moore sculpture we liked best.

DIY Pewter Ornaments

For those of you who like to get a head start on the holidays, check out this great make-your-own-pewter ornament kit. You carve the ornament and bake the clay ornament, then send it back to F is for Frank. At that point, they cast it in pewter and send you 4 copies. Fantastic.

What will you make? Something simple? Something detailed? Ornaments for the relatives? Ornaments for your tree?

Your Message Here

Learning about this project made me smile. In an Urban Outfitters window, facing the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, there's an art installation. The people behind Something Hiding In Here are collecting messages to display on a wooden sign board they made. They change the message daily and post photos to a blog.



You can suggest your own everyday message here.

The always hip doobleh-vay sent me the link.

I heart Tees

These "temporary language" shirts from Translation Tees made me laugh.




And the customizable handstitching on these shirts by Playdate NYC adds such great texture.

YouData/Kirtsy Contest

Oh my goodness. Oh. My. Goodness. There is the hugest contest ever going on over at Kirtsy. It just launched yesterday. And there are 3 ways to win.

Kirtsy just found an Ad Network that we love. It's new. It's different. It's called YouData. And it's brilliant. Basically, it matches consumers up with relevant advertisers — no more steakhouse ads being shown to vegetarians. Awesome. A perfect fit for Kirtsy.

Extra bonus: With YouData, you the consumer, make a little money every time you watch an ad. For reals. You get paid to give some of your attention. And really, that's the way it should be. Because in this digital world, where media is with us constantly by way of cell phone/tv/radio/laptop/blackberry, attention is a hot commodity. And you are the sole owner of your attention. There's a cool little video here, that says it even better.

So sign up with YouData and every time you're at iTunes, about to drop 99¢ on the latest Kanye, you can offset that cost by watching a few ads. Nice.

Anyway. Kirtsy is so excited about our new ad network, that we're having a huge contest to celebrate. As I mentioned earlier, there are 3 ways to win.



1) Register at YouData. It takes less than 2 minutes. I swear. I've done it. It's fast. And as you fill out a MeFile survey, you'll click the boxes that relate to your interests, so only relevant ads will be shown to you. Brilliant. Do that, and you're registered to win the laptop of your choice. In case you missed that, I said A LAPTOP OF YOUR CHOICE. Either a MacBook or a Dell XP. Whichever you prefer.



2) Leave a comment over at Kirtsy. Tell us what you think of our shiny new ad network. Let us know what's on your mind. Leave any comment, and you're entered to win one of TWO NEW IPOD NANOS. You know the ones — all those gorgeous colors! Two winners will each receive one, and they get to pick the color of their choice. Of course.



3) On YouData's blog, there is a Dear John letter to Advertisers. Because we're ready to break up with the old way of doing things. We want to get paid every time we watch an ad. And we want advertisers to move in that direction. If you feel the same way, "sign" the Dear John letter by leaving a comment below it, and you're entered to win one of THREE ITOUCHES. That's right. Three iTouches. Which are basically iPhones without the phone service — they'll have you watching movies, getting online on-the-go, and gps-ing, without having to switch your cell contract.

Easy peasy:
Leave a comment on this link for the 2 iPod Nanos.
Leave a comment on this link for the 3 iTouches.
Fill out a MeFile at this link to win the Laptop of Your Choice.

6 prizes. 3 ways to win. Get on it.

Underwear Drawer

I can't find an online link, but my favorite article in the October Domino is the one about renovating your panty drawer.

We went through a lot of closets on Saturday — it was a major family effort. We did the whole seasonal switch. Packed up 5 huge bags of outgrown clothes for the local thrift shop. But I didn't manage to get to my underwear drawer yet. And it is badly in need of attention.

I pretty much love every article Cynthia Kling (Domino's "Adventuress") writes. I could spend an afternoon daydreaming about her job.

Paper's Edge

Cute, customizable cut-paper artwork at Paper's Edge.

Winner — Binth Poster/Print Collection

Well there you go. Nearly 900 of you like Binth as much as I do. No big surprise really. Their work is amazing. You know what else is amazing? This video that Laurie sent me:



And now the big announcement: Congratulations(!) to Wendy who said, "I've got my fingers crossed." You are the winner of the Binth Collection of Prints and Posters. Yay you! Send me you shipping address and I'll get your info to Binth asap.

Thank you to Binth. And thank you to everyone who participated. If you didn't win, and are feeling bad about it, just watch the spaghetti video again and no doubt you'll feel better.

Highlights — Toyota Design Seminar Part 3

Other highlights so that I don't forget (and in case you're curious):



I loved seeing the color wall featuring colors and textiles over the history of the company. It's fascinating to see how relatively neutral everything has become in the world of cars. The 50's were my favorite. Bright reds and oranges. Fabrics with lots of texture.






I was super impressed by the facility. 85,000 square feet (huge). 65 employees (small). It was so cool to meet the real live designers of these vehicles. I can think of them fondly when I see a Toyota drive by.


I loved watching Ian and Edward as they drew cars while we watched. They used Macs, Photoshop and drawing tablets. I could have watched this for hours. They are super speedy. No really, they are super. speedy. And they make someone like me, that includes "knows photoshop" on her resumé, feel sheepish. Both Jean from NotCot and Karl from Core 77 made short videos of the sketching and posted them here and here.



Lunch was hosted on-site with a meal from Tradition by Pascal. The chef, Pascal Olhats, came out to say Hello. Possibly the best dessert (warm Tarte Tatin) I've ever eaten.

After lunch we went into the machining part of Calty and watched them make model parts. Like hubcabs. Fascinating to see the combination of very hi-tech and traditional lo-tech methods (like spray painting and gluing in black velvet fabric to create the look of holes) for making all the bits and pieces that make the models look 100% realistic.

Then the seminar was over. And I got to relax for the rest of the day. In Laguna Beach. Which meant I spent the afternoon by the water. (Skipped out on Fashion Island. The beach was just too tempting.) Watched the skim boarders. Walked in the sand. Wondered at how different the ocean looks from Laguna Beach than it does from Jones Beach.

My trip ended with dinner at The White House (for sure order the crab cakes) where I chatted it up with Katie from Architect, talked science fiction with Carl from Core 77. Learned about Mud Runs from Chad. And discovered from Joo, that escargoe can cause the same allergies as crab. (Duh to me! I had never thought about the fact that snails are in the same family as shellfish.)



Thanks again Toyota!

Most photos from the Toyota flickr site. Part One of this piece here. Part Two here.

2009 Venza — Toyota Design Seminar Part 2

The 2009 Venza. That was the (very good) reason for our visit to Calty. The Venza is launching and it is beautiful. Somewhere between an SUV and a sedan. Literally. It's taller than a sedan and shorter then an SUV. And from the base, the same is true — higher off the ground than a sedan, but lower to the ground than an SUV. And it has big, 20-inch wheels. Which makes it much more stable and fun to drive.

All that is wonderful. But my favorite part is the trunk.



The trunk was designed around (and I quote), "A trip to Trader Joes, a trip to Costco and a trip to Home Depot." And right there I was sold. (Plus a little creeped out that Toyota had apparently been following me around while I ran errands.) The trunk on its own is expansive, and it gets even bigger with a little flip of an easily accessible handle, that drops the second row of seats. Take a look:




Tada!

The other aspect of the Venza that was really appealing to me was the split of the driver/passenger part of the car. In a typical car, the driver has about 60% of the front space and the passenger has 40%.



But in the Venza, the designers used some cool visual and spatial tricks to make both the passenger and driver feel like they have 60% of the space. And it's true. I tried out both sides and felt like both were equally spacious.



Ian Cartabiano, an Art Center graduate and the designer of the Venza's exterior, told us about how the Venza came to life. And how it's lines are inspired by Japanese calligraphy.



Benjamin Jimenez took us through the interior (and promised to send pictures of his furniture designs).



Wendy Lee, covered the colors and materials — which were gorgeous. In her color studio, it was fun it see some of the inspiration sources, like subscriptions to Elle Decor, Interior Design and Metropolis.

It was amazing to see this finished product after feeling like we'd seen it come to life before our eyes. We saw the original sketches. We met the designers responsible for the car. We saw the footage of the Venza concept car being introduced at the auto shows. Saw the whole process.

Stuff like this makes me so happy — I love seeing the creative process happen — it's the same reason I like watching Project Runway so much.

So there you go. The 2009 Toyota Venza. Watch for it. Three years in the making and remarkably unchanged from the concept to finished product.

[ The first part of this report can be found here. And the 3rd part is here. ]

Handmade, Papered, Wooden Blocks

I like these pretty wood blocks, handmade by Hiccup, Inc, with names like Mellow, Stella Ruby, Sugared and Periphery. They're eye-catching enough that I wouldn't mind if they were left out. (And no doubt they would be left out on many, many days.) The product description says they were a featured project on the Martha Show — I apparently missed that one. I wonder if they're hard to make?

Available at Happy Chickadee.

Making the Most of It - Part 2 — by Guest Dad John Spencer

[ part 1 found here ]

Finally made it back from the store and built the storage benches. As some may know, completing a project with little kids in the house can be a bit of a challenge. My wife just doubles or triples the estimated time I think it will take.

I picked up one sheet of 1/2" birch plywood and ripped it into 15 3/4" strips. "Rip" is carpentry lingo for cutting wood in the direction of the grain. The sales associate at your local home improvement store can usually do this if you have lots of patience and a nice smile, and if they have a panel saw.

Considering the width of the saw blade, or the kerf, this dimension gave me 3 pieces from a 48" wide sheet. I used these strips of plywood to make the walls and top of the benches. The box dimensions are 45" x 15" and 42" x 15". So my cut list included: 2 at 45", 2 at 42", and since the boxes are 15" deep and the plywood is 1/2" thick the side pieces are 14" long. And I needed 4 of those. I measured each piece, made a line with a square, and carefully made the cuts with my handy circular saw. Since the kids were around we put on our sunglasses and made a "cover your ears" game out of it before each cut.

These parts for the storage benches were fastened together with screws using a cordless drill. It could also be done with a hammer and nails or a nail gun if you've got all the right stuff. Screwing it together makes it a bit stronger and easier to assemble. Plus, it is much quieter, which is what I like.


After I assembled the sides of the two boxes I connected them together in a L-shape and set them in the corner of the deck. I wanted to trim the outside of the benches with mahogany deck boards to go with my boat theme. The actual dimensions of the boards are 1" thick by 3 1/2" wide. At the lumber yard the proper name for this is five-quarter (5/4") by four. When the boards are first cut out of the tree they are actually 1.25" by 4", but after drying and a little planing they shrink. Starting from the top I just measured the sides and cut each piece to length. I alternated the rows of boards to overlap differently at the outside corners. A little bit of extra detail like this goes along way to improve the overall look. I secured them from the back so the screws wouldn't be visible.

With the last strip of plywood left, I cut a piece to fit over the top of each box and overlap the deck boards. The next phase of this project will be to upholster the tops of the benches. I need to find some cool fabric and thick foam, so I will have to leave it like this until I do. At least now, the space can be used as another play area. As you can see the masking tape has been replaced with beautiful chalk drawings.



To be continued...


Note from Design Mom:
John, who blogs at Resident Carpenter and is the creator of Via Toy Box, has done an excellent job of being a Guest Dad over the last week or two. Thank you John! He has promised that he will drop by now again when he has a cool project to share (nice!) and in the meantime, if you have a home improvement or remodeling question, John would love to answer it. Just submit your query over at his blog.