3.23.2008
Comedy in Nashville (Bret Ernst and Jimmy Fallon!)
Jimmy's 'You Spit When You Talk'
Bret Ernst
3.19.2008
NoteWorthy Products - Dogeared Jewelry
I'm not always going to feature jewelry here but for now I have to mention this company. Let me just say that I am so envious I didn't think of something like this. Dogeared jewelry has taken a simple design idea, creative packaging that includes emotional marketing gimmicks and created a thriving product. The emotional positioning of this product is genius. Their 'best known and most loved creation' is the make- a- wish necklace which is a simple pearl or charm on a silk thread. Here's the selling point that evokes the emotion in the buyer of the gift, it's on this card that says 'make a wish and put on your necklace. when your necklace wears off, your wish should come true...' Yea right, but for all of us dreamers with hope, the emotional association and response is to spring for a $26 necklace. So that's the concept for the make-a-wish and then you have your choice of different colors of silk string, endless possibilities of 14k gold dipped or sterling charms, and then an occasion, (this is where it gets personal and fun!). Occasions are titles at the top of the card and encompass the intentions of your wish, purpose or energy of the necklace. As they put it 'ask and the universe will provide.. trust and believe!' The ABUNDANCE necklace is one of my favorites, probably cause of the cute feather and its general purpose! They have occasions from anything about love, being a new mom to one simply titled happy birthday. In fact, most of the line are necklaces that are not intended to fall off so you can permanent wear your dreams around your neck or at least until they come true. My other favorite is the Karma necklace! I just ordered one and I can't wait to sport it all summer! It says 'what goes around, comes around...wear your necklace as a reminder to keep the circle positive, peaceful and loving'. And big thanks to my dear friend Brooke who gave me my first Dogeared necklace for my birthday.
3.17.2008
Really?!? I Can't Get Enough!!!
haha! That would be of the dance crew on roller skates called Breaksk8 on MTV's America's Best Dance Crew. I've been catching bits and pieces of the new show here and there and then got completely mesmerized by an episode I saw last week. The assignment for the remaining crews was to put their own twist on a track from Michael Jackson's Thriller album in honor of the album's 25th anniversary. All the dance crews did a such a great job, I'm liking this show now! Well Breaksk8 picked 'Beat It' out of a hat and had 'their best performance yet'...check it out cause I can't get enough! Maybe I like the song 'Beat It' more than I thought or this is just more proof of the undeniable impact that album had on all of us but I would pay to see them do a performance to the song in full. Their performance also reminded me of that movie "Breakin'" that came out in the early 80s. I think I watched that movie a lot when I was little!
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SKIP TO #4
3.14.2008
Morphed - the future of mobile devices
3.11.2008
Music You Should Know or Remember:
I'm sure you cool kids know who SIA is and if you don't shame, shame. You would at least recognize one or two of the numerous hits she's done with Zero 7 or the huge hit "Breathe Me" that played on the series finale of Six Feet Under. Well I just got back from Atlanta where some friends and I decided to celebrate a birthday by making the 4 hour drive to see SIA live in concert. It was at the Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points, a venue similar to Belcourt Theatre but bigger for all you Nashvilians, and I was blown away. How many times have you seen a live performance and thought it sounded even better than the CD? The songstress sang her heart out and now might contend w/ Beck and Ryan Adams for my admiration when it comes to a live performance. I wish I had a set list but I was enjoying myself way too much to try and manage that. Not mentioning we missed the first song because of an inexcusably SLOW server at Sweet Lime, located across from the venue. No really, we're pretty easy to wait on cause we've all been servers before. Great sushi...horrible service! Oh, the best part, after we waited way tooo long for our food, our server forgot to enter half our order so we left still hungry! Hence the photo, we snagged a muffin before walking in the show...
I have some videos posted below you have to check out, especially the clip of her explaining an alter ego and a little bit about her career. I had no clue she was so animated, quirky and funny! The majority of the songs she played were from her new album Some People Have Real Problems and surprisingly 3 of the songs she did w/ Zero 7. "Sweet Potato", "Throw It All Away"!!! and "Buttons" were the songs that would've been on my wish list though : ( This was the best show of 2008, so far!
"Day Too Soon" from new album:
Sia, the comedian:
"Destiny", a Zero 7 song:
"Breathe Me" from Colour The Small One:
If you want more, there are a couple more videos on You Tube!
3.04.2008
Fine China is for Single Women Too?
Back to the point, and no Maris this is not an advertisement for AshBlue, because I'm in an area of business, oh screw it, because I manage a retail store that sells fine china I've become completely besotted with the essence of the bloody stuff! I've noticed first hand that the market of brides registering for it is just not what it once was, so I hear. That could be a product of its own, beginning generations ago due to the passing down through families. Why would a girl want to register for fine china when she's getting Nana's set (or whatever you call your grandmother). Is it just not practical anymore? The new urbanism movement is driving people back into the city and usually in smaller functional spaces. Where would you store 12 complete place settings of china in your new urban modern loft? Well, I would probably display them on a wall somewhere. Or is it because the perceived value (unfairly so) has lessened due to the economies of scale of brands like Crate&Barrel, William Sonoma, even Target that have stolen the bridal market. 1 in 7 of my friends married in the last 2 years registered for fine china. The rest opted out in favor of everyday ware from those previously mentioned retail giants.
Fine china and porcelain is usually on the upside of the market, especially when you look at the traditional manufacturers which can be intimating if you don't know, you got to ease into it. All deserving of praise though once you put your hands on it and find a pattern that suits your being. The only reason I found myself enlightened with the endless possibilities, especially if you dare get in to mixing and matching, is because that's what I do and I know what the market has to offer. Enough about why people don't love it as much as I do. I pitty the fool! So here are some of my favorites; I just haven't decided which pattern to invest in yet!
From left to right: 1st row- Gwinnett Lane by Kate Spade, Pinny's Beach by Kate Spade, 5 Lenox patterns (Continental Platinum, Murray Hill, Federal Cobalt, Grand Central, and Columbus Circle), Brown/Gold Laque de Chine by Haviland, Samoa Green by Jars 2nd Row- Emperor's Garden by Sieger, Blue Fluted Mega by Royal Copenhagen, Elisabeth and 3 colors of Arc en Ciel Presentation Plates by Robert Haviland and C. Parlon, Yellow Convivio by Match, La Scala by Richard Ginori 3rd Row- Turenne by Raynaud, 4 patterns by Haviland- (clockwise) Illusion, Oasis, Tambour, and Platinum Black Symphony, Avington Clear Magenta by William Yeoward, Gosford by William Yeoward, Emperor's Garden by Sieger 4th Row- Bangalore by Kenzo, Matignon Green by Robert Haviland and C. Parlon, Feuille D'or by Haviland, Oriental Trees by Bernardaud, Omari Rouge by Haviland.
ATTN: Interior Designers
Planning a new space, whether it's your office or your living space, is full of challenges and can take a lot of your time. You’re either starting from scratch (like we are, trying to design the new store for AshBlue) or, the most time-consuming, just trying to figure out how to fit the stuff you already own into a new place. I'm telling ya, I have faith that there is just about a website, with or without software, for just about everything these days and I love it! So naturally I have to share, what are blogs for anyway? On floorplanner.com you can use simple drag-and-drop tools to create floor plans. There’s a menu of different types of doors, windows, fireplaces, sofas, tables, beds, etc that you can drag into your floor plan and easily edit with a click of the mouse if you change your mind. You can sign up for a free account and start designing immediately. There’s always the option to add more services later for a pretty reasonable yearly subscription. Here's the beginning of my draft of the draft for the new store ; )