Sniffle, sniffle

 Woe is me. I've been under the weather for well over a week now and besides some homemade chicken soup (anyone? anyone?) I am drinking hot tea by the kettle. A hot toddy the other day was quiet helpful too, from what I remember.  And yet it was pure coincidence when the cutest little Red Riding Hood Tea cup/strainer and saucer arrived today. I'd ordered it for the shop months ago. Oh you make me so happy, I could sneeze!! The teacups and tea pots above are also new at the shop; functional and retro inspired, pretty much the cutest presents ever! Cups/strainers $28 each. Teapot $38.

Get Lost

I forgot to DVR LOST the other night, but fortunately, for me and you fellow fans, ABC has the latest episodes up right away with few commercial breaks. (You know you watch; I mean, President Obama even moved up the State of the Union Address so as not to compete with it!) And bonus, beyond the episodes  are brief recaps featuring Dr. Pierre Chang, as a puppet and the various cast members as action figures. Brief, accurate and hysterical.  Jacob: I'm mysterious, mmmkay.

Oh Baby!

Give it up for my favorite little sister, Anjeli, my featured (and only!) weekly guest blogger. 

Is it just me. or does it feel like there’s another baby boom happening? So many of my acquaintances, friends and even family are preparing for the arrival of a little one(s). Let me just say, I am not expecting and will do shots with you to prove it. But, I have been enjoying the eye candy that I’m finding while searching for interesting baby gifts to ensure my slot as favorite auntie (sorry Sheila). So, for those of you who are expecting, expecting to be expecting or have an upcoming baby shower to attend, here is some of the cutest baby eye candy that I have seen so far!

source: ourblogoflove 
Love, love, love these! Ok, orange is my favorite color, but it comes in other colors and others animals to suit many baby preferences and room décor!

15% Off at www.shoppop.com (Thanks for your patience!)

Just enter I Heart POP at checkout and get 15% off Everything, even sale items! There are tons of great things on the site and I'm adding stuff every day so be sure to check back!! All feedback welcome!:)

Who Has My Golden Arm?

So it's not Halloween or even close, but I just saw the ghost story "The Golden Arm" posted on you tube (Story of the Year 1973!) and I was immediately transported to Port Jervis Public Library Story Hour, sitting crossed legged and hanging on every word of librarian Mrs. Harding, holding my breath for the ending we all knew was coming, the way you can anticipate a hiccup. Jumping every time. So for those of you who remember it, the classic, Golden Arm. You've got it!

Give Me Liberty

I do very little shopping outside of POP. Pretty much everything I like, I find a way to incorporate into the shop. But my weakness is home goods, and my selection at the shop is a bit paltry, so I still have needs, you know? But I am a bit thrifty, love antiquing and nothing better than getting a super deal.  So I was swooning I tell you when I saw this new collection, a collaboration between Liberty of London and Target which will be in stores on March 14th. The collection includes fashion for the whole family along with home accessories, storage and organization items and things for the garden. They will even have a bicycle or two in the collection. No doubt it will go fast! And for those of you that like a super deal, read: free, target has a few freebies Target has some free desktop wallpapers for you... click here and then click on "Pattern Your World" to view and download them.

Spin the Barrel

For the two of you that have yet to hear of ChatRoulette, (and the many that maybe wished they hadn't) it is internet voyeurism to the extreme; a live chat with strangers that allows you to click to move on or stay and chat (watch, instruct, dance, etc).  Created by 17 year-old Russian Andrey Ternovskiy, the media outlets cannot stop writing about it....and trying it. Here's a little story round up by Gawker.  While I personally have no interest in trying it (and from what I've read that you should not do it at work. High perv factor!) here's a fun little glimpse into it.  Ah the power of dance.   And zombie masks.

Free Music Friday

Free Music Friday has a ton of free downloads from Last.FM right here.  Songs songs and more songs from The Thermals, My Brightest Diamond, Fanfarlo, Sufjan Stevens, Portishead and more.

Unrequited Love Songs

   

What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands--literally thousands--of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music? 

Nick Hornby's novel High Fidelity

I know I've been inundating you with hearts and the color pink so in case you don't call it a holiday, in case you don't want to celebrate, or maybe you just want some free good music.... Download this break up mix for gratis (right click on the song and save as an MP3) by a variety of artists including Stars, Bon Iver, and Bright Eyes.  After the jump....

All Aboard!

In NYC sometimes the subway is your best friend (chance of a taxi on New Year's Eve 1 in 1500) and some days, as full L train number two passes you by and you're already ten minutes late for work, not so much. Either way, the subway is pretty much omnipresent in your existence. Like an old country song, you just can't quit it. It's so handy, stretching from borough to beach, all hours of the day and night (with a few breaks in between!) And just think of all the great cardio from the stairs and long corridors to change trains.  To show your devotion, why not pick up this new poster for the New York Transit Museum by the talented  Julia Rothman? Available right here through the MTA; click on Posters-Art For Transit-Adventures! Because you all know that riding that train can certainly be an adventure. Just ask Anjeli about the homeless man that sat on her! :) (via Oh Joy).

Hipster Madlibs

If your best Valentines' Days were in elementary school where you were guaranteed at least a few choice cards from a box of 20 from your bff's, then this Mad Libs for the holiday should be right up your alley!  Click to enlarge. Via NYPress. 

Alexander McQueen, a Legend Lost too Soon

British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, "Lee",  was found dead at his London home this morning of an apparent suicide.  The incredibly influential and groundbreaking designer was only 40 years old.  McQueen was known for his dramatic designs and impeccable tailoring. "At one level he was a master of the fantastic, creating astounding fashions shows that mixed design, technology and performance and on another he was a modern day genius whose gothic aesthetic was adopted by women the world over,"  said Alexandra Shulman, the editor of British Vogue. Just his shoes alone got more runway attention this season than most Oscar nominees (see pic below). Perhaps not every consumer's taste, his designs pushed the boundaries; they redefined fashion. They gave others inspiration and courage to dare.  His genius and influence will surely be missed but no doubt his legacy will continue. NY Magazine's blog, The Cut, has a fantastic photographic retrospective here. Seriously breathtakingly inspired.

Commitment Phobe

Afraid to commit to a full wall or room of wallpaper (or simply not into the look or the work applying it!)? Check out these great vintage wallpaper prints available as a canvas, print (framed or unframed) from V&A Prints. What can I say, the Brits really know wallpaper. Apparently, always have. In addition to beautiful vintage wallpaper, the site offers an online selection of more than 3000 images from the Victoria and Albert Museum, "one of the most renowned collections of art and design in the world." There are so many prints, I'm barely through a quarter of them and am already in love with so many. That's a posting for another day! Here are my favorite wallpaper prints....The print above, my fav, Chinese Wallpaper, features flowering shrubs and fruit bees, on a pale green background. China, 18th century.

 

English Wallpaper, from a book of wallpapers. Hare bell decoration. England, early 19th century.

Bird Pattern Wallpaper, by Luise Delefant (active 1950s).

 

Design for Printed Textiles, c.1918  watercolor and pencil on woven silk by C.F.A Voysey, architect of the Arts and Crafts movement and influential turn of the century designer. He established his architecture practice in 1882 but his exceptional talent for pattern making led him to concentrate his early career on designing for wallpapers, furnishings and fabrics. 

Fashion & Wallpaper?

It's no secret I've got a thing for wallpaper...in small doses.  I used to joke that my mom's house was shrinking from layers upon layers of wallpaper and my dad once had wallpaper on a bathroom ceiling.  No, I'm talking accent walls one wall in the bedroom/living room, foyer/entryway, small doses.  If you're so daring, there are so many more options available stateside than just a few years ago without having to track down some UK exporter (including the paper by Graham and Brown wallpaper I recently put up in my bedroom that I blogged about earlier here).

Noteworthy for you Anglophiles or fashionistas, is the new Vivienne Westwood line for Cole & Son, the 18th Century hand printed wallpaper company. The line is based on signature designs from her fashion collections such as the iconic squiggle print from the Autumn-Winter 81/82 Pirate collection and the more recent Cut-Out Lace from the Spring-Summer 07 collection. There are several designs available, but my favorites are shown above. Available here.

Jean Paul Gaultier For Target

Not that I would like to encourage you my dear sweet reader (and shopper) to shop elsewhere, but I understand, variety is the spice of life. Especially if that spice is couture at bargain prices!! I've  long been a big fans of the designer lines at Target; if the whole line is not completely appealing I've been able to find at least one piece that I want. Next designer up? None other than the 80s style icon Jean Paul Gaultier, known as the "bad boy" of fashion, Gaultier who currently designs for Hermes, used the American Woman as his muse and inspiration for this collection. Though I remember him most fondly for dressing Madonna during her Express Yourself years.   This collection definitely looks like Southern Bell meet Rock N' Roll. But it  looks like I don't need to figure out where to wear my pointy bra just yet... The collection will be available in select stores and online March 7 - April 11, 2010.

Move Over Martha

(Today I'm over the moon to share a special guest post, my first ever, from one of my favorite ladies, my sis, Anjeli.  Without further ado...)

While browsing design blogs for floral inspiration before my wedding last September, I stumbled upon Saipua…or what I like to call Brooklyn’s floral mavens. For months I drooled over their beautiful, skillful compositions. Their artistic style defied the typical pyramid shapes of old, leaving each arrangement artistically constructed. When I saw that they started The Little Flower School in the back of their beautiful floral shop in Red Hook, Brooklyn, I immediately signed up for the "Hail to the Hellebore" class.

(

(Photo NYTimes)

Saipua owner Sarah Ryhanen and Nicolette Owen of Nicolette Camille floral design walked us through the intricacies of the 15-20 flowers and fillers that had been pre-selected for the class. While putting together a sample arrangement, these two lovely ladies provided techniques and helpful hints for choosing, caring for flowers, as well as how to construct our arrangements, like bunching one variety in 2s and 3s and using a keen eye to see how colors relate to the wider arrangement. A key element behind the perfect display is geometry (bet you didn’t think you’d have to use that again after middle school!). Sarah and Nicolette suggested that we think about the arrangement as an obtuse triangle. If you look at their work, you can see this take shape. Then, it was our turn. We ran to the front of the room, selected our flowers and fillers and the mastery got under way!

(That's me in grey!)

Here are the class results. Pretty impressive!

 

Single-session classes, which last almost four hours, cost $250. Students take home the vase and arrangement they make, as well as a handsome pair of clippers. If that's a little rich for your blood and you're a little less impetuous about signing up, you can always become a devotee of their blogs and have this look for less by finding a base flower at the local market, like tulips, and accent them with citrus, herbs or a special variety from your favorite florist (in my case, Saipua!). 

This is my final arrangement – I was so so happy with it. I can’t wait to apply the techniques I learned…watch out Martha Stewart!

Just Do It (Yourself)!

If you remember my post from last month about antiquing in the Poconos, you'll recall how I picked up scores of vintage plates for between $2 and $8 each.  I've got a little project in the works for that, so stay tuned, but in the meantime, I'm reposting this great little DIY project from Bloesem Blog, from the online February issue of 101-woonideeen, a DIY and interior magazines from the Netherlands. Customized art plates that look straight out of an Urban Outfitter's catalog except you're talking about your own unique little piece of art. This has to be the most rockin' little DIY present I've seen in ages!

What you need::
*Used or vintage plates with a floral pattern
* Adhesive foil, white mat 
*Spray Paint  *Templates   *Scissors *Cutter

How to make::

Prepare the baking plates by making them grease-free. Trace your pattern or template on the adhesive foil.

Cut it out from the adhesive foil and paste it onto your plate. Make sure you rub the adhesive foil securely, there should be no paint running under. Spray a thin layer of paint on your plate, it is fun when the original pattern of your plate shines thorugh the paint. Allow the plates to dry and then carefully pull the adhesive foil.

Deer Valentine

If you, like many can't stomach the sickly sweet, outdated Hallmark card options for Valentine's Day, have a look over on Etsy. There are hundreds of beautiful and unique cards to choose from.  But then there's always the old school box of 20 in case you can't decide on just one valentine...

(1), Tandem (2) Deerest (3) Smoking (4) Like You (5) Lola 

And if you're in the neighborhood we have a few choice cards over here at POP too! 

This Just In

The shop is bursting with new Spring styles.  Yesterday we got in four heaping boxes from BB Dakota.  For those that are unfamiliar (and I know it's not many! They practically have a cult following), it's a young, hip line inspired by haute couture but oh so affordable. Trust me it's a worth a visit! You know how fast the best stuff sells out, especially since we often have only one of a size! (Plus winter coats, shoes, sweaters, hats, scarves, are soooper dooper discounted!) xo POP

One Man's Junk

 

Luxembourg based artist Pina Delvaux collects and assembles found objects into boxes.  Into art. Abandoned and orphaned, she uses the object groupings to create new meanings, new dreams, new memories.  C'est Magnifique!