Browsing a friend’s blog (Blue Print — you should check this out! Rachel has fabulous taste: she has some wonderful finds on here, AND we have the same blog design/theme. She also has some lovely prints in her Etsy shop) I came across These Are Things, a fabulous site owned by a couple of designers who specialize in funky silkscreen maps. I took advantage of their January sale and ordered this:
I was hard-pressed to pick from their beautiful collection. Here are some of my other favourites:
Speaking of colourful things… I’m dreaming of Kitchenaid Stand Mixers. Ever since it was released, I’ve craved this 90th anniversary shiny red edition, which looks magical on Williams Sonoma shelves. I’m particularly enamored of the big glass bowl, which I think looks even classier than the regular stainless steel. And I love this vibrant red:
But there are so many other fabulous colors to choose from, and I think if this “Majestic Yellow” came with the glass bowl this might be my first choice. I love how sunny and cheerful it is!
This Almond cream model would work no matter what your kitchen palette: 
And I love the vintage feel of this Pistachio model. So beautiful!
And if those colors aren’t enough…
One of my biggest temptations: Anthropologie. Beautiful (if always too pricey) stuff that always inspires me to sit outside Parisian bistros in cute hats and funky boots or decorate my (imaginary) light-and-breeze New York apartment with eclectic-but-tasteful fabrics. Alas, I can usually only afford the odd sale item, but this weekend that meant leaving the store with a satisfyingly weighty bag filled with four of these:
These cheerful latte bowls come in a bright assortment of colors (see below), but the benefit to the orange ones: only $1.99 a piece 
Now I want more colors. And that’s the thing with a lot of kitchen stuff; you need all the colours side-by-side for the real impact. Examples: these magnetic kitchen timers (also from anthropologie):
And these fabulous melamine spoons I bought from Illum Bolighus in Copenhagen last summer:
The spoons are made by a Danish company called Rice, which specializes in all things colourful. I also bought this chicken plate (!) from the same designer:
And I wish I’d brought home some of these melamine cups and plates:
I only just returned to Durham from Christmas at home, and already I’ve got the travel bug again. I’m itching to go somewhere. M and I have been talking about scheduling in another trip to Asheville, which lies directly in between me in NC and him in TN. Perhaps there’s something about this time of the year that makes Asheville and the Blue Ridge Mountains sound attractive, since it M and I have spent two Valentine’s weekends there. One of those weekends involved a day in the luxurious Grove Park Inn Spa — bliss! But most of the time we just explore, visit some of the fabulous restaurants downtown, and drive the Blue Ridge Parkway:
But lately I’ve been dreaming of places farther afield. For some reason, I keep thinking Istanbul (humming “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)”). Really, who wouldn’t want to visit a city that was once the capital of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Latin Empire, and the Ottoman Empire (yes, I’ve done my Wiki-research) and that is situated on two continents. I want to visit a hamam, see the Blue Mosque, shop in the Grand Bazaar, eat lokum (Turkish delight) at the Egyptian Spice Market, stop off at a tea-house under the Galata Bridge, and of course visit the Haghia Sophia.
New year and time to start anew and afresh, including (hopefully) more regular posts on here. The beginning of January, despite the miserable weather, usually feels full of possibility. A whole new year to write on. Having made the switch to Google Calendar, I really miss the tangibility of a paper planner or calendar. Something with blank spaces that ends up tattered and loved (or hated?) by September or October. I tried an academic planner at the beginning of last semester, but I’m just so tied to the ease of keeping myself organized electronically that I just let it go after about a month. But I love the idea of something like this (by dozi on Etsy):
My family are better with calendars than I am. My Mum always updates the family calendar in the kitchen, which is usually a week-to-view one with blocks of time for each day. Dad has a page-a-day calendar upstairs in his office which is usually filled with inspirational messages, and there’s usually another cat-themed page-a-day in the kitchen too. This year, I supplied not only the 2011 cat-a-day specimen, but I also provided my cat-obsessed family with a personalized family calendar. Made using mypublisher, this one features pictures I’ve taken over the years of our two amazing cats, Tiger (who we lost last year) and Lia. Here are a couple of pages:
Perhaps I’d be better going with something practical and pretty that lets me off the hook when it comes to keeping it up-to-date… Like this pretty letterpress one by Sarah Parrott:
