swissmiss | Tea Sub

How freaking cute is this???

swissmiss | Tea Sub.

3-D glasses dress by Nicole Lindner

A clever idea (even if, as one commenter points out, the red and blue panes should be reversed for accuracy).

3-D glasses dress by Nicole Lindner – Swell 3D (with thanks to Ben for finding it).

Hipsters, by SHAG

An irresistible combination: three of pop culture’s greatest performers, as depicted by one of pop culture’s greatest artists, SHAG. If you’re unfamiliar with SHAG’s work (SHAG being the moniker of  Orange County’s Josh Agle), he’s well-known for his stylized images of mid-Century Los Angeles, of all things Tiki, and of several anniversary artwork creations for Disney, among other things.

The print above is 12×14 inches, and sold in a limited signed and numbered edition of 250 for $110. You can find it, and the rest of his currently-available work, at Shagmart.

The Connectedness of Things

Our son just started his first year at Bard College. (I digress here to note that Bard’s illustrious musical alumni include The Sherman Brothers, Steely Dan, and our friend Nelson Bragg of the Brian Wilson Band. Spectacular connections right there, but that’s not my subject for today.)

Rhinebeck, NY is a lovely town about 8 miles from the Bard campus in the Hudson River Valley. We dined at a few places there in August while we were in town to drop Ben off at school. Among the restaurants to which we intend to return is Terrapin. The setting is dramatic: it’s housed in the beautifully renovated “First Baptist Church,” built in 1825. It’s got a bistro on one side, for casual dining, and a somewhat dressier (in both food and ambience) restaurant side. The food was amazing, from the Farmer’s Market salad through to the crème brulée (which was, to our shock and delight, among the best we’ve ever tasted, anywhere).

The wine list was carefully considered and reasonably priced. Feeling adventurous, we tried a Spanish grenache called Evodia, and fell in love with it. A happy wine, very food-friendly, and we decided we’d have to add it to our house rotation. Since it was reasonably priced on the restaurant’s list, we figured it would be a relative steal at retail. Then we tried to find it at retail. While it’s readily available online, the shipping adds greatly to the cost, making it not such a bargain. And the only place it was available in Los Angeles, according to Wine Searcher, was across town in Venice. Ordinarily that wouldn’t be a real problem, but I’d recently had major surgery and that greatly limited the extent of my travels.

In the meantime, I took myself out for lunch at a local favorite, Studio City’s Artisan Cheese. While waiting for my sandwich, I chatted with Sarah, their assistant wine buyer. We talked about varietals we like, and she allowed as to how the owner prefers Italian and Spanish selections. I remarked that we had just the week before had a delicious Spanish grenache called Evodia. ”Evodia?” she exclaimed. “We’ve got it!” Lo and behold, they had it – lots of it, in fact. I bought a case.

Trying and loving a wine in a little village across the country, and finding it right here in my hometown – it’s a funny old world, isn’t it?

I <3 Throwboy

Hope I’m not the only one who thinks these Throwboy pillows are clever as well as cute. In addtition to the “Icon” collection, pictured here, Throwboy offers “Chat” and “RSS” pillows. They’re 100% fleece, polyester filled, and go for $29 each or $149 for the set of six. They seem rather perfect for dorm rooms and office sofas, don’t they?

MSR Flex 4 System Cookset | Uncrate

What a clever idea – a compact cookery set for four that collapses into a tidy, portable pot. This MSR Flex 4 System Cookset makes my minimalist heart very nearly want to go camping, just so I would have a reason to get one.