Special shout out and thanks to DH Designs

Donna from DH Designs presented me with a Best Blog award this morning and I am touched. Hurray Donna, hurray for the great work you're doing on your blog and thank you thank you thank you! Gang, head on over to Donna's and see what she's got cooking.

You have been warned

No snow globes. For your safety. Indeed.

How to put your clothes away. This is no joke.

photo via

On 1 February, the undergrads over at Apartment Therapy ran a piece it's taken me more than two weeks to be able to talk about. The headline read, How to put your clothes away each day. I'm not kidding.

I get it that their readership is skewed pretty young. But really? How to fold your clothes? I'm waiting for a blistering expose on people who don't separate their whites and colors conscientiously. Am I just being cranky? Do people really need this kind of advice?

I'm usually so exhausted by bedtime that the the best I can do is throw my clothes at the end of my bed or on a chair. But I've recently employed a new head game with myself that actually seems to be working.

It's simple and might sound strange — when I'm tempted to just chuck the clothes somewhere, anywhere, I just start calmly counting seconds in my head. This started as an exercise just to see how long it would actually take to just put the clothes away. I learned that it only takes about sixty seconds to hang up and fold whatever I'm wearing. But this counting practice, which I employ whenever I'm convinced that I'm too tired to put my clothes away, has turned into a successful and oddly meditative pre-bedtime ritual.

Seriously. So far, this piece has collected 40 comments. In a quickie run through of them, I saw little more than praise for the author's cleverness. How is adult behavior clever and since when is behaving in an expected, responsible way praiseworthy?

Maybe next month we'll be treated to something equally insightful like "How to wash your hands after making stinkies --every time!"

Fame! I'm gonna live forever!

Click on the photo to make it appear full-size.

Fashion and faucets

Last weekend, I sat with an esteemed group of designer/ bloggers in a faucet seminar hosted by the incredible design and marketing team from Brizo. Our seminar consisted of a review of their current offerings, a preview of what's coming in the next few model years and some really great discussions with Brizo's design team about what inspires them to do the work they do. It's no accident that Brizo's events coincide with Fashion Week, the runway shows in New York are events industrial designers attend anyway. What goes down those runways goes on to inspire the offerings and trends of every consumer product you can imagine, it's far more than just apparel.

This is the RSVP, it was inspired by an Erte illustration.

This is the Baliza, inspired by the lines and light beam of a lighthouse.

This is the Vesi Channel, inspired by water rushing down a mountain stream.

This is the Floriano, inspired by a wilting flower.

This is the Virage, a study of lines and shadows based on a wrought iron grille.

It's beautiful, intensely creative work and seeing what the designers at Brizo are working on now is a thrill and a privilege. So who knows what will inspire the next great faucet? Or the next great car, sofa, mobile phone, book cover, Kleenex box or soup can?

Can a faucet be born of this?

Or this?

Maybe this.

Stay tuned, there's some really thrilling things coming from the House of Brizo in the next few years.

So the other bloggers who were in New York with me last weekend were a pretty impressive group. Being in New York was an honor enough, being counted as a member of this esteemed group was something I never thought would ever come to be. Amazing.

Aston Smith

Sabrina Velandry

Paul Velandry

Cheryl Kees-Clendenon

Ann Porter

Susan Serra

Jamie Goldberg

Kelly Morrisseu

Adrienne Palmer

Laurie Burke

Chuck Wheelock

Johnny Grey

Sarah Lloyd

Pam Rodriguez

Andie Day

Carmen Natschke

Leslie Clagett

Saxon Henry