HERB KEEPER

Just a quick post to share a product that I have been drooling over for quite some time: the Cuispro Herb Keeper. Unfortunately the product is on back order until May but at $20 it is worth the wait! It works like this: you take your fresh herbs and stick them into a rack at the bottom of the glass, which in turn fits into a pool of fresh water. Using the handle in the middle of the glass, you simply lift open the jar and take out whatever you need! Staying in this handy container, which fits on the door of your fridge, your herbs can last several weeks!

Check out more here.

WOODNOTES HOME

Living in New York, I have a lot of friends who live in studio apartments. While these are not the "studios" you see in the movies or on tv, there do often feature a big open space. And what better way to break up that space, to decorate it, then with these lovely paper curtains. Woven from countless interlocking shapes, these paper beauties are extremely elegant and would look wonderful in a modern or traditional home.

Check out more here.

SUPER BOWL AD WRAP

Just like last year, I thought I would share some of my favorite commercials from the Super Bowl last night in case you missed them. I was surprised that there were no super standouts for me, though there were a bunch that had me chuckling. These four were particularly creative; I particularly love the Google 'Paris' ad for its sweetness and simplicity.

Also worth mentioning?

"Punxsutawney" Polamalu

Doritos 'House Rules'

Kia Sorento Toys

Enjoy! Let me know which was commercial was your favorite in the comments.

IN THE CLASSROOM

Welcome to yet another installment of "In the Classroom". This week I will be talking about 1950s/1960s era magazine ad men--truly the good ol' boys seen on "Mad Men"--like Helmut Krone and George Lois.

Helmut Krone is like the Godfather of advertising. Everyone knows his name, his handiwork and his "family"--the agency Doyle Dane Burnbach. Among his many accomplishments, Krone is known for democratizing type by using all lowercase, basic fonts, and colloquial text. Often he would completely remove the company's logo, leaving the actual product to speak for itself (like the Polaroid camera at top right). He is best known, however, for spearheading the iconic Volkswagen "Think Small" campaign. Voted the best ad campaign in history by AdAge.com, the Volkswagen ads were near heresy to other designers (in fact there is a scene in Man Men that addresses this); you could barely see the product; the text was too jocular; the ad mocked the product. But people loved it. And pointing out that the bug is a "Lemon" or that it "Makes your house look bigger" appealed to a consumer base that was looking for an alternative to big companies and big cars and big environmental damage. Learn more about him here and here.

George Lois was also an icon, but his work is most often seen on magazine covers instead of within magazine covers. His covers for Esquire were always dead on--commentary on modern art and commentary on current events. He used photomontage to get to the heart of the matter: Mohammed Ali's martyr status after refusing entrance into the army, Andy Warhol's exponential fame through his use of Cambell's Soup cans. He has published several books about his career and was the subject of a MoMA retrospective in 2008. Learn more about him at his awesome website here.

SUPER BOWL COOKING

I am pretty excited for the Super Bowl this weekend. My boyfriend has slowly gotten me interested in football and it will be very nice to watch a game where I don't particularly care what the outcome is. Plus we are planning to watch it in our pjs, eating lots of tortilla chips and guacamole. On top of that, I just found this awesome foodie blog "Food 365" which recently featured a tantalizing recipe for Chickpea Croquettes. I can't wait to add them to the menu for Sunday!

Check out more delicious vegetarian at Fresh 365 here.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: ITALIA

While watching the season premiere of Lost last night (I am so dork-ily excited) I decided to update my Flickr photostream with some of my travel photos. Previously I was only posting my travel photos on my personal Shutterfly account, but there are so many lovely shots--Italy really does have a transcendent light--that I couldn't help share them.

Check out more here.

GREY WITH A SPOT OF SUNSHINE

On this wintry day, I thought I would share with you some sartorial eye candy on offer at Anthropologie. I am loosely filing these under the header "Grey with a Spot of Sunshine". I have a serious jones for grey clothes; it seems to be popping up a lot in my closet recently. I hope some of these pop up in your closet too!

1. Moon Phase Tank, on sale for $39.95
2. Circuitous Cardi, on sale for $69.95
3. Filaments Boatneck, on sale for $39.95
4. Flipside Blazer, $88
5. Sparkle Hoodie, on sale for $49.95
6. Falling Ribbon Cardigan, on sale for $49.95
7. Skipping Strands Tank, on sale for $29.95