VALENTINE'S DAY DINNER

This year my sweetie and I decided to keep it quiet on Valentine's Day—we're making a nice romantic dinner at home. My recipe folder is chock full amazing inspiration and it is so hard to decide. Chicken Stir-Fry Wraps? Fettuccine with Peas, Shallot and Herbs? Steak with Arugula and Balsamic Mushrooms? Salmon Fillet with Citrus and Thyme? They all look delicious.

Either way I know I am going to tackle this fun baking project: a Heart Cake! Though I will certainly keep the red velvet cake in the middle, I think I might switch it up and make the rest dark chocolate. No matter, there is a great step-by-step tutorial on the blog 'I Am Baker'. I will let you know how it comes out!

HOT DEALS FOR COLD WEATHER

I just discovered the online 'sale rack' at Zara. It looks like you can't actually buy the coats online, but you can check out everything on sale in stores? But the eye candy is pretty awesome even if you aren't near a brick and mortar. Seriously, there are so many styles just in the coats and jackets section alone! And, all of the coats above are priced between $59.99 and $89.99! Amazing. I particularly love that grey button down number . . . .

Check them all out here and find a store near you here.

MTA MUSIC

Like most New Yorkers I have a love-hate relationship with the subway system. But this beautiful graphic, called 'Conductor', by Alexander Chen manages to make the movement of subway trains into lovely string music. As Chen describes, "Using the MTA's actual subway schedule, the piece begins in realtime by spawning trains which departed in the last minute, then continues accelerating through a 24 hour loop. The visuals are based on Massimo Vignelli's 1972 diagram."

Watch the interactive in your browser here and learn more about the design on Chen's blog here.

(Thanks to Elisabeth for the heads up!)

SUPER BOWL AD WRAP 2011

Did you guys watch the Super Bowl last night? What a game! I was really rooting for the Packers, mostly because the Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisburger is not a good guy and the Packers are overdue for a win. I am glad Packers' quarterback Aaron Rodgers was able to put out such a great performance and cinch a great game.

That said, one of my favorite parts of the game was still watching the commercials (as it was last year, and the year before). This year I thought advertisers really stepped up their game and delivered some great commercials—relying more on creativity and less on busty women or talking animals to sell their products (though, of course, there were still some of those). Here are my favorites in no particular order. I especially love the Audi commercial though; Kenny G! Classic!

Enjoy!

(See almost all of the commercials from the Super Bowl here.)

VALENTINE PRINTABLES

On Wednesday, Armelle (one of my favorite blogs!) did a great post about free cards and favors you can print for your Valentine. How adorable are these ideas? You can check all of the picks here.

Happy weekend!

DRAWN OUT

I got up at 3am this morning to pre-order the Verizon iPhone (which I have been drooling over for a while now; see here, here, here and here), so I am keeping it low key today. I thought I would share this amazing stop motion video created by Adam Vhoores and Will Bryant for the digital magazine Signature. I love the idea of taking advantage of the digital media and making it move . . . So cool! Enjoy.

(found via design work life, of course!)

JUMP! JUMP FOR MY LOVE!

After the long post yesterday, I thought I would keep it short today. How cool is this public pool installation created by artist Ich Bin Kong in Wiesbaden, Germany? I would definitely "jump" into it (while singing the Pointer Sisters of course!).

Found via the Wooster Collective here.