IT'S A BIG DAY! A BAGGU GIVEAWAY!

If you have been reading this blog for any period of time, you know that I love love love Baggu. A mean third grader would tell me to marry it, I love it so much. You can see proof here.








So I was pretty excited when I saw that Baggu launched some new, awesome products recently, namely these beautiful leather pouches and technology sleeves for iPad and laptop. Just like everything at Baggu, they come in a number of awesome colors and are made of really high quality fabrics. Better yet? They are super reasonably priced, with the leather pouches costing $20-$40 (depending on size) and the cases priced between $28-$36. Pick up your own here.








To celebrate—both my love of Baggu and all their great new stuff—I have arranged an amazing giveaway! One lucky reader will receive the following Baggu goodies: a set of medium blue zippered bags, a sailor striped regular baggu, and a neon purple baby baggu. The set looks absolutely adorable together and, if you stashed them in your purse or suitcase, you could be ready for anything: bringing home groceries, carrying your lunch, sorting toiletries or anything else you can think of!


Here's how you can enter:


for one entry:
Leave a note in the comments about your favorite Baggu product.


for two entries:
Leave a comment and then tweet about the giveaway.


for three entries:
Leave a comment, tweet, and then head over to facebook and 'like' the Obsessive Imagist.




Good luck! One winner will be randomly chosen and announced on Tuesday, March 27 at 9am.

BAG IT UP (PART 2)

Part two of my Earth Day celebration features another vendor I met at MoMA Green Day: Baggu. Baggu seems to create an excited frenzy in the office every year during this event; people love their bags so much that Baggu usually hands out all of their freebies--over 200 samples each year--within the first hour of the event! I managed to pick up a purple one (perfect for a Williams girl) right before they ran out. That also meant that I had a chance to speak to the two lovely ladies--Emily and Pia--behind the Baggu brand. After talking with them for a couple of minutes I was completely convinced that Emily and Pia were not only wonderful people, but also had a great eye for color and design (Pia was wearing one of these necklaces and I instantly loved her!), and had a great business model!

Baggu bags are ethically produced, made of one piece of ripstop nylon, and can hold up to 50 pounds! They are endlessly reusable, sturdy and practical. Each Baggu folds down into a small, convenient pouch so that it is really easy to throw it into your purse, suitcase, whatever. If yours starts to show wear you can mail it into Baggu and they will recycle the material and give you a credit towards the purchase of a new one. Baggu bags come in three sizes: Baby Baggu (lunch bag size), Baggu (shopping bag size), and Big Baggu (laundry bag size). You can buy them individually or in sets of 3 or 5.

Check them out at their website here or buy them and watch a super cute video (about using your Baggu as wrapping paper) on Amazon here.

(Have you sensed my tote bag/shopping bag obsession yet? See it for yourself here, here, here, here, and here.)

BAGGU: PACK IT UP

I have excitedly posted about Baggu bags before (see here and here). But in the last couple months I have gotten even more giddy over the Baggu brand because I have gotten to know (electronically) one of the wonderful people at Baggu: their promotional guru Jen Ng. It is so fun to exchange emails with smart, creative people—Jen has been super nice about helping me get studio shots of Baggu goodies to post on here!

Basically I am re-posting about Baggu because I have become completely dependent on them. I throw one of the grocery bags into my backpack before heading to school. I pack my lunch in a super adorable "baby Baggu". Today, when I hop on a plane to go to a symposium in Toronto, I will organize my suitcase with the Baggu zippered pouches.

Plus, it doesn't hurt that they come in super cute patterns and colors. Check it all out here.

Need something a bit more heavy duty? Baggu also just did a cool collaboration with Threadless to make some sweet canvas totes. Sneak a peak here.

(Thanks to Jen for the help with this post; all images courtesy of Baggu)

BAGGU BLISS

I love Baggu (as you know from here, here, here and here) and I have to say that I am totally smitten with their new colors and patterns. I own about 20 Baggu bags in blue, purple and green but now I am tempted by some fiery fall colors. My favorites are the red and white geometric print and fox pattern—I mean really, how could you not love it?


Check them all out here.

ZIP IT

After discovering the amazing reusable bag company—Baggu—this spring, I have toted a Baggu bag with me everywhere I go. Their products fold up into small convenient cases and can be easily stashed in your bag on the go. So, imagine my excitement, when I got an email announcing their new products: zippered pouches! I can imagine these would be even more useful, holding my countless daily necessities: cell phone, ipod, pens, sticky notes, etc. As usual, I love the colors and patterns on offer, especially that pink set!

Get your own set of zip bags, priced from $7 - $12, at the Baggu site here.

BAGGU: SIGHT UNSEEN

Sight Unseen just did a studio visit with (my favorite) Baggu. It's awesome to see their space and read about some of the inspiration behind their designs.

Not to mention hear that they will be debuting this sweet new pattern this summer. Sign me up!

BAGGU IN 3D: A TRAVELER'S BEST FRIEND

I have professed my love for Baggu here on the O.I. over and over (exhibit A) but I am not sure I have ever talked about how much I love Baggus for traveling. And what better time than now, while I am 'out of the office' for two weeks on the west coast? I love taking two or three standard baggus in my suitcase since they prove so useful. They are cute enough to take with you when you go out but sturdy and indestructible enough to sustain heavy wear and tear at the beach. Plus they clean super easily and pack flat! Win win!But you know what my new travel-related Baggu obsession is? These 3D zippered pouches! They come in various sizes and colors and are perfect for packing everything from dirty laundry to cosmetics to shoes. I just bought 6 or 7 of these beauties and I can tell you—they have been lifesavers for keeping me organized on this extended two part trip.See more of these babies (priced between $8 and $12) here.p.s. Bonus discovery! Baggu now sells on Amazon, meaning Prime membership will deliver Baggu to you in two days flat. Boom! 

DRUMROLL PLEASE: BAGGU WINNER!

Time to announce the randomly-selected winner* of our Baggu giveaway! Drumroll please . . . . it's Katherine L.! Hooray! Please email me your mailing address and I will send your new goodies out to you!


Thank you all for entering! And now that I have wet your Baggu appetite, be sure to check out their other amazing products here.


*All O.I. giveaway winners are chosen using the random number generator on Random.org.




(Back to regular posts tomorrow!)

BROWN BAG IT

Because I am a graduate student and because I like to, I pack my lunch every day. So I am always on the look out for new products that will make my 'brown bag' a little bit more colorful, practical or fun. These are a couple of things that I can't live without and a couple more that I think have potential.

top to bottom, left to right:

Wrap N' Matt, Amazon, $7.19

Melon Ball Paper Napkins, Crate & Barrel, $3.95

Divided Keepers, Container Store, $3.99

Zelco Mangia 3 Piece Flatware, Amazon, $14

Nalgene On The Fly Waterbottle, Amazon, $10.99

Slimline Quaddle Lunchbox, Container Store, $9.99

Red Dot Baby Baggu, Baggu, $6

(Need more lunch-alicious inspiration? Check out this post here.)

TELL ME A DESIGN STORY

Have you heard about DesignStory? It's pretty much a sample sale site for lovely, drool-worthy design products (aka it's very dangerous). As they describe on their website:

DesignStory is an online community for design lovers, offering an array of high quality hand-picked home and design products from the world’s leading designers and brands. From the everyday to the hard to find, DesignStory offers its members exclusive products at great prices to fit every lifestyle.

“Members only” pricing without a sign-up fee, DesignStory invites its community to enjoy exclusive offers, limited and special editions, as well as designer discounts on new and cutting edge products for the home. A curated and editorialized offering to discover the best in home design globally - from everyday products to the most exceptional - DesignStory highlights designers and brands with weekly campaigns throughout each six-week season and provides new ideas, inspiration and visualization tools for you to create your own unique design lifestyle.

DesignStory’s founding team, Inka Mero and Mia Lewin, are global citizens, with Nordic roots, who have traveled the world to appreciate the joy in beautiful design for everyday living. We love discovering the best new ideas around the world and mixing and matching of products to create a design style that speaks to an individual's design story.

I have been thinking about posting about them for a while, but I wanted to wait until they featured a product that I was really committed to and this week they have! From now through Sunday they are offering great prices on Baggu shopping bag sets and zippered pouches (we know how much I love Baggu: see here, here and here). I have to say, I picked up a couple for myself.

If you sign up here, you will get a $10 credit towards your first purchase.* Enjoy!

*I never post about products for compensation. The credit system on DesignStory is mutual, however, so when you sign up we both get credits on our accounts. I'd say that's a win-win, no? Either way, I really love the mission and the products over at DesignStory and wouldn't post about them otherwise. As I say, why buy boring when you can buy beautiful?

MINTY FRESH

I read somewhere that apparently the newest trend in fashion is pastels. As you likely know from reading this blog, I prefer a big, bold color to any light and dainty hue, but I can make an exception for mint. Something about it just seems cool, unfussy and sophisticated.


So I thought a little round up all of things 'mint' was in order. Hopefully it will help you start your weekend feeling fresh and clean! Enjoy!




1 ~ monochromatic outfit
2 ~ little geometry pillow 
3 ~ swiss alps cushion cover
4 ~ kimono fat wizard watch
5 ~ satchel photo
6 ~ pineapple mint agua fresca
7 ~ essie nail polish
8 ~ anthropologie ad for swimsuit
9 ~ dwr table globe
10 ~ baggu pouch

NOW ON VIEW: MoMA, MET, NEW, SRGM

What are you all up to this weekend? I am going to try to catch up on some museum exhibitions, since I am woefully behind on seeing all the coolest things that the incredible New York arts scene has to offer. Here are some of the top exhibitions on my 'to see' list. Have you seen any of them? What did you think?

A look into the full career of the most famous Abstract Expressionist sculptor, John Chamberlain: Choices  traces the artist's output from the early monochromatic metal work to his iconic car-based constructions. It should be absolutely beautiful in the Guggenheim's gorgeous Frank Lloyd Wright spiral building. On view at the Guggenheim until May 13.







From what I have read, the long-awaited Cindy Sherman retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art promises all the drama and excitement one has come to expect from an artist who has spent her career adopting countless different personae and a museum that has delivered one blockbuster after another for the last several years. On view until June 11.







A look into the extensive and impressive collection of Gertrude Stein and her family, The Steins Collect features work by all the modern French masters like Degas, Manet, Renoir and many more. On view at the Metropolitan Museum until  June 3. 







The New Museum always seems to have a knack for bringing to light young, interesting artists. The Ungovernables, the latest installment of the museum's triennial, has apparently continued this tradition by focusing on how a new generation of artists has rejected incorporation and embraced self-awareness and individuality. Sounds suspiciously similar to an artistic version of the Occupy movement and the 99% percent, but I am intrigued. On view until April 22.




Also, don't forget to enter the Baggu giveaway! It's only open until Tuesday morning, so head over here to have a chance to win!