HAPPINESS IS...

Sponsoring Happiness Is...

Hello lovelies! I'm giving a "Happy Spring" discount for the first few people who sign up as sponsors!

Would you like to showcase your art, designs, photography, music, fashions, blog, or other creations to my sweet and supportive readers? Rates are catered to small businesses and Etsy shops.

If you are interested, please email me for more info and to submit your work for consideration. I would love to welcome you to my blog family!

A Paper Globe

This paper globe is too cool for school. Geografia designed it as an octagon so it will balance on it's own at a 23.4 degrees, the exact tilt of the earth's axis. Plus you can journey to the center of the earth by pulling apart the sections like an orange.

It comes disassembled IKEA-style, but Jac figured out for the rest of us how to play God and create the world with a few simple folds.


{Image via Upon A Fold}

Kirsten Dunst Polaroids

I really think if Kirsten Dunst met me, we'd be fast friends. I had the chance to approach her once upon a time, but didn't. She was playing pool with Toby McGuire at a bowling alley in Studio City, CA. Didn't want to interrupt her game ;)

Aren't her polaroids for Boy by Band of Outsiders fun? They were shot in Pasadena's Huntington Botanical Gardens. Makes me long for Spring. And have a tea party with a stuffed elephant!


{Images via Don Juan's Reckless Daughter}

My Bakers Rack

Hi. How was your weekend? :)  Mine was extra satisfying because I made progress on my Shannon room.

A few weeks ago, I scouted out a vintage industrial bakers rack on wheels for super cheap off Craigslist. I planned on using reclaimed lumber over the slats, turning it into a bookcase to hold my folded clothes. Until I discovered that salvaged wood is surprisingly expensive! I finally found some worn $2 shelves at the RE Store that would do the trick. We cut them to size and my bakers rack is finally complete!

I'll show you photos eventually, but I've temporarily lost my camera USB cable - doh! It looks very similar to this Anthro Decker Bookshelf, without the middle drawers. It feels so good to actually see my clothes on display. No more digging around in boxes!


{Image by Anthropologie}

Double Dates

Darlings, what are you up to this weekend? We're going on two different double dates. I love double dates. But only when my friends are the other couple. Come to think about it... do men even set up double dates?  ;)

Enjoy your weekend links...

Wishing I could pull off this hairdo.

31 uses for lemons.

If you were a rock star, what would you wear?

The dream bed of my 6-year old self.

Sweet little forest spoons.

Toy dinosaurs + plants = radness.

Meet my new friend, Truffle Truffle.

Don't you think adults should have playhouses too?

I've found Bailey's long lost twin.

My new 70's eyeglasses just arrived in the mail!

And some posts of mine you may have missed...

• Sunken Yards
• Button Appreciation
• Being Alive

{Image by WhiskerWorks}

Hermiting

Thinking about pressing pause on life and hermiting up here for a month or so, nestled in the Andes Mountains 2,990 meters above sea level.


{Images via DigsDigs by Max Núñez and Felipe Camu for dRN Architects}

Salt & Pepper Zen

The sweetest set of salt and pepper shakers I've ever seen. Well, these ones are almost as cool, but they aren't stackable. The bottom stone is actually a bowl that holds oil, syrup, or dipping sauce. Sold at SFMOMA.

Speaking of museum shops, Hal used to manage the MOCA Store in Santa Monica. I sure miss him bringing home all sorts of well-designed decor, gadgets and art books!


{Images via SFMOMA by Woody Hsieh}

Windows To The Soul

"I saw deep in the eyes of the animals the human soul look out upon me." - Henry David Thoreau

{Images by Oscar Ciutat}

Elementary School Sweethearts

My parents were high school sweethearts. And they're still happy together today. But can you imagine being elementary school sweethearts?

Kim and Erick met in their first grade glass. After school one day, he told his folks he had met the girl he wanted to marry. Gosh. I think I still hated boys at that age.

Who did you want to marry in elementary school?  :)


{Images via The Wedding Chicks by Laura Leslie Photography}

They Draw And Cook

Remember when I posted about how all recipes should be illustrated?  Well Jillorie left me a comment about They Draw And Cook, a website I've been stalking ever since. I'm not sure why I haven't blogged about it yet. All of the featured chef-artists are so inspiring. Wouldn't you love to hang one of these masterpieces on your kitchen wall?


{Images by: 1. Mikela Prevost; 2. Salli Swindell; 3. Elizaveta Makurina; 4. and 5. Nate Padavick; 6. Valentina Jaskina; 7. Emilia Dziubak; 8. Monika Roe; 9. Abz Hakim; 10. Pietro Duchi}

Music You Can Wear

Have you seen these yet? Playbutton is a wearable music player that pins to your clothes and connects to your headphones. Like mini record players that play an album's worth of songs from start to finish, the way artists intend their music to be heard. And buttons can be designed with individual cover art. What a great promotion tool for indie musicians. I'd love to get on board and have some made for my own tunes.

Would you wear your favorite music?


{Images via Paper Tastebuds}

Reorganized Cities

Little did we know that a chaotic city can be taken apart and reassembled into neatly organized formations according to shape and size. French artist, Armelle Caron, has done just this. Can you tell what cities they are?  :)

Answers: 1. New York; 2. Paris; 3. Berlin.


{Images via The Jealous Curator}

DIY - Clever Upside Down Racks

I'm having a serious "why didn't I think of that" moment. Sometimes it's as simple as turning every day items upside down.

Learn how to make the chair rack here and the hanger rack here.


{Images via Better Homes and Gardens}

My Cuban Experience

Have I ever told you about my trip to Cuba many moons ago? I sang for the troops in Guantanamo Bay, which is technically a U.S. naval base, not Cuba. Also highly controversial, but that's beside the point. I did, however, stick my finger though the bordering Cuban fence. And get stung by a Cuban jellyfish. And have a near death experience in the Cuban seas with my band and all our instruments in a sinking watercraft. Crazy good times.

Jose Villa's photos make me want to go back and experience the real Cuba. Have you ever been?


{Images via 79 Ideas by Jose Villa}

Hair Stars

This delicate feather starburst hair accessory is just perfect. Emily designed it to be worn for a wedding, but I'd wear it on a normal day. Isn't it the prettiest?


{Images via Brooklyn Bride by Emilliner}

Reclaimed Wood Shelving

I'm driving Hal crazy with my obsession over reclaimed wood shelving. Thank goodness for the RE Store!

Architect, Thomas Warnke, renovated this 1899 carriage house in Brooklyn and used the removed beams for shelves. Don't they look great? I love how he hung old rusty boat hooks off them. And how amazing is that guest bed under the stairs?


{Images via A Simple Life Afloat by Trevor Tondro for The New York Times}