Gift Guide Part 4...Let Them Eat CAKE!

Checkerboard cake? $14 at Sur la Table. Don't forget the checkerboard ice cream. Or maybe striped neopolitan...love print mixing.

Bundt cake eludes me. Although this castle shaped bundt cake pan could persuede me to reconsider the entire movement. Sur la Table, $36.

Simple and perfect cake stand, appropriate for all occaisions and design. Conran Shop. Available in 6", 8.5", and 11" diameters.
Now you're in business. Striped cupcake boxes...so cute! Great for the homemade happy cake gift giving. Sur la Table for next to nothing.
Tartan cupcake liners. I'll write it again in case you missed the point. TARTAN cupcake liners. They match your grandmother's taffeta skirt that you'll be donning as gay apparel with your gray t-shirt and duck boots. You cannot put a price on tradition. But if you did, the cupcake liners are $7.99.

Gift Guide Part III - Coolest Kitchen

This could be the coolest toaster I have ever seen. Even you minimalist people can appreciate this kind of countertop clutter. Leave it out, toast at will, toast for design. MoMA store, $225.

Brilliant glass half-pint creamer. Available for $14 (!!!) at the MoMA store online. This is an inexpensive and witty gift. Who wouldn't appreciate this?

I'm not sure if this is exactly the kind of message you want to send this festive holiday season...but I do love some humor in domestic life. Knife Guy, on sale $158 at A+R Store.

Gift Guide - Part Two - I Smell Bacon

Let us begin the Parade of Bacon. Slightly odd, mostly funny.

Well, I guess because wearing a real strip of bacon over a wound may raise a few eyebrows and cause an irritating and obvious following of flying insects and dogs. Bacon Bandages, $9.

I am not 100% sure that this bacon flavored floss will help prevent any kind of major dental issue. I think it may assist in landing someone in an asylum (do they still have asylums?).

In order to smell like bacon at all times since you cannot eat it continuously...bacon soap, $8.

To carry all of the money around to buy bacon. Bacon Wallet, $16.


Those are bacon flavored jelly beans. I suppose for snacking, craving bacon and something sweet, and also for reviving the bacon flavor in your mouth after flossing with bacon floss and also eating real cooked bacon. $5.95.

And finally (I could keep going with bacon products, scary but true) - for the person so bacon-obsessed that they have ceased making any rational decision and now must refer to the "What Would Bacon Do?" ($4.95) decision wheel. This one thing taken seriously plus any of the above will certainly land you in a bacon-free zone monitored by friends, loved ones, or men in white coats.
All kidding aside, I think these are hilarious gifts for that meat lover (or vegetarian that has a decent sense of humor) who has everything except some Bacon Accoutrements. Obviously these are not terribly kosher or approved for any kind of Hannukah celebration or hostess gift.

Gift Guide - Part One - Inexpensive Jewelry for the Girls

Grill for your wrist, $112. Far less expensive and less intrusive than getting one for your actual mouth. This plus the Brooklyn Bridge ring would be a statement and a half. More statement than possibly most average towns and people could really handle.

This Paper Plane necklace is fantastic. I'm at such a loss for words over this I should stop narrating the blog photos. $68

Eiffel Tower earrings at $13...since you cannot fly your Paper Airplane necklace over the big blue sea.

These "Critter Earrings" (above) are only $16, and you get six pairs of little studs! What a great thing to buy and divide up into sets for friends.

All jewelry available on FredFlare.com.

A Day Off Island...Providence

It is the time of year where Dockwise has made it's last pick up in Newport Harbor (this past Tuesday)...sure restaurants are offering weekday specials and there is no wait for a table any longer. All of it makes me sad for the summer we didn't really have here this year due to Mother Nature's incongruent decision to offer rain and chill and a teaser of sun and a chilly fall.

More importantly, we can run off to Providence as an escape to a "city" without dragging ourselves North on Rt 24 into Boston driving madness. Design*Sponge has aWONDERFUL Providence Guide online that features the cityby neighborhood. I say choose one and explore. This is excellent for the doldrums blowing down with the Canadian air... Pick one this weekend! I am going up there today to scout some of my favorite vintage stores and make a much needed hit on Sephora for skin survival gear.

Possible Dream Job, But For Now A Cool Show On TV...

With the recent conclusion of some borderline trashy but possibly inspiring reality shows (Rachel Zoe Project and Flipping Out), I have been seaching for something different... Alas! The Sundance Channel answers my tele-box frustration with Man Shops Globe airing new episodes Wednesdays at 10 p.m. can we talk about that Union Jack lampshade please? (above)

Here is the best part...Keith Johnson (the man shopper) is titled "Buyer At Large" for Anthropolgie. Are you joking? This could be the coolest job (and most untouchable) I have heard of in a loooong time. Hats off to you, Keith.
DVR or watch this show On-Demand immediately. Maybe it will inspire you to create a cool job like this to spread your own style influence into a growing empire like Anthropologie.

More Than A Pet Peeve

I absolutely cannot contain myself one more second about this subject. Therefore I am starting a new month of entries with a little note to all of you about my very severe and yet-still-growing distain for the phrase: "to be honest with you".

I would not hire someone who uses the phrase, and I am seriously considering de-friending people (in real life not on that faux life website) who are using this phrase. Whether you are little George Washington (below) or Honest Abe, the bottom line is that when this cliche is used I think that you are: a) about to lie to me, or b) have already told me a lie somewhere in your previous words.

I know some of you may argue that it is not your intention to make the listener feel so betrayed when you thoughtlessly blurt out the cliche: "to be honest with you". Please, argue. Use more cliches to prove your point. But I will still think you are lying or have lied in some capacity.

So do all of us a favor, including your founding fathers, and stop saying "to be honest with you" and "honestly". They are trash words taking up space where thoughtfulness and intellegence should be instead.

Tomorrow my entry will be colorful and aesthetically pleasing.

*The GW is for you Miqui...you may need to send me pictures of your "Washington Monument" to share...it is inspiring and makes that chore so entertaining.