Solar Birdhouse!!! Finally! Well, kind of. Here’s the latest from Oooms ~ they describe their Solar BIrdhouse: “Why would only humans make use of eco-friendly technology? Studio OOOMS designed a birdhouse with a solar panel on it’s roof. During the day sunlight feeds the solar panel, charging a small battery inside. At nighttime the transparent stick will light up and shed a tiny light on your garden. This light attracts an easy nighttime snack for the bird; all she has to do is stick her beak out of the hole and wait for the buzz.”

As a slight side note ~ firstly, i’m super excited to hear this idea in production ~ i’ve been doodling and ranting with friends about the possibilities with solar power and bird feeders for some time now ~ my idea was more 24-hour-diner of feeders (less house like) ~ where in the day birds could get their usual munchies taken care of, and at night the light would attract bugs… but then most discussions got shot down by some of our resident biologists saying how it may turn into more of a bat feeder at night since they’d be the nocturnal residents most interested in the bugs… but that could also be pretty interesting! I also played with the ideas of bird feeders by day, lanterns at night… it would be so fun to have a playful project seeing what fun, functional, unexpected uses for solar energy in small scale products we could come up with!

I have an impulsive need to indulge my inner child… especially when shopping… like when wandering through IKEA, i got terribly distracted by the kids toys, particularly how fun these new Sandig beach toy sets are! And the 99 cent shovel/super scooper claw thing… great quality, and adorable ideas ~ i picked up three of the four 2.99$ sets with the justification that i needed to take pics of them to show you. Granted, i don’t think kids should be encouraged to eat sand/dirt, i think these are quite fun for those who know better. First kit ~ Ice Cream! A little bucket with an ice cream scoop, 4 cones, and 4 cups… Second kit ~ Baking! Three pans that would be so fun to incorporate into sand castles… like a bundt cake castle? Compete with cake knife, etc… Third set ~ Bricklayer! The mold to make bricks, smooth out the cementy wet sand, etc… can you imaging the possibilities? And the Fourth set i passed on was the gardening one… usual bucket, rake, shovel… not too exciting, but still cute. Anyhow, take a peek at the pics of these sets close up on the next page ~ i was impressed with the quality and design details ~ and for the price was tempted to buy up a bunch and run around the beach giving them away to kids…

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I’ve been racking my brain as i photoshopped these pics and realized i didn’t take pics of the magical door between/behind the booths you enter through…. or the crazy neon signs i love so much outside Cole’s… i thought about telling you how you had to find your way in yourself, but here’s a peek at the inside, but let’s be honest ~ i was having too much fun, and really just took a few snapshots while inside!

For those who don’t know ~ Cole’s is an LA institution ~ (there’s an age old rivalry as to whether Cole’s or Philippe’s invented the French Dip) ~ and it’s adorable! And has an adorable bar in the front already, and old school booths and walls with pics of days past… and now, when you go through the door in the back with the little martini glass on it, you step into one of LA’s latest speakesy-esque spots, The Varnish. Complete with old school cash register, industrial lighting, wood paneled booths, retro phones and more… my favorite detail is probably the flasks… and the giant ice… and the metal straws (which you can apparently purchase)… “The venture is a partnership between Sasha Petraske of Milk & Honey in New York; mixologist Eric Alperin of Mozza and the Doheny; and Cedd Moses, owner of the newly remodeled Cole’s” according to Angelenic… So take a peek at the pics on the next page ~

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Just RFID mini-golfed behind the scenes of MOCA… and ate donuts. Rumor has it that for every ball that went into a hole a donut hole was made… and when your RFID foamy golf ball went into a hole you also got a call on your cell with audio rambling and randomness… quickly got the feeling that far more people showed up than anticipated, or this was a project that wasn’t set up to scale well, although there were a LOT of security throughout… and mix crazy mini golf course + alcohol + quite a few pushy/competitive hipsters + a sneak peek at a side of MOCA you never see + not nearly enough space for all these people to be wandering through, let alone trying to golf through… and yea. Wow. It was pretty crazy… It’s hard to explain with words really, but i took a bunch of pics for you to take a peek at the world behind MOCA! (And unfortunately there’s one pic plain clothes security made me delete… it was a fun look at all the security screens of the museum though!)

This was part of First Thursdays at MOCA ~ “KNIFEANDFORK, founded by Brian House and Sue Huang, presents three new works for ENGAGEMENT PARTY, MOCA’s series of interventions by local artist collectives” ~ and this was the first! Emptiness is Form (Golf and Donuts) - Voice interventions by Nathan Phillips, Donuts by Deanna Moody of Dee’s Bakery and Donuts, DJ set by Wendy Yao, Blogging by Guthrie Lonergan…

See the pics on the next page for the full effect!

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Oliver Peoples collaborated with Zooey Deschanel on her “Zooey” sunglasses ~ while i’d been hearing this around the fashion blogs ~ i missed that they also created a special napkin looking cleaning cloth!!! I’m a sucker for the details, but i totally want one of those ~ and love the playful nature of it! More pics on the next page!

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NEW!!! Did you see it yet? I’m so giddy to share this new feature we’ve been crunching on ~ in fact, dan’s still working on getting things ready for NotCouture ~ but i can’t contain myself, so you can take a peek at NOTCOT.org while that gets going…

Did you find them yet? The dolls? We’ve tucked them in around the site ~ you never know exactly where they will pop up next~ and we’re so lucky that Target *gets* our playful side to sponsor the first instance of this new NOTCOT.org/NotCouture gallery! And where do they take you? Well you’ll have to click to find out…

Ok, well more to come on all of this in the morning perhaps ~ will let you play with it first!

p.s.
How awesome is the Target McQueen Collection? And the Blythe Dolls? SO fun to work on the last few days!

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Been obsessively shopping for solar lighting far too much the last few months ~ first as xmas gifts, and now for my patio space… so many look the same, and i was surprised how few clean modern options there were out there ~ also pricing was all over. Just noticed at MoCoLoCo that the new IKEA Summer 09 collection is on its way~ and after some IKEA site searching found all the new summer pieces here and all of the solar lights here! One nice thing about the IKEA selections, they all run on replaceable rechargeable batteries and use LEDs! Take a look at all of the fun designs on the next page ~ i can’t wait to play with some when they get into the stores!

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UPDATE! This just in… the designs of the awesome patterns are by Charmaine Choi for Dead As We Know It in Brooklyn, NY ~ Luckily the good folks over there are NOTCOT readers and Mikal Reich reached out!

Mmmmmm, Rosangel. I think it’s definitely my new favorite tequila (boys, get over the pinkness. really.) ~ It’s delicious, and the aftertaste is floral versus that usual tequila flavor… thanks to the Hibiscus infusion? Although i missed out on the NY launch that Anita covered for us, a bottle showed up mid-move, and i’ve been trying it out, and it really is so yummy… and while my fridge as been pretty empty, I did try some with OJ, and its SOO good.

Anyhow, the other thing i really wanted to focus on was how inspiring and captivating is the illustration/pattern they use on the hang tag… and as a downloadable wallpaper ~ found myself staring at them to see all the little details designed into it! See that close up as well as bottle closeups on the next page!

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So, after posting the Slice Precision Cutter, we couldn’t resist finding out more, and Slice was nice enough to send a few over to play with when Alyssa reached out to them! So what is it like up close? And how does it compare to our trusty Xactos? Well, xacto has nothing to worry about, but the Slice Precision Cutter is still pretty awesome for certain uses!

The thing corners amazingly! Can get some really great curves out of it ~ where it will never take over my xacto (this one is my favorite still, but unfortunately i haven’t found it yet while unpacking the office - work in progress! so up there is another bigger one i’ve been using on boxes and stuff) ~ the blade is only good to cut through a few pieces of paper ~ so for scrapbooking, vinyl cutting, etc its perfect, but not so much for heftier projects. Physically, it feels great in your hand, nicely weighted ~ super sleek with its matte green coating, and nice cap on it. You an definitely cut with it as if you’re painting a brushstroke or scribbling with a pen which is really fun. So all in all, for 7$ its definitely worth adding to your arsenal. Check out more close ups on the next page… and pics of the Y-Peeler they sent over too!

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Well it’s 3:30am ~ time just keeps flying this week!!! Between the unpacking/settling into the new office/studio/house stuff, somehow boxing up and unpacking my life seems to have me reassessing the sites, and such as well ~ and we’ve also been crunching on an exciting surprise that should launch later this week… bottom line? I have a bunch of posts lined up to go that i just need to take some pics for ~ and in the mean time have been posting/shopping far more on NOTCOT.org lately! So take a peek at some of my posts above, and as usual, click the pics to find out more!

Hard to ignore that Barbie’s turning the big 50 this year ~ it’s being marketed like crazy EVERYWHERE! (I must wonder though, as a little girl being introduced to Barbie for the first time this year, do they think of it as a vintage/super old toy? and then reach for a bratz?)

Well of the many parties and celebrations, i must say Colette’s looks pretty awesome ~ “In the gallery, enjoy the “Barbie and Ken” exhibition by Karl Lagerfeld. In swimsuit, cocktail dress or a pair of jeans, Barbie strikes a pose with model Baptiste Giabiconi as Ken.” They look hilarious ~ and then the special products?!?!?! You can get Barbie in a Goyard Trunk! Pink of course! Even Uslu Airlines 219c pink nailpolish! Even a Colette/Barbie Pink Jawbone…. a little on the creepy side is definitely the Bless Hairbrush… with barbie hair for bristles… (see it on the next page!) Also noteworthy? High security exhibition of the very first Barbie and Ken dolls, only on March 12th.

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Oooooh Dan just got his new Amazon Kindle 2 today! While i haven’t seen it in person yet, he sent me some closeups of those details and all that glossy on matte black he knows i love… take a peek at how fun it looks on the next page! Love the packaging once again!

p.s.
A bit quiet here, been pretty distracted moving/settling into the new house ~ finally got functional internet (Time Warner was terrible, Verizon is doing pretty well *fingers crossed*) ~ so during the lulls, hang out at NOTCOT.org for tons of goodness constantly going up, and if you find more that i’m missing, feel free to submit your finds too! And been poking at Twitter more lately, feel free to follow NOTCOT randomness there as well!

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Happy Sunday! Before that work week kicks in again ~ here’s a look at some of the delicious drinks (and ZOMBIES!!!) that came up this week at Liqurious!

Here’s what’s been popular at NotCouture this week!

Oooh don’t forget your green this St Paddy’s Day ~ just saw these refreshing on Tcritic from Haha Press. From Haha’s founder, Ian Law, there is the 4 Leaf Clover Patch ~ where there may or may not be a 4 leaf clover mixed in there! From Soko, there is a gorgeous Kiss Me Clover tee that applies “a typographic treatment to class-up the classic St. Pat’s saying “Kiss Me I’m Irish.” See close ups on the next page! And if you want one, shop quick! Both are in limited runs of 50!

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