Daily Eye Candy: Sweet and Cheap

I think I will keep posting some Sweet and Cheap items when I come across them, though back to my sporadic blogging schedule as things heat up for me at work!

Today I found a wonderful site called PaperPunk - and these items would be perfect for a dexterous kid or even a husband!

Ride, $18.95.

Bot, $18.95.

Pup, $18.95.

315

We pin all of our hopes on 315, because there is nothing else of substance available on which to stick the sharp point of a hopepin.

This was at least four months in the making, if not several years of slow decline to an inevitable bottom. But this is a bright bottom. They are lucky. They can afford to be cared for and catered to, when so many are relegated to dusty corners and sub-par standards. If they allow it, they might even flourish, away from one another and the four walls of 315.

If nothing else, I did all I could to help get them there. Now they just have to stay.

I spy with my little eye

While running an errand over lunch today, as I sat at a stoplight, gazing out my windows at the frosty faces of passersby, who did I spy on a certain street corner but BlindIrishPirate! She was running (she refers to it as "scuttling," which tickles me), wearing several layers and a colorful hat that I envy. She didn't see me, and I didn't want to honk and ruin her concentration (it was frosty, I tell you!). I have enjoyed her recent posts on her running adventures, and I cheer her on from this side of the screen. You go, woman.

Daily Eye Candy: Sweet and Cheap

Yesterday I was out of commission, sweating and swearing while moving heavy belongings about (not my own, it should be noted, altruistically). Since I missed a Thursday post, today I will give you a Sweet and Cheap double header, from Dimmalimm and Laserist - they both have wonderful offerings.

I love these unique "stay on" coasters from the first shop mentioned.

Fest in Wine, $18.

Fest in Teal, $18.

From Laserist, I adore these interesting wooden puzzle models. You assemble these yourself, but that's half the fun!

Bucket Loader, $19.95.

Revolver, $19.95 (I can really get behind a toy gun that looks obviously fake - I don't care for the realistic ones).

Daily Eye Candy: Sweet and Cheap

I am in love with these unique and inexpensive stencils from Stencil1. Cheaper than wallpaper, you can create interesting patterns, or just stencil one to your wall for a focal point - wonderful!

Birds on Wires, $12.99. I would love this for my own bedroom!

Moroccan Petal, $12.99. This would be wonderful in a bright kitchen or breakfast nook!

Typewriter, $10.99. Can you imagine this one adorning the walls of an office? Too cute!

Daily Eye Candy: Sweet and Cheap

I found an adorable site with delicious randomness called The Goodie Bag -- I think you'll agree!

Crayon Rings (set of 6), $6.00

Animal Head Hat, $10

Moustachio (handmade), $20.00

Daily Eye Candy: Sweet and Cheap

I so enjoyed the Sweet and Cheap challenge last week, that I've decided to extend it another week.

I adore the Tiny Confessions shop on Etsy. The designs are kitschy and hilarious -- and cheap!

Labrador Retriever (5x7), $12.

Black Cat (5x7), $12.

Witch (8x10), $20.

An open letter of thanks to a certain couple

I want to thank you, unnamed couple, for teaching me what love is not.

While you have always done an outstanding job to demonstrate for me the kind of hate that causes poisonous bile to spill from one's mouth, the last few weeks have truly reinforced your life's message - your legacy, really.

Unfailingly, over the 26 years than span my lifetime so far, you have shown me how to live daily in close confines with someone you abhor. As a very young child, after spending time at your house, I returned to my mother and confusedly asked, "Were they fighting or talking?" She didn't know how to respond, because there was always one answer, and it was always the wrong one.

You've shown me that all that matters is what the other person can do for you, and when they fail (or even sometimes when they succeed), how to properly berate your partner for his or her character flaws and mistakes and accidents -- or perhaps, for simply being alive and in your way. As the decades slipped by, your unflagging dedication to physical, mental, and emotional abuse has been noteworthy.

I have only witnessed your relationship for 26 years, and yet I am so very tired. Aren't you tired, too? After over 60 years together, aren't you just exhausted? In spite of what must be a weariness that has seeped into your very marrow, you soldier on, determined to continue to live and hate one another. You made a commitment to each other. I can see that you will honor your vow to treat one another as contemptuously as possible until your very last breaths.

So you deserve my deepest gratitude, unnamed couple. You have shown me how I never want to live. How I never want to treat my spouse. How I never want to be treated. And I thank you for that.

Daily Eye Candy: Sweet and Cheap

Today's Sweet and Cheap comes from Built NY, my favorite go-to place for lunchboxes, at the very least. They have many other wonderful items as well, all of them with great, bright patterns, including:

Water Bottle Tote, $14.99.

Cheers Wine Bottle Tote, $16.99.

Two Bottle Tote, $17.99.

Daily Eye Candy: Sweet and Cheap

Today's Sweet and Cheap hails from my perennial favorite, Anthropologie. We find ourselves in the kitchen:

Penciled Hypericum Towels, $9.95-$19.95.

Four Seasons Dishtowel, $14.95.

Chinotto Apron, $19.95.

Daily Eye Candy: Sweet and Cheap

Day three of Sweet and Cheap finds us mining Decal for That, which beautifies Apple products - very simple but neat!

Robot, $5.50.

Panda, $7.49.

Portal Figure, $7.49.

Daily Eye Candy: Sweet and Cheap

Today is Day Two of the Sweet and Cheap challenge. Today, I bring you offerings from Pink Tank Ltd., a site with wonderful bookmarks, for those of us who are still in the Kindle-less Dark Ages.

Hard copies keep me in business, people. Enjoy!

I heart u, $9.

Shuttlecock, $9.

NYC Landscape, $9.

Daily Eye Candy: A Challenge!

I have been challenged by a certain someone to post a week's worth of Daily Eye Candy, with each offering under $20. My recent posts have been a bit pricey and unrealistic (ooo, the Balenciaga!), and I always appreciate a bargain.

SO, I ACCEPT.

I will start off the week properly with not one, not two, but three Sweet and Cheap offerings.

These hail from Rifle Paper Co., and they are all delicate, appear hand-painted, and are darling as can be!

Lemon Recipe Cards, $12.

Dachshund Cards, $4 (single card) to $16 (boxed set of 8).

2012 Garden Calendar Print, $20.

Daily Eye Candy

I adore this Rose Pear Ring from Lorak. I love that the metal isn't buffed and glossy, and that the stones appear somewhat roughly placed. It's a beautiful departure for my obsessive-compulsive soul.

And it's only $1,050. What a bargain!

26

I never really feel like it's officially the new year until January 5. I like things to be orderly and symmetrical and simple, so I'd rather just condense the new year for the world and the new year for me into one date, seeing as they're so close together.

An early January birthday is much like letting the air out of a balloon - the wind is cold and you're more stretched out and wrinkly than the year before. Everyone is decompressing from Christmas and still pretending like they will actually keep their New Year resolutions past Super Bowl Sunday. I didn't make any resolutions this year, because I'm already doing everything right, obvs.

So today I turn 26, which seems both utterly ridiculous (I've been driving for ten years, what?) and completely unexciting at the same time. Last year for my 25th birthday my insurance supposedly went down, but I'm still not yet old enough to run for president. I have no idea what the perks are of turning 26. So I asked Google. And it turned up bupkis. But I did find a stupid, generic, "Top 10 Things To Do Before You Turn 30 List." Here's how I measure up.

1. Drive a wickedly cool car, even if you have to rent it. When I was 16 I got a yellow Volkswagen Beetle. That's pretty much as wicked as I get. (In retrospect, this is depressing. My wickedness peaked at 16. Thanks, you douchebag list.)

2. Date against type. I started dating my first boyfriend a decade ago. Five years after that I married him. We are currently still married and plan to be so FOR-EH-VER. Moving on.

3. See the world. I've been to a pretty good number of US states and to France. I do really want to fulfill this list item and see more, but I also want to pay my mortgage and save some money to replace all of the stuff I'm inevitably going to break over the next 60 years (see number 7 below). But travel will happen. Belie'dat.

4. Live in a cool place. My town doesn't count as a cool place? C'mon! We've got Indiana's highest waterfall up in this beotch. And we recently acquired our first set of stoplights. It's happenin'.

5. If you're going to drink a lot, do it when you're young. Meh, I could take it or leave it. I'd rather fill my caloric load with mounds of macaroni and cheese.

6. Take risks with your job. I have a job, which, very unfortunately, is not something that a lot of people can say in this economy. I (usually) don't want to drive a metal stake into my temple while I'm doing my job. Yep, good enough for me.

7. Do something physically adventurous. In the last two weeks I've broken three glasses in a sudsy sink -- and fished them out risking arterial damage, nearly slipped and tumbled down our carpeted staircase, and walked into a door. Seriously. The door was open, and my left eyebrow made the initial contact, very, very forcefully. And the problem is, these things happening to me are not unusual. That's just a regular Tuesday. Do something physically adventurous? Are you serious? I'm lucky to still be alive.

8. Take your parents to dinner. What kind of asshole has never taken her parents to dinner by the time she's 30?

9. Do volunteer work. I used to do a lot of this. I now do some of this. I should do more. I acknowledge your commandment, List.

10. Use this decade to go to extremes. As a rule, I don't like extremes, probably for the very reason that this list recommends them -- because they're dangerous. I like to keep an even keel, avoid confrontation and complication, maintain stability. "Keep Calm and Carry On," and all that. But I suppose I have engaged in a few extremes by my mid-twenties. So far, I've gone from student to career woman. From dating to married. From renter to homeowner. I imagine the next few years will hold the transition from girl to mother. I'm ready for the good parts, and already I steel myself for the difficult parts. I'm sure there will be plenty of both.

23, 24, 25