Lonny Blog

I'm now writing for the Lonny Magazine blog. Here's my first post.

Product Appreciation: Rose Water

Ever since I read this article I've been putting rose water on everything. It's especially good with strawberries.

Happy 1st Birthday Order of Things!

Product Appreciation: String Dispensers

I'm rather fond of the idea of having a string dispenser but I'm afraid I don't use string enough to justify getting one. However, if I were to get one I'd want this cast iron one from Cast in Style. While researching these dispensers online, I also came across someone using a diner-style sugar dispenser for string, quite clever.

Product Appreciation: Sanford Giant Pencil Mountable Sharpener

My heart really goes out to the Sanford Giant Manual Pencil Sharpener. It may not be the flashiest or prettiest sharpener out there but its simple and sturdy design makes the electrical sharpeners that light up when the pencil is sharpened look like some real brown-nosers. The Sanford Giant is ready to work with you, not for you even in the worst power outages.

Product Appreciation: Kork-Ease Sandals

I recently watched The Runaways...and then I watched it four more times. It's a pretty silly movie and I'm still unsure why I enjoyed it so much but I think it has something to do with the film's mid-to-late 1970s So-Cal aesthetic. In fact, I was so taken with the cars, interiors and clothes that I purchased a pair of Kork-Ease wedges. They're surprisingly comfortable and make me feel like Cherie Currie.

Product Appreciation: Cotton Clouds

I never gave much thought to cotton balls until I tried Cotton Clouds, now I wouldn't dream of using anything else. Sure, I was pretty certain I would like them before I even used them because 1. their graphics remind me of Peanuts cartoons and 2. they come in a "rainbow pack" with a variety of pastel colors (the colors of the Clouds in the picture don't quite do them justice), which feels very fancy, even better, they get their color from natural vegetable dyes (white is also available for more serious individuals). Once I actually tried them I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually liked the product. They're absorbent, soft and don't leave little cotton whisps all over the place when they're damp. An added bonus is that because of the weave of the cotton, it is possible to separate them in half lengthwise for thinner Clouds.

Things that look like other things: Kate Spade Book of the Month Cluth

I want this bag! The End.

Resource: Ask Andy About Clothes

I'm fearful that this resource may be something my male readers have been reading for years however, while researching an upcoming post I came across Andy Gilchrist's Ask Andy About Clothes (AAAC). Have you see this website? It's really quite amazing and so comprehensive!

The content on AAAC has not been updated since 1997 and it is rather difficult to navigate but this only adds to the charm. The forums are still very active and include conversations which examine both men's and women's clothing and discuss hard-hitting matters such as "shoe trees vs. travel shoe trees" or "do jackets always have to be blue to be called a blazer?" Also, don't forget to look at Andy's FAQs where you will learn about the difference between a lamb's wool and a virgin wool sweater.

So, here's why Andy Gilchrist is my new favorite human:

1. He wrote his own Encyclopedia of Men's Clothes which is available for download or CD-rom, how quaint!

2. He has a color wheel for sale which he uses to explain matching and color pairings but he also has a page on AAAC called "The Simple Version of Color Theory & Matching" which is quite involved but very informative.

3. He attends something called the "Sartorial Excellence Show" which is a 2 day conference with discussions entitled "More than you ever wanted to know about: Socks" and "Correctly Sewing a Button." (I'm concerned that this event might actually be a thinly-veiled marketing camping but I'd rather live my life thinking that such a conference would exist with the strict goal getting the word out about socks).

Thing Celebration: "Sweet Bird of Youth"

Oooooo, I absolutely love this tableau from the film "Sweet Bird of Youth." The fuzzy figure on the left is Paul Newman running to pick up the phone. I just don't know what the brown thing to the left of the U.S. map tray is. I think it's a pack of handkerchiefs, any ideas?

Product Appreciation: Sonicare Toothbrush

I was once told this story of someone going to the dentist: the dentist looked briefly at her teeth and said to her "Your teeth are pristine, I don't have to do anything, you must have a Sonicare." And she did.

After hearing that story a few years ago I was sold on getting a super-duper Sonicare electric toothbrushe in theory but never got one because I thought they were far too expensive. After some uncomfortable gum recession from brushing too hard (yes, I'm the kind of person that brushes their teeth too hard) I decided it was time and opted for the HX6710 model. It's wonderful! My teeth have never been so clean.

Part of me thinks this feeling of cleanliness could be because the timer on the toothbrush encourages you to brush for a full 2 minutes, something I wasn't doing before, and not because the bristles of the brush are really that advanced. Then the another part of me thinks it's best not to think to much about it because at least I'm brushing for 2 minutes