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

Product Appreciation: Chemex Coffee Maker

When I first started The Order of Things, I made a list (big surprise, huh?) of classic products I think are beautifully and thoughtfully designed that wanted to write about. The Chemex coffee maker was the first product that came to my mind. I love that the design is so simple and yet so effective.

Here's what my beloved New York Times T Blog recently said about it.

Giuliana Camerino dies at 89

I love pretty much any Roberta di Camerino product. My appreciation grew even stronger while reading the obituary of its founder, Giuliana Camerino, and I learned several endearing things about her and the company she founded. For example, she got the name "Roberta" from a film with fred Astaire and Irene Dunne and the brass hardware on her bags was originally made by the same craftsmen that made the metal fittings on the gondolas of Venice. How romantic!

Resource: Valet.

If I had a dollar for every time I wished that magazines for women were more like magazines for men, I'd be rollin' in it. {Please note: I'm making a distinction here between "magazines for men" (Esquire etc...) and "men's magazines" (Hustler etc...).} Of course, I'm not giving up on magazines for women it's just that magazines for men seem to be generally more well-rounded and informative and they take themselves less seriously... yet, I don't buy magazines for men because I'm, well, a lady.

That's why when Lauren over at The Art Object told me about Valet. I was smitten. Although they do have lifestyle/culture stories, I'm most interested in the clothing-related articles (pun) many of which have interesting historical facts. For example, they reveal the history behind that little "v" on the collar of sweatshirts and teach readers about how Paul Sperry's cocker spaniel, Prince, was the inspiration for his classic boat shoes!

Resource: Homemade Book of Useful Information

I spend a good deal of time asking myself this: "What would I do without the internet and being able to find the answers to my most trivial questions in seconds?" However, once I saw this homemade reference book (on Dull Tool, Dim Bulb) full of facts clipped from the newspaper I decided that this is most likely exactly what I would do.

Celebration of Things: Hilda Grahnat

I'm wild about the Swedish photographer, Hilda Grahnat's, Vintage Love series of vintage things organized by color. These photos make me want to rearrange everything in my room.

via Oh Joy!

Product Appreciation: Baggu

I became aware of Baggu bags when a dear friend of mine started working for the company. Since that day, I have seen them all over the place. I like to think they're so popular because they are so incredibly functional as reusable shopping bags. They can hold an incredible number of things and fold into nothing.

The bags pictured above are the classic but they also have a wide variety of other bags and in just as many colors.

Resource: Hollander's

I would love to visit Hollander's Decorative Paper and Bookbinding Supply store in Ann Arbor . Their selection of 1,500 different kinds of paper is truly exhaustive and their website is equally encyclopedic. One thing I especially like about the website is that you can see both close-ups and full page shots of the paper (I know this is a given for most products sold online however, the online community of paper sellers hasn't really caught on to this feature.... Hollander's has).

Library Week: "Lists: To-dos, Illustrated Inventories, Collected Thoughts, and Other Artists' Enumerations from the Archives of American Art"

If I had to pick an art exhibit that I most want to see this year, it would have to be "Lists: To-dos, Illustrated Inventories, Collected Thoughts and Other Artists' Enumerations from the Archives of American Art" at the Smithsonian. I think it would probably make me faint.

Check out the catalog here.