The Past Few Days

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! For those of you who had a 3 day weekend due to the Memorial Day holiday, I hope your extended weekend was a fun and relaxing one! When I used to work outside of the home, I couldn't wait for those 3 day weekends to roll around!
On Memorial Day, I wish we were all sitting at the gorgeous table above, taking in the beauty of the ocean; however our weekend was mostly spent under the weather, rather than enjoying it. Ilah caught a cold last week and passed it onto us. I'm thinking this was the point of exchange ; ) ....Not that there is ever a good time to get a cold, but Dele was in a wedding this past weekend and was super busy in fulfilling his role as being the best man. He was going, going, going especially on Friday, Saturday and Sunday {the day of the wedding; we had a great time!}. Thankfully my mom was a huge help and came over every day, for the past few days, so that I could stay in bed and rest and try to get over this cold that just knocked me out. Ilah still has a runny nose and a tiny bit of a cough. I feel almost 100%, but Dele still isn't feeling that great. Rest is so important when you're not feeling well and unfortunately his days were long, and his nights were even longer. If I knew how to do his job, I would trade places with him so that he could stay home - but I may not be there for more than just an hour before he calls and wants to trade places back ; )

Last week was my mother-in-law's birthday. We took her out to dinner at a delicious Asian restaurant and Ilah admired the pretty fish that were in the tank there. She was squirming in her seat wanting out to go see the fish up close and kept pointing at them telling us "see!" and then blowing them kisses when she got back to her seat. Ha!

Last week was also my mom's birthday! And although I wasn't feeling well, I sucked it up because I wanted to make her day a great one! We started the day off by going out to breakfast... Then we hit up Atlantic Station and walked around and went in to some shops. Ilah was the only one who got things. How does that always happen?!...

We stopped in for some yummy ice-cream at Kilwins! The best! Of course Abuela gave her baby a bite : ) .....
We returned home late in the afternoon and Ilah took a nap...actually, we ALL did! When we woke up, my mom opened up her birthday cards and all her gifts! My MIL was leaving to go out of town so Dele took her to the airport while we went out to dinner! Here's a pic of just the remnants! My mom thought her food was DELICIOUS!....Dele's birthday is this week, and then Fathers Day follows. Every year, there's lots of happenings at the end of May/beginning of June that has me being one busy bee! I also managed to mail out a birthday package to my closest girlfriend {who lives in CA}, whose birthday is tomorrow! These cupcake cookies that I made just for her were enclosed....

So thankful for family and friends and wonderul memories that will be cherished forever!

Portraits Embossed on Aluminum Foil Pans By Idan Friedman

Designer and artist Idan Friedman of Israel's Reddish Studio has created a series of portraits embossed on aluminum foil pans. All the people featured in "Ordinary People and Disposable Objects" are part of his everyday life, ranging from close friends to passers-by.







As viewed when exhibited:



all images courtesy of the artist

Special thanks to Annals of America for bringing these to my attention

Reddish Studio

Perfect kitchen lighting fixtures to improves every aspect of your kitchen

Kitchen lighting improves every aspect of your kitchen. It gives light to areas where it is needed such as the working areas or tables. It also enhances the ambience by casting a warm and inviting glow. Kitchen lighting fixtures is as important as your kitchen appliances. Without it, everything will be useless, maybe of course, except if you want to cook using a candle.

   Ideally, kitchen lighting design should aim to strike a balance: sufficiently bright and suitably positioned to provide good illumination especially around work spaces such as the hob, sink and food preparation areas; yet without appearing unduly harsh. In many, if not most, households, the kitchen is the heart of the home and should therefore be a warm and welcoming place, not stark and sterile.

 
So, the key to getting kitchen lighting fixtures right is understanding the basic principles of lighting design and understanding how the space itself functions. Underpinning most contemporary kitchen lighting designs is the idea that there are different types of light, usually labelled decorative, accent, task and ambient. Using each of these appropriately and achieving an overall balance to the room results in an effective and pleasing arrangement.


From : http://wonotirto.com/2010/11/perfect-kitchen-lighting-fixtures-to-improves-every-aspect-of-your-kitchen/ 

The Arne Jacobsen Doll House, MiiBoxen, Is Now Available From Minimii.

In November 2009 I introduced you to a dollhouse design by Minimii that was a miniature reproduction of Arne Jacobsen's actual home in Charlottenlund. The post also compared the dollhouse to the original home of the famous designer.



above: the inspiration for the dollhouse, the real home designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1928

Finally, the modern dollhouse is now available for purchase.

The MiiBox
Another version, the MiiBox, that is a smaller, wall-mounted version of the dollhouse suited to both adults and children and can be used for display as well as interactive play.

above: the new Miibox is a smaller, wall-mountable version of the dollhouse

The official press release:
GET YOUR NAME ON THE FRONT DOOR OF MINIMIIS ARNE JACOBSEN MINIATURE- AND DOLL-HOUSE

MAY 26TH 2011
Many people have patiently been waiting and finally it’s ready for new inhabitants. You now have the possibility to furnish your personal and handmade copy of Minimiis miniature house with all refinements; a true copy of Arne Jacobsens villa in Charlottenlund built in 1929.



The Miniature house is suitable as a design icon for exhibition as well as a beautiful miniature- and dollhouse in your home. Arne Jacobsens sense for thorough and user friendly design is executed in scale 1:16 (3/4”) with few adjustments, which only makes the house more accessible and play friendly. An attractive and unique miniature house that encourage fascination with the detail, play and fantasy for both children and adults.




The first 300 customers who order either the Arne Jacobsen house or the MiiBoxen™ achieve special and fun features which only makes the house even more personal.

The MiiBox™
The MiiBox™ is a wall hanging Arne Jacobsen miniature house, also in scale 1:16. The MiiBox™ is an inno-vative design object for the living room, kitchen, bathroom or nursery. Use the MiiBox™ like a little dollhouse the whole family can play with and decorate, or use it to store any of your other small treasured things.


The MiiBox™ is made in the same quality as the miniature house, but is half as large. The facade is hinged enabling you to open it downwards 180° while decorating the MiiBox™.

VIP Package For The First Customers
The first 300 orders for either the Arne Jacobsen miniature house or the MiiBox™ will as an extra feature be numbered and with possibility to add the new inhabitants personal characters. The first houses and MiiBoxes™ will be made to order and can only be preordered through the Minimii online shop. We engrave your personal nameplate for the front door as well as your personal and Official certificate. Both elements ex-ecuted in brass matching the doorknob. In the Minimii online shop you will be asked to fill in the needed data for your name plates; your name, or the name of the person you wish to give the Arne Jacobsen house to.


above: rug and wallpapers for the dollhouse are available, too

Your made to order Arne Jacobsen house or MiiBox™ shall not be empty when you get it. Therefore the first lucky customers gets, included in the price, Arne Jacobsen furniture and accessories consisting of the Egg™, the Swan™, the Series 7™ as well as wallpaper and a rug with patterns from Arne Jacobsens beauti-ful aquarelle drawings. The furniture and accessory package represents a total value of € 155, - .


Play For All Ages
Minimii´s mission is to produce and market miniature- and dollhouses and MiiBoxes™ with furniture and ac-cessories in a high quality designed by international acknowledged architects and designers. Minimii wants to bring the world beautifully designed quality toys for children and adults, and to disseminate the knowledge to good design in a yet unseen and accessible manner.



Minimii produces play friendly miniature- and dollhouses, furniture, art and decor, which are true small copies of real full size solutions. Houses where real people live, who inspire to play, and preferably with an interesting architecture. With the stylish, functional and timeless design – in mini size – children’s fantasy can run wild, also with mom and dad, who let the play take place in the middle of the living room, with the Arne Jacobsen House’s beautiful toy universe and completed details.

About Minimii
The idea behind Minimii is Linda Stenberg’s. With her sense and interest for design and quality combined with a life as busy mother of three she got the idea back in 2009. Linda was hunting for a dollhouse for her two oldest daughters and she found only old Victorian styled dollhouses furnished like her grandmother’s house with terrible old brown chairs. She then got turned on by the idea of creating a Danish modern quality doll-house, which both she and her daughters found attractive.

Linda runs Minimii ApS with business partner Claus Højer Hansen, who is managing director for the company.

Order The MiiBoxen or MiiBox dollhouses here.

More Modern Outdoor Grills & BBQs for 2011

For the past few years, I've been doing round ups of nicely designed modern outdoor gas, wood and coal burning grills and barbeques. Given that it's Memorial Day, I figured it'd be the perfect time to introduce you to a few additions since my top 25 grills for design lovers post last year. The trend now seems turning toward bold and bright colors and Green -as in eco-, in particular. Take a look at these ten new additions to my previous twenty-five.

The Puuur By Barbecook:




A stainless steel barbeque grill with an innovative reflector shield that reflects the charcoal heat back into the ceramic bowl. Easy to light and to clean, the modern design is available in three standard colors or any custom color of your choice.


Learn more here

Bob Grillson Wood Pellet BBQ:





The Wood Pellet Grill from Bob Grillson unites the legendary barbecue taste of barbecuing over real wood with the comfort of a gas grill. Clean wooden pellets offer a safe energy source for the "Green" BBQ.


learn more here

Walzer BBQ from MOM Design:


The Walzer freestanding BBQ grill is available in all stainless steel or powder coated in your choice of RAL colors. The BBQ Walzer grill is fitted with (polypropylene) rollers, which allows it to be moved easily across uneven surfaces.



Learn more here

The Kinzo Grill and table:



The Kinzo Grill from BetonWare combines a cement and wood slat table with a stainless steel grill.



Learn more here.

The Plancha from Calanc


Designed by Christophe Calanca for Calanc, the wood and stainless steel grill is on casters for easy mobility and is automatic gas ignited.


Learn more here

Fire & Steel's sculptural grills:


The Scorpio, the Tripod and the Circle are designer grills from Fire & Steel. Created to appear like large sculptures that contain grills and baskets and have large pulley systems. They are very expensive, but certainly, very unusual.



Learn more here.

Focus Mikado
Focus, the french manufacturer known for their modern fireplaces and the small wall mounted barbeque listed in my previous post on modern outdoor grills has designed the Mikado, an outdoor Firepit that doubles as a grill:

Learn more here

An Eco-friendly BBQ, the Safretti Olympiq



The philosophy behind the design of the OlympiQ revolves around the combination of maximum user-friendliness and an aesthetically pleasing appearance. The result is a high-quality, modern design that makes reference to the famous Olympic torch. The OlympiQ is built around the Philips “Woodstove”, a high efficiency wood burn (Philips) technology, originally intended for rural populations in India and Africa. It can be a wok, a grill or an outdoor fireplace.



Learn more here

Don't forget these posts:
Top 25 Modern Grills For Design Lovers


If you're looking for fabulous modern fire pits that can double as outdoor grills, don't forget these great looking ones by AK47:


Happy Memorial Day!