Author Archives: Toby

7 Kitchen Gadget Gifts You’ll Want To Keep For Yourself

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Have you ever bought a gift that you loved so much you kept it? These stunningly designed, but eminently practical kitchen gadgets by the Italian design house Alessi will be hard to part with, but you will definitely be remembered for your keen eye for practical elegance if you do gift them.

10 Iconic Designs From Ron Arad’s “Restless” London Retrospective

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.... Arad is afraid of nothing; no medium, no size, no notion that is unconventional.  He experiments.  He plays... and you get to relive his pleasure through his work.  Restless is a 30-year retrospective of Arad's greatness... and he is still young.

Must Tastes: 20 Wild & Weird Potato Chip Flavors

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Looking to add flavor to your life? Spicy barbecue, zesty lime, and cheesy parmesan chips are so yesterday. Today's potato chip flavors are more complicated infusions like Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese and Chesapeake Crab.  Some modern chips may even replace lunch for those on the go, like Tuna Fish potato chips.  See if you can find one or two that might satisfy your cravings... or just your curiosity.

Not One, But 40 Peeps Shows For Easter 2013

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Peeps Rockin Crutches diaramaI bet 'Mr. Peeps' never dreamed 60 years ago that his yummy, gooey, marshmallow treats would be fodder for a cult.  I bet he never thought that in 60 years there would be as many as 40 different Peeps Shows throughout the United States to commemorate Easter.  And the thousands of talented Peep artists who create diaramas where Peeps play famous characters such as Pi or Pope Francis.  Well, Mr. Peeps, aka Bob Born, must be eating these celebrations up - so to speak.

Animal Obsession: The Diva Ostrich Table By IBride Design

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Diva OstrichTable by IBride DesignNot everyone is in love with IBride's quirky furniture and portrait designs, but they should be.  IBride (translate - 'hybrid') designs add humor, self-awareness, and function to any decor, and the Diva Wall Table, is no exception - the subject of this animal obsession being the ostrich. 

Cocoagraph Chocolate Photography or Eat This Birthday Card Before It Melts

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Cocoagraph chocolate holiday cards

One adventure in gastronomy I have not enjoyed yet is eating an old family photo. The thought of it is actually not that appealing to me.  But what is appealing is the idea of receiving an edible portrait of almost anything else, especially if it's chocolate.

 


Coffee Jitters Keeping You Awake At Night? Take A Chill Pill

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The folks at Think Geek know about caffeine, believe me.  How do you think they're able to test the hundreds of weird products they receive every day and then write-up all the clever things to say about them?  CAFFEINE!  There had been a fast turnover of employees at Think Geek just because of caffeine - the employees, you see, couldn't sleep - at night, at least....

 


Starbucks To Phase Out Crushed Bugs From Pink Drinks & Pastries

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Just as I was introduced to Starbucks coffee-free Strawberries and Creme Frappachino, I learn that its lovely ballet pink color is not from the mix of deep ripe strawberries and luscious thick cream.  Darn that I had to find out that a cactus feeding bug found in Central and South America is the mother of the color in Starbuck's pink drinks and desserts. Yum. Chopped cochineals.

 


Enigma: Puzzling Wooden Floor Design By Jamie Beckwith

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Floor tiles have moved up a few notches since the vinyl foam tiles first lined the nursery.  And, though these tiles may remind you (somewhat) of those jigsaw like EPA pieces, nowhere have I seen floor tiles so elegant that they must be the center of attention in any room they are laid - the hand-crafted wooden puzzle floor tiles of Jamie Beckwith.