It was many months ago that I randomly discovered ibride. They were featured on several design blogs and I instantly fell in love with their line of ornate wall art trays. Since they were seemingly everywhere at the time, I didn’t bookmark any online stores. Of course the name ibride quickly slipped from my memory and I have spent the last few months keeping en eye peeled for those gorgeous baroque flourishes and collages of anthropomorphic animals. Quite a hybrid of style, eh? In fact, the name ibride is actually a play on words that is meant to represent “hybrid”. The company consists of 4 French relatives, Rachel, Benoit, and Carine, who I wish I could find more info about online. Their official website is in French and is Flash based so it doesn’t lend well to translating. Anybody know more about them?

Their stunning art trays come in 3 different themes; vintage ladies, animals in nature, and hybrid human/animals attired in exquisite vintage clothing. The imagery is simply amazing, but it’s the colors that really grab me: brooding, muted shades with splashes of vivid color. Everything they make is truly a hybrid of modern and classic. Better still, the laminated trays are made from a recycled wood core!

And lest I forget to mention their newer offerings: furniture shaped like the lower half of an animal. The Basset Stool and Dog Stool (both shown above) are available in black or red. Joe the Polar Bear book shelf measures nearly 4′ tall and is super limited edition.

Available at Switch Modern.

Posted by Lauren in Household,So Pretty,Unique on August 19, 2008
1 Comment

Image (c) roboppy

A couple months ago a friend emailed to tell me about a berry that I “might be interested in”. She pointed me to the now infamous NY Times article about the “Miracle Fruit“, and I proceeded to flip out. For those of you who haven’t been introduced to this truly magical berry, it makes sour things taste sweet and food in general just tastes better. How exciting is that? It contains a substance called “miraculin” that binds with your taste buds for up to 2 hours of “everything tastes like heaven” fun. Wow, talk about a natural sweetener. Sign me up!

But there’s just one problem: availability. Wikipedia says Miracle Fruit was documented way back in 1725, yet it only gained popularity in America in 2008, thanks largely to the “flavor trippers” referenced in the NY Times article. Without a solid growing infrastructure in place, it’s been really difficult to obtain the berries or the packaged tablets. Most retailers run out of stock for months at a time! I tried to find some seeds so I could grow my own, but at the time nobody had any stock available.

This morning I opened up an email from my homies at Think Geek and almost fell out of my chair when I saw they are now selling Miracle Fruit tablets! The date on the email said it arrived yesterday, but by the time I arrived at their site they were already sold out and taking backorders. Noooo! But since Think Geek is located in the USA (unlike most retailers) and has amazing customer service, I’m just going to backorder a couple packs now. What can I say, I have an insatiable sweet tooth and the idea of sucking on a lemon and having it taste like candy is too novel to resist.

Every story I’ve heard about Miracle Fruit has been funny and amazing. If you’ve tried this miraculous berry, please share your story in the comments. I’ll report back when my shipment arrives

PS- I predict that this berry is going to be so instrumental in getting people to eat healthy. We’ll start by eating a miracle berry before a big leafy green salad – you know, so even the most picky tastebuds can “tolerate” real food. Then we’ll only need a half berry as our bodies become used to eating well. Then one day we’ll realize that we don’t even need to “flavor trip” anymore. Did this idea occur to anyone else?

Posted by Lauren in Fun,Unique on August 14, 2008
2 Comments

When I hear about an “Annual Sale” or “Outlet Sale”, I expect some big fat savings. So many stores enthusiastically name their sales like that when they would be better described as “some items are discounted a few bucks”. But hey, that’s marketing.

On the other hand, Gaiam’s 6th Annual Outlet Sale actually lives up to its name. This is the time of year that the eco-friendly retailer discounts the heck out of their slower selling items in order to make room for all the new goodies. The discounts are huge so the supplies are really limited.

There are big discounts in all categories (Eco Fashion, Home & Garden, Wellness, Fitness, etc.) but I’ve become partial to their simple eco-friendly clothing. This white boatneck hidden-zipper jacket made from organic cotton has got my name written all over it. The collar kills me it’s so cute. The Gaiam website has also gotten a bit of an overhaul and they recently added reviews and the ability to post a question about any product. For instance, one user asked what the length was of that rad boatneck jacket. Man, I love useful interactive website features like that. Anyway, the sale “ends” when the products start selling out so if you dig any of their outlet items, scoop them up now.

Posted by Lauren in Green Living,Sale on August 13, 2008
Leave a Comment

You’ve all seen our page stuffed full of our favorite vintage stores from eBay right? Well, now feast your browsers on the Hottest Vintage Clothing Stores; where we pick one super rad store and feature them all month long. From there you can view the hot vintage store of the month and all their super hot auctions.

Every month a new seller will be featured as the Hot Vintage Clothing Store of the month hand-picked by Mable’s. Of course we are always open to suggestions, so send them in.

This month we are featuring Mama Stone Vintage because of her influence, style, and more. So check out the Hot Vintage Store for August, bookmark the page, and read more about why Mama Stone is at the top of the list.

Below is a sneak peak of some hot auctions going on right now from Mama Stone Vintage.

Posted by Sean in Clothing and Accessories,Retro and Vintage on August 4, 2008
1 Comment