Vintage Modern

Literally! I love when companies take an iconic product and truly update it for the modern user. Here are two stellar examples:

First:

Polaroid’s compact instant/digital camera, the Z2300. I love the race car model designations!

The Polaroid Z2300 (yes, them again) is an awesome instant/digital camera. How much fun would it be to have all the modern conveniences in a digital camera but still be able to make those cool old school instant prints that made the company famous? You can get the best of both worlds with this slick looking 10MP looker and at only $160, it isn’t going to break the bank.

Next up:

Seriously, Singer’s 160th Anniversary Limited Edition Computerized Sewing Machine made me swoon when I saw it. Thanks, Amazon!

This gorgeous sewing machine from Singer which takes it’s styling from the vintage turn of the 20th Century machines that started it all and upends it with a fully functional computerized interface. Let me tell you, this is WAY better looking than the boring white and blue machines that litter your local Joann’s. I’d go so far as to say this machine in sexay… If you can apply that term to a sewing machine!

Last but not least:

Michelle over at Sweet Suite 10 gave me a heads up on this one… At first I wasn’t feeling the flatter shape but I think it looks sportier, don’t you?

You can’t get more iconic than a classic Volkswagen Beetle, can you? There aren’t many people, whether they are 8 or 80, that don’t know this classic car from the shape alone. Well, for the new 2013 model they have stepped back even further to an earlier, slightly flatter body style but they’ve upped the ante with a LOT more power under the hood than ever before. I could see myself zipping through town in one of these, couldn’t you?

What’s your favorite new old design?

Vintage Remix

Kishani Perera is an LA based designer who has risen, in the design world to rockstar recognition in just a short time. Her work is being featured all over the place, from magazines to blogs to tv… With good reason. Her eclectic mix of bold color, high and low brands, vintage and new is something to inspire or aspire to. I was excited when I found out (light years behind all the truly savvy decoristas) that Ms. Perera has a new book out. It’s called Vintage Remix: The Interiors of Kishani Perera. I’m aiming to make it a part of my collection now. In the meantime, I’ve been checking out more of Ms. Perera’s work online:

Kishani Perera design. Image via Project Pretty Blog.

Kishani Perera design. Image via Aphrochic

Kishani Perera design. Image via Color Sizzle.

Each of these bloggers has done a great feature on Ms. Perera’s work. There are more photos (and gushing… not unlike mine!) on each of these fab blogger’s sites. Please check out all the great pics they have of Kishani Perera’s work. Just click on one of the pics above.

Kishani Perera at her LA based store, Rummage.

There are some great pics of Kishani Perera’s store, Rummage, on the blog Brittany Stiles. Just click the photo above to take a look. You can also see some great shots of the Vintage Remix’s sections on The House of Fifty blog or pick up your own copy and make it a part of your collection. Isn’t Ms. Perera’s work fab?

I hope you’re having a fabulous day… and colorful day! Until next time. 🙂

Sarah Harmer

Canadian singer/songwriter Sarah Harmer.

I know, I know! This has got to be one of my latest posts ever… but I had to work from the the early am and I only got home an hour or so ago. Plus, everyone is still kinda in holiday mode today so I spaced that it was Monday, a regular posting day.

You Were Here, I'm A Mountain, All Our Names, Oh Little Fire.



So, normally on a Monday I share my movie or music likes old and new. Today is no exception. I got a gift card for Amazon so I decided to use it on my Kindle and my phone’s mp3. I got a romance novel (hey, don’t judge me!) and I bought You Were Here by Sarah Harmer.

Sarah Harmer is a Canadian singer songwriter whose music is a blend of stripped down folk pop perfection. Her voice is sweet but not twee. She writes songs about love and life that are catchy but not gag inducingly so. I adore her music!

I was first introduced to her through a promo copy of You Were Here while was working at Borders Books. I got to keep the copy from the store (and I still own it, it is just stuck in the purgatory that is my storage unit in Seatown). I play it regularly when I have it physically with me… so when I was surfing Amazon mp3 earlier today and saw that the digital copy was only $4.99, I jumped at the chance to listen to it again. I wasn’t disappointed! My favorite tracks include the tracks Open Window (The Wedding Song), Lodestars, Uniform Grey, Hideout, and Around the Corner. Really the whole album is a wonder, as is the follow up record she made, All Our Names. I find myself humming the first track on that disc, Pendulums, at odd times, like when I’m walking to the grocery or waiting for the bus. Her tunes are that good.

She has two newer releases: I’m A Mountain, which is more in the alt-country vein (I’ve only heard a few tracks) and Oh Little Fire, which came out last year. If you like the kind of music that makes you think of coffeehouses and hanging out with your friends in the den and talking all night then you’ll like her. Plus, $4.99 (apparently the price i got today is through the mobile version of Amazon mp3) is hard to beat.

See you tomorrow!

Coldplay: Parachutes

Sometimes the best things aren’t the new, new, bleeding edge thing. Sometimes it’s that old, familiar thing that gets shoved to the back of closet and becomes a victim of “out of sight, out if mind”.

I moved to Charlotte in mid-January. A total leap of faith move; I left everything in Seattle and brought only myself and my clothes. That meant that my collection of 600+ CDs stayed in storage and hied myself over here without the benefit of my comfortable, comforting stack of go-to bands and music. Not a good place to be in when you’re a hardcore music lover like myself.

So yesterday I decided to check out the $5 MP3 downloads at Amazon. Every month they feature 100 albums that are only $5 each. Sometimes they’re themed but mostly it’s a good mix of old, new, and a different genres. It was a FEAST for me! This month features quite a few of my favorite artists, some of it was even the latest albums by those artists… but I chose to go with a favorite and classic album: Parachutes by Coldplay.

What can I say about this record that hasn’t been said before? Probably nothing. I will say this: it’s hard to find a record that is as perfect from the first to the last track than this. My favorites are High Speed, Spies, Shiver, and We Never Change but I love the while record. If you’ve never heard it or only heard the singles, I encourage you to give it a whirl this month  while you can get the whole thing for $5.

I hope your Monday goes like a Friday!  Have an awesome week!

Kings Of Leon

I have my sister to blame for my current musical addiction: Kings of Leon. I kept hearing this guy growling about how he could use somebody on the overhead at work… and singing along to it. So, I called her and asked her if shed heard the song. What I’d I do that for? She waxed poetic! Then she told me about how awesome Only By Night, their US breakthrough, was and I told her I had to have it. My wonderful sister got me a copy and sent it to me. I’ve been listening to it ever since. Highlights for me include the aforementioned Use Somebody, Revelry, Crawl, and Sex On Fire, just to name a few. The whole album is amazing though.

I’m so enamored that I bought the CD they released before that today from Amazon. If I like it as much as Only By Night, I’ll have to continue procuring their music. I think they’ve got a newer one out. It might have my name on it. 🙂

Andreya Triana

I skulk around the Amazon mp3 site looking for free music… well, a lot! They have a free song everyday and I find that it’s a really good way to discover new music. It’s how I discovered Warpaint and the artist that I’m writing about today: Andreya Triana.

She’s a singer/songwriter from the UK. She’s completely self taught; she started out recording harmonies on two old tape decks in her room. She’s come along way from there… her debut album Lost Where I Belong was released on the Ninja Tune label last August.

I’m taken by her amazing vocals… she reminds me a little of Alana Davis (someone else who has an amazing voice). Her sound is sultry, soulful, jazzy… and did I mention that she’s gorgeous and rocks her frocks too? Well, Ms. Triana is definitely a complete package!

I grabbed her single, “A Town Called Obsolete” from a Ninja Tune label sampler that is free to download on Amazon. Two additional free tracks are available:  “Wonder When” – a swingy, uptempo jazz swirl by Bonobo on which Triana does the vocals, and “Lost Where I Belong” – the title track from her debut CD. Grab them at Amazon mp3.

Andreya Triana – Far Closer from Steve Glashier on Vimeo.