Catch that mouse!

The other day I came across a neat little freebie that tracks your mouse activity with the click of a button. I downloaded it and let it run its magic for a full 7.5 hours while I was at work. Here are the results of my day's digital rodent activity.

I'm all over the place! At first I was wondering what activity created the large black circles and I realized it was idle time, when my mouse isn't moving. So, giant black circle in the lower left corner was when I went to lunch.

I think it would be an interesting exercise to track your activity over a couple days and overlay the maps to see what areas are the most dense. These could also be cool if you matted and framed a small series. Who knew you could create art while not even realizing it?

Does anyone else see the shape of the US in my mouse tracker?

Burning the Midnight Wax 2

In December, I posted a how-to on removing the hard-to-reach leftover bits and remains of wax a candle leaves in its jar once it has burnt out. Since then, I learned of a much better, easier, and safer way to do the same thing thanks to my mother-in-law. So when another candle flickered out last weekend, I thought what better time than now to try it out and boy, I'm glad I did!

Here's my candle after the flame died.

You can see from above that it left a nice, thick ring of wax taunting me from the inside of the vase.

So, what I was told to do is soak the candle in warm, soapy water for an hour or so...

and the heat from the water makes the wax soft and malleable. In fact, my little hunk of wax loosened itself up and floated to the top of the jar.

All I had to do was grab a hold of that sucker and pull it out.

And the best part about this method is no waiting 24 hours for it to freeze. No knives. No potential to stab yourself as you slowly chip away at the wax.

Makeover: Tricia's Mom's Kitchen Cabinets

When my coworker, Tricia, told me that she was painting her mom's dark kitchen cabinets with a fresh and bright white, I told her I couldn't wait to see the results. Then I continued to bug her about it for the next couple months and finally, the results are in!

Here are the cabinets before:

The rustic hardware

After a lot of Tricia's elbow grease and a few months of putting in weekend hours, the cabinets breathe a breath of new life and look young again. (I bet that the kitchen looks 10 times bigger too.)

The new contemporary hardware

Doesn't it look ah-maze-ing? Great job Tricia, your mom is one lucky lady! What else do you have up your sleeve?

Volcano Wine and Kona Beer

When Justin and I go on a trip, be it to Europe or our neighboring state of Michigan, we like to drink in the local flavor, literally. It is always an ambition of ours to taste wine from the local wineries and drink beer from local breweries when we travel, and in Hawaii we did a little bit of both.

On our second drive around the big island, we swung into the Volcano Winery in Volcano, Hawaii, no more than a couple miles down the road from Volcanos National Park. We had fun sipping and tasting their wine made from grapes and fruit grown just out the back door, but were not impressed with the flavor, packaging, or prices ($16 a bottle!). Call us cheap, but generally when we buy wine straight from the house it was made, bottles are somewhere between $6 and $12.

Back at the hotel, we ran to the grocery store in the shopping center next to our hotel and snagged a mixed 6-pack of Kona Brewing Company beer that included 2 Fire Rock Pale Ales, 2 Big Wave Golden Ales, and 2 Longboard Lagers. Unfortunately, I can not comment on the taste, since I am not a fan of beer, but the speed at which Justin was draining them leads me to believe that he either thoroughly enjoyed them or was having a bad day, which, let's be honest, can anyone have a bad day when they are on vacation in Hawaii? I didn't think so.

Just like any other graphic designer, I am a sucker for nicely designed beer/wine/alcohol packaging and Kona Brewing Company's packaging is a case in point.

I especially loved their bottle caps because on the flip side was a hawaiian word and it's english translation. While Justin was drinking, I learned that ipo is lover, aloha is hello and goodbye, pupu is appetizer, wikiwiki is quick, and keiki is child.

Best of CS Interiors: Winter 2010

When I casually flipped through CS Interiors Winter 2010 issue a few weeks ago, this quote from Adam Sorkin immediately jumped out at me. I think it suits more than just him, don't you?

And of course, accompanying his spot-on quote, are photos from his verde-licious home located in Chicago's neighborhood of West Andersonville. On the left is his dining room with a green striped FLOR carpet square rug and if you look in the background, you can see a sliver of his kelly green lacquered foyer. On the right is his living room complete with an astroturf rug. No. Joke. Actual astroturf, I wonder what Justin would say...

Photo by Bob Coscarelli, CS Interiors

Then a dozen pages later, this image of Joe Paolucci and Tom Hitchcock's modernist, mid-century patio complete with wire-framed furniture had me at hello. Where can you even find an entire, mint-condition, vintage patio set anyways?

Photo by Tony Soluri, CS Interiors

In the magazine's TRENDS! section there was an impressive display of clear glass terrariums that promise greenery all year round, which is important to me and my fellow chicagoans who bear the bone-chilling winter weather every year. These pear shaped ones from Vivaterra are made from recycled glass and my favs from the assortment.

Also to top the TRENDS! section was a medley of string obsessed items. These two, the flock of swallows mobile and the delta bell strand both from Anthropologie, had my heart swinging from the trees. I love their naturally neutral colors and think the swallow mobile would look amazing hanging above a baby's bed for that modern meets nature look.

One of the best parts of having a Modern Luxury interiors magazine in Chicago is that it features Chicago retailers and designers. I had to include this little guy on my best of list because it is completely unique and unpredictable. This gnome stool/side table was created by Phillipe Starck for Kartell and if you're in the area, you can get it at Orange Skin.

These may just look like decorative blocks of twigs but they are actually big enough to be used as a bench, side table, or coffee table. Any ideas on how to DIY? I'd love one, or two, or three in my foyer.

One of the featured homes in the Winter 2010 issue hails from Caroline Scheeler, the creative director of Jayson Home & Garden. Her living room, embodies pattern, comfort, and, what CS Interiors calls, "global-vintage." I can't believe how put together this room looks with everything that is in there. I love the textures, animal influences, vintage pieces, and brooding color scheme. If only one of the rooms in my house could look like this.

Photo by Tony Soluri, CS Interiors

And last, but not least, I just like how this room's designer used the vertical space to the right of the fireplace to store some firewood. Obviously the fireplace is gas (see the rocks in the fire), so the wood isn't necessary, but it looks natural and provides a great texture/pattern for the space.

Photo by Jememy Bustos, CS Interiors

If I didn't show you enough of CS Interiors Winter 2010 and you want to see it all, click here. I'm interested to hear if someone else has a favorite that didn't make my list.

All photos from CS Interiors.