Rima Suqi

I’m just back from Uruguay. 80 degree weather, great food and, the surprise of the trip, a very tasty Vodka. Now, I’m not a vodka drinker. I tend to like my liquor (preferably bourbon, scotch or tequila) served neat or on the rocks, and I’ve never found a vodka that is worthy of sipping without some sort of mixer. But Christiania Vodka is exactly that – it’s rich and kind of creamy and incredibly delicious. I’m a convert.
Details are below. Best price I found is here.

“Christiana is six-times distilled, charcoal filtered and aerated using only ultra-pure Norwegian spring water and Norway’s finest potatoes. The nose is subtle. It’s round in the mouth. The finish is distinctly cool. Because it’s distilled from potatoes, there is a very faint sweetness that prompts some to say this is the first vodka they would actually consider sipping neat.”

Roy McMakin has a lot going on. First, his glasses for Artware Editions. Next, a show opening February 4th at Established & Sons in London. It’s Roy’s first solo show in Europe. Pics are below….there’s just one item missing…that WING CHAIR we all loooooved! Maybe Established & Sons can convince him to bring it back (hint hint).

You might have heard about the Jumbo Hostel – the world’s first hotel (of sorts) in a Boeing 747-200 jet. The 747 doesn’t move, it’s was grounded at the Stockholm airport back in 2002 and now is permanently ensconced at the airport entrance. And, as of yesterday, it’s officially open for business.

Room descriptions follow the pictures – they’re taken directly from the media section of the hotel’s website and written by, I’m guessing, someone Swedish. The descriptions are hilarious! Rates start at about 30 euros, check in is 4 pm, check out is 10 am and I’m hoping ear plugs are complimentary.
(And no, it ain’t the mile high club if you’re grounded. Sorry.)

Cockpit Suite
Single- or double suite. Our spacious suite with panorama view have two adjustable beds, sleeps up to two adults. The room is equipped with TV, wireless internet free of charge and toilet with shower.

Private 1-2-3
Our comfortable Private 1-2-3 rooms are equipped with one 140 cm bed and one 90 cm bed, sleeps up to three adults. TV, wireless internet free of charge.

Twin bed room
Our comfortable Twin rooms are equipped with two 90 cm beds, sleeps up to two adults. TV, wireless internet free of charge.

Four bed room
Our comfortable Dorm rooms are equipped with four 90 cm beds, sleeps up to four adults. So if you rent all four beds you will have a four bed room. TV,wireless internet free of charge.

Dorm bed
Our comfortable Dorm rooms are equipped with four 90 cm beds, sleeps up to four adults. You rent a bed and share with others TV, wireless internet free of charge.

If you want to stay warm and dry without looking like the Michelin Man, then Outdoor Research’s Chaos jacket is the one for you. I’ve been wearing this for several months now and I can tell you that I have been toasty warm even in this ridiculous cold. And I don’t look fat. That, to me, is the key. Not only are puffy coats, well, PUFFY, those puffs are HORIZONTAL and every woman knows that horizontal stripes make us look wider than we are. No thank you.

Instead, buy this jacket. It was designed by women who climb things like frozen waterfalls and it’s got a lot of features that I frankly have no idea how to use. All I can say is this – the jacket is really lightweight but it works. It costs $250 but that’s a small price to pay to be warm and look skinny.

I’m listing features taken from the Outdoor Research website below.

+ PrimaLoft® ECO Sport insulation: 150 g torso, 133 g sleeves, 60 g hood
+ Highly weather-resistant/breathable WindStopper® Insulated Shells fabric; micro-polyester lining
+ Dual-pull adjustable hood fits over helmet
+ Deep front collar
+ Double-separating front zipper with external stormflap
+ Two zippered handwarmer pockets
+ Zippered napoleon pocket
+ Internal mesh water bottle pocket; zippered internal pocket with media port
+ Elastic cuffs with hook/loop tabs
+ Snap and hook/loop closure at hem
+ Dual drawcord waist and hem adjustments

A few times a year MoMa invites editors in to show off the new stuff they’ve bought for the store. You might remember that their last curated buy was all from Japan. This time it’s Korea, which turns out to be cutesy in a Japanese way. Cutesy normally isn’t my thing.
But I did like these things:

This is a thing that clamps onto your desk and acts as a cup holder:

A camera case (I was more into the illustration than the case):

A super-tiny speaker for (I think) iPods:

A cat-shaped blackboard (love this, altho I do not love cats):

You might have seen this before – a water bowl for dogs/cats:

These wooden Baby rattles made nice, gentle sounds a parent might actually be able to tolerate for hours at a time:

Now for the non-Korean stuff.

Classic Aalto stools in primary colors:

Tolomeo lamp in red (looked really cool in person):

Muji pencil sharpener from the front:

Muji pencil sharpener from the back:

These next two items were some of my favorites – trivets that look like those stovetop things i’m forgetting the name of:

They’re a little late on the gold flatware trend but some say better late than never. I’m not sure I do, but here it is nonetheless:

And finally, a classic vase in a new color:

Back when I was a wee Editorial Assistant at Metropolitan Home, we were obsessed with Roy McMakin’sfurniture. There’s a wing chair he designed that I still think about; if you were around and interested in furniture at that time I’m sure you know exactly which one I mean (I couldn’t find a photo, sorry).
Anway, it’s been interesting to see what Roy’s been up to lately. He did some ceramics that were at Matthew Marks Gallery, and just yesterday I got an email from Artware Editions that featured McMakin’s new glassware:

The cost for the set of four is $200; they were produced in an edition of 300. More info here.

More info from the release:

The Broken Juice Glass is a limited edition set of glassware conceived by Roy McMakin exclusively for Artware Editions.

For this edition, the artist takes the simplicity of four small juice or wine glasses and imposed on them a complex reworking of the aphorisms “THINGS CHANGE” and “CHANGE THINGS.” Because of their transparency and shape, McMakin is able to use the seriality of the glasses to play out a conceptual progression: the first glass is clear; on the second the phrasing is shown in its entirety on the front of the glass; and on the third and fourth the text is printed in a band around the glass but appears to be illegible. One must perfectly line up the fragmented text (a greater challenge from the third to the fourth) from the front through to the back of these to make sense of the parts. When the glasses are full the front text appears incoherent, but as the glass empties things change and all is clear.

Apparently I am the last person to know that you can customize M&Ms. And you now how I found out? There was a full-page ad in Esquire Magazine. WTF? An M&M ad in Esquire? Really? I’m thinking this must be one of those “buy an ad in Oprah, get one free in Esquire” deals.
Whatever.
Even if I am the last person to know, I still think it’s a cool idea.
Go to their special site and it walks you through the process. You can choose to have only one color M&M or choose a color combination. Or go crazy and upload a photo to have printed on the candy.

A 7 ounce bag can ranges in price from $10.99 – $14.99 depending on quantity.

Here’s a kinda pukey example:

There’s nothing I love more than companies that have their shit so together, they send you a PDF lookbook a week BEFORE a tradeshow. Especially when the stuff they’re showing isn’t so bad. Here’s what you’ll see from Artecnica in stores near you….well, with the economy possibly never, but who knows. Somebody’s gotta buy the stuff.

New items from by Tord Boontje:

Future Flora hanging light fixture:

Candle Clamps – “an industrial perspective on an iconic form.”

Bright Times (no, really, that’s the name) pop-out votive candle holders:

From Stephen Johnson, “Wonderland”– a “surreal Alice in Wonderland World of Escape.”
His quote about the series: “I consider design a way to fulfill emotional needs like humor and nostalgia.”
Are you feeling fulfilled by these?

And finally, a clock I swear they brought back from the early-to-mid ’90s (designed by Tamineh Javanbakht):

Rates from $125. Details/codes below. Morgan’s Hotel Group properties include:
New York City Hotels: Morgans, Royalton and Hudson
Miami Hotels: Delano, The Shore Club, Mondrian South Beach
Los Angeles Hotels: Mondrian Hotel
San Francisco Luxury Hotels:Clift San Francisco
Scottsdale Arizona Hotels: Mondrian Scottsdale
London Hotels – St Martins Lane and Sanderson

We hear that interior designer Michael Smith has chosen John Robshaw sheets for the Obama girl’s bedrooms in the White House. This just shortly after Robshaw had a nice mini-feature in Vanity Fair last month. We’re so proud!