Passionately Pink for the Cure

Now through October 31st, Yahoo will donate $1 for every pink photo uploaded to the Passionately Pink for the Cure Flickr pool.

Right now there are almost 34,000 images uploaded. Yahoo will keep donating up to $50,000.

Via Joshua Blankenship.

Guilt-Free Sprinkles

Now through 10/14, Sprinkles is donating the proceeds from its strawberry cupcakes to the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Women's Cancer Research Fund (if you think the cupcake's a mouthful say that a few times).

During this time, the strawberry flavor will be available every day.


Via Shop Diary.

Bicycle Polo Dallas

Celine Platforms

So, I'm a little distracted by fashion this week. Back to home and garden soon, I promise. But I couldn't resist posting these preppy, Asian-inspired pumps.

Via Notcoture.

Fashion Distraction: Vera Wang at Kohl's

This weekend I remembered that Kohl's has a new collection of Vera Wang clothing. Simply Vera Wang debuted a week or so ago. I hadn't heard a lot about it, so I decided to drive out to the north suburbs (the nearest location of Kohl's) to check things out.

My hopes were not high. I assumed that I wouldn't like anything. I'd previewed the looks on the Kohl's site and they seemed a little too conservative. I was very pleasantly surprised.

I tried on 4 items and ended up with this adorable textured dress coat for $128 and this cotton lilac top for $50.

The quality was impressive. Better than Target's Go International! lines. The coat, especially, is a fabulous staple. You can wear it in the office as a jacket. For outdoors, I'm planning to get a pair of full length winter gloves to match. Vera has some in her collection, but they were a little uncomfortable.

The shirt fits beautifully. The shape is sort of like a bubble, and can be worn tucked in with a high waisted pant, or cinched in with a wide belt at the natural waist. I also paired it with the jacket, trouser jeans and a pair of patent leather pumps for a casual office look.

The store was almost out of smalls in every piece. If you order online, the sizes run a little large.

Ad Bags

I really like these bags made from recycled vinyl-mesh billboards. The ads once "graced" the Seattle skyline, but have been reused to create these tough totes. The handles are made from used seat belts.

Ad Bag (8" x 12" x 16"), $30

Via Adverlab.

Club Cruising the Bosporus

We went to Turkey to attend the wedding of our good friend Burak. Not only was he planning his wedding, he was also nice enough to put together a few activities for his friends from the states. So on the night before the wedding he planned for us to board a large passenger boat for a floating party called the White party. Note: you were supposed to wear white.

We spent the early afternoon with another couple of friends on Baghdad Street, the main shopping drag of the Asian side of the city. We planned to cross the bridge back to Europe to change clothes and board the boat at 7 pm, but we had not budgeted our time well.

At 6 pm, we were still waiting in traffic, not even close enough to see the bridge, much less cross it. Luckily, the boat party was planning a stop on the Asian side to pick up more passengers. After a few phone calls, we all planned to meet at the second stop and Burak, the world's best host, was on his way to get white T-shirts for all of the hopeless traffic castaways.

We arrived at the boarding point at 7 pm in three separate cars. Right on time, except that it wasn't the boarding point. Or at least, that was the consensus at the time.There was a lot of discussing in Turkish and then we drove to another boarding point. No, that one wasn't the boarding point either. And so we returned to the original point in a mad rush, parked and ran through a city park filled with picnickers, strays, and fishermen to catch the boat at the shore of the Bosporus.

Even though it was 7:15, the boat had waited. We later realized that this was because the party that was designed for 200 or 300, was attended by only 50 or so. The early boarding time meant that people couldn't make it from work in time. Friday traffic in Istanbul is incomprehensible.

So we took a nearly private cruise of the Bosporus that night to the loudest mix of 80s and Salsa you can imagine. As the natives around us danced, we watched the city slink by, absolutely amazing, shimmering with light, and dotted with glorious, crumbling bits of history.

SOUNDTRACK: "Big in Japan"

The best Alphaville song I'd never heard. But if you're in Istanbul, you'll hear this at almost every club.



Image: "Bosphorescence" by icemanigation.

A Tale of Boat Living in NYC: 79th Street Boat Basin

I listen to NPR quite a bit. And I found myself stuck in the car this afternoon in what they call, "a driveway moment," unable to stop listening to a captivating story about house boats in New York City.

The story describes a 50+ -year-old community of live-on boats in the Hudson, where quirky artists, lay-abouts, businessmen, and famous authors (Mario Puzo was once an resident) have lived side-by-side. Residents describe it as an urban village where everybody knows everybody and you're likely to pass a dead body or save a suicidal man in a tux on your way back from the store.

I was most interested in the boat of an artist, described as a cross between an opium den and a Turkish brothel. The images this story paints in your mind more than make up for the lack of accompanying photos.

Take a listen here.

UPDATE: That's the 79th St. Boat Basin, not 57th St. Thanks to Daniel Weiss for the great piece and e-mailing with the correction.

Wake up to Jeeves with the Voco Clock

The last few days I've been reminiscing about Jeeves and Wooster, (both the books by P.G. Wodehouse and the series starring Hugh Laurie (Dr. House) and Stephen Fry).

It all started last week when I saw the Woodhouse sofa on the Jonathan Adler site, progressed to an unsuccessful attempt to locate my copy of a book of Wodehouse short stories yesterday, and culminated in a link to the Voco clock popping into my in-box a few minutes ago.

The Voco lets you rise and shine to the sound of Stephen Fry as the put-upon, too-smart butler, Jeeves, issuing very encouraging and ever-so-slightly sarcastic summons to take on your day.

If you enjoy the sound clips (hear them here) but want to skip the clock (it's nothing special at about $50), you can download all 50 wake-up greetings for about $14.

If you haven't seen Jeeves and Wooster or read anything by Wodehouse, they would make wonderful additions to your summer reading/watching list.

Thanks to my friend, Pablo, for the tip.

Shameless Plea: Save "How I Met Your Mother"

I ran across an entry on Modern Cottage asking us to go watch "How I Met Your Mother" on CBS Mondays at 7 pm Central time. I want to echo this plea. I love TV and I'll admit it. I watch a lot as I work in the kitchen or on the computer, and "How I Met Your Mother" is by far my favorite sit-com.

I'm so shocked to hear that CBS is considering canceling it. So please, please, tune in and give it a chance. I will attest that this show has some of the best, funniest writing on TV and a wonderful cast. You don't need to catch up on the plot, you can jump right in or read a little back story here.

So CBS, if you're reading. Please don't take this gem off the air.