We Covet | Better Living Through Consumerism

We Covet Seeing The Future In Cold, Hard Stainless Steel

This thing sure looks like a UFO, but no, it's actually a 50-year calendar paper weight (yet another multi-use/function item! I can't get enough of that stuff (apparently)!).

Made from stainless steel, this baby is not only an excellent reference point for your place in the space-time continuum, but it'll also keep all your paperwork neatly in place. SHAZAM! Double your pleasure, double your fun, people!

50-year Calendar Paper Weight, $9.97 @ 1MintJulep

We Covet New Ways To Enjoy Liquor

Toting around your own liquor ain't easy. Flasks are just too obvious, no?  And paper  bags are just so, I don't know, low-rent.  But this little Tin-Man-style heart flask? Discreet, and pretty. It says, I love drinking, but not so much that I ever forget to be cute! Which, you know, is really what we're all aiming for, right?

(I kid. DRINK RESPONSIBLY. Which is to say, in moderation, and out of a cute flask.)

Love Canteen, $39.95 @ Delight.com

We Covet Atari Candleholders

I think we've established that I am a tremendous geek, and not ashamed of it. And so it shouldn't really surprise you that I almost jumped out of my skin with joy upon spying this Atari joystick-shaped candleholder.

That shit is DOPE, am I right? Who wants to buy me one? heh.

Retro Joy candleholder, £ 50.00 @ Mixko

We Covet New Ways To Geek Out

I wonder if this thing would work while you pushed a stroller, or if you had the right baby-sling it'd fit in front? If so, I'm in. Multi-tasking, people. Multi-tasking.

Laptop Holder, $39.99 @ ThinkGeek

We Covet Adorable Retro Swim Caps

Wearing a tightly fitting retro swim cap covered in happy rubber flowers? Cool. Getting chlorine in your hair and having it bleach out your color and dry out your ends? So not cool.

Need I say more?

Palm Beach Floral Swim cap, $14.95 @ The Travel Trunk Store

We Covet Cool Timepieces For Dads

Okay, so this particular piece of horological awesomeness would be just as awesome on a female wrist as on a male, but as Father's Day is looming and there are never enough cool gift ideas, let's just call this a guy thing and be done with it, 'kay?

Because really, if you get the guy in your life one of these Eames watches, he'll be so awed by your great taste and keen eye for cool that he'll barely notice when you appropriate it for yourself.

Eames Collage Watch, $141.75 @ Delight.com

We Covet New Ways To Carry Babies: Recommendations, Please

I've got the BabyBjorn. I've got the EllaRoo. There's a HotSling in a shop down the street that looks pretty cool. But for the life of me I cannot figure out how to make these baby carriers - with the exception of the Bjorn, which is not practical at the moment because it rubs against my breastfeeding-ravaged boobies - work for me. How do you get the infant in there comfortably? How does he stay in there? Do some women really breastfeed with these things? Is it just me that can't figure out how to use these, or is there some miracle sling on the market that I haven't discovered yet?

Did you carry your baby in a sling? What did you use? Was it easy to use? Was it pretty?

I can has recommendations for baby totes, pleez?

We Covet New Uses For Trees

Not that trees aren't best appreciated in their natural form and habitat, but still - don't standard paper products just get, you know, old, aesthetically speaking? Paper file folders especially - I don't care if they get gussied up in fancy colors, they still get frayed around the edges and just look, I don't know, papery.

These woodgrain file folders, on the other hand, look sturdy and cool. Maybe not quite as cool as having a forest view from your office window, but whatever. Harvested forest product worked into high design file folders are probably as close as you're going to get.

Woodgrain File Folder, $14.50 @ Delight.com

Locks We Covet

Use words instead of number for lock combinations! This is perfect for us writerly types who keep using things like their birthdays, or my favorite: 000000.  You can use ‘screw you’ as you lock combo and it will never change, unless you change it!

With 10,000 letter combinations, anyone should be able to create a decent (or indecent!) and memorable word or words to open your lock.  They make locks suitable for tons of products -- from bikes to luggage to the room to your grumpy troll’s dungeon.  The locks also come in fabulous colors (yes, the colors are what caught my attention.  I am like a bird… ooooo look a piece of tin foil!)

Wordlock® combination locks, from $7.99 @ amazon.com

Vegan Bag We Covet

The name of this bag -- "Bungalow 360 Barbie Whales Vegan Canvas Bag" -- pretty much says it all (except I don’t get the Barbie reference, do you?).  I bought this bag almost 2 years ago and use it for a minimalist gym bag -- a small tote for when I take the kid some where, or when I go shopping and want to look stylish (yet animal loving!) .  It is really comfortable and people always ask me where I got it.  I am all about style AND attention.

Whales Vegan Canvas Bag, $27.95 @ Alternative Outfitters

We Covet Tongue-In-Cheek Vintage Crate Labels

There's something about vintage fruit or vegetable labels that warms me to my toes. Maybe it's the colorful, retro commercial art.  Or the memories of childhood mornings of grandma making non-instant cocoa amongst her 1950s kitchen prints.  Crate art just oozes  home sweet home. 

But the great thing about vintage crate labels is their company names and artworks' subtle sense of humor, making for personal and wacky prints for your home or gifts.  With labels for companies like "Gay Johnny," "Western Hoe," "Hustler" or "Tie It On," it is impossible to see these bright graphics and not immediately imagine the perfect recipient or place on your kitchen wall.  A definite counterpoint to that same cutesy inspirational kitchen wall art everyone has from Bed Bath and Beyond.

19 x 13 museum quality crate art prints, $26.00 @ Box of Apples

Beach Towel We Covet

What could be handier (or cuter) than this backpack beach towel from Paul Frank?

Unfolds to full beach towel size, then folds back up tight when you're sunburned to a crisp and ready to bolt.

Beach towel technology, people! Catch it!

Scurvy Towel Bag, $30.00 @ Karma Loop

Insulated Bag We Covet

I love me some Marimekko!  Use this insulated strawberry print bag for a picnic or to carry your kids sippy cups or YOUR "sippy cups" (cough) with cheese and a baguette. 

Durable nylon and PVC will keep your groovy bag around for a long time.  People will also think you are super cool.

Marimekko Kylmälaukku Insulated Bag, $55.00 @ finnstyle

Handy Electronic Device Carrying Thing We Covet

I just got me one of these "Electric pockets", and felt it must be shared with the world.

One brilliant design for all your electronics needs. Protect your Blackberry™, iPod™, digital camera, PDA, cell phones in these fleece-lined neoprene pockets. No more fishing around in handbags at the movies. Tie one on! These are designed to attach to bags, belts and backpacks like a luggage tag, these pockets are perfect for travel. Color code your electronic devices and be one step closer to a life of organization and clarity!

HUZZAH! I bought a stripey medium-sized one for my Sony Cybershot and it fits perfectly. Now my camera is tied onto the strap on my bag, and easily accessible when inspiration strikes!

Electric Pockets, in Small, Med & Large sizes,  $15.00-18.00 @ BUILT

We Covet Awesome Man Bags

Guys have difficulties with bags. Laptop bags, diaper bags, whatever - they have trouble finding bags that are suitably manly without being unmanageable, and even when they do find one, they constantly worry that their bag is somehow girly. Every man fears the murse (man-purse). It's like a law of nature.

Defy Bags, however, defy that law. There are no murses here, nor anything that could possibly be mistaken for a murse. These are hand-crafted, hand-sewn, manly-man rugged duffle bags that could carry anything from laptops to diapers to tranny heels without looking the slightest bit girly (I mean, dudes. A bag with a big image of Johnny Cash flipping the bird? Diametric opposition to anything remotely feminine in form or spirit. In the awesomest way.) So what if I would buy the Skullbury Bag for myself? Like the old Irish Spring commercials said, we like it too.

Defy Bags, from around $150.00 @ Defy Bags 

We Covet Laptop Bags That Don't Seem At All Laptop Baggy

So, this particular bag doesn't work for me, because I have one of those big-assed jumbo laptops that doesn't fit in anything, but this just struck me as so cool and pretty and generally awesome that I had to mention it.

It's a Lapsac, and it looks nothing like a laptop bag, and could quite easily pass as a sweet little soft-sided shoulder bag that just, you know, happens to contain something hi-tech. For those days when your first priority is to be out and about looking fabulous, but you'd still like to have the option of dropping whatever else it is that you're doing and geek out in a cafe somewhere. Which is most days, isn't it?

I CAN ONLY DREAM.

Persida Lapsac, $58.00 @ Delight.com

We Covet Kermit

Seriously. Is there really any better way of proclaim one's devotion to la verde vita than with Kermit? Granted, he's not actually green on this tote bag, but you could totally get some fabric paint and DIY. And then you'd have an organic cotton Kermie tote bag featuring your mad DIY skillz, and is there anything cooler than that?

I think not.

"Think Green" Organic Cotton Kermit Tote, $38.95 @ Delight.com

We Covet Cool Coffee Accessories

Okay, so I know that this product sends an environmentally mixed message. The eco-friendly way to take your latte is in your own mug, not in a take-away cup, even if it is made from recycled whatever and cozied in one of these cool handmade cup wrap cozie thingies. That said, sometimes you just don't remember to bring your own mug, yanno? And then you have to use one of those cardboard cup wrap things that prevents you from burning your hands, which is important, but which also contributes to waste, yadda yadda.

SO. Why not just have one of these handmade, re-usable merino wool cup cozies on hand in your bag at all times, so that whenever you forget your travel mug - which I know you always, always strive not to do - you can use it instead of the cardboard disposable one and feel good about the fact that you've at least minimized your waste a little bit.

Oh, and if it reminds you to ride your bicycle a little more often, all the better.

Cruiser Coffee Cozy, $6.00 @ Stitchella (@ Etsy) (Did you know? We luuurve Etsy)

We Covet Pretty Vintage Glass Cherries

I don't know what it is about cherries that makes them just so irresistibly compelling in any incarnation. Prints, jewelry, whatever - if it's got a little cluster of cherries on it, I'll probably like it. The same is just not true for, say, apples or bananas or eggplants. I don't want a little eggplant design stamped onto my wallet, or hung around my neck. I just don't.

But cherries? Yes, please. And all the more if those cherries are fashioned from vintage glass and interwoven with beads of olive jade and coral. Yum.

 

(And, also? Totally recycled materials. So it's, like, good for you. Or for the earth. Which, you know, same thing. Either way: score.)

Vintage Cherry Necklace, $105.00 @ GiggleFish

Recycled Satchel We Covet

Afraid being eco-friendly means succumbing to the scourge of crunchy-granola-y Dead Headesque style? (shudder) Well fret no more, cuz being green has gone modern, baby! Check out this sweet bag made from 100% recycled plastic -- not only thoroughly stylish, but VEGAN-FRIENDLY, PEOPLE. See, you can save the planet AND be totally hawt and patchouli-free, too! (wipes sweat from brow)

Starbright Satchel made from recycled plastic, $38.75 @ Delight.com

We Covet Big Flowery Granny Bags

I'm ordinarily not one for flowery prints in any incarnation - not clothes, not scarves, not bags, not anything (some exception is made, however, for shoes with any kind of cherry blossom print. Can't explain why, it just is.)

But, you know, throw a funky bag with a cool, sort-of-geometricish shape to it and a grannyish print of paisley and pansies (pansies!) in front of me, and I could change my mind.

Sweet Life Bag, $95.00 @ Amy Butler Designs

iPod Accessory We Covet

If you love your iPod like me, you know that you must protect it at all costs. But if you're also like me, you loathe most of the bland, generic protective cases made commercially for the iPod.

Etsy to the rescue!

Check out this totally awesome handmade iPod case from QuietDoing! Made from heavy vinyl with a sturdy velcro enclosure, the back side has a clear vinyl window that allows you to use the touch control wheel. Plus? Cute as a button! Yay!

Available in a number of colors, and in iPod nano size!

iPod Classic Case, $28.00 @ QuietDoing

Super Cool Earth-Friendly Bags We Covet

I saw this bag at the MoMA store when I was in New York the other weekend, and thought it was pretty awesome. It's made from the pull tabs of over 1600 recycled soda cans, which is a lot of soda, and a lot of aluminium that would otherwise end up as landfill. But, you know, I'm not gonna spent $160 on some bag just cuz it's eco-friendly. It's gotta look good, which this one does, and have, like features, yanno?

Is bullet-proof a feature?

Masha Bag,  $160 @  Re-Modern

Umbrella We Covet

I normally don't think too much about umbrellas. Mine is a rather utilitarian black compact little number, the epitome of function over form/fashion, and I've been totally comfortable with that for a long, long time.

But I ran across this Happy Storm Travel Umbrella the other day, and may have to rethink my whole "it's just a something to keep the rain off" attitude. Because, omg, HOW CUTE IS THAT? WANT. My plain old black umbrella seems so bland and inadequate now.

Happy Storm Travel Umbrella, $16.00 @ Fred Flare

Food Accessories That We Would Totally Covet If We knew What They Were For

These are adorable, but I just can't figure out what they're for. I mean, sure, why shouldn't an apple have a sweater, but then again, why should it? Not that I'm anti-apple or anything - if apples want to wear clothes, then more power to them - but it just seems to me that the sweater yarn might get caught in your teeth when you bite into them.

Of course, if you're the type to put sweaters on your apples, you're probably naming them and organizing them into little families, so you're maybe not eating them. So maybe I'm missing the point entirely.

Apple Jackets, $20.00 @ The Curiosity Shoppe. One size, apparently, fits most medium apples. So if you have extra large or extra small apples, you might want to have them sized by a tailor or something. Because, you know, dressing well is all about fit. Stacey and Clinton taught me that.

We Covet Suggestions For Laptop Bags To Covet

I need a new laptop bag. I need a good laptop bag. I have a cute Ben Sherman bag, but it a) is a bit snug for my 17" inch laptop (what can I say? I like 'em big) and b) got kinda banged up when I fell down recently running for a train (what can I say? Am clumsy. Hence need for proper laptop bags.)

My specs are pretty flexible:  it needs to accomodate a larger laptop, it needs to also be able to fit peripherals, a cell phone and a New Yorker or two, and it needs to not be hideous. If it were actually pretty - which is to say, not industrial black canvas - that would be a super-awesome bonus.

You has cool laptop bags? SHOW ME THEM.

Monsters We Covet

This? Is beyond awesome. For seriously. I have my credit card out and am purchasing as we speak.

You're wondering what it is? It's a MONSTER LAPTOP SLEEVE and I? LOVE IT.

I mean, what's not to love? This baby combines the awesomeness of monster cuddly toys with the utility of laptop accessories. The one potential downside is that a monster laptop sleeve might make your computer even more irresistible to your grubby-fingered toddler, but whatever. You're entitled to have your own monster, and those offspring just have to learn that they're not the only ones who get to play with fuzzy toys. Just tell the little grubster that this particular monster is more like Randall the Creepy Lizard-Monster on Monsters, Inc, and less like Sulley. They may start having computer-themed nightmares, but they'll get the picture.

Monster Laptop Sleeve, $65 @ Barry's Farm

Love At First Sight: The Rakku

Seriously. The MINUTE I saw this, at Guy Kawasaki's blog, I had to have it. It's, like, installation art for your shoes. Installation art that makes storing and retrieving your shoes obscenely easy - and I say 'obscenely' because once you have a Rakku? You'll want more shoes.

Win-win.

Rakku Shoe Wheel, $65 @ RakkuDesigns. Also available: Rakkiddo, the shoe wheel for kids, and the Shoe Pod, for the wheel-phobic.