I’ve always loved and been inspired by well designed packaging.  One of my greatest sources of inspiration in this area is the blog, Lovely Package.

I was particularly taken with a recent post on the new bottle designs for DRY Soda by Turnstyle Studios.  The creative brief from DRY was that they wanted the bottles to look at home in an upscale restaurant or at a five star hotel. Turnstyle intentionally kept the bottle minimal yet sophisticated – modern with a twist. I think they were spot on with the design, it conveys the message of the brand and makes me want to drink up.

Last week while walking home from a birthday party, I stopped to look in the window of Nest, one of my favorite interior stores.  In the window they had a flyer for The 3/50 project, an initiative created by Cinda Baxter of Always Upward.  Her concept, commit to spending $50 each month at three local independent stores.  The facts speak for themselves and remind me that together we can have a tremendous impact on our economy.  This month my picks are Nest, Three Tarts and Billy’s Bakery.  What are yours?

“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty  feeling and began to be happy, and to make plans.” -Ernest Hemingway

Next weekend I will be on the South Shore of Massachusetts enjoying some of these beauties myself.

This weekend Google premiered their TV Ad campaign for Chrome, their new web browser .  I personally love the spot and find it playful and clever.  However,  I wonder, would someone who doesn’t know that they have a choice of browsers actually know what Chrome is? Does this make the ad any more or less effective?  I think the ad certainly continues to spread Goggle’s brand awareness, but may miss the mark for its intended audience.

Chrome Ad from Google Japan from Alex66 on Vimeo.

Here is what Google posted yesterday on their blog about the launch:

Google Chrome ads on TV

A couple of months ago, the Google Japan team produced a fun video to demonstrate how clean and simple our Google Chrome user interface is. After releasing this video on the web, we got lots of positive feedback and thoughtful comments. In order to keep that conversation going, we invited some of our creative friends to make a collection of short films celebrating our browser. We released Chrome Shorts last week on our YouTube channel.

At the same time, we talked to our Google TV Ads team to see how we could show the video that our Japan team developed to a wider audience in a measurable way. Using some of the results from our placement-targeted ads on the Google Content Network, we designed a Google TV Ads campaign which we hope will raise awareness of our browser, and also help us better understand how television can supplement our other online media campaigns.

So today, we’re pleased to announce that we’re using Google TV Ads to run our Chrome ad on various television networks starting this weekend. We’re excited to see how this test goes and what impact television might have on creating more awareness of Google Chrome.

In addition to being a talented artist, Jim created Outstanding in the Field, a world-wide traveling dinner feast inspired by his “farmer dinners” which took place during the mid 1990s at Gabriella Café in Santa Cruz .  At these dinners, Jim would invite local farmers to preside over special meals featuring their just-picked harvest. Lucky for us, these dinners have evolved into dinner parties that take place in any thing from a sea cove to a refurbished barn or a stately museum.

After a tour of the site where the dinner is being held, everyone sits together, farmers, winemakers and adventurous food lovers to experience,  laugh and mostly, honor the committed people whose hard work brings the love and nourishment to the table.  Sounds like a perfect evening to me…

I’ve already got my tickets to the dinner being held at Queens Farm with guest chef Bill Telepan of Telepan restaurant. Who wants to join?

You can find the 2009 Season Farm Dinner Schedule here

wow. these. are. just. so. stunning.

In the winter months, Jim Denevan heads to his favorite secret beach north of Santa Cruz, CA during low tide to draw in sand. Jim draws with a stick that the waves have washed up. His drawings are entirely freehand and can take up to 7 hours to create.

For the past several months Jim has been living ON one of his drawing in the Nevada desert. The total circumference is more than 9 miles. For the next THREE days you can visit the Jim at the drawing by heading to these GPS coordinates: n40 48.076 w119 08.124

Last week we had the opportunity to spend the day up at the Storm King Art Center.  Storm King is a sprawling 500 acre museum filled with sculptures by Alexander Calder, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Mark di Suvero, Richard Serra, Ursula von Rydingsvard and many others.  Imagine rolling hills, birds, wild flowers and the ability to wander and explore from all angles.  Regardless of the cloudy skies and sprinkles, it was a perfect way to spend a day.  We’ll no doubt be back again soon for a picnic and more wandering.

These lovelies, made of 100% wool, are crocheted by the amazingly talented hands of Sandra Juto in Gothenburg, Sweden.  I think I might have to get myself two pairs…

You can buy them here.