Thanks, Daily Candy!

Our Pinwheel/Blue Dots collection

Thanks to Daily Candy for being #1 on today's 25 Reasons to Go Back to Bed! They featured our Blue Dots sheets, which, now that I think of it, are kind of a perfect gift to give for Valentine's Day, no? Organic, soft, encouraging lounging around in bed...? Just a thought.

Latest From Liberty

"Willow's Garden C," by Sally Haysom

Thanks to True Up for reminding us that Liberty of London's new collection is up online for sale here. The designs are a collaboration between the Liberty Design Studio and children's illustrators. Some of it is a bit twee (which should be expected, I suppose), but there's some very cool stuff here. Some of my favorites are already sold out!

The colors in this are amazing; "David Joe A," by Jane Ray

"Helena's Party D," by Lauren Child

Portlandia Premiere!

Put A Bird On It! A still from "Portlandia," premiering tonight on IFC

So exciting—tonight is the premiere of "Portlandia," the new sketch comedy series by the brilliant Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen. Although we don't have cable (it airs on IFC), we were lucky enough to see the advance screening last weekend in Portland, and can confirm that it's completely hilarious. It might hit a little too close to home for some Portlanders, but it's all done in good fun, and there's a lot to see the humor in. (I'll admit I do know the names of most of the big local farms around here—though not the names of the individual chickens!—and I actually own both pieces of luggage in the photo above, although mine don't have birds on them! See? Very close to home.) Will people start making fun of Portland now? Hmmm...I hope not. Portland is definitely radical in a lot of ways, but I feel like people here are really trying to live in a responsible, thoughtful, kind way, and it's an amazing city to live in because of that. It's its own quirky little city-state, for better or for worse. But mostly for the better!

Portland Recycling Challenge

Love the laminated color copies inside each lid—very helpful, especially for guests. (Photo from LivingEtc)

This weekend, as I was reading one of Portland's awesome community papers, the SE Examiner, I was inspired by the families who completed the "One-Can-a-Month Recycling Challenge" program. These families switched from weekly to monthly (!) garbage service. Only 15 households participated, but in 6 months, they managed to keep a total of 7,836 gallons of trash out of the landfill. The average waste reduction per family was 76%. Amazing!

A confession: since the economy crashed and our local Master Recycler programs disappeared (Master Recyclers allowed you to recycle almost anything, from plastic hangers to lawn chairs, for free, once every couple of months), I'd stopped collecting non-curbside-recyclable plastics in crazy, messy, overflowing bins on my porch. But now my commitment has been renewed! I've set up two new bins on my porch, one for plastic bags (and bubble wrap and clean shrink wrap) and another for clamshell containers, plastic lids and caps, CDs and jewel cases. Turns out you can drop the bags by any Far West Fibers location—and there are a bunch—and drop them off for free. For a complete list of what can be recycled in Portland and the surrounding areas, click here.

I also have to add that most of these plastics can also be recycled locally at New Seasons stores. (A list of what New Seasons accepts is here.) This is a pretty fantastic service (among others) that New Seasons provides. If you're like me and there 4 times a week anyway to shop, recycling really doesn't get any easier. (Full disclosure: Plover is a very proud table top vendor at New Seasons now!)

So there's my recycling pep talk for the new year. I'm in the process of trying to sign my own family up for the "One-Can-a-Month" program, and when I do, I'll keep you posted.

33.3 Art Show

Four-year-old Emmalene Lechtenberg's take on Yo Gabba Gabba's Music is Awesome

Such a great idea: 33.3 Art Show is "thirty-three and a third artists" reimagining album covert art. How many times have you wanted to do just that? (One of my favorite album covers, which I would not alter in any way, is Eddy Grant's Killer on the Rampage.) I'm not sure I agree with all of the artists' choices, but I love that bands like Tattle Tale, June of 44 and Bikini Kill are among those being reimagined. (Via Boing Boing.)

An album cover classic: Eddy Grant's Killer on the Rampage

Tammy Duncan's version of Herb Alpert's Whipped Cream & Other Delights