TWO HUNDRED FORTY.

Samurai Shopper, a great NYTimes feature, dabbled in a little Anthropologie discussion this week. If you're like me, the mere mention of Anthropologie makes me look at my apartment with the same kind of epic longing that Luke and Laura had on General Hospital years ago. Let's be honest, walking into the store is like being thrown into a room of things that you can't have, or could have should you start selling off ... well, let's save that one for Oprah.

I'm always intensely fascinated by anything the store does design-wise. Sometimes it's clean. Sometimes you're distracted by the packs of college girls - and you know they still travel in packs - that come in, after classes and what have you, to spend, spend, spend. Then there's the rest of us who have fallen in love by the allure of not just the store, but that piece that either taunts you when they send the catalogue to your house, right after your bills are paid, or walking by the store and your friend, who has money, insists in walking inside. But the design. It's certainly an atmosphere, whether it's your thing or not, and you're almost left feeling like you've walked into some sort of fairy tale homage, complete with woods and odds and ends that are so shiny but, oh my god, you don't need; then you walk, wondering what exactly it was that you just saw.

A lot of spaces fall into that though. There's this allure of wanting to put too much in a space that doesn't really need that much. We all do that. It's the exciting thing when you're presented with a naked canvas - what do you do? Where can you go bedazzle-crazy? How many candles do you need before you set the office on fire? There's something to say about a great piece too. Just this Sunday, Nilda and I were walking around in the South End - and nearly killed by whatever weather thing happened later that afternoon - enjoying the open market. We saw a lot of great pieces, cool things that you'd never in a million years think would fit, but once you begin to think about them and their personality, sometimes it makes sense.

So do you learn how to pace yourself? Of course. Anthropologie has a knack too for doing these really great, large scale installations as well; which, in the end, seems to drown out the legions and legions of small and eccentric pieces. Learn to edit though. Learn to want to edit. Sometimes saying no is going to be the best thing you do all day.

It still makes me want a lot of unnecessary things for my apartment, let me tell you. But thinking about it now, whatever Anthropologie store it is that you walk into, the mix of pieces that put this atmosphere together has never failed to catch anyone's eye. In my defense, I will say that I like really pretty things and pretty things are really lovely to have. But these pieces work and that's what really makes the store what is. (PHOTO.)

TWO HUNDRED TWENTY.

We've talked about Luxirare before, and how I want to draw hearts all over everything she does, including the incredible photos. BUT let's talk about these edible crayons, handmade healthbars comprised of various fruits, vegetables, nuts and chocolate covered sesame seeds. But that's not it - it's all held together by a melted marshmallow core. And you can draw with them. That's right. Draw with them. It goes to show you that innovation is never limited to size and space, but sometimes, the little things are just too cool for words.

TWO HUNDRED SIX.

Destino is an animated short released by Disney in 2003, the completed project of a collaboration between Disney and Dalí. The project actually began in 1945, some 50+ years before it was actually completed. Take a watch.

ONE HUNDRED NINETY-ONE.

We here at PHI would really love to wish all the mums a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. It's an important weekend, everyone, and make sure that you that you take the time to give a little something to that incredible person in your life.

It's an interesting group of Friday Favorites this week. The stunning photo to your left is from Michelle's personal stash and it's not just anyfavorite, but also a great way to let everybody know that there will be some news regarding a future show. So definitely look out for that.

NEW BRAHMIN. We love these Boston gurus New Brahmin, where you can go to find the latest news in everything fabulous and fashion-forward. Looking for a great local source? This is where it's at. Such a refreshing look at style with quirk and personality - a personal favorite of yours truly. Check out their featured editorial!

ALL THAT GOLD. One day, there will be someone who will be able to explain the deep root of my fascination with gold and sparkles - and the occasional happy medium of both. Like designer Tom Dixon's Etch lamps. Dixon is known for how he deals with the physical and economical constraints of production, being inspired by the process himself. It's a love affair with shape and structure and simply gorgeous.

ART THAT WAS ONCE ALIVE. Well, I don't know. The New York Time's Sciene page is every bit the hit and miss with me sometimes. Then I found this slideshow. Think Ripley's Believe it or Not ... except with an artistic twist? There's some incredible pieces in here, I will say. Fabián Peña's The Impossibility of Storage for the Soul I (Self-Portrait) is pretty incredible as is Marc Swanson's Untitled (Antler Pile), which says so much for interpretation. Check it out. But during daylight. Seriously.

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU. As I was only exposed to the unfortunate prequels of the series first, my reaction to Tuesday's #starwars trending on Twitter was more amused than anything else. So happy belated Stars Wars day (get it - may the fourth be with you? I know, I know. I was thinking that too.) and check out Chepo Peña's Space Loteria - a combination of the tradition Mexican Bingo game with illustrated cards and classic Star Wars characters. It's very Lucas, filled with puns and sorts, but pretty cool as well.

BIRCHWOOD OFFICE. Almost didn't want to share these because they're that fantastic. From Netherlands designer Werner Neumann, this armour looks as if it marched right out of a Dali painting or perhaps through the looking glass. The wood detail is gorgeous.

BETTER HOUSING. Often, we tend not to think about how award statues are designed because most of the awards that really stand out in our minds are either entertainment classics - a la the Oscars, the Emmys - or Olympic oriented like this year's Vancouver 2010 medals. But Noah Scalin of Another Limited Rebellion created probably my favorite award trophies of the year. Better Housing Coalition's Groundbreaker Awards honors four incredible people for their contributions to the community in Richmond, VA. Read more about his process here.

d~luxelist. Another great blog to add to your reading list? d~luxelist is responsible for the major of the things that I've fallen in love with this spring. Like French designer Vanessa Bruno's satchel or this silk tee by Bensoni. I haven't found anything that I haven't liked yet.

THE CARTIER LOVE BRACELET. Always a classic, and a gorgeous one at that - The love bracelet is a signature piece from Cartier. The bracelet quickly became popular for its provocative resemblance to a medieval chasity belt.

And lastly, to end on a fantastic note, these birds by PARRA. The not so happy bird is just a charming gift to maybe give this Mother's Day. Check it out!

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-EIGHT.

We hope you're enjoying the day, the sunshine, and the lack of apocalyptic winds (did you see yesterday, Boston?) because it's simply Friday and there must be some written rule, somewhere that says something about having to enjoy every Friday. And you know every Friday, it's all about our favorite things. There are some really fantastic things on the horizon, so keep looking out for them, PHI readers.

SKELETON FRIENDS. Scott Campbell's first solo presentation of his works in NYC will be a showcase of his unique eye through sculptures, paintings, and drawings. Campbell combines blue collar grit with the very unique, very visceral lore of tattoo culture to tell a story through all bodies of his work. The exhibit is called If You Don't Belong, Don't Be Long and runs from the 29th to May 30th.

ALL NEWS IS MUSIC NEWS. While some of us are believers in the idea that the music video, the good music video, is a dying institution, there are still people that seem to manage to keep it alive. Spike Jonze has directed the new LCD Soundsystem video for the single Drunk Girls. LCD Soundsystem's new album is due out May 18th, but check out the video. It's pretty great.

ICE CREAM. Now, let's think about warmer ties for a moment. Sun shining. You're about eight or nine and much better at getting away with running through the sprinklers, but enough of a kid to still want your ice cream. So Nestle Ice Cream and JWT Johannesburg created a new summer accessory, in that same vein, a hat made from ice cream sticks. It's adorable.

A JOURNEY WITH LOUIS VUITTON. Louis Vuitton is showcasing their Men's Fall 2010 via website through "The Journey of a Man's Wardrobe" where we, as viewers, can follow through pictures and illustrations of the journey of popular photographer The Shelby, starting in Paris.

THE PERFECT BLACK DRESS. There's a little black dress for everybody and everybody for a little black dress. And Style Melbourne is featuring Nevenka's Autumn Winter 2010 collection, called Concrete Jungle. Now, velvet isn't for everyone and personally, I have memories of seventh grade chorus and those dresses that my mother used to make me where as a kid - but wow, Nevenka's collection is fantastic and the black dress? Too cool.

SEDUCTION BY FRAMES. I'll admit that I'm easy. Put something shiny, something sparkly, or unapologetically cool, I'm there and I'm in love. And cool frames? Just another way to my heart. Frames like Herricht's wood ones, which both have this really clean look and almost romantic feel to them - everybody loves a poet, of course. They're pretty gorgeous and something that you do need to check out.

ERASER+ING ERASER. Where was this when I was in in school? No, it's not a ring pop but a stylish way to keep an eraser on hand should you be a pencil lover or a pencil user. Love it.

NICHOLAS K. I think the great thing about the internet, and the legions of odd corners and information that it does provide us with, is that we get to have a peek into the inspirations of some really incredible designers like Nicholas K. Spend some time going through each post - it's time definitely well spent.

TATTOOS, TATTOOS, TATTOOS - are always really interesting to me, as you can tell a lot about a person and their tattoo, and there's always a really cool story attached to it in some way or form. Check out this slideshow, where a dozen ... unique (asparagus?) food related tattoos are displayed. It's fascinating, for sure.

IT'S IN THE WAY YOU LOOK AT ME. There's something to be said about the right lighting. The right cool lighting too. Check out Lighting for Treluce, from designer Marcus Temonto, which is just guaranteed to impress.

ROLF SACHS. The London-based designer recently teamed up with designers Patricia Urqulola and Ron Gillad for an installation that features "various levels of expanded metals" - they're just pictures that you definitely need to see for yourself. Also, visit Sachs' website. It's pretty cool.

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ONE HUNDRED TWELVE.

Occasionally, I'll walk through these memories of being a child and doing those classic childhood things. Playing with the other neighborhood kids. Fireworks on the Fourth of July. Catching fireflies. Sure, we were really never allowed to bring them inside the house - and amusingly enough, we weren't quick enough to catch them either. But this clock jar is definitely a reminder of that time (and the fun, few times we took school trips to the orchards in the fall) - but designer Oren Hetzroni definitely has a few, fantastic pieces everyone should check out.

TWO HUNDRED TEN.

File this under 'cool things for an impossibly dreary Monday afternoon' - old skateboards recycled into things like notebooks, clocks, etc by ANITSYSTEM. Unfortunately the site is in Japanese, but there is an array of very cool stuff that you should check out.

ONE HUNDRED NINETY-TWO.

With the weather warming up (hopefully), you should take a walk over to the ICA and head into the Roni Horn AKA Roni exhibit (through June 13). Horn uses materials such as gold and glass as well as images inspired by nature and literature, which explores the notion of space and Horn's own on-going exploration of self and memory. It's an incredible body of work and such an enjoyable experience, so do go check it out.

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-NINE.

I love the Oscars. I love the films and the glitz and the glamor of people wearing stunning gowns and men reminding me why my standards for my future significant other are way, way too high. And all of this, all of this love lasts about an hour.

Because while I love the films (Go Hurt Locker!) and the glitz and the glamor, the Oscars, should you be brave enough or a victim of too much coffee, take too long. The strategically placed awards in the beginning - supporting actors, animated films. The tribute montages. Although, I will say I was a fan of the John Hughes tribute. And the color of Molly Ringwald's dress. Of course, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin are hilariously sharp. After while though, one finds themselves starring at the stage and trying to pick out what's fantastic about it. Or not so fantastic about it. Or if you're like me, you're wondering if you've really been staring at the same place on the stage for the last hour. Or that curtain of lamps - I can't decide if I really like it or not. I do wish that they'd slow down the cutaways.

But I love the Oscars. I love the films. And Penelope, girl, you were my favorite of the night - no matter what what's-her-face from E! and Miss J say.

So how's your Oscar night?

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-FIVE.

One of the coolest mass installations that I've seen - Luzinterruptus have brought their light-based street art from Madrid to NYC; this is 800 books, each with a light attached, with the intention of replacing traffic with literature.

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-FOUR.

While a Garbage album is most definitely on several 2010 wishlists that I have, this ad campaign for Oliver Peoples Eyewear is absolutely delightful. This short film was directed by Autumn De Wilde and is titled "Les enfants sennuient le dimanche" (The children are bored on Sundays.) which features the incredible Shirley Manson and Elijah Wood modeling. It's short and very, very sweet. Check it out.

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-SEVEN.

Oh, my god. Created by Mischief for the Vauxhall UK Beatbox Championships, for the ever-relevant Vauxhall car brand. This year they've created a dazzling piece in the form of a Corsa-shaped working microphone. Too cool.

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-SIX.

It's time for our Friday favorites! This week is a strange but fun mix of inspirations; from shoes to film, to just the right chair, or maybe it's just all about the things that we don't understand. Enjoy checking them out!

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE RIGHT CHAIR. There’s nothing wrong about getting a little creative about extra seating, wanted company or unwanted company. And well, this ‘chair’ might not be the most comfortable, but it will mark a great spot for you to stack your magazines.
LA CASA DE BOTELLAS. La Casa de Botellas is a Palace designed of plastic bottle that is confined by a Santa Cruz Family. The house designed by the Alfredo Santa Cruz family in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina sets an example to utilize plastic bottles that could possibly have been trashed into bins. Almost every item of the house is made of thousands of PET plastic bottles, which is simple, accessible and creative at the same time. The pictures are unreal.
POGOISM? Admittedly, anything involving pogo sticks makes me a little skeptical and anything that suddenly says pogo sticks are a part of a new art form even more so – but watch the video, three guys, some paint, and well, their pogo sticks. Decide for yourself.
LET’S TALK LAYERS. Artist Andrea Myers’ work is incredibly bright and colorful. You’re not entirely sure of the shape – although, they are somewhat reminiscent of contour lines and contour maps – and while they seem to be made out of paint, it’s actually something more of a fabric. Check them out.

MUGSHOTS. Bored of your Facebook profile picture? Designer Anton Mircea has a playful twist on the “no picture” image. As Mircea says, “I believe we can enrich visual contexts that are supposed to be standardized or flattened into a template, even transform them into something popular although they were supposed to be the opposite – no profile pictures.” So suddenly have some strange desire to be the Terminator? You can download the photo here.

THE EXPLODING GIRL. There’s something magical about the right movie trailer, whether it be a huge blockbuster film or that small, coffee house film that is waiting to be discovered. The Exploding Girl is that such film, shot with that kind of romantic care and quietness. Written and directed by Bradley Rust Gray, he skillfully composes this delicate and honest portrait of a young woman at a crossroad. Watch the trailer here.
THINGS I DON’T UNDERSTAND. And definitely don’t want to talk about. Need break and a laugh? This blog is pretty self-explanatory – ever have that day, you know, that day, where you’re privy to certain things that happen and you just don’t get it. Then this is definitely a place for you. A favorite? “Things I don’t understand and definitely don’t want to talk about – I do not want to make you a mix tape and I want you to already know all the music that I already know.”

IT'S THE GREAT JJ LAMP! Itre’s The Great JJ lamp is designed by Centro Stile design studio and a take-off on Jac Jacobsen’s ever-popular architect lamp. This was first developed as enormous floor lamp - and is now being debuted as an equally over-scaled outdoor version. Which, let's be honest, is just fantastic!

MATHIEU LEHANNEUR. Designer Mathieu Lehanneur has created a gorgeous line of ceramic urns. The shapes of these 29.5 inch tall jars are physical manifestations of the demographic data of various countries. Each piece has 100 layers, and each layer represents 1 more year of age than the layer below it. It's really quite cool! Do take the time to explore the designer's site as well - his work is filled with extraordinary pieces.

IF ANYTHING, IT'S ABOUT THE SHOES. We've mentioned SHOELUST quite a bit on the PHI blog because, well, it's always about shoes. And more shoes. And shoes and shoes. Let's take this week's favorite with a little bit of mathematics - Tommy Ton + black + silver + (and it gets better, oh my) there's snakeskin = a pair of booties that are just kickass!

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ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY.

If someone asked me to describe The Donkey Show in a hundred words or less, I would simply say, "just go buy a ticket!" or somehow try to form a mathematical equation involving disco classics, Shakespeare, dancing and glitter - which, by the way, former college professors? You've been put on notice. This is how Shakespeare should be.

There's no real way to explain what the show is without just telling someone to go and see it. The Donkey Show, directed by Diane Paulus, tells the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream through the great 70s anthems. Some of these classics include “We are Family,” “I Love the Nightlife,” “Car Wash,” “Ring My Bell,” and “Last Dance.” It's the enchanted forest of Shakespeare’s classic comedy and it comes to life the glittered world of retro disco as the lovers escape from their real lives to experience a night of fantasy. From the moment of your arrival to the very last song, you and the rest of the crowd-goers are dancing, dancing, dancing. And I know what you're thinking - an interactive show means some sort of dinner theatre which is so not the case. If you're inclined to just watch, you can do just that. But the energy of the Donkey Show is both riveting and so visceral there's just no way you can stand still.

So every Friday and Saturday night, at the Oberon, you can head out and see the show. The pre-show (pre-dancing!) starts at 7:30 while the show itself starts at 8. The best news? The tour has been extended through the summer - you now have no excuse to not go and see it.

ONE HUNDRED FORTY-TWO.

The light installation project Chemical Balance uses only prescription bottles, mirror and fluorescent lights. The project is by Jean Shin from Korea. Thousands of empty prescription bottles were collected from an array of pharmacies, nursing homes, and personal medicine cabinets. Like the stalactites and stalagmites, you see in caves, the constructions hang down from above and grow upwards from the floor below.

The installation, without a doubt, speaks to our culture’s over-consumption of prescription drugs and our dependency on the system. As Design Year Book says, "The piece acts like a group portrait, mapping our society’s chemical intake. The illuminated structures radiate with an intense orange glow, suggesting that issues of health reach far beyond the physical."

Check out more pictures at the source.

NINETY.

Thursday is here and it's PHI Day for all of us. It's also one more day closer to the weekend, which the most exciting news so far. Today's links are from all corners of the vast and curious thing known as the Internet, from design to spaces, to the continuing NBC to last night's Idol premiere. Take a few minutes and check them out:

1. Sydney-based Christel Hadiwibawa is a furniture designer and a contributor to the The Grafik Museum blog. Working with bamboo, these pieces were part of her Honours research last year exploring sustainability.

2. There is no argument with us that American Idol continues to be a cultural phenomena. Last night, the season continued its January premiere with auditions in Atlanta. As you know the audition process is always popular, from the brilliant and the surprising and to the painfully unaware that feeds the viewers a taste of hardcore embarrassment. But if you watched last night too, you might be familiar with this clip ... pants on the ground.

3. Now, a curious piece from Design Year Book. Nestled House is a private residence in Tokyo, Japan designed by Milligram Architectural Studio. This house has won the 2008 International Architecture Award for The Best New Global Design awarded by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.

4. Speaking of a cultural phenomena, The NBC programming flop has erupted into such - fans are coming together online with t-shirts and Facebook and Twitter groups. We saw this week Conan's own open letter on the dispute and change. Celebrities and bloggers alike are weighing in. But the New York Times has an interesting article on what's been happening. Check it out.

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SEVENTY-EIGHT.

Unfortunately, Sunday seems to be a slow news day. Fortunately tumblr seems to be the perfect tool to pass the hours upon hours of strange CSI or L&O: SVU marathons that the networks on weekends take the time to inflict on us. But that's an entirely different post for another day.

This picture comes from tumblr which has a knack of producing some really unusual and cool things. We're hoping the caption "W+K office in Portland. Yes. Bleachers. Ping pong arena. I want to go to there," to mean Wieden & Kennedy, the advertising agency responsible for a plethora of cool things like the "Go Forth" ads from Levi. Because an arena for ping pong has just elevated them to whole different level of coolness.

SIXTY-SIX.

Natalie Portman is on the cover of next month's Elle UK! Check it out.

SIXTY-FOUR.

Today's links are more of an adventure in odds and ends ... or rather, the interesting and the really, really, really uncomfortably strange.

1. PETA, while an organization with noble causes, seem to have a streak of getting into trouble once a month. So to start off the new year, PETA has come into the line of fire with the White House and with their use of Michelle Obama's picture in their "Fur-free and Fabulous!" campaign. While the other women who join her on the advertisement are all on record as endorsing PETA's fur-free efforts (Tyra Banks, Carrie Underwood, and Oprah), the first lady isn't allowed to endorse any special rights group include PETA. Read the rest of the story on Yahoo!News.

2. Meanwhile BRANDFREAK is a cool (and entirely too entertaining) news site which tackles the latest in all sorts of areas - the new iPhone applications, fashion advertising and branding, films, and Wendy's, whose efforts to get more people to buy their food (Frosty's are still awesome though) is to reassure us that it's real. Like McDonald's a couple years back - there's nothing more comforting than ad campaign reassuring you that their nuggets are made from real chicken. Good to know.

3. And now for the impossibly odd ... and probably uncomfortable. We all know Daniel Craig as the new James Bond, whose gritty portrayal has reinvigorated the entire series. Casino Royale is still, after several years, a huge favorite. Last summer, however, Del Monte Superfruit Smoothies decided that they would ... well, make him into a popsicle. They tell the Daily Mail that they had artists ‘worked tirelessly’ to recreate a sculpture of in the scene where he emerges from the sea in Casino Royale. We're not entirely sure how to feel about this.

(Like the True Blood art? It's from Exergian's series of poster tribute to some of our most popular television series to date. Check it out.)

THIRTY-FIVE.

There is no doubt that 2009 has seen a serious rise in blogging, both as a growing phenomena and a cultural tool.

The New York Times' Sunday Style section this week features an article on blogging and its rise to power within the fashion world - bloggers have now moved into the coveted first row at many of the shows.

Says Kelly Cutrone, a fashion show organizer since 1987, "There has been a complete change this year. Do I think, as a publicist, that I now have to have my eye on some kid who’s writing a blog in Oklahoma as much as I do on an editor from Vogue? Absolutely. Because once they write something on the Internet, it’s never coming down. And it’s the first thing a designer is going to see.” (NYTimes, Sunday Style, 11)

Of course, the rise of blogging popularity gives new and peculiar insight to just how quick and sudden the market and the fashion audience is adjusting to this change. Bloggers are able to give real time reviews of collections, posting imagines and comments even before shows end - this is much faster than a magazine, say Vogue, and the length of time it takes to put together an issue complete with their insights and trend views. Say the famous Fall issue. Another added perk to the rise of bloggers is that it offers a direct, if not functional connection to the customer. Not only are these bloggers able to quickly put together any sort of review or recommendation, readers of a particular blog are able to interact. It's the internet at its finest, a showcase of information sharing and passing.

Go here to read the Times article in full.