An interesting way to shop online

Posted by random olio

A few weeks ago, I found a cool website that displays boutique products as though you are virtually in the shop itself. ShopStoree is the namesake, with the tagline: “Every shop has a story.” When you hover over specific products, you have the option to then purchase them online. It is a great way to merchandise products mixed with other items, rather than a conveyor belt option of items in silos unto themselves.

Each photo is of a different shop, and when you see the black dot, click on it and it will give you the name, price and link to the online shop of the boutique. You also can click on “About this Shop” to learn about the online or brick + mortar boutique. ShopStoree says: “We believe an amazing retail experience is not confined to a physical store.  It transcends that. It is about the joy of discovery. And we believe that kind of discovery can be experienced in a digital world.” I have to agree with them. It takes online shopping to a whole new level. I can experience a boutique in Cleveland I have never been to, or explore one in Portland and see if I want to venture there in person.

It looks like they have an assortment of shop styles to explore. The only caveat is that you can look at a photo and find that there are many other things on that table that you want to purchase but does not have the black dot. Eye candy you cannot have! But, I guess if I saw an item in a photo that was not for sale on ShopStoree, I could always contact the specific store and ask them for more details on a that product.

Interested? Check them out!

Would you be mortified?

Posted by random olio

I write. It is what I do. It is what makes me feel grounded and balanced, and how I make sense of the world. I cannot remember when I started writing in a journal, but I have a bin or two in a closet that contains all my journals from over the years. I am now slightly inspired to go and find my earliest ones and see has my voice changed? I am sure it has.

So when a colleague told me the other day about “Mortified Nation” I had a nice chuckle. Mortified Nation is a documentary that has just been released where individuals read from their teenage journals. Some of them are funny, some depressing, and some will speak directly to the title: mortified. I am sure I have plenty of journal entries that fall into each of those categories, and some that might lead me down a path to what life truly was like back then. Of course we have our memories, but I wonder if even at a less mature age if the words that flowed from within were telling to what was really going on in our lives?

Would you be mortified to read our teenage journal aloud? What would we find out about you? That you hated your mom, and had a crush on a different boy a week? Who knows but these individuals are brave souls, unless they have the writing ability of David Sedaris’ or their raw honesty just rings a bell in our own nostalgic thoughts of the past.

The documentary was available on iTunes and Amazon on November 5, and in some local theaters over the next 2 weeks.

#timetounearthjournals

The weeks just fly by…

Posted by random olio

I can hardly believe it is the beginning of October. Time just keeps flying by.

Each weekend goes by with a flurry of items that need to be checked off the list, happy hours, getting together with friends, yard work, the list is endless. By Sunday night I just want another day off. Life is good, it is full, and there is so much happening. There is also so much to be grateful for each day. I find that in random moments through the day I have visions of something I want to bake, a book I cannot wait to curl up with, or a television show I am behind in and want to know what happens next.

I am happy. I am enjoying life to the fullest. So if I am happy does it matter that I am filling up each day to the brim? Is that a good thing? Or, should I endeavor to carve out chunks of downtime where I do nothing at all? I find that one day spills over into the next, and before I know it my bedtime hour is upon me and I still have so many things left that I want to do. As I crawl into bed, and my head nestles itself into my pillow I quickly fall into la la land, only to find just a few hours later I start all over again. There is definitely never a dull moment.

Now that October is upon us, all things pumpkin come to mind. I want to make pumpkin bread, try our a new chocolate chess pie recipe, decide if I am going to run another 1/2 marathon this fall, work on the painting I started a month ago, and hopefully enjoy a few more sunny days if there are any left in this Portland Fall. Those are the non-task items. The task items like balancing your checkbook, paying bills, cleaning house are the not so fun ones. The list of life to-dos seems to be never-ending. Not all are enjoyable tasks, but they serve a purpose.

What do you want to do now that it is October and Fall is here? Are you living your days to the fullest?

Quirky or Kickstarter?

Posted by random olio

Kickstarter has made a name for itself as a site that gives new businesses a chance. With a good idea and marketing plan, and a stellar video, many, many individuals have found their dreams have come true because of the likes of Kickstarter. If you have not heard of Kickstarter, it’s a website that allows individuals to have their creative projects independently funded. From a film, photography trip, to a new product. Backers then decide if they want to fund the project, and the creator comes up with price points and different offers that backers would receive for their funds. The project has a time limit and the amount of money the creator needs to raise has to be funded 100% for the project to go forward.

Recently while looking online for a case for my iPhone, I came across: Quirky. The name of the site first caught my eye, and then as I started to dig deeper, I realized it was a Kickstarter-esque website. Rather than having backers, the site lets you submit your idea, and others that visit the site can vote for your idea. There is a time limit. Every Thursday you can watch live as Quirky votes on what idea they will begin to develop. The individual with the original idea is involved in the entire process, and once the product is ready you get to sell it on their site.

Quirky allows your inventions to come to life, with the help of others who may just have the expertise to make something happen. They have a variety of categories, from kitchen items, to play, to travel, to electronics. When you look at the detail of the product, you will find who invented the product, where they are from, how many ideas they have had, how many votes they received, how long it took to develop the product, and how many units they have sold. That is transparency!

One invention I thought was clever was the Broom Groomer. It has almost like a comb attached, so that when you use the broom to pull the dust into the dust pan it gets all the remnants off the end of the broom. Clever. Or the Brim toilet brush. I have been trying to find a brush that gets in the hard to clean spots in a toilet.

I am going to head back to quirky.com and see what other inventions inspire me.

Organize your life

Posted by random olio

I crave being organized. Many years ago I even thought I might become a professional organizer. While that never happened it is still a strong theme in my life. It keeps me balanced. When I have way too many things going on in my head (which is often) then sometimes my wires get crossed and the words that come out of my mouth are blended together. Somehow Chris understands me (well for the most part). So, staying organized keeps me and my life in order.

One of the ways I stay organized is with lists. I make them in my personal life and I make them at work. I have become a bit addicted with that sharp line I use when I cross something off the list. Since I like to stay inspired and creative in the process of being organized, the journal, paper, and pen that I use are very important. My pens of choice are Muji (.38) as I like to write with a fine tip pen, but not one where the point dulls after use, such as ones you might use for art. The Muji pens do not dull, so they fit me perfectly.

Journals are another thing all together. I am not one for lined paper, but if I have to used lined paper, it better be college ruled, because I write small. If I got what I wanted it would be graph paper, or paper with tiny dots, not to thin so the ink can be seen through it. It is the little things that make such a difference in the art of staying organized.

So a week or so ago when I came across this Fast Company article: “This Note-Taking System Turns You Into An Efficiency Expert” I was intrigued. See I forgot to mention that while in meetings or around anyone with a notebook or journal, I get curious to see how they organize their life. Do they do everything in their iOS device? Do they have a page for To-Dos, and a page for notes? Do they track by date? Are they using post-its? Why? I am always hoping I can vicariously learn from another’s organization process.

The Fast Company article mentions Bullet Journal, a process the developer spent 10 years putting together. It seems like a handy way to organize life. I am not sure it will work for my personal life, as I do much of that in the Any.do app, but I think it just might fit for organizing my work life. I tried last week, and decided to purchase a fresh Moleskin, graph paper notebook over the weekend. Sort of like turning over a new leaf. See below for a video about the Bullet Journal.