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Celebrate International Women's Day With CasaSugar

CasaSugar — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 05:00:59 -0800

Today is International Women's Day. Annually on this day, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate their achievements. Definitely look in your local paper to see if there are any events in your community celebrating this day, and for now, take a look at some of my favorite posts celebrating creative women here on CasaSugar.

Designer Natalie Chanin creates beautiful and innovative repurposed designs for your home.
Architect Zaha Hadid was the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize in its 26-year history.
Artist Yvette Molina paints dreamy flora on aluminum.
Photographer Tria Giovan has established a successful career shooting for a number of coveted shelter magazines.
Designer Sheila Bridges makes inspiring interiors for livable and lovely homes.
Architect Julia Morgan was the first woman allowed in Paris's Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
Artist Cal Lane brings an unexpected feminine twist to traditionally male-dominated objects.
Designer Eva Zeisel has not only lived an incredible and dramatic life, she's also making beautiful designs well into her 90s.

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Designer Spotlight: Griffith and Cletta

CasaSugar — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:15:46 -0800

Landscape designers Jay Griffith and Russ Cletta craft outdoor vignettes fit for the silver screen, so it's no small coincidence that these talented designers work with Hollywood clients. Check out the slideshow for a glimpse of the gorgeous landscape design they create. Source

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Designer Profile: Robin Wilson

CasaSugar — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 05:04:33 -0800

Design, home, and lifestyle expert Robin Wilson launched her eponymous firm, Robin Wilson Home, in 2000 with a focus on interior design, residential renovations, and project management. Over the years, Robin Wilson Home has built a superior reputation in the renovation and design business through the consistent use of a thorough, hands-on approach to ensure "on-time and on-budget" completion with unique styling and the highest level of quality craftsmanship. Today, it is Robin Wilson's mission to combine healthy living with her passion for design. Robin Wilson and her team at Robin Wilson Home handle everything for the home from the foundation to the furniture in a style that is characteristically classic with a modern touch, creating a comfortable environment with a timeless feel. Her passion for indigenous cultures is found in her use of eco-décor, which integrates textured patterns, natural stone, and organic fibers throughout her design portfolio. Robin has appeared in publications such as O at Home, the Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, and the Chicago Tribune, and she has made appearances on CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC. In May 2007, Robin was featured in the New York Post's annual list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in New York. To take a look at one of Robin's interior-renovation projects, including the bare-bones before pictures and the stunning afters, just check out the slideshow! Source

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Designer Spotlight: Cath Kidston

CasaSugar — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 06:00:31 -0700

Cath Kidston creates undeniably girly stuff for people who aren't really into girly stuff. The U.K. designer of textiles, wallpaper, clothing, kitchenware, and home accessories has developed a distinctive, vintage-inspired look, with florals and other patterns that are funky and feminine.

Her designs feel at once once old-fashioned and also adorably modern, so walking into a Cath Kidston boutique is like entering a space that exists in its own kitschy era. Since opening her first store in London's Notting Hill district in 1992, Kidston has expanded her empire to include 11 more shops in the U.K. and one in Tokyo. This month, Cath Kidston will be unveiling a new online store for U.S. customers; until then, check out my finds from the U.K. site by clicking on the photos below.

Nice and New: Jonathan Adler Zodiac Pillows

CasaSugar — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:00:00 -0800

I love the kitschy elegance of Jonathan Adler's "granny gone wild" needlepoint, and I can't resist horoscopes. Needless to say, I need to get my hands on Adler's latest needlepoint pillow offerings.

The 12 varieties of velvet-backed Zodiac pillows ($98 each) feature wool needlepoint designs in fabulous '70s shades. I especially love the regal color scheme on this Gemini pillow. The product descriptions include astrological profiles - naturally! - so here's hoping your sign design suits your style. To see my five faves, read more.

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Gear Review: miCoach by Adidas

FitSugar — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:30:18 -0800

After spending much of my day telling other people what to do - in a nice way of course - it's oddly comforting to have my miCoach Pacer ($139) tell me to speed up or slow down when I am out for a run. The miCoach is Adidas's answer to the Nike+ running system, but it offers real time audio coaching. This means a voice, you select the accent (I have chosen British male and like to think James Bond is coaching me), interrupts your music to let you know if you're running too fast, too slow, or just right for the selected workout. Some runners might find this annoying, but it does help me stay on track. No pun intended.

I have learned a couple things from my miCoach, which I've been using since Adidas unveiled the product at the Consumer Electronics Show, where the company gave me one to test. First, I am a visual person. I had become quite accustomed to checking my heart rate monitor watch for my stats: heart rate, time, and if I am using my foot pod, distance and pace. With the miCoach Pacer all this data comes to you in audio form. It is a bit of a tricky transition, but once made, all will go smoothly. You can press the center button on the Pacer to hear your real time stats. You pre-select what you would like to hear using the Adidas website, where you manage your information and select your workout schedule.

For more on the miCoach keep on reading!

Designer Profile: Michael S. Smith

CasaSugar — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 09:00:53 -0800

Last week, I told you that Michael S. Smith had been chosen as the Obamas' White House designer. I can't tell you how thrilled I am by their choice. Smith blends modern comfort with a timeless elegance, and I'm excited that a Californian will be decorating the capital residence.
Smith, who divides his time between Los Angeles and New York, honed his designing chops at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles and The Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Although just 44 years old, Smith has already received many prestigious awards, including Architectural Digest’s The AD 100 in 2002 and 2004 and 2003 Designer of the Year from Elle Decor. Smith's work has also graced the pages of Elle Decor Magazine, Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Town and Country, Domino, Metropolitan Home, Interior Design, and W. Smith's new book, Houses, offers advice on decorating your own home through the example of 20 projects, including Smith's own Bel Air residence.

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Designer Profile: Kelly LaPlante and Organic Interior Design

CasaSugar — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 07:58:07 -0800

Los Angeles eco-designer Kelly LaPlante and her firm, Organic Interior Design, try to impress upon clients that good style and organic and sustainable furnishings can be synonymous. LaPlante has designed her own line of elegant, eco-friendly furnishings, including soy candles and organic sofas, which are available through her showroom in Venice Beach.

Kelly's work has recently been seen at the Sundance Style Lounge, the Global Green Oscar Party and the Ultimate Emmy Green Room. Her book, Eco-Luxe: Sustainable Spaces of Extraordinary Individuals is forthcoming.

To see a gallery of Kelly's design work, just read more

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"Neutral" Abortion Documentary Popular Among Pro-Lifers

TresSugar — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:00:39 -0800

Between Juno and Knocked Up, we know that Hollywood usually chooses life, so when I heard South Dakota: A Woman's Right to Choose promised to cover both sides of the abortion debate, I was, well, dubious but hopeful. And then, I saw the trailer.

While it certainly airs pro-choice and pro-life opinions, the trailer alone pulls your emotions towards life. One girl stares wistfully at a pregnant woman and faints when she enters the abortion clinic, while a pro-choice lawyer takes an extreme, clinical view towards choice. Fetuses are parasites she says, because they cannot survive without the host.

The plot weakened when the LA Times reported the "dramumentary" (its director's words) is promoted by the same marketing company as Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ and Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, which is about intelligent-design discrimination in schools. It also doesn't help that famous pro-life supporters like The View's Elisabeth Hasselbeck have screened the film while not one high-profile pro-choicer has to date.

Check out the trailer, and tell us what you think after the jump.

Does Foursquare Equal Overshare?

GeekSugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:30:10 -0700

I recently realized that my days spent planning an evening out with friends seem to be fewer and far between. Our ability to stay in constant communication with each other via text, Twitter, Facebook, and more means there's no need to plan ahead. Instead I find myself saying, "Just text me when you get there," and creating our plan on the fly.

The latest addition to the ever-growing lists of constant-contact facilitators is Foursquare, recently profiled by The New York Times. Users of the social networking site can share their current location with friends in real time. The free service is designed for use on the go, and in addition to its web-based presence has BlackBerry and iPhone applications available for download. To read how Foursquare works and to share your thoughts, read more.

The service is based on check-ins: when you arrive at a location (a restaurant, store, bus stop, wherever), you "check in," disclosing your location to friends. Check-ins earn you points; a series of check-ins at certain places (three places with a photo booth or 50 unique venues, for example) earn you coveted merit badges. Add tips and to-do lists with any location, and read other Foursquare users' tips and lists when checking into a new place. This isn't a new concept - Foursquare founders built the idea from Dodgeball, a now-defunct service that used SMS messaging to alert friends of your whereabouts. And services like Latitude and Loopt provide similar location-based services.

Foursquare launched in March and is now available in 35 cities from New York to Vancouver to London.

Do you use Foursquare? Do you think it encourages oversharing, or is it a helpful way to keep tabs on friends?