TGIM

Yes, as in Thank God It's Monday and I'm finally finding time to pop up a quick post. Things continue to be crazy busy in my world (best quote from one of the kids in the midst of a shot for last week's HUGE photoshoot for Canadian Family's summer issue - "I need to go poo!").

Anyways, enough of that, how about some of this??? I was hunting for rugs designed by Christian Lacroix for Designers Guild and this happened to pop up instead and has suddenly become my latest design crush - The Dot-Grid Printed Cotton Mat by West Elm. Seriously, what's not to love?

Lilly, hot and hilarious

I spent the morning swimming in stunning fabrics down at Designer's Walk in Toronto, and I hafta say, there's a lot to be excited about (hello, I can't wait to see the Christian Lacroix collection for Designers Guild!). I was there working, scouting for Trendwatch for House & Home, and also dreaming about being somewhere hot and fabulous, since it's so stinking cold here right now. So, how about it? Florida? Palm Springs? The French Riviera?

In the meantime I'm keeping warm with the news that the Lilly Pulitzer collection of fabrics for Lee Jofa will be launching super soon (the snap below from the LP Madison Ave store shows a wall filled with the kind of fun, bright and summery styles we can expect to see). Not to mention imagining a blazingly sunny back yard with one of these hilariously over-the-top vintage Hollywood-esque style umbrellas from Santa Barbara Designs planted right in the centre (I'm currently jonesing slightly more for Flamenco over top of Lilypond). Pass the Ambre Solaire, I am so done with winter... [Image 1: Kravet's Inspired Talk]

Monday in Milan

It's a funny old world. On Friday I was doing the very un-glam side of my job; returning props from a shoot, which basically involves me schlepping all over hither and yon with bags and bags (and bags) of stuff and a fistfull of receipts. Blech! And today I climbed to the top of Il Duomo in Milan. Seriously, how are those two things connected??? Well, I'm in Milan on a press trip with Savoia Canada learning all about tiles. And I hafta tell you, what these guys don't know about tiles just 'aint worth printing!

In the meantime, have you seen the latest water bottle design from Evian? '08 saw Christian Lacroix launch the series, then in '09 Jean Paul Gaultier had a go, and for '10 - available on shelves in November - you'll be able to find Paul Smith's trademark happy stripes wrapping the bottle. It's a fun look, and I'm glad to report the ink used is organic. Nice for a glug when you're thirsty, and even nicer used as a sweet vase afterwards too!