Pretty, right? Violight sent me two of these toothbrushes and I have been using them for about a week. It’s not too “buzzy” for a battery-powered sonic toothbrush, and their vented mascara-style caps keep them from getting germ-y in my bag when I travel. It also comes with an extra brush head. I keep the pink toothbrush at work (in my toiletry kit as I’m finding myself showering/getting ready/living at work more and more) and the striped one at home. I took one on my trip to New York City with Rock N Roll Bride and it got tons of compliments. Crazy for a toothbrush, not surprising for good design.

Violight has offered a Slim Sonic Toothbrush for one of my readers in the color or pattern of your choice. Just leave a comment here to enter! Open to US residents. I’ll pick a winner with the random number generator on Friday!

In the meantime, check out Violight on Twitter and Facebook.

xx
meg

With Valentine’s Day coming up, Güler contacted me about offering a pair of her hand-knit fingerless gloves to my readers. If you type a lot at night, like me–especially during the winter–fingerless gloves need to be in your life. You other bloggers know what I am talking about!

These gloves are hand-knitted with a wool/acrylic blend and are available in any color. I have these lemongrass ones! Güler is offering a matching lime-y lemongrass-y pair of these fingerless gloves for one reader.

SmilingKnitting also sells dozens of other original products that get me really excited. How cute are these hats? Clever collar-like scarves? And of course her crocheted heart slippers that I wear ALL the time at work. They live under my desk!

Anyway, these are all great gift ideas for your sweetheart (there are some great offerings for guys on there too) for $35 and under. Skip the roses–get something (if only for yourself) that you can actually use and will make you smile every day.

This giveaway for the fingerless gloves is open to international residents and I will pick a winner on Monday at midnight, so you have a week to enter. Visit SmilingKnitting on Etsy, leave a comment, and good luck! And you boys better enter too. These would be a great Valentine’s Day gift for your mama.

xo
meg

p.s. use code smiling14 in the SmilingKnitting shop for a 14% discount on your valentine’s day orders!

2. If you’re a podcast lover, I was recently featured in a fun talk show called Whatever Mathers. You can download it for free in iTunes–search “Whatever Mathers” and download episode two, “You don’t bring sand to the beach.” I was interviewed by Amy Mather in a conversation with my pal/wingman Steve Gordon of RDQLUS and local artist and professor Tim Guthrie.

3. This Friday we are having the first monthly Create & Bitch meeting at CAMP! If you want something cheap to do on a Friday night, bring your current crafty project, laptop, nail polish, whatever you want to work on down to CAMP and hang out with a great group of local creatives. I’m SO excited–there are already almost two dozen RSVPs. Hosted by Courtney Gill Zurcher of Inez Gill, Create & Bitch will be on the second Friday of each month at CAMP.

4. Speaking of CAMP, our first two tenants, Downs Design and Image Made, moved down the hall into their new space for their new company together, Grain & Mortar. Excited for their merger–I think with their skills combined, they really have the potential to create impactful design for their clients here, and to inspire the whole world through their expertise and beautiful portfolio. Meanwhile I’m deep-cleaning and redecorating here at CAMP. Some of the new changes include a gigantic whiteboard, wallpaper, and a beautiful black and white conference table!

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

“A cage went in search of a bird.” -Franz Kafka, from The Zurau Aphorisms.
xo
meg

Last month when Team Lasertron went to the Creative Connection Event in Minnesota, we made friends with the cool people working at the Starbucks booth–they were there working 12 hours each day, on their feet, brewing coffee, explaining their different blends, and schmoozing with the likes of us. After we came home, I got an e-mail from Starbucks asking if we’d like to receive some bags of coffee for our coworking space and also host a giveaway on my blog to hook one of you up with a Starbucks coffee kit of your own! Of course I said yes. Who would say no?

We keep an electric kettle next to our little collection of french presses here at CAMP so every coworker can have their own little pot of their favorite brew. As a non-dedicated coffee drinker, I like to add some hot chocolate powder to my French Roast as it’s brewing in the french press, with some cream (or better, Bailey’s!) added. My assistant Emma likes hers black, and the guys at Secret Penguin down the hall (they come over to hang out sometimes) like their Breakfast Blend straight-up as well. We have plenty of mixers here though–there’s the hot chocolate I mentioned, and also Bailey’s, Maker’s Mark, plenty of cream and sugar, marshmallows, and even cinnamon and peppermint sticks.

Starbucks has generously given me another coffee kit to give away to one of you! It includes four bags of their signature blends: Starbucks House Blend, Italian Roast, Breakfast Blend, and French Roast, as well as a super cool tumbler to take your coffee to go. You can unscrew the bottom of the tumblr to etch a design on the black wax-relief paper included–you can see some of the photos of ours, with the leaf design, above. It will be a great little package to receive in the mail just as the weather is starting to get cold!

To win, leave a comment below. I will choose a winner on Saturday night using a random number generator. As always, our giveaways are open to international readers as well, so spread the word!

xo
meg

I just got a new Roma bag insert and camera organizer from ONA, a company that makes gorgeous camera bags and it’s already another product I can’t live without. I can insert it into my favorite fall purse and it instantly becomes a camera bag, keeping my little Canon Rebel XSi and all my lenses safe and secure inside my purse. With the pockets on the sides, there’s still plenty of room in my bag for my other necessities–keys, sunglasses, lipstick, wallet–but my camera is protected from rattling around among all of my other things.

ONA has offered to give away a Roma camera insert for one of my readers–all you have to do is leave a comment below. Do check out their website as well–I’ve never been able to find a camera bag that was well-designed, not too feminine, and not just plain ugly, and the ONA designs fit the bill perfectly. Their work is amazing. I’ll pick a winner for this giveaway on Saturday at midnight! And dude, spread the word–let’s give ONA some love–you can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Mama: Blouse: Tucker for Target; Sweater: Target; Skirt: Made for my birthday by Emma Erickson; Black and grey houndstooth tights: Hue; Shoes: Xoxo; Bag: BCBG; Camera bag: ONA

Alice: Coat: Old Navy; Pants: Carter’s; Shoes: See Kai Run

Going out the door today: Felt Flower Bouquet Kits for Sandra and JoAnne, a felt flower pin for Marie, shoe clips for Rachel’s wedding

One of my generous sponsors this year for Omaha Fashion Week was sunglasses manufacturer Rich and Famous Eyewear, who shipped their entire range of vintage-inspired styles for us to use in our styling and runway shows. When the gigantic box arrived at our studio, everyone gathered around as we pulled case after case of adorable sunglasses in every imaginable style. We showed four of the frames in our fashion week show and I loved being able to carry the vintage feeling throughout my show into all of the accessories. All of the models were impressed with the quality and my husband and assistants  have been working them all over town ever since.

My favorite thing is that although each pair of sunnies is from the same vintage-inspired collection, there is a style for everybody–whether you like a more masculine, square frame, or a bejeweled cat eye, or a classic tortoiseshell. Sunglasses are my favorite accessory and I want to send one of you a sweet set of three pairs of glasses from Rich and Famous Eyewear to match your own signature style.

This is a great giveaway and I hope you take a moment to check out Rich and Famous Eyewear’s website (or follow them on Twitter!) and see what other styles they have for sale and enjoy free shipping on any purchases you make. To win, leave a comment on this post telling me the five words that best describe your style so I can pick a set of sunnies to send you! I’ll pick a random winner Friday night.

xo
meg

turkish peshtemal towel up for a giveaway!

Peshtemals are absorbent, like a regular terry towel, but as soft and beautiful as any other linens or textiles you have in your home. I have one already–a blue and white striped one–and I honestly use it almost every day. It gets soft as you wash it, too, but retains its absorbency making it one of the most practical things I own. (You know how Douglas Adams said to always have a towel? He didn’t say it couldn’t be a pretty one…)

• I use it as a head wrap after my showers (I’m wearing it now, actually, which reminded me to do this post)
• We lay it on the hot cement at the pool so Alice can sit by the water
• I use it like a blanket on the porch while I read my magazines
• Alice wraps up in it on the boat at the lake
• We use it as a tablecloth when we picnic
• After my hair dries, I’ll pack our peshtemal up in my suitcase to take to St. Paul this week and use by the pool as a pareo.

after riding on the boat

Güler also shared some details about how each peshtemal towel is made, which I love to know when it comes to handmade textiles.

Bursa (the city which I live in) is famous with textile, especially with towels in the world.  My peshtemals are produced in manual looms by a person. So, they are handmade. In Turkey, in villages, there are small manual looms at homes. The villagers seperate a room or a place from their house for these looms. The women works there in order to support their families. They sell their towels and peshtemals. These peshtemals are produced by my grandmother and my relatives who live in a village in our country. That’s why my shop is a collective shop. Due to they do not know English and how to use PC, I am trying to help them to introduce our values to the world.

Click to comment to be entered to win one of these beautiful, soft Peshtemal towels–I know you will find so many uses for it. They’re so useful and affordable that  hope you consider checking out Guler’s shop and buy a few for someone in your life who loves good design and practical gifts. You will love it as much as I love mine, and you can feel good knowing you are supporting these women in Turkey who work collectively to create these beautiful textiles. (I’m planning to get a big stack of colorful peshtemals to put near the back door at the lake house for guests going out to the dock–make it pretty, right?)

playing with alice and her soft towel

my peshtemal as a tablecloth during a picnic

I’ll pick a winner next monday night and I’m already kinda jealous!
xo
meg

Happy Friday and thanks for reading! Throughout this entire week I’m doing giveaways inspired by a new theme every day. You can enter by leaving a comment and you can also go back to previous posts from this week and enter, because I’m picking all the winners on Sunday. Today’s prize is inspired by the theme of “home.” The winner will receive a package of beautiful objects and inspirational things that will help you make it a little more pretty in your home.

Five things that make my house my home:

1. My mismatched sheets

I heard a tip once that you should store all of your sheets for each sheet set in a pillowcase so you can find them all easily in your linen closet. I like that idea, but I fill each pillowcase with mismatched sheets that still look great as a set.

2. My sad indoor cat

3. Being in walking distance.

A grocery store, two theaters, bars, countless amazing restaurants, all in walking distance in Midtown Omaha. Our street is quiet and has lots of trees, but we aren’t far at all from tons of entertainment and city living.

4. The freedom to arrange, and rearrange, and rearrange…

5. …to have a party at the drop of a hat.

What’s your favorite thing about where you live?
Where do you call home?
Comment to win a package of goodies picked by me for your beautiful home.

xo
meg

This week I’m doing a different giveaway every day based on a daily theme. Today’s prize will be a package with some supplies and materials to inspire you to create something yourself. Maybe it will be a kit, or a collection of inspiring photos, or a CD of new music. Or something different…it’s all just for fun. Comment below to enter and win!

Top 5 ways that I love to gather new inspiration:

1. Ask a friend who I haven’t caught up with in a while out to lunch or tea or a midnight snack.

Hearing about what others are doing and succeeding at is motivating for me, and having another mind to work through my creative dilemmas with makes me feel freer and unburdened. I just love to listen to others who I admire and later reflect on what I can learn from them.

2. Imagine myself as my own reader/customer/friend/etc and ask myself what would make me happy to read or do as a consumer of my own content.

Does that make sense? Sometimes I close my eyes and visualize myself reading a magazine, and try to fill in–in my imagination–what would be on the pages. A recipe? A tutorial? An inspirational story? About what? What am I looking for as a consumer? This week I have two tutorial deadlines for other publications and I came up with the ideas using this process.

3. Look online and find something happening in my community that I would never normally go to.

Things I’ve gone to in the past for the first time: An Omaha Community Playhouse production, a Chamber of Commerce networking event, a blues show at The Slowdown, the Omaha Farmers Market, a foreign film at Film Streams, Slowdown pub quiz
Things I want to try in the future: A poetry slam, an art opening at The New Blk, an Ok Party comedy show, a show at the Kent Bellows Studio, storytime at the library

4. Look at pictures of workspaces on Pinterest or Flickr, and then rearrange or redecorate or reorganize something in my studio to emulate something in another space I admire.

Cleaning and starting fresh in a place that is physically different than the workspace I’m used to tends to put me into creative overdrive.

5. Give myself permission to give up–temporarily.

Clearing my mind and mentally releasing myself from the pressure to preform or impress sometimes opens the window for a great idea to breeze right in.

What unconventional things do you do when you just need a fresh idea?
When was the last time you found yourself at a loss for inspiration?
What did you do about it? Did you learn anything?

Food for thought–you can weigh in or just say hi. Comment to win a package of something inspirational.

xo
meg

It’s giveaway week and each day has a different theme. Today’s prize will be a package with few of my favorite beauty products, beautiful things, things that are beautiful to look at. Maybe my favorite lipstick? Maybe perfume? Maybe a tiny painting? Comment below to enter and win!

Five times I felt beautiful and confident:

1. At my friend Hollie’s wedding

When Dave and I mess around and get silly, I see love for me in his eyes like at no other time. Having a romantic connection is the foundation of any marriage but being able to laugh and see each other as best friends is icing on the cake.

2. In Berlin’s Schwartzes Cafe in 2008

No sleep. All day and night on the plane. Starving. Wearing my travel wardrobe of cardigans and skinny jeans. When I think of “pre-baby Megan” this is the person I visualize. Dave took this picture of me in my exhaustion at a beautiful dinner we had as we began our first Berlin vacation together.

3. Cooking when I first got married

After we got married, I started cooking, baking, and sending lunches to work with Dave for…oh…a month? I’m not a cook, but I gave it a good try! I felt so cute and domestic. It’s not who I am, but it’s fun to play a role.

4. Watching my first runway collection take the stage

I felt so powerful and successful and proud this day. It was only the beginning of a new chapter and I knew it. Knowing the potential a project has is such an adrenaline rush because you don’t know if you will be able to make it happen.

5. Speaking at Meet the Pros last year

I love speaking and I always feel confident when I know what I’m talking about and I think I look good. It doesn’t hurt to have a handsome partner, right? Right?

When was the last time you felt beautiful?
This was one of the questions on our reader survey this year.
A few of my favorite answers:

“This past Saturday. I was out at the ballpark, cheering on my dad’s Senior Softball team as they played in a tournament. I was sweaty, with my hair back in a messy french braid, comfy in a t-shirt, and just plain happy.” (That sounds so beautiful.)

“Dancing around the living room last night, singing along to “You can’t stop the beat” on the ‘Dance on Broadway’ game on the Wii!” (my mom loves Hairspray!)

“Saturday, new nursing bra which finally fits, going to friends for lunch with friends wearing pre-pregnancy clothes and strangers cooing over my son ” (Been there girl!!)

“At my 13-yr. old son’s athletic banquet last week. I felt beautiful to be his mom.” (That brought a tear to my eye.)

Comment to win a package of something beautiful.
xo
meg