ThisNext Blog

Lying in a tub sudsy with your own filth, attempting to wash clean with water you just rinsed yourself off with, cramped into a cube you can’t stretch your legs out in.

Yech.

And yawn. 

I’d rather stand straight under hot, hot water, scrub myself pinky clean, rinse myself right, and wake up right to start - and end - my day.

...continued: Ooh La Love: Get Your Shower On

“You don’t need to iron it. DID YOU HEAR ME? NO IRONING!”

That was the defining quality which put this striped pintuck shirt from The Gap on Amy Hatch’s Non-Mom-Uniform list.

The Mom Uniform. What a dreadful phrase. Today’s mom can balance a lot of hats; career woman at the office, career woman with own business, blogger, designer, artist, wife, yoga instructor, VP, actress, troupe leader, philanthropist, coach, or all of the above. It’s fair to say that today’s mom is certainly not yesterdays mom of June Cleaver lore – and neither are the clothes.

One could argue that there really isn’t such a thing as “mom clothes” – or maybe just the connotation of the term makes us defiantly say there isn’t. There are – as in every profession – certain qualities that make an item of clothing “mom approved”, and these days that usually means function + comfort + STYLE .

I love that mom’s of ThisNext are calling out the good stuff and putting it up there for all to share.

...continued: Finding Fashions For the Fashionable Mom

If you’re crafty, this is a helluva a time to be craftin’ it. Like no other time in history has one person’s explorations of sewing, knitting, collage, jewelry making and beyond been as accessible to the masses as now.

Let’s be totally transparent here. I can’t make a darn thing. Which is why I can gush about crafty people even more. The talent that is out there is amazing, and I’m happy to support. Thanks to the web – be it via a boutique site, a personal portfolio or the monolithic Etsy – any Tom, Lisa or Harry can buy themselves truly unique handcrafted good from anywhere across the globe.

I just discovered Reckon’s Etsy Shop via BBlinks, and had to shopcast this his amazing Stevie Wonder screen print tee, which I’m dying to have made into a pillow.

My own shopcasting lead me on a fun search through the pages of ThisNext for recommended Etsy shops. One caveat of the new Craft Revolution is that there is a whole lot of stuff to choose from out there. Thanks to our always tasteful shopcasters, the best of Etsy has been plucked from the maylay and recommended just for you. Us, actually.

Here’s some of what I discovered.

...continued: Shopcasting Etsy

So since it’s fall I should be celebrating rotting leaves and cut up pumpkins, or something.

Like most any other lady, I’d rather rock flowers.

I’m not much into the plant as a gift from the gentlemen - yawn - , but etched onto silver earrings, printed on jackets, handcrafted into rings, I dig.

...continued: Ooh la love: Flowers for Fall

Although I am no longer the (semi-)hardcore runner I used to be, there are still those days when I push myself hard enough to experience some considerable muscle ache later on. When that happens, I usually take the “whine and do nothing” approach to self-care. But the athletes of ThisNext, who know way more about this stuff than I do, each have his/her own secret solutions for soothing sore muscles.

Mariko Hirakawa, a yoga instructor and dancer, favors muscle rubs infused with naturally healing ingredients. First there’s Zip’s Muscle Rub from Indigo Wild, an essential-oil-based salve that works to ease pain in both your muscles and your joints. Says Mariko:

“It is my favorite muscle rub for sore, knotted muscles, because it contains natural, high quality oils that condition that skin, as well as healing herbs, such as angelica, arnica, and goldenseal, which truly aid in healing the muscles underneath. Plus, it has a pleasant, natural fragrance that has an aroma-therapeutic effect.”

Mariko also turns to the anti-inflammatory, analgesic Traumeel, noting that - even though it lacks “the penetrating feel that Ben Gay or Tiger Balm has” - the rub contains homeopathic remedies that “really speed the healing process.”

Those anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties are also found in Pharmanex FlexCreme, a menthol-based product proven effective by a Medical Journal of Rheumatology double-blind clinical study. In her FlexCreme shopcast, Kayaker Tanya Faux announces that “after shoulder surgery, it was the only thing that gave me instant pain relief.”

...continued: (Don't) feel the burn

There’s something about the turn of the season, when summer wanes and fall begins to unveil its multicolor coat, when there’s a new crispness in the air and the scent of spice rides on the breeze. It’s this time of year that I truly crave apples. (And I don’t mean the computers or the iPods – I crave those all year long.) Evidently, I’m not alone. Perhaps it’s apt the apple is the symbol of original sin, for apples clearly inspire passion and lust among their devotees.

If it’s apple season then it must be apple pie season, but not just any apple will do. Janinemaclachlan narrows her focus even to one grower, Seedling Fruit Farms. “His staff coined the term ‘holy trinity of pie apples’ and now my crisps feature Golden Grimes, Ida Red and Northern Spy as long as the season holds.” Expat Brit überfoodie Sam of Becks & Posh got her knickers in a twist when she found Bramley cooking apples at her local farmer’s market. Known all too well to English cooks, Bramleys retain their robust flavor and firm texture when cooked, making for “the best apple pie you’ve never yet had.”

Baking is an apple’s best friend, and pie is just the tip of the iceberg. The inimitable Chockylit at Cupcake Bakeshop concocted some crafty caramel apple cupcakes, filled with cream cheese frosting and glazed with caramel icing. I’ll take that over a real caramel apple any day. Contrasting with Chockylit’s diminutive delicacies, Hungry Magazine hunkers down on a hand-sized apple fritter from Chicago’s Old Fashioned Donuts, “dotted with toothsome hunks and an orchard’s worth of apple perfume.” 

...continued: Apple Picking

A magazine beauty editor at Elle, Glamour, Lucky and Teen People, in 2005 Tia Williams said tah-tah to the glossies to “focus on my writing career. My first ‘chick lit’ novel, THE ACCIDENTAL DIVA, debuted in April 05, and also I co-wrote Iman’s beauty book, THE BEAUTY OF COLOR (Oct. 05).”

And Tia also runs  SHAKE YOUR BEAUTY, where she chats honestly about beauty for all ladies of color.

Check Tia’s beautilicious shopcast here, and read on as we play Q&A.

...continued: Q&A with Beauty Blogger Tia Williams

Holiday season schmoliday season.

The best part of October on is slipping into fur-trimmed boots, clutching vintage mink muffs, sporting lacey tights, and rocking all sorts of other very necessary winter wonder gear. 

Even though 50°F is about as low as Los Angeles chillls.

...continued: Ooh Love Love: Outerwear

Maybe it’s precisely because it is the end of summer that I have a major case of wander lust and a hankerin’ for an adventure. It could be my daily addiction to travel blog Upgrade that is urging me to fly the coop, or the extensive LA Times article “It’s Dream Trip Time” about how flight and hotel prices to Europe are really really low.

Will I jet set outta here? Who knows. But here is what I would pack for a super travel adventure.

Packing

A true intrepid traveler doesn’t have frou frou luggage. Naturally, that doesn’t count the ultimate round the world must-have, the Louis Vuitton travel trunk.

...continued: Gearing Up For An Adventure

Like about 60 million other Americans, I am sometimes prone to insomnia, which may have to do with my affection for caffeine, overall stressiness, and/or the fact that my cat is a big jerk who always wants to hang out and talk a lot at 4 a.m. To minimize my time spent staring at the ceiling for hours on end, I sleep with a lavender-stuffed teddy bear. You stick him in the microwave to warm him up, and the herbs inside (rosebud and hyssop and rosemary and so on, in addition to the lovely lavender) release their calming scent and gently help you drift off to dreamland. The whole nuking-the-teddy-bear ritual always feels a bit odd, but it works and generally keeps me from having to wake up at some dreadful hour and invariably end up contemplating the meaning of life (ick).

So many ThisNexters have their own inventive sleep solutions, a few of which are even more high-tech than my teddy bear. Like the Sleeptracker recommended by Jean and Ivar Zantinge: Worn like a watch, the device picks up on physical signals from your body, determines your best possible waking time, and then rouses you from sleep at just the right moment. And, having owned Select Comfort beds for two decades, Eric Hammond “can’t imagine going back to the other kind” (“No more sagging in the middle as the bed gets older and my wife and I each have our own ‘sleep number’ to adjust our sides of the bed to different firmness levels,” says Eric of his Select Comfort Air Bed).

...continued: Sweet dreams

Di Overton 

I’m Back! Here I am back in England after an amazing buying trip in Paris and as promised in my last posting here are all things French.

The great mistake some people make when visiting Paris is to head straight for the well known sights. DON’T – follow this little guide and you will discover parts of Paris that will amaze and delight you. So here goes – hold on to your hats!

The Marais – The historic district which also has a great Jewish area with food that is delicious being sold from every other shop front. Dotted with the most amazing boutiques, chocolat shops, furniture and accessories shops and the most beautiful shop fronts in all the world.

The Paris Flea Markets – All listed here. Not so many bargains as there is elsewhere in France but certainly worth a visit as you can usually get between 20% and 30% off the marked prices. Even if you just go to look you will be amazed at the stuff the French don’t want anymore. If you go at lunchtime then do what the stall holders do and get some street food it is French food at its best.

Stay in an Apartment – I am lucky as my daughter lives in Paris but before she went there I always rented an apartment as it gave me an insight into the way the Parisians lived. This is a great website for finding an apartment to suit you and your budget.

Buy Some Flowers – The Parisian florist shops are the best in the world, well I think so. Even in the most run down areas you will see the most beautiful floral arrangements and displays. If you are in an hotel or an apartment make it your first task to buy some flowers and put them in your room they will help make your stay much nicer.

How To Be Chic – The French don’t have to spend a fortune on clothes to look chic. The shops in Paris, such as Monoprix, sell chic little suits and dresses that look as good as any up market designer outfit and at a fraction of the price.

If you want to push the boat out then take trip along rue du Faubourg St . Honore and don’t miss Hermes, the Paris shop is the only place to buy an Hermes Scarf and they will give you a little book to go with it that tells you lots of different ways to tie it.

Eat With The Parisians – Always, always eat where the Parisians eat. They won’t be fobbed off with tourist food. They take their lunch very seriously and spend a good two hours over it. We ate at Chez Marianne twice last week. It is a Jewish restaurant in the Marais district and I don’t know what they served me but it was the best food ever and nine of us ate and drank a great lunch for 100 Euros. You will find it at 2, rue des Hospitalieres St. Gervais in the Jewish area of the Marais.

Go to a Chocolat Shop – The chocolat shops in Paris abound and they have stunning displays in every one. This one – I’m sorry but it’s in the Marais again – is one of my favourites. I got this full size artist’s palette for my son last Christmas. Everything about it is chocolate. He will never eat it but I have tasted their chocolate and it is delicious.

Walk and Still Look Stylish – Walk everywhere if you can. Paris is a small city when compared to London or New York so try and walk around it as there is so much you will miss if you use the Metro and trains, even though they are so cheap and efficient.

If you are worried about your feet then find a shop that sells Arche Shoes. Even though I bought my first pair of these in New York they are a French company and they sell shoes that can give you comfort whilst looking so stylish. Even the heeled shoes are like gloves with a soft inner sole that feels like sponge. Go to this site and see the list of shops worldwide.

Although my smoothie addiction isn’t nearly as bad some other ladies I know, every so often there are those moments when all that can make me a happy is an icy-cold, thick-yet-frothy concoction of fruit and yogurt inhaled at brainfreezing-speed through a cute little bendy straw. And while I do my best to support the indie smoothie-makers of the world, I sometimes end up at Jamba Juice, where I’ll likely order something like the Strawberries Wild and then feel lame about the fact that – with just some juice, fro yo, strawberries and bananas – I could have whipped up the lovely thing all on my own.

Far more driven than I, a bunch of blender-savvy ThisNexters have been sharing their smoothie-creating secrets and revealing just how much good-for-you stuff you can cram into one yummy shake. One fave ingredient is acai, an antioxidant-rich, amino-acid-packed Brazilian fruit made smoothie-ready with Sambazon’s Açai Power Pack. Hans Rey calls acai-accented smoothies “the perfect energy boost,” and shopcaster Daize Goodwin concurs: “This is a natural energizer and it is SO good for you!! You stick it into the blender with your usual smoothie essentials and you’re ready to go for the morning.”

...continued: Planet Smoothie

For something that’s flavorless, clear and mostly free for the taking, water is big business. These days, designer water is the new designer jeans. What water you drink says as much about you as what car you drive and which plastic surgeon you go to.

No one seems to have such a handle on these liquid assets than ThisNext überpicker oOo, who has managed to call out no fewer than 14 designer waters from around the world. “Thirst is nothing,” he says, “image is everything.” oOo manages to drum up a collection of waters from down under: King Island Cloud Juice, harvested from Tasmanian rain; Antipodes Water, with its charming apothecarian bottle; and the snarkily named Another Bloody Water (also called out by the cool hunter). Something about bloody water leaves us cold, but a shot of cloud juice sounds refreshing.

...continued: Sparkling, Still or Tap

As entertaining as making this Blogher documentary was at the time, We’re not sure we are entirely comfortable with some of the PG-13 content contained therein. In fact, we usually have to avert our eyes during part of the thing. But, then again, we aren’t the CEO who made a “special presentation” poolside at Blogher. We’re just the production crew. You know how the saying goes, “Don’t fire shoot the filmmaker.”

And now, allow us to present the world premiere of our digi-vid magnum opus, “Not Another Blogher Movie.”

(Happy Birthday, Gordon!) 

While we’re far from pimping and picking only the latest designer duds, oft enough big names are big for good reason: solid quality, detailed design, making and breaking trends -

And drowning in logos means your drowning in cash.

Or credit card debt.

Though I hope you’re only rocking that Hermes Watches H-our watch ‘cause it fits your budget, Ms. Nam Kim.

...continued: Ooh La Love: Designer Ish

It plays well with everything, it slims, it rocks right from power lunches to peach martinis…

It makes five-inch heels look tasteful.

Love black. 

Black is your friend you always want to take to cocktail parties, it adds easy gloss.

Imagine these United N‏ude “Porn” sandals in gold.

...continued: Ooh La Love: Black is the New Black

Once a little-known secret among, as one Pittsburgh Post Gazette article tells it, “mountain bikers and counterculture types” (e.g., Burning Man partiers and “granola-eating fitness buffs”), CamelBak has now become the hydration pack of choice for everyone from hikers and hunters to Navy SEALs and police officers. The CamelBak-loving outdoorsmen and women of ThisNext most likely lean more toward the granola-eating fitness buff side of things (in a really good way), with each shopcasting his or her pack style of choice and favored use.

Travel and adventure writer Shanti Sosienski, for instance, takes her CamelBak Women’s Isis 100 oz. Hydration Pack along in her many excursions around the globe, noting that the small pack is “great for traveling because you can go with or without the water bladder and it makes a good day pack.”

Deb Schiff also recommends her CamelBak 2006 Day Star 70oz. Women’s Hike Hydration Pack for travel – along with long hikes – since the pack “holds extra socks, sandals, snacks, first aid kit, 70 oz of water, and more.” Deb dubs the Day Star perfect for “hiker chicks,” which may have to do with its women-specific design (including a harness that “curves with your body for a comfortable fit,” according to Outdoor Equipment blog).

...continued: How to drink like a camel

Mood Beams! They look liike ambient device’s orbs ~ but with more character - loads more character. Their manufacturers site describes them as “Basically Mood Beams are a funky tribe of supremely portable, battery-operated characters that cycle through a spectrum of hypnotic colours. They’re also sensitive to sound, so if you put them next to your radio or CD player they’ll change colour in time to the beat of the music. Mood Beams can be set to perform at five different speeds: Heartbeat, Rainbow, Strobe, Colour Dance and Colour Hold - simply set the mode to suit the mood.”

Are they toys? are they tech? How do you categorize such a creature? RUGenius said on NOTCOT.org that they were the modernized Glow Worms (remember those?)… and Linhchi fell for the adorable ghostly orange one. As for me? It feels like high-tech, yet is rather low-tech if you’re comparing it to the wifi/ambient syncing up to info all around the world devices… but when it comes to emotional impact, it seems to do the trick. They can sit on your desk, perched on your monitor just glowing different colors - color therapy is in - this could keep you calm through the work day! Amuse your kids! Baffle the dog! and still dance and pulsate to the music, or just be a fun way to light the room… and sure to put a smile on your face.

It’s leopard-print season about every two or three falls, but animal skins weather any weather, any year.

Now included. 

Chloe gets it: “Animal prints are everywhere for fall so stand out from the rest by snapping up (get the joke?!) from Manolo Blahnik’s exotic collection.” Her pick? Those peridot aligator open-toe pumps to your left.

...continued: Ooh La Love: Animal Skins

ThisNext is in the running to host two (!) panels at SXSW Interactive Festival,  part of the legendary SXSW conference held every year for entertainment and related media industry professionals.

We’ve recommended some interesting and relevant topics but we need your help.

 
The show organizers have opened  the panel selection process to the public allowing anyone to vote on what topics they want as part of the conference agenda. This is where you wonderful people come in. 

Simply visit the SXSW Interactive Panel Proposal site and find our panels by selecting the following from the “category picker:” business / funding / entrepreneurial  or web 2.0 and look for: “Forget E-tail. It’s All about ME-tail.” To find our second proposed panel just select education / sociological  or social networks to find “Digital Identity: Virtually You.”

The directions for how to nominate are easy and quick.  We appreciate your support!