“It’s bad luck to let milk boil over.”
Shoes That Grow Five Sizes In Five Years For Kids In Developing Countries
Photo Credit: Buzzfeed
Photo Credit: Buzzfeed
Kenton Lee (shown above) started Because International with a few friends in 2006, a nonprofit devoted to “working with and helping those in extreme poverty.”
Lee and his team initially tried to give the idea to companies like Nike, Crocs, and Toms, but none of them expressed any interest. Eventually they found a “shoe development company” called Proof of Concept who agreed to help them with the design.
The shoe is made out of a high quality soft leather on top and "extremely durable rubber soles similar material to a tire," Lee said. They expand through a simple system of buckles, snaps, and pegs. The shoes last a minimum of five years and expand five sizes in that time. The small size will fit preschoolers through fifth graders, while the large will fit fifth through ninth graders.
The shoes cost $10 a pair, and each pair goes into a “duffle bag” that can fit 50 pairs of shoes. Once one organization’s duffle bag is full, Because International ships it to the organization that flies with them to one of seven countries.
Donors can either buy shoes to distribute themselves or buy a pair of shoes and choose one of five American nonprofit organizations to distribute them to orphanages and churches around the world. So far about 2,500 children across seven countries are wearing the shoes.
Is this not one of the most amazing ideas? I thought this was just incredible.
“There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want, and after that, to enjoy it.”
Cupcake Genius
I stumbled across this idea online and WHO CAN I THANK FOR THIS REVELATION?
Something Good Coming
Maybe the best Tom Petty song?
Tom & Lorenzo's Mad Men Style Blog
I can't describe how much I love this Mad Men style blog. I wish I'd known of its existence years ago, I would've loved to have followed along with their posts as I watched episodes in real time. If you've ever watched the show and enjoyed it, there's the slightest chance that you might really love the blog as much as I do. It's just so well written, I really can't get enough of it. You can read some for yourself from the links below.
Episode 8: Severance
Episode 9: New Business
Episode 10: The Forecast
Episode 11: Time & Life
Episode 12: Lost Horizon
Episode 13: The Milk and Honey Route
Episode 14: Person To Person
Strapless Bra Difficulties
This isn't mine, but it's similar to the one I own.
The boning in a corset gives you more than enough structure to hold those babies up long into the night and there's virtually no need to re-adjust them at any point when wearing one. I've gone through dozens of strapless bras in my many years and I've had the same problem with all of them. And that kind of makes sense since larger breasts + strapless bras = hell. With a regular strapless bra, there's nothing to hold them up to the glorious stature of which they deserve!
But with the boning and restrictiveness of a corset? Everything makes sense and is held in place perfectly.
I'm sure you can find a relatively inexpensive one if you search online, but if you find yourself in New York City - I insist that you stop by the Orchard Corset Center on the Lower East Side. You can literally walk in the store and the woman (or man) working there will take a look at you and give you the perfect fitting corset. It's incredible.
“If you can think of five or more ingredients that you absolutely refuse to eat, then please consider yourself high-maintenance. And stop going to dinner parties.”
Palm Beach, Florida
My vivacious friend Jenn and I decided to celebrate turning 30 by going on vacation. When deciding where this little jaunt would be, we agreed that we would have just as good a time as Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt if we decided on Palm Beach in Florida. (It's normal to choose your vacation spots based on semi-popular movies from the early aughts, yes? YES!)
Here were our highlights:
This was one of the very best hotels I've ever stayed at - providing you get a good room. The first room we stayed in had one bed, so we changed that to one with two beds and the second room was EONS more nice (and on a higher floor). The hotel also had direct access to the beach and an outdoor infinity pool. What the hell else could I possibly need? OH! And they made this drink (a Coffee Colada, a coffee version of a pina colada) that I will dream about for the rest of my life. Such a great hotel experience. And it's located right in the heart of Palm Beach, amongst all the ridiculously wealthy homes that line the shore.
We went here solely because of the list of sauces they had on their menu. If that seems like a dumb reason to choose a steakhouse, I don't think you know very much about how to properly eat a piece of meat. The meal was, as expected, amazing.
We had dinner here on our only night spent in West Palm Beach and the food was ridiculously good. West Palm Beach itself was, well, way livelier than Palm Beach. And by that I mean that it was filled with a younger crowd, a bit rowdier and a completely different experience. I'm happy we stayed where we did since it was a quieter/generally-nicer area where we were, so I'm glad we lucked out in staying at The Tideline. (Did I ever say the word rowdy in my twenties? I can't remember now.)
This French place gave us the best meal of the trip. I had their rock shrimp linguini with a Pernod saffron cream sauce and I'll never forget it. I know a detail like that really doesn't affect you in any way, but I'm noting it here incase I ever find myself in this restaurant again some day. I thought I hated saffron-anything, so you can see why I won't shut up about how good this all was.
Is it acceptable that most of these highlights are food based? Of course, you beast! Great vacations don't exist without exceptional food.
Kaffee's Garden Spa in West Palm Beach, Florida
“Salt therapy is like a toothbrush for your lungs and skin.”
I recently tried out a dry salt therapy session and I feel like you definitely need to experience one for yourself at some point.
If it's unclear what this is - the best way that I can describe it is that you enter a room, lay down on a massage table and breathe in the Himalayan salt air that's being circulated in the room. At first it seems as though nothing is really happening since it's so subtle, but if you lick your lips at all during the process, you'll taste the salt that you're breathing in. It's a 45 minute process and by the end of it, you're left with this tingling feeling inside. It's hard to describe, but it was as though I felt that I could breathe deeper afterward.
If you come across a spa that offers it, you have to try it. And if you find yourself in West Palm Beach, definitely check this place out.