misosouper, a shopping blog

Just in time for spring gifting season, Bloomie’s is chock full of new goodies.  While not necessarily cheap, these home goods won’t be something your mama/newly married best friends/hostess whose front yard you’re digging up for a plastic easter egg will hide in a cabinet until you come over.

1.  Stainless Steel Asparagus Pot by All Clad; 2.  The very strange, very appealing Paris Votive by Bernardaud (check out the other patterns, including a Chicago version); 3.  Nambé “Butterfly” Salad Bowl Set; 4.  Michael Aram for Waterford Woodgrain Cocktail Shaker; 5.  Mediterraneo Kitchen Jars by Alessi; 6.  Latte Machiatto Mug by Konitz; 7.  Jungle Jubilee by Lynn Chase–one big serving piece is all you need; 8.  Jardins Du Monde Ceramic Collection by Juliska–a set of dessert plates from this lovely line is a more than generous gift; 9.  The Ice Cream Scoop & Stack by Cuisipro makes perfect ice cream plops; 10.  FrouFrou by 1891 by Sferra Sheets are actually more elegant basic than over-the-top froufrou; 11.  The Eva Zeisel for Royal Stafford “One O One” Teapot will make your design-minded friends swoon; 12.  Dustbuster by Alessi; 13.  Clare Flower Pots by Marc Jacobs Waterford; 14.  “Banana Brothers” Salt/Pepper Set by Alessi (do kayaking monkeys really need commentary?); 15.  “Tea Over Ice” Pitcher System by Tea Forte.

Yeah, you want to be one; but with papers fluttering all over your office, you don’t even have room to crack your whip.  That’s sad.  I’m here to help you get your shit together in the new year.

This week, misosouper and Knock Knock are gifting one lucky winner with an entire set of their task clips–48 in all.  These bright, shiny Utility, Timing, Importance, and Poopy butterfly doohickeys will, in Knock Knock’s words, let you “appear more productive than you actually are” and “look good without getting much done.”  (I swear, it’s as if Knock Knock’s creative department burrowed deep into my brain, sucked out the marrow, and plagiarized the mantras of my life.  Oprah I’m not. {Even though I love you Oprah, and if you called me, I’d be on the next plane to your show.  We could give away Knock Knock clips like you gave away cars:  one for you, and for you…})

To win, leave a comment on this post, explaining which Knock Knock gift you’d most like to give, to whom you’d give it, and why.  (No space/word/character limits this time.  It’s a free for all!)  And these better be funny, people, considering you’re writing about a company that sells products like the “Things You Do That Piss Me Off” notepad, the “Sex Report Card” magnet, the “How To Traumatize Your Children” manual, and the Choose Your Religion Wheel O’ Wisdom.

And you better not Paper Voodoo doll me to win this thing, either.  Chances are I’m cursing my disheveled desk, staring longingly at my patent whip, and weeping over the fact that I’ll never be on Oprah, paper voodooing you right back.

the fine print:

Comments will be closed and entries will not be accepted after 11:59 pm EST on Saturday, January 24, 2009.  The winner will be selected on Sunday, January 25, 2009, and notified by e-mail.  Results of the giveaway will be announced on Monday, January 26, 2009.  Multiple entries will not be accepted, and previous giveaway winners are not eligible.  Misosouper, a shopping blog reserves the right to disqualify entries that are incomplete, inaccurate, or considered spam.

Let me begin by saying that I like getting a hand-calligraphed, letter-pressed, wax-sealed note in the post just as much as the next design whore.  But I am certainly not one of those e-card snobs who sneers at anyone who doth descend to such depths.  Hell, the older I get, the happier I am to just be remembered, and if it’s on my birthday, then all the better.

So imagine how happy I was that a thoughtful, adoring friend passed this card along (and my birthday isn’t even for another two weeks!), thus reminding me that a) my birthday is December 23rd (my family celebrates Christmas eve, so it’s really the big suck); b) this year I turn thirty, which is the black fly in my Chardonnay, or some other Alanis Morissette metaphor that’s more deplorable than ironic; and c) that someone, somewhere cared enough to both coddle and amuse me with this, so I should really STFU with all the complaining.

First things first:  congrats to the winner of last week’s Vivabox giveaway, Helen L., who charmed us with a ten word entry about her tree-climbing toenails.

And now for this week’s giveaway:  six gorgeous letterpressed popptags, perfect for gifting with a bottle of holiday wine.  While the tags’ designs are classic, the messages are decidedly not; why stick a floppy bow on the bottle when you can adorn it with an elegant “From one wino to another” tag?  (That one’s going to an 85-year-old friend.  Everyone has a wino in their life, and she just happens to be mine.)

To enter, you need to subscribe to misosouper’s feed, which you can find here, and also on the home page (look for the pretty blue button in the right hand column).  When you have successfully subscribed, please leave a comment that you have done so.  Current subscribers can also enter the contest; just leave a note in the comments below.

As the popptags say, ’tis the season to get tipsy, so get to getting.

the fine print:

Comments will be closed and entries will not be accepted after 11:59 pm on Saturday, December 6, 2008.  The winner will be selected on Sunday, December 7, 2008, and notified by e-mail.  Results of the giveaway will be announced on Monday, December 8, 2008.  Multiple entries are not accepted.  Misosouper, a shopping blog reserves the right to disqualify entries that are considered spam.

Now to blogroll the second half of my fellow shoppers’ gift guides, from M-Z.  They’ve found good stuff too.

@ Not Martha

@ NOTCOT, so far here, here, here, here, here, and here, here, here (Total overachievers!  How I admire them.)

@ NY Mag

@ Oh Joy! (for the Metro Paper in NY, Boston, and Philly)

@ Oh How Lovely Shops

@ PoppyTalk

@ Purple Pink and Orange

@ SheFinds

@ StyleBakery

@ The Daily Obsession