Category Archives: announcements

big news: shopping’s my cardio t-shirts are here!

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The best darn Shopping’s My Cardio tee around

{Update: You know I love a free shipping code, so here’s yours, good through 7.24: XMASINJULY}

I think it’s destiny. First, a whole bevy of you lovely people started tweeting, Facebook-ing (is this really a verb?) and emailing to tell me about those “Shopping Is My Cardio” tees that have been floating around this season. Then, Mindy Kaling wore one! On TV! And finally, if that weren’t enough, last week we got news that yes, Virginia, shopping actually is cardio for most women. (To the tune of 15,000 calories a year, thank you very much. In case you needed more incentive to indulge.)

If all of that delightful hullabaloo taught me one thing, it’s this: whoever’s making those shirts is doing it wrong! Seriously, that font? Those colors? We can do better, friends. We must do better. And we shall.

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Yep, it’s here: SMC merchandise-palooza! (By which I mean a couple of t-shirts and a mug. I mean, let’s not get crazy.)

To say I’ve obsessively researched this to make these as good as I possibly could would be, well, a ridiculous understatement. In the hours upon hours I’ve spent scouring the interwebs for the best printing company who makes tees chic enough for YOU, dear readers, I could have probably orchestrated world peace or finally learned how to make a pie filling that doesn’t run all over the place. But hey, this is important stuff. If I’m going to suggest you buy a tee, it needs to be fantastic, right? You’d expect no less.

My personal favorite is the dark grey tee – something about that contrast stitching and the slightly scooped neck just makes it awfully cute in person. But that Flashdance-ish sweatshirt is also pretty rad, as is the black tote. Oh heck, they’re all great. Read my product descriptions for fit help (naturally, I had to try these out before I could even dream of suggesting them to you).

What do you think, friends? I really hope you’ll love them, and add one to your closet ASAP, so that I can geek out like a teenager at a Justin Bieber concert if I ever see you walking down the street wearing one. (You know I totally will.)

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kickstart my friends at comma workshop

Comma Workshop Kickstarter, via shopping's my cardio

I am so very, very excited for the Comma Workshop team! Remember them? They make those stunning quilts I showed you a while back, covered with quotes, verses and other beautiful things with which I am entirely, completely obsessed.

Well, in the hopes of starting a new, lower-priced collection (so that the rest of us can have one of their breathtaking designs), they’ve launched a Kickstarter to fund the collection, so that they can do it right (sumptuous fabrics, fair wages…you know, important things). The first new collection features Thoreau’s Walden, and it is – predictably – perfection. Read on

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reasons to celebrate

Well, I had other things planned for today, but friends, I’m too darn giddy about all of the amazing things that are happening in the world today. Honestly, there aren’t that many days in life that you’re bursting with pride in your government, but today’s one of them, and I’m going to bask in it for a few moments.

And…well, okay, there are a couple of exciting shopping points worth making. Read on

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comments fixed! talk to me

Remember when you were in college, waiting for a guy to call, and you kept checking your phone to see if it was working? And you were tempted to call the phone company, but that sounded altogether too pathetic. And in reality, of course, the guy was just a douchebag who hadn’t called.

Well, this time, friends, it turns out the phone WAS broken. Or, more specifically, the comments function here at SMC had gone haywire, and none of your comments were getting to me. Luckily, one of you lovelies (thanks, K!) finally spoke up with a “Hey dude, quit blocking my comments” to let me know. All this time, I was sitting here like the nerdy girl who got ditched for prom, thinking you’d all abandoned me for some senior with a fancy car and rich parents.

So, please (pretty please?) start commenting again. Honestly, if you’re not talking back, it’s a little like I’m the crazy lady on the subway, muttering to herself about shoes. Also, know that I respond to each and every comment you leave, because I love seeing them, and hearing from you makes me so very happy. So if you ever don’t hear from me, sound the alarm, will you?

xox,
B

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shopping is my cardio…and it’s mindy kaling’s too!

Oh, the emails you have sent me this week, friends. The tweets, the Facebook messages, the Instagram tags…! You are almost (almost!) more excited about this than I am, and for that, I adore you.

In case you missed it, this week on The Mindy Project:

Image via WornOnTV & @mindykaling on Instagram

Do you think she’s a fan?

Sadly, as most of you know, the line isn’t mine – it’s a Sex & The City relic. But it’s a goodie, and I’ve happily usurped it. I’ve seen this tee roaming the interwebs this spring, but now that Mindy has catapulted my little catchphrase back to its proper standing, I’m feeling a surge of validation.

I’m also feeling an itch to make a better version of this tee (naturally, completely sold out in pink, but you can still nab one in white). While I love the sentiment, it seems like the delivery is…lacking, no? I think we could do better.

So, the question is this: If I designed a better, chic-er SMC tee, would you want one? Tell me in the comments, yo!

Oh, and happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

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happy 2013…come on in!

Welcome back, friends! I hope you all had an absolutely wonderful holiday season, however you spent it.

Before we dive into all of the goodies that 2013 has in store (and believe me, I have some goodies in mind), I wanted to tell you about some changes that are afoot. As I’m sure most of you noticed, we had all sorts of wonderful guest writers in 2012 – I was working my little fingers to the bone on a myriad of other projects, and wanted to make sure you had plenty of content, content, content to keep you happy while I was stretching my brain in 47 different directions.

But in doing all that, I realized I was starting to lose what I love about SMC. I wasn’t creating, I wasn’t discovering, I was…editing. In racing to fill SMC with all the content I thought it needed, there was so much noise, I couldn’t hear my own voice. So, while I’m insanely, over-the-moon grateful to our guest writers who made all of my 2012 adventures possible, I’m going back to basics. Our lovely Kate will still be joining us from time to time with her fantastic “All in the Details” column, but otherwise, you’re going to be stuck with me. Unless I’m on vacation or trapped under something heavy, in which case all bets are off.

I’m also going to be slowing things down a bit. The internet is bursting at the seams with content and clutter these days, and I want to make sure that if I’m adding to the chorus, it’s a voice worth hearing. So, I’m vowing to stop writing about anything I don’t absolutely love, and I’m letting myself off the hook if that means having less to say. Erin Loechner, a writer I think of as my internet “big sister” (by which I mean I think everything she does is amazing, and want to be just like her when I grow up), wrote a fantastic post about “slow blogging” over the holidays. She and I couldn’t have been more on the same page if we’d compared notes. (Which we didn’t, but I totally would have if she’d asked me.)

Case in point: I just spent the last hour struggling to come up with four more things to include in that 2013 list up top, so that I’d have 13 things (13 Things for 2013…get it?). But. Really? Do I really think you care whether I have 13 things on my list for 2013 instead of 9? I should trust you to have better taste than that.

So, in sum: better content, less often; more fun, less stress. Phew…I’m more excited about 2013 already.

What do you say…are you on board? And more importantly, what’s getting you excited about 2013?

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a long winter’s nap

Photo by Michelle Arcila, one of my favorite photographers of all time.

Friends, it’s that time. The time when I wish you the very merriest of holidays, a wonderful New Year, and tuck myself in for some much-needed time away from all the hustle and bustle, secure in the knowledge that you can navigate the deluge of after-Christmas sales without me.

This year has been an amazing one. I’ve completed a move, a major home redesign, a Portland shopping guide book (more about that in the new year!), and countless other amazing projects and collaborations with brands I genuinely adore. I redesigned the website, launched Facebook and Instagram pages, gave you a few kick-ass gift guides (if I do say so myself), and was featured on some websites I seriously respect and admire. In all, 2012 was very good to me. No wonder I’m exhausted!

The amazing thing? All of that – every last thing on my list – is because of you. Yep, you…who reads SMC daily, or catches an occasional glimpse on your RSS reader before moving on to the 736 other things on your plate. You, who told a friend you liked my site, who passed a link on to a coworker, who oohed and aahed over one thing or another, who left a comment (truly, each and every comment you leave is like a pat on the back from a dear friend. I love them more than I can say.).

You made all of this happen. And there’s no gift I can give that would say it with enough poetry or feeling, so let me just say this: thank you. Thank you for a wonderful year…a wonderful six and a half years, if we’re counting (oh, let’s not count). It’s been an unforgettable ride, however long you’ve been on board.

I’ll be back in the new year. Be safe, be merry, and find joy wherever you can. And know that a writer in Portland is sending you love and plenty of holiday cheer.

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SMC on huff post

Remember when my dear friend, Melissa, told us all about that amazing project she did to create a gorgeous space from her impossibly tiny closet? Well, I just got word that it was featured on Huffington Post.

You know, no big deal. (Squeeeeeeeeeee!!)

Check out a pertinent snippet below, or the full post (with loads of other amazing closets) here.

 

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