Alamo Square Painted Ladies

The Painted Ladies are a row of Victorian houses painted in various bright colors that can be found in Alamo Square in San Francisco, California. They're obviously pretty iconic, and it was on the tail end of our California road trip that we stopped to check them out.

If you're anything like Dave and I, we couldn't come up with enough lame Full House jokes that afternoon. I even snapped a picture of a house that I thought looked similar to the one from the TV show - and it didn't seem to matter that it obviously wasn't. We then recreated the picnic scene from the opening credits. Nailed it.

"Whatever happened to predictability?"

The not the Full House house.

Red Dot Design Museum - Singapore

Some places take you completely by surprise.  The Red Dot Design Museum in Singapore was one of them.  Not just a cool place to go, it was the fact that it was the first place we went after dropping our stuff at the hotel that really made it special.

We took a cab across Singapore and through downtown to end up at an old police station that had been entirely painted red.  Inside, a minimalist warehouse space was artfully divided between small exhibits.  Red Dot showcases the best and brightest in consumer functional design - the feature during our visit was (gasp!) Tupperware.

As ordinary as Tupperware sounds, the presentation of a multicolored ribbon of silicone Tupperware strung above our heads had us staring.  With all of those bright colors and containers in such abundant quantity, it really was tough not to be wowed. I loved the fact that they were showcasing everyday things that you'd have in your house.  Coffee makers, vacuums, and even kitchen accessories were made to look like works of art, honoring the design teams that created them.  

Stephanie and I were the only two people in the museum during our visit that evening so it was like exploring a private display. With only two Red Dot Design Museums in the world (the other is in Germany) this turned out to be a rare and memorable introduction to our week in Singapore.

'Tis the Day - Merry Christmas!

I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a day filled with peace, love and togetherness! I hope you're enjoying all those warm fuzzy feelings that the holidays bring, and are surrounded by people who you love and care about.  To mark the occasion (and to give you a bit of an escape from the family chaos) check out a sampling of my holiday edits featured below.