In Switzerland you can rent cows. Excellent! Now try that in Manhattan. (site is only in german, sorry)
back in nyc…
The swissmiss family is back in NYC. I didn’t get to blog while in the swiss alps, I simply just couldn’t take my eyes of the green hills of Appenzell. I apologize for the rather long hiatus. Here’s a few thoughts from my 3 week trip to Europe:
– Dry heat rocks. Bah to the high humidity in NYC.
– House swapping is my new favorite way of vacationing. All it took was an email to about 10 of our friends and family a few months ago and within 1 day we had several offers of swiss families that wanted to stay in NYC for two weeks. The house we ended up staying in was mindblowingly big and modern and with views on the green hills of Appenzell and the Saentis. We got home last night to our apartment that was seemingly cleaner than the day we left. G and I give house swapping a “two thumbs up”.
– Traveling with a toddler CAN be delightful. Our little Ella was a real champ. She said “bah” to jet-lag and slept til 5am this morning. Go E!
– I am seriously considering having all emails bounce next time I go on vacation. Opening my inbox at this point is downright scary. (My apologies to all those who are waiting for a reply)
– G and I are spending too much time in front of a computer screen. Every time we saw another beautiful vista in the swiss alps, we kept saying: “That would make a great screensaver or desktop background“.
– You can’t eat too much St.Galler Bratwurst.
– Yay! I am back! I missed broadcasting. What’s new out in the design world?
swissmiss broadcasting from switzerland – for once
The swissmiss family made it to the land of the alps, safe and sound, with a little detour through Berlin first to visit close friends. We got to share V+J’s last days (and minutes) as ‘almost parents’. The morning we took off to the airport, they took off to the hospital, cause V’s water broke. Whew! And now they are proud parents of a healthy little girl called Mila! Hooray!
Speaking of babies: V+J live in the incredibly baby-populated area of Berlin called Prenzlauer Berg (fomerly part of eastern germany). I thought our neighborhood in brooklyn (cobble hills/boerum hill, carroll gardens) had a lot of babies, but oh boy, it’s nothing against this hood. It’s complete stroller central. And yes, you see a bugaboo here and there but most young couples here seem to prefer a brand called Teutonia. Interesting.
G and I couldn’t get enough of the eclectic playgrounds in this area of berlin. They are far more elaborate, diverse and more ‘natural’ looking than the ones we have in brooklyn. Natural materials (stone, grass, sand..) dominate the picture. Some of them make me crinch as I keep seeing ‘danger zones’ but overall they look more like green oases in the concrete jungle of a city.
During our visit, we also had the fabulous opportunity to be part of the new store opening party of Parkhaus. I am completely in love with their seat pads for all the design classics out there. (Eames chairs etc) I couldn’t find them on their site, I guess they will be uploaded shortly. You might be able to spot some on the above picture. Next time you’re in Berlin, make sure to stop by!
Berlin is high on our list of cities the swissmiss family could imagine living one day – right there competing with seattle and vancouver!
More to come from the swiss alps in the coming days. Just so much for now: The swissmiss family is house swaping with a swiss family from the deep country side. We get a big giant house with a view on the alps, they get a 2 bedroom in brooklyn with a view on the empire state building… Everyone seems happy. Hooray!
the alps are calling…
The swissmiss family has packed its bags and is on its way to the swiss alps. I will try my best to send designy signals from the old country but if you keep coming back and can’t find anything good, remember, there’s a whole lot of linkity goodness in my ‘recommended’ list in the column on the left. Happy summer 2007 everyone!
swimming pools | book
SWIMMING POOLS by Andrea Altemueller, a Munich based photographer. She says she often dreams of water so it was merely a question of time before she began her series of bathing facilities and swimming pools. Available via altemueller.de
a shift from stuff to ideas
From NY Times’ roundup of 2007 commencement speeches, Dean Kamen at Bates College:
We’re moving from a world of stuff, from the idea that there’s a finite amount of gold out there, a finite amount of almost anything out there. Throughout all of history, people fought over stuff: land, fuel, stuff. But in your generation, the most value that will be created isn’t stuff anymore. It really is ideas. The Internet is an abstraction, and the value of Google exceeds the value of all the car makers. In a world that’s about ideas, it’s not a zero-sum game. You don’t have to win by someone else losing, where you have the gold or oil or water, and somebody else doesn’t.
(via zachklein)
summer seahorse ensemble
I have a thing for seahorses so this toddler seahorse ensemble had me smile. How cool are the flip-flop socks?
Available at redenvelope.com
iPhoney – a free iPhone web simulator for designers
Looking for a way to see how your web creations will look on iPhone? Look no further. iPhoney gives you a pixel-accurate web browsing environment—powered by Safari—that you can use when developing web sites for iPhone. It’s the perfect 320 by 480-pixel canvas for your iPhone development. And it’s free.
(thank you GK)