I  don’t have a green thumb and I think that’s why I was completely blow away by the beauty of the air plants at Nest, a new home accessories store in Columbus. (Air plants or Tillandsia need no soil because water and nutrients are absorbed through the leaves). These are definitely my new plant of choice- it’s like gardening for dummies!  I was equally blown away by the fantastic home accessories, especially the vintage finds, at Nest.  Thanks guys, for showing stores like Anthropologie, that you can sell uber cool stuff at reasonable prices. I’m excited to check out Shine, their 2nd store featuring a larger furniture selection.

Check email, yawn. Go to meeting, eyes glaze over. Eat lunch, still no energy. Today is one of those days where I am dreaming about a nap. I want to crawl under my desk and shut my eyes, even if only for 15 or 20 minutes. Ah, if only we had Energy Pods at work. (Yes, some companies actually do!) These pods are made by MetroNaps, a UK-based company that specializes in “corporate fatigue solutions.” I love it! yawn…

Great clothes and a brilliant interior at Brigade in Columbus’ Short North district: www.clothingbrigade.com

Dirty Frank’s is a local hot dog joint (that serves vegetarian versions of everything on the menu!) with a cool  interior, down to the “custom” wallpaper in the bathroom. dirtyfrankscolumbus.com/

The windows of Flower Child, the vintage furniture store in Columbus’ artsy Short North district, tempt us with the promise of mid-century goodies. And the 2-level, multi-room retro heaven does not disappoint with tons of interesting, fabulously kitschy, finds. flowerchildvintage.com

Steelcase has unveiled its new chair, node, at NEOCON. Sadly, I didn’t make it there this year, but that very same chair was actually unveiled- literally- in my office a couple of months before. My rep thought it might be of interest, so she (and the Steelcase rep that was to guard it with his life) brought it by one morning, shrouded in a white sheet. It was that special! It was that secret! There could be no risk of another vendor seeing it! (Luckily, I’m on the client side!) I wanted to blog about it then, but had to contain my excitement. I didn’t even really tell anyone about it because it was hard to describe simply with words and do it justice. Start telling people about a plastic tablet arm classroom chair and it’s hard for them to get past the image of standard horrible classroom seating. But this is a chair that won the Innovation Award in the Education Solutions category at NEOCON and that’s a big deal. Since we’ve established it’s hard to describe with words, I’ve posted Steelcase’s informative video instead.