Woo hoo, Shag has got new tiki mugs n' stuff coming in from far yonder... Japan. They will be available for purchase at Shagmart in January 2008.

Plus...
It's Shagmart's "Three Days After Christmas" Coupon. Enter the Coupon Code: DAXS07 in your shopping cart and 25% will be taken off your total. PLEASE NOTE: Offer is only good on new orders placed from now until December 28th and is only good on in-stock items. Coupon expires at 12/28/07 at 11:59 PM PST

Hi Retro Info readers. I hope you are all having a wonderful Holiday Season. Thanks for reading my blog this year. I hope to entertain you with more fun retro stuff next year.

Merry Christmas to all

And to all a good night

from Vanessa, Brian, Grayson and Casey (the dog too)

I don't know if I am going to be one of those moms who speaks "Goo goo, ga ga" baby talk to my kid. I am hoping to teach him the proper pronunciation of words. This Dwink Juice Box Holder is just too cute.

Dwink Juice Box Holder
by Dwink
$4.76 Babycenter.com

Looking for a hot pair of boots to warm you up this winter? Faux is the way to go. Check out cruelty-free fashions by Alternative Outfitters. All of their products are vegan. They only use man-made or plant derived materials in the production of these fashions. Good news for our furry friends.

Anne Brown Faux Suede Vegan Wedge Boot $56

I love this adorable Rocket Music Box. The rocket ship and astronaut spin around when the music plays. It is from a website called Funky Moose but they are in the UK and don't ship to the US. Does anyone know where I can find a cute rocket/space/robot themed music box in the USA?

funkymoose.co.uk 18.99

My photographer friend in Orlando, Iman Woods, has put together a fantastic calendar of her pin up art. This unique calendar benefits Women Playing for T.I.M.E. a breast cancer awareness foundation. The calendar features 15 beautiful and brave cancer survivors and 100% of the proceeds go to the foundation to further cancer awareness and research.

click here to order the calendar. It's only $20 and for a good cause.

Looky! It's an iPod for your pup! A fun iPup plush toy for your dog genius. It's from none other than Trixie + Peanut, a hipster pet palace in NYC. I can't wait to check out this store.

Set of Two: $25 (Save $5)
Each: $15 trixieandpeanut.com

Trixie + Peanut Pet Emporium!
Located in New York City
at 23 East 20th Street
(btwn B'way + Park Ave)
Store Hours:
Tues - Sat 11am - 8pm.
Sunday 12noon - 5pm.
Closed on Mondays.
212 358 0881.

This looks like something I need to get for my rockin' baby boy, Grayson Danger Cain.

M Is For Metal. An awesome kiddy book by Paul McNeil and Barry Divola. It is published by Love Police, an independent record label in Australia.

$27.95 AU shop.lovepolice.com.au

Grayson's got Star Power! He loves to sing and play Rock Band.

I love this London Table my MIDJ. It's the high end version of our vintage patio table we found at the thrift store. We sold it when we moved to NY. I thought I would never see one again, but here it is and much cooler with the tempered glass top and mod floral design.

London Table $1509 EuroFurniture.com

$15.99 Thrift store find Orlando Fl.

Want a modern look in your kitchen? I have a solid design solution for ya. Concrete countertops! This one is a poured monolithic slab with recycled glass chips. Gee-orgous!

J&M Lifestyles
Randolph, NJ

Wow, check out this ultra modern dollhouse at MoMA store. It comes with skylights, a moveable staircase and mod furniture. And a family too. Neato.

MoMAstore.org

Get up sleepyhead! There is no oversleeping with this clock. Clocky will run away from you with alarm sounding if you don't wake up.

$49.99 Elsewares.com

We are so thrilled to receive a surprise gift for our baby Grayson. This year, I have been corresponding with one of my Retro readers from Down Under. Her name is Michelle Glen, an amazing Aussie artist. She is Retroppo Design and creates incredible retro hand painted ceramic art.

She made a fabulous retro name plate for our son Grayson Danger Cain. It has retro boomerangs, amoeba, rockets, starburst satellites, etc. All the things we like. Wow!

Michelle was kind enough to answer a few questions for Retro Info.

Where do you go to school?

I do classes at "Kew Ceramics" in Melbourne. I originally completed a certificate of promotional display, which covered, some photography, finished art, graphic art, window dressing, ticketwriting & point of sale displays etc. I then was employed as a ticketwriter (signwriting) working for some major retail stores as, David Jones, Georges, Liberty Mews (Laura Ashley), Chocolate Box, Bunnings, Freedom, Harvey Norman & Ikea.
While at Ikea I also was given the opportunity to work o/s setting up a store in Mallorca, Spain, before we started OUR family.

more after the jump

Read more!

If you are smitten with the love bug this holiday season, why not propose to her with modern design?

This diamond engagement ring by Movado is oh so modern in design. A single diamond is suspended in the sleek, minimal setting. Wow!

Movado.com

And check this out, you can give it to her on a miniature Harry Bertoia Diamond Chair by Vitra. If she is into modern design, it will totally Wow her!

$255 nova68.com

I am so excited! We are going to see an exhibition by our fave Brit bad boy graffiti artist Banksy. Now this is why we moved to NY!

Banksy Does New York
Thru Dec. 21. Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun., 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Vanina Holasek Gallery, 502 W. 27th St., at Tenth Ave. (212-367-9093).

Lookie what I found! Kitty will love this for Christmas. It's Shrimp Catnip toys! I love their bulging eyes. So cute! Your cat won't be able to resist playing with this!

$12.95 Wrapables.com

Looking for a unique and inexpensive stocking stuffer? Check out Paper Animations. They are self-operating paper models, machines or mechanisms that do a trick when turned. Paperanimations.com is a fun website for paper kits and models you can make. Cost around $10. Wow!

Saka Karakuri teeter totter robot

I love Paul Frank designs but I am not sure if this Santa Claus Sock Monkey is cute or if it scares me. What do you think?

$28 Karmaloop.com

Snow has fallen on my Brooklyn tiki garden. It's 28 degrees outside and boy are my tikis cold!

more frozen tikis after the jump

Read more!

My buddies Bret and Charissa have a fabulous 1950's home in Orlando Fl. It was featured in Atomic Ranch magazine. They are now selling their vintage sofa and chair set. It has that perfect retro look. Goes great with any 1940's, 1950's or tiki decor. Check it out!

ebay auction starts at $99

I don't know about you, but every week when my husband and I watch the ABC series Pushing Daisies, we have this craving for pie. I wonder what percentage the sales of pies have increased in America due to that show? It is one of my favorites this season. It is about a pie maker who has the amazing ability to raise the dead. The tv show has fantastic art direction and wardrobe. The characters are so quirky and the soft-toned narrator is like you are being read a bedtime story. Check it out on ABC Wednesday nights 8pm. And don't forget to have some pie too.

One of my favorite websites for cool handmade stuff is etsy.com. I found this adorable 21st century folk art Capacitor Necklace. It is a robot charm made of parts salvaged from discarded TVs and VCRs. Neato!

$15 obviousfront.com or etsy.com

In the early 20th century, companies actually made products out of radioactive materials. This new technology was all the rage and radioactive materials like uranium were used in products ranging from face cream, to spark plugs and even condoms.

via oobject.com

The Radium Nutex Condom, now that's taking birth control a little too far. Yowza!

Have you seen a modern home that is so cool you could eat it up? Well now is your chance. Check out this oh so yummy Mid Century Modern Gingerbread House. 100% edible and 100% fun.

$78 RedEnvelope.com

I love Robeez shoes for babies. They rock! Actually, they do have a new line of Robeez Rockz shoes with ultra cool devils, guitars, etc. The Holiday collection is quite sweet with Gingerbread and Snowmen on them. Their shoes are made of soft leather, they slip on babies feet and wont slip off so you don't have to worry about losing a pair of $30.00 baby shoes.

check out the Robeez website. They have over 70 amazing designs. Wow!

My husband found this fantastic photo on flickr of a giant Easter Island Moai tiki at the airport baggage claim. Is this photo for real? Retro readers, what do you think?

via flickr.com

I found a plethora of funky Christmas trees at Treetopia. How about a white Christmas? Or an 80's pink Christmas tree? If thats too girly for ya, they also have a black Christmas tree. They have colors for every style and taste. Wow!

tuxedo black tree $199-359 Treetopia.com

Happy Turkey Day to all!

Check out this cute onesise by Wrybaby featuring Liquified Turkey. Yum! They have a ton of hilarious onesies, outfits, bibs and other wacky accessories. Their motto is "Raise funny people".

$7.99 Wrybaby.com

My baby is 7 weeks old today and I am starting to discover his likes and dislikes. I tried to pick out all super cool mod stuff for him because I wanted Grayson to have a sense of design from the get go. He loves to stare at his Mobi Tyke Light. It is a night light with a mod, minimalist, pop art sculptural feel to it. It comes in a variety of candy colors. Grayson has the blue one. The soft blue light lulls him to sleep. Sweet dreams baby.

$19.99 Target.com

My buddy Rich emailed me a cornucopia of photos of his chalkware fruit. He has quite an amusing collection of them in his retro 50s kitchen. These have a shiny glaze, a little different from the chalkware fish I recently wrote about.

more photos after the jump

Read more!

I am just swimming over my friend Bret and Charissa's chalkware fish collection. They have the cutest retro 1950's pink bathroom decorated with fun fifties chalkware fish and Floridiana collectibles.

The Kane's home was featured in Atomic Ranch magazine

Bret says, "Chalkware were cheap souvenir type gifts from the 40's thru the 50's. A perfect thing to take home after a snowbirds trip to tropical Florida."

more after the jump

Read more!

I love this poster by graphic designer and illustrator Tim Fishlock. Your kid can learn the ABC's and Eames, Panton and Jacobsen at the same time. You know my kid is gonna know who designed the egg chair.

via Apartment Therapy

It's a soggy, gloomy day here in NY. Check out these fun wellies to allow you to tromp through puddles in style.

Piperlime.com

Ever since I got pregnant, I went mad for Method products. I got rid of all my regular household chemicals and bought Method products because they are all-natural and safe for my family and the environment. They are so mod in design too. I am a sucker for cool packaging.

comes in hollyberry, cinnamon bark and peppermint vanilla. yum!

This holiday season you can buy their holiday lineup and get a reusable give greener bag for free. Cool!

spend $20 or more on methodhome.com and get the bag for free

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is suing architect Frank Gehry. It appears he may have gone a little overboard with his unconventional designs. The architect designed the Stata Center, a building chock-full-of of funky angles and walls. The school claims the building is full of leaks and mold. Snow and ice has fallen off the unconventional angles causing damage and blocking emergency exits. Rut Roh!

photo via tbf.org

more on this story at Nytimes.com

My baby has been a rocker since he was inside my tummy. While I was pregnant, my husband and I rocked out to Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero Rocks the 80's. I would rest the guitar on my big belly to play the game. Now that Grayson Danger Cain is born we had to get Guitar Hero III with the ultra cool wireless guitar. He likes to rest on my chest while we rock out! I guess the sounds of Heart's Barracuda are a lullaby to him. What a rocker Danger will be!

check out our youtube video here

Shag (Josh Agle) sure has been a busy boy lately!

He has two new prints which will go on sale Monday, Nov 12. They are called Minotaur and Rum. You can purchase them on Shagmart.com

If you live near Laguna Beach California, you must check out the Shag exhibit The Flesh is Willing at the Laguna Art Museum. It features nudes, sin and purgatory. Kinda dark for Shag. Wow! The exhibition was inspired by a recent trip to the Prado in Madrid, where Shag viewed the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel in person for the first time.

photo via Laguna Art Museum

If you live near Seattle, check out Motorino: New works by Shag opens Saturday, Dec. 15 at Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle, WA.

My mom always said to remember Daylight Savings Time, it's "Spring forward, fall back." Fall back to the mod 1970's with this vintage clock. It's the Big Ben Repeater XL alarm clock made by Westclox. The Scottish clock company has been making clocks for over one hundred years. I love the Big Ben repeater for its sleek mod chrome look. The tulip base reminds me of the Tulip tables and chairs by Eero Saarinen.

I found my clock on ebay UK for around $50

My favorite Pin Up artist is Iman Woods. She has a photography/artists studio in Orlando Fl. She uses talented hair and makeup artists and has a whole wardrobe of vintage clothing to transform any 21st century girl into a glamorous 1940's pin up queen. She does a photo shoot and uses the pictures as a source to create a gorgeous painted portrait.

photo courtesy of Iman Woods

Iman is putting together a unique calendar to benefit Women Playing for T.I.M.E. a breast cancer awareness foundation. The calendar will feature 15 beautiful and brave cancer survivors and 100% of the proceeds will go to the foundation to further cancer awareness and research.

Iman says,"I hope that this calendar will be a beacon of hope to those who are newly diagnosed and their friends and family members."

The calendar is almost ready but she needs sponsors to help cover the cost of printing it. She also needs help with national distribution.

If you would like to help, please visit her website Imanphotography.com

Iman and the Art of the Pinup was recently on PBS in Orlando. She discusses her amazing pinup art and her calendar for a wonderful cause. Check out the show online.

If you are looking for good clean fun, why not start collecting soakies? The Soaky was first introduced in the 1950s by Colgate-Palmolive. The Soaky is a bubble bath for kids with a cute cartoon character bottle. It made bath time fun! Vintage Soakies include The Beatles, Bullwinkle, Flintstones, Casper, Mickey Mouse, Yogi Bear, Batman, Superman, Frankenstein and my favorite Felix the Cat. The Beatles soakies go for a couple hundred bucks on ebay. Wow!

I searched far and wide for this blue Felix the Cat soaky. I will fill it with baby bath soap and use it to bathe my baby Grayson.

photo via Gasoline Alley Antiques

I couldn't believe my eyes today! I was out walking in front of my Brooklyn brownstone and I heard a bird squawking above me in the tree. It didn't sound like any ordinary bird. I looked up and saw a bunch of green parrots feeding off berries in the tree. My neighbor Al said he has seen the Brooklyn parrots many times. He thinks they may have flown the coop from Prospect Park Zoo or may have escaped from the airport. Wow!

What yous guys lookin' at

My buddy Dan in Orlando, Fl. seems to have an obsession with all things Schlitz. Yes, as in Schlitz beer. He has a ton of Schlitz beer memorabilia in his home. I thought I would inquire about his fascination with this strange brew.

So Dan, what is is your deal with Schlitz beer?

After a long, hard day some people look forward to having a beer. For me, not any old beer is good enough. In fact, it has to be an ice cold Schlitz! There’s nothing that can compare to drinking the “kiss of the hops.”

more after the jump

Read more!

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you probably have discovered I am a huge Felix The Cat fan. One of my readers, Jessica emailed me this cute photo of her dressed in her Felix The Cat Halloween costume. She made the costume herself!

Jessica says, "I made the bag of tricks from a Dunkin Donuts Munchkin's box. The bow tie I bought and sewed on red felt and glued on the white pokadots."

Cute costume! Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! If you want to have a spooktacular Halloween, go see The Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3-D. I saw it last year. It was a fun way to see one of my all time favorite movies and we got to wear those retro cool 3-D glasses. Wow!

I love this Scoop TV stand by Eurway. It has a retro mod pedestal base that reminds me of the Saarinen Tulip series. We bought this mod tv stand for the bedroom so Grayson and I can zone out watching Baby Einstein dvd's. My pal Susan gave us a bunch of them. I have seen the Baby Einstein Christmas dvd which was quite trippy. I have heard mixed reviews of the Baby Einstein dvds from my friends. Some say their baby loves them but others say not to let him watch, they will warp his little brain. What do you readers think? Baby Einstein, genius or mindless? What are some good dvds for the little guy to watch?

Scoop TV stand $139 Eurway.com

How about some creepy hand soap to freak out your guests at your Halloween party? What's so scary about hand soap? Well this soap is actually shaped like little hands. Weird!

Hand Soap Vitamin D(esign) $20.00

I can't wait to join the Maclaren Mama stroller brigade of Park Slope. Over the past 2 months I have been scoping out the strollers I see on the streets of Brooklyn. I have seen many Bugaboos, Quinnys, and Maclarens. The Maclaren Quest Mod Stroller seems to be the best choice for me because it is super lightweight and easy to tote up and down the subway steps. I love the mod geometric print too. It also is a good price compared to the pricier Bugaboo and Quinny. I found it for $199 at Babies R Us. Can't wait to take Grayson Danger Cain to Prospect Park in his new Maclaren.

Please don't eat the spaghetti poodles. These oh so cute vintage ceramic dog figurines were primarily made in Japan back in the 1950's. These collectible ceramics were all the rage and are called Spaghetti Art Ware because of the "spaghetti-like" texture of the ceramic fur. Poodles were very popular as well as cocker spaniels, other animals, and Holiday figures. Some of the manufacturers of these cute canines include Lefton, Napco, and Enesco.

A mom and her pups

check out the book Spaghetti Art Ware: Poodles and Other Collectible Ceramics
by Wanda Gessner on Amazon.com

These mod ABS plastic elephant banks were designed by in the 1970's by Luigi Colani for the German bank Dresdner Bank. They were given to customers as gifts for opening an account at the bank. They came in bold primary colors and three different sizes ranging from 8cm to 21cm. They are quite hard to find and go for approx. $100-200 USD for a set of three on Ebay Germany.

Does anyone know the story behind this retro thingamajig? I like to call it champagne kinetic art sculpture because it reminds me of the bubbles when you open a bottle of champagne. We actually have two of these. One we found at a thrift store and another a friend gave to us. I believe it is Danish modern, from the 1960's. I sure would like to know who the designer or manufacturer was. They are quite hard to find and fetch $100-200 on ebay. Jinkies!

We are on a Space Invaders kick at the Cain household. We recently purchased Blik Space Invaders Wall Decals and now I found this oh so retro 80's Space Invaders Gift Wrapping Paper. It is part of the Dude Wrapping Paper Collection from X-treme-geek.com.

$21.97, comes with 4 different designs. 8 sheets total with matching stickers

Buy a soft toy at IKEA between Nov. 4 - Dec 24 and $1 for each one purchased will be donated to UNICEF and Save the Children.

Join Design Within Reach and Knoll for the fight against breast cancer. Bid on one of 10 Knoll benches upholstered in pink leather. The proceeds will go to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.

Whats this? A drive in movie in Manhattan? Why yes it is. It is DRV-IN, a retro style drive in cinema located at Grand Opening in the Lower East side of Manhattan. You and up to 5 other friends can watch classic films in a 1965 Ford Falcon convertible. They even have a full concession stand. Yum!

This month, to celebrate Halloween, they are featuring classic horror films of the 1960's - 2000.

photo via 139norfolk.com

GrandOpening
139 Norfolk Street
New York, NY 10002

phone: 646-478-7689
info@139norfolk.com

Oct. 11, Grayson is 8 days old and we took him for his first doctor visit. He had an excellent checkup. He now weighs 9 pounds 2 ounces. Wow! Doc says we are doing a great job!

Going past the pumpkin patch to the doctor

Huh? What's going on?

We are proud to announce the birth of our baby boy

Grayson Danger Cain
born Oct 3, 2007 at 109 am
8 pounds 12 oz
21 inches long and Ready to Rock!

watch his youtube video

Last weekend I had a huge pregnancy craving for my favorite food in the whole world- Macaroni and Cheese. Brian and I went to the East Village to check out this fun restaurant called S'MAC. They specialize in serving various mac n' cheese recipes. My meal was delicious! I had to thank the owners for such a wonderful treat.

all photos courtesy of Sarita Ekya

S'MAC is short for Sarita's Macaroni and Cheese. The restaurant is owned by husband and wife team Sarita & Caesar Ekya.

Sarita was kind enough to answer a few questions for Retro Info.

Please tell us about how you came up with the concept for S'Mac.

Eating out at niche restaurants with my husband, I casually mentioned that it would be great if there was a place solely dedicated to mac-n-cheese. We both laughed and thought it was a great idea. We couldn't shake the idea and decided we'd look into what it would take to open up a small restaurant. We figured we could do it and, voila, 9 months later S'MAC was opened.

more after the jump

Read more!

Get em' while the gettins good. If you have always wanted a modern mobile, now is the time to get one.

Julie Frith modern mobiles are on sale this weekend 20 percent off. Oh yeah!