a tableau
my sylvanian family went on vacation
The family has a big day planned.
The dad has been ready for 45 minutes and is about to load the minivan with the picnic gear and food. He is hungry and wants to GO.
The mom got ready, turned off all the lights, made sure the stove wasn’t on, and is calling for their daughter. Actually, she has been kind of quiet for the last hour. Where is she?
Ok. She’s watering the table.
“I’m watering the flowers! I’m going to grow flowers! It’s going to be so pretty!”
That’s what happens when you have a child with a “rich inner world” and “boundless imagination.” She got all dressed up her in her fairy costume and your beret to go on a picnic and walk all over the breakfast table because she’s watering flowers on it.
It’s quite possible there will be no picnic. They may have to spend the next 3 hours cleaning. I hope they just throw a few towels on it, go eat lunch, and come back to actually clean later.
Meanwhile, it’s 12:30PM and these guys just woke up. Actually, one of them is still asleep.
background
My brother used to be obsessed with Tsum Tsums. When he was 3, he would carry a group of emotional support Tsum Tsum plushies in a small backpack. During one Christmas he got a pack of plastic Tsum Tsum figurines, and I copped Marie with his permission, years after his obsession passed.
I saw Jay Lampy had Soy so I needed to find Soy. I didn’t realize they were actually different models until I rewatched this video!
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I didn’t make the mini house or table scene myself. I think somebody went on a crazy frenzy making a ton of miniature kits and then donated their least favorite two dozen to Goodwill. That’s crazy because those miniature kits take HOURS to make. By the time I got to Goodwill, there were only 5 left because apparently some other woman bought about 20 the previous day, not long after the sets were donated. I left behind a tiny Japanese restaurant.
miniatures spotting
Barbie to Anna Karenina: The Cinematic Worlds of Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer, at The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
at Inretrospect, a shop selling midcentury modern furniture and goods in Huntington Beach
For $500 you can furnish your dollhouse with midcentury modern Herman Miller miniature prototypes. One day, my yet to be acquired Maileg mice will become the landlords of a second property designed by Alvar Aalto that they lease to a prosperous sylvanian family. That home will be furnished in this style.
I just get the vibe that the Maileg mice know something about Nordic coziness.
I kind of pined for miniature set, but something even better and more appropriate showed up in my life.
In an amazing stroke of luck, I found this midcentury modern table (and 6 chairs) on Facebook Marketplace, sold by an older woman who was clearing out the home of her aunt who had passed away. By getting the set for $200, I felt like I was getting a piece of generational wealth. I don’t even care if I’m on your to-rob list and you despise my good fortune. Good luck moving these down 2 flights of stairs.
The Whole Foods wine section is a microcosm of wedding industry graphic design trends
Branding is especially important for wine because it’s a field of extreme knowledge asymmetry between the buyer and producer. If the vocabulary of wine is not accessible, the consumer needs to rely on other cues, like design. It makes perfect sense to buy wine on vibes because the companies are invested in selling you wine that they think you will like based on your aesthetic preferences. You convinced yourself to drink ube cream top matcha because it was purple and green; why not get the wine with the cute French bistro vibe and a bird on it?
That handwritten casual design style has a CHOKEHOLD on canva right now. I see it on wedding stuff everywhere.
It’s pretty popular on Minted too.
Left is minted, right is withjoy
Minted
WithJoy
See what I mean?