misosouper, a shopping blog

Like a pagoda for your drinks, bedecked with a handle so your hand’s heat won’t melt the ice.

In these glasses, mint juleps on my back porch just became a religious experience.

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When friends/family/random acquaintances discover that I write a shopping blog, their most fervent request is this: give me a product that will keep my plants watered (in their own pots, as opposed to the God in a pot featured in March).  So to appease all the lazy brown thumbs in my life, I present the Plant Nanny, which comes conveniently attached to a little fluted globe that dispenses water directly to your plant’s roots. Digi types might gravitate more toward the Thirsty Light, which blinks when your plant runs dry.

I’m partial to the Plant Nanny’s design, which looks like an adorable miniature gazing ball, plus eliminates the all-important act of actually watering the plant (you just have to remember to refill the globe). It’s sweet and receptive, just like a certain helpful blogger you know.

In February, Misosouper began as a boondoggle; with an imaginary audience and imaginary ad revenue, our future was tentative, more Steve & Barry’s than Saks.

100 posts later, Misosouper has been busting out of its britches: just last week, we were featured in the Chicago Sun-Times. Tomorrow Misosouper will return to its regularly scheduled programming, but for today, thanks for playing in our sandbox. We hope the best is yet to come.

Possibly the most gorgeous engagement ring I’ve seen, diamond or otherwise. And considering the recent price of diamonds, purchasing an emerald for your beloved would be an economical (and green!) choice.

While I’m loving the pre-fab Ikea birchness of this faux deer, I’m also wondering how it would look spray-painted black. Or cerulean blue.

At Casa Misosouper, our guestroom displays our collection of vintage signs and modern proverbs. (We’re bossy like that.) They range from the ridiculous (a poster from the ’50s featuring a cowboy that proclaims, “The Louder You Are Tonight, The Quieter You’ll Be Tomorrow!) to the sublime (”It’s Nice To Be Nice.” So, so true). Nikki McClure’s gentle sensibility–ironically carved with an X-Acto knife–adds peace to the proceedings.

Cardboard furniture? Eh…not so much. As much as I embrace the innovation of modern design, these pieces are a bit too, um, scratchy toilet paper for my taste.

Cardboard vases that are appealingly Slinky-esque? Now that is a trend I can get behind.

Paraphrasing one of my favorite Lucky features: wear it now, wear it later; this little jacket is now marked down for your all-weather pleasure.

As far as Frugal Friday objects go, this one busts our normal budget, but considering the *potential* for money saved, this digital coin counter puts Coinstar (8.9% processing fee? what’s up with that?) to shame. Fill up this sucker, corral your kids/friends/neighbors to help roll your coins, then treat everyone to a gallon of gas.

Coral, rendered in aluminum: just enough industrial gravitas to stay on the urban side of beachy.