sometimes, (well often actually) simple is AMAZING!

When in NYC 2 weeks ago for the New York Gift Fair (posting below), we had very little time to do much other than work, sleep and breastfeed! (Well, I did the breastfeeding part)
But I did finally manage to make it to Muji the amazing Japanese store in the NY Times Building on Monday night. I had been wanting to go on the last few trips to NYC, but had never seemed to make the time.

I visited Muji for the first time in Tokyo in the 80's, it was amazing.
If you don't know about Muji, check them out http://www.muji.com/.
Simplistic, clean, interesting and useful products and accessories, from food, to the greatest desk and office stuff, to organizational pieces, to furniture, to clothing. They were true pioneers in my opinion in their store styling and displays, their affordable pricing, their eclectic yet perfectly put together product lines and their basic, yet sophisticated color pallet of unpainted wood, stainless steel, clear glass, recycled paper, white and uncolored easy on the eyes purity.
On Tuesday at the NY gift Fair, one of the Muji buyers actually came into the BlueDogz Design booth and looked around at the line, you can imagine my excitement when I noticed her name tag and realized who she was.
Her English was not great but she was adorable and wanted to know more about the line.
I told her that our products were all made of recycled wood, and she smiled and repeated..."a- wooo?"...I said, "wood" and she again said "a- woooo000?" , sounding almost the same as the first time she said it, but the rising intonation at the end convinced me that she now understood that it was wood, or, "a-woooo" as she called it- (same diff!, heck, she's a Muji buyer, she could have said "a- poooo" and I would have likely smiled and loudly said YES! that's right!).

She smiled at me and promptly left after looking things over, but I was truly thrilled that she had come in at all.
Well, back to the store...I have been in a real "not shopping" phase the past several months, only buying necessities and baby things, not really wanting to buy clothes luckily, because I still feel fat and just cutting back, because let's face it, times are tough!- but I simply couldn't resist this at Muji :

It's a notecard that came flat with an envelope, but when you open it up, look at what you get...
the NEW YORK CITY SKYLINE! all for just $8. I am totally mesmerized by it and it makes me so happy!

See the way it picks up the light? total product envy on this one!

Here is how it is made:

So simple, little die-cut layers of card stock that are stuck to the sides in rows. Tah Dah- that's it!
(oh, and they also had London and Paris...I will SO be getting the other 2).
Needless to say, this is not being used as a card or to wish anyone well, call me selfish and mean, don't care! This little piece of art went right onto my shelves, the ones that hold all kinds of my favorite things, the ones that took me 2 whole weeks to put up because our brick walls are old and not flat and uneven. (more on the shelves later!)
My Muji NYC skyline is perfect! it looks like a little stage, with perfect back drops and perfect lighting design, I love it!