Friends. Texans. People who love food. I’m excited to show you something we made. It’s a logo and a website. For an amazing place: Revival Market. Revival is a locally-sourced grocer, butcher shop, coffee shop, and restaurant all wrapped up in one hip store that opened in March, in Houston. We had the great honor (and luck) of getting to design for these folks, and we couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out. Co-owners Ryan Pera (from Charlotte, y’all!) and Morgan Weber were the best kind of clients: smart, interested, opinionated and creative. No wonder the store is so filled with awesome.

The website just launched and let me tell you — it seriously makes me wish I lived in Houston. Drought be damned.

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I hope you have a chance to take a look at the site. And if you live in Houston and have not been to Revival yet, please. PLEASE. Do yourself a favor and head over there this week. I promise you’ll thank me for it.

Way back in 2008 I met someone who changed my life for the better.

Kirtsy was throwing a party with Guy Kawasaki, at his house. We had spent the past 3 days toiling in the sun, stuffing swag bags, arranging tables, organizing shuttles and managing preparations for a party that was as grand as any of our weddings. Finally we all disappeared into the hidden corners of Guy’s house to change into our party clothes. The transformation when we all emerged was glorious. Everyone was sun-kissed, flushed with excitement and beautiful. As we walked around reveling in our creation, I found myself in front of Lisa Albrecht and Adrienne Adair (Laura’s favorite art director), both of whom I had met just that day. When I complimented Lisa on her amazing earrings, I never expected what came next: she took them off and gave them to me.

Turns out her dad makes them. By the hundreds. Gorgeous, hand-blown, colorful glass discs, suspended on long, slender, silver rectangles. They are unlike anything I have ever seen before. Despite Lisa’s pleading with her dad, he won’t sell them. Instead he gives them all to her to wear. Their deal is, whenever someone compliments her on them, she gives the earrings to that person. Have you ever heard of anything that exuded such good karma? I hadn’t either.

I was so shocked that I actually accepted them.

Then, holding my own earrings in my hand, I started feeling bad. Here she is at this huge party with gorgeous earrings and now she has nothing. So I offered her mine. They paled in comparison to the candy-like drops she had given me, but it felt better. Then we went off and partied and didn’t see each other again.

Every time I wore my new earrings, which I did often, I got complimented on them. (But I never give mine away. Sorry.)

Then one day I got a box in the mail. Inside was the entire contents of the picture above, including a letterpressed Thank You note. It was from Lisa (and her father). Thanking me for giving her my earrings. Does that make any sense to you? She gives me gorgeous earrings that cause everyone who sees them to notice them, I give her an old pair of earrings that no-one even notices anymore. And she sends me a thank you present?

To this day, my heart leaps for joy whenever I see her.

And I want you to know her. In addition to giver of beautiful earrings, she is the brains and brawn behind the amazing LaundryTree, purveyor of Soap Nuts.

Don’t know about SoapNuts? Dude, they are a fruit. That gets your laundry clean. And they totally work. And they’re completely, unadornedly, all natural. Isn’t that a beautiful thing?

Beautiful Lisa being painted by the lovely Katherine Center.

So go check Lisa out. And if you meet her, be sure to compliment her on her earrings. And tell her how much I adore her.

Haiti remains a place of profound need, anguish, desperation and danger, with a few glimmers of hope and slowly growing capabilities to receive and distribute the international aid now flowing in. Sporadic looting, sometimes violent, was met with force by security officials and ordinary citizens, resulting in a number of further deaths and injuries. The tenuous security situation has led to at least one temporary evacuation of a medical facility, to protect the care-givers. Despite the long time since the earthquake, at least five people were pulled from the rubble alive this weekend, including a young girl trapped inside a supermarket who was fortunately surrounded by food, and survived on fruit snacks.

Looking for ways to contribute but still unsure how to go about it? Charity Navigator sorts and ranks charities to help you find one you can trust. For Haiti and countless other situations.

(Description and images from The Big Picture at boston.com)

We love our Sigg bottles. Not only do they help save the world by reducing plastic bottle waste, but they look cool too, thanks to the great designs and cool metal bottles. But if you’re still left wanting more better design, look no further. Sigg has apparently partnered with Café Press to enable you to customize your own Sigg bottle. You can upload images, type in your own text and then see the bottle in a variety of action shots. Awesome.

Customize your Sigg bottle here.