Third Annual Birthday Sweepstakes

So all you fabulous DB fans out there know that we just turned three years old. It appears that you guys love to read us...at least 75-80 percent of the time.

If you've been with us from the beginning, you might recall that we like to give back on our birthday. Since we can't afford to fly to your house just to give you a hug, we're going to go ahead with our traditional birthday sweepstakes. [Cue game show music]


On our first birthday, we gave away items from our homes. For our second birthday, we classed it up with a waspy weekend getaway and some reader-focused shopping. We started to edge toward artsy by also gifting the winners with souvenir design boner rocks paperweights but, this year, we're getting even more personal.

Porcelain and I have recently gotten all wrapped up in art: lookin' at it, making it, even forming a club about it (details to follow). In fact, we just nabbed ourselves a gallery show to display our 6/7's (details definitely to follow). So this year, in a hastily drawn swirl of creative spirit and nostalgia, we are each giving away a piece of...

...OLD ART!

That's right! We've spent the past week going back through old sketchbooks (high school, college, commune - oh my!) and have selected two incredible (but small) pieces from our artistic pasts. We're not going to post photos of them them yet (surprise, duh) but how can you resist a Porcelain Original or a Cardboard One-of-a-Kind?

The rules are basic: leave us a comment below (and a way to contact you, should your name get pulled from the beret). We'll choose two winners to have a happy design boner birthday on us.

SORRY - the sweepstakes is over!
Deadline: Friday, June 12th @ noon CST

Lead photo credit: i can read

6 & 7

Here are our weekend photos. Sunday was an extra special day for design boner, we celebrated our 3rd blogaversary!! Visit flickr to see the entire 6 & 7 collection.

Cardboard: left, Porcelain: right

Original inspiration by Stephanie & Mav at 3191

Three Years!

Celebratory birthday drinks and ice cream cake

Three years ago today, design boner was born! We decided to celebrate the occasion by spending a fun-filled day together, along with one of our dearest friends (material name yet to be determined). Brunching, dancing, and drinks. The perfect trifecta!

At Fiddlehead Cafe, Porcelain inhaled her plate of Chilaquiles and washed it all down with a Spicy Bloody Mary. Cardboard chose the deliciously flavorful Truffled Eggs and a cup of coffee with a hint of cream.

With full tummies and just a tiny bit sleepy, we headed over to the Athenaeum Theatre to see Little Dead Riding Hood performed by Chicago Tap Theatre. Cardboard had seen two members of this dance company perform earlier this year and we were all so glad she told us about this production. Completely wowed and inspired, we all knew we'd be googling Chicago tap dance classes as soon as we returned home.

Porcelain & Cardboard celebrate turning 3 by feeding each other cake!

To close up the day, we went for a birthday drink at the sophisticated but not snotty In Fine Spirits. Cardboard chose the elegantly named Bonaventure (12 Bridges Gin, Junmai Ginjo sake, cucumber, lemon, mint) and Porcelain went with the summer classic, Pimm's Cup (Pimm's No. 1 Cup, fever-Tree bitter lemon soda, cucumber, strawberry, lemon, mint). A nearby table was also celebrating a birthday. They were sweet enough to offer us a slice of their ice cream cake, which we happily fed to one another (see photo above).

It was a perfect day with a perfect friend!!

Weekend Flings

• Do Not Watch This If You Are On Drugs
• ... But Everyone Should Go See This!!! (seen above)
• Ready-to-Wear Blossom
• Dumb Clients

If you're new around here and have no idea what this list means, click HERE for a brief and witty explanation.

Bonus Bone: Studioilse lamp

Studioilse w084t Halogen IRC Lamp, at DWR

Wood, white and red. That's my idea of perfection!

For these reasons, I, Porcelain, declare this a Design Boner.