The only thing sadder than the Framingham Massachusetts rest area at 11:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve is a massage chair in said rest area, stuck in between the candy machine and the men’s room on Christmas Eve. What’s even sadder than that is a pair of them. And the saddest thing of all, is that the sign above them says “Chairs Are For Massages Only.” So non-paying sitters are not welcome to wait for their loved ones outside of the bathroom unless they are feeding quarters to the chairs.

How stiff would your muscles have to be to tempt you into sitting in one of these? Anyway, looking at this picture made me feel oh so much better about every single chair I have in my house. It’s also making me think that putting a real spa in a rest area is not a bad idea.

What’s the most bizarre thing you have seen in a rest area? Let me know in the comments section – I’ve got the post-holiday blues and I’m feeling really uninspired!

By the way, this post reminds me of one I wrote back in 2005, where I linked y’all over to 50 Sad Chairs by Bill Keaggy. It’s still one of my favorite things on the interwebs and I’m happy to report it’s still up and running. In fact, there is even a book, published in 2008, called 50 Sad Chairs (go figure). You can still find it on Amazon:

There’s also a Flickr group called Sad Chairs. I think I’ll be over there checking out the 1400+ submissions they have for the next few hours. Come join me if you want!

Happy Holidays Everyone! For those of you who may have asked Santa for more dangerous gifts this year, please be careful not to poke your eyes out. Also, don’t stick your tongue on frozen flagpoles or let a pack of wild dogs eat your dinner.

Merry Christmas!

Hey All! I realize since I’ve now seen this video, that the whole world probably has (well, approximately 150K people) but it’s pretty neat. Who knew the Ukrainians had such mad light engineering skills?

She uses tah-ah-ah-an-ger-ines…I’m never going to get that stupid song out of my head now. Thanks a lot Pantone. I have no idea what exactly inspired their pick for 2012, but as someone whose high school and college colors involved orange, I’ll take it. Wish I still had my tangerine Guess? jeans from the ’80s, in fact. Yeah right, as if those would still fit.

Anyhoo, wondering how to get in on some tangerine action around the house? Check out these colorful products.

Love this fun Tiki Stool by Offi. The best thing about it? You can move it from room to room and out to the deck or patio.

Add this fashionable hue to your tablescape with Chilewich’s Rectangle Spun Placemats.

Get coastal with tangerine with this grahpically stunning coral rug from Thomas Paul.

Nothing’s more fun that pops of tangerine in a a pop floral print. Check out Three Sheets 2 the Wind’s Ani Wildflower pillow.

You can touches of tangerine via these eye-popping shower rings from Kontextur. They’re like the earrings of the bathroom.

Kiddos like tangerine too. We love this colorful bus frame from DwellStudio.

Bend seating is a new classic modern line of chairs that I love, and no color can top this happy orange.

A clockwork orange? Sorry, you know I can never let a dumb pun or reference pass by me. This ingeniuous little alarm clock by ANYTHING will brighten up your nightstand or desktop. Speaking of desktops, ANYTHING also makes a bright stapler, tape dispenser and scissors to help perk up your workspace – check them all out here.

Fido needs to be fashionable too! Why not pick him up a fresh Fatboy Doggielounge to start the new year off right?

How will you be incorporating tangerine, or better yet, how do you incorporate it now? Do you wear it proudly on your nails everyday, or do you rather hate it in general? Let us know in the comments section!

Top image from pantone.com.

For a lot of you this will be a weekend of gift wrapping. Get out your Scotch tape, your gift tags, your ribbons, your raffia, perhaps some Happy Tape, your boxes and your wrapping papers ready. Here is a list of some of our favorite resources around the web to inspire you.

1. I feel we must start with Martha. If you try to emulate her to perfection, you’ll probably drive yourself nuts, but her gorgeous wrapping ideas may spark some more simple ideas. This one’s easy – silver wrapping paper, a few different ribbons in fun patterns, and some berry doodads:

photo: Marthastewart.com

2. Real Simple.com: I always count on Real Simple for great ideas that won’t be too tough to execute:

photo: Kate Seers for RealSimple.com

While they recommend making this paper on the computer, you could do the same thing with butcher block paper or brown wrapping paper and a Sharpie.

3. CountryLiving.com: Grab a few colored tapes from the craft store. You can find graphic tape at an art supply store, Happy Tape, or even some fun colors of painter’s tape from the hardware store, and create a fun pattern on your package. This idea came from Oh Joy! – in fact, I think that’s the blog that led me to Happy Tape years ago:

photo: Philip Friedman/Studio D for Countryliving.com

4. Unruly Things: If you’re feeling particularly crafty, take a note from Japan and wrap your gifts in fabric – it’s an eco-friendly alternative to throwaway paper that will leave your giftee with a scarf or gorgeous piece they can sew into a throw pillow or frame. Feeling extra-extra crafty? Create your own fabric via this tutorial, and get a result like this one:

photo: Unruly Things

5. Design*Sponge: This is a classic Design*Sponge post I always refer back to. I always keep brown mailing paper, raffia and cheap paper tags in stock for all occasional wrapping, and this post showed me how to step up my game a bit. Guest blogger Amy Merrick has several ingenious ideas in this post, be sure to check it out:

photo: Amy Merrick for Design*Sponge

6. Craftzine.com: Yes, we’ve all seen the clever (and not so clever) ways to wrap with newspaper, but this tutorial goes to the next level – crafting gift bags from the paper. So empty out the recycling bin and get to work!

photo: craftzine.com