A Treasury Of… Minneapolis Fashion and Interior Design Blog

Next week I’m eligible to upgrade my phone, which I’m only partially excited about because the subpar camera on my iPhone 3GS has taken some really above-par images the past year that it’s been stashed in my pocket. The fuzzed up photos it captures I’ve found to be rather dreamy and almost Polaroid-like. (With or without post-effects apps.)

I’m crossing my fingers that the three extra megapixels, better optics, and built-in flash that’ll be heading into my hand next week won’t perfect away all the awesome imperfections I’ve gotten so used to.

Because I don’t really want to document my daily life in crisp, accurate reality. I want to keep capturing it abstracted and veiled, like it all took place 25-extra years ago on the sets of strange Sissy Spacek movies.

Speaking of which, I now present a series of never-before-seen images from the past seventeen months, taken and never Tweeted while on the sets of strange Sissy Spacek movies while I lazily lived my life.

Goodbye, ol’ phone!

When I first came across a pair of open Mountain Valley Spring Water bottles they were so Pre-War lovely that I assumed they were vintage props disguised as cocktail-hour carafes.

But I was wrong, which makes our world a little more right! Bottled at the source in Garland County, Arkansas in gorgeous green glass, Mountain Valley is available in sparkling or still varieties at the swankier of the Twin Cities supermarket chains.

So slap on some striped suspenders and mix yourself something super stiff with Mountain Valley on my behalf. I’m probably gonna just take mine straight.

The second batch of Santa’s bounty.

1. Wasp Queen Honey Flavored Syrup (in the sweetest jar ever).

2. Quirky-Colored Prize Ribbons.

3. Imported Indian Bowl & Spice Spoon.

4. Yesterday’s Candy (edible today).

5. Little Bottles of Liquid Luxury.

6. Military Grade Notebooks.

7. Sweet Potato Chocolate Bar (I’m enthralled yet half-afraid!)

8. Letterman Jacket Patch (to attach to almost anything except, probably, a jacket).

I’m saving my favorite present for last. (Be sure and check back!)

Although I flirt with and photograph Byredo bottles of fragrance, I tend to end up with whatever scent COMME des GARCONS spritzes into the ether.

The essence of the line’s newest, WONDERWOOD, is richly wooded and thickly forested – yet fine and fancy; too luscious for luggy ol’ lumberjacks. It’s the smell of black-tie in a birch grove, of tuxedos in tree houses. And although I’m not afraid of an offbeat, edgy scent WONDERWOOD’s calmer and quieter than CdG’s Man 2 or Hinoki fragrances which I also favor.

For a limited time you can indulge in any of COMME des GARCONS’ scents at 25 percent off at BeautyHabit.com with a semi-secret coupon code. The code is applicable to any of BeautyHabit’s myriad of brands including Treasury favorites Valobra soaps and shaving cremes and Couto Portuguese toothpaste.

Click below to learn the not-so-secret code, and pinky promise me you won’t make fun of me for knowing it.

Promise!

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For many, Sunday night will ooze with indulgence and idiotic indiscretions as slick-sters across America over-toast Draper’s return with three or four cocktails too many at parties both public and dangerously private.

Your doting Treasurer therefore recommends mending your Monday morning hangover with a stacked plate of dry, hard toast and a frosted, full glass of Coffee Time-laced milk. By the time you arrive at the office no one will be able to guess the shameful ways you celebrated Sunday night.

Really, if there’s anything Don’s taught us its the importance of concealing completely one’s unattractive truths.

Overnight your Coffee Time Syrup: Here or Here.

The packaging design of Arthur S. Allen, founder of the Allcolor Company, Inc., New York City and “an expert on the application of color in product packaging”.

Are there still any experts on the application of color in product packaging?

Walking into the after-shave or facial tissue sections of your neighborhood Target store today, it sure doesn’t seem like it.

I miss you, Mr. Allen.

Due to the particulars of my personal life, “Santa” stuffs my stocking three times each Christmas. The stocking I traditionally dig through last each year is always the best one. Void of flat filler like Dilbert desk calendars or uninspired drugstore deodorant, my final stocking of the season always overflows with treasures vintage, exotic, or branded beautifully. Some of this year’s top-performing stuffers:

1. Indian Salted Pumpkin Seeds.

2. Mexican Bingo Boards & Cards.

3. New Mr. Goodbar bars in old-fashioned wrappers.

4. A zoo’s worth of Cracker Jack creatures in red and wintery blue.

Because of a big-ticket item that was given to me back in November as my early, main Christmas present, most of my December 25th gifts were all tiny and thrifty stocking stuffers, actually. But I didn’t mind at all, and my materialistic core didn’t even really notice the absence of splurgy goods, believe it or not. All the small-ticket treasures in my sparkly stocking brought me huge heaps of giant-sized joy.

…I’m gonna keep that in mind at Christmas next year.

During a recent weekend in Chicago, the highlight of my shopping-oriented trip was the pile of loot I picked up at Mertz Apothecary. I’m always a sucker for grooming products packaged in ways the talented Mr. Ripley would’ve favored.

I completed three wide-eyed, slow-motion laps through each and every aisle in Mertz before narrowing down my final selections. I recognized I was on a dangerous high in the store and should temper my lust before things got tragically out of hand. The final damage was only $45 though. My only regret now is not having carted off with more.

These are the tools I’m currently using to brush my teeth, removed from their packaging. It amuses me how it appears almost as if I’m maintaining my oral hygiene with art supplies.

Is there some great reason Suave or Colgate couldn’t package their current products with a bit more style? I can never think of one.