Memorial Day is staring us in the face, which means the official start of summer. Which means Heaven. Which also means you need special things to prep for it for all trips you have planned … or will plan … or want to plan.

So here’s the first unofficial and random list of what you’ll need to have a stellar summer.

Let’s call this installment ‘an ounce of prevention,’ shall we?

Vacuum-sealed travel bags that are labeled so you can be brainless about packing and re-packing. Essential.

Boo-boo box. Don’t leave home without it.

Happy Pills. Don’t leave home without them. I can’t stress this enough.

Pack multiples. You never know.

xxxooxo,
BobbiePen.

You really need to just sit down for this one.. You may hyperventilate, actually, so have the paper bags ready. Deep, steady breaths, chickadees. Steady yourselves.

Porcelain dinnerware that arrives stacked into castles [okay, so they call them palaces, but work with me here]. Each ‘stack’ is a 7-story building that turns into a complete place setting. Which means they’re too amazing to stow in cupboards, which means it’s a whole new collection opportunity, which omg, also means you have a new place to store your shoes! Thank God. Whew, that was a close one.

Here’s how it plays out. You start here …..

…. And you end-up here ……

Pretty amazing, right?

Designed by Alessandro Zambell for Seletti&Selab, the castle palaces will be available sometime in June. I wouldn’t wait that long to pre-order, though. They are going blowout, positive.

More info, here.

xxooxxo,
BobbiePen.

2,451 pages 2,390 years 2,251 wars 432 revolutions 90 empires 7 books 1 shelf.

This incredible bookshelf is hand-carved from reclaimed wood to perfectly fit seven of the world’s most groundbreaking and influential books on the concept of power.

Beautiful, no?

The books that are included are: Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes; The Federalist Papers by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay; The Republic by Plato; On Liberty by John Stuart Mill; The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx; The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin; and Social Justice in Islam by Sayyid Qutb.

Signed by the artists Mike and Maaike, and in an edition of only 50. I would like one, please. You can have the rest.

xxooxxo,
BobbiePen.

OMG, have you ever seen anything so damn cute in your life? This is a caricature of your very own family. What a great gift, right?

Here’s the deal: you choose the character that most resembles your dad, mom, sis, bro, cat, dog or whatever, and K Studio then hand-embroiders your choices onto linen (you have other choices on that front, too). The whole thing is then transformed into wall art or pillows.

You should get this for the graduate, to remember your group with a grin. And the bride! What a great idea! Once the happy couple starts reproducing, you can add to their collection. Genius.

xxooxxo,
BobbiePen.

Maximum impact. Minimal money. Mantra words.

There’s a choice of lens color and earpiece color. Yes, you get to choose. Plus they come in this really cool case that looks pretty damn indestructible.

They’re called The Lizzie. She’s the one on the right; I don’t know who he is, but super cute, no? See the video here.

All this style for only $45.They’re here.

xxooxxo,
BobbiePen.

The fastest way to cool-up your closet is with black and white. And these go with either lemonade or martinis. I’ll take the latter, thanks very much.

Pile it on.

Strap it on.

Slide it on.

… marches on.

xxooxxo,
BobbiePen.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Not only is this the year of the tiger, but it seems it’s also the year of the cow. And the gazelle. And whatever else your little heart desires.

Creatures are everywhere this spring, and they speak volumes. You’d better get with it.

The Gazelle Ring.

The Big Bunny.

The Longhorn Ring.

The Elephanté.

The aforementioned Lion, except that it’s a leopard.

The Raven Skull.

Happy hunting!

xxooxxo,
BobbiePen.

They’re kidding, right? I have no words that can be repeated here. Memories of my mouth being washed out with soap linger to this day. Besides, what I want to say would cause lightning to strike, the earth to shimmy and shake and volcanoes to erupt in too many places worldwide. International travel just can’t take it.

If you must, get them here. They will go perfectly with a tramp tatt.

Please. I mean, really.

Cousin Itt lives, just FYI.

For those times when you can’t decide on a pattern or a solid … the all-in-one torture.

$1,600? Really?

xxooxxo,
BobbiePen.

A cupcake a day keeps the doctor away. Giddyap.

Get thee to a kitchen, stat.

xxooxxo,
BobbiePen.

We’re coming upon the time of the year I fondly call The Gift Gauntlet. Gifts for Mom, Dad, the Bride and the Grad are barreling down the pike without brakes. We all need a savings account just to get through these next two months!

Enter the Bubble Bank, a gorgeous alternative to the dull savings account.

Very cool, this bubble. Not cheap, but here’s the rationalization:
“You have to spend money to make money.”
“It’s really art.”
“You get to watch your money grow.”

Yeah, let me know if any of those work for you.
Get it here.

xxooxxo,
BobbiePen.