Awesome Living

The #1 bar in Victoria, BC and one of Canada’s 50 best, the gorgeous Q Bar at the iconic Fairmont Empress is a wowser. Equally stunning is its magical signature drink which changes colors from bold indigo to soft pink. Canada’s oldest craft distillery, Victoria Distillers, created indigo Empress 1908 Gin to do the trick.

Despite its low alcohol content and questionable flavor, White Claw spiked selzer has become something of a cultural phenomenon. Now you can enjoy the delightful citrus fragrance without the hangovers with this lemongrass candle from Meriwether. It’s made from an upcycled can and hand-poured soy wax.

The Fall 2020 collection from Field Notes includes captivating covers from nine independent letterpress shops around the country. Each shop was provided with a different color of paper, and the same two red and blue inks, and asked to create a design. Learn more about the artists in the accompanying short documentary.

Ceramics artist Patricia Darden creates beautiful and substantial hand-thrown functional pottery in her Norfolk, Virginia studio. We really love this 11″ bowl with its two-toned speckled glaze and an undulating blue wave pattern running through its middle.

Orange22 Modern’s‘s minimal furniture piece combines a display shelf with a laptop desk. When not in use, the desk surface slides flush with the top, and when open, it creates a 31.5″w x 23.5″d desktop, with a space for for accessories and office supplies. Sale price through 9.21.20 @12pm PDT on Touch of Modern.

Do you prefer to row your own gears? Share your love for manual transmissions with one of these tiny shifters for your keychain. It has a tiny shift lever with a 6-speed gated setup. They come in a variety of colors, as well as coilover shock, crankshaft, disc brake, and turbocharger versions.

After building a high-end gaming PC into a desk, Matt of DIY Perks realized the illusion is completely ruined when placing a monitor on top of it. So he made a hidden ultrawide display that stows inside of a matching wood veneer and aluminum bookshelf. Now he just needs an invisible keyboard and mouse.

Developed by a physical therapist and bike enthusiast, these unique handlebar grips are designed to improve ergonomics and comfort by rotating your hands into a more natural position when riding. They also help to reduce vibrations. Available in composite or carbon fiber materials.

Han Solo is frozen in carbonite, and the only way to save him is to pull him out of this waffle iron and slather him with maple syrup and butter! Pangea’s Star Wars appliance cranks out super-thick waffles, each embossed with the familiar frozen form of Solo before Boussh/Leia finally rescued him. (Thanks Laura!)

Ready to flip the bird to every driver on the road during your daily commute? Take the edge off your automotive angst with this calming aromatherapy spray. Scented with balsam fir, it’ll remind you of a Christmas tree, and makes your car smell great too.

These days, it’s more important than ever to keep your hands clean and avoid contact with surfaces that others might have touched. STOGO’s all-day gloves not only protect your hands, their fabric kills 99% of bacteria and germs in less than 2 hours. They also have conductive index and thumb tips for touchscreen devices.

Celebrate your love for latkes, your passion for pastrami, and your cravings for challah with these fun laser-engraved keychains from the Jewish Food Society. Thinking about these deli foods is making us hungry… except that gefilte fish.

Do the birds in your neighborhood have an appreciation for contemporary art and architecture? Then set them up with one of sculptor Joe Papendick’s modern metal bird feeders. Each one is hand-welded from steel and coated with rust-proof enamel in a color of your choice. A stainless steel screen holds the bird seed in place.

The goose in Untitled Goose Game causes all kinds of trouble. Thanks to Nihilist Grandma, you can put this annoying avian to good use. Their 3D-printed statue has a strong magnet installed under its beak for holding small tools, keys, or other metal objects. Comes in 9″ and 14″ sizes. Expect lengthy ship times due to popularity.

Designer Ian Stell created the Waldhexen, an innovative coffee table that can change shapes by pushing or pulling on its six sides. It it’s made from an arrangement of hinged maple slats that look like long popsicle sticks. We found one of the rare pieces for sale from NYC’s Patrick Parrish. Original video by Evan Orensten.

Enjoy a refreshing bath or shower with Juniper Ridge’s all-purpose liquid soap that evokes the aromas of a serene and green forest. Its scents include spicy resin, fresh evergreen needles, and crisp mountain air. Made with 100% plant-based ingredients, free of nasty chemicals, and packed in a recyclable bioplastic sugarcane bottle.

This delightfully fragrant candle combines the scents of freshly-clipped grass with cedar and green banana. It burns for about 60 hours and is made from 100% pure soy wax. Its packaging is also biodegradable and has grass seeds infused into its paper.

Rock out with all your favorite metal bands every time you take a nap. These silly home accessories from Threadless and designer Grant Shepley looks like concert posters, but the headliners and second-stage acts are all made entirely from actual metal. Available in blankets, duvets, throw pillows, shower curtains, and bath mats.

Get away from it all in this Corrales, New Mexico 1-bedroom / 1.5-bath cottage that’s perfect for pet owners. Hosted by Marina & Mark, this AirBNB property is set on a 2.5-acre lot, with trails, and nearby access to village shops, markets, and more. The hosts offer free pet and babysitting, and 100% of rental fees go to An Act of Dog.

Keep dry on the course no matter how heavy the rain is falling with one of these massive golf umbrellas from Bagail. Made from high-quality micro-weave fabric, they come in 58″, 62″, and 68″ diameters, and offer a sturdy fiberglass shaft and dual-canopy design that prevents damage from wind gusts.

Never burn your hands while using your BBQ grill again. These gloves are made from heat resistant Dayan aramid fiber, which can take temperatures as high as 1472°F. Silicone dots provide a non-slip surface for handling grilling tools and other items. One size fits all. Available with black, blue, red accents.

These rugged gear boxes from THYRM not only offer a safe, dustproof, waterproof home for your gadgets and other small items, they can be configured with a proprietary signal blocking polymer that keeps your tech off the grid if you truly need to get away from it all. Blocking version available direct from THRYM.

Do you have a tendency to get into all kinds of trouble? Document your many trials and tribulations in this red velvet journal letterpressed with “Consequences of My Own Actions (Volume 1)” on its cover. The 5″ x 7″ journal is perfect for keeping track of all of your bad decisions, so you can either avoid or replicate them in the future.