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I met Braden Richter for lunch in Hollywood last week. The first thing I noticed was the laptop. In addition to being one of those radtastic titanium PCs that weigh next to nothing and can be tossed safely from an airplane, his screensaver was a picture of his son playing football that could have been a poster for Friday Night Lights.

Braden is a Los Angeles based furniture entrepreneur. As he detailed his career path for me I was slackjawed. He humbly talks about going from UCLA to making “some stuff” for someone he knew… which of course became Shabby Chic. Braden quickly left school and started a furniture manufacturing company to support Shabby Chic (literally… I think he made the stuff under under the slip covers). From there they expanded, and then they expanded again, producing furniture for every major retailer I’d pinned, googled or ogled.

Braden’s obvious talents are threefold. He knows everyone. He produces quality. He can forecast business trends.

Flash sales are awesome. I love them so much that I have a portal that brings all the flash sales to your inbox. What’s been missing has been a curated flash sale.

Enter LuxeYard. The sales are “flash” but they aren’t flash in the pan. The home furnishings are exquisite and almost without exception they are from the US. Basically you are buying from the manufacturer and skipping the retail markup.

LuxeYard is changing the landscape of flash sales in one incredible way, concierge. Let’s say I’m walking through the mall and I see the side table I must have but it’s the wrong size/price/color/finish, I snap a picture of it with my phone and upload it to the site and explain what it is about it that I need. LuxeYard’s concierge then goes about the business of sourcing that item from their vast network of furniture manufacturers and offering it to you at a wholesale price. Now, if you share that with your friends the price can go down.

LuxeYard members have the ability to push product prices down for
featured Group Buy items. Members leverage social media and social networks
to encourage others to purchase a product, which in turn drives the price down.
For example, members may purchase an item for $100; share the information on
Facebook encouraging others to buy the same product; and two days later find out
that customer demand, which they helped drive, dropped the price to $50. Everyone
who purchased the Group Buy Item will pay the final lowest price.

This week there’s a group buy for a 16 bottle wine cooler by Kalorik. It’s already below $200. I’m anxious to see how low these things can go.

There’s also a room planner which will allow you to enter images and dimensions of your room… this would have saved me about 80 bazillion returns over the years.

LuxeYard also features trendsetters. This week Nicky Hilton will share some of her favorites. Past trendsetters include Jonathan Shokrian, Amanada Rosbrook, Forbes Riley, Faye Resnick, Bobby Berk, and Daniella Clarke. If you check out the LuxeLife it’s like Pinterest went Luxe.

I’m excited about LuxeLife. I look at Braden Richter and I see a man who has a deep understanding of the furniture business and an uncanny ability to to predict it’s trends. Social shopping has always existed. I’ve shopped with friends since my adolescence, now all these years later Group Buys offer us the chance to shop with our friends and be rewarded for it. I have a feeling that I’ll be sharing group buys here. Maybe y’all can help me make this home office into a space I can enjoy a little.

Recently the folks at Sleep Number asked me if I’d like to try their bed. I told them that I was sleeping on their bed, but I wasn’t very cozy with it. This wasn’t the answer that they were looking for and I tried to explain to them how very hot the bed was. I told the rep that I’d even considered the Dux bed as a replacement but then I remembered that we work for our money and that a five figure bed is for someone rich or stupid, perhaps a little of both.

We talked a little more and I explained that Mr. G. and I were just roasting at night. They suggested that we go to the highest sleep number and we realized that we’d both crept up there over the years. Effectively we were laying on, not in, the mattress. The next step for us would have been to add one of those egg cratey looking things on top of the mattress for a little added ventilation but then I was assured that the Sleep Number i8 would be a massive upgrade from our old 500 series and that there was an egg cratey thing involved.

I need you to know that I was skeptical. So skeptical that I didn’t allow them to remove my old mattress. I had a feeling that this might not work out.

Thank goodness I was wrong.

There’s a whole process to buying a Sleep Number bed and if you’re reading this blog you’re just nerdy enough to really appreciate it. When you’re at the mall stop by the Sleep Number store even if you don’t need a bed and find out your sleep number (yes, I realize they employ the same marketing tactics as crack dealers). If you’re curious about the entire process Kim wrote a great post and you can read it here. If you want to see what it was like for me watch this.

After you find your sleep number and pick your bed you schedule a delivery. My delivery was interesting. Again, this is not my first Sleep Number bed and I did remember that they’d been lovely to deal with in the past. I was not at all surprised when they sent out two delivery men that were clean and nice. I peppered them with questions about the bed and then asked them if they knew anything special about the delivery. Often times when people know I’m a blogger I get extra special service. These two knew nothing (or were incredible actors straight from Central Casting) and I can only assume that everyone gets the same thoughtful and tidy service (I made them slip their shoes off to come in the house).

Now to the good part. The sleeping part.

Something has changed with Sleep Number. We liked our last bed… until we didn’t like it. But we did have 8 good years and someone else is enjoying it now.

The i8 is amazing. I cannot tell you how much I love getting into bed and how happy I am to be swaddled in it all night long. It’s an interesting sensation to drop into a bed that is really quite firm but at the same time envelops you. If you have Rheumatoid Arthritis like I do the Sleep Number bed can be a godsend. Imagine if you will that you’ve just had an imperfect night’s sleep. You wake up with a stiff back and it takes a few hours to work it out. If you’re me and you have RA coupled with a bad night’s sleep you can just give up on the day. It’s narcotics for breakfast and prayers for lunch. I really don’t screw around with my body anymore and that’s why I didn’t let them take my old bed away, it may have been overly warm, but it let me feel good.

When I was in the store finding out my sleep number the sales lady was talking to me about the adjustable bed frame. I was all like, “Listen lady I spend half my life telling people arthritis isn’t just for old people, I’m not getting a hospital bed before my time.”

And then she smiled and explained to me that most buyers were actually really young and into technology. That by lifting the feet just the tiniest bit they are able to sleep comfortably on their backs… which could mean no icky pillow to face wrinkles in the morning.

The i8 was and is a wonderful bed. I shipped the old bed off to a family that doesn’t have means for a new one and the fact of the matter is that after eight years it really doesn’t show any signs of wear. Now I’ve got to decide if I want to spring for that adjustable frame. It’s been calling my name.

As a blogger I have a unique opportunity to tell you about brands that I interact with on regular basis. It’s easy for me to tell you when they’re not doing things right, but it’s much more difficult to show you a brand that’s exceeding my expectations. Mostly it’s difficult because I have ridiculously high expectations.

For Alexander’s tenth birthday all he wanted was a pair of Reebok Zigs. So I bought him a pair, my mom bought him a pair, and then he looked online and saw that you can personalize your zigs. I swear that little red head of his almost spun right off his shoulders. He was so excited to build his own pair of zigs that he went a little crazy and built these.

On the inside they say “I rock”. Alexander’s self esteem appears strong and healthy.

There were only two problems with Alexander’s shoes.

1. They cost $135.12 after tax and shipping
2. They take approximately 5 weeks to arrive.

Again, since it was his tenth birthday and the boy really don’t love anything quite so much as a good baseball cap or a pair of shoes I went ahead and made the purchase. They arrived a little late (I had no clue when we went to order that it would take up to five weeks) but that was fine because he had his other new zigs.

Alexander went on to wear those shoes to school every single day from August 15th until last week. Last week the sole began to separate from the shoe. Since Alexander is a little boy I’m very used to buying new shoes in quick succession, but I’m also used to paying $60 or less for a pair of shoes. When they begin to fall apart I don’t typically feel upset by it. When I pay $135 I’m looking for my son to outgrow his shoes.

So I called up Reebok and spoke a really nice lady on the phone. I explained to her that the shoes were beginning to separate from the sole and that they were about 6 weeks old. She gave me an email address and asked me to please snap a picture of the defects and send it along.

I thanked her and hung up the phone and promptly forgot all about it.

The following day I came home and there was a voicemail message to please remember to email a picture to Reebok. Are you kidding me? They’re calling me to remind me to ask for my money back? I upload the pictures and about two hours later I get a call from Reebok. They would like to send me another pair of the shoes.

I thank them profusely because they really are doing the right thing, but with a 5 week wait time we have two issues.

1. Alexander will be at least another half size larger
2. Red and Blue will no longer be interesting to him

I was put on a brief hold and the customer service representative gave me a coupon code to be used on the website for the $135.12. Alexander can pick new colors… whatever he needs.

I’m a convert. Not only do I absolutely adore Reebok for going above and beyond in a clear attempt to delight us, but I love Reebok.com because they have all your order information right there and you can forget about paper receipts and putting on pants to go out of the house.

I know that I purchased The Help on January 7, 2010 because my Amazon account told me so. It was a good book. It wasn’t great. It started beautifully and everyone loves a good Southern Novel. There’s richness in the characters of south that we all love.

I wanted to love the book. I devoured the first two thirds of the book but then I was disappointed as the author dragged the ending out and had a need to package it up tidily. I saw the movie and I think it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a movie and thought, “that was better than the book.”

I know some people find the movie offensive. I guess I can see that. Historically it’s probably at least partly accurate but I sat alone in the movie theater wondering what I would do if one of my past housekeepers walked in. Would I sit with her? Would I know her children’s names?

We had help. Barbara came three times a week to our house after school and her daughter Debbie babysat us every morning before school. Debbie only missed one day of work. It was to go to the radio station and see Peter Frampton on his birthday. When I was six Debbie was a few minutes late to watch us, she was crying. Her father had just died.

I loved going to Barbara’s house. She would make us Jello recipes like the ones Bill Cosby showed on commercials. She used Cool Whip and she even had white bread. She said fuck and shit a lot. She’d taught herself English and apparently had started with the cussing. I loved Barbara and I’d like to believe that Barbara loved me back. We celebrated many Mother’s Days with Barbara and my mom. They were the women who shaped us.

When I was pregnant Barbara helped me get my house in order. Shortly after Jane was born Barbara died and I unimaginably raised a child that she never really knew.

In my teenage years there were Nellies, and Marthas, there were Letties and Mayras, but in my heart there was only Barbara. I’m not sure that The Help isn’t a movie that couldn’t be filmed today. I look at the Dream Act and those who would like to kill it, and I wonder if they were ever rocked by a Central or South American Nanny who sang them songs, and with a slip of the tongue called them by the wrong name, her own child’s name.

I don’t think The Help is our past. For a completely different (and probably better written) perspective read this. Now.

Two words: Accident Avoidance.

I spent a fun week in the Infiniti EX35. It’s a fabulous crossover SUV for a small family (one or two kids). The Infiniti seats five very comfortably and the kids loved the stadium seating in the rear. Car rides are more fun when everyone has a view, and it’s a lot easier to hand things to kids in the back seat when they’re up a little higher.

There’s a ton of storage space and a few compartments to hide your valuables. I am madly in love with the navigation system and the integrated Zagat restaurant guide. This is a good solid car. It’s not flashy, but it’s luxurious, it’s not the fastest off the line, but it’s powerful and accelerates nicely. It’s Infiniti so there’s a trim level that you’ve come to expect and this vehicle delivers.

Like I said, it’s a fun drive. The handling is very standard Japanese handling. It’s a squishy ride so you don’t feel the road like you would with a German automobile, but you aren’t totally removed from it as you could be in an oversized luxury sedan. I drove fast (the freeway) and I drove slowly (carpool line), I drove responsibly and I drove a little less responsibly and the car yelled at me.

Well, it didn’t scream Jeezus lady slow down before you kill someone, or WTF stay in your own lane. But it did beep those two things at me. The first time it happned I thought the car was falling apart.

As I was taking the kids to camp (maybe a tad bit late) I approached a car at the stop sign in front of me a little faster than I ought to have and the car started beeping at me, something lit up on the dashboard and I was jolted out of my reverie so that I could apply the brake (forward collision warning). Driving on the highway it had the same feature, as I began to drift toward one edge of the lane it would ding at me that I was drifting (lane departure warning).

Alexander and I thought the accident avoidance was incredibly cool so we spent ten miles on the 405 drifting to one edge of the lane and waiting for the beeping.

I’m including a window sticker for the 2011 EX35 Journey that I drove. The base price is just over $36,000 and the one I was in was quite well equipped.

Jane Devin has written a book. It is without a doubt the best book I’ve read in at least a year. I’ve not read the ending so I wouldn’t be able to tell you if it’s one of my top five, but assuming that Jane nailed the ending it will be.

You see, I can’t finish the book slowly enough, let me explain.

In January I came across a post titled Snooki Makes Me Want to Off Myself: My Rant About Simon & Schuster Dipping Into the Celebrity Cesspool. I’m reasonably certain that Annika or Nina shared it with me, and this post made me fall in love with the author’s writing style. I went through her archives and sent her a note begging to be one of the people who could read her book when it was done. I might have even connected her with an agent, but I don’t think that worked out all that well. Too bad for the agent.

Several weeks ago Jane sent me a zip file with her book in it. Because I don’t pay very close attention I started reading it, got a hundred pages in on day one, and sent her an email saying, “My gawd, you really do punish the protagonist.”

Jane replied to me, “It’s a memoir.”

I gasped, because I couldn’t quite believe what I was reading, but I couldn’t not believe it. I’m totally engrossed in the story and Elephant Girl has made me believe in the goodness of people while making me wonder if evil fills vacuums.

The writing is mesmerizing and the path is glorious filled with small victories and larger defeats, but somehow makes me feel alive and empowered. One of my favorite books of all time is The Color of Water, and Elephant Girl reminds me of this so much both in that it’s hopeful without being silly and because of that I’m unwilling to finish the book.

When I read James McBride’s memoir (and tribute to his mother) I stopped reading about thirty pages from the end and started reading a page a day. This way I was able to make the book last longer. I’m 30 pages from the end of Elephant Girl and I absolutely refuse to finish it in a timely manner. I’ll be reading a page a day for the next month. I’m not ready to put it down.

So Jane, this is my apology to you. I’m sorry that I can’t hurry and give you feedback about your book. Thus far it is magnificent and I love it about a thousand times more than I could ever love your blog. I found one typo, but the execution is flawless. Offering you writing tips would be as outrageous as tidying up a Picasso.