last week in san francisco i finally crossed paths with one of the bloggers i’ve always wanted to meet: maggie mason of mighty girl and mighty goods. in addition to being incredibly nice (and oh so much taller than me), maggie had some exciting news that she’s expanding her mighty-empire to include a new home site, launching today, called mighty haus. along with melissa summers, maggie will be focusing this new site on problem-solving home products and everyday lovelies. if you’re the type of blog reader who likes product without a lot of talk, you’re going to love mighty haus- maggie and co. are always so great at keeping things short and sweet. i’m excited to see the problem-solving home goods so i’m on my way to check things out now- click here to view the latest edition to maggie’s mighty-empire.

i’m still a little jet-lagged this morning but i am over-the-moon excited to welcome andrew wagner, editor-in-chief of american craft magazine, to the d*s guest blog! for those of you who aren’t familiar with andrew, prior to coming to american craft in late 2006, he was the executive editor and founding managing editor of dwell magazine. in 1997, wagner founded LIMN, an unorthodox design and arts magazine published by the equally unorthodox furniture and design company of the same name, and served as its editor-in-chief until 2000. wagner was also the founding editor of dodge city journal, a magazine dedicated to documenting life in america’s under-explored cities. as if all of that wasn’t cool enough, andrew has been a guest lecturer at schools across the country and has written for just about every design and architecture mag in the biz. i’m thrilled to welcome him to the d*s guest blog this week and i hope you’ll enjoy his posts. andrew has two posts today- one now and one at 12 so be sure to check back at 12 for the second! welcome, andrew!

i’m on a plane headed back to brooklyn now, but i just wanted to share some more images from last night’s fantastic show at rare device. one of the main reasons i went out was to support julia rothman and caitlin keegan- their work is so fantastic and it was awesome to see so many brooklyn (and park slope!) residents hanging out at rare device. i’ll have more next week but until then, have a great weekend! xo, grace. [image above: one of the temporary tattoos julia and caitlin brought for the show- they bunched up a bit but were super cute]

[tonight's show had dress code- jumpsuits. i chickened out and didn't wear mine but lisa and rena seriously ran with the theme- as did lisa's dog]

[one of my favorite bloggers (and my host for the week), victoria of sfgirlbybay in front of julia's work]

[julia's biggest fan- her fiance matt]

[images above: julia rothman's work and the front window of the show with mobiles by caitlin keegan]

my trip to san francisco has been fantastic (and warm!) so far and i just wanted to share a few scenes from the week before i post more tomorrow…..

[image above: hand-painted wooden apple boxes (with leather "stems") i wish i'd bought at rare device. about $24 each by miss natalie]

[image above: julia setting up her incredible houses in the window of rare device, pre-show]

[image above: i love all of the hand-drawn details on julia's houses. she also made stick-on tattoos for the opening tonight in her house patterns]

[image above: so clever- julia's house doors double as a stand for the houses]

[image above: lovely succulents outside of a design firm next to pancake and franks in the mission]

[image above: breakfast (chocolate hazelnut and cheese danishes) at la boulange in hayes valley with julia]

sorry about the slow loading today (it’s been even slower posting!). we’re aware of the problem and doing our best to remedy it as soon as possible. thank you for your patience, and hopefully we’ll be up and back to 100% soon :) - the design*sponge team

i couldn’t resist sharing this little sneak peek into the new liberty of london flagship concept shop. opening this week, this shop will be liberty’s first stand-alone store and will carry everything from clothing and accessories to jewelry and swimwear. i love all the attention to detail in the shop- especially on the floors and in the ceiling. the new store was designed by architects associe and you can visit it in person at 197 sloane street in london. [thanks, ciara!]

if you’re in the ny area be sure to check out parsons’ id annual design review- a “rare and timely look at the state of contemporary design”. there will be an opening reception at parsons on july 9th and the show will celebrate some of the best pieces of contemporary design (in the industrial design category). 131 works were selected for recognition (including my favorite marc jacobs perfume bottle and that incredibly cool bike dispenser) so be sure to check it out if you’re in the area: july 10th-september 28th at the sheila johnson design center. [thanks, leila!]

i’m beyond thrilled to welcome one of my favorite shop owners to the d*s guest blog this week. russell whitmore is the owner and curator of my favorite jewelry shop in brooklyn- erie basin. russell will be sharing all sorts of incredible design with us- including photos from his trip to brimfield later this week. click here to check out his first posts!