ShopPHAG

At one point or another, we have all stood before the beautiful counter of designer temptation. With a credit card in one hand saying, “You deserve it!”, and logic begging the question, “Are you really about to charge a wallet, which is designed to hold money, because it costs more money than you even have?” We have all stood there, and some of us caved and clicked that card on the counter, while the rest of us hung our head and walked away. And unless you’re ridiculously wealthy, if you were in the group of people that handed over the card, as beautiful as that fine Italian leather wallet was, it probably wasn’t worth it.

I’m willing to admit, I am among you. She was a richly-pigmented peony leather with a coordinating triangle of luxury, and there was no reason for me to spend greater than one week’s pay on a wallet when I barely had money for coffee, but I did, and I’m fairly certain I’m still paying for at least part of it! I’m not going to hide that it’s still a very nice wallet. However, it is a bit boring. Sure, it’s great quality, there’s no denying that, but no one has ever asked, “Oh my god, where did you get that? It’s so unique!” I have never looked at it and laughed at its clever design. It’s just a nice wallet, that I paid several hundred very nice dollars for.

I’m older and smarter now, and have since realized that whether it’s wallets or watches, you can find something you love that’s well under $50. There are things that make sense to spend more money on, like really great furniture and car insurance. But wallets are no longer on my list of permissible luxuries, which is certainly not to say I have given up on having a cool wallet. Far from it! I have given up on having a wallet whose ability to inspire me will never even come close to matching it’s crazy price tag. And there’s a few wallets here at shopphag.com that perfectly illustrate exactly why I feel I’m not compromising a thing!

• While carrying around real bacon in your pocket isn’t a really hot idea, carrying around a Bacon Wallet is. A touch of terrific irony, our funny and fashionable bacon wallet is actually animal-friendly, constructed of fabulously faux leather to suit everyone’s budget and lifestyle. And at just $14.50, you can save your platinum card a workout while giving your wardrobe a meaty makeover!

• Bacon not your breakfast favorite? Perhaps the perfect accompaniment to your cup of coffee comes with a pat of butter. Don’t worry – we have the novelty wallet for you too! Our Toad brings the same great low price as our bacon wallet, and features a fun bread-shape. Perfectly-browned to save you some green, this is a fun and funky choice for guys and girls. And if you want to have a balanced breakfast, you can always pick your favorite of the two and gift the other to your best friend or other lucky loved one!

Halloween is getting frightfully close, and at shopphag.com we couldn’t be more excited! There’s nothing not to love about this holiday, with candy and costumes just clawing at the surface of all the fun Halloween brings. And whether you’re hosting a fabulous party, or having a quiet night in to welcome all the little pirates and princesses with sugary treats, Halloween decorations that bring style and a smile are a must! shopphag.com dug up some of the ‘ghoulist’ stuff around, and we’re about to share…if you dare!

• A Halloween party essential, a bowl of punch not only allows you to brew up something spooktacularly delicious, but also lets the functional party essentials be an important aspect of the dreadful decor. Gone are the days of settling for a clear plastic bowl – shopphag.com unearthed this metallic Skull Punch Bowl just dying to be a part of your party! Complete with a ‘bone handle’ ladel, this glossy ceramic bowl features tiny dangling silver skulls and a raised bone design at the base. This is definitely the highest-quality Halloween accessory we’ve ever seen, and we’re certain you’ll find a reason to bring it out more than once a year! Halloween in July, anyone?

• Getting your fill of candy corn was never so dangerous! A perfect accompaniment to our punch bowl, our Animated Skull Candy Jar will gladly keep your sweets safe for you, but will surprise your guests with a creep-tastic cackle when they walk by or reach in for a taste. If your decor leans a little toward the dark side, you can easily enjoy this terrific accessory all year.

• No matter how much you’d love to leave your clumsy friends off the Halloween party invite list, the truth is it just wouldn’t be a party without them. Sure, they break something just about every time they visit, but they more than make up for it with a well-stocked MP3 player of dance-worthy tunes you’ve never even heard, and can get everyone laughing and mingling, even if it means they have to knock back and knock over a martini while doing it. Just take a deep breath, hide the really expensive stuff, and use these Frightful Food Towels to clean up the mess. With your choice of ‘Skullions’, ‘Warlocks & Bagels with scream Cheese’, and my personal favorite, ‘Deviled Eggs’, you’ll almost look forward to them spilling something just so you can clean it up with something clever. OK, not quite look forward to it…but almost!

Now go have some fun! No matter how much I wish it wasn’t so, Halloween really does only happen once a year. And as anxiously as I wait for it, it ‘ghost’ so fast.

image courtesy of failblog.org

Every once in awhile, even one of our favorite sites gets something not-quite-right, which happened recently with FAILBlog.org. If you aren’t familiar with FAILBlog, it’s a pretty awesome site that points out the randomly ridiculous through pictures for readers to enjoy and comment on. For example, a recent Nursery Fail showcases an unfortunate placement of a gun rack just to the left of a baby crib, while a personal favorite of mine, Supplement Name Fail, is a classic in the ‘that doesn’t quite translate’ realm of things! The site is without a doubt one of the funniest on the web, regularly cranking out all manner of the accidentally hilarious. But when our brick-and-mortar store, PHAG, was featured for an Acronym Fail, FAILBlog missed the mark. We kinda know that phag is full of meanings, and state such on Our Company Home Page.

In short, PHAG is for everyone. We welcome each and every member of our community, and each and every person that walks through our doors or finds their way to our web site, with open arms. It’s a phantastic, phabulous world of different people, different views, different everything really! And we love every second of the uniqueness each of us brings to the table.

We want to thank all of the wonderful people that jumped to our defense in the comments and clarified that our acronym is a far cry from a fail. You’ve proven to us once again that friends of PHAG are the best friends anyone can hope for, and that you’re onboard with the journey to a more accepting world right along with us, even if the voice that calls for that acceptance is sometimes an unpopular one. We also want to thank FAILBlog for the publicity – there’s no such thing as bad press! And we want them to know that they haven’t lost a reader either, we’re not a group to hold a grudge.

The mood of your space is so largely determined by light that the direction a building is facing in relation to the sun is often the first thing people take note of when choosing a new home. However, in addition to any control you have with natural lighting, you can also adjust the mood greatly with your artificial lighting choices. Every fixture casts a slightly different glow, just like every person! And shopphag.com is pleased to offer a bounty of bright solutions to give you the glow you need to ’switch to’ the perfect level of light.

Dripping With Delight!

Our fun and fresh Three-Tier Touch Lamp possesses such vivacious vibrance that you almost don’t have to turn it on! An appealing organic feel, complete with the soft texture of paper and marvelous movement, keeps this table lamp grown-up and refined while maintaining a cool and casual vibe. The interesting shade also works to cast beautiful shadows, providing you with natural wall art!

A Little Bit Shady

Lighting doesn’t get more clean and contemporary that these Ceiling Chandeliers! Bringing a fantastic fusion of cream and black, traditional and modern, crisp lines and fresh fabrics, these work effortlessly to shed some new light on almost any situation. Just imagine the powerful pop against a red ceiling or brilliant blue walls!

Fashionably Floored

If you’ve been looking for a floor lamp that is unique and functional, you have likely hit some stumbling blocks. With almost every lamp available looking like a slight variation of the next, it can be difficult to uncover a true original. That’s where shopphag.com comes in! Our amazingly awesome Asymmetrical Floor Lamp separates itself from the pack with a funky twist, creating a shade with a wave-like appeal and two-tone effect. All while maintaining classic lines and the utmost execution of purpose. Bravo, floor lamp! Brav-o!

Think gifting beautiful things means you’ll have to fork over a pile of cash? Think again. Think shopphag.com! As a proud provider of all sorts of amazingness, we put together a list of some of our favorite glamorous gifts for guys and girls trying to keep costs in check. After all – while it is the thought that counts, it feels so much better to give someone something they truly love, especially when you didn’t have to take out a second mortgage to do so.

• Nope, there are no ‘0’s missing! Our Cracked Glass Sake Sets really are just $34.50, and come complete with a delightfully-designed decanter ready for ice and sake, and four matching sake glasses that are oh-so-cool, and crisp. May your first toast be to a glorious gift well-given!

• Bringing the beauty of nature to create a classic Horn Picture Frame, this gift can be made even more special when stocked with a favorite photo. Whether you choose the rich and rustic brown starburst pattern, or the high-shine tiled frame, you’ll feel confident that your gift will be their favorite. (And don’t even pretend you don’t want your gift to be their favorite!)

• Our Mercury Glass Bird Sculptures are as adorable as they are attractive, with a charming presence that makes a perfect present. (Sorry, we couldn’t resist!) The tinier of the two is just $12.50, with the larger bird priced to present (again, we had to!) at $26.50, which means they can come to you as a cute couple for under $40!

Calling all Phabulous Philadelphians! This Monday, October 12, 2009, PHAG will begin exhibiting an innovative collection of ‘reassigned’ furniture and accessories from New York artist, Rodney Allen Trice, and artist Deanna McLaughlin, who is currently based in our very own City of Brotherly Love! An installment in this year’s Design Philadelphia program, Object Reassignment Art features pieces that respect the original identity of the object, but spins them creatively with a contemporary eye. Not sure how that would all work out? Well then I guess you’ll have to find your way to PHAG’s showroom at 1225 Walnut St. to check it out!

The exhibit will be open through the end of October, and will include an extensive and awesome offering of home decor, furniture and lighting – all up for grabs! So whether you’re looking to add something interesting to your space, or just enjoy seeing what can be dreamed up with a clever combination of creativity and skill, stop by PHAG and drink in the design.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

If you’re lucky enough to be a proud Philadelphian, we invite you to make your way to PHAG on October 10, 2009 for the opening of our Men’s Mezz at 1225 Walnut St. We’re excited to be debuting a hot new line of men’s apparel (Ginch Gonch Piggie Briefs, anyone?!), as well as an awesome assortment of unisex accessories that aren’t afraid of putting the phun in phunctional!

If October 10^th sounds like a date to remember, it may be that you were planning on celebrating Philly’s annual OutFest celebration, which we’re “proud” to coincide our opening with. Our tongue-in-cheek tees, bold belt buckles, whimsical wallets and more will be coming out of our closet and going into yours! But how will you comfortably and stylishly carry your new threads home? In one of our awesome PHAG eco totes, of course! During our premier week, October 10^th-17^th, 2009, the phabulous PHAG bag is yours for just $5 with a $50 Men’s Mezz purchase. And bringing it back on future visits, which we’re sure there will be many of, saves you 10% on whatever catches your fancy.

From the day we opened our doors, we’ve made it our mission to bring this one-of-a-kind city something a little different. We think you’re all pretty amazing, and we’re offering this new collection for you, Philly! Hope to see you there.

For those of us that are seemingly addicted to every color imaginable (ahem), it can be difficult to design a space that doesn’t look like a box of crayons exploded. However, there is a flip-side to our dilemma. There are those who are so addicted to black, white and grey that they simply can’t determine where to bring in a splash of color. shopphag.com offers a wonderful array of pieces that can provide that pop! As wonderful as each would be in a sea of sumptuous shades, they have an even stronger style impact against an army of neutrals, allowing each to bring its beautiful best.

• Go against the grain and with the green! As rich and radiant as red is, green can bring the same bold impact in the right shade. Our Green Glass Accent Tables prove just how vivid green can get, with the marvelous look of malachite adding an organic element to this contemporary piece.

• Drawing your eye up and over the rainbow is our colorful Chandelier, combining glass, acrylic, and saturated candy-colored hues of pink, green and more to complete a piece as at home in a child’s room as it is in an elegant living room. You choose the direction this gorgeous fixture will take. Wherever it finds itself, it is sure to bring plenty of pizzazz.

• It’s a table. It’s a chest of drawers. It’s a stellar style statement. It’s really pretty amazing. It’s…our Striped Parlor Table! A rich red finish is accented with stripes of cream, black, sage and more, creating a piece of furniture that will add interest and intrigue to any room it graces. From board games to throw blankets, this generously-sized table easily holds whichever essentials you’d like handy, but out-of-sight.

Did you know that almost 60% of lesbians own a single family home? Me neither! Did you know that 22% of gay men gave more than $1,000 to charity in 2007? Me neither! Did you know that 8% of time lesbians spend online, and 7% of time gay men spend online, is devoted to shopping? Me neither! Did you know that lesbians prefer beer, and gay men prefer vodka? OK, fair enough, we knew that one too! But what’s the benefit to all these fun facts? Fresh, functional data – terrific numbers that make change possible, and these numbers all came from the 2008 LGBT survey.

At shopphag.com, we feel that every person on this planet deserves a voice. But that voice can be a lot easier to drown out when steps aren’t taken to make it loud and clear. Surveys, such as LGBTsurvey.com, play an important role in getting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people heard! But it’s not just to prove to naysayer’s that your money matters. It’s to help people, be they realtors or bartenders, better understand what’s important to you so they can answer and address your needs.

We know there are exceptions to every rule, that no group of people can be clearly, completely defined in any category, but surveys like the LGBTsurvey work hard to help the whole community, and we know they’d appreciate your input! If you are part of the LGBT Community, please take a few minutes to complete The Survey (there are prizes!). And don’t forget to pass it on to your LGBT friends – the more feedback, the more accurate the numbers. And who doesn’t love accurate numbers? But hurry – you have to get there by September 30, 2009 if you want to be entered in the prize drawing!

The living room is a place to entertain, inspire, connect, and rejuvenate. By making time to give some love to your living room, you’re not only making it a better place to entertain your friends and family, you’re also making it a better place to express yourself, be yourself, find yourself, and enrich yourself. And it doesn’t get much more important than that!

At shopphag.com, we want to make it easier to love your living room by offering a variety of absolutely stunning Accent Furniture, including sofas and chairs, to create a space that is as beautiful as it is functional. We understand that seating is for sitting – tables are for setting down drinks – Area Rugs are for nestling tired toes. With the spirit of adding accessories to your life that make sense for your life, the artfully-designed pieces we carry are always more than mere art. Trust that if you find something you can’t live without at shopphag.com (which we know you will!), it will also be a piece that delivers on its promise for usefulness. After all, how much joy is a two-legged table or armchair that doesn’t accommodate the human form really going to bring to your life? We want you to sit on that chair, that gorgeous, shimmering Accent Chair that begs to be adored, just like you!