We are surrounded by beautiful plants in our San Francisco apartment, even though we have no outdoor space.  Here's a great way to achieve that, or to improve your outdoor gardening when there's inclement weather. 

Ever been bothered by a lampshade that just won't stay on straight no matter what you do?  How about chandeliers with multiple lampshades at crazy angles?  I found this great little item from our friends over at Daily Grommet to straighten that problem right out!  The best feature?  It allows clip-on shades to fit energy-efficient spiral CFL bulbs!  It also works with incandescent bulbs up to 150 watts and can be reused in different fixtures.

It's called Magic Toob, a silicone tube invented by a former chemist that has a rubberized surface able to grip the sides of uneven shapes like CFLs.  And lots of us are still not using those energy-efficient spiral bulbs because they don't fit our traditional lampshades!  Sure, you could buy a bulb-shaped CFL, but they cost four times as much as a spiral-shaped one.  And with the US government poised to mandate a phasing-out of incandescents as early as 2012, we should be making the switch, already.