I finally watched Sophia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette over the weekend. It wasn’t nearly as bad as people had said it was. It fact I was completely entertained by the satiny, lacey, poufy and excessive lives of the young queen and her cohorts. (I think it’s because I saw Grindhouse during the day and needed a girly anecdote to Tarantino’s machismo.) At one point near the end of the film, Marie’s brother comes to visit her from Austria, and she pours him a cup of flowering jasmine tea — “a gift from the emperor” she says. It was so beautiful, I’m dying to find some myself. I tracked down these two at Tea Palace in London but would rather not pay such steep shipping costs. Do you know a U.S. store where you can buy such magical brews? What does lotus flower tea taste like, anyhow? Wouldn’t this be a great way to make an impression for a special guest! Let them drink tea! — Angela M.

Speaking of coffee mugs, we were tickled to see a post on Angela Adam’s blog saying that her adorable Munjoy Morning coffee mugs were featured on the set of 30 Rock. We admit that we missed this lovely bit of product placement when we watched the show last week (too distracted by Alec Baldwin’s hairline, no doubt) but now this gives us even another reason to be glad this gem has been renewed for another season. You can start your day just like Tina Fey, by picking one up here at Angela’s site, $39 for two mugs and a 1lb of coffee.

We try to use our own, refillable coffee-to-go cups whenever we can, but admit that sometimes when we need a caffeine fix (usually around 4pm) we catch ourselves mugless. Leave it to someone in Seattle (birthplace to the country’s biggest producer of hot beverage waste) to invent The Cupcoat, high fashion thermal sleeves for paper cups. Cupcoats are reusable and tuck easily into a purse or pocket; they fit most 12, 16, and 20oz disposable paper cups, will fit into vehicle cup holders. We especially love the new spring patterns, with Pucci-esque swirls that will compliment our new mini-dresses to a tee. $12 each at cupcouture.com.

Perhaps it was the excitement of Top Design’s debut, or maybe we were too busy making Valentine’s plans, but we almost forgot about Superbowl Sunday until we received a email from a reader Nicole offering up this link to a colorful football cake. Here’s what she said: “I simply use a boxed cake mix (and a 9×13 pan), and replace the sideline Hershey/Reeses sideline names with the team names. It is always a HUGE hit at parties, and it is so much fun to decorate.” Thanks, Nicole!

This gentle reminder got us surfing around in search of more Superbowl tips. For other non-sportsfans like us, here are the basics: The Chicago Bears are playing the Indianapolis Colts on CBS at 6:45 ET this Sunday. We’ll probably tune in around 8:30 pm in hopes of catching the halftime show with Prince! Gizmodo’s Last Minute HD Supergowl Party Guide will cover your tech questions. Though we tend to agree with entertaining guru Colin Cowie, who insists that it’s the food, not the game that matters (and it’s our hunch that Colin has never watched a sports event in his life). Martha Stewart offers up a Chili Bowl buffet menu, but it you want to serve that, you better get busy! We noticed that she recommends making the Chili two to three days in advance. We say, skip the chili and go right for the cake! Over at Cakehead blog, we found this lovely collection of Superbowl cakes, and at Flickr we found a local bakery that delivers. Got any Superbowl party tips? Share here!

One last quick post! DWR just sent out a reminder of their annual Champagne Chair Contest. Previous two years’ winners are shown above. You can use the cork, foil, cage and label from two Champagne bottles (with some glue) to make your own chair. Click here to read all the rules and start sketching now! Deadline is January 15th and the grand prize is $1500 to spend at DWR (Mary, are you listening?). Good luck!

I usually pride myself in being able to open a champagne bottle with ease, with just the slightest of sighs and not a drop spilt. But New Year’s is one night where you wanna go for a bigger impact, an all out pop! I found these instructions on bbc.co.uk and thought I’d share. You can bet that one of things I’ll be toasting Sunday at midnight will be all our amazing Shelterrific readers. So here’s to you! See you in 2007! — Angela M.

The ‘Pop!’ Method
1. Remove foil.

2. Remove the wire.

3. Holding the body of the bottle in one hand, use the other, preferably with a towel or napkin, to grip the neck just beneath the cork.

4. Point bottle away from anything breakable - this includes people’s faces!

5. Shake bottle gently, and push up and out against the cork until it ‘pops’ and wine sprays out.

Happy New Year!

Spotted this bizarre vessel the other day at Conduit Group. It’s a hoof-shaped champagne flute. I suppose there’s something’s about it that screams bacchanal in the original, Greek mythology sense of the word. (On a side note: It kinda reminds me of the best film I have seen all year, Pan’s Labyrinth — don’t miss it!) But I don’t know if I’m ready to ring in the New Year with this leg of luxury. Would you? $250 for a pair. — Angela M.

I bought a water cooler crock and stand at an estate sale recently. Lo and behold the next day I was in Home Depot and stumbled upon this larger than life bottle of Vermont Pure water. I bought it and lugged it home. Mission accomplished. I’ve even overcome my fear of pouring the water all over the place. Hmmm!

To get one of your own, check out the aztec crock at Alice in Water Land There are even water cooler covers. The watercooler hasn’t found its official place in my apt. Nothing in my apartment has. Listen, if you’re around the East Village and have some good office gossip, pop over we can stand around the cooler. — Allison R.

We had an email request the other day from Malina that said: I recently moved to Texas and wanted to have a big “Hey, we’re back!” party. I need some sort of activity or theme that would get people to interact with strangers. I have asked around, with no luck. We have tons of outdoor space that can utilize….. Any ideas? Thanks.

Great question! It’s been ages since we’ve thrown a party (for adults anyway) and this reminds us how much fun it can be. We spotted these fun napkins (above) while browsing around Up To You, an online boutique from Toronto. (You can order them by clicking here and then scrolling down the page a bit). It reminded us of one party mixer game that has always been a hit for us. Not sure what you would call it (officially) but maybe one of you knows?

1) Buy a bunch of “hello my name is” stickers and write celebrity names on them. We always like to use pop cultural references of the moment (hello K’Fed!) but you could use historic figures, tv characters, whatever floats your boat.

2) As your guests walk into your party, slap one of those stickers randomly on their backs.

3) Instruct them that they must ask other guests a series of “yes” or “no” questions that will help them figure out who “they are.” Like, “Am I a blonde woman?” “Do I have any children?” “Do I make a living singing?” etc. To make it a little tougher you could have a time limit. Or limit the number of questions people are allowed to ask.

4) Once the guests guess who they are correctly, they can move their names from their backs to their fronts and relax! You could give prizes to first three people who accomplish this task.

Goofy? Yes. But it is fun (especially if a bit of alcohol is distributed as well). Click here to download some free “hello my name is” templates that you can print at home.

What about you? Got any fun mixer ideas to share? Please do!

Here’s something to make your next celebration a little sweeter: Riedel, the company that makes the most amazing glass and stemware has created a pink champagne glass that is a charming take on their O series. This special edition retails for $27, with 15% of the wholesale price being donated to the nonprofit organization, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, (www.lbbc.org). Available at Table and Home.