While Rahm Emanuel may be a rolling stone – skipping back-and-forth between D.C. and Chi-town – the Chicago Board of Elections has ruled that the Windy City is indeed his official home. Hence Mr. Emanuel can run in February’s election to succeed Mayor Daley.

After a three-day hearing hashing-over such pertinent details as the fact that he keeps his wife’s wedding dress in Chicago, the board dismissed all residency challenges to President Obama’s former Chief of Staff – and will allow Emanuel’s name on the ballot. Whether you’re a fan of Emanuel or Vera Wang (no, she’s not running, but her wedding dresses are on the runway), the decision does add some spice to the upcoming election.

It also makes me think twice about where I store the cummerbund from my wedding. Who knows when a condo board or flag football team is going to demand residency before I’m voted in?

Leading a happy, healthy life can be different for everyone. Is it an equal balance across your mind, body and spirit? Having a wonderful family and great friends? Eating well, exercising, and challenging yourself? It could be all of those things!

For working out, whether you like running, swimming, cycling, mountain climbing and more, having a fun but planned schedule, plus doing something that keeps you inspired and challenged is very important! Here’s Bethenny’s take:

“I’ve been doing yoga for twenty years so I preach the importance of making your practice your own in order to get the most out of it. From beginner to advanced and Vinyasa to Ashtanga, there are endless ways to reap the rewards of this fitness regimen. Now that CafePress has launched customizable, premium-quality yoga mats, yogis can personalize their practice even further. You can upload text, graphics or even photos to create your one-of-a-kind mat; I used my Skinnygirl logo to make the gift a meaningful token for my friends.”

It’s a great idea to keep a gym bag full of work out clothes in your car so you can be ready, like on your lunch break or for an impromptu pick-up game of basketball. Always stay hydrated with a cute custom water bottle for before and after workouts, and you can even be thinking about a reward for yourself after sweating off those calories in this cute tank top. All in all, getting your body moving and active is fun and you’ll feel great doing it. Enjoy yourself!

If you read this blog on a regular basis (as you should!) you’ve probably seen us use the term “Cultural Barometer” here and there. You see, there’s a really interesting phenomenon that happens in the CafePress Marketplace – when something happens in the news, pop culture or politics it undoubtedly shows up as amazingly expressive t-shirt designs – often thousands of them.

This public response of interest, through unique t-shirts and gift designs, is what we mean when we say “CafePress is a Cultural Barometer of current trends.” These newsworthy user created designs, and the sheer quantity of them, offer an accurate gauge of interest – we can often tell what people think of an issue based on the t-shirt designs they create. I may be biased, but I think this is extremely cool!

As the year winds down into its final days we thought it would be fun to create a time line to commemorate the news that made the t-shirt headlines in 2010. I could go ON and ON and ON about all that happened this year, but I think you’ll find it much more interesting to have a look at our interactive time line.

Of course we didn’t include everything that happened in 2010, that would take us months, what do you think we should add to the list? Let us know and we’ll see what we can do to make sure it’s represented!

And don’t forget to check out the 2010 time line t-shirt – the entire year captured in one awesome shirt!

Happy New Year from CafePress!

A few minutes ago a friend of mine sent over a link to a story on US Weekly.com that shows custom holiday cards of the stars. She  remembered that we’d been doing some work with Bethenny Frankel this season and thought her card looked a lot like the custom greeting cards available on CafePress.

She’s right, Bethenny’s card is from CafePress! Bethenny and her family posed for this great shot on the set of ABC’s Skating with the Stars and put together a holiday card on CafePress. Even her dog Cookie got in on the skating action!

Holidays are so much about getting together with family and friends and celebrating. And what is the best way to celebrate during the holidays? Have a fun holiday party and eat!

It’s time to eat, drink and be merry, and when you have a gathering, putting on that host or hostess hat is sometimes like becoming a professional juggler. Coordinating invitations and RSVPs, planning a meal and food courses, table settings, and even cute hostess gifts to hand out at the end of the night are all important parts of a fun and successful holiday party.

Cute tile coasters with double hearts show the love you have for the people at your special fete –guests can use right at their seat to ensure your table isn’t covered in rings at the end of the night, and its a cute take-away item too. Win-win! Decorate with pretty snowflake ornaments, put whimsical monogrammed magnets on plates to act as seating arrangements, and don’t forget those warm drinks!

“I enjoy spending time in the kitchen creating new recipes and the process is all the more fun when I can get to sport a cute apron. I made my own on CafePress by uploading this image. These personalized aprons make for great hostess gifts too. We’re going over to my mother-in-law’s for the holidays, so I’m definitely going to order an extra one for her.”

While lines at Marine Recruitment Centers may not yet be as long as the ones at court houses following California’s Proposition 8 gay-marriage decision, this week was a huge day for equal rights.

With a 65-31 vote, the Senate has just voted to repeal the controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. In a nutshell, once President Obama adds his John Hancock to the repeal, people who are openly gay can begin serving in the U. S. Military.

The battle is just beginning, however, as it’s going to take the brass a few weeks to re-write all “policies, regulations and directives” pertaining to the sensitive matter (you think they might have gotten a head start, but no). Hopefully the transition will go much smoother in the battlefield than it has in the political system. Only time will tell.

Just kidding. There’s no pressure to buy funny tees, it’s just that we’re all punch-drunk giddy around here about our newest partnership. Yes, we’re proud to announce the Grand Opening of our new Funny Or Die shop on CafePress.

The Funny Or Die website (in case you don’t know – having some shred of good taste and can’t be bothered with sophomoric humor) was founded by Will Ferrell and his pals. The “concept” is that people submit funny videos, and users vote on whether they live or die.

As well as videos submitted by wanna-be-discovered comic directors like you and me, you’ll find videos from humor heavyweights (like Will, Judd Apatow and James Franco), plus ones starring A-list actors (from Ben Stiller and Zach Galifianakis to Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton).

At the Funny Or Die shop there’s gear celebrating some of the immortal videos, like The Landlord (starring Will and his buddy Adam McKay’s 2-year old daughter, Pearl). Also score stuff from classic videos like Bat Fight and the Green Team.

I dare you to watch these videos and not laugh.

You can also make your own Funny or Die designs, if you fancy yourself a comedic genius (or heck, just a good designer). I can think of a whole series of shirts just for Between Two Ferns alone.

It’s less than two weeks until Christmas. Boy, is it me or did that pop out of nowhere?

If you celebrate Christmas, what is a better way to do so around the house than decorating your Christmas tree? And that Christmas tree isn’t complete without some fabulous Christmas ornaments to add some extra cheer, color and character to your holiday.

Even better than the normal red, gold or green spherical ornaments, you can customize ornaments, putting your favorite family photo or a beloved pet on, and voila! You’ve got something very special indeed.

“Red is my favorite color, so festive holiday decorations resonate well with me. Tree trimming is a perfect opportunity to insert some creative flair, and CafePress has more than a dozen design templates for easily customizable ornaments. I picked one with a red sparkle border — of course — and inserted my signature Skinnygirl for a personal touch. The high-quality, glossy ceramic finish makes it look like a professional creation! I’ll give these to friends and family and wish everyone a “skinny” holiday season. ”

Find your favorite CafePress template, upload your photo and add custom text, and order easily in time to place on the tree for this year!

Whether you’re on the “good” or “bad” list this year, you can make sure Santa sees a cute custom stocking to put goodies in (or coal, but that is strictly up to him). Make sure to leave him some cookies and hot cocoa, and you should be in good shape, or get him a custom iPad case for his next fishing trip to Montauk.

There’s been a lot of press lately about Wikileaks “spokesperson” Julian Assange. After his organization recently released hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. documents about the war in Iraq (plus U.S. embassy cables dating back to the 1960s) — many of them none too flattering to say the least – Assange was arrested in London for reported sex-crimes in Sweden.

While we won’t know the truth about the guilt or innocence of the whistle blower until Wikileaks leaks the documents about his investigation, there is a lot of speculation that Assange is being unduly targeted. The timing seems a bit suspicious, although we can only guess? And ponder. Then speculate some more. Because no one is giving us any information (as usual).

I just hope the information their group leaked does some good in bringing checks & balances to how we distribute information. Call me old fashioned, but I think people deserve to know what their elected officials are up to.

Do you know any little girls who love pink, love shopping, love princesses and get giddy at the thought of birthday parties? They may have what DJ Stamper describes as “Princessitude.”  Stamper’s even got it published on Urban Dictionary.

His designs for “Addy,” the persona of his CafePress shop, Princessitude!, are inspired by his three real-life princesses: his wife and two daughters.

“I intentionally made Addy very cartoonish, wanting her to be as simple and whimsical as possible, using basic colors and lots of pink.”

Stamper owns a comic book store in Florida and occasionally displays actual Princessitude! products in his store for customers to see.

“My favorite thing about CafePress is that it is so easy to take an idea, bring it to life in art, and in almost no time at all have a line of products available to sell to the whole world. It’s such a remarkably easy process; anyone can do it!”

Since creating Princessitude, Stamper has had many special requests for new “Addy” designs – as a cheerleader, fairy, cowgirl, military girl and more. His creativity doesn’t end there. With his passion for comics, Stamper is also working on his own comic strip and brainstorming ideas for a young boys version of Princessitude. We wonder what it might be…your thoughts?