Vancouver

We were in Vancouver for a few days before heading to Seattle for the week. We hit snow on our way up. The Candians said it was sunny all last week and kept apologizing for the snow. As long as I'm prepared, it's always exciting for me.


The best touristy thing we did was visit the Vancouver Aquarium to see the beluga whale exhibit. I'm pretty sure this was Aurora, the grandma. There was also Qila, the mom and new baby girl Tiqa. I couldn't keep my eyes off of them - so amazing to see them through the glass and so different from seeing the other animals. They look straight at you when they pass the glass, which kept making me wave. We just missed whale-watching season by a few days (March), but next time that will be on my list!

The most beautiful hotel lobby was at the Loden. So many textures using just neutral colors - marble on the fireplace, some sort of printed glass on both sides, tan snakeskin tufted table, velvet, more marble and piqued (sp?) wood on the floors. Seems to have Kelly Wearstler written all over it.

spring garden

planning our spring garden... we took a workshop at Everything Gardens this past weekend and planted seeds for a small herb and vegetable garden!

spring in the city

i've been seeing blossoms everywhere this last week....

rubber eraser stamp

carved a stamp today from a rubber eraser - fun & most of all, easy :)

Cecconi's

Just love the look of this place - the blueberry color, the wood lattice, the marble, the glass... it's the interior of a new restaurant in West Hollywood called Cecconi's - very inspiring!

via Daily Candy, photos from Cecconi's website

Values

Some values I've been reminded about here....

These help us realize opportunity:
self reliance
self improvement
risk taking
drive
discipline
temperance
hard work
thrift
personal responsibility

These are what every healthy society depends on:
community
patriotism
obligations of citizenship
honesty
fairness
humility
kindness
courtesy
compassion

sounds so refreshing...

celestial dragon wallpaper

Love these wallpapers from Flavor Paper - Celestial Dragon, Hibiscis, and Mustachio!

a cold

It's been a while since I've gotten a cold, so note to self - dairy is not good because it just amplifies your cold! Stick to chicken soup and water. Decided to make and exception and eat a little chicken for protein. Tons of water just washes everything out of your system. Eating simple, easily digestible food, allows your body to focus its energy on healing rather than breaking down what you've eaten. Makes sense.

Modern Earth Originals

I found my new pair of glasses! I bought them at Society of the Spectacle located down the street in Highland Park from the coolest local owner, Amy. They are by Modern Earth Originals made locally (super!) in Orange County, use recycled aluminum (wow!!) in the front part of the frame, and found out that the owner moved the location of his company closer to his employees when he found out that the majority of them were commuting. SO AWESOME.

Most importantly, I found a style that fit me perfectly - Saucey!! Hooray!!

em-Power Tool Workshop

Tanya Aguiñiga gave a fun and rather generous overview of power tools last Thursday night at Reform School. She's super talented. We learned about the what wood to buy, different shop set ups, and most importantly the in and outs of the circular saw, jigsaw, sanders, routers, a biscuit jointer, and the mighty power drill. The biscuit joint (Tanya making the joint and finished joint with biscuit below) was definitely the class favorite and is easily one of the secrets to effortless design.

Rivera

Some tapas we "experienced" on Friday night at Rivera - a large mild pepper soaked in vinegar filled with buratta cheese stenciled with fun-ny graphics using paprika(?); the leg of jamón ibérico de bellota sitting in front of me at all night, apparently, it came from a black haired pig that spent its last year of life roaming a forest eating only grass and acorns, therefore giving it it's nutty flavor, a certain authenticity comes with seeing the actual black hoof and bit of the hair left around it, the chef told us that keeping the hoof will become illegal in time... hmmm; and buttery homemade tortillas with embedded herbs.

shadows

shadows from our walk today...

heart cake '09

Chocolate almond heart cake from Euro Pane...

Sister Corita Kent

An exhibit of Sister Corita Kent's silk screened work opens at CSUN tomorrow - Valentines Day! I remember my old friend Maxine had several prints throughout her house. Her daughter went to Immaculate Heart and she herself had taken Corita's classes. She also told me there was a time when she couldn't believe that she would find Corita's prints at thrift shops. Now they are collector's items. I am a fan of how freely Sister Corita worked at the same time being certain and focused on a message. I am also a fan her 10 Rules of the Classroom. A converation with her here.

LADWP

Look what LADWP left on our doorstep this morning! I am so excited to see because the city is being very proactive. Hopefully, people will read it and make changes if they haven't already. Inside:

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (2 of them) - CFL's can last 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb (10,000 hours compared to 750 hours), and will save 400 lbs of coal in energy generation. Only thing is that it's got mercury in it, so we can't forget to dispose of it properly at Hazardous Waste Centers!

Water Consevation Tips Booklet - Having already applied water conservation techniques throughout the house, I am realizing how much water I am really saving...
- Fixed leaky faucets and toilets 20 gallons a day for every leak
- Installed water saving shower heads and faucet aerators saving 500-800 gallons of water a month
- Only running full loads of laundry saves 300-800 gallons a month. I have also been wearing my clothes more times before washing.
- Not using my toilet as a wastebasket saves 400-600 gallons. It takes water and energy to filter that out of our waste water!!
- Using a broom instead of hose to clean the patio saves 150 gallons each time.
- You can also get fined for watering your lawn between the hours of 9am-4pm. According to Natalie at All Shades of Green, the City of Long Beach is the only city in So Cal that is making a dent in our drought situation bringing their water consumption down 10% in 2008 (!) because of their strict enforcement of this rule. She also said that if we don't start acting, forced water rationing may take affect this year, which may be the hottest year on record.

These numbers are kinda shocking for one little household.
The immediate goal for me is to spend less time showering. I've already installed lo flow shower heads that can be turned off while soaping, but I can't seem to keep my shower under 4 minutes. Must find another way to relax!

Earthtones Glasses

It's a little bit hard to tell, but these are the prettiest glasses by LA Eyeworks. Browns, yellows and taupes in the round part and a dark rich burgandy on the sides. Really beautiful earthtones. Feels a like vintage Prada. Unfortunately, they don't fit my face, but they're still so pretty!

ps. I've been a little ghetto lately desperately wearing 9 year old, non repairable, discontinued glasses with one side broke. Needless to say, I'm in the market for a new pair.

Audacity of Hope

Took some time to get to know our president's philosophies over an open faced egg salad sandwich for lunch at Euro Pane Bakery today. His solid backing of greening our country as a way to create millions of jobs in order to get us out of our economic downturn during the most recent press conference is what makes me hopeful.

Interesting piece of trivia - President Obama is a 2 time Grammy Award winner, not for music, but for his audio books. Who knew!?

Drought

Yes, it's true. Despite our 3-4 days of glorious rain, we here in So. Cal. are still in a drought. I was at All Shades of Green getting some replacement filters and had a nice convo with Natalie yesterday. She informed me that the city may finally start enforcing water rations this year. Water rations, wow. I guess Long Beach is the only city in our region making big strides (water demand is down 9% in the last year, another wow) in water conservation by being strict about fining every single home who waters their lawn between 9am-4pm. Fines get higher with multiple violations. Yesterday, Obama talked about retrofitting homes or weatherizing 2 million American homes in order to save home owners money, create jobs, and save our environment. Our energy and water bills have definitely gone down with the adjustments we've made to conserve (will get some numbers...). Right, I wouldn't be surprised if manditory rations really happened.

sun after the rain

Couldn't help but notice the big bright sun making its entrance after the rain earlier that morning....

Palate on Sundays

After little bit of necessary shopping, we stopped by Palate's back wine shop Wine Merchant and found a a lively luscious bunch savoring octopus (yes more octopus!) and garbanzo bean stew over cod topped with garlic aioli and drinking fabulous wines. Ooo-la-la. Huge contrast from the gray clouds outside this weekend. We witnessed chef and owner Octavio Becerra spinning music on his turntables and met French Provence winemaker Magali Combard-Couvignon. She explained that for them, it is the vintification process of Provence that sets wines apar. Her three wines were paired brilliantly with the Sunday stew. My favorite was the Vieilles Vignes made of 75% rolle and 25% semillion varietals - light, minerally, stone fruits. Perfect Sunday surprise.

Melrose, La Brea, and Mozza

Took a stroll around Melrose and La Brea while waiting to be seated at Osteria Mozza. Here are some fun things we saw by night.... art deco at the Showcase Theater, dark inside of Reform Gallery, and a paste up of Karl Lagerfeld right outside of Mozza. Mozza dinner was AMAZING - must order the grilled octupus. I refrained from taking pictures just enjoying the meal, but had a somewhat surreal experience dining bar side next to a well manicured older, nicely tanned gentleman by himself in full bling and tuxedo.

Present and Forward Thinking

Important to unload unnecessary baggage whether they be in the form of people, feelings, or things, so one can be more present and forward thinking.

Art Textiles of the World - Scandinavia

Just ordered this book. You can find an overview of the artists here. A few of my favorites are Gunvor Nervold Antonsen, Hildur Bjarnadottir, Annika Ekdahl, Aino Kajaniemi, and Anna Lindal. Art Textiles of the World is a great series. Also noticed several volumes at my public library.

green celluloid necklace

Did a trade with a friend for this fun and lovely green celluloid necklace from the 1950's-60's. Love it.

Home Ec.

I never had a chance to take Home Ec. growing up, so I'm making up for it now. Reform School and Felt Club are partnering up to create Home Ec. workshops right here in our very own Los Angeles. Hooray! Workshop listings can be found here. Just signed up for the Power Tool Empowerment workshop with Tanya Aguiñiga. I was able to hear Tanya speak at the Design Sponge Biz Ladies Night in LA last year and she too has a great enabling auora about her. Next time I want to take the workshop for Papier-Mâché Brooches with Cathy Callahan.

Cooking Club

The ladies who came for lunch at the Downtown Women's Center got a treat today - salmon! Vanessa who organizes the DWC Cooking Club once a month said that since the ladies can usually only afford a fast food diet, a good healthy protein like fresh fish is a special meal. We prepared 9 big fillets last night (last week's night got pushed to last night). And I am always learning something new like using cups to stack trays or learning about recipe to replace half of the pasta in mac and cheese with cauliflower.

Lotta Jansdotter workshops

Lotta Jansdotter's surface printing workshops would be fun to take if I lived in NY. When I visited the Lotta Jandotter shop when it was in San Francisco, Lotta was in the shop and you could just feel her happy auora. I loved that!

David Weidman at Happy

David Wiedman has come out with a book of his silk screened prints from the 50's-60's and will be at Happy, a newish little shop in Los Feliz, Feb 6th.

Face Cake

Note to self: No one ever likes to eat the face part of a face cake!

girly nightcap

such a girly nightcap - little pink owl beer in a little vintage glass with a little orange bonsai tree on a little pink tray with a pear. who does these kind of things!? jk.

Blue Corn Tamales

Tamales are soooo good - very comfort food. I want learn how to make tamales with Midori one day. Picked up these pretty blue corn tamales from Hollywood Farmers Market this morning. Also got frozen black bean tamales for the lunch this week. Will note the name of the vendor next week.

Update: Corn Maiden

Around Culver City

Snaps from my newish iPhone around the Culver City art galleries on Saturday. The camera on this phone rocks.

Ryan Callis at Taylor de Cordoba

Layers, levels, symmetry, asmmetry, geometry, all the trees, jk, and a little bit of skin - excellent. This is Ryan Callis's work at Taylor de Cordoba. Here are some pictures from the website. Best of all, he has a great sense of color and uses loads of it. A must see in person.