Rogan for Target

Just got back from some Saturday night shopping at Target and found the latest Go International designer, Rogan, on the racks -- "Designed by Rogan Gregory, an environmentally-conscious collection of modern silhouettes and nature-inspired prints and patterns." It was so bizarre to see this one dress reminiscent of a Martin Margiela meets Helmut Lang utilitarian aesthetic. On top of that, the entire line was made sustainable. How could I resist. Above, what I will be wearing all summer.

Now home, I have been reading that this Rogan for Target line premiered at Barney's, yes Barney's. I'm not sure what think about all of it except that everyone is just getting along so fabulously. I love it.

Less Traffic

I work at home, but I've been hearing a lot lately, from people that I know, how traffic is easing up as a result of soaring gas prices here in LA. Really makes me realize that people's pocket books will clearly be the main way out of global warming.

bucket in the bathtub

Been noticing lately, really how much water I waste waiting for the hot water to warm up before showering - it's quite a bit. So I got a new bucket at the hardware store last Saturday.

I easily fill up half the bucket with each shower. I've been using the water to fix my bed head hair in the morning, I've washed my dirty feet a few times, and have been watering plants.

work hard and...

enough said, right!? via uppercase

Muji socks

My favorite socks from Muji made from recycled cotton. I bought a set for me and set for my mom years ago and just found that they still sell them!

Young at Heart Chorus

We just got back from seeing the documentary Young at Heart. What a beautiful movie. I hope I grow old this way. It's a documentary about a great group of people, who happen to be 70 years old and up, performing rock songs, yes rock songs.

It's great to see what we are capable of in old age. There is no limit to how far we can take ourselves, which should remind us that there is no reason not to do things when we are young.

My favorite song in the movie is actually when they sing James Brown, I Feel Good. Can you imagine?! Makes me want to practice it on the karaoke.

Warning, it's a tear jerker no matter who you are. Coldplay should feel honored for this great rendition of their song. That sound in the background is the guy's oxygen tank pumping air into his lungs.

Craig's List

I sold on Craig's List for the first this week. Brilliant. Sold an old table and dishwasher in a matter of days. Classifieds are the optimal way in the "story of stuff" because things are being shuffled around from those who don't need it to those who do. It's the ultimate form of recycling.

I also noticed how nice it was to interact with random people in the community. In the two transactions, I always shook someone's hand and got a small piece of their story. I have several close friends and family who are always befriending strangers anywhere they are, whether it's with a smile or an entire conversation which has sometimes continued to extended friendships. Now, I have a better understanding of why.

Geoff McFetridge at Olympic Scupture Garden

Geoff McFetridge's installation at the Olympic Sculpture Garden in Seattle. My photo was shot through the glass because it was a Monday.

The Dalai Lama

Needless to say, April just wizzed by. So many things happened. One of the hilights, seeing the Dalai Lama! Kinda neat.

This annual trip to Seattle (Jon was there too, but we did not see him) just happened to coincide with Seeds of Compassion, a conference in which the Dalai Lama was the honored guest. We decided to crash the party thinking there may be empty seats on a Monday at 1pm and we were right. The panel included His Holiness, as he is called, and a group of business leaders, the most noteable being the president of Costco there to discuss bringing compassion to the workplace.

It was amazing to see how humbled these business execs were to be in the presence of His Holiness, who happened to be the most humble of them all. It was quite ironic, because he frequently spoke about how industrialism was the begining of the man-made problems of war, violence, anger, hatred, and jealousy. What could these businesses do bring compassion to their employees, how would that affect the customers and ultimately the bottom line? The truth is that before before industrialism, more importance was placed on a healthy mind, compassion, warm heartedness. This made for healthy and thriving societies with a more wholistic view of world. To back it all up, science is now proving that emotion is so important to creating this well being.

The conference was focused on the youth, parents, and caregivers. By teaching the youth compassion at an early age, they will show that same compassion towards others through out their lives. "Early child development, after all, is the foundation of community development." And if we can inspire them early, we might be able to soften the soul-less effects of industrialism.

I know so many people having babies lately, this is a great message.

Anatomy of a Garage Sale

Who can resist passing up the words GARAGE SALE in big bold letters on a Saturday morning? I'm guilty, but this past weekend, the tables were turned and now we were having the garage sale. My experience - shock and awe. In six hours, we managed to sell off 90% of our excess "stuff", making $300 worth of small bills and quarters. Crazy. The secret to it all - attitude, organization, and florescent pink signage.

"I just want to get rid of everything!" This was the frustration I expressed when I announced to my husband that we were going to have a garage sale. We had already gotten rid of old things, but still had been storing a lot of other things we weren't using. Not only was all our excess becoming a sore spot in our relationship, it was becoming overwhelming and a waste of time to keep all these things in order. I was desperate and this was just the attitude I needed to make the my 'everything must go sale' work. Yes, it was hard to sell things we had paid hard earned money for, for the cheapo price of five dollars, one dollar and even a quarter, but they had been a burden for long enough. By that morning, I was happy to give, give, give and see people hauling away my long time burden.

Grouping similar things together also made things move like lightening speed. I noticed that the early birds did not really buy much because they were still in boxes, but the moment they were unpacked and spread out on the driveway, the grass and on tables, they sold! We had spent the previous weekend taking everything out of the garage and then putting it all back in categorized boxes with the 'keep" boxes farther inside. This was extra work, but worth it so we could relax at dinner the night before, and then prevent any stress or confusion that morning. 

Lastly, florescent pink rocks. You can see it a mile away and once someone catches the necessary info (GARAGE SALE and an arrow really big, and the date and times really small) all they have to do is follow the pink blocks of color all the way to the treasure! One buyer mentioned how fun it was to follow the pink arrows through all our little streets. 

Amazingly, people came till the very end even picking through and buying from the little pile that was left (see pic below). They were determined to find gold - some sort of bargain whether they needed it or not. It was a little bit scary to see this side of American consumers, again something I am guilty of myself, but hoping to resolve after this experience. Admittedly, by the end we did take some things back into garage. Now, it was less overwhelming, more manageable.

Greenopia 2nd Edition

Greenopia: The Urban Dweller's Guide to Green Living's 2nd Edition is out. Greenopia is one of the few published guides for finding local eco-friendly businesses and resources. This new guide has 75% more listings than the previous. If that's not a sign that everyone is moving forward, then I don't know what is. What I'm loving most is that each category is prefaced with an intro by an expert in that field and more importantly, tips on what key things to look for in that eco-friendly service or product. In the eating out section, for example, there is a seafood guide indicating which fish to choose and which to avoid based on abundance and if they are caught or farmed in ways that hard other marine life or the environment. Hmm, I've been buying farmed salmon, not the best choice. 

I stopped by the book signing at Borders on Sunset this past Sunday to meet Gay Browne, the founder of Greenopia, and Ferris Kawar, their VP of Sustainability. Two really neat people who presented the new edition and are clearly in the know that the big players are committed to the green cause.

recycle back to m.a.c.

I just traded in 12 empty M.A.C. lipstick tubes for 2 new lipsticks, so 6 empty tubes = 1 free lipstick! This recycling program is just their commitment to the environment. If I even wear make up, which I really should some days, it's usually only lipstick and maybe a little bit of eye liner, so I've been collecting this bag of empty tubes for maybe the past... 10 years? Geez. Yay, new lipstick!! 

ps. I wish I would've snapped shot of all twelve tubes, but I was so excited, I finally remember and then actually found a moment to do it, that I forgot... oh well.

tomatoes

I love how these tomatoes transition in a sort of hombre from green to ripe red.  I've been keeping my tomatoes out on the counter rather than putting them in the fridge so not to lose the warm fresh flavor. Juicy!

food map container

Might be a little fancy for an herb garden, but I love the look of this food map container. It's meant to for growing little edibles, with proper drainage, casters so you can move with the seasons, and made of mostly of post consumer materials that have been and then can n eventually be recycled. Made in Los Angeles. Via Daily Candy.

heart these dresses

Lena Corwin posted the first one by Mocuin who I love for their prints and the second is a jacket/dress Jon saw made of 100% recycled polyester by Nau. 

Sculpture Today

Just got book called Sculpture Today giving us a great overview of sculptural art of the last 30 years. Saw it at Hennessy+Ingalls (don't see it on their website, but they do sell it in store) and remembered Carlee telling me last year that she would be in it. It's huge. The paper cut out cover art showing 2-d to 3-d is clever and its simplicity is pretty stunning. Have to love white on white. Some of my favorites... Carlee's #7100-Goat, Wim Delvoye' s Cloaca poop machine, and Olafur Eliasson's Weather Project which we got to experience in person at the Tate Modern.

chopsticks & the forest

"Environmentalists in China have a message to Olympic-goers in Beijing: Bring your own chopsticks!" This is how All Things Considered started this segment yesterday afternoon. I love it, what's it all about!? Apparently, disposable wooden chopsticks are dramatically contributing to China's deforestation. According the Greenpeace, the nation uses 160,000 pairs of chopsticks a day. This is equal to about 100 acres of forest being deforested each day! To enforce reusable chopsticks, the government is now taxing disposable chopsticks in an effort to discourage people from using them, most significantly the big chain restaurants. 

Last weekend, a friend had a post-Chinese New Year pot luck. Signed up to bring a good salad in order to balance out the greasy chinese food and at the last minute remembered my bright red set plastic chopsticks.

Also forgot to post last month that China has also banned plastic bags because it's depleting their petroleum reserve. I have to say, China is pretty rockin' in this arena.

Tara Donovan

Anthropologie used vertical straws stuck together in their jewelry display. Saw it today, but I think they've had it there for a while. Reason why I am posting is because a few weeks ago I bumped into these old photos from '05 I snuck at the Tara Donovan exhibit at Ace Gallery in LA. Interesting when you know where inspiration could've come from. 

This is a wall of horizontally stacked straws.

All those white circles - styrofoam cups! Notice the scale. Two years later, I still remember how amazed we were.

tropical leaf platter

Happy Mundane's post on blue platters reminded me of of this brand new vintage blue tropical leaf platter I purchased from Refab Clinic. I love it, it's fabulous. It was one of the things saved as we sorted through our storage this weekend promising to learn to make an appetizer with a dip for the next time friends come over.

Deepak Chopra and a perfect colorway

I've been reading The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by physician and philosopher Deepak Chopra. I had heard of Deepak Chopra before, but only got to understand him better after seeing an Iconoclasts episode he did with comedian Mike Myers. He has such a simple and concise, but lush way of talking about our existence, science, and spirituality. One of his practices is to "take time each day to commune with nature and witness the intelligence within every living thing." After all nature is perfect, all around us and there to teach us. I bought these flowers at farmers market this weekend. With that little bit of yellow in the middle, it's a perfect colorway.

Domino Magazine, March '08

Got my newest issue of Domimo last week with 150 ways to go green. I love every issue, but this one was especially timely because of my latest farmer's market obsession and an article by Cynthia Kling who writes about eating locally for two weeks. Some tips for the market: walk the the whole market before spending because yes, it is pricey and you want to buy the right things, get there early for the best selection, just because it's local does not mean it's always good, and even beef and poultry are seasonal. Other interesting notes, "locavore" according to the Oxford American Dictionary means eating only local grown ingredients and was 2007's word of the year (btw, italian olive oil and columbian coffee are not local, but there is a "Marco Polo Exemption" that states "if an item has been traded for centuries, you can buy it at a locally owned vendor to support your community") and finally, eating locally (and probably more veggies) for her made her poop better - agreed!  

new logo type

I've been working on a new logo type for supercozy. I love deco fonts so I took one with nice happy curves and bonded them together like BFF's. Now, I have to figure out how to switch out the top banner, ?.

orange table lamp

A 1958 orange crackle table lamp I purchased last weekend in Palm Springs to brighten up the corner of my desk. I was once very obsessed with the color orange. During the few years I lived in Echo Park, I lived in an amazing studio apartment above a eccentric lady named Maxine and painted the widest wall of the space this same orange.

heart cake

What looks like chocolate cake, but seemed to be a chocolate cake madeline combo because of the nutty texture. Amazing and from Europane Bakery.

Andreas Canyon Trail

There are some beautiful trails in the Palm Springs desert. We did this really easy one mile loop called the Andreas Canyon Trail. We took our time walking and found ourselves in awe of the rock formations, the random group of palm trees growing next to the rocks and the river running through it. There was snow in the mountains, probably melting, while we were there which explains the the water oasis in middle of the desert.Huge rocks and huge palms.

I love it when branches form these little arches, very Hansel and Gretel. This is very nerdy, but I can see an illustration of the left image for a cover of a book. The second half of the hike higher in elevation so you had a pretty grand view of the mountains around you.

The loop takes you around this canyon and group of palms. There are more hikes in this area called Indian Canyon which is only 10 minutes from downtown. We hope to check them out next time.