Philippines 2010

Just got back from a 10 day trip to the Philippines. Caught some spectacular views. The last mystic photo is from the airplane window over Incheon Airport in Seoul.

Nick Cave: Meet Me at the Center of the Earth

Finally got a chance to visit Nick Cave's Soundsuits at the UCLA Fowler Museum this past weekend. These suits are full body collages of mostly from the fiber arts world which includes crocheted hats and doilies, colorful gap sweaters, and all the glory of sequenced applique. The most famous are the performing Soundsuit Invasions some of which are made with real dyed human hair. They are bold and exhilarating as they tower over you and then at the same time so innocent, playful and free spirited, strands flowing, as they jump around and dance in the videos.


Nick Cave's Soundsuit Invasion No. 1 in LA, courtesy Fowler Museum at UCLA from Fowler Museum on Vimeo.

"With this exhibition, I hope to provide a place for dreaming - a public incubator. I hope that people walking into the gallery will be transported into another world where they can find hope, inspiration, and empowerment. I hope they will find themselves in another universe and also find a few moments to imagine, reflect and feel nourished. I see the work - especially at this particular time - as a catalyst for change and I hope the people who see it will be fueled by their experience with it."

Cave did his Masters in Fiber Art at Cranbrook where he met Gerhardt Knodel, who he says "gave him the courage and ability to be fearless."

I hope to catch one of these invasions at the museum in May.

:: photo by James Prinz/UCLA

welcome to the slighlty new and improved

I finally upgraded the blog. This meant moving to the blogspot url... http://supercozy.blogspot.com/. No biggee. Welcome.

80's dessert

My dessert last night at the new Elements Restaurant in Pasadena was this fantastic 80's explosion. The splatter of colors was awesome! Passion fruit panna cotta and a berry sorbet with a sprinkling of edible flowers, red stemmed microgreens, pink foam and hot pink broken meringues type things. My photo is not that good because I did not want to disturb the romance with a sudden flash, but just imagine. The rest of the meal was equally gorgeous as it was delicious and amazing - an amuse with pink noodles and a little heart shaped piece of tofu, this gorgeous red borscht soup which they should definitely add to the menu (!), and the a perfectly cooked sea bass with a red sofrito. Best Valentines Day meal I've had and clearly the chefs are having a really good time.

Biodegradable Dishware by Wasara

This makes me smile. Via Re-Nest.

Collections A Day

There is something about seeing things in a group. I absolutely love Lisa Congdon's new year long blog Collections a Day Project documenting her collections. These are her vintage price tags. Photo by Lisa Congdon.

cherished words

i miss you and think of you often with all the fondness in the world. ~kai

double weave blanket

Finished setting up the warp yesterday and finally started weaving a queen size blanket using a technique called double weave. Double weave means I can weave 2 layers at the same time making the width of the blanket twice that of the warp. My warp is 40" wide, but my final blanket will be 80" wide! In the second pic, the fold will be on the left side which means the vertical stripe on the right side, will end up on both the left and right of the blanket.

I had time to weave 5" of weft (the horizontal yarns), so I could see the double weave in action. It's pretty amazing. The last pic is a view in between the 2 layers that are forming. Exciting!

rainy morning breakfast

it's been raining for 4 days straight here in LA. kinda unheard of these last drought filled years. love it. a big hearty meal to last me the day.

the desert

A good friend wished us much peace before leaving for the desert this weekend. I think we found it. Enjoyed a little spa action, stood amidst nature, lunched with these cool kids and these, and ended up at the photo booth ... maybe a little too relaxed :)

origami heart

An origami heart from this older lady at the last family party. She makes these amazing little treasures every holiday and passes them out to the girls mainly. Her English is not very good, nor my Japanese, so we just exchange with two hand offerings, bended bow, and big warm smiles. I think I let out a tiny shreek of excitement and she a laugh because we both knew this was a good one!

baby's leopard sweater

I want baby's Stella McCartney for Gap sweater!

happy *2010*

my mother-in-law's beautiful new years day spread.

pizzas!

I've never been into cooking, but we've been cooking a lot lately *. Tried out pizza recipes from Jean Kelley's beautiful cookbook Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes the other night - tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil; mushroom, chives and added truffle oil; brie, prosciutto, and arugula - delicious and so much fun. It's a great book for a beginner cook like myself who is familiar with flavors, but had no idea how to get them! I've been having ah-ha moments with flavor, having tasted them at restaurants and then all of a sudden creating them at home. Also made her seriously perfect chocolate chip cookies, which has made me very popular :) and butternut squash soup.

ornament adventures

Also got handmade ornament adventures from Jon. He was inspired by the wonderful pieces of Samma at Maryam Nassir Zadeh via one of my favorite blogs Ermie. Ahh, fluorescent yellow...

dinner at jon's

dinner at jon's...

card making at the DWC

Spent the morning making cards with the ladies today. Met a lovely lady named Christina. Wishing her a happy and prosperous new year!

leaves

beautiful mess of leaves after a windy day! Not so common here in L.A. :)

"Bruise"

"Bruise" by Mike Mills. Available here.

Tom Ford

The lovely Tom Ford at a debut screening of his brilliant new movie "A Single Man."

happy herringbone floor!

Happiness in my new herringbone floor!

3"x6" recycled porcelaine tiles laid out in a herringbone pattern; my inspirations here and here; busy pattern takes attention away from the odd floorplan; eternally grateful to the contractors whose knees were beat after installation!

out and about

Rug at Rose Bowl Flea Market.

Decor at the back bar of Palate.

Yuka's daybed with pillows she made from Mamimekko dish towels by Sanna Annukka.

breakfast at Elements

Polenta, poached egg, and prosciutto breakfast at Elements Cafe - my kind of meal!! They'll be opening a restaurant and bar in the plaza of the Pasadena Playhouse a block away from our Laemmle Theater very soon. Perfect date night. Purple glass sidewalk jewels around the corner of the cafe.

Eley Kishimoto and Anthropologie

Love this dress. Collaboration between Eley Kishimoto and Anthropologie.

palm tree leaf

palm tree leaves are HUGE
taller than me for sure
but they look so small looking from below