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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

designer/maker & smart hands

Bag maker S. Stein describes the concept of designer/maker and smart hands in the recent October newsletter interview by Heath Ceramics....

Tell us about the importance of the designer/maker tradition — why producing in the US is so important to you and how you found the craftspeople you work with... Regarding US labor, it's not easy but it's the right thing to do if you can make a go of it — as in, compete in a market largely priced using offshore labor. When you experience, first hand, the work a small business provides to the people in your community, it reinforces these ideals more than anything ever could. I've managed to find people in New Mexico who actually love having their hands on their work. My stitcher crafts each piece from start to finish, which I believe contributes to the great pride and deep sense of satisfaction she feels for her work. We make a point of stopping to admire each completed bag — I feel this admiration, more than anything, makes craftspeople into the people they are.

What inspires you? Until I learned about a school in the Netherlands that describes a phenomenon known as 'smart hands' I really didn't know how to put words to my experience as a designer/maker — my hands actually know what to do once they hit the material. That concept alone drives my obsession to create stuff — a desire that I've had ever since I can remember. Today, I'm inspired by vintage everything, Art in America, black and white photography, Monument Valley and the combination of good materials and craftsmanship is simply irresistible to me.

images from S. Stein.

Nadine Light

Nadine, the latest laser cut masterpiece from a collection called Future Flora by Tord Boontje. Check out the little video on how it opens up here.

“ Although I started by looking very closely at flowers, it became a project from memory, to imagine shapes which are like flowers but not exactly, a new kind of species – a flower and light hybrid.” — Tord Boontje