I didn't Know I Needed

Seriously, I didn't know I needed these until I saw them. I really really really want them.

via DesignFiles

Sameness

Spring is in the air with the gorgeous days bestowed on us this week and everyone is already thinking of spring looks, but I couldn't resist this hat and these colors. First, I love hats, all hats, most hats. I would rock them all day, all year if I could. Second, this color combination, can I say LOVE. As a matter of fact, this has been my season transitional colors. My awesome Lara Miller (ecological sensitive designer) asymmetrical ruffle coat from her Fall 09 collection in that exact hat color and my army green pants.

via TheSartorialist

Apple Cake

Lazy Sunday afternoon, bag of apples, crazy for something cakey. What am I to do? Bake of course. Made this yummy vegan coffee apple cake. I dabble with vegan recipes, sometimes it's successful, sometimes not. This time, it came out so good, my husband and I ate half the cake in one sitting. Gluttony, I love it!

Recipe here

Visionaire Extraodinaire

I first saw Cecelia Dean in person at the S/S 2000Helmut Lang show and thought to myself, that woman is fierce. She was so polished, I almost felt dumpy.

These pictures are from The Selby of Ms. Dean in her Visionaire office. I am obsessed with purple these days and am totally loving the purple binder boxes against all that white, including the white oufit in the first picture. Talk about sexy floral arrangement, the corset like wrapping of the vase, hot! I can't believe it's been 10 years since I first saw Ms. Dean and she still looks gorgeous and hasn't aged a day.

Urban Jungle

I am feeling intense and fierce this Monday am.

via cougarchild

Wedding Nostalgia

Every time we go to a wedding, I think of our wedding and get the warm fuzzies. We were just at Hubby's cousins wedding and I posted some pictures of these beautiful images of the Korean hanbok, plus my bestest buddy, vko, thought it would be nice to share my wedding hanbok pictures on this blog. So I thought I would share some wedding pictures with you fair readers. We had two ceremonies, first was the traditional western wedding ceremony and the second was the traditional Korean wedding ceremony. Also, I just thought I'd throw in the a pictures of the traditional western ceremony for the fun of it!

Weekend

This weekend, hubby and I went to his cousins wedding in New Hampshire. We were looking forward to cross country skiing, ice skating on the lake, all that fun stuff. Since this weather has been wacky, Vermont and New Hampshire area barely got any snow. Huh? Can you believe that? Sigh, no cross country skiing. But we did get to ice skate on the lake behind the hotel. Um...I haven't skated in a very very very long time. I fell three times, bruise on each knee and a painful whopping bruise on my left butt! Ouch!

The bottom picture is the church where the ceremony took place. That area in New Hampshire looked so much like Sleepy Hollow.

Heritage

My first love is watercolor, it's the first media that I became proficient at to express the stuff going on in my head in a coherent way. Whenever I see photographs that have a watercolor quality I am mesmerized, I actually start seeing brush strokes and color drips. Okay, I know that sounds crazy.

This Korean fashion spread was photographed by Kim Kyung Soo. It's so beautiful. I also feel a connection to this as a Korean, growing up wearing these traditional Han Bok for Korean holidays. I remember being stared at as a girl in an all caucausian neighborhood. They had never seen anything like it. A few years later, the neighborhood started changing and you started seeing women wearing saris, men in turbans, men practicing tai chi, cheongsam at the market, then I stopped getting stared at.

via automatism via alisabloh

Yes Please

Champagne Sorbet

How fabulous and luxurious to turn champagne into sorbet, well also, how delicious.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sparkling wine or champagne
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon of lemon and or grapefruit zest
• 1 1/2 cups fresh grapefruit juice
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (Meyer if you have access to them)

Method

1 Put champagne, sugar, corn syrup, and zest into a saucepan. Bring to a vigorous boil so that the sugar completely dissolves, remove from heat.

2 Strain into a stainless steel bowl (will help cool down faster), add the grapefruit juice and lemon juice. Chill completely. To do this, either place bowl in a larger bowl half-filled with ice water, and stir until champagne solution is completely cold, refreshing the ice in the outer bowl if necessary. Or you can cover with plastic wrap and chill in your refrigerator over night. I put the bowl in the ice compartment of our freezer for a couple hours, because it fits, chills quickly, and is far enough away from the other food in the freezer.

3 Process the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the ice cream maker directions. Transfer mixture to a storage container and freezer in your freezer until firm, at least 6 hours.

Makes about 1 quart

found via girliegirl courtesy of simplyrecipes.com

Recovering

I stayed home from work all last week, recovering from surgery. Cabin fever was setting in and feeling unproductive, so despite doctor's order for bed rest, I sat in front of my sewing machine and got to work. With the fabric I purchased from Mood Fabric, here is project number one finished. With the left over scrap, I turned it into a pillow. I'm patting myself in the back for having absolutely no fabric waste, I literally used every inch of fabric purchased.

As you can see, our bedroom is mostly white, cream, beige, so the shot of purple print from the window treatment creates visual interest and movement. There is also a tangible energy shift in the room now. It used to be calming and soothing, I purposely decided not to hang any art to give our minds and eyes rest for the day. Now I'm thinking that I like this vibrant energy in the bedroom.

Happy V Day

Wishing everyone a sweet and romantic Valentine's day!

Illustration from Victoria Ball here

Happy Lunar New Year

2010 is the Year of the White Metal Tiger...hold on to your hats! I'm the Year of the Rat.....this should be an interesting year for me, actually for everyone. What's your sign?

Below is the metal tiger year prediction, it's a little on the long side. If you like this kind of stuff, it's a fun read.

Year of the Tiger
February 14, 2010 to February 3rd, 2011
THE YEARS OF THE TIGER (1902, 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022)

The Metal Tiger year starts on February 14, 2010. For western world types, the date is doubly significant because it falls on Saint Valentine's Day. Music Maestro Please! Drum rolls and festivities for everyone and of course extra loving for lovers everywhere.

Tiger years are notoriously turbulent. Political unrest, coups d'états, and natural catastrophes often strike during these action-packed years. So... if you were born under an active, energetic and even slightly rebellious New Astrology sign, you will be drop-dead-in love with this coming year's rambunctiousness. If, on the other hand, you prefer quietude, security and serenity, 2010 might not star as the most tranquil year of your life.

If you love movement and surprises, you will be in your element. But if you are someone who loves deep, quiet forest silence and solitude, in the Metal Tiger year, you may feel like crawling back under the covers and waiting out the tumult.

During a Tiger year, nobody should leap before he examines any forthcoming venture or adventure. The Tiger, though noble and honorable, endows a year with uncertainty and danger. Tigers never know where they might place their next paw. In Tiger years it is incumbent upon the rest of us to face head-on collisions with our own reversals. When we least expect calamity, it surges out of nowhere. Same goes for extreme pleasure and breath taking thrills. Much willpower and wisdom is required of us during these testy times. Get ready for the roller coaster ride of your life. Luckily, on February 2 of 2011, the ride will be over. Cat/Rabbit will be tiptoeing in to set things to rights in his or her own quiet way - and with dignity.

2010 will be a volatile year, engendering clashes and disputes in every part of the world - and even in families and love matches. This year will start with a bang. In the first half, everything will seem to be expanding, then exploding. But the year slowly winds down toward December and will end more serenely than it began. But hold on to your hats because 2010 is earmarked for sudden skirmishes, disagreements, disasters, ecstasies and gratifications of all stripes. Tigers, after all, are excessive.

2010 will also be a year for temerity about daring to change, for erasing the past and starting over. Nothing small or measly will happen. Think large scale everything. The Tiger also infuses the atmosphere with his courage and pluck. In 2010, we won't always feel safe. But we will often be excited and exhilarated. This will be a year for extremes in both misery and joy. Fortunes can be made and oh so quickly be gone up in smoke. The tendency is for dramatic upheaval. You leave your spouse and immediately get married to a lover with whom you almost know at the start that you can never find long term harmony. You sell your home and decide to move into a condo and right away feel cramped and nostalgic for your big sprawling house. Or you may change jobs midstream, just dash away from a sweetheart, move to a new city or country. Tiger years are about startups, new beginnings and espousing change. That is what make them so dashing and exciting to certain members of the New Astrology roster. And so absolutely shiveringly frightening to others.

In 2010, people get up to astonishing deeds on the spur of the moment. They suddenly take off on an expedition to the South Pole or they decide to move the whole family to Australia from Manitoba or Bedlam, Idaho. In this year, Transition is favored. If you have been dreaming of becoming a ballet dancer after years of digging in a mine, now's the time. Pick up and change your life. Or else you'll have to accept to be cowering in a corner with your teeth chattering as you watch the whirlwinds go by.

Heads of state and heads of household alike may allow their tempers to rage. Diplomacy seems to be a thing of the past. Likewise, secrets will be outed in the wink of an eye, unusual health problems will arise out of nowhere and your friends may go AWOL without so much as a whisper of a why. We will all feel abandoned at one time or another during this Tiger year, because the nature of the tawny beast is to turn tail and decide to change his stripes at a moment's notice. Where? What? Huh? We will all do a lot of head shaking and wondering what the hell just happened. No logic or reasoning can figure it out. So stop trying the very first day of the year and instead (because it's Valentine's Day) take your sweetie out for a super candlelight dinner and gear up for a full year of feisty turbulence - white knuckles and all.

Relationships, contracts and agreements requiring mutual confidence and collaboration may prove unsound and leave us gasping. This is often a difficult time and shakes us up. But the flip side is that it leaves us with a chance to pick ourselves up, brush ourselves off and start all over again. This Tiger year will offer us all the courage we need to face adversity and wriggle out of tight spots.

Tigers are vigorous people who know how to carry heavy emotional weight and brave sticky legal situations. They willingly (and sometimes thoughtlessly) pounce on lost causes, sinking ventures and failing businesses. To this year, the Tiger brings derring-do and impulsive fearlessness. You may meet with some major obstacles. Don't panic. The Tiger is not vengeful. He doesn't hold a grudge. But he does expect you to overcome those obstacles and return to the fray wearing a triumphant smile on your formerly disappointed face.

The Tiger's impulsive spirit will no doubt touch everyone's life. If ever you were planning to pull off some chancy caper or make an uncharacteristic flash decision, go for it. The Tiger will be on your side.

If you are a Pisces/Goat, a Libra/Cat/Rabbit or another of the "softer" New Astrology™ signs , you may be shaking in your boots. Relax. The Tiger is an effusive character who, despite his penchant for quarrel and collision, is a veritable warehouse of merriment and a fund of dazzlingly novel ideas to amuse and delight you. If you like inventive, cheerful, intense and edgy people (and who doesn't?), you can look forward to a rollicking 2010.

KARL LAGERFELD, a celebrated Tiger fashion designer, said on French TV today "I love everything that fashion is criticized for. I live for change and tearing down the past to build the future. That's what (Tigers and) fashion is all about."

Source here

Alexander McQueen

RIP Alexander McQueen at 40
What?!?! So tragic!

Chinese Checkers

Yay! My Chinese Checkers Louise Ghost chairs finally arrived. Of course Little Girl has to come check them out first as the comfort meter. I'd say she finds them quite comfy.

photo taken by lifestyles of the chic & vegan

I See Stripes

I've always been a huge fan of striped shirt. My mother who had a thing for polka dots and stripes rubbed off on me. For Spring, I need to update some of my stripe shirt collection, meaning, that I have to toss out or donate the really really really old ones. Here are some that I've found. Now that I have stripe sailor shirts on the brain, I see them everywhere.








credit from top to bottom: Saint James from Lark, Petite Bateau, Saint James from Lark, bottom three are from Urban Outfitters

In the Mood for Decorating

Inspired by the picture from the last post of this picture, I headed out to Mood Fabrics on Saturday with my friend, Lifestyles of the Chic & Vegan. Here is a not so hot snapshot of Mood's upholstery section. If you like that kind of stuff, seriously, it's like being a kid in a candy store. I could have spend the whole day in there and spent all kinds of money, if my hubby wasn't waiting for me at home for brunch.



Again, a not so hot snapshot of a print that I loved. I'm not usually drawn to purple, but for some reason, all I look at are purple these days. So, I found this print in purple that will be used for the window treatment and I'm thinking the contrasting yellow for bed skirt.
Here is the loot from Mood....the purple print uphostery fabric-window treatment, brown sheer nylon will be sunblocker in the husbands office, the black perforated faux leather will eventually become a vegan hobo bag, and the yellow with black feathered water color print velvet will become a tunic dress.
Here is a glimpse of the fabric temporarily hung on the window rod so I can get a feel for it. I'm totally loving it!
I thought I'd just throw this in...can you spot the little girl? So this is what it looks like from the street looking up and seeing those pointy little ears.

Home is where the heart is

I took a deep breath and pressed that send button to purchase a set of four of this chair for our dining table. I hope the asian theme picture isn't too goofy in person. Keeping my fingers crossed. While I love me the Louis Ghost chairs, but the print? Any thoughts?



This picture from Sixx Design is my inspiration for new window treatment in the bedroom. I'll be hitting the fabric stores in the garment center tomorrow am.

One Eye Cat

We're fostering this gorgeous little girl. My best friend rescued her in December, right before the big snow storm. She also had to have her one eye removed from an infection. Poor thing, it's been rough for her, but it's incredible how well she's adjusting. Isn't she just beautiful!

Good Times

Midnight Stroll

From Drop Box

Sunday night in the mist.

Faux What!

Holy Cow! Yes, cows are holy as are all living creatures on this earth. With that in mind, I try to eat consciously and healthy, not always succeeding. The times when I fail to be a conscious eater, I think about what that piece of flesh came from, a beautiful cow or a gorgeous chicken unfortunate to have been brought into this earth to live a miserable existence and die a harsh death. Okay, writing this makes me want to cry for all the miseries of this world. So I'll stop and talk about this Faux Gras. In my non-enlightened food period, I use to love me some foie gras. Then I started thinking about those precious ducks or geese with tubes shoved down their throats, being forced. I almost swooned with the disgust of how little we care for other precious beings.

Okay, I'll get off the soapbox and talk about this wonderful product called Faux Gras. It's exactly what you think it is, fake foie gras. I haven't tried it yet, but you get your sweet tush, I'm gonna place an order for it today from the Regal Vegan.

via The Girlie Girl

Frozen Shrubbery

What a cool (pun intended) way to light up a winter outdoor party.


via DesignSponge + instructions

Rawin Loud & Clear

Last night my best friend V and I checked out this raw place in Williamsburg. I was not prepared for how much I would enjoy and love the food. I will admit that I only went because V is going through a stressful situation and needed some support and distraction, I suggested that she get out of the house and offered my support, so she chose this place for dinner. I am thankful that V chose Rockin Raw, it opened me up to raw food, it is simply amazing. I didn't need to eat too much but felt full and satisfied for a long time. The fullness felt like a light, clean, happiness in the tummy, unlike being full from processed food, which brings down my energy and I can feel the emptiness in my tummy from lack of real nutrients in the food. My consciousness around food shifted last night and I had this epiphany of what food means to me. Not to sounds too corny, but it really felt like a life changing experience.

Our menu last night was...

Starters

“Crab Cakes” with Creamy Dill Sauce
-made with sea vegetables, zucchini, mushrooms, seeds, macadamia, and many spices-

Jicama a la Huancaina
-served with olives and peruvian corn kernels (choclo)-
Huancaina is a popular peruvian yellow spicy cheese-like sauce,
it's unique taste comes from the Ají Amarillo (peruvian yellow pepper).

Entrees

Raw Boy Sandwich with Cajun Mayo
-a smooth fluffy filling of sea vegetables, seeds, celery, onions, etc served with Soul Chips and Creole Slaw, in our essene bread-

Rockin' Raw Burger Platter
-rich rich R R burger made with eggplant, seeds, mushrooms, walnuts, spices, etc-
(served with Southern Greens, pickles, N'awlins Rings and ketchup)

Everything was delicious, period. Unfortunately, I didn't have the foresight to take pictures of the plates, but V did. I will link to it when she gets around to blogging about it.


Rockin Raw

178 North 8 Street Brooklyn New York 11211 718 599 9333

Cross Street Driggs