Saturday, December 31, 2011

2012~ Let's Roll


Happy New Year
May the road ahead be smooth
May your destination be clear
and your venture alive with creativity.
2012
Let's Go
xo

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Tis The Season To Be Creative

What's not to like about over the top?

My daughter just sent me this photo of 
her friend's Christmas Tree.
All of the ornaments have been collected over the years, 
from the fabulous, over the top world
Hint: on sale!
Obviously, the key here is gorgeous adornments,
and not everyone has access to Neiman Marcus~
but with a little imagination and perhaps, bravado
this effect could be pulled off 
in many incarnations...

May you Xmas be
cray cray.
xo

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Time Is Now...


May we all go forth
and do what we must do.


xo

Monday, November 21, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving Week

No matter the path or the 
end result...
it always comes down to the journey...
it's always the journey.
Always. 

XO
Images via Vogue, Pinterest

Friday, November 18, 2011

It's The Weekend~ Express Yourself


Artify yourself ~ your life.

Rostarr: B-Boy Abstractionfrom Matt Black on Nowness.com.

Romon Kimin Yang AKA Rostarr
found a therapeutic outlet for himself 
and we discover a wide range of talent through his prints,
paintings, graphics and more...



Get out there and discover something...
xo

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Well Read


Whether you enjoy a room stacked floor to ceiling...



Or piled for useful purpose....
simply put,
There should always be
always room for more.

xo

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Happy Tuesday


Life IS subjective...
xo

Monday, November 14, 2011

Hello Monday~










Mondays can be hard... that's a given, but seriously,
it always comes down to....Attitude.




You dig?
Source: theimpossiblecool.tumblr.com via Debbie on Pintere
I DIG~

Friday, November 11, 2011

SO Fine Art...

Brush strokes, oil, water color, pastel,
canvas, wood panel....
I'm telling you right now its ALL good.
I say by hook or crook 
or indeed website
xo

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Wednesday, November 2, 2011


Fabulous article on Roy Lichtenstein 
by Kevin Conley in 
Town & Country




Roy Lichtenstein
Positively brilliant...
Colorful, Pop, Icon...
xo

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Hello November

Spike Jonze: Mourir Auprès de Toi on Nowness.com.

Spike Jonze: Mourir Auprès de Toi

The Celebrated Filmmaker and Designer Olympia Le-Tan Co-create a Tale to Pierce the Heart

Designer Olympia Le-Tan's embroidered clutch-bags spring to life in director Spike Jonze’s tragicomic stop-motion animation Mourir Auprès de Toi (To Die By Your Side). On a shelf in famed Parisian bookstore Shakespeare and Company, the star-crossed love story of a klutzy skeleton and his flame-haired amour plays out amidst Le-Tan’s illustrations of iconic first-edition book covers. "It's such a beautiful and romantic place,” offers Le-Tan of the antiquarian bookstore. "The perfect setting for our story!” The project started after Jonze asked for a Catcher in the Rye embroidery to put on his wall and the plucky Le-Tan asked for a film in return. Enlisting French filmmaker Simon Cahn to co-direct, the team wrote the script between Los Angeles and Paris over a six month period, before working night and day animating the 3,000 pieces of felt Le-Tan had cut by hand. “I love getting performances from, telling stories about and humanizing things that aren’t human,” said Jonze of working with Le-Tan’s characters. After spending five years adapting Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are, Jonze’s recent shorts include robot love story I’m Here and an inspired G.I. Joe-starring video for The Beastie Boys. “A short is like a sketch,” he says. “You can have an idea or a feeling and just go and do it.” Here the iconic director reveals his creative process to writer Maryam L'Ange.
How did the film come about?
I met Olympia in Paris through friends of mine. She was just starting to make the bags for her friends. She had a bunch of the scraps in her bag, all of the cut-out pieces of felt. I just loved it. I loved all the artwork she picked, the texture of it, the stitching of the felt. We joked about making a film and just went for it. It was this thing with no schedule, no pressure and no real reason to be—other than just that we thought it would be fun.
Did you write the story together?
Yeah we did. We would look at all the artwork over lunch whenever we would be in the same city, noting any ideas that would just make us smile. It was done like that, with no real plans.
What’s your creative process?
You just start with what the feeling is. For this one the feeling definitely started with the handmade aesthetic and charm of Olympia’s work. Instantly I had the idea of doing it in a bookstore after-hours, imagining the lights coming down and these guys off their books. Me and Olympia both wanted to make a love story, and it was fun to do it with these characters. It evolved naturally and it all just started with the feeling. From there you entertain yourself with ideas that excite you.
Do you go with your gut instinct?
If it cracks me up. We were talking about the skeleton coming off his book and the girl in the Dracula book waving at him. Olympia is someone who is just absurd, she’s used to just saying anything. She just started making the blowjob gesture as a joke to make us laugh but I was like, “We’ve got to do that.” It’s about taking things that could just be a joke while brainstorming and actually going for it and using it.
What inspires you?
People inspire me. Humberto Leon and Carol Lim [from Opening Ceremony] and the confidence and creativity in how they run their business. Pixar’s really inspiring, they make films in the best possible way. They’re always focused on story. I could list a million people that inspire me all the time. David Bowie’s music, Charlie Kauffman, David Russell. A lot of people that I work with too, just conversations I have with them about what we want to do.
To read an interview with Olympia Le-Tan about the making of the animation visit our Facebook page here. 
xo

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Renewed Interests

                       Artwork : AJH
After a fabulous evening of delicious food &
 sensory deprivation with Ross
and our friends Lynn and Brian, where we spent the better 
part of the evening blindfolded~
I realized I am overdue...for weighing in at...
In A Single Day...
Stay tuned.
xo

Friday, April 1, 2011

The Good Life

Ahh April!
For many it is feeling like the 
winter will never end but here in California it is feeling like 
the middle of summer (at least this week).
To me, April is always associated with
the spring break road trips- like the ones we took with the kids,
 Palm Springs, the college town (and food ) tour from Georgia
 to Indiana,
the amusement park tour (Ross and kids)...
it is also the time of year, where I can't get enough of
local nurseries, seed banks, gardening and 
getting my hands dirty along with plenty of sweat equity.
It is the time of year to take stock of details~
 prepare for the next two seasons 
as we will fill them with outdoor living
 the friends and family 
who mean so much.
With that in mind, I am on hiatus...
taking time to listen to the birds sing,
pro create (ART ~FOOD~ FLOWERS)
go exploring and of course, smell the roses.

Here's to hoping you get out and do the same.


xo


Thursday, March 24, 2011

Check Your Cholesterol At The Door

Around the West, pretty much everyone
 has heard of, (if not enjoyed)
In- N-Out Burger.  It's kind of a cult thing.
Their menu is one born of simplicity ...or so it seems- 
when you look at the menu offering their
burger, cheeseburger, fries and shakes.
However, there is a secret menu offering up 
combinations many are familiar with and there is a 
super secret menu which few are familiar with...

\
Of course, everyone knows about grilled onions
but they also will grill whole onion slices.

A new underground favorite is 'mustard-grilled'
where after cooking one side, they squirt mustard on the patty 
before flipping it.

Do you like things spicy?
Ask for 'Chopped Chilies' and if you want them on the side, they'll give 
them to you in a sealed baggie. 

Everyone knows about 'Animal Style'
(grilled onions, mustard, extra spread and pickles)
But how about 'The Flying Dutchman' animal style?
That's with  two patties/ two cheese/ no bun

If you're a fry freak like me ~ 
(frankly, I'm not a huge fan of their fries they remind me of 
Pik-Nik Stix) but they are improved when ordered
'Well Done'   AND  when they are included
in the order as 'Fries Inside'. 

And of course, I usually get a Diet Coke-
you've got to cut out somewhere, but if you like
 shakes with your fries, why should you choose one flavor,
 when you can order all three~ 'Neopolitan style'

Research like this takes time and effort, of course, so 
 this definitely gets filed under the category of... 
it's a big job~but somebody has to do it.
Check out Serious Eats  for these secrets,
ordering tips, insider info and more!
xo 

Quote of The Day

T&C
All difficult things have their origin
 in that which is easy,
and great things in that which is small.
Lao-Tsze

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

More Than An Actress

RIP Elizabeth Taylor

Modus Operandi

Live a creative life
without fear.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Luxe Living: It's A Cliffhanger

I love a good view and combined
with cement and a pool, well that's Nirvana.

Ultramodern by design, this fantastic cliff-side residence in Thailand thrusts its occupants into the natural surroundings – forests on two sides, chiseled stone on the third and a sensational ocean view on the fourth. via dornob

             You know when the Ricardos are in Hollywood and 
Fred says to Ethel,
(referring to to movie stars)
"they may be just like us...
but they're not like you and me"?
                               Well, I think this is just like that.       

xo








Quote of The Day

Let's go on a livin' spree-
(cause) they say the best things in  life
are free.
Kanye West

Monday, March 21, 2011

Monday Morning Ab Fab

Life needs more ridiculousness right now.
Now let's get started.
xo

Quote of The Day


The most completely lost of all days,
is that on which one has not laughed.
Chamfort

Friday, March 18, 2011

Laughter Is Always The Best Medicine


No two ways about it, children and laughter are
 what make the world go round and when the two are combined~
all the better.
When I was really little, I would watch (reruns of)
 The Little Rascals,
 there was always something so simplistic and yet,
so wise about their reasoning.

If you have children or spend anytime around them,
you know they can be so vulnerable yet intrinsically,
often skepticalof the world around them.
It is exactly this juxtaposition which I find
so precious here in this video.
Very sound of very light,
Heard from morning's rosiest height,
When the soul of all delight
Fills a child's clear laughter.
Swinburne
xo

Quote of The Day

Reason, Justice and Equity never had weight
enough on the face of the earth to 
govern the councils of men.
Thomas A. Edison

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Feelin Jiggy

Leprachaun Gold in stained glass
May today be filled with
fun, frolic and...
dancing.
Play Safe.
xo

Quote of The Day

What I saw was equal ecstasy:
One universal smile it seemed all things.
Dante

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Bold Moves

I love to use art as a decorating element,
in fact, I find it indispensable.  Yes,
it adds color,  symmetry and of course (or hopefully)...
makes a statement, communicates.
I am not opposed to employing the DIY approach to art-
in fact, I do so quite often. Bold move?
Perhaps, but much of art (while subjective),
 is  part talent, part confidence
and part chutzpah.
On that note, look at James Nares and his
off the charts brush strokes.

He is a London-born artist, filmmaker, and musician based in New York. His paintings are like strokes of calligraphy, magnified and flowing across large format canvases.

To achieve the look, Nares suspends himself over the canvas in a selfmade harness, and paints one continuous stroke using large brushes he developed himself. 

"I found that brushes are like characters in a way: Each one does a different dance."  
Of course, you don't need to hang from a pulley,
have a hand stretched canvas or even expensive materials
to create a work of art yourself, but what you do need is
an open mind and a bit of cheeky confidence.
xo

Quote of The Day

Another green world  - Fine art landscape photograph
                                                                                                        Etsy

If I spent as much time doing the things 
I worry about getting done-
as I do worrying about them, I wouldn't have anything
to worry about.
Beryl Pfizer

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Tiers Of Joy

Kate Middleton and Prince William have been decidedly low-key about the details of their upcoming nuptials—keeping mum on the dress, ixnaying the lavish stag party, and opting for a discreet car arrival in lieu of one by gilded carriage. And yet, there’s one royal realm where restraint doesn’t necessarily mean good taste—that of the wedding cake. Not only is more, well,more, in über-technical baking parlance, but there’s truly no precedent for a modest royal wedding cake. From Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III’s cathedral-esque tiers to Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer’s flower-sprouting temple, feel free to sufficiently drool over these regal examples.  

via Vanity Fair

 Grace Kelly's 1956

Princess Marina's of Greece 1934

Queen Elizabeth (then princess) 1923
For more photos and details...Vanity Fair
xo