TGISaturday!

The semester is OVER! Had a mini-break down last night.
Cried, turned out the light and went to bed. When I felt better, made a grilled ham-and-cheese for dinner. Too much pressure, too overwhelmed. Final projects, slippery fabric not sewing well, rude clients at the store, etc. Today is a much better day. Here are a couple of projects from my computer flat pattern class. Garments okay, photography needs work.

Black Friday

Day after Turkey Day. How apt it's called Black Friday (for other reasons, of course). Black fits my current mood. What a lousy Thanksgiving. I would have had more fun if I drank more; a problem I am remedying right now. I invented a new drink: In a tumbler full of ice, fill half way with equal parts vodka, creme de cacao, Godiva chocolate liqueur, fill rest with milk, 1 tablespoon simple syrup, and some chocolate syrup. It's basically an adult version of chocolate milk. Yum! After some rumination, I believe there is a fifth season in the year. After winter, spring, summer and fall, there is heartache season. Years ago, I broke up with my last serious boyfriend around this time of year. Another thanksgiving, I starting showing symptoms of what turned out to be cancer. This time last year, I was rejected by a proto-crush that I was sure was interested in me. That thanksgiving was also disappointing. And yesterday, I was once again, disappointed. Maybe these things are cyclical. The holiday season is already stressful. Maybe I should hibernate like the bears and re-emerge in the spring, wiping the sleep from my eyes, with my heart full of hope.

Cult of Kitty

I drove up to LA yesterday to check out the Three Apples show celebrating Hello Kitty's 35th anniversary. There was art inspired by Hello Kitty and an apartment all decked out in HK. Enjoy!

Laura Bennett Rocks!

Who says San Diego is some sleepy beach town? Fashion happens here. This past Saturday, I got to meet Laura Bennett from Project Runway, season 3. Thanks to Modelinia, Laura made two appearances at UTC, talking about styling. Four women got makeovers. Lucky ducks! That's okay. Melanie and I got to ask questions afterwards and speak one-on-one. Laura is so gracious and generous with her time. Thank you Laura! She has a book coming out, Didn't I Feed You Yesterday?, about raising her kids in Manhattan. You can pre-order on Amazon. She said she's a fan of the show and auditioned on a whim. She grabbed some outfits from her closet and headed the few short blocks to Macy's for the audition. She couldn't believe she got on the show and was holding her own against these "trained designers." Some behind-the-scenes things on Project Runway: The designers actually have less time to sew than what it seems. The little interviews that are cut into the program, those take an hour and a half to film and come out of their sewing time. The good news is that everyone has to be interviewed. She was one of the faster sewers saying, if the judges couldn't see it from 8 feet away, she didn't worry about it. They will finish around 3 am, go to bed, and get woken up at 6 am the next day to start all over. That's why there is so much crying on the show. Everyone's sleep deprived! The designers and Tim Gunn have no contact with judges other than the runway show and judging. That takes about 8 hours to produce. Laura says her experience as an architect and having projects juried helped her cope with the judging. She knows not to take it personally. Overall, she wouldn't do it again. She is, however, still a fan of the show and continues to watch. (When Melanie e-mails me pictures, I'll post them here.) Her one piece of advice for new designers: network. Talk to people. Hand out your business cards. Thanks again Laura. Come back anytime, ya' hear?

Food and Fabric

I'm enjoying an afternoon at home and just realized, I haven't eaten any real food yet today. One cannot live on rice crackers and chocolate-covered graham crackers and coffee. Quesadillas are real food, right? (That's kay-sa-dee-yas in case you're not fluent in Mexican food.) I'm on to the rocky road ice cream now. Yum! Seems I've been so busy in daily life that I haven't posted in weeks. I was able to attend the LA International Textile show last Friday. Forgot to bring my camera. Oh, well. We saw a great trend report from WGSN for FW10/11 and looking forward to SS 2011. Think connection (social networking), emotive (feelings), useful (recycle) and inventive (science + art). I had a great time being that it was my first trade show. I made some contacts and am waiting for my samples to arrive. Thanks Liz at ABBL Swimwear for making this happen!

Riverview in Long Island City

My hosts Jamie and Justin took me out for a special dinner where Justin works a short jaunt from their apartment: Riverview.

tilapia

fra diavolo

pork chop

Yes, it was a few days 'til by birthday. Long live chocolate!

Yummy!

Lucky for me it was restaurant week (extended through Labor Day) while I was in NYC.

This was my lunch at Fig & Olive in the Meat Packing District.

Chicken Samosa
Organic chicken, cilantro, Greek yogurt, bell pepper, scallion,
Sundried Tomato Olive Oil

Grilled Branzino with Fig & Balsamic
Grilled filet of Mediterranean branzino, glazed with fig & balsamic
vinegar, snow peas & figs

Mascarpone Tropezienne
Caramel Maple Rum & Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote

And after all this loveliness, I took a walk on the High Line :) More foodie pix to come!

Sugar Overload

NYC has been good so far. A wicked storm passed through the first night and felled trees on the Upper West Side. The next day was gorgeous. I walked from 59th and Lex to Grand Central for the walking tour from the historical society. Our tour guide, Marty was awesome. He talked about the history of the building and architecture. I could see the Chrysler Building a few blocks away. Next, I took the shuttle crosstown to Times Square. I wanted to check out the Hello Kitty Luxe store; I was not disappointed. I headed downtown for a snack and to wait for my friend Betsy. We ended up staying in for Chinese food delivered and went out for dessert. Veniero's on East 11th street was hopping. We got a cafe table and I brought some yummies to share with J&J. My favorite was the French cannoli. 

BAP Tour '09: Bollywood style

"Greetings from the Astoria Animals. We will be your guides through this lovely borough of Queens that we call home." That's Bandit on the left and Whipple on the right. They will be my roommates for the next week, along with their mummy and daddy, aka Jamie and Justin, who have graciously lent me their couch. On the way back from JFK, we stopped for dinner at a neighborhood joint. I wanted my first meal back to be real-New-York-fugeddahboudit-food, not something I could get any ol' day of the week. Thankfully, J&J suggested their favorite Indian restaurant. Awesome! Poppers with 3 different condiments were offered, followed by vegetable samosas. I chose the chicken tikka masala with nan. Heaven sent (and scent). I also sampled the basmati rice and lamb. We finished with rice pudding. The perfect first meal. Welcome back!

1980's Redux

During a recent conversation with a friend of mine, I became acutely aware of the generation gap. My friend, one among many of the Boomer generation, shared his attitude about money: money is bad. I, on the other hand, grew up during the Extravagant Eighties when greed was good. This subconsciously, or not-so-subconsciously, led to a skewed view of money. I can manage other people's money great, but mine, not so much. Money is to spend. Why didn't I learn from my parent's generation who were born during the Depression and lived through WWII? They were savers who only used credit sparingly. If my dad were alive today, I'm convinced he would have an envious credit rating in the 700s, if not higher. My mom still saves. What for? Hell if I know. It don't rain in sunny SoCal. She not only saves money, but clothes, shoes and those aluminum trays that cradle her Hawaiian bread. I save some things, like magazine articles I find interesting, books and clothes, and only recently, a little bit of money. I still feel like a poster child for the Slacker Generation, i.e., GenX, even though I showed up early to the game (circa 1967). Which reminds me, what's up with all this Woodstock 40th anniversary stuff? I see clothes being marketed to kids whose parents weren't even BORN during Woodstock (conceived, possibly). I'm all for peace and peace symbols, which I wear myself, but really, did it take 40 years for it to be "cool" to be "green?" This leads me back to my friends' generation of activists, who tried to save the environment before that was in vogue, to speak out for equality and marched and/or sat-in for causes. Now, real protests come in virtual forms of Tweets, blogs and colored gels over avatars. At the risk of sounding like a crazy old bag, get of my porch you young whipper-snappers! (This is directed to the clueless mother of two who came into the store yesterday. Her little devils were tearing up the place while she tried on clothes. Buy a clue, lady! {Ranting hour has come to close. Thanks for listening.}) The 80's are back in fashion in case you hadn't heard. I'm already seeing lots of neon, spandex leggings and zebra print. Isn't there an adage that says if you were around the first time, you shouldn't be wearing it the second time around? The 80's weren't that great, unless you were a Republican or Gordon Geeko. What did I learn the first time around? Greed is good, a little neon goes a long way and mullets are our friends. Once upon a time (during the 80's) MTV played music videos. I know; my family had cable. While channel surfing the other weekend, I came across the top 100 rap videos on VH1. This led me to break out my old school rap. Bust a move with the cars that go boom when you're going back to Cali for some Rapper's Delight (the 14 minute EP version. You don't know what an EP is? What's that funny looking flat thing with a hole in the middle? You have music on this? How does THAT work?!?). To which I say, look it up on the web.