Best Golden Day EVER!

I'm still floating on clouds thinking about my epic golden day last Friday!!

Here's how the day went...

Dylan woke me up by bringing me breakfast in bed with some coffee and treats from Besalu pastries. Then I got kicked out for the rest of day, since Dylan had to take over the house to decorate. But I especially don't mind in cases like this. :)

I was excited to meet up with Ashley a bit to go over some new ideas we're collaborating on...here's a SNEAK PEAK!

Then I met up with my sister and got some play time with my niece, Yvette! Awww....look at her adowable worry eyebrows!

Then it was time to put on my outfit for the evening with a gold rope necklace with materials I found at Joann's of all places!

Even the sun came out to say hello....

Then bunch of friends and I went to Belle Clementine for a delicious community coursed meal.

This was one of best dinner experience with good food, good drinks, good friends and people at the restaurant. (more details about the dinner later!)

Here's a teaser photo....a glass of Lillet, some lightly pickled green olives with orange zest,  and sheep's milk feta cheese over saute nettle forged from the Northwest.

Then after dinner, we went back for more partying at our house withe the whole place decked out in all sorts of gold decorations!

I also got this special giant gold gobblet to drink out of!

and then totally stuffed my face with more homemade treats & special cocktail drinks from everyone.

Thanks Dylan &  everyone that came out to celebrate with me on my special day! I had the most amazing time...and I really couldn't have asked for anything more!!

 xoxo

Special BLANC Mailers

I'm excited to share these special mailers that Chelsea Heffner of plainMADE  and I collaborated on to reach out to some special museums / shops / press in Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, and NY!

Each card is unique and it's just a little something that we hope will entice them to come check us out and/or support the event!

....but mostly I just wanted an excuse to get Chelsea to do some beautiful hand-painted artwork! :)

Her free-hand color washes is totally perfect for what I had envisioned for BLANC. She even got these beautiful slightly textured thick water-color paper to paint on. Then I did the layout for the text and printed it with just my printer!

I was more than surprised and happy to find that my ghetto Canon MP470 printer did SUCH a stellar print job, didn't chew up the paper or die!

 I really hope people will get them and keep these for awhile....I know I totally would!

Fireworks Studies

This amazing book by Pierre Le Hors' 'Firework Studies' has pages after pages of beautiful black & white photos of varying moments of fireworks in the sky.

It's just amazing to look at even in a book.

I can never get sick of watching fireworks....which means that I can see myself never getting sick of looking at this book.
I suppose that's why people are willing to spend millions just for 30 minutes of entertainment....that's freedom for ya!

Happy America Weekend!!

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SOIL Art Auction this Friday 10/15

Dylan & I have been volunteering for this event every year for the past 5 years now, and it's always an awesome event that we look forward in being be part of. This year is no exception!

All SOILS Day | 2010 Art Auction

Top ten reasons you'll should attend:

1. Fabulous art
2. Delicious food
3. Devilish drinks
4.Try your luck at our La Loteria stand to win one-of-a-kind prizes from Soil Members
5. Support SOIL and it's mission to bring experimental art and media to Seattle
6. Choose from a stellar lineup of auctioned pieces: Whiting Tennis, Gala Bent, Jeffry Mitchell, Kristen Ramirez, yours truly, and so many more.
7. Dress in your best Calaveras (skeleton) makeup and rub elbow bones with some of Seattle's best artists.
8. Free parking
9. I will love you for it (and I will too)
10. All for $10!!!
 If you buy your ticket at Brown Paper Tickets before 6 pm Thursday!

Tickets: $10 presale, $20 door

Click here to see a preview of the works in the auction.

Auction Date:
Friday, October 15 | 6-10 pm
Seattle Design Center
5701 6th Ave S
Seattle, WA 98108
Enter on Orcas between 5th and 6th



Ultimate 4th oF July Weekend

I'm totally looking forward to our action packed 4th of July weekend!!

On Saturday the 3rd, We're planning to go on a bike ride from Ballard-Woodinville and back for the first time....it'll be a total of 48 mi. We've made couple of attempts before but always start too late and have yet made it all the way to the wineries. So this time we're gonna give a full day and actually accomplish our goal!!

It's should be a great bike ride since the Burke-Gillman trail follows Lake Washington for the most part with fantastic scenery of the lake, trees, and mountains.
I'm hoping we can see something like this along the way and have a picnic...
Then go do some wine tasting at this modern winery designed by Mithun...
This shall be the first & longest ride we'll do...so let's hope we make it there and back and still be able to get off our bike and walk!!


On Sunday on the 4th...

Our friend is hosting this fun hand-built go-kart race event on Vashon Island for the first time:
It's a car race, potluck, bbq, and a nice excuse to hang out on a island farm. If anything it'll be pure entertainment to see all the cars people built and watch how they run!

Time: 1pm
Location: Pacific Crest Farm, 23720 Dockton Rd, Vashon, WA, 98070
It's open and free to everyone & anyone!

Then we'll end the day with some great fireworks in Fremont....that never gets old...Not a bad of an itinerary for the weekend, eh?

Happy Fourth Everyone!!

Ultimate Freedom Meal 09'

Oh! What a glory day it was to celebrate the day of freedom. The dupe (our house) celebrated honored our country with great pride by coming together to make an awesome freedom meal.....well actually, to be honest, we really just needed an excuse to convince Jesse to make his infamous burgers made with red wine reduced sauce and shallots. Ever since he first mentioned the process on how to make those burgers a year ago, we've been dreaming about it ever since. So what better time to make a burger than on July the 4th?

Chika on the other hand took charge of making some homemade french fries & curry ketchup! You'd think that making fries is easy as cutting it up and just throwing them into a giant pot of hot oil...well, not these twice-fried-perfectly-crispy-outside-with-soft-inside-fries.
Chika peeled, sliced, and soaked them in water the day before to take out some starch. This was an important step to ensure the best result for the ultimate fries.

At the dupe, we don't joke around. We don't just do the most obvious and quickest cooking technique. We like to prolong the process, add more steps, or reduce whatever liquid we can to make these seemingly simple dishes more than awesome.

The burgers and fries were beyond my expectations. Burgers were juicy and well flavored...the fries were crunchy and soft at the same time. It was just heavenly. Burgers+fries=Freedom=Food coma in heaven.......with burger angels. ooh yeah.....

For dessert, I made Chocolate croissant bread pudding. This also required an extra step of pre-toasting the croissant so it's extra crunch and buttery! This is not a dish that's highly recommended for the South Beach dieters...fyi.

I used a recipe online, but altered it a little by adding sherry to the sauce and used 97% dark chocolate. I topped it with some toasted hazelnut and homemade cinnamon whipping cream. But here's my slightly altered recipe:

Dark Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

• 4 to 5 large croissants, cut into 1-inch cubes to measure 6 cups
• 5 tablespoons softened butter, divided
• 2 cups half and half
• 8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
• 3 eggs
• 1 / 2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sherry or brandy
• chopped toasted hazelnut for garnish
• Fresh mint for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut croissant into 1 inch cubes. Spread croissant on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly toasted; set aside and turn oven off. Spread 1 tablespoon butter in the bottom of an 8 or 9-inch square baking dish and add toasted croissant cubes. Heat half and half and remaining butter in a medium saucepan until almost boiling; add vanilla and sherry; cool to room temp. Whisk together sugar and eggs in a medium bowl and slowly whisk in chocolate mixture. Fill bottom of baking dish with one layer of croissant (use about a third of the croissant cubes), sprinkle with chocolate. Pour sauce over croissant cubes, making sure that all are coated with mixture. Repeat step until the whole dish is filled with croissant, chocolate, and sauce. Let stand for 1 hour and preheat oven to 350°F. Bake for 35 minutes. Serve warm with whipping cream or ice cream!

After our meal, we enjoyed a bike ride to Fremont and watched the amazing fireworks by Lake Union. It was a good freedom day.

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

Day Before Freedom Day

Last Friday, the day before the official America's Ultimate Freedom day, Dyaln was lucky enough to get a day off!
We wanted to do something nice and thought about getting a nice brunch in Ballard to gear ourselves up for a nice & rare 3 day weekend together. But then at the last minute, we decided to eat in and make our own brunch instead! It always seems easier to eat out, but in fact making breakfast/brunch is about the easiest meal to make! Also there's a less likely chance to cause food comas (more on that matter for the actual freedom day)

I made some french toast using some thick artisan bread, and made up a simple mixed berry compote and some vanilla mascarpone. Also some fresh peaches and yogurt! It was pretty simple but totally hit the spot!
We didn't plan anything big for the freedom weekend. Instead, it was nice to just stay a home together, get some projects done, reorganize and do some chores....like doing the laundry. I usually put off doing my laundry, but I finally decided to it, as I was about to throw them into the dryer after washing, I stopped and realized that I haven't hung my clothes out to dry for at least a decade!
I grew up always having to hang dry my family's clothes as a kid, and that was one of the chores I was responsible for. As much as I dreaded doing my laundry, I still enjoyed the simple pleasures of hanging the clothes and putting clothespin on it....it's somewhat meditative.
I was especially stoked when I found my giant bag of vintage clothes pins that I got from a year ago! Those vintage clothespins are simple and adorable! I just love how the soft subtle form is justified to allow such ease of use, and the shape itself is seems so refined and pure. simply perfect.
Since I'm on the topic of our house, I'm gonna give you the latest garden news at the Dupe! Past couple of weeks I've been talking about Peas....and about how I...you know..."pea-ed in my plants"... well, FYI, Pea plants are so last week and is totally OUT! The pea joke is totally tired and I'm bored. Now what's IN are these fabulous heirloom tomatoes and mixed salads that are growing! Just look at how fabulous they look! So healthy and fresh looking! The tomatoes of course are too early in the season, but they look like they're well on their way to become sexy tomatoes! The mix salads are starters that we got from the Ballard Farmer's market, and the flavors are just AMAZING. We don't even use dressing with it since there's nothing like tasting the bitter peppery flavors of these greens.
yeah....summer in Seattle is pretty good.

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

L&G Storytime No.10: To All The Wonderful Moms!

I have the perfect Mother's day book for L&G storytime! This is the most adorable and sweet little book titled "For a Wonderful MOM." Here's a shout out to all the wonderful mom's out there!
The book itself is covered in colorful flower printed fabric, and the illustration inside is even more ridiculously cute!
Moms are there to give us hugs....awww. Shut up!
Moms always know to keep us out of trouble! Moms are always there to teach us things
Moms are always there to tell us we're okay....or oaky-doke! Eh? Get it? Oak..Oaky-Doke!Sniff sniff...This book is seriously unbearable!!
I'm getting all teary eyed and warm and fuzzy inside! Moms are awesome...

Have a wonderful day on Mother's day!

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

L&G Storytime No.6: And That's Ahhhhhmore

Ciao Bella!
Today, Dylan and I like to do a storytime...that's a little bit more personal: we'd like to share these great vintage Travel books, specifically about Italy. Italy holds a VERY dear place in both of our hearts....Yesterday was our 5th year annivasary and Rome was where we did a study abroad program together a year after we got together! We lived in a cute 300sqft apartment in the the Trestevere neighborhood and then traveled, explored, and ate our way around Italy, walked through numerous Roman ruins, got inspired by the glamorous Design shows in Milan, and witnessed a great historical event at the Vatican. Ahh...those were the days. These travel books reminds us of all the great things about the country and the culture.
Italy was where we found our common love for all things old & rustic. The dynamic of old & new was simply amazing...thousand year old buildings with spray painted tags, tiny Smart cars driving through narrow allies on cobble-stoned road, adorable old Italian couples and hip trendy young 20 year-olds all hanging out in a piazza after midnight.
In fact, we both took this silly Facebook "Where should you live?" quiz, and we BOTH got ITALY!! I took it first and asked Dylan to take it afterward. I was little concerned as he was taking the quiz, because if Dylan had gotten a different location, that would mean that our relationship was never going to work and we'd have to break up right away. Luckily, that's not going to happen. :D
Hanging out in the middle of a piazza is always fun. This is where people congregate no matter what time of the day it is. Our school studio was right in Campo Di Fiori. It's a food market during day, and a place to party at night. Old Italian men would sip their espresso and eat a cornettos (pastry) and just hang out. It was a perfect place to people watching.
I love the illustration from the travel book and the image of someone drying pasta. This is where we learn to appreciate all things handmade. We were amazed by the culture of handmade artisans across all spectrum. There were specialized shops for just pasta, cheese, bread, meat and even Tiramisu! But as designers, it was a total eye-opener to see other artisan shops for upholstery, welding, leather goods, instruments, clothes, shoes, and anything you can think of. You can go into any shop and see all the great old tools displayed and the actual artist making them with their own hands.
We also love coastal towns like these where houses and buildings are integrated right into the landscape. This was taken off the cost of Amalfi. It was like a playground for us as we went between buildings running on century old steps and cobble stoned roads, snapping photos non-stop, up, down, and all-around.
But the most amazing event was the on the day Dylan and I celebrated our first year anniversary in Rome...That was the day when Pope John Paul II died. All this happened only 3 days after we arrived in Rome. Trust me, this is not some sick joke. We ate at a horrible tourist trap restaurant that night, and when we left the restaurant, there were crowds of people mourning at all the churches around. We stopped and went in to see what was going on and heard some other English speaking person saying that they couldn't believe the Pope died! With the Vatican only 10 minutes away from our apartment, we walked there and experienced the historical event of a lifetime. Despite the fact that we were outsiders with little connection to the Pope and the religion, we were still overwhelmed with emotion being in the mist of it all. It was as if almost everyone in Rome and even Italy gathered at St. Peters holding a candle vigil and singing for the death of the Pope. It was beyond anything we'd imagine to expereince or see.Here are some photos from our trip. You can see more, here.
1. Shadow of clothes drying outside our apartment. 2. Ornate mosaic floor. 3. Rustic white buildings in Matera. 4. Colosseum at night. 5. Ornate iron window. 6. Eerie abandoned town of Nocera, Umbria. 7. Trestevere neighborhood (where we lived in Rome). 8. Ceiling of Capitoline Museum. 9. Natural hot spring at Saturnia, Tuscany 10. Giant broken statue at the Capitoline Museum. 11. A colorful old Fiat 500 and a Vespa. 12. Flea market in Rome.

All this talk about travel makes me want to just take off and go somewhere different! Hope some of you are planning to go somewhere fun!
Ciao!

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

Happy Anniversary Happy Anniversary

Today is Dylan and I's 5th year of unmarried anniversary!! I know it's April fool's day, but I'm not here to fool anyone...If that was the case, it would be the lamest joke ever.

To give you a little background story, Dylan and I met at UW when we were both in the industrial design department. It took us 2 long years before we became official. It was similar to Pam & Jim on the Office (we like to compare ourselves to fictional TV characters...) where we were both too shy to do anything besides making dumb jokes and goofing around. It wasn't until 2004 when we went on a class roadtrip to a design conference in San Francisco where we officially became an item....along with the help of a little alcohol. :P
We're not proud to say that we had to resort to that, but sometimes they sure come in handy! :D
But now...we're not quite sure how we're going to tell our kids that...I suppose we can tell them when they're in their 30's.
The following year, we spent our first anniversary in our most unforgettable trip when we went on a study abroad trip to Rome for almost 3 months. (more photos, here) Going through all the photos brought back so many memories. I made a little booklet for Dylan as our fist anniversary gift before actually going to Rome. The book was titled "w/o Words" and they're just series of images that highlights our first year together with silly graphics. (FYI, I'm not a graphic designer, so don't mind my horrible layout)The front & back cover of the book
We started dating in April, so just a little chart showing our year from month to month.
Yes....This is how and where it happened. Shots of Absolut Mandrin in SF. Oh yeah...what a romantic beginning.
And then Teddy Bear (Dylan) and Taiwanese Doll (Jean) is in love. He can't call me Chinese Doll, because I'm not from China....and yes, there is a difference.
When I dream, I tend to dream of flying with butterflies in lollipop wonderland.
Dylan on the other hand dreamt that the Space Needle was on fire...That's when I fell in love with his humanitarian character. But Space Needle...really? I can care less about that thing let alone dream about it. :P
and THAT was our first breakfast we made together....you know what that means..(double wink...with both eyes) It was supposed to be chocolate pancake, but they didn't quite turn out the way we wanted to. We ate it anyways event though it looked like dog crap.
We took a short trip to Lyon & St. Etienne in France for School. We like that poster of Bush and the message saying "Cloning, no thanks!" That other poster totally CRACK us up! This bizarre wall art was in a romantic French style hotel room we stayed in. Everything about the room was beautiful and perfect, white soft bed with clean bedding, sheer laced curtain in front of a tall window with ornate iron fence and a view of the city...and then there was that print! The dreamy flower garden with an empty chair, a cello leaning against it and a draped white cloth...and then there's the German Shepperd staring at it....HUH?!?
These are photos I took of different knobs and door details in France. I love the colors and character of it all. But the facial expression on that thing on the right totally kills us, too. We thought it was hilarious that it was on a fancy public fountain. That was the face we made when we were looking at the poster with the German Shepperd. :D
And that's us, super-imposed around Rome....and with Pope John Paul II. Awesome!
THE END.

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

Senior Appreciation Day On My Birthday

Today is my 27th birthday! Happy birthday to all the March 30th people out there!! I found out that I have the same birthday as Vincent Van Gogh! COOL!! (don't mind him, he's just a little pissed that he didn't get his ice cream cake this year) But besides him...I also have the same birthday as um... MC Hammer, okay...not Van Gogh, but still pretty cool.... He knows how to bring the party......oh, and there's Celin Dion...eeeeh, and Ian Ziering (the guy that nobody cared for from original 90210) Ah man! my cool level just totally tanked!
Anyways, it's not about them..it's about ME!.....and yeeeeees, I'm OFFICIALLY in my late twenties and am actually looking forward to the whole getting old thing! Woo Hoo!
I got super excited when I found this great blog, Advanced Style, with photos of beautifully aged "superior" people on the street. There's a great mix of styles from really sophisticated suits to funky but fabulous outfits.
Seeing all the photos of them got me really inspired, since they all express such true grace, pride, and beauty. Just look at their cool gray silvery hair, their impeccable style & color pallets, and the perfect accessories whether it be a cashmere scarves, a handkerchief, a hat, a leather case or shades...yeah...they're pretty stylin'.....All I can say is that I got a lot of work ahead of me to ever achieve that level of coolness....It does make me wonder though... "what kind of grandma or grandpa will Dylan & I gonna look and act like when we turn 60 or 70?" ...Thought bubble....I think I would probably be one of those grandmas who swears at all the cars when driving but while I'm the one who drives like a maniac...and Dylan would be the grandpa that would stop and watch some construction work or yell "get off our property!" when no one is actually around and grumble a lot.....oh wait, never mind, I think we already do that now....
But of course, we'd both still be rummaging for cool objects together. I don't think that will ever change. :D
Whatever type of old people we become, I hope we are as cool as them....
I also need to some of these fabulous frames. NOW!
What kind of grandma or grandpa will YOU become when you turn 60 or 70?

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

Cafe (Hella Fun) Weekend

After a fun weekend at Cafe Weekend, I just like to share some lovely photos of the cafe, the successful grand opening, and some fun photos taken with USNAPS! Above is a photo of the owner/super entrepreneur couple, Christa&Nin and their adorable cafe/studio. The cafe has a great mix of simple modern design mix with charming vintage materials and findings.
I'm proud to say that Dylan and I contributed by finding that bright yellow coffee sign. We couldn't possibly fit it in our house, so it was perfec that Christa&Nin can actually use it. Pretty perfect, no?
These shelves are made from salvaged school benches! It's clever, resourceful, and one-of-a-kind. I love their display of vintage science books, jars & candies, and of course our sweetheart patches! Yay!
The grand opening was good fun with a great turn out. The cafe offers Cafe Vita coffee, delicious mini-Trophy cupcakes and delicate handmade Japanese wagashi treats by Tokara, Morning Glory Chai tea, Dry soda , and organic Theo's Chocolate.
And here's some real fun from the awesome USNAPS photobooth.Montage of everyone, and there's Chika and I in the middle.
Here's us. Ha ha. That's what I'm saying in the photos...
Thanks Christa&Nin for their awesomeness!
Hope everyone had a good weekend. And here's to Monday!! Woo Hoo! Let's work!

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

Cafe Weekend Fun

If anyone is around in Seattle this weekend with no special plans what-so-ever like us! We got an idea for you!! Come hang out at this new adorable cafe my friend Christa&Nin had recently opened! It's called Cafe Weekend. They're doing a fun grand opening/cheap date Valentine's day/Presidents day celebration from February 13th-14th.

It's a fun cheap date with friends, loved ones, kids, pets, and whoever and whatever. They're doing lots of special offers and fun activities that's fun for everyone!Also come get some super adorable Chikabird iron-on patches for your shirt, jackets, pants (if you do mind taking it off...) pillow cases, towels...anywhere you like! There will be an ironing station, so you can do your last minute love patch application there, too!
Still don't think it's fun enough? Well, you can also take fun photos using USNAPS photo booth for free!! Doesn't that sound like it's going to be a fun, fun, fun, the number one place for fun? :)

Read below for details of time & location. Don't forget to mark your calender! Hope to see you there!!

café weekend
851 Hiawatha Place South
Seattle, WA 98144
www.cafeweekend.com

Grand Opening Schedule

Date: February 13th, 2009
Time: Friday 8AM-6PM

Date: February 14th, 2009
Time: Saturday 8AM-3PM

Special Weekend Offerings-
• Caffé Vita coffee neighborhood special buy one coffee get second coffee for free.
• Locally handmade treats
• Traditional Japanese sweets- February only menu from Tokara
• Caramels & Confections- Theo Chocolate local organic bean-to-bar chocolate factory
• Little Rae's Bakery/ free Valentine cookies for kids
• Sweetheart Patch Kit- from Chikabird /Ladies & Gentleman vintage
• Photo-booth provided by USNAPS/ free valentine photos to all customers

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

Happy Lunar New Year!

It's the first day of Lunar New Year starting today until February 13th. Dylan and I did a special guest blog for Poppytalk on some fun photos & findings we got in Chinatown. Check out Poppytalk to read more!
If you're in Seattle, there will be outdoor new year celebration this Sunday, January 31st. Click here for details. A good excuse to get some dim sum before hand!

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

M.I.A at Obama's Inauguration? Don't worry!

For those like me who's not fortunate enough to go to DC to witness the history of our lifetime....don't worry....we have another chance to be part of it!! Thanks to the world famous building block toy company....ANYONE can go to Legoland California to witness and be part of Obama's inauguration (Via Telegraph) Lego-style! You'll get the best view...literally!! (you know..since you'll be 20 times bigger and all..)This amazing detailed installation shows LEGO Obama, LEGO Michelle, LEGO Joe, LEGO Jill on the center stage along with handful of famous people and hundreds of excited LEGO American citizens at the magnificent 7-ft tall LEGO Capitol building!! If LEGO haven't proved themselves that they're still awesome...well...they are..and they just did. If only they can actually manufacture the Obama/Biden set along with star wars and Harry Potter ones...I'd get a set.And then there's Oprah.....hiding behind the columns for some odd reason. I'm imagining LEGO Oprah balling and trying no to smear her mascara at the same time. (but is it just me or does she look a little creepy standing there in that photo?)OH! Look! they even made porta-potties for the LEGO people..how thoughtful!! Although the LEGO people doesn't even realize that they're totally missing the inauguration as they're waiting in line!!....ooh..they're gonna be PISSED when they go back and realized they missed the whole historical event while using the porta-potties covered in LEGO crap!

This amazing installation will only be up till May of this year! So, better make it there soon, so you too, can shake hands with LEGO Obama!

Happy Obama Inauguration day!! WOOT WOOT!!

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

Guest Blog on Poppytalk for the New Year!

This week Jan from Poppytalk invited L&G to be a guest blogger!! Hurray! Dylan and I are super excited about this one where it's about celebrating the new year. It's a instructional post about creating an easy and impressive mix-your-own cocktail bar. What is this about??
Well...to summarize it, it's about expanding your New Years drinking options that's beyond cheap champagne. It's about making the guests feel like they're participating in something fun while in reality, it's about you doing less work and having more fun at your own party for once. And even with you putting all your guests to work...you'll still be rewarded by the praises from your guests. You can say BOOH-YAY! to that my friend.

Read all the details on Poppytalk about how to make this into your reality!Here are some drink recipes to jump-start your ultimate New Year celebration party!
Irish Coffee (via Drinks Mixer)
15 oz Irish whiskey or Irish Cream
10 tsp brown sugar
60 oz hot coffee
Heavy whipping cream
Cocoa powder  

Make the coffee (stronger the coffee the better), add sugar and mix Irish cream or whiskey (or both!). Mix. Whip the whipping cream. Put whipping cream and cocoa powder in separate bowls on the side.

Oolong Infused Ginger Plum Wine (L&G Recipe)
1/2 cup of Loose Oolong tea leaves
10 cups of water
1 bottle(750ml) of Plum Wine
1-2 inch chunk of fresh ginger based on preference
ginger ale on the side (My favorite is the Organic Santa Cruz Ginger Ale…it has real ginger! It makes 10 times better.)

Prep the tea the day before. But if you don't have time, cut the water amount in half and add the other half with ice instead. Brew the loose tea leaves with hot boiling water. Let it steep for 3 minutes. Strain the tea leaves, Simply add the plum wine, chop/shred the ginger. Mix it all it in a pitcher and there's your mix. Put the ginger ale on the side in an ice bowl to keep it cold.

Lemon Mint Sparkling Mimosa (L&G Recipe)
1 750ml Bottle Champagne
16 oz Lemonade (blood orange or grapefruit juice are also fantastic)
½ of fresh mint
2-3 Lime or Lemon
1 pomegranate
Tonic water

Mix Champagne and lemonade in a pitcher. Chop and crush the mint and add it to the mix. Put the lemons or limes and pomegranate in separate bowls on the side. Put tonic water on the side in an ice bowl to keep it cold.

It's easy to create your own concoction as long what your mixing all goes well together. You can add Mexican hot chocolate with coffee and coffee liquor, or use different fruit juice and fruit with vodka or gin.
But if anything, Martha always has tons of good cocktail recipes! And at Drinks Mixer you can find thousands of drink recipes...from the classic drinks to the really unheard of ones...anything you're looking for, they have it all.

We hope that this can come in handy for any celebrations! Happy New Year!

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

I Heart Everyone!

I received some great neat gifts from people for my birthday awhile ago and forgot to mention it. There's a previous post about other great gifts I've received as well. Sorry everyone! But just wanted to let y'all know that I really am thankful for all the great lovely gifts!! I LOVE THEM ALL! (^.^)

Here's where they live in my home, now....
My first Heath ceramic from Terri! I was totally psyched to get this as a gift, since I've always wanted something from Heath Ceramics. I especially love their series of bud vases, it's such a soft humble form that feels very warm and satisfying.
Quirky creature from Terri. I cracked up when I saw this funny thing! it's so cute! I don't know what's front or back...but that's what cute about it, it could go either way. the brown thing could be a nose or a tail!Tea towels from Chika. I was also super psyched about these since I've been eying on these forever! These are designed and made by Skinny La Minx , all the way from South Africa. The designs are charming and beautiful. Close up of the beautiful printed towels. 100% cotton and made in South Africa.
Needle felted bowls handmade by Lauren. Aren't they sweet? I didn't know you can needle felt things like that! I wanna have a felting party now! who's in!?
Also made by Lauren are these sweet fabric covered tacks. I love the colors and the patterns. Those will definitely be useful for my studio, can't wait to use them!

THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

Our 4 year anniversary weekend

Dylan and I just had our 4 year anniversary as an unmarried couple. We planned a little getaway last weekend and stayed in an yurt at Cape Disappointment, WA (Formerly known as Fort Canby). The name is deceiving, because it's far from disappointing! It was actually a really beautiful and relaxing state park off the southern west coast of Washington that's close to beaches and couple of small wacky towns. We decided to stay in a cozy and convenient yurt while still got to have our campfire dinner. It was the best of both worlds. It was PERFECT!
Our first stop was at this wacky place called Marsh's Free Museum in Long Beach, WA. Its' a store/museum filled with cheesy beach themed trinkets and novelty toys plus tons of mounted animal heads all over the walls AND some on the ceiling!
After walking around Long Beach, we headed back to our campsite and built a fire while sipping on some wine and cooked ourselves a gourmet dinner. We made garlic dill pork chops with roasted butter asparagus and squash, baked potato, and tossed salad. Food just tastes so much better cooked over the fire....I wonder if it's because of the charcoal....
Then, for dessert...it was homemade roasted coco marshmallow. We tried one of Martha's recipes for marshmallows, and it was surprisingly easy and fun to make....not to mention that it tasted soooo much better than store bought ones! The recipe is just for making plain ones, but we improvised and added 2 tablespoons of unsweetened coco powder in the mix, and then after it was set, we rolled it in 1/2 powder sugar 1/2 coco powder mix. Sitting by the warm fire, drinking wine, roasting and eating homemade marshmallows....we, were in heaven.
The following day, we woke up with the campsite covered in some snow. It was such an unexpected surprise. I was just totally glad that we stayed in a yurt versus a tent, which we saw some people stayed in them. Not sure if they froze to death or not, but I know we would of!
For breakfast, we then cheated and plugged in our toaster oven and baked ourselves Croque Madames for breakfast. Sorry for all the real hardcore campers out there...I know we put camping to shame, but it was too easy! 5 minutes to prep and 15 minuets to bake type of easy. :P
We then went out to the beach and saw some snow still remained after the sun came out. I've never seen a beach with snow on it, it was quite a sight!
We then headed to the North Head Lighthouse close by the park. It was built in 1896 and it's a working lighthouse. We climbed up 90 some steps and got to see the amazing coast line and it was gorgeous..... Now I have this urge to start collecting lighthouses and decorate my entire house with a beach theme...lighthouses, American flags, shells and dolphins....oh! I forgot, and mermaids, too. Gotta have that.
These beautiful sexy mermaids were at Marsh's Free Museum.... I should go back and get them....They'll be perfect for what I'm thinking of in our apartment.
So, in conclusion, Cape Disappointment was anything but disappointing. Not to mention that we saw a mummified half man half alligator named Jack at the museum, the worlds biggest frying pan, a cafe called Scrappaccino, a stuffed cat, AND this!!
We took too many photos, so the rest of the photos of the store and of everything else can be seen here.
ENJOY!
-Jean

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

I love Birthday Packages!

So it was my birthday end of march! Hurray! I got some lovely birthday surprise packages from my good friends and I really enjoy how each were so well wrapped...so I had to document it!
A bundle of surprises from Noal. But the pods were my absolute favorite, especially with the beautiful vibrant paper and gold thread wrapped around it!Noal and I would always find random natural debris all over. And now we always keep and eye out for beautiful mother natured made things like this. Noal picked up some amazing tumbleweed while on a road trip one time, which you can see here.
Package of pretty in pink from Christianna...I ate almost half of the delicious strawberry chocolate right away!! mmmm.
Such a charming and cheerful birthday cake drawing! and of course she doesn't forget the forks. Thank you guys so much! I love you guys! MUAH! ^3^
-Jean

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious