Hostess Gifts

What do you take to the Host when you are invited over for dinner or to a party? With my friends I usually ask what can I bring, as in do you need anything for the meal. And of course I always volunteer to bring dessert. It's important for me to know what your making and I hope the host sticks to their meal plan. i.e. Recently I was told the meal would be Mexican, so I made a Tres Leches cake, when I got there they'd made Pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes and green beans. In that case an apple or pumpkin pie might have been a better choice.

Ok enough of the pot luck way of bringing a host a gift. Let's talk other types of gifts. In the past I've brought wine and flowers. I know, so not creative. Wine or any kind of liquor is good, since it can be consumed at the event. However flowers, unless they are already cut and in a vase can be a mess. Who, as a host, wants to stop the flow of the party or cooking or whatever to find a vase and trim the stems. So if you go that route, make it pre-cut flowers in a vase or a potted plant.

But how about something different. Maybe a pair of vintage whiskey glasses like 1. Madison Avenue Whiskey Glasses who doesn't want a great glass for the Old Fashioned Cocktail you will consume. For the cook, how about 7. pot holders or 2. tea towels (Kei & Molly of course). Handmade gifts would also be ideal maybe some 6.  Coconut Vanilla Body Butter or 4. Rosemary Infused Salt.

I love these 3. Pop-Print Measuring Spoons from Anthropologie, I own them myself and use them all the time, if the host is a baker they'd adore these. Of course anything coffee and I'm all in. Maybe the 8. Chemex this is such a pretty way to make coffee, or if your feeling extra generous the 5. Journeyman Stumptown Coffee Kit.

Whatever you decide to give, always remember "there is more happiness in giving then there is in receiving." So do it out of love and thoughtfulness. Enjoy!

Kei & Molly

A few years ago I was introduced to these lovely tea towel designs by Kei & Molly at the Farm Shop and I've started collecting them ever since. I do occasionally use them, but they are so pretty I hate to get them dirty. While visiting New Mexico this last time I had the opportunity to visit and meet Kei Tsuzuki and Molly Leuthi at their studio, Kei is Japanese and Molly is Swiss German.  I must add how gracious these women were to let my mom and I visit the studio, watch a printing of two of their designs, ask a lot of questions and do a little shopping.

They opened up this light filled studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2010. Everything they do is very manual, no fancy machines that automatically to do the printing, drawings, mixing of paints or drying of the product.

Their esthetic is simple design. They are obviously inspired by New Mexico with scenes of the Bosque, Red & Green Chili's, and the Big Satellite dishes from Socorro to name a few of my favorites. They also use their own Japanese and Swiss-German backgrounds as an inspiration. Their designs remind me of wood cuts and folk art, both of which they pay tribute to.

Everything is hand drawn and the stencils are printed on acetate sheets, then they use a enlarger in the photo studio to print the designs on nylon screens.

Kei is showing the aluminum frames they had custom made with one of their designs. You'll see below in their inventory of supplies they have a bright beautiful color palate. The best part, if you've ever silk screened in the past, is that all their inks are water based and non-toxic. Yay for the environment. I told them that this was the one thing that made me quit my college silk screening classes, the plastisol nearly killed me in that class.

Every season they introduce a new color, for Fall they were using an Olive ink I hadn't seen yet and making a lovely print of the Bosque, which is indigenous to New Mexico. It's an area alongside the Rio Grande with trails for people, bikes and horse. The Rio Grande is lined with Cottonwood Trees and wetlands for ducks, geese and other wild life. This design reflects them all.

As mentioned before they do everything by hand. Pinning all the flour sack material, they purchase from a distributor in Pakistan, onto the long printing table. Then they unpin them from the table and hang them on the clothes line to dry. After this they send them out to a place that has a drying systems to keep the inks from bleeding.

One the many things that make these two ladies endearing is they LOVE what they are doing. Imagine going to work everyday and loving everything about it. These two met thru their kids and hit it off. They came together to form this company, Kei taught Molly how to silk screen and with both their backgrounds in business and arts they create some amazing designs. The other amazing thing is that they are involved with helping low-income, immigrant women in the Albuquerque area. They provide great training and work for these women. That day the studio artist was Jenny a fellow Cuban, such a coincident. She did all the printing while we talked, it was great to watch her and catch-up on Cuban life.

After all the questions, we got to shopping. I bought a nice blend of tea towels, napkins, aprons and oven mitts. They even started printing scarfs. I am convinced they need to sell these towels at a few places in L.A., They are ready to expand and mostly it's a word of mouth that get's them into places. So start speaking about these ladies. I bought one of the beach scenes designs to shop around in LA and chatted with them about new designs that were uniquely LA from food trucks to flowers and fauna. So we'll see soon what they come up with.

I was drawn to so many of the designs I couldn't help myself, buying a few for friends, me and YOU. My bag was full.  So I'm offering to send you one of these lovely tea towels.  All you have to do Like my itsweetandsavory and Kei & Molly's Facebook page and leave a comment below.  A winner will be picked at random. Ends Wednesday Nov. 13.

Coffee Tasting #mylifesimplysweet

For our first Fall tasting event we decided we would do a coffee tasting. Stumptown Coffee Roasters gladly supplied a few of their amazing coffees for the tasting. If you haven't checked them out here in L.A. they just opened a store in Downtown, see my visit here. You'll love their coffee and the cool vibe of the place.

Mind you this was my first ever coffee tasting, which is surprising considering how much I love it. I asked around at local coffee roasters for the best way to go about this. Cupping is the method that most are doing, it's really for the experts. So I decided to use a French Press method. This way it's something that everyone can easily duplicate. I borrowed and bought a few French Presses for the occasion.

As I didn't want to make this too formal and stop the party flow, we discreetly mentioned to everyone that it was time do to the tasting if they were interested. We had an even mix of men and women who participated.  I supplied the coffee mugs from Anthropologie and typed up the instructions as follows: 

Tasting Instructions 

Step 1: Take a Cup and Piece of Paper

Step 2: Pour a little Coffee & Taste

Step 3: Write Down Notes Next to # 

Step 4: Pick Your Favorite

Step 5: Revelation of Brand (End of Night) 

Before the party I prepared the notes by staining this cute paper from Anna Rifle Paper Co. purchased from Anthropologie with a few coffee cup marks. Funny thing happened at the party a few of my friends sorted thru the papers to find a clean one, finally realizing that I purposely stained them. Oh I love you guys!

The other thing I did was make this a blind coffee tasting. I put #'s on all the French Presses and put the coffee in Paper Bags all numbered as well. This way if anyone moved a pot of coffee around we still knew which brand it was.  All together I had 7 coffee's to taste. In the future I think I'd pick 5 at the most. 

Here's the set-up: 

The last photo is the reveal. Gather everyone who tasted the coffee and made notes. One by one reveal what brand is in the bag. You can read a few coffee notes from the tasters and any notes you have from the brands yourself. It's up to you how formal you want this to be.

One of the great things during the tasting is it really stimulated conversation between everyone. It wasn't as easy as I thought to come up with descriptive words on what you were tasting. Maybe next time I'll put some adjectives or teaser words around to help that out. Maybe notes from the coffee roasters.

Another thing I learned, is you need something to cleanse your palate. Water maybe, well I had Acorn shaped sugar cookies to put out. Which warranted one comment on Coffee #6 "Good with Cookies."  Hmmm?

What brands of coffee did I use?  Los Angeles has quite a coffee scene these days with a few local coffee roasters and the newly opened Stumptown Coffee, based in Portland. My suggestion is use local coffee roasters and brands, make it easy for your guest to go out and buy their favorites.

So here's what we tasted and there was no clear winner. I expected that, it's like wine, it's what taste good to you.

#1 Handsome Coffee Roasters - Cristobal Fernandez

#2 Stumptown Coffee Roasters - Hair Bender

#3 Intelligentsia - Organic La Perla Oaxaca Mexico

#4 Handsome Coffee Roasters - Los Girasoles

#5 Groundwork - Black Gold

#6 Folgers (I had to throw in a basic less booszchee brand) 

#7 Stumptown Coffee Roasters - Holler Mountain

Throw in a basic coffee that you can get at your local grocery store. This makes for a fun evening and teasing. My fellow coffee snob and occasional blogger Roger happened to pick Folgers and well we can't stop teasing the poor man. Here's his notes:

We couldn't let people leave without trying Stumptown Coffee who was so kind as to supply us a few bags of coffee for the tasting. This meant we sent everyone home with a bag of beans. #mylifesimplysweet

My Life Simply Sweet

This past weekend two of my fellow bloggers and Alt Summit attendees planned a Fall tasting event called My Life Simply Sweet. This week we will be sharing all the festivities from the event, which included our first ever Coffee tasting with Stumptown Coffee Roasters as our sponsor mixed in with a few local roasters in the L.A. area that I gathered up. You'll also see a recipe for another easy appetizer, as seen below.

Now let me introduce you to these ladies, first up is Felicia, a wife and mom of one, from A Simply Raw Life. Felicia features wonderful raw food recipes from smoothies to desserts to just about anything you can think of in the raw food category, and let me tell you her food is delicious. This week she'll be sharing her recipe's made from the great sponsors and products of Artisana Foods, Manitoba Harvest and Navitas Naturals. Check out her blog this week for those post and make sure you click on the links for these goodies: Green Smoothies and Raw Chocolate Tartelettes.

Deborah from My Life at Playtime is a wife and mom of 3, who shares all her family adventures, art lessons, diy decor and handmade goodies. She lent her lovely home for this event and will be sharing a few posts sponsored by Minted and Bake It Pretty. You'll get to see the details on how to make the garland and body butter below. She might even share her first time making cream cheese frosting for her pumpkin muffins.

Together with It Sweet & Savory we hosted this lovely event we called My Life Simply Sweet, get it? It's perfect for us. Check out our hashtag on Instagram and just about every other social network this week as we share the details #mylifesimplysweet.

And doesn't that table garland below just scream Fall, look for that this week on Deborah's blog.

Image above courtesy of Deborah. 

Fall Gems

I had to post these beautiful vignettes I found at Anthropologie today. The color combinations are inspiring for just about anything. They just scream late fall, early winter.  I went in there for coffee mugs, which I did purchase, but I couldn't help musing about all these styled areas, which is part of what makes this store so appealing. Above is the amazing Coiled Geo Clutch. I just think we all need that clutch.

Candle is Capri Blue Etched Jar   which comes in Hibiscus teakwood (pictured above), aloha, volcano and aloha mercury. The fabulous Anon Beaded Clutch just calls my name and comes in plum and green.

When I saw this vignette I just thought about the Thin Man series with William Powell and Myrna Loy, and of course their dog Asta. They were always walking around with a cocktail in their hands. I so love these champagne, martini glasses. They are so new I didn't see them online yet.

I thought these fun little beauties were worthy of sharing today. Enjoy! 

Mindless Monday

I believe I've finally beat the high-altitude laziness. Only took a whole week. I woke up energized, if not cold, while SB is wishing for our comfy bed at home.  I started my day off by having a good call with my boss (real job), good coffee (I made it this time, mom's is terrible), a visit to an art studio I love here in ABQ (more to come on that later this week), and a quick trip to see if I will ever be able to afford a Pendleton blanket. I'm coveting the Glacier National Park version (first from left), but the new Badlands version is a close second (fourth from left). Oh one day. It's an investment I know that's well worth it.

This week is full of friends and family dinners, taking care of granny, and letting mom rest. So basically cooking, baking and visiting. All that and my regular 40 hour work week along with a bit of prepping for an upcoming blogging event for a small group of friends It's going to be a busy week indeed.

It's my last few days in the Southwest with the real Fall weather, and then back to the 80 degree weather of SoCal.   Hope yours will be as fulfilling. Enjoy!

Mindless Monday

Today my mind is jumbled AGAIN. I have so much going on I can't focus at all. So I'm moving from one thing to another. I gave myself a computer break this weekend and I probably should have just sat down and hammered out what needed to be done. Today I am finally making me a list of what I need to do. I have a few friends that love LISTS and love to cross off what they accomplish, I'm more of check the box kind of girl. I find that writing things down is super helpful. For one it organizes my mind.

Sunday was National Coffee day and well I barely had time for a cup of coffee. I did manage to have some over the weekend, visiting my usual places Groundwork in Santa Monica for a Mocha and a Machiatto and then Emilia's for a Cappucino and that was all on Friday and Saturday. 

Over the weekend I really took advantage of living on the Westside of L.A. county.  Went to the local farmers market for some food inspiration, met the harpist above, who was such a happy soul. Produce right now is very transitional. I was on the hunt for figs, cause it sounded so good, but didn't find any.  Apples are in and although I didn't get to apple picking with my friend Deborah at my.life.at.playtime, I hope to reap the bounty of what she picked and make something fantastic.

This is the third year for Glow in Santa Monica that showcases few art installations on the pier and beach. Some things were pretty cool. Like the beautiful light filled nets above which came with it's own audio, and mounds of sand to climb around. NYT wrote an interesting review on it. Other things were plain out weird and cosmic, not my thing. Great time for walking and biking as most of the downtown streets were closed. We choose to walk and boy my feet felt it.

After that we tried a new place called Bar Pinto, felt like a trip to Spain, followed up by watching Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown episode on Spain , which really made me visit Granada, Spain. On my list of things to do in this lifetime.

Last thing for the weekend was a quick jaunt to the Abbot Kinney festival. I went early, 10AM just to get myself a tote from Urbanic and buy a t-shirt for my friend in the UK. It was already hot and looked like it was going to be a fun day full of food, music and amazing locally created arts and crafts. I had, had enough of crowds so getting there early was key for me, get in and out and take a quick look. Plus all the road closures and parking were not ideal.

October starts tomorrow. I hope to have a few more Fall focused posts and can't wait for a busy fun month of activities. Enjoy your week! 

Muji

About 3 years ago, while in NYC working, I was introduced to Muji. I'd never seen this store, they didn't have one in LA. I love Muji's philosophy:

"In its deliberate pursuit of the pure and the ordinary – achieves the extraordinary."

All their products live by that philosophy. I was immediately drawn to the stationary, I love notebooks and use them all the time. Since then I've been a fan, mostly ordering online.  Earlier this year on a trip to San Jose, right outside my hotel was a Muji store. I nearly squealed, actually I did squeal, and on my night off immediately went to shopping. I told my two co-workers (one based in Denver, the other in Seattle) about my purchases, they'd never heard of the store either.

So a few weeks ago on our last visit to San Jose, wearing my Muji scarf, I made converts out of these two ladies. I think I went back to Muji three days in a row. We all bought scarfs, pens, notepads, socks, I think someone even bought a linen blazer. Oh and I said I'd bought that story board book above and colored pencils for one my friends kids...yeah I am SO keeping that. I love it.

Best thing I found out while there, they are opening a store in Hollywood, I'd prefer if it was closer to the Westside, because it will probably be quicker to fly to San Jose then to drive to Hollywood.  But I guarantee I'll be there when it opens.  Check out their online store, you'll love the simplicity of their products, and if you travel a lot, they have small items perfect for carry-on luggage.

Tech Tuesday

For this months Tech Tuesday, or maybe you'll call it a non-tech Tuesday, I want to highlight what we did before we all had a computer in our hands when we travel.

About 20 years ago I went to Italy with 4 friends.  I traveled with two girlfriends and we made plans to meet up with our guy friends in Rome. Back then, maybe people had pagers, certainly cell phones were not prevalent in the US. I do remember seeing a few very Chic Italians with cell phones, but only a few. 

We were young, traveling off-season (March) and flying by the seat of our pants so we made NO hotel reservations anywhere. Instead we decided to look thru our Let's Go Italy book and decide what hotel we'd meet at when we arrived in Rome. You see we flew into Milan, went our separate ways and agreed that mid-way thru our trip, we'd meet in Rome at "such and such" hotel, with NO reservation. 

Of course when we got to Rome and called the hotel there were NO rooms left. Are you getting the idea, with all the NO's. So I went down the list of hotels in our travel guide, and in my broken Italian found one that had a room for us three girls. I'll tell you about the adventure getting there in another post. When we arrived we asked if there was a room for our friends, and yes there was, so we asked them to hold it for them.

Now, how to tell our friends that we changed hotels and have a room for them.  What would you have done? No cell phone, no contact number for where they were staying, no idea when they were arriving, we only agreed on the day and place, not the time.

We decided to go to the hotel where we said we'd meet and try to speak to the owner and let them know to tell our friends where we are. Once we got to the hotel, we couldn't find a door or entrance, we saw a buzzer and buzzed several times. No one answered.  Across the street was a cafe, we ate, drank cappuccino and waited and waited. After being fully caffeinated, we devised a new plan.

Remember no cell phones. "Let's write a note." We laughed at ourselves, because there was no alternative and we thought this was really silly and probably wouldn't work. However, we found a place on the building near the buzzer and left it. This was a busy street, mopeds zooming by, people walking up and down, cafes, tourist, you name it. Our thought, "hope the note stays put." It looked something like this (original note is long gone): 

 Then, well...we went on tour thru Rome. Walked to the Colosseum, that's me above, with my manual camera, some 20 years ago. I still have and love that camera.  We left the boys fate to the Note and had ourselves a grand time. Saw a Vogue fashion shoot, wandered around the Colosseum, dodged the crazy Italian drivers and enjoyed our first day in Rome.

Later that day, when we arrived back to the Hotel the owners were so excited, "the boys are here!" they yelled. We were really surprised, we went running to their room and had to know how they found us. "We saw the NOTE!" We shared our travel tales and rejoiced that all had worked out well. Without the technology we have today we still found a way to make sure we communicated, even if it was the old-fashioned way.

How did we ever get by without our phones? We rely on them so much, I call my husband when we get separated at Costco, "where are you"? Do you remember what you use to do? I have to say these adventures make me smile as we didn't have any alternatives back then. Not every outcome turns out well, but you can always chalk it up to a tale you will have to tell.

Today when I travel in-country it's easy with my phone service in most areas. But only 3 years ago when I went to the UK and France, I didn't have an iPhone, only a Blackberry and my texting was non-existent, email and phone calls were limited, it was only for work. Today it's so expensive to get your phone to work internationally I'm not sure I'd even try. I really like to be disconnected from it all. Though I know I'd be all over Instagram, so I'd probably have to work something out or go into serious withdrawals.

This weekend we'll be camping and I already know we'll have no phone service and I'm kind of looking forward to that.  What do you do during travel, especially internationally, do you take your phones or unplug? Would love to hear.

Mindless Monday

Did you know that JCPenney's sales Marchesa gowns? I found this out when I was checking out the JCP's newly revamped home section here. I was this close to trying on this dress and running out with it, they have a cute short red number that is adorable here. But seriously I have no events coming up and I don't foresee the Red Carpet in my near/any future. This day I was specifically looking at the Happy Chic Jonathan Adler collection as well as the Michael Graves Design tea kettles, toasters and other amazing modern home furniture by designer Sir Terence Conran.

I love when a brand that seems to have gotten stale works to revive itself. Though in much of my reading on JCP's troubles they have a long way to go, with new CEO out and old new CEO back-in, there's much to be done.

I personally felt like JCP was reintroduced to me, a middle to low income SoCal girl. Although I may not be the Middle American target, I loved seeing cool design in the store. Not sure this has fully caught on yet as it was pretty sparse in customers. JCP may have isolated their core audience with a no-sales approach in the past, but you have to admit the new home designs of the "store within a store" are appealing.

Did you also know they have Sephora stores within the store, I didn't either, and they've been there since 2009.  Seriously great design should always be affordable, none of this Design NOT Within Reach. And this is so not a sponsored post, I just felt like I needed to say how I felt about JCP. It's is a Mindless Monday dump once again.

Fall Color Trend

I'm starting to see what MY Fall color trend will be.  Separately and without realizing I've been drawn to Teal or as Essie labels it "trophy wife".   I've always loved this color, but I have to say a quote from the Wedding Planner had me put it on the back-burner a few years ago: 

"Fran has chosen teal for her brides maids? Teal, the color of gangrene. My last bride who chose teal ended up getting her marriage annulled in 12 days!"

What's your favorite soon to be Fall color?

1.  Nail Polish - Essie Trophy Wife $8 at CVS or Rite Aid

2. iPhone Case - Rifle Paper Co   currently $36

3. Purse - Target currently $15.99

Tech Tuesday

Before I get into my technology post, I wanted to let my small amount of readers know I have to take a bit of a break from this space. My husband and I have been involved in some volunteer work the past couple of weeks that requires our full attention. I'll be back to a more regular schedule in a few weeks.

In the meantime, my tech Tuesday is about Podcasts. I have to say I'm slightly addicted to these. When I walk to do my errands or just go for a bit of real exercise I drown out the noises of the street and dive into one of my favorite podcasts. If you listen to podcasts on your iPhone, you'll have to download the Podcast app from the App store (looks like the image to the right) and download that to your phone. It's free as are all the podcasts I feature below.  If you have an Android phone you'll need to download a podcast app to listen or subscribe to them, Mashable has 5 they recommend, a few are free the rest you have to pay for. You can either listen to individual podcasts you like or subscribe to one you know you'll listen to often. It should automatically download the new ones when you click on the app. However, I had subscribe to one podcast, but find I'm not listening to it that often so it doesn't download the news until you start catching up. When I'm at home I listen to the podcasts on my computer thru my MacBook on iTunes. Whatever works for you,  just give them a chance.

Here are a few of my favorites:

As every hipster in LA and probably NY already knows This American Life is a great way to start listening in podcasts. Ira Glass is a great story teller and brings to the plate amazing fictional and true life tales. They are usually told in three acts.  Sometimes these are first person stories. David Sedaris is a regular guest, and well he makes me literally laugh out loud, his story about music lessons brought me to laughter tears. Occasionally, This American Life host a live Radio Show, I have yet to get to one, but listening to them is the next best thing. My favorite one was the story about Tig Notora running into Taylor Dayne, you'll laugh your head off as did the audience and Ira always narrates what we can see so you feel like your still there.

I am an avid History fan, always loved it and still do.  This is a great podcast hosted by Holly Frey and Tracy Wilson called Stuff You Missed in History Class. They take a historical subject, do the research and present the facts.  Sometimes blowing the doors wide open on the myths.  My favorite history lesson so far was the two part series Loving vs. Virginia, a fascinating true story about the laws on interracial marriage in the United States, this case went all the way up to the Supreme Court and forever changed the laws in the United States, though some states have taken longer to get these antiquated laws off their books.

RadioLab is new to me, but so many of my friends really love this show.  They take a subject and patch together people, music, culture, stories and experiences around that subject. I've enjoyed the podcasts so far, still trying to pick out a favorite.  

As everyone who reads this blogs knows, food is a topic I chat about frequently. Over the past year I've found myself working from home and closer to a farmers market that I can walk to every Wednesday. I frequently listen to this podcast, Last Chance Foods on my iPhone while I walk to the market. It contains information on seasonal produce that's at your local farmers market, what's about to go out of  along with some great stories from local farmers on their produce.

So far my favorite episode has been Last Chance Food: Chicken to Eggs.  Everyone I follow in the blogasphere have chickens. Small houses to large acres, chickens are cool. I laugh because 17 years ago when I first got married all my husband wanted was chickens. Seriously, chickens in our 3x9 patio was not going to happen, I chalked it up to his Latin roots and my lack of appreciation, plus a few close calls with chickens in New Mexico didn't make me a believer. Now that I eat eggs pretty much everyday, this so wouldn't be a bad thing to have, plus Martha has great Araucana Chickens that hatch the amazing blue eggs, who wouldn't want one of those for breakfast. We still have a 3x9 patio, but maybe one day we'll have a bigger space for chickens.

This podcast, Stuff You Should Know, can be on just about any subject from the duckbill platypuses to how marriage works, how coffins work and how fair trade works. Josh and Chuck host this and it's a similar format as Stuff You Missed in History Class. This podcast reminds me we can never be bored of learning there is so much stuff out there to try to understand if you even care. The key is balance, sometimes we can get information overload and have no idea what to do with it.  Trivial Pursuit, Jeopardy...maybe.

My friend Deborah of My Life at Playtime recently introduced me to this podcast, called The Moth. Thse are first person stories told in front of a live audience, that range from 15 - 20 minutes. In fact in Santa Monica at Zanzibar tonight they are recording a live broadcast, I think it's not to late to buy tickets. Writers and story tellers alike tell true life tales that are fascinating and fun to listen to especially with a live audience reaction. It becomes a shared experience with strangers and the story teller. I think I'd like to add this to my bucket list of things I would like to do, once in my life.

Studio 360 is hosted by Kurt Anderson.  Each week he focuses on pop culture and the arts. Sometimes it's a book, movie or music or all three. So far my favorites have been about the American Icons: The Great Gatsby. There are great story/interviews with different actors, it's a much more relaxed setting, which brings some good insights into the art crafts.

While these are my current favorites, don't be limited to these, they are just suggestions. One of my friends loves podcasts on cars and another on photography. There are so plenty of options out there, just enjoy!

Tech Tuesday

So have you ever had to teach a non-tech person how to use a smart phone or a tablet?

If you haven't, be prepared. Many, many, years ago my husband's granny got a computer, she was in her 80's and was bound and determined to learn it.  Oh the joys of SB's visits and trying to explain simple tasks to her, he's a patient man, but he had limits. Finally she gave up, she had decided it wasn't worth trying anymore.​

Well recently my mom (not in her 80's) decided to get indoctrinated into the world of Apple. First with an iPhone 4S. Trying to explain to her how this works, was hilarious, and then she got the iPad. Oh, the joys.​ Let me start off by saying my moms old phone(s) were just flip phones, old Motorola or Samsung.

I say phones because she has a knack for putting them in the "warsh" that's her way of saying "wash." And then there was the time it slipped out of her pocket and fell in the toilet. Seriously, she's a SMART woman, college educated even, but these little mishaps make me shudder. If there is a body of water around her phone will find it. When she said she wanted an iPhone all I could see was a $200 piece of equipment sitting in the loo. Not ideal.​

First off I had to show her Face-time, since she lives in the boonies of New Mexico and cell service isn't great, she kept putting the phone up to her ear to hear me.  All I could see was a giant eyeball and the rim of her glasses.

Me: Mom, are you putting the phone next to your ear?​

Mom: Yes, so I can hear you. But why can't I see you?​

Me: Uuh you have to pull the phone in front or you?​

Mom: ooooh....

​Then last night she emails me from her new iPad at midnight her time, she wants to chat about how to use her new iPad. I said I'd call her today and walk her thru some basics.

After trying to explain to her which icon to push I realized the simplest way was to Face-time her on our iPhones and put it over my iPad to help her learn out to do this. Seriously there is nothing like face to face meetings, I so wish I was sitting there with her, because trying to explain how to bookmark a website she goes to and put the icon on her homepage screen was like trying to solve for world peace.​

Then I want to know which kind of tablet she got.

Me: Did you get a mini or original?

Mom: The big one, take a look (puts phone over the iPad).

Me: All I can see is your hand.

Mom: Oh here. (moves the phone all over the place)

Me: Mom, all I see is the ceiling now, what did you press on your phone?​

Mom: I don't know.​

Me: See the camera icon on the lower right side with the arrow, push that.​

Mom: oooooooh, I wondered why I couldn't see you.​

Seriously....thankfully me and my mom have a sense of humor because at the end of our conversation I just broke down and laughed with her. I can't wait till I have to explain Instagram to her, she will SOOOO not get it.

One last conversation.​

Mom: I ordered a phone cover and an iPad case, you know I'm clumsy so I'm kind of afraid to use my iPad.​

Me: Mom, you need to bubble wrap that bad boy in waterproof material.​

Mom: Laughing I KNOW!!!​ I got me a waterproof one.

Oh the joys of new technology, we so take for granted that we know how to use this stuff. Our kids are growing up with technology. I didn't learn how to use a computer till I was a senior in high-school and that was basic DOS programming.

I love a good story, share your technology tales and did you show someone how to use a smart phone, tablet, Mac, or PC. How did that work out for you?

Most of all be patient and be ready to laugh, we all had to start somewhere.

Tissue Paper Pom Poms

Next up are how to make Pom Poms.  You take 10-12 pieces of tissue paper.  In any combo of colors you want.  Please note that you need rectangle sheets of paper to make these work. I tried with perfect squares and it didn't fluff up correctly.  The 99cent store sold perfect squares, so I had to cut some in half to add on to the squares to make them rectangle.  Seems complicated but it worked.  If you get them already rectangle then bonus, no extra work.​

Here's how I made mine:

Lay 10 - 12 sheets out.  Need a rectangle.  Notice I had one square and added 1/2 a sheet to complete my rectangle.  Nice to have them line up evening, if you have a long tissue just trim to match the shape.​

My color choice for this one was orange, marigold, soft pink, hot pink and burgundy.​

Just like we did with the tissue paper flowers you start folding the paper accordian style about 1 inch wide.  Goal is to end up with same color on both sides (i.e. first fold has the orange top, last fold should have the orange on top)

In order to have these hang down you'll need to tie them in the middle.  I use colorful curling ribbon, but if you want to have them look like their floating use fishing line or jewelry line.​

Next up, cut both ends in desired shape, I'm partial to the rounded corners.​

Start pulling apart the tissue carefully, alternating sides.​

Here's half the Pom Pom done.  Finish up the other side and you get what's at the top of the page.​

Here is my coral reef of Pom Poms.  In April you'll see some images of them hanging in their environment.​  Use your creativity and enjoy the process, it's fun and messy, but the outcome is always nice.

Tissue Papers Flowers

I never thought I'd get this crafty. But I've done a few small parties and wanted to not have to buy premade decorations, so I had my friend Mia come over and show me how to make the Hanging Pom Poms.  Then I got inspired by this Pinterest post, which led me to this blog post at Rust & Sunshine.  I pretty much followed her directions, but modified the colors to match a baby shower invitation.  Here are a few of my steps, but please check out Michelle DuPuis blog post above on Rust & Sunshine for all the lovely flower shapes and color choices. 

The great thing about tissue paper is it's cheap, try the 99cents store. I was able to afford a nice bundle from there along with the pipe cleaners, so much cheaper then the craft stores and tissue paper and pipe cleaners are all the same.  I cut the stems off my flowers as I glued them to a foam core board above to use as a backdrop.  Seriously I love this these flowers and all the colors.​

Supplies: Tissue paper.  Fuzzy pipe cleaners and scissors.

Cut Medium size flowers into 10x10 squares.  Generally 6 tissue papers work fine.  Use any combination of colors.  I found that I liked 4 lighter color tissues on the bottom and 2 dark colors on top to be my favorite.  I also made smaller flowers so I cut the paper down to 5x5 squares and only used 5 pieces of tissue paper and this worked out well.​

Once you've stacked up your piles start folding the paper accordion style.  About 1 inch for each fold.​

Next take your piping and wrap it around the middle of the folded paper, as shown above.​

Next comes the cutting of the edges.  This is where you decide what kind of flower you want.  Rose, Dahlia, Daisy, Chrysathemum, etc... cut the edges accordingly.  I like rounded edges best, but it was fun to play with a few different cuts.  ​

Fan out the paper and then start slowing pulling it towards the middle.  Remember it's tissue paper so be gentle, it tears easily.​ I have to say this is my favorite part.

Final Flower.  It's up to you how you want to display them.  Some people put them in vases and display them like real flowers. I chose to lop of the piping as I was gluing all the flowers to a foam core board for a special project above.​  My color inspiration was based on a baby shower invitation, which has lots of coral reef colors in it.  Also the Madewell board below spurred on this whole idea.

What to do with all the scraps, I saved them and glued them to the foam core to fill in the holes where I didn't have enough flowers.  Whatever you do, enjoy the process and the creativity.

Kitchen Makeover

​As a few of my followers here and on Instagram know last year I entered a blog post into Alt Summit Blog Carnival Contest which was sponsored by Wilsonart.  The blog post was about my counter tops and can be found here.  Well I won the Grand Prize which consisted of a ticket to Alt Summit in Salt Lake City, you've already seen my post about that here and here. But the second bonus was I won new counter top for my tired kitchen tiles and a new sink from Wilsonart. BONUS!

Choosing the counter top was not as easy as I thought, but we made our mind up and choose a nice big sink. Once you start this process you begin to see all kinds of other things that need to be updated. First on the list was a faucet, the old one was sub par to start with, but now we have a nice fancy one.  I can't imagine what it's like to redo a whole kitchen because choosing counter tops, sink, faucet, clearing everything out, cleaning up afterwards and organizing (still doing this) was no small task.

What turned out to be a good thing, but wasn't what we requested is we didn't want the back splash. My cousin had given me some subway tile and we were going to actually have a real tile back splash. But what we discovered after all the tile was torn out and the counters were gone is that they had indeed cut the counter top material with a back splash. So there went my tile idea. I say this is a good thing, because at the moment we can't really afford to have this done or purchase extra tile, as I'm not sure I have enough of the original. ​Solution? Paint. We went out and bought paint to match the other area of the kitchen and got that done super quick, moved the stove back and started using our kitchen again.

Can I say I love not having to clean tile and the big sink is super convenient to use. Items left to do are: 1. Freshen up the paint on the cabinets. Save that for another day. 2. Need to re-paper all the cabinets and drawers, as they look shameful. I've order some new patterns from Amazon.com and will start on that in the next few days. We still have items out of the cabinets and on our patio.​ [gasp] 3. Order a new kitchen rug as the old one now doesn't match and well it's pretty shabby too.

So once again, I thank Wilsonart for the lovely new counter tops and sink. And I thank Alt Summit for the amazing experience in Salt Lake City.​

Here are a few before and after photos:​

Before

​After

Before Old Shabby Tiny Sink

After. Great Sink and new fancy faucet from Home Depot.  Gotta love my sugar and creamer from Casa de Perrin too.​

Before (I had all my boards covering up the old counter tops) I had 3 boards, now I just have two. One marble and one boos block for baking and chopping in that order.​

After

Painted the wall Morning Sky Blue (Benjamin Moore).  Kei & Molly tea towels and turquoise tea kettle (KitchenAid). I consolidated all my cooking utensils in two simple white canisters. (Bed, Bath & Beyond and Sur La Table)​. Spice Rack (Soho Spices)

Entire Before Kitchen (told you it was small)​

After. Looks so much better.​

Stalker Sweater

AltSummit had many challenges and rewards, but the biggest challenge for me was the wardrobe pressure.  As many of you can clearly see I am not a fashion blogger. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE fashion. I make sure and watch the Spring, Fall and Haute Couture fashion shows online via Elle. My favorites are Chanel and Marc Jacobs.

Weeks before leaving to Salt Lake City I was on the hunt for fashionable clothes at a budget that I could easily afford.  My go-to stores are Anthropologie and J.Crew. I hit the sales right after the Holidays. I'd had my eye on the boucle sweater above. I usually buy a new black sweater every year as it's an easy quick layer for the chilly LA winter mornings. It's a basic for my wardrobe. While I'll was in New Mexico I made a trip to the local Anthro store to find this sweater. It was too small, even at my goal weight I'd never fit in that size. So I waited till I returned home to LA.

Here's where the stalking starts. On my day off I go into the local Anthropologie store. I run right to the ten sale racks. I go to the black sweater section, look all over for this beauty and well, it's not to be found. I had told myself I probably wouldn't find it, and I was ok with that. I said to myself  "you'll find something else you like just as equally."

So I go to the rest of the sales racks and scour them for fashion idea's and great looks. On my way out, low and behold is a lady admiring herself in THE sweater, it's my size I can tell. What would you do now? Wait? Say something to her? Let it go? I decide to wait and wait and wait, then it turned into hovering. This woman could not MAKE up her MIND! She tried it on, asked her mum, (she was English) and her sister and the mirror. After waiting a few minutes I finally spoke up. No I did not say "if you decide not to buy that I'd love to have it," because you know the moment you say that, they think it's a really special sweater and buy it, even when they are indecisive about it.  So I just ask "where'd you find that sweater?" She proceeded to point me to the rack, which I knew didn't have my sweater. SHE DID. So I continued to hover. Then in her indecisive mind she hands the sweater to her mum and says she'll be back, needs to visit the Loo (British remember).

Let me tell you she took a really long time. I looked at the entire top floor of Anthropologie, ridiculous, but I REALLY wanted this sweater. So I finally decide to sit down on a couch and Instagram away while I keep an eye on her, her mum and her sis.  Yes STALKING now. Finally, she returns, puts the sweater back on and off and on and decides to buy it. She gives me one glance as she walks away. She KNEW I wanted that sweater. Do I let it go. I tried, really, really, I did. No I didn't chase her down, but I did ask the sales clerk about the sweater, I pulled up the image above on my iPhone and ask her if she has any in the back. She looks, and no they don't. I sheepishly try to tell her I saw one in the store and someone just left to buy it (MY SWEATER).

She wants to help me out so she pulls out her mobile device connected to the store to see if it's anywhere. Oh did I tell you it sold out online, so the store is my only hope. No such luck. Super nice sales clerks talks with me about what size I want and asks me to follow her downstairs to look on the computers. Here it goes, you ready, are you really ready...as I am walking down the stairs, right there, on the landing, hanging on a rack, is MY SWEATER in the MY size. Yes my stalking paid off and the indecisive lady left me a little gift on the stairwell. The sales clerk was dumbfounded and hugged me, she was so glad I found it.

I tell you I had a shopping rush and ran right down the stairs so fast I practically knocked people down, ran right to the line and danced all the way home with my beautiful boucle 40% of the sweater. Stalking does pay, though I don't recommend the humiliation in admitting I did this for a black sweater. Enjoy!

The Farm Shop and Kei and Molly

For the past several years when I go to Albuquerque I like to take a slow drive down Rio Grande Blvd (25 miles is the max speed limit). When I was a kid we drove down this street all the time where you can get views of the old ranch houses and horses, there use to be buffalo. I remember going to the buffalo house when I was in pre-school. During the Fall the trees down this boulevard are the golden color cottonwoods I love so much.  My favorite farm is the old Simms Farm which is where the The Farm Shop is. It's in the original Creamland Dairies building and is part of the property connected to the Los Poblanos Inn, which has a rich history found here.

My mom visits here yearly for the Lavender festival, they have rows and rows of lovely lavender.  It's an organic run farm and supplies the ingredients for the amazing dishes that are served up at the Los Poblanos Inn. The Farm Shop sells lavender spa products, artisan foods, gourmet kitchen and gardening tools and locally made gifts from all over New Mexico.

Lemon lavender gelato, refreshing and tasty. Thankfully no too much lavender, but just enough for the essence of the taste. I've had llavender panna cota which tasted like creamed perfumed soap, not ideal, this was the opposite.

Every corner is artfully directed and begging to be bought.

Lately I'm obsessed with the tea towels from Kei and Molly, here's their story. Next time I visit I want to look them up and see if I can meet these amazing women in person, I love everything they make. Their towels are beautiful and hang in the light filled windows of the Farm Shop. Check out their Etsy store

Mom has bought me two so far, and our last purchase was a typical mom daughter conversation.

Me:  I like the turquoise one, but it has a cross in it, so maybe not

Mom:  It's pretty, but how about the ones with the coyote

Me: Nah, I like the satelite dishes

Mom: Why?

Me: It's kinda cool, and sci-fi, and New Mexico

Mom: I don't get it

Me: It's ok, I like it

Mom: But why would you want that in your kitchen?

Me: Why wouldn't I, look at the conversation we're having about it

Mom: Your funny, you like weird things

Me: Mom don't you remember when I was a kid, if you don't like it, buy it, I'll LOVE it, that hasn't changed.

Mom: I guess, ok I'll get you that one.

Me: Thanks Mom.

So now I have two the orange citrus slices next to the indigo blue satellite dishes.

Lovely right.

Driveway up to the Inn and Farm. It's breathtaking in the winter and fall its AMAZING with the golden leaves on the trees.

I never get tired of this view when you walk to the Farm Shop, especially as you wonder around with chickens and peacocks, both white and the typically amazing blue and green.

White peacock.

Driveway out...just as lovely.

The Farm Shop

4803 RIO GRANDE BLVD NW

OPEN DAILY 9:00A – 5:00

505.938.2192

Pacific Standard Time

During the winter break from work I had a day to spend at LACMA.

I went to see the California Modernism exhibit, all part of the Pacific Standard Times exhibits happening in L.A. at the moment. Its a great display of furniture, graphics, toys, clothes, cars, and trailers that define California post WWII. I spent the whole day strolling thru the exhibit.

There are hundreds of thing I wanted or grew up around. Best of all was the Eames living room, which has been completely transported to the museum. "Its a mash up before there were mash-ups." - Ice Cube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRWatw_ZEQI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Enjoy.

Dishes, plates and silverware

Dishes, plates and silverware, oh my. I love this stuff, can't get enough of it. Recently, however I decided to retire my colorful "Forbidden Fruit" plates, cups and saucers. I had broken a few and the rest were chipped and tired. So I washed them all, packed them up and took off for Crate and Barrel for some new dishes.

Nothing too exciting at this point. I just wanted some basic white dishes. Food always looks better on white plates. SB insisted on getting a few square plates as well, I'm not adverse to that, I like choices. As dessert is positively my favorite part of any meal, we also purchased a few glass dessert bowls. They are lovely, so big though. I put my Espresso Chocolate Mousse in these cups and wow that was a lot of dessert, I only ate half. A far cry from the martini glasses I served the mousse in last time.

To add to the love of dishes I've decided to start collecting something that I would use. So each time my friends travel to a new destination, here's my request "please buy me a dessert dish" something indicative of the region your visiting.

Here's my first plate from Paris. Thank you blacklashes!!