Archive for January, 2009
Friday, January 30th, 2009
I first met Jenna of Soopajdelux a few years ago at a craft show in Los Angeles where she was selling her paintings and prints. I was selling my own crafty wares at a table across from hers and was instantly attracted to the melancholy characters in her paintings. The more I looked at her work throughout the day, the more I was drawn to them and their peculiar mix of sadness, hope and humor. So at the end of the day, I took all of my meager earnings and purchased two tiny paintings (approximately 6×6 inches each). Jenna was incredibly nice and even gave me an extra bonus…a yarn necklace with a handmade glass pendant that had one of her characters encased inside. I certainly hope to someday commission her for a larger painting to hang in my studio. Her current body of work has expanded beyond paintings to include sculptures, objects and most interestingly…the world of vinyls. Learn more about her work at Soopajdelux. (Photos from Soopajdelux).
Tags: artist, jenna, painter, painting, sculpture, soopajdelux, vinyl dolls, vinyl figures, vinyls
Posted in art, object, painting | No Comments »
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
Happy Chinese New Year everybody! I’ve been celebrating with my entire family for the past few days and here are some photos of the culinary delights that were enjoyed by all.
Making dumplings is a tradition that I cherish…especially when I get to make them with my Grandma. And that’s exactly what we did on Chinese New Year’s Eve. She always makes the dumpling skins from scratch and rolls each one out with a rolling pin…in perfect little circles…thicker in the middle and thinner along the edges (I have yet to master this skill). My job was filling the skins and pinching the edges together to form pudgy little crescent-shaped dumplings. Then we cooked them in a big pot of boiling water and ate them with some homemade chili sauce…yummmmm.
Then the next day there was another family potluck dinner with the other side of my family. Yes…that’s king crab, fish, spicy tuna rice bundles, rice cakes, meatball cabbage soup (secret family recipe), oxtail (for year of the Ox), walnut shrimp, avocado salmon, spaghetti with meatballs, mushroom ravioli, and so many other side dishes…including divine tiramisu for dessert. There was so much variety and abundance…it was truly a joyful and humbling experience. May this new year bring good health, prosperity and sweetness to all!
Tags: chinese, chinese new year, dumplings, family, new year, ox, potluck, year of the ox
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Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
Why are modern phones always so boring?…typically either black or silver…and they look just about as exciting as a tv remote control. In comparison, these vintage telephones from the 1960s at Russell Johnson Imports are so colorful, bright and cheerful. Yes…all modern conveniences are non-existent with these vintage phones, but they sure do make up for it in overall design and cuteness. I love all these colors, but my favorite is the red one and the baby blue one. (Photos from Russell Johnson Imports)
Tags: 1960s, phone, russell johnson imports, telephone, vintage
Posted in design, interiors, random things | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
Looky what I found…Xenia Taler and her amazing tiles! I would definitely buy these tiles to hang as artwork because each one is like a whimsical little painting. I can also imagine installing these little pieces of art as a surface treatment for a very special tabletop. And of course they can always be grouted and installed on any interior surface just like any other typical tile application (although I think they are a bit too precious for that). Here are some of my favorites…but definitely go to Xenia Taler’s website for more tile goodies. (Photos from Xenia Taler)
Tags: art tiles, ceramic tiles, grout, tile, xenia taler
Posted in art, design, interiors, object | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
I stumbled across these vintage Royal typewriters from Three Potato Four and I think they are so cool…but I can’t think of a good reason to buy one. I love the quirky colors and I can try and convince myself to write a novel or something…but let’s be real…that would just be wishful thinking.
I’m sure somebody out there has an excellent reason to own one of these fantastic vintage typewriters, which have been completely refurbished to be fully functional and are available in a variety of groovy retro colors. Check out Three Potato Four for availability and pricing. (Photos are from Three Potato Four)
Tags: keys, royal typewriter, three potato four, type, vintage typewriter
Posted in design, interiors, random things | No Comments »
Monday, January 19th, 2009
Our niece Zoe (aka Sushi November…named by her 3 1/2 year-old brother) turned 1 year old over the weekend…Happy Birthday Zoe! Here she is photographed with her mama…outfitted in her traditional Korean dress as is the custom when celebrating the first year birthday. She is so sweet, warm and cuddly…even AK is completely smitten by her…now THAT is truly a magical baby. (Photo taken by AK)
Tags: birthday, korean dress, niece, zoe
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Monday, January 19th, 2009
I’ve always admired these rugs designed by Angela Adams. When I’m designing an interior space, I often think of it as a process of layering and these rugs add just the right amount of colors, textures and patterns. My living room and family room sofas would be very happy to rest their tired feet on these beautiful rugs. Hopefully someday they’ll make their way into our home, and I will welcome them with open arms… (Photos from Angela Adams website)
Tags: angela adams, rugs
Posted in design, interiors | No Comments »
Thursday, January 15th, 2009
My friend JH in NY sent this link to me today from Apartment Therapy and I nearly died from overwhelming excitement – ORLA KIELY at all Target locations starting February 1! After desperately researching online for further details, I also found similar announcements at Decor8 and SFGirlByBay (both excellent design blogs that I read on a regular basis). In fact this news is all over the design blogosphere and people are talking about camping out at their local Target stores in order to get their hands on some of this retro cool stuff. Holy hell…what am I going to do? I want all of it…the mugs, platters, serving trays, oven mitt, apron, organizing containers…and I can’t even begin to imagine the possibility of different colorways…(Photos from Decor8)
Tags: apartment therapy, decor8, home accessories, orla kiely, sfgirlbybay, target
Posted in design, orla kiely | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
My good friend CS loves Hello Kitty and sometimes I can’t help but get sucked into her world of fruity-smelling cuteness. The latest example was when she showed me her Hello Kitty credit card…I thought it was the greatest thing ever. But I didn’t want to apply for a new credit card, so I did a little research and found that my bank also has Hello Kitty debit cards and checks! Of course, I immediately swapped my generic looking debit card for the ultra cute Hello Kitty version…and I would have gotten the checks too except AK vehemently disapproved stating that he refuses to write out any Hello Kitty checks. *sigh*…oh well… (Images are from Bank of America’s website)
Tags: bank of america, checks, credit card, debit card, hello kitty
Posted in random things | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
I’ve been working on a new design for my website and it’s been a great (yet humbling) learning experience so far. AK has been instrumental to my progress…he provides constant feedback on the overall design concept, teaches me about various technical tools, and advises me on the fundamentals of website functionality. Lucky for me that he is a web programmer by profession and I don’t have to pay him since I am his wife. So here is the first draft of my website…and I’m posting it because I already know that it is going to change quite drastically. I think it’ll be interesting to see the progression of changes as I get closer to the final result. At this point, there’s still a long way to go.
Here is a full page view…
And here are some close-ups of the details…
Tags: celia hsu, website design
Posted in design, graphics | No Comments »
