ikea for you, heath for me

my dream kitchen and breakfast (and dinner) table consists of all things heath ceramics. i drool and covet all their beautiful pieces and am thrilled to see that for the entire month of august, they are having a dinnerware exchange event. bring in your old plates or mugs or bowls and heath will donate them to the los angeles skid row housing trust and in return give you a 25% discount towards new corresponding heath pieces. sayonara old ikea plates! 

*photos via heathceramics.com

music monday - new order

i just found out that one of my favorite bands from the 80's (and early 90's) is touring north america for the first time in 7 years this fall. new order will be performing here at the greek theatre on october 7th. and i'll be dusting off my doc martins, black eyeliner and brooding teenage attitude for the sure to be  brilliant flashback evening. 

the xxx olympiad

one of my first memories of coming to america in 1980 was all the controversy going around about the united states boycotting the moscow summer olympics that summer. it was my personal summer of eye opening change and revolution and the beginning of my interest in the world of international sports and politics.  
this year's summer olympic games kick off tonight in london and i'm a kid in a candy store, excited for two full weeks of swimming, diving, track & field, gymnastics and soccer viewing.
have a gold, silver and bronze filled weekend!

a perfect journey

gunther holtorf, his wife, his two leica cameras and his amazingly reliable mercedes benz "otto", have been traveling around the world for the past 23 years - 500,000 miles and counting!  click here to watch a bbc report on a passion perfectly pursued and a life lived that exemplifies a great line from literature "not all who wonder are lost."

 

*photos via the bbc and g.holtorf

larder love

i woke up congested and sniffly today - completely uninspired. a perfect day to just show you 2 pictures i took last week of my favorite brentwood afternoon treats.  i think i'm going to crawl back under the covers and wish the larder delivered! 

stick'em up!

i'm not a big fan of wallpaper - but how lovely are ferm living's beautiful line of wall stickers - for kids, offices, and cozy personal spaces. gorgeous and inspiring for little (and not so little) imaginations.

music monday - (new) xx

the latest album by xx, coexist, won't be released until 9/11 but you can click here to listen to their beautiful new song, angels. happy monday!

danish danishes

a little danish pastry shop called copenhagen pastry opened in culver city a few weeks ago and i am head over heals in love with their "coffee bread" and this almond/chocolate/vanilla piece of flaky perfection. it looked (and tasted) so good, i ate half before i remembered that i needed to take a picture! 

have a pastry filled weekend!

iphone splash

this brilliant waterproof case is just what your iphone has been waiting for this summer. lifeproof iphone cases allow you to put your iphone photo and video taking skills to test underwater. snorkeling shots, surfing shots, kids learning to swim shots - this groovy case has you covered (yes, i just used the word groovy to describe a plastic shell). the downside is that the case only works in shallow water (6.6 feet max) so your scuba adventure shots will have to wait. you can however, add on the waterproof earplug attachment and listen to 'london calling' while perfecting your olympic strokes. 

photo via lifeproof

mandela day

nelson mandela turns 94 today. he spent 67 years of his life pursuing freedom and equality and to honor his struggles and success, people worldwide are asked to give 67 minutes of their day today to help donate to a charity or volunteer in their local communities. mandela day is a call to action for people to make a difference, one small step at a time, just as mr. mandela did.
happy 94th birthday madiba!

'it always seems impossible until it's done".  n.mandela

i sanctions

not sure how this news story has gone under the radar in the mainstream media - apple not selling products to iranian americans? really?

music monday - anais mitchell

it's an overcast monday, so why not a melancholy, albeit beautiful song, to put it all into perspective.

pitango

my go-to dessert for the last few months has been ice cream (and gelato). i've magically set aside my hankering for a daily delicious baked treat for scoops of sweet frozen heaven. the crazy stifling record heat on the east coast a couple of weeks ago only perpetuated my new found love and so in search for the best gelato in dc we stopped in at pitango. their daily special flavors were posted on a chalkboard outside and the fact that passionfruit gelato was on top of that list was the siren call my melting taste buds needed. i tasted a spoon full of everyones pick (coffee, chocolate sorbet, mango, salted caramel, hazelnut, cherry) and we all agreed that all of them were pretty much perfect. dc dessert scene, you've come a long way baby!

have a sweet and delicious weekend!

luke's lobster rolls

a couple of weeks ago, in the scorching 'dmv' (that's apparently what the cool kids are calling dc and it's neighboring suburbs of virginia and maryland these days), i was craving nothing more than a trip over the bay bridge to sit down with a big bushel of fresh giant steamed chesapeake bay crabs. but because it was so bleeping hot, we just didn't have the energy to venture to the eastern shore. i did however get to indulge in some delicious soft shell yumminess and even had a change to try the new lobster roll shop that opened right in the heart of my old stomping grounds. luke's lobster rolls are a bit on the pricey side for a lunch sandwich, but the warm lightly toasted soft roll was generously stuffed with big chunks of fresh and moist lobster meat. the dressing was slightly too buttery for my taste, but i have to say that it was the most satisfying meal in the 'dmv' during a week that hovered above a 100 degrees.

paris via princeton

while back east, i heard a rumor going around that a little shop in an alley in princeton, nj makes the best croissants on the east coast (some say the whole country). naturally, a statement like that has to be taste tested, so when in nj a couple of weeks ago, i headed to the little chef pastry shop and ordered an assortment of chocolate, plain, raspberry and fig croissants (they were out of their much hyped almond). we sampled them all for breakfast and though they were all delicious (the plain and fig were my favorite), the batch seemed a bit over cooked (too crispy on the outside) and far from the flakey,moist and chewy perfection i was hoping for. satisfying and worth a visit if you are in the area, yes.  but the best croissants in the country? sacre bleu! no way! 

momofuku

if i had to choose one place in nyc to have a quick and mind blowingly delicious lunch, it would have to be the momofuku ssam bar. and so, since i was only able to spend a few hours in the city a couple of weeks ago, it was the restaurant we headed to for our 5 hour stay. i dream about their steamed pork belly buns (and perfectly roasted duck) and my past three visits there have been nothing short of mouthwatering perfect. momofuku ssam bar is ranked 37th on the san pellegrino world's 50 best restaurant list and has been awarded a michelin bib gourmand award every year since 2009. food porn dreams sometimes due come true. 

*photos by kacy j.

music monday - nightswimming

this song always crawls into my head on warm, lazy summer nights and last night as we sat by the pool taste testing fruit pies (turns out i am no longer a fan of meringue), i could not get this perfect summer r.e.m song out of my head. 
it's still there today and i've been humming it all morning.