Mai-Tai's at Lunchtime

"Oh the life is sweet when you work for yourself" you must be thinking. Mai-Tai's at lunchtime. Well to be honest, I don't have a Mai-Tai on my desk but I sure wish I did. I've been waiting about 15 mins for my good ol' powerbook to apply the gajillion brush strokes on the Marrakech pattern and I'm getting antsy.
So the Mai-Tai... what does it have to do with Tahiti you ask. Well, as it turns out - very little. This little island drink was created in Oakland at Trader Vics by Don Bergeron in 1944. But to add a little drama, Don the Beachcomber says the HE invented the Mai-Tai in 1933 at his west coast bar. So how does Tahiti work itself in here? Trader Vic created the drink one afternoon for some friends who were visiting from Tahiti. One of them tasted it and exclaimed: "Maita'i roa!" Which means "Very Good!" so that is how this little drink got its Tahitian name.
The last time I had one of these was at the Kowloon on Route 1. I wanted to make a Mai-Tai this afternoon but there are about as many ingredients as there are brush strokes on the Marrakech pattern so I passed, (I felt like using a mix was cheating). But here is a recipe via epicurious.com (via Gourmet, May 2003) if you'd like to give it a go:

Ingredients
• 1 oz (2 tablespoons) dark rum
• 1 oz (2 tablespoons) amber rum
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1/2 oz (1 tablespoon) Cointreau or triple sec
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon orgeat syrup* or 1 drop pure almond extract
• 1 teaspoon superfine granulated sugar
• Dash of grenadine
• Garnish: an orange slice

Preparation:
Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with 1 cup ice cubes, then strain into a glass filled with ice cubes.

Mmmmmmm....

Tahitian Tapa

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving. Ours was filled with lots of great food and stories courtesy of Sasso's parents. We were lucky enough to be joined by my "little" Sister (there is no sarcasm intended here, though it sounds like there should be) and to have a nice visit with my Grandma. Then we went to my 10 year high school reunion.... I had so much fun (partly because of the open bar). It was so fun to see friends I've missed for 8 years and to realize that nothing has changed. Isn't it great when you are with people and you just fall back into place again? Well before I get all nostalgic let's talk about art from Tahiti.
One thing I really admire is the international art collection Sasso's parents have acquired on their trips to Africa, Tahiti, Libya and other places. There is something great about filling your home with reminders of your trips done by local unknown artists.
One piece OMR has is a Tapa painting from Tahiti and seeing it relaly influenced my Tahiti pattern. Tapa is a type cloth made from the inner bark of the paper Mulberry tree. After the bark is beaten and the fibers flattened it is dried. The cloth is then printed and painted on and used for clothing or decorative arts. OMR's piece was filled with strong geometric shapes painted in what looked like a thick black ink. (You can see some poor cell phone camera pics above on the left.) There is a great article here at tahiti1.com you can check out to learn more.

Tahitian Green

When OMR told us his story about Tahiti the part that stood out was "in the morning, when i stepped off the boat and looked at the island i said 'My God it is so green!". Not only did that quote end up on the print, but it got me looking for green inspiration. Not just any green, that rich, leafy kelly-ish green. My sketchbook is filled with little bits of green I found here and there, but I thought it would be a bit more fun to show some of my favorite green things I found.
1. Le Creuset Round Oven Dish: My favorite item in our kitchen. It is used daily as it is perfect or roasting a chicken, making a soup and just about everything else. Since you can throw it in the fridge there is minimal clean up which I love. The best thing is the amazing color range that the Le Creuset collection comes in. We have the red and blue, but there are a bunch more. Makes me want to collect all of them. www.lecreuset.com
2. Deluxe 16-piece Cutlery Set: This looks exactly like the silverware I grew up with - except this is plastic and bright green. It was designed by designers Donata Paruccini and Fabio Bortolani in 2005 and is available from the great design store Moss. www.mossonline.com
3. Celine Flats: I am a big flats (ballet flats to be precise) person. I only have one pair of heels and only break them out for the occasional occasion. I'm always on the lookout for a new pair of shoes, though I'm so picky I rarely buy anything. These I would totally rock, and the fact that they are a Rachel Zoe makes me think that perhaps La Lohan could be wearing them... but I would wear them anyways. I love this color green. They are available at piperlime.com
4. Phetnikone Shopper: I adore this bag. I bought 2 and am currently using the persimmon/currant version. This green one is saved for someone special's Christmas gift. The bags are made by my lovely friend Phetnikone Nokham. They are sturdy and are perfect for stuffing with mail, small FedEx packages, hats and gloves and all your other necessities. I'm hoping she'll make a larger version so I can use it to tote home my groceries. Check out her site here www.phetnikone.com
5. Felt Hearts: These little guys are made out of the recycled felt scraps that have been collecting in Etcetera Media's studio. Kelly of EM is another lovely friend of mine, and I can attest to how great her felt bags and homegoods are. If you are unfamiliar check out their site, I guarantee their pieces will be popping up in a store near you soon. www.etceteramedia.com
6. Green Felt Stocking: Tis' the season to start breaking out those stockings. We have some traditional furry red ones from Target, though I would like to upgrade to something a bit cooler. Growing up my mom made some pretty big stockings for everyone in the family, as well as the occasional boyfriend and our pets. Since I just learned how to sew on a button, I will leave the creation to someone else, such as RikRak, an etsy seller. Check out her etsy site here.
7. Glass Lapwing: I love glass birds. Not sure what it is. A few years ago one of my favorite stores, Good, carried a few for the holidays and I dreamed of having them all on my mantel. Here is one from Unica Home designed by Oiva Toikka for Ittala. www.unicahome.com

That's it for this week. We are leaving in a few hours for VT. I'm a bit stressed because this means that we need to get the protesting basset hound out of the studio and into his crate. He is NOT going to like it. I'm going to miss his howling (they really do that), his constant sniffing on our walks, the fact that my other neighbors will talk to me (they only respond to me when I have a dog in my hand, apparently it is some sort of JP secret society). I wish you all a super Thanksgiving filled with pies and leftovers. Remember the alka-seltzer and don't overeat! See you on Monday.

What's so cool about Tahiti?

It's snowing here. When I was walking the basset hound this morning, there were just s few little flakes but now it is a real snow flurry. It's really beautiful with the trees all orange and the green grass poking through the snow...time to dig out all that warm winter wear.
Let's talk about some cool things from somewhere that you don't need to turn the heat on - Tahiti.
Breadboxes: In Tahiti houses are equipped with a long mailbox, but forget the junk mail. They are filled daily with French bread. How great is that? I wish our mailbox was full of fresh bread instead of sale fliers from Stop 'n Shop.
Tahitian Tattoos: When I was in high school i got myself a small tattoo on my back. My mom said something about me turning into Madonna, or was it Roseanne Barr... I can't remember now, but she was NOT happy. If only back then I could have searched flickr and shown her a picture of this guy to prove that is could be worse...
Les Roulottes: Restaurant's on Wheels - this is Tahitian street food. Once the sun goes down these little places open up serving everything from Italian to Chinese. I want to try the local specialty, "Poisson Cru." A salad made from coconut, cucumber, citrus and fresh tuna. I imagine it to be a bit like ceviche which I love.
Brando's Island: Tetiaroa is the private island of deceased actor Marlon Brando. Mostly undeveloped this area is great for a day of sunning and bird watching. Better yet, it has a very dramatic history, read about it here.
Over water Bungalows: I've always dreamed at staying in on of these thatched roofed hotel room, but they seem to elude my travel budget. Some have glass floors so that you can watch the fish and coral from above. I just imagine falling asleep to the lapping of the waves...
Hawaikinui Va'a: "The Super Bowl of outrigger canoe races". Occurring in early November, each crew of 6 races 72 miles from Huahine to Raiatea to Tahaa and ends up in Bora Bora. This looks so fun, like the Tahitian equivilant to standing on Boylston St to watch the Boston Marathon. But you are in the crystal blue water and it is sunny, so I think this race wins. See the video below.

Above photos clockwise from top Bread Box by ThePreismans.com (check out there site here for some GREAT photos), Tattoo Man via flickr by thelastminute, les roulettes via flickr by zug poof, Tahiti via flicr by Matt Mihaly, Brando's island. Video via YouTube by zanawear.

The Tahiti Pattern

Calendar ordering time has arrived! A FedEx/packaging bomb has hit the studio in the last couple days and I can barely find the protesting basset hound beneath it all. I always think I print enough pieces and then a month before Christmas (can you believe that it is only a month away?) I figure out that I am in fact going to need to order more. I get incredibly nervous about choosing a quantity. Order too little then you have to reorder at a higher price or turn people away... Order too many then you are sitting on 2008 calendars when it is in fact 2010 (people don't generally purchase 2008 calendars when it is no 2008). Oh these are the things that keep me awake at night. Exciting, huh? So Tahiti is part of the 2008 calendar, I wanted to show you the page, see above.
This week is going to be a short one as we head north on Wednesday for a few days of stuffing ourselves with Turkey. This weekend is also (gasp) my 10 year high school reunion. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it, but there are a few people I do want to see... and it is open bar. So it can't be all that bad right? right....

Gaugin's Tahiti

I may have been an art history major for 3 years... but I think everyone has heard Paul Gauguin, though I could be wrong. Just in case I am, Gauguin was a leading post-impressionistic painter. His work lead to the progression of Modern Art as well as Primitivism. He was good friends with Van Gough (the guy that cut off his ear) and lived in France until he moved to... Tahiti.
Gauguin left France in 1891 for the simplicity of Tahiti where he planned to live out his final days. He soon became disenchanted with Papette claiming that it was too "European" and later moved further out of the city to a more remote location. His Tahitian pieces are exotic (imagine seeing these in the early 1900's) and use wonderful color combinations.
"Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?" is said to be the cumulation of his entire career. At the paintings completion Gauguin planned to kill himself, having finished his masterpiece, but he survived for a few more years. I've had the pleasure of viewing the piece in person quite a few times (we had many a class dedicated to just this piece, and lucky for us it was on view a block away at the MFA Boston) and it is quite extraordinary. The 12 ft long piece is meant to be read left to right, showing the circle of life from the beginning to the hereafter.
You can really get a sense of what it was like for Gauguin living in Tahiti by reading his journal "Noa Noa". The book is illustrated with beautiful woodcut illustrations showing the flora, fauna and people that surrounded Gauguin. You can read how Gauguin wanted to live like a local, the process of his work and more. Check out a few pages online from google books here.

Ohhhhh.... Tahiti.

The Tahiti pattern was really inspired by Sasso's dear old dad, to be referred to as OMR from here on out. OMR is probably the best story teller I've ever sat with, rivaling only my Uncle Doug. One evening, after a lovely dinner, OMR started telling us a story about being an engineer on this big ship where he crawled in little dark crevices to fix things and after a while at sea waking up and exclaiming "My God it is so green!" to the sight of Tahiti, then docking and renting a car and driving through the forest and oh my... much more. I love stories like this and could listen to them for hours. When Sasso and I retired to bed I said, "That was such a great story, I never knew your Dad sailed all over and went to Tahiti." "I didn't either," said Sasso. I love that after 31 years OMR is still breaking out stories that Sasso has never heard.
Later, inspired by OMR's story, I started researching Tahiti and found Gauguin, Vanilla Orchids, the Mai Tai and interesting bark prints. More to come tomorrow...
On a side note a basset hound is holding protest in my office. He flew in from Florida Tuesday late night (on a delayed flight of course) and yesterday he was supposed to be en route to my Brother + Sister's house in NH. But he won't get in the car. I even tried to lure him with a pork chop, but no dice. So here he stays, he and the fleas he may have caught on the plane... (here he is below last year).

Imagining: Vancouver

Ohhhhh boy. Yesterday I had a root canal and was at the dentist for 3 hours. I figured I'd get as much done as I could while I was there and numbed up. It really put the kibosh on any work getting done yesterday. Seems that when you take something called Vicodin the letters on your keyboard start to move around. So I spent the rest of the day watching Knocked Up and season one of Nip Tuck.
But back to the grind! I'm currently working on a pattern for Vancouver so I thought I'd share some of the things I've been imagining. If anyone has any Vancouver ideas to share I'd love to hear them. This is a custom pattern for a client and I'm hoping to wrap it up by week's end.
• The HSBC Celebration of Lights: A fireworks competition between countries? Doesn't that sounds like something an 80's movie should have been based on? I love it. The town in NH where my brother and sister live has 3 firework stores for the 4,000 people that live there. They have put on some killer firework shows but a competition would be pretty sweet to see.
• Capilano Suspension Bridge: This looks a bit scary to me, but that is only cause I'm terrifed of heights. The idea is pretty cool, walking over this long, long suspension bridge on top of all those trees.
• Dragon Boat Festival: A race of 150 teams paddling brightly painted dragon-headed canoes. There is also food competitions and entertainment. I bet seeing all those dragon boats would be cool enough though.
• Chinatown: Vancouver has the 3rd largest Chinatown in North America after San Francisco and New York. You know what that means? Great Asian grocery stores (i love buying condiments, even if I can't read the label), cool architecture/signage and killer Dim Sum. It is also home to the narrowest building in the work, Sam Kee Building at 8 W Pender St. It is 4' 11" wide.
Sasso has always wanted to visit/live in Vancouver. It is repeatedly named as one of the best cities to live in in North America. That is only part of the reason Sasso wants to go there, it is like his Mecca because that is where the Nintendo headquarters is. The city will be hosting the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Perhaps in 2010 I'll be in Vancouver with thousands of other tourists instead of watching the games in my living room.
Above photos from Andrewbrowne, Boorim and Bob_2006 via flickr.

Las Vegas : Part Tre : Nighttime Fun

So our usual plan in Vegas includes staying at one of the nicer Casino's (this time it was Caesar's Palace which was very nice, partly because of our sweet upgrade) - but going out at the little guys (why pay $10 for a gin and tonic when there are $1.50 drafts across the street). No Brittney, Paris or Lindsey hunting at Pure or Tao for us! Oh no... I'm too old to stand in line in too little clothing just to pay $15 a martini.
You would have found us at Imperial Palace where they have Impersonator Dealers. A great game is to try and guess who exactly these dealers are supposed to be... is that Lisa Minelli or Michael Jackson in a short wig? Or at Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon (formerly the Barbary Coast) to check out Big Elvis's performance (which we sadly missed). Or at the drink cart out side the Flamingo which has the best tasting Miller Draft I've ever had (I haven't drank that since high school).
We went to Old Vegas off the strip (which I didn't even know existed) where we indulged in fried twinkies and fried oreos (i made out ok on this because I only had a bite of each... Sasso, however, was not so lucky).
One thing I love about Vegas is you can dress up as much or as little as you want. One evening we capped off our look with fake eyelashes, which I've never worn before. I've always wanted to try them (in college I worked at Starbucks with a couple of GREAT drag queens who wore them daily) but have been afraid that I would glue my eyes shut. JBatt happened to have some shu uemura ones so I gave them a shot. They were tricky to apply and at first a bit cockeyed, but we I ended up loving them. The next night we barely gave it a second thought eye when we went out to dinner in sweats after a hike.
Speaking of going out... tonight is the release party for Sasso's game that he has worked very hard on, Rockband. I'm pretty excited, it should be a lot of fun. The company was bought by MTV this year and I am hoping that Mr Kurt Loder will be at the party, or Tabitha Soren, or Downtown Julie Brown (wait they don't work there anymore do they - see what happens when you don't have cable). I've played Rockband once and it was soooooooo fun and addictive. Plus very cool looking (Sasso is a video game artist). Check out it out here and I'm sure that it will be available for trial at your local Best Buy soon. It fulfills my dream of being a drummer.

Las Vegas : Part Deux : Daylight Fun

We needed to do something to counteract all the materialism and craziness of Vegas. So we rented a car and drove off strip to Red Rock Canyon. First we took the road in the wrong direction, luckily it just ended (like the road stopped and there was nothing else) so we turned around and went the other way. I am no hiker and am usually not dressed appropriately (see previous post about looking for crocodiles in Costa Rica in high heel espadrilles and a mini skirt). I'm lucky that my jean capris had a bit of stretch in them to make my "rock climbing" possible. The Red Rocks were pretty amazing. Their texture was so soft and dry, Sasso said they looked like a deflated elephant because of all the wrinkles which was spot on. It was like climbing around on huge overturned terra cotta planters. The sand (this is the desert after all) was super fine and bright red. The contrast with the blue green shrubs and bright green moss was so lovely that it reconfirms my belief that nature is the greatest designer. (note: no matter how pretty the cactus do not pick it up. It will bite you and leave prickers in you thumb for a few days). There were also all these cool little "animal condos" worn into rock. "This would be the best place to play G.I Joes," Sasso said. We had a blast and on our way out we said "what's up" to a few actual rock climbing doooooodes barely feeling like impostors (though I think my jean capris gave that away).

Well after all that nature one does need a little materialism and I have to say Vegas has some killer shopping. Most of the brands are a little (by that I mean a lot) out of my league but window shopping here let me really fulfilled (except for wanting that red dress in the Christian LaCroix window, or everything in the Marc Jacobs' window...). We have some of these brands in Boston but where else can you find Louis Vuitton, D & G, Marc Jacobs, Anthropolgie, Custo Barcelona (who I love), Agent Provocateur, LaCroix, Gucci and Pucci under one roof?! Actually you can at the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. Then there is Sephora and BCBG across the street at the Venetian.... good thing we only won $100 on the slots or I would have traded my millions in for a bunch of over flowing shopping bags. If I hadn't wanted to spend the day hanging out with Sasso on Monday I could have walked around those stores for hours just looking at the colors, textures and especially he different materials that are used in the shops constructions.

Las Vegas : Part Uno : Eat

Ahhh... nothing like waking up in a cold apartment without a bunch of fluffy pillows to make you realize that you are no longer on vacation. Especially waking up late and missing an appointment because between daylight savings time and jet lag you really have no idea what time it is.
We had a lot of fun in Vegas. In the last 2 years I've been to Vegas 3 times, which is kind of crazy. The first was a whim to keep a friend company while she was at a conference and the second was for Sasso's 30th bday with a bunch of friends. This was the third time and we ate a ton of good food, went hiking, drove around and explored Off-The-Strip-Vegas.
So first, about the food. I suggest that you all entice a family member to become a food writer, and then have her accompany you on all your trips. Hopefully she will be as lovely as JBatt, therefore great to hang out with and also know the good restaurants, the good wines and be able to answer all your "what is that" menu questions. I credit her for our good eating (though let off the hook for Augustus's Cafe - choices at midnight are limited even in Vegas).
Bouchon : The Venetian Sasso and I had been here for dinner on our last Vegas trip so I was quite excited to try brunch there. This place is just lovely, from the decor to the service to the food. Fav Dishes: The Lemon Currant Scone and the glass of Gruet (image from viewaskew via travelpost)
Enoteca San Marco: The Venetian We were able to escape the "sidewalk of St Mark's Square" for the cozy comfort of the small dining room in the restaurant's wine cellar. One of my favorite things about the meal was listening to our waiter describe dishes on the menu, "a hanger steak rubbed in brown sugar and aged 24 hours", he made it all sound so good. It was good, though salty and I drank about 5 gallons of water because of it. Fav Dish: The Cauliflower with olives.
In n Out: Somewhere in Las Vegas Yeah that is right, fast food. Seeing In n Out on our when we were lost on our way to Red Rock Canyon was like a mirage in the desert. I love love love their burgers. Would someone please build on in New England? Fav dish: The Burger
Vons: Somewhere in Las Vegas We stopped here before we discovered the mother land of In n Out. We were trying to get food, but the store's deli was empty and their was only one rack of produce, but they sure did find enough Gatorade to fill up the produce area. Seriously it was the weirdest grocery store I've ever been to, yet so great.
Lotus of Siam: 953 E Sahara Ave Another repeat visit for us. This top rated Thai restaurant is the best Thai place I have eve been too. Things can be super spicy, some of which are too hot for me, but I learned that lesson on my last visit. Fav Dishes: Spicy Prawn Salad and House Fried Rice (The image above is From Delicious One, read her review here)
Border Cafe: Mandalay Bay So once our food connoisseur left us we decided to hit up a place we knew. I love Mexican. I could eat black beans and rice everyday so I am always up for it. If we weren't so tired maybe we could have also taken advantage of the huge tequila menu . Fav Dish: Grilled Skirt Steak with Corn Relish. Mmmmmmm...
Cafe Lago: Caesar's Palace How can one go to Vegas and not eat at a Buffet? Impossible (especially when traveling with Sasso). Fav Dish: Roasted Vegetables

And I'm Off!!

Oh man, am I looking forward to this little vacation. Lovely news, tonight I got to attend the PINE banquet and our 2008 Wall Calendar won a Pinnacle Award. She was very excited and loves to be entered into these design/printing beauty pageants, well actually it was our lovely printers that entered her into this one. None the less, holding that crystal award is as close as I'm ever going to get to getting an Oscar so I'll take it.
For some viewing pleasure - while away I'm winning millions at the slot machines - I thought I'd wrap up the book inspiration posts with some more mentions.
• Textile Designs by Susan Meller and Joost Elffers : When I was designing patterns for Fresh I always turned to this book to spark my imagination. It's really well organized and has some surprising finds.
• Earth from Above 365 Days by Yann Arthurs Bertrand : I saw this outdoor exposition of large scale photographs of abstract overviews of the earth in Paris in 2000. They are really extraordinary. See more of Yann's work here.
• You Are Here by Katherine Harmon : This book of unique maps is really interesting. It will have you thinking of maps in a totally different way. Again, very concept driven which I love. It has me thinking of doing a patterned map of the US...
• A Year in Japan by Kate T. Williamson : This is a great sketchbook of Williamson's year in Japan (duh). I love her graphic drawings, especially of her lunches. I love when people draw what they eat.
• Sabra Field: The Art of Place by Tom Slayton : Sabra is one of my absolute favorite artists. Her graphic depiction of the world around her is so vibrant. When you see her prints in person not only the colors, but the way that she uses gradients will amaze you. A dream of mine is to go work with her on her Tuscany trip. I just need to sell a few calendars...
Speaking of calendars, thanks to Holly at Decor8 for including our Places I Have Never Been calendar in her beautiful calendar round up. Pass on that kitten calendar from Borders and pick up one of the beauties she lists here.
I'll be back on Wednesday, rich with all my Vegas winnings, (more likely achy with a sunburn from the supposed hiking we are going to do). Keep your fingers crossed for me.