Lilly & Coco

Maui - Wowie

2010-10-02T15:00:00.001-07:00

My husband and I took a trip to Maui for our anniversary this year, with the idea that it would be a good break from work, and would be nice and relaxing for us. This was a vast understatement, as Maui turned out to be (first time visitor here) a freakish wonderland with the power to relax me on such a deep level, that I actually became frightened.

The waters were clear blue and aqua, warm and welcoming! I'm not a good swimmer, so I didn't snorkel like my husband Michael did. He bragged of seeing under the water; saw sea-turtles and a vast assortment of brightly colored fish! While I relaxed on the shore, and tried not to get too sun-burnt.

After a while, it was like - what do you do in paradise? Relax, and relax some more. Because you're going to eventually go back home and do the opposite of relaxing. 'Live it up' as the locals say. They didn't really say that though.

If you like Pina Coladas, getting caught in the rain.. there were people actually singing this song!

What?! I exclaimed! Just relax, Michael said.

One day we took a harrowing drive up to the northwest tip of Maui, to Paia. It turns out with this particular route we took you have drive for miles on a winding, single lane road, and it's along a steep and frightening cliff's edge. THIS IS NOT RELAXING, I found myself saying. Towards the end of this scary little journey, there was a church with a wonderful sea view.

Stop being so intensely awe inspiring Maui! The ocean looked vast and eternal, it was starting to become a little bit ridiculous. So this is why people come to Hawaii, I get it now.

We brought back a lot of shells collected from the beach, and a few Michael got from the bottom of the ocean while snorkeling (not sure if he was allowed to do that, don't tell).

The first rainbow I saw, I was like - oh my God it's a rainbow! Lookie, lookie, it's a rainbow! Then I saw another one, and I think a third too. So, these people were used to rainbows, dolphins, and other amazing things. Showoffs.

We visited a few good restaurants, but our favorite was Merrimans, which specialized in locally harvested ingredients. For instance, vegetarian Michael enjoyed a taro root 'mignon', with taro harvested in the northern area along the cliff's edge we had ventured to earlier.

Aloha Maui, and mahalo! Until next year?

Rumpus Room

2010-07-18T09:25:00.001-07:00

We have a downstairs, a daylight basement level that we are finally getting around to re-doing. The main room had been carpeted, and all of a sudden, with the help of a friend, we decided to just tear the mother up and begin in earnest to give this room a makeover.

What you see are knotty pine wall panels that had been painted a not-too-shabby color of yellow. But it's time to see what's underneath again, and harken back to the days when this room had been fully utilized for its intended purpose - as a Rumpus Arena. Drawing upon inspiration from the Rumpus Era, we decided to stick with the 'darkish' wall paneling, and lighten the room with a white ceiling, and will install light-colored floor tiles.

The ceiling had been covered in those ugly ceiling tiles, the ones you see in offices with drop ceilings (yuck). The ceiling had to be completely recovered and drywalled. That part is done. What is remaining is finishing the paint removal on the walls, and sprucing up the 'bar' - which I will photograph and share more of later.

I'm thinking I need to make a large abstract expressionist painting to hang on the wall, give it a nice Mad Men look. Let the rumpusing commence!

Happy July 4th!

2010-07-02T11:10:00.001-07:00

From weheartit.com

A New Camera

2010-06-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

When I studied photography in art school, I learned on a tradtional SLR camera. I haven't used one since then, and all of the digital cameras I've owned were point-and-shoot style cameras.

Well I got my first digital SLR camera recently, and had a lot of fun taking pictures, above is our cat Coco...

A Friday night visit to Higgins, downtown Portland.

Happy Friday

2010-03-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

Photo by BoopsieDaisy on Flickr.

Pomplamoose!

2010-03-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

After following a link on twitter, to youtube.com to view/listen to a groovy cover of Lady Gaga's, "Telephone" by the group "Pomplamoose,"I discovered a whole world of fantastic covers and musical originals performed by this talented duo.

Other favorites of mine; a cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It," and Beyonce's "Single Ladies."
Their own songs, "Hail Mary," "If You Think You Need Some Lovin'" are INCREDIBLE. Nataly Dawn has a beautiful singing voice. So run, don't walk on over to their youtube.com site, or their own site: http://www.pomplamoose.com/!

Karol Collymore

2010-03-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

Here in Portland, Oregon, besides being the greenest city in the nation, we have a very active local political scene, and my friend (and hopefully soon your friend) Karol Collymore is running for City Council, a position in which she would be able to do a lot of good.

She has been assisting and working with City Council person Jeff Cogen, and wants to continue the good work she did with him serving the people of North/Northeast Portland; a really diverse, artistic, and constantly changing part of town.

I have never in my life been so closely interested in local politics! Karol's infectious enthusiasm, big-heartedness, and authentic concern for people, have really drawn me in.

Her focus is work around childhood obesity, Portland's Corrections Health and Hospitals to ensure that people who are arrested and exhibit mental health issues are protected and treated correctly and equitably. And to continue the sustainabilty work and the domestic violence work she and Jeff Cogen started over the last 3 years.

Here is Karol's web site: karolcollymore.org

Crow and Canary

2010-03-01T12:24:00.001-08:00

"Crow and Canary showcases stationery and gift items in the wholesale market. our lines can be found on the shelves of the finest retailer's in seattle, portland, san francisco and los angeles."

I met the lovely Carina of Portland's Crow and Canary a few weeks ago, she's a very nice person doing what she loves to do. Here I am featured on her blog! Yay!

North Coast Trip

2010-02-24T17:44:00.001-08:00

The hubby and I took a trip to the north Oregon coast for his birthday last weekend. It was surprisingly sunny, and warmish! I say warm-ish! Not balmy. But clear weather, and nice enough to take a ten mile hike in. We hiked to the top of the top of the Tillamook Head, and then back down. We saw a lot of fallen trees from the past winter storm. I got shin splints from the gravity induced running downhill on a rocky path. But it felt great. Can't wait to go back in the Spring.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-12T13:35:00.000-08:00

Photo by Subba*cultcha on Flickr.

Dance of Shiva

2010-01-19T14:05:00.000-08:00

Photo by Dalbera on Flickr.

And now a few words from the New Age Corner: one of the neat things I discovered recently in the past few months is a wonderful person local to Portland (Oregon) named Havi, who has a web site called www.fluentself.com - she specializes in De-Stuckification and Mindful Biggification.

One of the tools she offers is a remarkable instructional DVD on the art of Shiva Nata, guaranteed to bring about Hot Buttered Epiphanies! Explained here at www.shivanata.com, and don't forget to check out her blog which provides many insights into this magical yogic form.

A few Shivanauts and I contribute to a blog to record our individual experiences on our Shiva Nata journey, check this out here. And here is a link to the Shiva Nata kit itself.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T12:40:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! My friend Gretchen wrote some very entertaining blog post reviews of the various Portland, Oregon mall Santa's, visit - ourpdx.com

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T14:41:00.000-08:00

This woven and printed, decorative hanging banner came from my husband's grandmother. I love to hang it up every year, I haven't seen anything like it. It gives me such cheer to look at it!

This is the donut ornament I got earlier this summer from Sleighbells! It looks delicious hanging up on this year's tree!

Every year I lose another cherished ornament. I get a little nervous unwrapping my vintage ornaments every year, knowing I am bound to lose one. But how can you just keep them stored away safely in a box? I have to see them up on the tree!

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas Holiday, and a fantastic New Year!

New Season's Craft Fair

2009-12-04T17:52:00.001-08:00

Here are a few photos of my table from the New Season's hosted Holiday Craft Fair last weekend, it was so enjoyable! I'd really like to thank them for hosting such a great event.

Holiday Craft Fair Alert

2009-11-20T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hello dear blog reader, I'll be participating in a wonderful holiday craft fair. It will be held at the New Seasons Market, located in the Portland suburb of Cedar Hills, on November 28th. 9:00 am until about 4:00 in the afternoon.

Hope to see you there! Please do come and say hello. I'll have holiday cards, and a few other types of cards. Also magnet sets and some hand-crafted holiday decor items.

Saturday, November 28th:

New Seasons Market

Cedar Hills Crossing

3495 Cedar Hills Blvd.

Beaverton, OR 97005

(503) 641-4181

Here Comes Halloween...

2009-10-21T13:23:00.001-07:00

Elephants Deli here in Portland, has become one of my favorite places to visit from about October through December. They always decorate their NW Portland location with lots of holiday fare. So it makes the perfect meeting place of the yearly 'Pumpkin Planning' session. Which is the silly name my friend Gretchen and I have for, planning our yearly gingerbread houses.

Inspiration abounds at Elephants, the sights, the smells, the candy...

Look at these delectable macarons!

You know what I had? Those cups on the left are a chocolate mousse. I had one. The things on the right are house-made Ding Dongs. I almost had that.

Anyway, we nailed the idea for our gingerbread house, now all we need is a recipient for it. Thinking about raffling it off for coats and blankets donations.

Schoolhouse Rock

2009-10-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning with the Schoolhouse Rock song from, "How A Bill Becomes Law" cartoon, stuck in my head! I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill , and I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill...

So, I headed over to You Tube, and watched some of my old favorite Schoolhouse Rock videos. This one's, "Three is a Magic Number." It's such a sweet song!

And who could forget Conjunction Junction! I feel so lucky to have had these playing on TV when I was a kid. Real, quality learnin'.

An Evening with Lee Kelly

2009-10-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

Last Friday evening, I visited my old art school - P.N.C.A, for a talk given to alumni. An interview with sculptor Lee Kelly, conducted by Portland Art Museum chief curator and curator of contemporary art, Bruce Guenther.
Bruce would say something smug n' pompous, Lee would say something funny, and then people would look at each other and smile knowingly. You had to! Everyone was smiling knowingly! Then I got in line to be hugged by Paul Missal, which as P.N.C.A's most beloved figure, is always a really long line. The fellow up before me was stage designer Michael Curry, who was a very nice person - and extremely young looking for his age.

Here are a few examples of Lee Kelly's works:

Rajastan III (2004)

Lupin Fugue (2000)

Trip to NYC

2009-09-25T16:24:00.001-07:00

My husband and I recently took a trip to NYC, where we crammed in as much art viewing as possible. We visited the Met, Guggenheim, MOMA, and many Chelsea art galleries. Here are some of the highlights:

Warhol at MOMA.

A painting gallery at the Met.

The roof of the Met; along with a spectacular view, some beer and cocktails are offered. Unfortunately it seems that NYC accomodates cigarette smokers in outdoor places like these.

A French interior display in the Met.

Part of a fantastic French wall mural, could barely tear myself away from it!

Home again, home again, jiggety jog.

Farewell Ted Kennedy

2009-08-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

Farewell Senator Edward Kennedy, and thank you for your service!

Me me me

2009-08-24T15:44:00.000-07:00

Black Wagon, the cutest and hippest children's clothing boutique in all the city of Portland, just celebrated their third anniversary with a birthday bash. My husband and I stopped by, and there was this wonderful photographer set up there, taking pictures: Melissa Hathaway.

These are unauthorized photos taken from her client site, sorry Melissa!

Will be ordering one of each soon. I can't believe she made us two goofballs look halfway decent!

Stuff I Want

2009-08-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

Kate Spade... I want it.

Do I need it? No.

Doesn't stop me one bit from WANTING it, though.

My life would be better with this sweater, I know it. I PROMISE it would be! I can show you facts and figures.

Ok if I had to choose one item, it would be this polka-dot blouse.

Don't make me choose!

A Visit with an Artist

2009-08-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

We were invited to a party last night, which gave us the rare opportunity to cross the St. Johns Bridge. I love that bridge. The person throwing the party was artist is Anne Grgich, a woman I had only met briefly many years prior. She had told me back then that she just finished burning many of her paintings.

Her home was scattered with many things to marvel at, I spent the first chunk of time just photographing the surroundings.

Even the tub of iced beer looked visually interesting to me!

Anne is classified as an "outsider artist," a self-taught type of artist. Her work is intense, multi-layered, and I swear this - it emits light. It has a presence of its own that I was quite impressed by. I was surprised that she let me photograph her work. She is a very nice person, and is greatly supportive to other artists.

I think the term "outsider artist," is a little misleading. I think many artists, whether they're trained by an art institution or not, feel on the outside. Spending time in Anne's home reminded me of this, that I always seek not to feel on the outside, but by doing so betray my inner artist a bit by, "fitting in." And then I lose my outsider perspective, the kind of sight that makes making art all worth doing.

She sells her pieces all over the world. Many of the pieces she had hung up were about to be shipped to Australia.

The one on the bottom is my favorite. Something about it makes me want to hug it to my chest!

Everything, every object in her home seemed to have a life of its own. Even the kitchen ware. Check out this cool bottle opener!

Portland Pie Off 2009

2009-08-17T17:53:00.000-07:00

Once again, the Portland Pie Off at Peninsula Park was a hugely enjoyable event! And once again, I did not win (I entered in the fruit category, Caramel Apple Pie). But I did eat so much loser pie afterward, that I have a whole new crop of pimples to show for it.

Here are the winners:

Best Stone Fruit Pie: Jenny Cook for Brown Butter and Bourbon Peach Pie
Best Nut Pie: Miranda Layton for Pecan Pie
Best CPR Pie: Dereth Salchak for Coconut Pineapple Rum/Piña Colada Pie
Best Mash-Up Pie: Alison Greco for Cucumber Honeydew White Chocolate Icebox Pie
Best Custard Pie: Jennifer Hudspeth for Buttermilk Chess Pie
Best Berry Pie: Ares Philabaum for Berry Sweet Pie
Best Crème Pie: Sara Gray for Coconut Cream Pie
Best Fruit Pie: Sabrina Miller for {a cranberry apple pie}
Best Savory Pie: David Molner for Moroccan Lambstravaganza
Prettiest Pie: Elizabeth Fuss for Stavros Pie
Grand Prize/Best Overall Pie: Alison Greco for Cucumber Honeydew White Chocolate Icebox Pie

The Portland Pie Off

2009-08-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

Once again, it's time for the Portland Pie Off! This Sunday, August 16th at Peninsula Park. Begins at 1:00 pm, for details go to www.portlandpieoff.com - and see you there!