How we get through the day

Tradeshows can be long, boring and fruitless. I was working at my booth in the Cooper building during LA market, trying to sell my clothing line. but it was very slow in the Eco showroom we were in. I made friends with Mark, who co-designs an incredible collection out of San Fran called Turk and Taylor.

He was the best part of the week. and every morning he brought homemade bloody marys. yum! at the end he said: "making a new friend is better than writing 20 orders". well, yes to the heart in that.

After, Gretchen and I ate at a hipster Silverlake vietnamese place on sunset blvd. i have eated there a few times, and this time, we sat next to a guy that Gretchen went to college with in Colorado. small world.

Yum! Ginger!

Sushi in LA

After the night before cooking for many people, we decided to get sushi at a place in Silverlake that one of our friends recommended. unfortunately when we arrived they were done seating, so we got takeout.
every bite was so delicious and fresh!
another night of eating at the house on Portia st!

Sushi Love

A last minute party. 

Matia and I called people on Friday night and by Saturday we had 10 friends ready to eat lots of sushi. 

Pearl unfiltered Sake from a local producer, yummm. raw fish the color of smiling gums. 

 

LA, the standard, and old friends

My friend Gretchen and I were staying in LA for the Fall fashion tradeshows. One night of our stay was sponsored by a showroom we sometimes work for. they paid for us to stay at the chic Standard hotel. this picture is Gretchen standing over the HUGE bathtub.

i tried to convince the concierge to give us the best room and he told us to go to the 7th floor. we walk into the room, and there is a man in his underwear on the phone! Oops!
we laugh and turn around as the concierge comes running up to us. he made a mistake. and he has our real room.
won't we come with him.
he takes us to the top floor. when we open the door we see this incredible bathroom, and she and I wish we were lovers just for the utter romantic possibilites in this place.

after a shower and change we head to Echo Park, to my good friend Zachary Leener's house.
he lives near an asian market where we somehow buy enough groceries for a 6 person dinner party for $20.
we decide to make Pad Thai and we we starving! My friend Nicholas, who i have known since highschool, and then again at art school at MICA in Baltimore now lives in LA with his wife Melody, who was my college roommate. they joined us for dinner.

Everytime i go to LA, i find myself cooking something delicious in this big kitchen in a large 1910's house. It has made my experience of the city that has so many labels, one of comfort and friendship and good food.

Breitenbush hot springs late night meal

At Breitenbush Hot Springs, about 1.5 hours east of Salem, they serve organic vegetarian food in the dining hall daily. 3 meals. there is a bell that rings at 8am, noon, and 6pm. that is when you eat.
all you really do while there is eat, sleep, and soak in the healing hot springs.
this was the 1st time I ever went as an adult and stayed in a cabin. it was pretty romantic.
at the end of the last night we were there, after hours of soaking, eating dinner, napping, making out a little, we were hungry again.

and we ate cheese and sausage and drank some wine. it was great. it felt so decadent.

Brunch at Navarre

go there and eat.
Navarre. 28th and NE Burnside. they also have a fixed price dinner which it totally reasonable.
YUM!!

make up

I bought this beautiful and tasty organic tomato at the Alberta st. CO-OP. 

It was in the half off bin because of a tiny bit of bruising, the heart-shape tugged at the sentimentalist in me, and I wanted to make a sandwich with a little extra love. 

Jeevan and her Birthdays

Jeevan is one of my sweetest dearest friends. She sings and plays the Fender Rhodes in my band, Love Menu, and also has her own musical project:

www.myspace.com/jeevansingh

One day many years ago we met in my car after a dinner party. we were listening to a mix tape i had made for my boyfriend at the time. I recorded a cover of "One too many Mornings" by bob dylan, and she asked me who it was singing. I told her it was me, and we decided at that moment to play music together.
Neither of us had ever played with anyone else before, unlike the boys and men we knew, who didn't bear their shyness like a heavy blanket.

Jeevan used to come over to my loft and we would drink tea and sing Leonard Cohen songs.
I was at her last 2 birthdays, and both times she had pink cakes.

did you do this on purpose you sweet tasty morsel, you?

Jeevan and I at her birthday last year at Holocene.

The first party was at local club Holocene, and I wore my blue favorite dress that always makes trouble. everytime I have worn it something either lifechanging, unbelieveable, or utterly memorable happens.
i could tell you all the times I wore it, but that is for another day.

These cupcakes are from this year, chocolate with little bits of coconut on them.
the party was at my boyfriend Matt's house. I had my last birthday at the house of a boy Jeevan was dating, and we thought it would be fun to trade....

Dinner in Vegas

For all the hard parts of having your own clothing line, there are so many benefits. 

One of the most important things to me when thinking about what I want to do with my life, is working on something that enables me to travel. Well, this job does that for me for sure, even if I have to sometimes go places that I don't love. 

I recently was in one of those places. Las Vegas. 

I am not a big fan of this place. I don't like to gamble, it intimidates me. 

Everything is hugely expensive. 

The central air infuses me with a sore throat and the florescent lights give me a headache. 

And I am working at the Tradeshows (Pool this time) from 9-7pm, and for some reason, the real swimming pool closes at 7. weird. 

However, this time I was accompanied by 2 of my favorite girl friends, Anna Korte, who is an amazing jewelry designer: www.iheartanna.com

and Gretchen Jones, www.mothlove.com, who is secretly brewing a new clothing line and in the meantime handmakes beautiful feathered headbands and combs.

these ladies made the trip bearable. and also the food at Diego, a mexican place in the MGM Grand, where Tracey and Tyler (who run TCF showroom) took us to the first night. 

This restaurant isn't one of the uber fancy celebrity spots, but the food is comforting and good. After a long day of setting  up the show, it was a relief to eat something hot and tasty. 

They make guacamole from scratch at your table, and the appetizers: fried cheese, and empanadas, were delicious. They also bring 3 different salsas (shown) one mild, medium, and hot. On the side of these there are 3 kinds of tasting salt. One was infused with lime, another with cilantro. This reminded me of salts I got for xmas from a local store called The meadow. 

We ate family style, each tasting the Chicken mole, the braised beef tacos OH YUM! and the Carnitas. 

I will go back there again when I am in Vegas, #1 because it is not crazy expensive, and #2 because I can count on a chill night with great food to boost me up before a week of shows. 

The Columbian and the Beach

If you are ever hungry in Astoria and it is before 2pm, and you are in no hurry, you must eat at The Columbian.
The happiest man alive cooks everything behind a counter where you can watch the process.


because he is the only one cooking, you might have to wait. we did for almost 2 hours.


And then they brought us spicy jellies and toast that made my mouth tingle with excitement. You can buy them by the jar too.


Brisa ordered Salmon hash with Sweet potatoes.


Erin ordered Chorizo scramble.


Matt ordered the Mercy! this is amazing!!! our lovely chef makes a surprise special. this was prawns on top of a pesto filled crepe. it was so rich!
My breakfast wasn't very pretty, but also tasted great. I had the Dungness crab omelette. Everything tasted amazing. We might make the trip to Astoria JUST for the brunch. I suggest you do the same.


Matt and I at Cannon beach

starting the new year right

With full bellies and surrounded by friends.
2008 rang like a new bell. a very different bell. Matt and I arrived at Rontoms early to see our friends performing with Nick Jaina sing us some songs into the wee hours. champange toast. Then dancing at Holocene. then he drove us home. I took a bath, and he heated up left over calzone which we ate, in my bed, at 4 am. i don't have any pictures of that, the moment was too sweet.
Someone during the night whispered about Brunch at the Blondes house. the Blondes are three amazing women I have become friends with in the last 6 months. I think we rolled out of bed at 2:30pm and arrived in time for sweet and savory smells to arrest our tired and hungover selves.

the spread! yum. I made 2 giant dishes of German pancake, with pear and cardamon sauce.



Jessica M made individual fritattas for everyone. they were delicious.

we drank amazing bloody mary's and we even had to run to the store to get more mix for seconds...

we stayed until 6:30, and then Matt and I drove to the beach....

Sale and Salt

On a chilly night in December, my friends Tracey and Tyler invited me to dinner at their lovely house/showroom on the skirt of Hoyt Arboretum. Tyler is pretty famous among their sales clients for walking into the showroom (true collaborative fashion) with warm homemade cookies and tea. On this night, the oven was broken. Stuck on self clean for a few too many hours. So he had to think fast and improvise.
I wanted to invite my new beau, Matt, but he was at a dance performance, watching his sister. However, because of the oven malfunction, he was able to come and join us.



Also in attendance was Elizabeth, who is a writer, and Sally, who own co-owns the boutique Pin Me Apparel.


Carnitas, homemade guacamole, homemade salsa, cotija cheese, and spicy beans.


OOps, i was going to take a picture of the flourless chocolate cake before I ate into it, but I couldn't help my
I am travelling to Las Vegas with Tracey and Tyler as a sales rep in February to POOL Tradeshow. There is an eco show that we attend called: S(eco)nd. I will also show the Fall 2008 collection of my clothing line. Hopefully Tyler will cook for us then too....

Recipe for a perfect holiday

preheat house, turn on some music, cross another day off the calender. it is december 24th, 2007.

Begin with your mother, who you haven't seen in 2 years. Then add her two youngest daughters, who are also your half sisters you have only seen 5 times in their short lives.
Throw in your dad, stepmom, sister who is visiting from FIDM in San Francisco.
select a few choice friends, and at the end your 18 year old brother who already ate.
Stir everybody together with pear brandy champagne cocktails, 5 lbs of maple glazed salmon, salad with edible flowers, and let sit for a few hours.

Sprinkle conversation, laughter, jokes, and best behaviour to taste.




My sister Eleena with her Pear Brandy cocktail. we put edible flowers in them too, and used local Clear Creek Distillery Pear Brandy.



my friend Mo and my youngest sister Kellan.

Brunch with the ladies

It was the day before my birthday, and I celebrated by inviting my lovely lady friends to brunch. i woke up in the morning on this chilly saturday, my new love in my bed. We watched the snow flakes tease the ground from under my rabbit fur blanket. I dropped him off, and headed over to the Screen Door to meet up with my girls.
matia and I, friends for over 10 years.


I switched it up, and ordered the blue crab benedict! it was incredible.


Tiffany ordered the bananas foster waffle.


My fried Jeevan, who I wrote about taking to the screen door before, had all 8 of us do a little project. we all wrote letters to our future selves, dated 6 months from the day we wrote them. here is Jessica(a lovely laywer turned chef, and Tiffany writing their letter to themselves)
Jeevan took them from us and will send them all out at the beginning of June.
I didn't know what to write. i was just too happy sitting with so many beautiful women who inspire me and who were all out to celebrate me.

Brisa in her fantastic suit with the most beautiful Chicken and Waffles in town!
Later that night I threw a huge dance party and we shook off all that yummy rich food....unfortunately, everyone was having so much fun, no photos were taken...

Birthday Rituals

My memories from my childhood are sometimes spotty at best, but I remember very vividly tastes and smells like a ceremony.
Every year until I was nine, my mom baked Spanikopita for my birthday. And even after she moved to the east coast, occasionally, around the beginning of December, a large box would come in the mail full of the savory homemade spinach delicacies.


For the past few years, I decided to carry on the tradition by making it for myself. I bought the feta and filo from a lovely European market on 17th and Hawthorne. The man who works the counter calls me "pretty lady", and when I told him it was my birthday, he reached his large hand across the counter and handed me a chocolate Kinder Suprise egg.
He shared a story of how women in his country(Bosnia) must learn to make the fine sheets of filo from scratch before they are eligible to marry. I tell him I am grateful for his little shop so I don't have to do that part.

My Mom's Spanikopita:

2packs of frozen organic spinach
at least!! one pound of feta
jar of pesto
stick of salted organic butter
cup of extra virgin olive oil
box of filo

you will also need a pastry brush to paint the oil onto the filo sheets.
follow the instructions on the filo box about letting it get to room temp so it doesn't split!

heat the oven to 350. put the spinach in a pot and cook it up!
when it is thawed, put it in a large bowl, and place a smaller bowl on top and drain as much water as possible.
(this method was cooked up by Matt, the lovely man who helped me make this meal this year)
then, mix the pesto, feta, and spinach all together.

melt the butter and pour the olive oil into it.

make little piles of spinach mixture on a sheet of dough, and paint all around it with butter mixture.
then do some folding, making sure all the time that the dough is thoroughly covered in butter.
make a bunch! until everything is gone!

paint the top of them with butter mix, then put em in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Matt and I decided to step outside on my balcony and take a few deep breaths of cold crisp night air, so when we opened the door back inside out noses were arrested by the intoxicating scent of Spanikopita happily baking...

I highly suggest this last part. I also highly suggest eating these with your hands, and eating them with people you love, the smiles are amazing.

memories of summer

This summer I had the opportunity to go fishing with my friend Scott. He is a local musician who plays drums and clarinet in Loch Lomond and Nick Jaina. He is talking about writing a column for a local paper about fishing with Portland's movers and shakers. A fashion designer on a lake! yes! On this particular day, we drove up to Trillium Lake on Mount Hood, late in the morning, after buying sandwiches, beer, and a bar of toblerone chocolate...


The mountain loomed large behind the clouds, you could feel that it was there, even though the snowy peak was hidden from view. We cast our lines over and over again, talked about falling in and out of love, drank some beers, and watched the eagles dive bombing the icy waters..


After about 3 chilly hours without any bites, we turn the little blowup boat around and Scott rows us back to shore. When we get to the bank, a large truck is pulling up to the water. It is full of tiny fish. I guess we will just have to wait for them to grow up so we can catch them!!


Scott fell asleep on the drive home, but I caught this amazing sunset.


Even though we didn't catch any fish, we decided to cook something from the waters. We made delicious mussels and ate them all up.