Creativity and Ramblings from the heart of NYC and around the World

Friday, June 30, 2006

San Francisco...
What can you do in 14 hours or less?

The day here was great!
After zooming to the hotel and dropping my bags I dashed off to catch one museum, the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design.
They had a great exhibit on Raymond Loewy. From the SFMCD website: "Raymond Loewy was the most prominent industrial designer of the 20th century and helped shape the future of modern consumer culture. Producing everything from lipsticks to locomotives, Loewy’s career will come to life with an array of original drawings, models, products, advertisements, photographs, and rare film footage of the designer at work. (A program of ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance and the National Endowment for the Arts)" It's a small museum - go check it out and support a great little spot!
This exhibit is at the SFMCD thru August 27, 2006.

After the museum I had 5 minutes in the Artfibers yarn shop...torcher! It is one of the yummiest yarn shops I've seen to date. Amazing yarns -- the gourmet of LYSs (local yarn shop)! Ooooh the textures! YUM!
Sadly I didn't have time to buy anything as I was meeting Dan at 5... So I walked the 15 min back to the hotel and as I was entering the building he texted that his conference ended at 5:30...not 5pm!!! So I could have had 30 extra minutes in the yarn shop... of course I didn't NEED more yarn!!! All he did was save me some money, which is just as well!

We had dinner at wonderful restaurant named Coi on Broadway. YUM!
A delicious tasting menu kind of place with a fab bottle of wine. The restaurant had come by strongrecommendationn from a friend of Dan's who told us to mention his name...so we did...

The staff was quite attentive and very nice. Thankfully we started the dinner early...it was a lovelylingeringg meal... we weren't rushed at all. Really, a great meal with wonderful company in such a comfortable setting. A wonderful way to end my one night in San Fran!

Time to pack...we've a 6:30am flight to Oregon in the morning!

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

The Interns Are Here - Heaven Help Them

Summer is here and an entirely NEW (read as young,naïve and inexperienced) crop of interns have come to experience New York.

A few words to these new interns as they set out to become a statistic...

Firstly, welcome to New York.
As not to get yourselves hurt (I'll focus on the ladies) let's discuss some do's and don'ts shall we?

Do quietly step on to the subway at rush hour and don't bitch about just how unfair it is that it's so crowded. There are people in that car who have not only been packed in there all morning, but for many morning over many years and a comment like that can get you an extra bump or nudge...or they simply won't move to let you on, or worse.

Once on the subway do quietly discuss amoungst yourselves. If you haven't been taught already in life, when riding public transportation you need to use your INSIDE voice. Shouting to your friend who's standing next to you is NOT needed.
Let's take your downtown trip on the #1 this morning for example, shall we?

I understand from your loud conversation that you were "like" out all night, are now "like" late and your ears may still be ringing from that "phat DJ". I also know that you drank yourselves into a stupor at "some bar" "somewhere" and you can't remember anything else except that the bartendor just kept giving you drinks...and that you have to find it again tonight because it's open bar and "Jewish girls & free drinks, Wow!" Your words, not mine.

I know that you've been here a few days and you're here for a whole month while you're interning with a certain "like" online fashion magazine which I'll leave unnamed and I know your names because you yelled them to the entire car as you asked that young lad if he waitored because you "think" he looks EXACTLY like your waitor from last night, but you can't be certain since you were both "so hammered."

I learned all of this while knitting my Jaywalkers (which are cruising along on my 2 circular additurbos) in the same subway car as you.

Ladies, you both are young, cute and have "I'm naïve and new to town" written all over you.

One might think that this is all common sense - and I'm not aiming for you to be paranoid - just careful. Each summer we hear of visiting folks who were hurt or "somehow" got into trouble.

This is New York City.

We have all kinds here, including some who would just love to approach you at the bar you announced you'd be at tonight, at the time you said you'd be there...
Everyone in that subway car knows your names and "like" you were, "so hammered you hardly recall a thing" from the night before... So how would you know you hadn't met them last night.
Maybe they paid your bar tab.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Better Cheek Bones than I've Got!

Last night, after dashing out of the office to set up the last bits of summer daycamp stuff for Dan's daughter, I raced downtown to meet up with friends.

Firstly Jennifer and I had a wonderful dinner at a neighborhood bistro called Landmarc. Yummy! We shared everything (so we could try more things.) This included: the chopped salad: (celery, cucumber, hearts of palm, beets, balsamic vinaigrette); warm goat cheese profiteroles with herb and roasted red pepper salad; grilled quail with sauteed mushrooms, bacon and cherry tomatoes and a dessert tasting plate with small portions of these: creme brulee, blueberry crumble, nutella éclair, lemon tart, chocolate mousse and tiramisu...which we were NOT able to finish!

They don't serve wine by the glass, instead by the half bottle as VERY resonable prices. A half bottle being 2-2.5 glasses we paid $12 per half bottle. It allows you to easily change wines by course. YUM! I also liked the decor...we sat upstairs where it was more airy and light filled, as well as more quiet. The staff was attentive and swift - not pushy and allowed us to order a little at a time and figure out as we went if we wanted more courses. If you're in Tribecca, check out Landmarc, you'll be glad you did. I've read on Strong Buzz (you know I love that website!) that they will be opening another location in the Time Warner building targeted for Spring 2007.

From there we walked a few blocks to join friends at The Knitting Factory (a bar/club) to see a trifecta of bands. We missed most all of the first band.
The second band, Blow up Hollywood - was good. They have 3 cellists in the band as well as more traditional rock band instruments. The third band, The Rogue Elephant had been decsribed to us as the "Hot Model Boy Band"... so we thought we'd all stick around to see how they were. The lead singer looked as though he was trying to emulate Ashton Kutcher and the other members joined him in having WAY better cheek bones than I do! In fact, as the crowd rotated to see this band the quantity of excellent cheekboned lads in the audience was rather overwhelming. Audiences seeing bands out on a Monday night in NYC are generally NOT that attractive... especially after having seen 2 bands prior and consuming one or more beverages. I handed Michelle my camera and she took a ton of photos...including the two above. That said...the band wasn't very good. Their name - Rogue Elephant - refers to a lone, violently aggressive wild elephant, separated from the rest of the herd... I don't get it.

With all of my subwaying around I did make some progress on the Jaywalker sock too!

All in all a lovely night!

Tonight I've go SO MUCH to do at home to get ready for my travels this week and Dan's daughter's month long visit.

Monday, June 26, 2006

Happy Monday
The socks are done...and yes, the stripes don't line up. He didn't want them to. AND the yarn-over cable is NOT on the top of the foot...he didn't want it there. He wanted hiking type socks so -- voila.

I've been working on the Jaywalker which I'd cast on in a moment of quiet and have been carrying around for that moment when the Boyfriend Socks were done...



I'm using some of the yarn I bought on my trip to DC a few weeks ago:
OnLine SUPERSOCKE 100 SUMMER - COLOR
Sortierung 64

color: 790
lot: 69773
Made in Italy

Content: 45% cotton, 40% virgin wool, 15% polyamid

So these Jaywalkers are what I'll be carrying around. When I'm at home I'm still working on the shrug.
Back to work I go. Cheers!

Sunday, June 25, 2006

***SUNDAY KNITTING UPDATE***

...A mini photoless update from my Blackberry...I'll add photos & links tomorrow!

***photo added Monday***

The BOYFRIEND SOCKS are done!!
They fit him well! Yeah!!!



YARN:
Austermann Step with Jojoba Oil & Aloe Vera in the yarn.

Color
06 silt grey

Foot knit on 1s, leg in 2s.
Short row toe & heel with the simple Yarn-over Cable leg/cuff.

Pattern from:
Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch
A great book! Do take the time to read the intro pages as you may find that it helps you understand the multi-sized charts all the better.

Now onto the next WIP!

Friday, June 23, 2006

Show your Desk Friday...

I saw this in an old post by Hop Skip Jump...who by the way has some adorable little beasts in the making!

It is called the cave as I'm surrounded on 3 sides...

This is what my desk looks like as I:
* Wrap up Spring/Summer 2007 Betmar & Plaza Suite collections (yes that's two computers for two separate projects in work.)
* Work on two different private label projects (bags)
* Start working on designing Autumn/Winter 2007
* randomly get knitting ideas as the day moves along

I can say that all food on the desk is new (today) -- THAT is somethign I just can not do -- leave food out. Ick!





One of these days there will be furniture purchased for my new office that has been sitting vacant for...ugh... over 6 months now. :-(

Back into my cave I go.

To begin with...

Happy Birthday Keith!!

(It's my brother's birthday today!)
I've popped his present in the mail and it should greet him at my folks house tomorrow!

I'm psyched -- my new Blackberry allows me to connect to Blogger so I can write up blog entires on the run (even on the subway if I open the page before going underground!) That will help me keep up! Then all I need to do is log in and add the photos! Yippee!! It even allows me to read a number of my favorite blogs...but most of the blogs don't allow me to comment from it. Hmmm...

Last night I didn't make it to see Nikki Epstein. I stayed at the office too long missing the start of her program and decided upon an early dinner with Dan instead.

Besides, I needed to be home for a 9pm meeting at my house with one of my salesman on his few hours between trips. I was able to clear out a bit more from my workroom downstairs before the meeting.

As promised, I've posted some photos of the garden! Of course I was in a rush and some are a little bit fuzzy. Grrr... I think it looks great! Dan did so much! Wow!
Now that there aren't pots and soil bags all over the deck I need to look at my schedule and plan the yarn swap. I think it will be July rather than June though folks.
We decided to put only pots in teh front section as it floods with every rain storm and washed soil all over the cement area (not shown in the photo.) What a mess! Hopefully this will work!

Oooh -- and last night I made this:
YUM! I had so much fruit (1/4lb cherries, 1/4lb strawberries, 1/2lb seedless red grapes, 2 plums and a peach) in my house that was nearing spoilage (is that a word?) if I didn't whip something up with it! I brought some for breakfast this morning )to the office.) Damn it's yummy!

Besides that I was able to unpack last weeks London suitcase and start to pack next weeks PNW suitcase as well as the Vermont case (camping!!!) for the following week.

PNW? Pacific Northwest! Next Friday I'll have a 1/2 day and single night in San Francisco followed by an early flight to Portland, OR the following day to attend a wedding with Dan.

HELP! Any suggestions of must see spots in San Francisco would be great! Any art collections?... LYSs... Boutiques? I've only had 4 hours previously in SF...yes, hours...so the 4-6 hours that day before I meet up with Dan in the evening will bring my tally in SF up to nearly a 1/2 day! :-)

Once we fly to Oregon, we'll have about 2 hours in Portland before we dash to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. It'll be my FIRST TIME in Oregon!

Tonight I'll check out Doubt (on Broadway) with Michelle, Sandi & Dan. It won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. I'll be sure to let you know how it was!

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Busy busy busy!
These past few weeks my time has been taken up by a few things...

Work - shooting my catalog for Spring/Summer 2007

Gardening - the garden's now fairly well done with what we have for the garden... A few plants will need replacement as we learn the kitties habits...(They jump onto and off of the fences in certain places-squishing the plants that are there.) Dan has done a grande amount of work on the garden. It looks GREAT!MWAH!

Travel - a business trip to London launching my new line to thankfully rave reviews! (Phew!) I remembered my camera but forgot the memory stick. Duh. So no fun photos of the trip. It was my assistant's first trip out of the US...first passport...first passport stamp. Watching her brought a bit of the fun back to the traveling. I took her to Harrod's (of course) and Harvey Nichols...sadly meetings kept us from Topshop. Now I'm starting to plan my next round of trips. Soon it'll REALLY get busy!

The World Cup - I've watched as many games as possible (thank you Dan's Tivo!)

Theatre --
History Boys:
Very good! Very entertaining! Interesting set, talented cast!
Well done on the 6 Tony Awards including the one for Best Play!









The Wedding Singer: funny and entertaining-- especially if you were a child/teen/20 something in the 80s! The new songs are fun. Check out the vocabulary sectionof their website. It's Rockin'! There was a pack of 13yr olds sitting behind us who thought "it was the best show EVER" and that the dance moves were "COOL!" Running Man or Moon Walk anyone?

Avenue Q: I went with my out of town guests and Dan. There's a reason it won a Tony for best Musical a few years ago -- damn it's funny!! Let me restate here that it is NOT a children's show, puppets or not. Do NOT bring your kids unless you want to explain the puppets sexual orientation and habits etc to them. It's very adult -- and damned funny!

Pig Farm:We saw this last night...the last show of the season by the Roundabout Theatre group. It was...odd. Entertaining. Odd. A dark comedy - we did laugh....but it was odd.

Company - two old friends - Jen (I've known since kindergarden) & Kate (I've known since High School) - came to town for a few days! What fun!! Here's a photo of them in the garden (left with the kitties) at my place as we have some champagne & snacks before seeing Avenue Q. Sadly that's the only photo I've taken of the garden yet -- if I get home early enough tonight I'll take some more to post!
And...KNITTING!

Monday brought the completion of two knit designs submitted to a book...
Keep those fingers crossed!

And a few more in the works.
Thanks to Pearl over at Knitty City for allowing me to hog the swift/winder to roll the 25+ hanks of Cascade 220 for the projects (all that for an intarsia swatch!)


If you're in NYC and haven't stopped by there, GO! Down to earth folks and a great selection of yarn and books!
Books -- I picked up AlterKnits & Mason Dixon there too. I'd been so good on my yarn diet.

Redecorating/cleaning:
Back at the ranch, I've been clearing out my downstairs a bit at a time...
Got rid of this sad matressless frame on Freecycle:














And replaced it with this: (that's not at my house)


And I've been adding books to my bookshelf over at Bookcrossing...including a number of them that I'm looking to pass along to someone else!

Phew! That's a lot! I may stop by the American Museum of Arts and Crafts tonight to see Nikki Epstein... let's see what time I'm done here.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Yum - Double Yum!
Monday night we went to Nero down in the Meatpacking District for a 5 course wine tasting dinner...
Not just ANY wine tasting - but a full Mionetto Valdobbiadene Prosecco Tasting! I'd never heard of that-- 5 courses of sparkling wines - YUM! Dan and Michelle joined me and YUM was had by all!

We learned a lot -- or atleast I know I did! Prosecco doesn't have a vintage because it's to be consumed within that year(ish) they said. (I didn't know that!)

Our favorites? They were all great! (looking through my notes...my handwriting gets worse with each course...hmmmm...)

The first was the Mionette "MO" Sergio, Extra Dry -- 70% Prosecco Valdobbiadene DOC, 30% Bianchetta and Chardonnay. It was a wonderful apéritif! It brought out the flavours in the Tartara di Granchio (Crab cocktail with Salmon and Caviar.) It had a lovely long finish!




The Mionetto Prosecco Brut -- 100% I.G.T. (geographic typical) Prosecco grapes, Veneto -- had a very fast finish. A moment after you swallowed it, it was gone. It was paired perfectly with the Seared Speck Bufala, Friesee and Trufle Oil. In fact, it cleansed your pallet after the trufle oil. There was very little lingering trufle oil when we went on to the next course.




We loved the Mionetto "MO" Valdobbiadene D.O.C.
It was a 100% DOC Processo grape with flavors of apple and a vanilla finish. It had a 40 day fermentation. It went VERY well with the Aragosta: seared lobster with brandy and shallot cream. I'd love a case of this one. YUMMY!




The Mionetto Prosecco di Valdobbiandene D.O.C. - Frizzante -- 100% Prosecco Valdobbiadene DOC, taken from only the best areas -- was paired nicely with thestuffed veal. It was uniformly our least favorite, but it was hard to tell if it was the wine or the veal -- the veal was our least favorite course (and I love veal!)




We finished the meal off with a yummy Mionetto "IL" Moscato -- 100% Moscato grapes from the Veneto region -- paired with Fragola al Balsamico: strawberries marinated in balsamic vinegar served with warm Zabaglione.

Yum yummy yum!

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

I'm Back -- alive and well!

What an insanely busy few weeks!
Let's see how fast I can sum up! (in semi-random order...)

We saw Three Penny Opera (on Broadway)...and...it was one of the worst shows I've ever seen. It was a new version, in English, and although there were a few very entertaining moments, there was also some very 0bad casting. Cindy Lauper was entertaining as was Anna & Jim... And Isaac Mizrahi looks like he had a ball with the costuming (I'd LOVE to get my hands on the trench coat Ms. Lauper wore! YUMMY!). Sadly, Alan Cummings was a true dissapointment, and Nellie McKay was far from convincing -- definately not showing the audience ANY reason to purchase her new album.

The bamboo fencing for the raised bed arrived! Yeah, and Dan's daughter came to visit for Memorial Day Weekend. As you can see she dove in to help with the garden, or atleast trimming the bulbs! :-) It was her first time seeing my place and meeting the boys (kitties -- who slept next to & snuggled her all night!) She couldn't get enough of trying on hats galore from my overflowing workroom!

We checked out Corteo, the latest Cirque du Soliel tour, which was entertaining as always. Monday brought a picnic in Riverside Park followed by gong to see Monday Night Magic (photo below), the longest running magic show in their 10th year! They have a pool of 100+ magicians and each Monday night, while Broadway is dark, they present a great show of 3 magicians!

Before flying home, Dan and his daughter met me for lunch and she got to preview the new line, critiquing it quite well (with a complaint that the handbags were just TOO BIG for her! Hmph! Very funny!

Time to dive in to wrap up preporations for shooting the next catalog (Spring/Summer 2007! YEOWZAH!) It'll be a busy few weeks - in my near future -- a trip to London (to present the new line) and old friends coming to town for a weekday visit!
Work must come first though!