Saturday, February 27, 2010

j&g steakhouse rocks!

ok: dinner with the 'rents morphed from fun evening out to gastronomic extravaganza when we had dinner at j&g steakhouse in the w hotel at the hotel washington last night. the food was fantastic, really one of washington's top five eateries- i had a blt salad with blue cheese dressing followed by salt encrusted rockfish (truly amazing); the view my mom and i had from our seats of the washington monument was awesome;
 the service was right on time (wish i could remember our waiter's name because he was great), and the  atmosphere was real cool : dj included in the 'living room'. i cant remember the last time i was at the hotel washington...my dad and i used to grab a bite to eat there back in the day when we both worked for jimmy carter ( i was a child: i swear!). i remember the two of us eating wings up on the balcony and pigeons landing on the rail next to us: the wings were the same size and shape: were we eating chicken wings or 'squab'? hmmm...disturbing! my first job as a designer (really, an assistant to the interior designer) was renovating the guest rooms at the hotel washington. it was a traditional-transitional, historic-type re-decoration: the mirror in my entry hall/living room was a sample for one of the prototypes, in fact: big and gold. not much has changed since the last time i was there, except the weather was frigid, the food was fantastic and the vibe was real chill.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

the tidal basin is thawing!

above-freezing temperatures are causing everything to thaw out finally. the potomac river's tidal basin is no exception. that's the jefferson memorial in the background. 

Sunday, February 21, 2010

eastern market

went to eastern market today for the raviolis: very delicious! we got seven different flavors,  from simple smoked mozzarella to gorgonzola and pine nuts: they make great quick dinners. 
i decides to opt out on the chicken feet, however...

Thursday, February 18, 2010

day 48: design something every day

working on a competition with the theme of "sand" ...the deadline is wednesday.

excuse me, but there's a mustache on your runway

the mustache trend makes it to new york fashion week: leave it to betsy johnston to pick up the accessory we've been rockin' for months! 

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Monday, February 15, 2010

day 45: design something new every day

 a car silhouette to be set in sterling.
i like cars.

colonial era court proceedings

the trip to the eastern shore ended in eastville, virginia, where the mister had a "must appear" at the county courthouse for a fishing violation, (he won, and didnt have to go to debtor's prison this time). eastville has a population of about 200  and has the oldest continuous county court records in the country. the declaration of independence was read on the courthouse steps. 

eastern shore snow fall

i accompanied the mister on a recent trip to the eastern shore of the chesapeake bay: i was shocked to see all that snow around the water! the above photo cambridge maryland as we crossed the choptank river.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

day 44: design something new every day

translated helicopters into silhouettes for todays new idea. this project could be endless...and interesting.
i have already started laying some of the smaller pieces out on sterling, but i need to order a sheet of the stuff and these days, that's a hard call to make! 

heated bird bath

thankfully we have had temperatures above freezing and the 45" of snow we have has started to recede. my heated bird bath provided water for the squirrels, but none of the local birds have come by. spring cant come soon enough.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

day 43: design something every day

trucks tanks and hummers will be cut from sterling and fabricated into rings, pendants and pins. 

blowing smoke

the power plants are working overtime during this miserable winter. all that smoke blows right into the chesapeake bay...wonder what happens then: its clean burning coal, right?

Friday, February 12, 2010

day 42: design something every day


today's design takes a cue from the mister...very literal: it's winter.

saturday night fever

one of my favorite movies ever: completely iconic! huge influence on my (house) musical preferences. very anti- (american , african american, latino, ) italian, though. sooo jersey shore, just back in the day.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

day 41: design something every day

this design something every day challenge has been so great for me! i have designed three new lines of jewelry: something i havent done in years! cut outs of a few new groupings of my recycled plastic herban jewelry grouping are shown above. it has been a very productive 41 days this year for design options...very happy for this opportunity.

digging out


the big dig continued all day. we have received a total of 45" since last weekend's blizzard, phase 1. three vehicles have been dug out: the old white pick up truck is still parked in the neighbor's driveway, covered in snow; the motorcycle trailer appears to have collapsed under the snow's weight. our street finally saw a county plow at about 5:00pm today.
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r.i.p. alexander mcqueen

yeah, its true, designer extraordinaire alexander mcqueen committed suicide last night, days before his 2010 fall/winter collections were set to debut. he was depressed over the recent death of his mum: note to self: old people die.
poor thing, yet another tortured soul.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

day 40: design something every day

so, yeah: i am definitely designing something new every day...the last few days of confinement have produced a renovation plan for my little 100+ year old house: an addition is imminent! we need to move our bedroom off of the 6-lane highway called university boulevard...and we need more than one restroom in the house: really. there are issues with our property line, so i am waiting to hear back from the civil engineer...cant wait to move forward!

you had me at hello, cupcake



share the best (and worst) pick up lines you ever heard- or said-at hello cupcake on line and get free cake in honor of valentine's day. my favorite one entered into the competition is from ophelia, who heard “I know milk does a body good, but dang girl, how much did you drink?" sweet.



baby, its cold outside

clearly, i am bored with this blizzard.

heidi's bakery



went to lunch last week with the mister-before the 2010 blizzard- at cactus cantina (the fish tacos were awesome, btw) and shot this fantasy mural of what should inhabit this empty retail space.
i'm always thinking 'bout cake.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

miss me yet?

uhmm...no, asshole.

day 39: design something every day

day 39: design something every day challenge resulted in a pair of pod pins made from one. sent these off to the caster today.

blizzard 2010


we are still so buried here! and 18 more inches of snow are forecast for tomorrow: ugh! my garden arbor over the gate is actually twisted from the weight of the snow: need to knock that stuff off tomorrow morning. no worries, though: the mister went to safeway, giant , whole foods and finally costco to ensure we had it all, considering the impending doom.
I carry on in the studio, as usual.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

day 38:design something every day

designing every day now for over a month has been an enjoyable process and i have put to use parts and stuff that have been sitting around in my studio -glaring at me- for a long, long while. on today's design menu is an electroformed copper cone set in some kind of tree pod i cast in sterling silver, mounted on a formed and fabricated sterling stamen ring shank. needs a little tweaking, but i am happy with this on the spot design-fabrication for day 38 of my design something every day challenge.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

day 37: design something every day

today i designed a large vortex shaped nest setting for a large piece of quartz i found and polished.
day 37 of design something everyday: done.

blizzard 2010 is finally over

we actually got thirty inches here in kensington because we sit up on one of the highest points in the dc area...ridiculous! we shoveled snow for hours to make paths so the dog could get out for a pee (at least!). our neighborhood was fortunate not lose power like so many others around us. for the first time ever our street got plowed because the contract plow-guy for the condos near us had to drive past our house to get to 7-11 for a cup of coffee: sweet! 

Friday, February 5, 2010

day 36: design something every day

today's design is a choker centered around a large half-dome cabochon of very interesting amber. the chain will be a combination of sterling silver handmade links and ribbon.

monster storm of 2010: the beginning

monster snow storm,snowstorm 2010,weather,snow
well, its here! the monster blizzard of 2010 started at about noon today...it took a while to stick, but we have about a foot now, right before midnight. 

dog coat for this week's blizzard

in anticipation of six more weeks of winter, i got oto a water-proof fleece lined jacket: its cute, right? his hair hasnt completely grown back from the surgery last year and its been really cold, so i thought he needed something...he will probably be wearing it a lot with the monster blizzard of 2010 in the works.

day 35: design something every day

my design for today encompasses three sterling silver bezel set jasper rings...may have to add some type of prongs: not sure yet.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

au revoir, tai shan!

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcwashington.com/video.

today tai shan was packed in a fedex crate and flown back to china.
as notion's capital commented  "If no one's home, leave him with the neighbors in Mongolia."

happy birthday, rosa parks!

i learned about rosa parks in the fourth grade while attending equal one, an afro-centric sub-school within the berkeley public school system. she immediately became my number one heroine for her graceful strength and stead fast determination to make changes that would affect all future generations of americans. happy birthday, to a great lady and very important person.

day 34: design something every day


i found this vintage brass stamping, enameled it and hung it from a gun metal chain. design done for day 34 of my design something every day challenge.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

have a nice day!



my new car key fob is a happy robot face.

design something every day

i missed loading my new designs for my daily design challenge for the last couple of days due to a nasty case of food poisoning...also missed blogging about my favorite day -ground hog day- but that's another story. so below are my three designs for days 31, 32 & 33 of design something every day challenge