Night Bloomer & Mina Winner

Gotcha. The night blooming cactus bloomed tonight. I missed the last bloom. Does anyone know what type of cactus this is? It's not a Night Blooming Cereus, but it's similar in that it's blooms resemble that variety physically, and like the Cereus, the blooms last only one night.
These photographs are especially for those of you who did not win the Mina Perhonen Catalog.

Katie from L.A. ...you won!!

Please send me your snail mail address via my email, located under my profile.
Thanks for commenting, everyone...haven't made it through everyone's designer suggestions yet, but I will!

Speranza II

I'm slightly obsessed with this restaurant that I recently posted about here .We returned with my brother- in- law the other night and enjoyed another great meal. This time it was still light outside, and I snapped some photos to give you a better idea of the place.
I had Baby Squid, stuffed with cheese, over a bed of lightly dressed Arugula, and then the Pasta Puttanesca (with the in house-made fettuccine noodles).
So good!

Naomi Ito: Made in Soft Gauze Book

Yet even more mail goodness. These are all images from a beautiful Naomi Ito book available from Superbuzzy. Not only are you treated to her beautiful fabrics, clothing designs and patterns, but the book is full of her marvelous illustrations and paintings. Highly recommended.

Uguisu Shoten...

...is an online store that sells Japanese, books, magazines, stationary, zakka, gifts. I ordered some wonderful items to help me package my ERMIE garments once they are ready, purchased, and on their way to a new home.

Photos 1 & 2 : Washi Masking Tape

Photos 3-5: Cute little envelopes

Photos 6-8: Stickers made out of vintage recycled paper

Hiki, who runs the shop, also has a blog. Please check them out!

Mina Perhonen F/W 09-10 Catalog GIVEAWAY!

Above: My new Mina Perhonen Bag that my brother-in-law Alex brought all the way from Japan! The little creature on the bag is a mushroom, collecting mushrooms in it's basket. The design is flocked, and the mushroom has a black rhinestone beauty mark!

Below: As promised- sharing goodness with you that I have received in the mail as of late- images from the new Fall/ Winter Mina Perhonen Catalog!
...and I happen to have an extra copy....keep reading....

This is my 250th Post...another excuse for a giveaway. I'd love to give one of you my extra copy of the aforementioned catalog. Just leave a comment under this post, you have until Midnight Pacific Time Sunday, August 30th. I'll post the lucky winner on Monday, August 31st.
Tell me about a designer you love- a fashion designer, textile designer, furniture designer, architect...anyone you are currently into! Good luck- and as always, thanks for reading and commenting.
xo

**UPDATE, Katie of Los Angeles, you are the Winner of the M.P. Catalog! Please contact me via email (located under my profile) with your mailing address. Congrats and Thanks (all) !

Lina Rennell/ Russell Crotty/ Foam Magazine

Above: Photographs courtesy of FOAM Magazine
Below: Photograph Courtesy of Lina Rennell, Spring '10...doesn't it look exciting??

This post is a bit of an embarrassment for me. Until yesterday, I didn't make the connection that Angelina of Beklina (the amazing store & lovely blog) is Lina Rennell. It took Angelina's latest post on her blog to enlighten me. It's about an article on her and her family, work, and beautiful home in Northern CA- from FOAM Magazine. I have admired Angelina for her boutique and blog for a long time, and now my admiration is triple-quadrupled because, well, she is one of my favorite designers.
You can look at the article and the entire issue online here. While perusing the online issue, I discovered it featured an article on our friend Russell Crotty. Russell was a professor at Cal Arts when Tomory was in grad school there. Russell is also represented by the same gallery as Tomory in NYC, the wonderful CRG
(hi, Richard, Carla, and Glenn :) .
The above photos were taken by myself at Russell's opening in January of this year. I'm not sure why I never posted them, because Russell is a wonderful artist and person- but here you go now!
Enjoy. And thanks, Angelina for clearing up my addled brain.

Marimekko Autumn

I adore Marimekko. The 1st & second photographs are from their new Fall fabric lines, and I'm enjoying the clothing (as usual) also. The bottom photograph is a classic Marimekko piece that I've been wanting for years. Maybe this year will finally be the year!

All photographs from Kiitos Marimekko and the global Marimekko site.

Cheryl Cambras (& Richard Prince) at Royal T

Tomory and I stopped by our friend Cheryl's exhibit of woodland creatures at Royal T in Culver City. She was leading a crochet workshop, teaching people how to make teeny tiny versions of her birds (see center of 1st photograph). I loved her Fox especially that she created for the event.
The space is huge, and the cafe features rotating exhibits of well known artists, including Richard Prince. As a nurse, I have mixed feelings about nurses being sexualized...but I have to admit- I love Prince's nurse paintings!

Congratulations, Cheryl!