@ Blessings

My friend Lauren is one of those women with a signature scent.  In her case, it's Chanel No. 5, but I've never known another woman to wear it with the same finesse.  The perfume joins with her own personal fragrance to create a scent that's distinctly her own--- Tenacious, luxe, Lauren.  You can sense when she enters the room, know when she's just walked past, and track her movements through a crowd.  I hadn't seen Lauren since May, when we were back in Boston and saying sloppy goodbyes after a long night at the F; but we saw her yesterday and picked up right where we left off nine months ago- continued with laughter and stories, photos and dreams.  And Lauren, she smelled exactly the same.  Some things, like friendship, just don't change. 

>  Photos taken at Lauren's friend's new bar in East London, Blessings.  <

Tuesday With Vous

Today's Tuesday With Vous is brought to you by my wonderful friend, Sarah.  She lives in Minneapolis and is always up to something interesting-  whether it be starting a new business, working a gallery opening party at the Walker, going to local shows, writing books- whatever.  She's a Jill of all trades, if you will, and I'm enormously pleased that she's taken the time to share her Tuesday with us.  Enjoy! 

As always, all italics from here on out are mine, everything else belongs to SVK.  

Tuesday, December 11
Sarah Vande Kamp Edition

I actually woke up slightly early on my day off, all to indulge in this spicy chai tea, on a bright snowy morning. I had never tried this chai before, but I would definitely recommend it! Very delish and very easy to make (just add H20).

Helped a friend come up with her Etsy store name. We also decided to form a partnership over this, and so I will be doing the business side of her clothing and jewelry design company. She is such a talent, so look out for her and Auroral Elements. 

Went to meet my friend and business partner at her house. We went for a walk in the frigid air with her dog. 

My face froze but it was invigorating.

That snow!  So jealous. Maybe?

This is delicious lunch she made for us before we got down to business. Yum!

Just starting to work on ideas for the book we are collaborating on. It is on innovation and we will being using case-studies and market research to substantiate it.

So many books. Sorry this is a boring photo, but we were still working away in the office, and I do love books.

So starts the hour in the car I spent driving, well not driving, more like surfing over the road with my car. Birthday present in hand(passenger seat), I picked up some great czech dark lager from a specialty beer store and headed to my brothers place. It's his 21st today.

More driving. Or more like "not driving." As I waited in traffic in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, I snapped this photograph. Oh Minnesota, I love you and your snow, but not on the roads...

And here is the birthday lad! Relaxing before the festivities. And here, also, are my $15.00 prescription glasses that make me feel like I'm continually looking through a fish eye lens. I only need to wear them 6 days total, due to Lasik surgery...sooon. 

This was taken exactly at 18:00, which I'm very proud of. A beautiful cityscape. 

So much MPLS skyline these days, I love it! 

Wrote a blog post for my new blog The Business Observer. It's very new, but do check it out, especially if you like businessy things. I also just started this very interesting book on Hallucinations. 

At the bar! In honor of my brother, many people showed up on a Tuesday at a great bar called The Acadia. We have dark ale, a cider, and a lighter ale pictured. Kate, you will be jealous knowing that the two beers on the right belong to Amanda Kogle and Joe Whitson.  

So so so so so jealous.  Hi, friends!

There was also live music at the bar. Yesss.

Going back to my brother's place with the gang. The snow is still clinging to the trees which I love. 

We ate cake, confused some of the other guests by using esoteric language (including the fact that we used the word esoteric), and then smoked hookah. 

I'm going to break the rules here, but I really wanted to include this picture because I like it.  

Finally in bed with one sock inside out. Long day full of morning relaxation, an afternoon of hard thinking, slippery roads, and day-end celebration. I count it as a day well spent.

Thanks, Kate, for letting me be a part of your wonderful blog. It was a pleasure, really so much fun. And it forced me to capture some great things that happened throughout my day. Miss you much xoxo.

As always, thank you for reading.  I think I'm on the cusp of another cold and am having a restful Wednesday with my laptop on the couch and Sufjan Stevens' Silver and Gold playing in my ears; I hope yours is cozy and bright day, too. 

I'll see you here tomorrow.

Can't We Be Friends?

It's been a long time coming, but I've finally accepted that I'm the only one holding myself back, from, well, everything*, and really, it's so stupid.

You see, I haven't made a single friend here in the last seven months.  I have friends in the UK, of course, but none here, in Hobbit Town**.   I don't have anyone to invite over for a last-minute meal on a Tuesday night or anyone to meet for coffee on a Thursday morning.  No one to go shopping with or with whom I can share a Sunday lunch.  Why?  Because of me.  Because I keep saying, What's the point if we're just going to move? but we haven't moved.  We've been here for seven effing months.  And in those months, I've continued to live on American time, work with american clients, and skype with my American friends and family.  Which is all wonderful, obviously, but means that I'm not really living here, and that is a problem.

As such, my winter goal is to get out there and meet people, like I used to.  Start hanging out in coffee shops during the day and complimenting strangers on their great boots or asking where they get their hair colored or whatever.  People must actually do things in this town, and it's time I started finding what that thing they do is- I need to start living here and start finding a friend.  Or two.  Or five.  And then finding a network.  And then world domination.  You know...

* Writing, moving my career forward, planning adventures, getting shit done in general, etc.
** I realize that calling it "Hobbit Town" is not going to make any locals shine to me.  So I should probably stop doing that, too.  Grumble grumble blah. 

The above photos were taken at our Nuptial Cocktail Soiree in March, at Backbar.  They are of some our friends and were taken by our friend, Oscar.  We had a marvelous time that night and are looking forward to many more marvelous nights, here, there, everywhere.

Tuesday With Vous

 When I started my Tuesday With Moi series, it was meant to be a weekly exercise in which I focused my eye on the beautiful world around me and focused my camera lens on a snippet of the spectacular once every hour, on the hour.  As many of you know, these posts have basically deteriorated into multiple pictures of Le Chat and some close-up pictures of my plant collection.  Blah.  To spice up my TWM offerings, I'm inviting some of my favorite people to contribute to the genre.  This way, we'll all get to step out of our own lives for a day and experience the life of someone else. Fun!

Our first contributor is my dear friend and pen-pal, Natalie.  She's a freelance set designer, cuisinartist, and DIY queen living in LA.  When we were neighbors in Beacon Hill, we shared many wonderful times, including one of the most extraordinary Thanksgivings of my life (seriously).  In those days I used to admire her from up close, now, I admire her from afar, and you should, too.  Take it away, lady!

(FYI: all italics from here one out are my own. Everything else is Natalie.)

 Tuesday, November 20

Natalie Groce Edition

I'm so honored that Kate asked me to do a guest post.  I admire her writing and dedication to her blog so much and I'm so glad to call her my friend. Here's hoping my life is half as interesting as hers! Also: I have to give her credit - taking a photo every hour is REALLY HARD. Much harder than I thought it would be. So bravo Kate, I applaud you. 
Pahhhleeeeeeeeeze. 

First tea of the day, in my favorite mug. I'm obsessed with Oregon... mainly because I'm from Portland, but also because it is an amazing place.

Thanksgiving planning madness. So many lists, so little time.

I love the leaves against the brilliant blue sky.
One of the perks of living in Los Angeles I suppose.

 This guy kept me company in the conference room all day. There was also a boar's head but it wasn't as cute. Not that I find taxidermy adorable...

I do.  I want a stuffed zebra for my entryway one day.
But only if it died of natural causes... obviously. 

 Stepped out of my meeting to run home and grab some files. As I was leaving I couldn't believe how nice and autumnal my front door looked.
And yes, the tile really is that color pink. 

The creative process in the commercial world sometimes looks like this.

 Pretty antler artwork at the office. I guess I'm really into animal related artwork right now.

There is a chalk wall in the office as well.

 And these awesome light fixtures. You can't tell from this picture but the light bulbs are the really awesome vintage filament ones. Super cool!
(This should be said in a French accent, the way the French directors I'm working with say it.)

 The view from here - Photoshop and a notebook.

 I finally escaped from the office! The apples at Whole Foods were very enticing but I already bought enough for my delicious apple pie at the farmers market this past weekend. I love Thanksgiving!

My tiny indoor garden! It is thriving! I am so proud.

 The crazy old lady chandelier in our dining room. I have kind of grown to like it... except for the fact that it is a dust magnet... le sigh. 

 Our friend Alan was over editing another music video we worked on. He is at our apartment so much he actually has keys. Hooray for businesses run out of residences! 

Le sigh?

Vanilla ice cream ingredients! I was trying to get a head-start on Thanksgiving... at 10 pm...

 Cooling the custard over an ice bath. Photo credit to my lovely boyfriend. And yes, I'm aware my hand looks really strange.

A view of the top of my dresser, taken while picking out my outfit for today. The little bird is from Costa Rica, the heart is really heavy and my grandfather drew the Frankenstein for me a few years ago for valentines day. He is amazing.

An enormous THANK YOU ('tis the season) to Natalie but also to you, dear reader, for sharing her Tuesday with her! She's really awesome.  Just like her grandfather & that Frankenstein card. 
You'll likely see more of her here with TWV and maybe one day I'll make her share a recipe or two...

Also, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

Roadtrip Weekend

David and I are going away this weekend to visit his oldest friends.  The people we'll be staying with have known him since he was a wee one and I'm looking forward to hearing childhood stories from their time together in Africa.  Old friends and family allow us to see a different side to the people we're closest to and I'm happy to drink wine and learn more about the ancient life history of this man who I've fallen in love with.

Have a terrific weekend, dear reader.  xox

Tuesday With Moi

Tuesday, October 30

Sitting in Restaurants & Losing Track of Time Edition

The morning started as any other, slowly.
The Redcoat and I tip-toed around the apartment drinking coffee and reading reports from the storm with our eyes wide and our mouths hanging open as we waited for my parents to get up.  Around 9:30 I realized Oh, it's Tuesday! and fetched my camera.

This is what my boots look like after our long and muddy walk through the Cotswolds on Sunday.

Mid-morning came and went.  I continued to scroll through the news as I finished some work.

Around noon I had a small bite to eat and prepared to leave for a day of playing the tour guide and eating a lot.  So so so much eating.  And drinking, too.

I haven't been using it as much as I ought to these days, but I still never go anywhere without my pen.

After walking through Hobbit Town, which my parents loved, of course, we stopped in a restaurant for a proper midday meal. 

Mum and Dad came here with the opinion that English food is terribleterribleterrible and thought they'd likely starve for most of the trip.  They're happy to report, however, that they've actually loveloveloved the food in the UK and are dining like foreign dignitaries.

(If there's one thing I can consistently deliver on, it's finding a good meal.)

The Redcoat and I left my parents to an evening of solo exploration and hopped on a train to London to meet some friends visiting from California.

We met them at the St. Martin's Lane Hotel.  Owned by the Morgans Hotel Group, the bar consistently delivers on both style and quality cocktails. We like that.

Somewhere around this time, I think I lose an hour, but bear with me...
Our friends, who are lovely, admitted that they hadn't eaten well since arriving in London.  They found the food mediocre and the restaurants unwelcoming.  David and I were appalled and decided to save them from another terrible meal by making a last-minute reservation for the four of us at St. John, a restaurant where I would happily dine every day for the rest of my life.

I get a little self-conscious whipping my camera out at dinners with people I've only just met, so I escaped to the bathroom for this shot.  I look vacant and terrible, but whatever.

My necklace and my camera strap are BFF. 

After a stunning dinner, David and I took our friends to the St. Pancras Hotel.

Perhaps you remember the stunning tequila drink I once had at the Booking Office?

Well, I asked the bartender to re-create it.  This was the first attempt.

And this was the second.  It was quite delicious but not as exemplary as the cocktail on my previous visit.

Like I said, we lost an hour somewhere, but I know for certain that I took this picture at 22:00.

After a night of much laughter, David and I made our way home where we promptly went to sleep after an ever-so-brief visit with my parents.

Happy Halloween, friends!  And, as always, thank you for reading!