follow the yellow brick road

Lucky me- to have such great friends in Seattle. I just got back from the emerald city, and must tell all about the highlights of my trip. The goal of this trip was to see things I haven't seen before.

1) Dining at "how to cook a wolf", a delightfully innovative restaurant on Queen Anne. All menu items are meant to be shared- and they arrive in sequence, so you dine on one dish at a time with your friends. My favorite was the golden beet salad with pistachios- I'm going to try to replicate it with the help of my friend John, who is masterful in the kitchen.

2) The view from Queen Anne- at Kerry Park

3) shopping at Whole Foods Market- My first visit, and coming from a city with only Walmart, Albertsons and Costco- it truly was an experience. Mostly loved the stories of how the food comes to the table. Best of all was the home cooked meal John made- featuring a gorgeous piece of halibut with a light panko pine nut crust- best fish I've ever had. Thanks John!

4) Of course the current Chihuly at Museum of Glass in Tacoma. A sizable piece from a private collection, this splendid golden-green tangle just glows, evoking a Muranese lagoon.

5) Fabulous conversation with my friends Vickie and David while dining on a late breakfast at Lola. Good times I tell ya! Love you and miss you all...

random Italian thoughts...

 My friends are having an Italian dinner party (sob, sob- wish I could go), my sister owns an Italian restaurant currently undergoing a menu redesign (courtesy of bleu dahlia creative), which randomly leads to Dale Chihuly...why you might ask?

Because in 1968, Chihuly was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to work at the Venini factory in Venice, Italy. While in Venice, Chihuly observed the team approach to blowing glass, which is critical to the way he works today. In 1971, Chihuly cofounded Pilchuck Glass School in Washington. With this international glass center, Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as a fine art.

If you haven't seen a Chihuly exhibit, get your calendar out now and do some planning. It can be found in a plethora of places, lots of them open public spaces, such as the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, Bellagio in Vegas,Union Station in Tacoma, and the not to be missed 500 foot span of brilliance, The Chihuly Bridge of Glass. The lucky residents of the Puget Sound area have more than 20 public spaces to appreciate the breadth and scope of the artist’s creative vision. On with my random fall day...

thanks for the memories

It's been awhile since I've been to Seattle to visit my very best friend, but the memories remain. While updating my website {soon to be published} I ran across this thank you, it's what I call a limited edition, where I hand draw little icons of the best of our visit, obviously here it was the conversation, cocktails, fabulous gourmet home cooked meals and heading out to explore the city. Hope to have an option like this available to order at my website soon!

sweet as it seems?

Designed for the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle by Modern Dog. Not saccharin sweet, just pure goodness that is so natural. Maybe not what it seems to be...

I quote fromModern Dog: 20 Years of Poster Art
"On the surface, Rosie's music is sweet and girly. When you read her lyrics, you realize she has an edge -
just like this fat, innocent bird who happens to be
standing on the edge...of a sawed off branch."
-Mike Strassburger & Robynne Raye

genius, pure and simple.