Just Sweet Love

be still my heart

I'm still reliving the weekend in my mind with these two awesome gals. I had THE. BEST. time at Paper Tales taking Amy Tangerine + Kelly Purkey's class. It's hard to get back to reality. 

Please give me a moment while I pull myself together.  

:] 

Portland: The Food

So it's been almost three weeks since my Portland trip and I am still dreaming about the food. One, wow, three weeks have flown by already?! Two, I'm sorry it's taken me this long to post these pictures. Three, seriously, the food in Portland is outstanding. 

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Before I proceed, I'd like to dedicate this post to one of my favorite bloggers, the one and only Kelly Purkey. Her creativity is out of control and I am so envious of the food + travel adventures she goes on. In the good way. I love her style and wit and if we played for the same team, you bet your buns I'd be all. over. her. 

Food is a major source of happiness for me and up until reading Kelly, I had so much trouble showcasing the foods I've discovered and loved. It's difficult to take food pictures. Throw in trying to make it look as good as it tastes is even more discerning. 

I've drawn so much inspiration from her, especially from her Seattle food post and the one about shooting what you eat. So thank you Kelly for being so awesome and amazing. Please do not freak out if you catch me making googly eyes at you at the end of March. Amy makes me feel the same, exact way.  

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A very big thank to my seester, Janet, for coordinating this trip. Right down to our food itinerary with the time table of when we were eating and all. Serious business. Let's go :

After hopping off the plane, we unloaded our luggage and stepped off to grab lunch. Mother's Bistro & Bar wasn't too far of a trek so we decided to hit the eatery first. Amazing!

Pictured here [above] was my favorite dish we ordered, the Wild Salmon Hash. 

After we polished off our meal, we continued walking ahead to our next destination to Voodoo Doughnut. It was on the way to Chinatown.. Believe me? :) 

I was very happy I tried Voodoo, but I can't say I was in love with them. Anyway, we made it to Chinatown but the weather was starting to turn super gloomy so we headed back to the hotel and unwind. 

We had to make a stop at one more place before dinner so Blueplate was up next. 

 

Their grilled cheese was heaven and paired with their tomato soup made me feel right at home. It was the perfect meal for the rain that came pouring as we got to the hotel.  

For dinner, we took to Yelp and found Piazza Italia. We ordered the Pappardelle with wild boar meat sauce (the best dish of them all!), linguine with claims and spaghetti with pesto and shrimp. The food was authentic and while it was not a hit with my group, I thought it was a hit. We were quite tired and didn't take any photos though :(

The following day, the clan and I woke up bright and early to catch Tasty N Sons. Picture this: the restaurant opened at 9:00am. We arrived at 9:15am. The wait was already at an hour! 

It was however, the most amazing breakfast of my life. Every single dish required no additional condiments or alterations. I am the queen of ketchup and didn't need a thing. 

After breakfast, we took a stroll around Boise, Portland and oohed and ahhed over all the cute shops. We slowly made our way to the Pearl District. Next up was Little Big Burger. 

LBB, can you please open up a SoCal location?! Their burgers are bitesized perfection. Their ketchup has a hint of sriracha - it was the best version of anyone's ketchup I have ever tasted! I miss this burger joint so bad! 

Immediately after LBB, we walked straight into Kenny and Zuke's. We didn't take pictures of our pastrami or corned beef sandwiches. (I thought it was a bit too dry!) 

 Any way, for dinner, we followed a suggestion of dining at Screen Door. I've never had fried okra before. It's slimy. Their crispy fried catfish was off the chain but the winner hands down is definitely their brisket. The meat would literally melt in your mouth. YUM !

On Sunday, we woke up very early (again) and made our way to my second favorite restaurant of the trip:

 
No words can describe my affection for this establishment. I love the comfy cozy feel of this tiny restaurant (there's only two tables and few bar stools!), the fluffy freshness of their biscuits and the fact that the owners are called The Biscuit Boys. S o, so, good ! 

After, we went over to The Waffle Window . I think by this point I was over all the eating, but we still had a few more restaurants we needed to cross off Janet's itinerary. Insane. At WW, we had a little bit of savory.. a little bit of sweet... a whole lot of carbs...  

 
The very last restaurant we hit before going home, was the restaurant of our hotel, Urban Farmer. The decor was amazing! It was so open and creative, kind of like walking into an Anthroplogie. The dishes we ordered were.. alright. I'd say come for the atmosphere, not for the food. 

  So there you have it folks. My taste of Portland. I can't to come back! 

Artist Adoration: David Garcia

My jaw dropped when I saw these intricate and beautiful pieces from my contortion teacher, David Garcia. Aren't they stunning?

Using materials like Japanese bronze seed beads and Swarovski glass pearls, each piece is handmade by David alone. While these pictures are lovely, you must see them in person. I could not take my eyes off them! Today, David is having a jewelry sale on Etsy - please support him and our handmade nation! It's so important to support our local artists and praise them on the time, thought, and effort that went into each original work of art. xo

In addition to being an amazing jewelry maker, David is also an Aerial Contortionist. It's fascinating and so inspiring to watch his 6'2 frame do crazy handstands and perfect splits. Look at what I was able to do with his help! 

Artist Adoration: Nicole Gastonguay

So.. I really want Nicole Gastonguay to be my friend. She's incredibly talented, makes up her amazing one-a-kind crocheted art on the fly [aka: without patterns] and has a wicked sense of humor via twitter. I. Love. Everything. About. Her.

 

 

 

[photos via johngineer]

Dear Nicole,

I am seriously bummed I can't make your show at Bold Hype Gallery. It might be better because I would probably literally drool all over your pieces and it'd be a big mess. If you are ever in the LA area, can I bribe you to coffee? Or dinner? 

Love, Jenny Star Lor.

Artist Adoration: Tamar Mogendorff

I am in awe over the craftsmanship of artist, Tamar Mogendorff. Based in New York City, she hand stitches every single one of her creations using vintage fabrics, cotton, linen, tweed, Mohair, among other things. 

Doesn't her work leave you breathless? I love all of it!!

 

 

[via Bliss]

Artist Adoration: The Corrugated Fountain

James Grashow is an amazing woodcut artist who spent three years making a three-dimensional cardboard version of Baroque sculptor, Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers in Rome. Cardboard, people, cardboard!

His exhibition is on site at the Taubman Museum in Roanoke, VA until February 20, 2011.

It gets better [or worse, depending how you look at it]. Afterward, James plans to install the sculpture outside and use it like a real fountain until it disintegrates!

... hmm, I have seven months to plan this trip... 

[via Thimbly Things]

Rolodex remix: Kanye West edition

I really like Mr. West. I think he's an amazing musician + producer but more so, I am in love with his book, Thank You and You're Welcome. His "Kanye-isms" are insightful, super witty and his book completely resonates with me. 

As an homage to Kanye West, I took a few favorite quotes and made my own artistic interpretation of them for rolodex remix. 

 

I came across his book at a time in my life I felt I was receiving negative energy from people I grew up with. Being a small town girl with big dreams, it was hard to garner support from friends who couldn't understand the "method to my madness," if you will. 

When my sister brought this book to me, I came across a quote that seriously parted the sea for me: "There have been times when I've had to separate myself from certain family members, childhood friends, and people in general who brought negative energy into my life. It is not always easy, but very necessary." 

The concept is so simple, so true. It was exactly what I needed to do. And I did. If you haven't checked it out yet, do yourself a favor and pick up the book. Thank You And You're Welcome! :]

Keeping it real

Alex Noriega is my new artist crush. His tongue-in-cheek illustrations kill me and I love his sense of humor!

 

 

Funny, no?!

[via Krisatomic]

Nice to meet you

How fun is this sweet 'nice to meet you' note from Raquel Quevedo? 

Wait for it... wait for it... 

   

Right?! It's simple and sweet, love it!

Artist adoration

I stumbled upon Matt JOnes while perusing the world wide web the other day and I love his stuff! I mean, who can deny Mr. Tea? It's Mr. T!

 

& tiny tea friends! Seriously?! Seriously. So cute. (If you were here, I'd tell you that in Korean, my new favorite language.)