On the Road

These are just a few of the pictures from the road trip Craig and I took up the Pacific Coast Highway from LA to San Francisco. Everyone has always said how beautiful that ride is, but it wasn't until the wind from the Pacific Ocean was whipping my hair in my face and the colors of the wildflowers were surrounding me that I really knew what they were talking about.


The natural landscape of the California coast is beautiful.

Lazy days for the seals that lined various rock beaches along the coast. It made me sleepy just looking at them.

Along the way we stayed a night in Pacific Grove which is right next door to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It's an amazing facility and there was a lot of beauty to be found but still it was sad to see wildlife such as otter living behind glass and under fluorescent lights.

Jellyfish are beautiful creatures...the layering, colors, and varying forms are so elegant.


Moon Jellies
An antique clock shop on Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove

The windblown trees of Pacific Grove

And finally at the end of the road...San Francisco, my new home :)

Icy Pops!

This book is just in time for summer and is a great new spin on a classic summer tradition -- making your own icy pops!

Written by a former teacher of mine and great mentor, Krystina Castella, Icy Pops brings the fun and creativity back to this childhood treat. With recipes like Thai Coffee and Tea pops, the fun isn't just for kids anymore :) She even shows you how to make your own popsicle molds with silicone!

Buy a copy here or visit the website which is a wealth of information all in its own.

Family / (ˈfam-lē)

A couple of things have happened recently which have made me really re-evaluate what the word "family" means. Traditionally, the word family has been associated with people of the same blood relation though I would argue that in this growing world of ours, everyone with a significant impact on your life can be counted as family because they each play a role in how you have been and are being shaped. For me, family (and you know who you are) are the ones who I find myself thinking about in the oddest of moments -- before I go to sleep, during a movie, when a certain song come on. How do you define family?

My biggest worry is that they don't know how much they mean to me. Think of the ones you love often.

Simple Solution

This is a picture of a taxi driver's solution to an uncomfortably tight seat belt. It allows him just enough slack and it is a nice alternative to what other drivers (Ba!) opt to do -- not wear the belt at all.

Enough is Enough

[In response to a blog posting by Nathan Cooke regarding the hypocrisy of our "leading design educational institution."]

This is a great dialog and one that is long overdue. First of all, I care a great deal about Art Center because I'm grateful for the role that it has played in my life. Without it, I would not be the designer that I am today and I know that.

That being said, and as a recent alumna, it is frustrating to watch members of the administration continually fail to prioritize the students and education above other "academic" initiatives. In ignoring what should be its prize possession (the students), Art Center has created class after class of alumni who will never give back to their school and it has created a destructive cycle: 1) Art Center ignores students and diminishes the educational experience through bureaucracy and personal agenda, 2) Students graduate after having accrued a massive amount of loans, 3) They neither can afford nor care to give monetary donations to Art Center, 4) Art Center's endowment continues to shrink under the current administration and lack of support from its alumni body, 5) Current student tuition is raised increasing the amount of loans that the current students will have to endure and scholarships continue to shrink.

It is time for action. Time to bring the voice of the students back. Can Art Center truly continue its legacy of creating "leaders in design" if at the first sound of dissent it (Erika, Iris, Richard) attempts to silence it?

Students: You are paying for a service. If that service does not meet your expectations, you have the right to raise your voice.

Alumni: We have invested a lot in our diplomas. For some, over $100,000 in student loans have been accrued (the same as an average Harvard med student). The value of your association with the school is only as good as its current reputation. Do not let your investment depreciate under to poor guidance.

All: What are our next steps? Should we start a petition? Rather than have letters and emails trickle in one at a time to the trustees, we should make it a collective effort so that our individual bark becomes a collective roar. I am posting this comment and a link to this discussion on my blog, will others do the same?

PS: I really like the idea of t-shirts with "Education First" printed on them :)

The Small Things

I've made it back to LA and after 4 months in Singapore and already I am starting to miss the small things.

The character found in the store fronts and use of color.

The beautiful heritage trees that line the streets with their lyrical branches (there are tons more photos where these came from but I'll save them for a separate post).

Strong black kopi (coffee) with condensed milk. It costs 75 cents a cup at any hawker stand and its flavor puts Starbucks to shame (as does the fact that it doesn't burn a hole in your stomach).

Tian Tian Chicken Rice! Once it hits your lips...

Green tea soft serve with mochi and red bean. Why can't there be more desserts like this?

Looking up and seeing the rainbow of clothes drying in the breeze.