TEXAS

Annie Turns 23 today!!!

After coming back from Houston this time, I realized how nice it is to have all your friends and family together in the same place.  All we did was eat, laugh, drink (i mean everyday!  the best wines too), shop, and spent a lot of time together.  All the past differences that we had or may have had dissipated within the swells of genuine love and caring, honest support, and innocence of babies.  Either I have really grown up and learned to accept everyone's differences or we have ALL changed.  

I went to Dallas as well with Mori to spend time with his family.  I LOVE HIS FAMILY.  They make me feel super warm.  They're super sweet and inviting.  One of the best part of his family is his mom's cooking.  Formality is really important in Japanese culture, so the table is always set and the meal is big and complete.  I love it!  Even breakfast every morning is a feast.  We also went to the new Japanese restaurant and Mr. Nagasako ordered me all kinds of fish because he knows i LOVE fish.  Sweet right? yes.  

Hanging out with the Boys was also fun.  It brought back a lot of memories and how great they still are.  All of them are so sweet and still goofy as hell.  I am super happy that Tony found someone to spend the rest of his life with.  He deserves the best and I believe he married her.  =)  Most of them all have significant others and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they all get hitched.  Isn't that how it usually is?  A chain reaction sets off once one of the members start it all. 

Partying in Houston is special to me as well.  Houston is where my party roots are.  I'll never forget all the times Vanessa and I snuck into clubs, pretending we were 23 at Spy when we were actually 16.  It's been a decade since I've been hitting the clubs in Houston!  The funny thing is, the crowd is pretty much the same.  Going out always reminds me of all the fun we had back then, minus the crazy 4 horsemans, 3 wisemans, plus we have new possy memebers!  The little girls (annie and irene) are all now legal.  And to think...Annie used to take care of me at the age of 12.  hahaha.  But this weekend, I paid back my dues.  hehehehe.  The last night at Belvedere, we partied like rockstars in our booths and drinkin' Cris and Johnny.  

I know I'll never live in Houston again, but I'll definitely have lots of reasons to visit. This visit told me that I don't hate it at all.  I just can't live there.  Long term humidity is no good for me!  Plus, I gained about 5lbs there, so constant bingeing is not good for me as well.  

It also made me super happy that Crystal spent so much time with me.  She was practically family this week, picking up my mom, shopping with us, eating with us, going to the herbalist with us, partying with us, taking care of annie with us...I LOVE JUICY!

And Vanessa, no words can describe our sisterly bond.  She's family, period.

What pretty things!

Too pretty to be picking up your crumbs.

(courtesy of JD)

textures

POSTER #1

Peru

Before, when JD wanted to go, I didn't think too much about it. But after all this, I want to go.

blogs

here are 2 submitted by JD.

http://www.perfectbound.blogspot.com/
http://www.designspongeonline.com/

enjoy!

Imagine.

What story do you see?

Doors

What do you see when you open these doors?

Notes In My Heart

Notes written out like love

notes playing tricks on dreams' 

notes lingering upon dew drops

In wake of reality

in moments of clarity

in wishful thoughts of calling

My soul lifts off the ground

my love escapes for a second

my senses collide as they pour into my

Heart telling me to listen.

Letters

courtesy of Papier Labo

Recycled Cartons

cock-a-'doodle'

A doodle, 1990, by Robert Rauschenberg

Fairies and Stars

Lifelong Friendship Society
"The Great Escape"
by Robert Kanten

Night, 1997
by Sharon Ellis

Candy Kisses

Masquerade Ball anyone?

Mask by Katie Pica

Graphic children's books

by Bruno Munari

Vision Magazine Feb. 2004

20. and 21.

20.
we travel slower with constants by our side
unknown to us all rests a giant
gently breathing in anticipation
and curled so it fits into our hearts
there's nothing to fear as long as he's there
breathing, dreaming, wandering
always searching
like a patrol of summer children surveying busy streets
they make noise and watch walls come crashing down onto glass ceilings
with lungs and legs to chase after
mirages of ice cream trucks and secret hand shakes
outside this window
away from tumbling laundromats
the new york skyline offers me wings to stand on
to catch lightning bugs in the park
swallow them
and watch my belly burn bright
an incandescent glow
a hunger for longer subway rides home
and shorter walks to bodegas
this morning my feet spoke to me
as i lay there half awake
we're each armed with more than we will ever know they said to me

21.
there's something visceral and unpolluted in warm tortillas
a network of modal train stations
spray painted on the walls of each four chambers
that arrive not a minute late
a sea of tofu and bacon collide
marking white t-shirts
an empty canvas for fashion nightmares
orange tangerine soda bottles pop and lock on my table
as a pitcher of horchata leans on a broken counter top
and waits for the picadillo to catch the next flight home
egg yolks late for track meets
walk sideways over foil
past the mountains of red beans steaming in preemptive salsa volcanoes
rupturing from shifting ceramic plates and attacking plastic butter knives
under full moons of metallic grins
that are hungry for this meals evening harvest

(poems by dirty b and the pig sty posse)

Remote Control Dress

The concept for this spring/summer 2000 collection focused on the relation between mankind, technology, and nature, and the designs in the collection represent those various forces. The “Remote Control” Dress was operated by a boy who came onto the catwalk with a remote control. His electronic instructions opened up the panels of the dress to reveal the soft tulle inside.

The idea of directing living beings with a simple remote-control system was a lighthearted hint at the human tendency to want to control life as well as our sometimes exaggerated expectations of technology.

—Hussein Chalayan

BathRooms

Marie Claire Maison January 08

Cote Sur December 07

Marie Claire Maison January 07

If I ever get a chance to have a say in the way my bathroom's designed, I'd go for something more nature-like. The colors are so harmonious that it creates peace.

Lego, watch out for Mr. Pen!

Young artist

Kinokuniya Bookstore at 40th and 6th is having their annual "Japanese Young Artist Book Fair." All books are hand made, bound, and illustrated by the artists. I picked up a little book called "The Collected Poems in Travel" by Yasui Haruna. The details she draws in just one page is so shockingly beautiful! It's like an aquarium.
Below are two poems in the book.

Architecture

One of my biggest inspirations is architecture. The lines and silhouettes provide such a great foundation for everything, especially fashion. When color and architecture is combined, the results are beautiful.

Aqua Tower by Studio Gang Architects

VM Husene Building

Conceria Gaiera Giovanni

Above Magazine Issue # 8

Dris Van Assche A/W 08/09

Watch case