balancing act

these cirque du soliel performers {in lisbon's show "delirium"} perfectly depict an analogy to my life right now. can you relate too?

also, who is planning to see san francisco's kooza {it just opened on the 16th}? the description alone had me ready to buy tickets as soon as my pay check hit the bank:

"between strength and fragility, laughter and smiles, turmoil and harmony, KOOZA explores themes of fear, identity, recognition and power. the show is set in an electrifying and exotic visual world full of surprises, thrills, chills, audacity and total involvement."

but getting to see photos of their rehearsals on the official kooza site sealed the deal!

t.g.i.f! hope you have a most fabulously balanced weekend.

heat sensitive

taking a clue from mother nature, there's something intriguing about design technology that allows a shift in the look and feel of a product depending on temperature changes.

{radiator turned off}

{radiator turned on}

heat sensitive wallpaper designed by shi yuan, a chinese designer who graduated from the university of portsmouth in england ~ this was called her "design with life project".

{watercolor tiles when cold}

{water color tiles when hot}

one of many designs of heat sensitive tiles made by moving color, where they enable temperature to change your visual experience of an interior environment.

irish-sf dance collaboration

printz dance project is in the chronicle today ~ click on image to read the article:

pdp and siamsa tire have an informal showing this weekend of the collaborative choreography of irish traditional dance and american jazz, modern & hip-hop dances.

nov 30th & dec 1st at 8:00pm

the garage ~ 975 howard street

for tickets: 415.885.4006

{photos from rehearsals ~ all taken by jenni. and there are a couple sweet little video clips of their rehearsals together at her blog}

winter wonderland wishes

unfortunately we can't all spend our holidays in a place like this {it's the neuschwanstein castle in fussen germany ~ photo by my roman friend on flickr}, so while daydreaming about it i explored some ways to get the beauty of snowflakes into my san francisco holiday spirit. whether you're already getting blankets of snow, or if you're as likely to get a white christmas as i am {somewhere between zero & 2% chance}, hopefully you'll find some inspiration here to bring a winter wonderland to your world.

{welcome guests to a snowflaked soiree ~ items from red envelope and plow & hearth}

{frost your tabletop or mantle, found on the homeport website}

{jeweled snowflake ornaments from pottery barn}

.

{send a pop card from unica home or make your own snowflakes ~ diy project found on craftster.org}

{and for an awesome slideshow of micro shots of real snowflakes, spend a moment watching this}

glassybabies

lee rhodes is one of many glassblowers making an artisitc career in the seattle area. thanks to chihuly's well-deserved fame, seattle is becoming a bit of a capital for the glass blowing arts. but lee's story is noteworthy not only because her work is simply gorgeous, but because of the path that brought her to it, and what inspires her to keep at it. lee has demonstrated how a single object can help others who have suffered as she has. during a seven-year battle with lung cancer, rhodes realized how much people with cancer need support. when it was all over, she turned to glassmaking and eventually created the glassybaby, which she now produces for charity. at 32, after her third child was born, rhodes was stricken with cancer. she suffered three bouts of the disease. later, in 2000, her marriage ended and she rekindled her interest in glassblowing but she also wanted to start a business to help the kind of women who had sat with her in waiting rooms or in recovery at the hospital.

the glassybaby studio in seattle's madrone distraict is in a low 5,700-square-foot warehouse, {interesting side note: this is a former black panthers stronghold with graffiti murals that are a protected landmark} and it is now a $2 million business where 26 people in rotating teams blow the colored translucent glasses with clear heavy bases seven days a week. even though the cups, candleholders and vases are made in just about every color in the spectrum, they all have the same drinking-glass shape with a heavy clear-glass bottom. until recently glassybaby has been sold only by word of mouth at private parties - much the way tupperware was once sold. now lee rhodes is taking the party on the road. she was in san francisco earlier this month to sell glassybabies in the presidio at the log cabin. it was her first attempt, since she was featured on martha stewart's fledgling home show in 2005, to spread her gospel ~ that a brand such as hers can bring people together.
also check out her impressive website where you can order glassybabies individually or in sets.

this is the kind of gift you can feel fabulous about giving any time of year. ;o)

{thanks to sfgate & the glassybaby website for the info and photos}

cozy & quiet

i hope you're enjoying your thanksgiving thoroughly ~ such a wonderful time to reflect and appreciate.
i'm staying with my family in oregon but wanted to pop on here to let you know i've disabled comments on my blog for a while. seems some folks have decided to write some pretty rude things on studio wellspring posts {things you'd never want to read, actually} so it's an unfortunate necessity until they move on.
i'll be back next week and am sending you all cozy comforting thoughts filled with gratitude.

{our thanksgiving table}

thankful for friends and family

{sharon, me & jenni}

{jessica & ilia}

thankful for clodagh

she inspired me to follow my design dreams

thankful for fosse

bob fosse is the king of jazz dance and my entire childhood's dance history was filled with his style. {thanks to teri jernigan!}
this is bob fosse and tommy rall from the 1955 movie "my sister eilleen"

food for thought

thanksgiving is less than a week away. this is my favorite holiday and i am barely able to stay in my seat with anticipation. spending time with my wonderful family, being cozy at the hearth in my parent's home, taking a hike on mary's peak where you can see the cascade mountains and the pacific ocean at the same time, watching my niece walk for the first time, listening to family & friends play music all evening, and of course eating delicious favorite dishes at all times of day and night.
i've been mulling over several ideas for how to decorate the thanksgiving table and also found a lot of inspiration from friends on flickr {as these photos show}, but this year i am going to do somethings differently. i don't know if it's the essential shambhala class i've been taking or the state of the world these days {yes, it's probably both actually} but i know at this time of gratitude for our abundance, others are suffering and have so very little. it's something i just can't ignore.

so, along with candles and acorns, this year there will be dishes intentionally left empty, so that while we give thanks for all our blessings we can also keep in mind those who are less fortunate. and there will be little envelopes with paper & mini pencils so we can write prayers and give contributions to local charities. there is an enormous imbalance of wealth in the world and it is the responsibility of those with more prosperity to recognize and assist those with less.

{a jumble of dishes representing the millions who go hungry every day found on paris parfait, from the centre pompidou by jordana shalhoub}

making do with pink

do you remember last summer when i asked for your help on what to do with my new apartment's pink bath?

i think it's high-time i updated you on the results of my disposable re-design.

i call it disposable re-design because i must return the bathroom to the exact way it looked when i moved in, seeing as it's a rental with strict landlords, so everything i did to help it out has to be removed {repainted, etc} whenever i leave.

the backsplash was a too-sticky-sweet teal & periwinkle daisy motif surrounded by pepto-pink tiles on the walls and floor. the walls were not-quite-white {different shade of white from the window trim and white tile countertops}.

and now, i've painted the walls a warm shade of mocha, and i've made a new backsplash out of old prints of italian landscape paintings. i cut them to fit and then got them laminated in one long strip. i grouted the new backsplash in with tile sealant so it looks a little more legitimate. lastly, i added a vintage white-tile-framed mirror, a vintage rug i found at the alameda antique fair {that one purchase i mentioned making last week}, and some additional decor items to adorn the space a bit more.

even though i still can't stand pink, the bathroom is more enjoyable for me now, so i lay my complaints to rest.

about last night

my first real pair of tango shoes worn at my first milonga where i danced with my first tango angel. oh my.
i didn't get home until after midnight and i dreamt intense tango dreams all night. i want to keep that feeling alive, and so i offer this:



i'll be taking lessons with them {michelle & murat erdemsel} on saturday and i cannot wait.
oh and my first private lesson with jennifer bratt is friday evening.
see i told you i was addicted,and i'm not ashamed of it in the least.
also, many many thanks to tangobaby for the kindest sweetest post ever today.

to tour neutra

a new flickr friend of mine, steven keylon, visited a richard neutra house for sale in the hollywood hills and took tons of wonderful photographs of the place. this is a rare glimpse at a home neutra designed in 1936 for journalist josef kun. and i'm so excited to share it with you.
at only about 1700 square feet, it still has a feel of 1930's mod glamour and the incredible style that's a trademark of neutra's designs. you are brought in through an airy entry pavilion, which opens onto a huge deck, with an amazing vista. the entry pavilion has a fabulous uplight, and like most of the house, has the original aluminum silver paint magnificently restored. the next level down has the living room and dining room, kitchen and laundry room. down one more level are two nice bedrooms and two bathrooms. each of these levels have very spacious wraparound decks. below this are several terraced levels of landscaped grounds.
please take a moment to experience this lovely photo tour ..... {and feel free to click on the image to enlarge}

if you're curious, more property information can be found here.

interesting side note: this house ignited the career of architectural photographer julius shulman ~ he was captivated by this house in 1936 and he took some casual snapshots of it, which somehow made their way into the hands of richard neutra. neutra was so impressed with his eye that he used shulman nearly exclusively for the rest of his career.

{thanks so much to steven keylon for permission to share all this!}

just a reminder

{great shot found on sfgate's day-in-pictures section, and great song by billy joel, just click on the photo}

rex ray for real

thought you might like to see a few images from the gallery 16 opening night of rex ray's new work and book signing.....

it was great to meet rex and see his work up close. so much detail & thought & energy goes into each piece. and his new book is eye-candy gallore.