Archive for the 'traveling' Category

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NEW YORK CITY : SOUVENIRS

Published on April 1, 2010 in accoutrement, textiles and traveling. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Vintage earrings from Erie Basin

I was surprisingly restrained with my retail spending on this trip. Usually I view a trip to New York as a ‘free pass’ to spend like crazy. I tried really hard to find a new pair of jeans, but nothing was quite right. I very rarely get out these days to go shopping, and even still I just found myself making mental notes for ideas I wanted to try making for myself.

When we were at Erie Basin, Andrew saw this pair of vintage earrings that caught his eye. He had me try them on and we both loved them, so he gave them to me as a gift! Just looking at these earrings makes me imagine all kinds of wonderful stories of where they have been.

I bought a Mango Butter soap from Saipua. I can’t wait for my current soap to run out!

I finally bought a ‘Found My Animal‘ leash for Maisy. I almost bought one on our last trip to New York, but didn’t. Then I saw this photo on the Sartorialist – it kinda looks like me and Maisy. (Now I just need to make a cute blue layered dress) I was so happy to find that they had them at Smith & Butler. The concept behind Found My Animal is really great. They are trying to raise awareness and money for adopting animals. Each accessory they make is numbered to indicate how many animals have been helped by their products.

I bought a stack of Fine & Raw chocolate bars as gifts. (and a couple for myself) I love their packaging and couldn’t resist the one with the Fafi artwork. (I LOVE her) That bar has dried wild blueberries in it – YUM.

The last morning we were there I went on a solo mission to B&J Fabric. When I want a little ‘fix’ of NYC fabric shopping, B&J is my best bet. It’s so well lit, organized and not too big. I’ve really been liking checks, gingham and plaids recently. The navy blue fabric is linen with gold thread detail. I imagine this future dress will have a cute yoke or perhaps bib front. The purple and grey plaid is cotton shirting and I’m not sure just yet what that will turn into. Hopefully I’ll be showing you real soon!

Mango Butter soap from Saipua

Found My Animal Leash

Found My Animal Leash

Fine & Raw chocolate bars

Fabric from B&J Fabrics

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NEW YORK CITY : BROOKLYN

Published on March 31, 2010 in delicious and traveling. 6 Comments Tags: , , , .

Saipua in Red Hook

Brooklyn is such a vast place and perfect for exploring.

On the first day of our trip we went out to Williamsburg. Mostly we walked around in awe at all the development that is going on. There are so many well-designed, beautiful condo buildings being built. I really couldn’t believe how much it’s changed since the last time I was there.

On Sunday, I convinced Andrew to head out to Red Hook to visit the flower shop, Saipua. Red Hook is an area that is still fairly untouched. Yes, there is an Ikea there, but it is not the easiest place to get to by transit. We took the subway into Brooklyn, but ended up taking a cab the rest of the way. The cab dropped us off on Van Dyke street which is very industrial, but also close to the water. One of the first things we saw was a sign for ‘key lime pie’. I couldn’t believe we happened upon a place that specialized in one of my favourite pies out in the far reaches of Red Hook. Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies are delicious, by the way. We got a couple mini tarts and ate them with some limeade out by the water.

Our next stop was Saipua. It’s tiny. Even smaller than I imagined, even smaller than Purl Soho. But, it’s beautiful and I bought myself some of their handmade soap. They have a darling shop dog too which made me miss Maisy.

Just around the corner on Van Brunt is another little pocket of small shops and restaurants. I was delighted to find the both Erie Basin and Baked were among them.

From here we actually walked all the way to Cobble Hill to check out Smith Street. Smith Street is a great place to visit in Brooklyn which is quite full of lovely shops and restaurants. We were getting quite tired and the shops were about to close, but we managed to make it to Smith & Butler which was another awesome surprise discovery.

Yeah Brooklyn! Can’t wait to get back to explore more.

Little Key Lime Pie

Erie Basin

Red Hook

Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies
718.858.5333
204 Van Dyke Street
Key lime pies in all sizes. A delicious way to start your Red Hook adventure – eating key lime pie by the waterfront.

Saipua
718.624.2929
147 Van Dyke Street
I’ve admired Saipua from afar, so was excited to see this tiny shop in person. I would love to go to their ‘flower school’.

Erie Basin
718.554.6147
388 Van Brunt Street
Beautifully selected vintage items.

Baked
718.222.0345
359 Van Brunt Street
I didn’t realize this famous bakery was in Red Hook. I was full of key lime pie, so didn’t try their baked goods. Next time!

Cobble Hill

Dear Fieldbinder,
718.852.3620
198 Smith Street

Smith + Butler
917.977.1847
225 Smith Street
This shop was awesome. It had a little bit of all this things I like.

La Casita
718.963.0369
253 Smith Street
Cute little yarn shop & cafe.

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NEW YORK CITY : DOWNTOWN

Published on March 31, 2010 in delicious and traveling. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , .

Freeman's

Saturday morning of our trip to New York, we headed over to Freeman’s Restaurant. The restaurant is located at the end of an alley and it’s one of the most charming places I’ve been to in a long time. There were all kinds of wonderful taxidermy hanging from the wall, including a flying goose and even a bee’s nest. I noticed they had cinnamon lemonade on the menu and had to order it. It was so delicious and unexpected. In fact, right now our house smells like cinnamon because I’m making some cinnamon simple syrup to recreate this delicious drink. I’ll be buying lots of lemons this summer. Our brunch was great, so great in fact that we decided to head back their the next day for brunch with my former boss, Margaret. We got to try even more things off their menu and I enjoyed a few more glasses of cinnamon lemonade.

Our downtown travels also took us to Babycakes who make wheat, gluten, dairy, egg and soy-free baked goods. A cupcake never felt so healthy and it tasted great.

I also love to stop by The Market on Mulberry on the weekend. I always discover something new there. This time it was Fine & Raw chocolate. I loved their packaging and picked up a stack of chocolate bars for gifts.

We stopped by Purl Soho to visit their tiny Sullivan Street location for the last time. They are moving to big and fancy digs on Broome Street in April. I’m excited to see what it will be like.

Baby Cakes

Purl Soho

Soho

BDDW
212.625.1230
5 Crosby Street
They don’t allow photos in the shop, but this is some of the finest furniture craftsmanship that I’ve ever seen. It’s an old favourite and I always feel so inspired from being in their space.

Dunderdon
212.226.4040
25 Howard Street
Men’s and women’s clothing shop from Sweden. I hadn’t been in this shop before and I loved their aesthetic.

Opening Ceremony
212.219.2688
35 Howard Street
I’ve known them since they first opened and it’s amazing to see how the shop has grown. Filled to the brim with all kinds of design.

Lower East Side

Freemans
212.420.0012
End of Freemans Alley, Rivington between The Bowery and Chrystie
Next time I want to go for dinner. If I lived in New York, I fear I would never want to eat anywhere else.

Freemans Sporting Club
212.673.3209
8 Rivington, East Store Front
An extension of Freeman’s Restaurant, all their clothing is made in Brooklyn. There is a barber shop in the back when guys get a traditional shave!

Save Khaki
212.614.7283
254 Broome Street
Great casual men’s clothing.

Baby Cakes
212.677.5047
248 Broome Street
Delicious vegan bakery. Truly.

Kaight
212.680.5630
83 Orchard Street
A shop for the ladies. I bought the most incredible lip balms here.

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365 : 80

Published on March 27, 2010 in 365 and traveling. 2 Comments Tags: , .

365 : 80

March 21, 2010 of 365 : entrance to the jay st/burrough hall subway entrance, nyc

I had never seen a subway sign like this before in New York. Even the peeling ceiling seems so beautiful.

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NEW YORK CITY : WEST SIDE

Published on March 26, 2010 in delicious and traveling. 4 Comments Tags: , , .

View from our room

Okay, here we go! The first installment of our trip to New York last weekend. I decided to organize my NYC photos by location. This way if you’re wanting to check out any of these places, you’ll know what area they are in. We flew Porter airlines, which is just a lovely way to get to New York. I even enjoy the train ride through New Jersey to get to the city.

We stayed at The Standard hotel in the Meatpacking District. We chose it primarily for the location. It’s incredibly convenient to where we like to shop and eat and very close to the subways. The hotel room was great, small but really the perfect size with a seating area, as well. The floor to ceiling windows with views of the Empire State building were definitely very exciting. The downside was that the hotel is now the centre of major tourist and social activity. It was a zoo in the area on the weekend and we had some ‘loud party people’ as neighbours. Also, we ran out of hot water in the shower a couple times and had to ask to switch rooms. They handled this situation poorly and while there were other great things about the hotel, we won’t be staying there again. C’mon people, hot water is not optional!

The hotel stands right above The Highline, that has re-purposed the old elevated train tracks into the most incredible outdoor space. All weekend long, I looked down onto The Highline from our room. It wasn’t until the last day that we ventured up there on foot and it was pouring rain. Even still, we were amazed by how beautiful every detail is appointed. When it is completed, The Highline will extend twenty blocks. I recommend it as a must-see if you visit New York, it is so inspiring. Unfortunately, my camera battery died the last morning and I didn’t get a single photo! Oh well, next time I’ll be sure to document it.

We did a lot of eating in the area. So much great food to be had. Particular highlights were the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Truck. Artisan ice cream in a truck that travels around the city? Brilliant AND delicious. An old classic is Tortilla Flats, that offers Margaritas with 10 different varieties of Tequila, great Tex-Mex food and a super fun atmosphere. We also made sure to check out The Spotted Pig for lunch on our last day and I’ve already tried to re-create the lunch I had, it was so good. I want to go back again, as there were other things on the menu I really wanted to try.

I created a little slideshow for you, if you want to see all the photos from this area.

Oh yeah, the weather was 24 degrees Celsius over the weekend. It was like summer and we were worried about getting sun burned! We definitely felt like the universe conspired to give us some extraordinary weather for our well deserved getaway.

Frisée aux lardons

Matsuri

Tortilla Flats

Meatpacking District

The Highline
Starts at Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues.

Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream
Trucks travel around the city, check their >twitter for daily locations.

The Earnest Sewn
212.242.3414
821 Washington Street

Pastis
212.929.4144
9 Ninth Avenue

Fresh
917.408.1850
388 Bleecker Street

Matsuri
212.243.6400
369 West 16th Street (in the Maritime Hotel)

Tortilla Flats
212.243.1053
767 Washington Street

The Spotted Pig
212.620.0393
314 West 11th Street

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365 : 79

Published on March 25, 2010 in 365 and traveling. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

365 : 79

March 20, 2010 of 365 : yarn covered bicycle in the lower east side, nyc

We didn’t check out any art galleries during our trip to New York this time, but luckily the cityscape provides lots of inspired art pieces. This bicycle was definitely a bright spot in my day. Incredible.

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365 : 78

Published on March 24, 2010 in 365, delicious and traveling. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , .

365 : 78

March 19, 2010 of 365 : mosaic tile floor + green repettos at pastis, nyc

Our first stop after landing in New York was a quick bite to eat at Pastis in the Meatpacking District. I heart French Bistro.

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QUILT MARKET : PART TWO

Published on October 23, 2009 in patchwork, stitchery, textiles, the workroom and traveling. 11 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Fig Tree

Okay, so the majority of my trip to Quilt Market was actually spent wandering around in a bit of a daze surrounded by ridiculous amounts of fabric and more quilts that you can ever imagine. Whoa. For someone who loves textiles, it’s definitely sensory overload.

Let me start by explaining exactly what Quilt Market is. It’s a huge trade show for the quilting industry that happens twice a year. The fall show is in Houston Texas, while the spring show moves around from city to city. The spring 2010 show will be in Minneapolis. The first part of quilt market is to the ‘trade only’ and all the fabric manufacturers, designers and distributers have booths where they show off all their new collections. The booths are usually filled with quilts, accessories and clothing made up from the fabrics and you can sit down and look through all the collections and place orders for your shop. Sewing machines, notions, quilt patterns, books and magazines are also represented. You would not believe all the sewing gadgets, accessories, and even lotions and potions that are represented. I was surprised to see several vintage dealers who sold fabrics, quilts and even buttons and jewellry. I treated myself to a sweet pink vintage feedsack and a few yards of an old orange floral fabric.

Snow Fantasy

There is also a Quilt Festival that happens right after Quilt Market and this is open to the public. There is a huge exhibit of vintage quilts, along with quilts that have been entered into competition. The lighting was pretty awful in the convention centre and especially in the exhibit, but I tried to get photos of my favourites. It’s fascinating to see all the different types of techniques that are used in these modern quilts, including all kinds of hand painting, beading and photo transfers.

Heather Bailey

Since I was hanging out with the Soak gals, I got to tag along to their meetings with some of the designers. I got to meet (and secretly gawk at) Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, Heather Bailey, Joanne Figuerora, and Sandi Henderson. Each of these talented ladies were so incredibly sweet and I was just blown away with the new amazing collections and patterns they have come up with. You can be sure to find lots of their new stuff coming to the workroom a.s.a.p. I was especially charmed by Anna Maria Horner’s new line of flannels for kids – FINALLY, flannel prints that are modern and not too cutesy. Heather Bailey won for best booth design at the show and it was well deserved. I loved her wallpaper, clothes line and she even had real sod laid out. Check out her cute new patterns – Henrietta turtle and Claira & Clancy pig dolls. I can’t wait to get them in the shop.

There were so many independent quilt pattern designers at the show, but the one that stood out for me was Carolina Patchworks. In particular her Another Brick in the Wall and Golden Waves seemed like super fun quilts to make. I picked up four of her patterns for the shop and can’t wait to try them out.

stack of puti de pome prints

I told you before I left that I had two missions – Japanese fabric and felt. Sadly I didn’t discover a good source for felt, but I hit many home runs on Japanese fabrics! I made great new contacts and ordered some unbelievably awesome Japanese prints. I was so excited about them that I completely forgot to take photographs of them, but this way you’ll be surprised and delighted when they arrive.

I do have a sneak peak for you of my favourite find – Puti de Pome. I ordered quite a few of these prints including this sweet map fabric, these cars and this border print. Of course, I also ordered some of the new echino line. I tried not to go overboard, but it was really hard.

To sum up all that – great food (not counting the convention centre food), quilt mania, inspiring designers and new fabrics and lots of J-A-P-A-N-E-S-E cuteness on the way!!

Check out part two of my slide show…

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QUILT MARKET : PART ONE

Published on October 19, 2009 in delicious, the workroom and traveling. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Perfect Bunny in Cincinnati

I was super lucky last weekend to tag along to Quilt Market in Houston Texas with Jacqueline and Chris from Soak. (Guess which cute bunny tagged along with me!) I’ve been curious to check out this huge trade show and quilt festival since I opened the workroom.

Funny thing is, this first post has nothing to do with the fabric or the quilts!

We left insanely early on Friday morning to catch a 6am flight. We had a stop over in Cincinnati and then got detoured to Austin because of bad weather. I actually really wanted to go to Austin, but all I got to see this time was the rainy tarmac from the open door of our tiny aircraft as we got extra fuel to make it to Houston.

I’ve never been to Texas and I was hoping for warm weather, but it was cold and rainy the whole time. I had packed my bathing suit for the trip, but didn’t even make it up to see the rooftop pool at our hotel.

One of the tricky things with traveling is finding good local food. I’ll admit that I didn’t do any research on Houston before the trip, so I certainly wasn’t prepared with any suggestions. By some chance, both Jacqueline and I spotted a cute looking restaurant outside the downtown core on a cab ride back to the hotel Friday night. I had the good sense to write down the name, T’afia, so that we could check it out online later.

Saturday night was the famous Moda dinner party. We had originally planned on going to this free dinner. After a bit of thought we made the best decision of the trip and made a reservation at T’afia instead.

Beet Brownie with Honey Comb & Blue Cheese

If you ever go to Houston, you must visit T’afia. T’Afia is owned by Monica Pope and the focus is all local. Every Saturday morning they host a farmers market in their parking lot and develop their menus based on what’s available. It was one of the best meals that I can ever remember having. Absolutely everything we had from start to finish was delightful, including the service. It was so good that we wanted to return on Sunday night so that we could keep eating through the menu. I wanted to try EVERYTHING. Sadly, they are closed both Sundays and Mondays.

I’m listing what I had for dinner because I really don’t want to forget it.

  • Medjool dates stuffed with chorizo, wrapped in bacon
  • Butter lettuce, radicchio & cucumbers, pinenut, goat cheese, sherry walnut vinaigrette
  • Yaokum Co. flat iron steak, roasted sweet potatoes, miso sauce
  • Texas cheese selection: veldhuizen bosque blue & gruyere and paula’s hoja santa with house crackers and panforte
  • Beet brownie with honeycomb and blue cheese
  • Inwood Estates Tempranillo/Cabernet Sauvignon

Before we left, we coerced our kind waiter at T’afia to give us a list of his recommended restaurants for our Sunday night dinner. We picked a Texas BBQ joint, Beaver’s. When we met up with Heather Bailey and her husband Isaac during the day, we invited them to have dinner with us. They brought along their friends Joey and Jona of Fabritopia. My mind is a blur of what we talked about during dinner but it was super fun and filled with laughs. Heather and I both tackled the ‘Pit boss Chickwhich’ sandwich for dinner (All-natural smoked shredded chicken made sloppy with “Ring of Fire” BBQ sauce, a fried egg, crispy cornmeal onions, cole slaw and pickle) and for dessert we all shared Candied Bacon Ice Cream, Brown Butter Ice Cream and Brownie Balls (Fried brownies, peanut butter and vanilla ice cream).

I have to tell you, I would go back to Quilt Market again just for all this delicious food. That’s not to say the fabrics were not amazing. They were! The next post is all about the fabric. Check out the first slide show of my trip…

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PARIS : LES PUCES

Published on June 30, 2009 in traveling and vintage. 7 Comments Tags: , , .

This is the last time I’m going to mention pickpocketing, I promise. Since Les Puces flea market was the scene of my pickpocketing experience many years ago, I have to talk about it one last time. I had just emerged from the Metro with my friend, Elise, into the crowded street when a guy brushed past us and ashed his cigarette onto my coat. He proceeded to apologize in french (Je suis désolé) over and over while brushing the ‘ash’ away. Needless to say when I turned around, my bag was open and my wallet was gone. I did not get to see the flea market that day, instead I visited a Paris police station.

I was nervous to visit again, but definitely felt very prepared with my impenetrable Paris tote and a ‘don’t mess with me’ face. Once we got through the crowded section of discount running shoes and knock off handbags and into the antique section, the atmosphere was instantly less tense and very charming. The market is almost like a shanty town in some parts with eccentric vendors selling all sorts of bric-a-brack and collectibles. Interestingly, we didn’t buy anything but just enjoyed all the eye candy. Besides, our favourite things seemed to be anything large, metal and over 100 pounds.

Les Puces de Saint-Ouen – Porte de Clignancourt Metro station

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