Window Shopping the Reimagined

I still haven't recovered financially from the trip overseas and the holiday season, so buying much beyond my weekly groceries and gasoline is out of question for the moment, but that's no reason not to keep looking at beautiful things. At the top of my current list of fantasy items are all things that have fun with design:

This Mandy Coon bunny bag evokes the Velveteen Bunny of my girlhood memories, acts as a belt (so much smarter than an annoying, easy to lose clutch), and is basically right up my cutesy alley. I would pretend that the velvet, tweed-like fabric makes it sophisticated, but the truth is that I don't care if by carrying it I'd look like an overgrown toddler carrying her stuffed bunny. 

Rachell Sumpter is an artist I've followed for years. I love her paintings, which often feature the Pacific Northwest and its native inhabitants reinterpreted with modern day touches (think gals in knee high socks and fringed hair spear fishing and riding polar bears), and love this just released kaleidoscopic natural spiderweb. At just $25 from Tiny Showcase, it's an easy way to add color and vibrancy to an empty space.

Who says bookends have to be boring or stuffy? These Artori ones are downright hilarious and would make any bookshelf a little more dynamic. 

I'd seen this Dannijo necklace floating around the interwebs for a while and felt sort of indifferent to it, but when I recently saw a woman wearing the collar at Anthropologie, I swear, it looked a-frickin-mazing in person. She wore it with a little plain grey t-shirt and looked like a million bucks. All for the price of about $300...sigh. Oh well. 

Katsuno

For Christmas Mark's brother and fiance generously got everyone in the family tickets to see Wicked together at the Pantages Theatre. Beforehand we all met at Katsuya for dinner; I was pumped because having been designed by Philippe Starck, it had on my ever-expanding list of restaurants to someday make it to but with little expectation that I ever would get around to it. I should have known from the moment I couldn't figure out how the hell to open the door that I am not cool enough for this place, however. That's okay though, because it's really not cool enough for itself either. The waiter subscribed to the used car salesman mantra of upselling, the decor was (with the exception of the bathroom, of all things) a bit of a letdown, and while I enjoyed my food, it was neither spectacular or particularly memorable. Still, there were some highlights:

At the entrance to the restaurant and bar. 

A rainbow of color on the bar.

One of the house specialties, spicy tuna on crispy rice was like tuna on a hash brown. Not amazing, but satisfying.

The Dragon cocktail, which combined vodka and ginger with yuzu. After trying yuzu juice in Japan, I'll order anything with it! This was tasty. 

The mirrored bathrooms meant endless Ayelets. 

I just love the lip print on this DKNY dress Mark got me for Christmas! 

One-Eyed Gypsy

This time of year is heavenly for me not only because of the holidays (yes, I am one of those people) but because Mark is on a sporadic vacation from work that means we not only get to go on getaways but actually get to go out on little dates together on the weekend. Hurrah-me out on a Friday night with my boyfriend, not at his place of employment! It was, therefore, the perfect chance to check out One-Eyed Gypsy, a newish bar Downtown where Bordello Bar used to be and one that is not open on any of his regular nights off. Owned by the people who opened Villains Tavern, I was hoping for something spectacular. I mean, it's got a weird gypsy/carnival theme, offers free skee ball, and has a photobooth. It would either have to serve me ether alcohol that made me go blind or support cruelty to animals for me not to like the place. It ended up being a distinctly Downtown type of dive bar, which is to say that it was cool and not full of pretentious peeps, but also wasn't quite so mindblowingly unique. The decor was a slightly hodgepodge assortment of carnival and mystical Eastern gypsy theme that could have used some clarity, but they have live music nightly and strong drinks so it's definitely on my list of worthwhile Downtown hangouts, which includes the Down and Out and Bar 107, if you're wondering.

 This taxidermy yak greets people at the bar's entrance.

 Carnival themed food makes up the menu here. Love the idea of sweet potato tater tots!

This band was pretty sweet. Yes, that's an accordion and it was actually awesome to see a band use it as an integral part of their sound. 

2012 Begins

Happy New Year, y'all! Here's to hoping for fun, excitement, and positive changes in 2012. Here's a look at how I kicked off the festivities-tying the ends of a million balloons. Now it's time for my once yearly pizza binge to ward off this hangover...