Centerfold

My fashion designer cousin, Margeaux, got an Allure centerfold: Victoria Freaking Beckham!!!!! for August's issue. I finally found a photo link since I couldn't buy the back issue. Hello, bigtime! Get it, girl!

Buy her stuff now. Margarita Saplala

Winners and Losers

Lots of cool stuff to post today. For one, Lani went to the Frida Kahlo exhibit today with our friend A. after our fantastic brunch at Slanted Door with friends J., J., and M. Let's talk first about the insane trio of desserts we had at Slanted Door: Cardamom rice pudding with Bronx grapes, Ruby port poached figs with hazelnuts and spicy chocolate, and last, but DEFINITELY not least...Chilled Ella Bella Farm cherry tomatoes with buttermilk sorbet and mint. O.M.GAWD. Really, I have never been so delightfully surprised by a dessert before. Served in a pool of vanilla-infused simple syrup with the buttermilk sorbet and mint, the tomatoes redefined themselves as a most sublime fruit. The sorbet was subtle, the mint was perfectly paired...I...I can't even. Think for a moment about what you might surmise this dish to taste like, then erase it. The thing was crisp, suprising, subtle, powerful, eye-opening. It's why food snobbery exists. Ha! M. is going to try to recreate this, and I'll hopefully post the recipe sometime soon. Uh-mahh-zing.

Back to Frida Kahlo, Lani had also bought me some gifts from the MOMA store--apparently Rex Ray is the first featured in a new Artists' Series product line for MOMA. I couldn't be more delighted. I've always loved his work from the beginning of his career (paper collages, resin panels) before all the licensing. I feel almost territorial about him, for example I don't want his designs to become mere apartment therapy motifs (see the ubiquitous Warhol), but I support his success. I'm so pleased that he was chosen for this new series. Lani got me a large notebook and a postcard wooden panel with one of his designs. NICE! Thanks!!


In other news, Barry McGee's alter ego, Lydia Fong, is exhibiting at Ratio 3, a gallery in the Mission. The exhibition will be up until mid-October.

Lastly, I unfortunately missed a Bay area showing of the doc Beautiful Losers, featuring artists Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen, Geoff McFettridge, et al. Some of the greats from our own "Mission School". Can't wait for wide release, and even better, a DVD release. Good stuff.

New York's finest

Just came back from a long weekend out yonder, and among the MANY fabulous experiences that were had (not least of which was the US Open, for which I am reserving comment until all finals matches have concluded), some design-centered ones remained top-of-mind. We wandered into Fishs Eddy, a dining/kitchenwares store, and came upon a selection of fantastic glassware and servingware. Peep these:

Ceramic Trays, bowls, cups, and mugs in notebook and graph paper rules. Pale green, blue, cream, and white. YES. Wrap that shit up, now. Just in time for school to start!


Carnival-themed melamine in orange and white.

Floor-plan dinnerware. The bigger the piece, the more square footage. :)