Taped and All Packed Up

On one of my last babysitting stints of the summer, I made a duct tape cross-body pouch.
It was the color combination that initially excited me, and after 20 short minutes, I was quite pleased:

Although I wouldn't trust it to hold anything too important!

Painting 1: Dawn [夜明け]

This was my first painting. Yeah, it sucks, but I've never had painting lessons and I'm happy with my job because even now, I understand what I felt then but also see new meaning in the work.

 It was done for my dad as his Christmas present 3 years ago. It is the twin companion to the painting of the grassy prairie I made for my mother. 

You see, my mom was born in the city and always wanted to grow old in the countryside.

But my dad was born in the countryside and always wanted to live in the city (specifically, above a small bookstore where he could come downstairs on lazy Sunday mornings and relax with a magazine and coffee). 

So of course we end up in the lousy suburbs.

That's why I painted what they dreamt of in my paintings.

 I imagined the quietness of the scenery that would express the satisfaction and content my parents would feel from reaching their destinations, their homes. 

I Chase Tails

This was from while I was still in school, but on Fridays I didn't have class til noon so I always tried to dress up even though I was supposed to wear my sorority letters (whoops!). 

I paired a thrifted cropped crocheted sweater with a oversized denim collared shirt that I took from my dad before I left for school. The second picture kind of shows the collar peaking out from the sweater which was my favorite part (aside form the huge-ass denim tail). 

The wedged boots are from Simply Vera by Vera Wang (my parents swear by Kohl's). And so should I, frankly, because they were $20 and the jeans (which are also from there) were $8. 

Osenbei

It's true: the Japanese do it better. 

My dad recently went back to Japan for a research conference and brought back some classic goodies like boutique chocolates and ... osenbei (お煎餅)! Osenbei are basically assorted rice crackers made from the Japanese's detail-oriented artistic skills. 

I hadn't had these in a while so it was a real treat. The company that made them is HanairoSHION. 

There's even a list on the back of each package that tells you what each biscuit is like. It's kind of like a mini-package of Pepperidge farm cookies. Very cute.

The brown flower was my favorite. As with most Asian desserts and snacks, the flavor is subtle and delicate but doesn't go unnoticed. It's well-balanced. 

Yum!

Spotlight on Leroy Street Studio: Manhattan Home

From AD

This is beauty. It'd be an honor just to be able to step into this home. 

It is gorgeous.

Duct Tape

DUCT TAPE IS SO AWESOME. 

This clutch was something I made while babysitting. I like knowing I'm still a kid, no matter how harsh school gets. Why do harsh times make you grow up? Why does growing up make you shed kid features? I don't like these inferences we learn to make as we grow up. 

Why can't we be everything? I want to grow up to be a responsible kid, or something like that.

Fruity Tooty

It's weird eating fresh vegetables and fruit. Too many days in college dorm cafeterias. 

The clay bowl was made by my sister in her middle school art class. She tried to make it resemble Grecian pottery. 

My mom picked plums from our backyard to make into prunes.

Can't take credit for growing these cherries on our own, but they were delicious!