Airbus A380: Luxury Travel - Compare Cabin Designs

Compare the Cabin Designs of the New A380 between Emirates Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Air France and Qantas in this LA Times Article.

Holiday Decorations: The Aluminum Christmas Tree and My eBay Remorse!

Here's a Link for this Cool Book "Seasons Gleamings the Art of the The Aluminum Christmas Tree"

The story is this. Gregg and I live in a Modernist House in Montecito, Ca. We have decorated this home with all collectable modernist furnishings and art from galleries ranging from Paris, New York,  Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Palm Springs,  and Santa Barbara. All of the furniture is collectable mid-century modern furniture. Sooo, I got a bug this year to get a vintage "Silver" christmas tree with rotating color wheel et all. Honestly, because I really don't have the energy or vibe to decorate a 10' tree this year, plus I'm a Mad Men freak which is spilling over into my design cravings. I go to check it out on ebay and sure enough some gal had just bought a vintage aluminum tree with a real authentic color wheel from 1960, it was in perfect condition. She stated in comments on ebay that she had purchased it earlier that day at an estate sale (garage sale) somewhere in Ohio. She was selling it on ebay because her husband was harassing her about it so she was willing to to "give it away" for $250.00, just to shut her husband up. She stated it was too late for her to list it with the BUY IT NOW option. I bit her bate and put in a bid just below $250. There was only 20 minutes left the auction, so I brought my laptop to the dinner table.....big mistake. Evidently the bidding was non-existent until I put a bid in, needless to say, while I ate a beautifully prepared, um, whatever it was, with my nose in the bidding war that ensued, I turned to Gregg, who had the made the beautiful prepared dinner, whatever it was, as asked him if I should go over $425...he said I should do is just go away. It sold for $423 and not to me. This was a total cart before the horse scenario for me, I was into buying this on instinct based on this gals story (which I totally believed) and my instinct that this color wheel was rare. Subsequently I have done a bunch more research and boy, were my instincts correct. I'm sure some hipster in Palm Springs is going to be very  happy with his Gleaming Pink, Blue and Green Tree!

Designer Garage - Cyber Monday Gift Ideas for the Car Guy/Gal

We designed this garage for the person who likes to tinker with toys with motors. This garage also happens to be designed with special outlets for catering companies who will basically install a kitchen in the Garage for large catered parties, thus the restaurant sink. I found the flooring and Cabinets at an web order based company in Chicago called Car Guy Garage. This company has fantastic gift ideas for people into cars. The sink and sprayer are from a commercial restaurant kitchen supplier.  This is a great resource and a very cool site. 

Also Check out this link to Great Books on Ultimate Garages! 

I know it sounds dorky, but it is really hip.

Wine To Water: CNN HEROS: Put A Bow On Your Donation

When watching the special CNN HEROS and Bar Tender Doc Hendley received  an award for his work in creating Wine To Water where 100% of donations from wine tastings go directly for water projects in developing countries. It occurred to me what a great gift it would be to donate to this great organization in the name of a friend or  loved one instead of that foil wrapped bottle of wine. Put a Bow on your receipt from the DONATE link on WinetoWater.org website.

Our mission is to provide clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene education to those in need around the world.

As donations for water projects are received, Wine for Wells partners with carefully selected in-country agencies to implement water projects. Only agencies with an exceptional track record of successful project implementation are utilized. 100% of public donations are given directly to water projects.

As part of its fundraising efforts, Wine for Wells works with partners in the wine industry to garner support for water projects. If your wine-related business would like more information on becoming a Wine for Wells partner, please contact us.


It was great to see Julia Louis-Dreyfus introduce Doc Hendley at the CNN HEROS Awards as she is such a good supporter of Heal The Ocean here in Santa Barbara. 
See previous Post...."Heal the Ocean Benefit in Montecito, CA."

                                                  

Use Apple iPhoto or Blurb.com to Make a Great Gift!

Making a photo journalistic book of an experience that you shared with your family and friends can make a wonderful surprise gift, especially, if you can create something beautiful that will become a "coffee table" book, at least for a while. A photographer friend of ours turned us on a the idea of personal publishing a couple of years ago. Mostly we have used Apple's iphoto, to create and order the books we make. Currently though, we are using a platform created by Blurb.com, BookSmart. I'm loving the flexibility of this platform  as it allows me to customize any template or create my own. The book we are creating now is unique in that we have taken the photographs taken by our two good friends, their teenage and adult children as well as another couple, nine in all, and are creating a photographic journal of an Alaskan Adventure we all went on together. We are using a selection of EVERYONE'S photographs that were uploaded to the same website. This way everyone on the trip will feel like they participated in the creation of the book. 

We're trying to decide between these to photos for the Cover of the Book. Both evoke the spirit  of the unique adventure we experienced with our good friends. A quiet awesomeness.

Gregg and I have published a number of books via "on demand publishing" (for the general public) platforms.  We have done this mostly for marketing purposes for our real estate projects. On demand publishing allows us to select photographs that best describe our projects and provides us with a well designed  format to describe the projects and present them in a compelling and beautiful manner. If you haven't tried this type of presentation for your creative endeavors, give it go. It's a terrific outlet especially if you have an aptitude for creating visually beautiful compositions. 

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Ruby's Sweet Potato Recipe with Ginger Pineapple and Walnuts

This is my Grandma Ruby's fantastic recipe. I have been making this recipe ever since Ruby taught me "a long time ago", it is always requested at the holidays, and is always a hit with new friends holiday when brought to their parties. It also re-heats beautifully for leftovers.

Sweet Potatoes with Ginger, Pineapple and Walnuts:

This recipe serves about 10

10 Large Sweet Potatoes Baked at 375 for 1 1/2 hours then cooled, peeled and put in mixing Bowl.

Or, 3 - 14 oz cans of Sweet Potatoes or Yams, Open, toss into a mixing bowl.

Toss the rest of these ingredients into the mixer on top of the mashed up sweet potatoes:

1 raw egg

3/4 cup melted butter

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/3 cup fresh orange juice

1  cup crushed pineapple

2/3 cup chopped walnuts

1 tsp ginger spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup rum

Mix vigorously in a Kitchenaid Mixer on medium for 1 minute. 

Butter a casserole dish and bake in a preheated oven to 350 for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle chopped walnuts on top of the casserole.


Technorati Verification Code : 7MYTCFVZ5TZ7


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Lisa See: Shanghai Girls,an Historical Novel about Life in China - Put it on a Kindle

Conjuring images of luxury, beauty, design and style then tempered by suffering, ugliness, triumph, then ultimately, reality. In a timeless, fascinating read that illuminates so much hidden history in a such a short time. Fundamentally this is a story about Sisters and Family.  This New York Times best seller is a perfect gift for the holidays, Hardcover, Mp3 download or for Kindle. Here's a link to the Amazon Kindle Edition.

One of those books you cant put down, Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, is a very insightful and at times educational read about the phenomenon in Shanghai in the 1930’s.  Set against the backdrop of ‘Paris of the East’ as the Japanese invaded and took control of the region in the 1930’s.  The life of the Shanghainese was likened to those of Paris at the time.  Glamour, style, design and cuisine were key elements to the life in the City at the time.  Lisa See in Shanghai Girls paints the canvas of the beautiful daughters of a successful merchant, whose greatest worry is where to be on a weekend night and what to wear.  These girls were a phenomenon at the time, and LeRoy Shields Orchestra created an international hit in 1930 called ‘Sing Song Girls’ based upon these beauties and the international sensation it created in Shanghai at the time.

The Vintage Shanghai photos on this YouTube Video are terrific!

But as the City falls, and as the Second World War progresses,  the girls are married off to American Chinese and are eventually shipped to Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, where many immigrants landed at the time.  Their families are killed off and they are alone.  Alone with no money in a time when women, particularly Chinese women were only property. Ultimately ending up in Chinatown in Los Angeles at the time of the growth of the film industry in the 1940’s, the ancient Chinese protocol and culture clash with the reality of the times and the two great beauties of Shanghai, whose world is blown up and they must make their way as working class girls.

 How appropriate that given Chinas growth and stature as a nation, that this tale told of the superficiality and shallowness of a pair of sisters who dwell upon appearance and material gain are stripped of everything and are left with only their will and determination.  Set in a post war California backdrop, cast with a poorly educated American populace, these two Shanghai girls forge their way in an intolerant society and illustrate the challenges of women in general, and particularly immigrant women with no education…..how appropriate parallels can be drawn to our current times, of a multinational country foraging for a place in the world society.

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