Monday, June 28, 2010

Polaroids from Los Angeles

I've scanned some more polaroids, this batch are from Los Angeles. Enjoy!

Also, I want to mention that the lovely Alison over at And the flowers pick themselves interviewed me last week. I am so touched by her interest in my work. Read the interview here. Thank you Alison!

Downtown LA

Malo fun

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Something nice about this building

Casa Vega for dinner (and cocktails)


All polaroids taken by me on expired 600 film and a Polaroid Close Up camera in Los Angeles, California in May 2010.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Polaroids from Portland

North Portland

poppies

bad angle

Food to Go

North Portland

North Portland

North Portland

North Portland

North Portland

North Portland

North Portland

All polaroids taken by me on expired 600 film and a Polaroid Close Up camera in Portland, Oregon in May 2010.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Poppytalk Handmade

If you have a spare minute or two, have a look at the 'Here Comes the Sun' market at Poppytalk Handmade, including my table which you can see here.

There's some lovely summery things in this edition of the market. Here are a few of my picks.











Tuesday, June 8, 2010

My Portland Top Five

I love top fives. On my last day in the USA, waiting for a flight at San Francisco Airport, I quickly jotted down a top five of my favourite Portland things to do, and looking at it again today I stand by my choices.

Portland Top 5 (in no particular order)

1. Movies at Laurelhurst Theatre: This movie theatre serves cheap pizza slices, jugs of locally brewed beer and cider, popcorn and candy and the movies only cost $3. In addition to that, tickets are purchased from a little booth out the front of the Laurelhurst like in American TV shows, which was a little bit exciting for me. Plus once you get into the cinema with your beer and pizza, you will find tables for putting your beer on, and plenty of legroom to stretch out. A movie here is the perfect way to spend a rainy Portland afternoon.

2. Cherry pie from Random Order Coffeehouse: We randomly chose Random Order for breakfast on our first day in Portland because it was near our house and it had lots of people inside. The cafe is warm and inviting, and has two glass cabinets full of pies made from locally grown fruit. Cherry pie, caramel apple pie, banana cream pie, strawberry rhubarb pie. So many pies. The cherry pie was my pick because it's what Dale Cooper eats in Twin Peaks. The pie pastry is flaky and buttery and firm and the cherry filling is the perfect amount of sweet and sour. The coffee at Random Order is fairly good, and you can get a banana, peanut butter and cinnamon toasted sandwich which is amazing too.

3. Vintage shopping on SE Hawthorne: This street has about four or five truly massive vintage clothing stores, and all of them are pretty awesome. I bought some great jackets on Hawthorne while I was there. Buffalo Exchange was my pick of the bunch, because the staff are exceptionally friendly and the stock includes some pretty decent labels selling at good prices. This street is great for shopping, there is also a lovely shop selling locally made crafts, jewellery, cards, art prints, shirts and more. I can't remember the name though! And I recommend taking a break at mexican cantina Cha Cha Cha for a happy hour pina colada or margarita.

4. Grocery Shopping at New Seasons: Grocery shopping in America is amazing because of the range, the different brands, the variety of grossly sugar laden treats, the beauty of the fruit and vegetable sections. But at New Seasons Market, you also get the biggest vegetarian faux meat product section I have ever seen, the most delicious looking salad bar, and a machine that makes freshly crushed peanut butter for you to take away in a jar. I spent hours in there just looking at food and thinking about food and buying food. Lets face it, new food is probably what makes travelling so much fun. As an added bonus, it seems all the lesbians in N Portland shop there so it's fun people watching too. Oh, and a girl who works at New Seasons recognised us when we were out at a queer night which just cracks me up.

5. Mexican at Laughing Planet: We ate Mexican food (burritos for me, tacos for Kristen) nearly every day we were in America. It's everywhere, it's cheap, it's fresh, healthy and flavoursome. We didn't discrimate in where we ate - we had burritos from everywhere: old family restaurants, authentic taquerias, fast food stores and out of taco trucks. Everywhere has a pretty similar (and yum) take on the vegetarian burrito which is the core ingredients of black beans, salsa and rice. I guess that's why the ingredients in the Southwestern Green Chili burrito at Laughing Planet just blew my mind. And those ingredients are: black beans, mild green chiles, local sweet corn, Tillamook jack cheese, organic brown rice and pico de gallo. Upgraded to a deluxe burrito you also get sour cream and guacamole wrapped up in there. And the salsa verde is a must. The addition of sweet corn and green chiles makes all the difference. Seriously, best ever burrito.


I feel like this list is both way too short and way too food oriented so I will try to make some more lists that include other Portland activities!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Home safe

Hello, I am home from my West Coast USA holiday! I had the most awesome time. We met so many amazing people who very warmly did lovely things like offer us beds in their houses, took us driving through gorges to see waterfalls and wrote lists of galleries we should see. I don't think the trip would have been nearly as good without the kindness of all these people. 

I've been posting photos on my flickr page, and there are still more to come when I get a chance. Surprisingly, I am glad to be home. I think being on the go for a month gets quite challenging after a while, especially when you are a homebody like me. I have a few blog posts planned in the coming weeks with links to some of my favourite Portland cafes, shops and things to do. I seriously ate my way around the West Coast so I have a lot of food love to share.

I am going to be quite busy back in Melbourne this month as I have been selected to have a stall at  Craft Hatch in July. Craft Hatch is an incubator market organised by Craft Victoria, of whom I have been a big fan since I moved here in 2006. I found out I have a market stall a few weeks ago and have been thinking about all the different fun things I could make for my stand. I am planning all kinds of new things! I will post more information closer to the date in July.

I also will be having an online market stall this month at Poppytalk Handmade, which will be live next week. I'll definitely post a link to that too! I have been reading the Poppytalk blog for years and years so I am thrilled to be selected for a spot on their marketplace!

Ok, feeling a little jetlagged so signing off. Have a great week!