Taffeta, sweetheart

The sun is set and moon hangs brightly. It's truly all Hallow's Eve. I hope you are all sharing it with some one you love.

Black Cat!

I swear a black cat has crossed out path. We spent the first part of this Halloween in a bloody mess at the ER. I can think of few places scarier than the hospital emergency room.

Trick or Treat

I Recently heard that there are some 200 varieties of Kit Kat in Japan. Green Tea Kit Kat, Salty Caramel Kit Kat, and the limited edition Soy Sauce Kit Kat sound especially interesting.

Save money. Die better.

Here's something scary for your Halloween... the Supreme Distinction Steel Casket. Now available at Walmart.

So you think you can dance?

I can dance, but Gene Kelly can Dance. I swear the fact that there was earth under his feet was just incidental. The man could've danced on air.

Happy Friday everyone.

Ascending Peculiarity

My friend, Heather, makes such beautiful jewelry. There are these lovely bits of plants and paper inside her little treasures. Check out her online shop, Ascending Peculiarity.

Light Up My Life

Love love love this Rabbit lamp by Moooi.

{images found at lumens.com, where you can purchase the beast}

In Need of a Costume

I'm not sure what to dress as for Halloween this year. Last year I was The Great Pumpkin from Peanuts. Having always fallen asleep before The Great Pumpkin appeared, I've never actually seen it. But I held the string of an orange ballon and let it slowly rise to demonstrate my costume. No one got it.

What great costume ideas do you all have for Halloween?

forget your troubles

It's Friday. The sun is shining. Come on get happy.

make my heart sing

Raise your hand if you've seen Where the Wild Things Are.

Ian and I saw it last Sunday in Santa Barbara's lovely Arlington Theater. We ate Red Vines and held hands and Oohed and Aahed. Perfection.

Daikokuya Ramen

I mentioned that we visited my favorite noodle kitchen when we went to LA a couple weeks back.

This is it. Daikokuya Original Noodle & Rice Bowl.

The ramen is fantastic and so is the katsudon. Yum.

Beautiful Bokja

I am head over heels for this amazing furniture by Bokja.

I never imagined an Eames chair could look like this.

I read about the Bokja design duo in How to Spend It, the ritzy magazine by Financial Times. Anything I find in there is automatically out of my price range. But drooling is free.

Object of Desire

It's been 1 year, 8 months and 15 days since Ian was run over by Anne Riona and left unconscious on the sidewalk. His vintage 1969 Gitane track bike was totaled, right down to the Brooks saddle. Only recently has he wanted to ride again and he's set his sights on this All City frame. I think it's pretty sweet, although it would look better in white with drop bars.

I'm so excited to have my bike man back, with his cycling cap and rolled up pant leg.

Sister Boogie Woman

Minutes before she was about to leave for the show, my mom realized she had an extra ticket. So lucky me got to see Lily Tomlin performing last night. She is absolutely amazing, even if she does think twittering is a disorder.

{photo by the amazing Guy Webster}

pie without a name

This is one of my more experimental pies. It's two tones come from one layer of classic sweet potato atop another layer of chocolate sweet potato (chocolate sweet potatoes are finally in season... tee hee). It turned out to have an unusual yet extremely complex and delicious flavor. I am trying to come up with something very creative for the pie contest and this one might be in the running. But I'm having trouble coming up with a good name. Any ideas?

a little love for your Friday

I hope to spend at least part of my weekend singing by the seaside. What have you all got planned? Any special purpose for your Saturday? He he.

inspiration everywhere

I found inspiration for double crust pie on the sidewalk of Little Tokyo, Los Angeles.

Mia and Ian go to the MOCA

Sunday, we visited the MOCA in LA to see the recent acquisitions, including Robert Frank's "The Americans." Ian pretended to be impressed.

This is the bathroom of the MOCA—excellent for taking self portraits.

We walked from the museum to Little Tokyo, passing some lovely buildings along the way.

After hot tea and huge ramen bowls, we made our way back up the hill, sight seeing in the dark and standing for a while in the doorway to the LA Times to watch the giant globe spin.

abre la Ventana

Little City Designs and Lindsay Miller are in this months Ventana. That's a monthly magazine here in Ventura.

{I hope my Spanish is OK}

Gone Wild

I can't hardly wait for this Friday. It seems like I've been drooling over Where the Wild Things Are trailers and eating up reviews for months now. Is there anyone else out there who, like me, grew up reading Maurice Sendak's classic? Did you tromp around in footed PJs pretending to be a ferocious Wild Thing?

If you haven't already, you must check out the official website. It's beautiful.

Warm Your Heart

Introducing Little City Designs Warm Your Heart hoodie. I love this piece, with its organic cotton, eco friendly inks and darn good style. In fact, I love it so much that I kept one for myself. Ian has one too. If you get one too then we'll all have über cool matching hoodies. Find them in our Etsy shop.

Procrastination vs. Inspiration

I am procrastinating this morning and avoiding doing something I don't want to do. It don't want to do this something because it is hard and I am afraid of failing.

Yesterday, at the MOCA, I saw Matthew Barney's Cremaster image starring the lovely Aimee Mullins. She's got me thinking this morning. I'm thinking that if she can run races, jump long jumps, act in art films and model high fashion, maybe I can do this one little thing that I don't want to do. And maybe this one little thing that seems so hard isn't really that hard at all.

So, in this morning's battle between procrastination and inspiration, inspiration wins.

{found image, sorry I don't have the proper credit}

Blushing Pear Pie

What makes the pears in this pie blush? It must be the raspberries. These two fruits have fallen in love with one another beneath a lattice crust.




I was very nervous about weaving the doughy pastry strips, but Ian had full confidence in me. He thinks this might be his new favorite.

Oh, and did I mention I've signed up for my very first pie contest? Being a novice, I'm sure to be outmatched. But I am excited anyway. I'll be asking for your input on which of my pies look like contest winners. Too bad I can't have you all be taste testers too.

where the floor used to be

The only bathroom in our 1920s bungalow has been slowly sinking for... well... a long time I guess.

Finally, this past Thursday, we began to fix the problem. This means demolishing the entire room and rebuilding it. Wish us luck.

Prize for Peace

I was in shock and awe this morning as I heard the announcement that President Obama had won the Nobel Peace Price. My heart swells with patriotic pride for the first time in a long time.

{found image, I'm sorry I don't know the photographer to give proper credit}

Keep your pants on George!

According to the latest issue of Us Weekly (so it must be true) George Clooney said he "would rather have a prostate exam on live television by a guy with very cold hands than have a Facebook page." I guess Mr. Clooney really hates Facebook. Or he kind of likes being publicly fondled. At any rate, let's hope it doesn't come to that.

{found image}

Return of the Scarves

Cool weather is back in our part of the world and so are our Little City scarves. Check them out in the Little City Designs Etsy shop.

{photos of Ian are by me and photos of me are by Ian}

Lazy Tuesday

This lazy Tuesday follows a grumpy Monday. I guess moping around yesterday really wore me out. Anyone else have one of those days? Well, these red Gerber daisies are for you.

in a theater near you

I am so excited for Falls fresh crop of films. It seems as though the late summer had us in a dry spell that we are just starting to emerge from. Whip It, Coco Before Chanel, Zombieland, and The Informant are just of few of the titles that have me salivating. Not to mention titles yet to be released like A Serious Man.

Have you seen any good movies lately? Do you have popcorn plans for the weekend?

{film still from Whip It found at movies.msn.com}

Home Sweet Home

Just drove in from Phoenix, Arizona, and boy are my arms tired. As soon as I catch my breath I will tell you all about our desert vacation and show you pictures of the historic hotel we stayed in.