Marimekko BLOG?!

1972

Kapris Pattern 1985

This will be hours of fun. Marimekko Blog. You can also buy product! I feel like it is hard to find the best pieces in US.

Honeycomb

I saw this on NOTCOT last week and love love love it! I bought something for my sister... not this one...and I won't post incase she reads this.. but her stuff is gorgeous and really great prices! Yvonne Hung is based in San Francisco and sent me a sweet note after I purchased it! The packaging is perfect for gift giving!

There is a sale right now..20% off. Check it out!

Knit wonderful ILEAIYE

ILEAIYE's knit creations.

Soft and stunning. You can ask Cherylline to make from the color swatches that are available. Her style is the ultimate in easy, cool and chic. She worked at Central St Martins and now knits and creates full time. Her pieces are perfect for LA weather and I have asked her to make a few pieces custom and she is more than willing... so I will order from her this week and hope to put some things under the tree for myself! Why is it when shopping for others I always buy for myself! I am very excited.

I can not wait to wear these and start creating what is to become my uniform wardrobe. More to come on that idea...

You can find her and her beautiful creations on ETSY here.

LA

Back in LA. It feels good to be back. It is nice to be in my apartment. I had it cleaned and have started to organize everything again and do a little clutter control. I have been putting together a plan of action...and have a few too many directions I am trying to head at once, so have to be careful not to overwhelm myself with trying to get things done...that won't. Having all this time and a lot of options is more difficult than it sounds, especially if your are a known procrastinator.

I have been very inspired by my friend BB and it is so great to have her back in LA. We have had a lot of talks about doing a collaboration and it has me very excited. There is also a few things to think about, subletting again and living downtown in a loft with BB, working on a portfolio for grad school, going to India or going to Shanghai for an internship??? more to come on that while I am home for Christmas..

I am starting to think about gifts and this year. I already gave my sis everything from Morocco...so she already got most of her presents.

Homemade and Etsy is where my gifts will be coming from..and some prints of my trip?!

I bought a sewing machine today and have already made two pillowcases of fabric my sister sent me from BOLT in portland.

more projects to come!!!

NYC

After 10 days or so in Florida with mom and dad, I flew to NYC. My days in Florida were filled with lots if internet job searches...lots of TV....and not enough beach time. I was in 'home' mode. Something I can not seem to grow out of. Amanda and I refer to it as 'melting'. Just get to Florida..and melt. Go into MOM mode. No matter how old you are it is so nice to be home and just be around your parents. It is nice to have that comfort and security that nothing is bad..the world is safe for a little while. I am planning on going back for Christmas.. but still have not booked a ticket. Hope to do so in next 48 hours.

NYC was great. I had a vision of what I would do while there....and didn't really accomplish all I had hoped. 

It was also great talking about what everyone is up to and working on. Everyone is in a similar place so it was nice to have so many people talking and interested in new ideas.

Thanks ND for everything. You are my best friend, a great listener and a whole lot of fun.

Jake

Grandma Jake. I love you. I am so glad I got to see you and spend a few hours. I am sorry you have no memory of who I am, but I know you feel comfortable around me and that makes me happy. You are a strong, loving, beautiful woman. Thank you for being such a great grandmother and teaching me how to craft. I loved your craft room in the basement of the old house in Ripon. You always let me be creative and I am now trying to develop that side of myself again and have been thinking of you while I am baking, sewing, stamping, painting and working on textiles.

I hope to see you at Christmas.

Baltimore

Flew to Baltimore to see my sister and hang out. My mom came also for the weekend. It rained a lot and was a lot colder than Morocco was, but it was so nice to be in fall weather. My sister has lived in Baltimore for over a year and I had not visited yet and she was a little bothered by it. Her place is amazing. An apartment in an old house. The layout is great, and the rooms are big and have a ton of light. She has decorated it so well! She has an amazing little collection of art and pictures from friends and her travels and has put the pieces up in such creative ways. I must say I was a little jealous of her space. It just represents her so well. Her board above her desk where the 'magic' happens when she writes is filled with quotes and ideas for her novel.

I was dying to get to DC since I haven't been since I was young, so she played hooky one day and we got to go to a few museums and walk around Georgetown. It was a perfect fall day!

We also took a hike through the woods by her house. The trails were muddy and we walked through and over trees and bridges. It made me think of childhood and playing in the woods. It was beautiful.

Paris part deux

Spent the night in Paris on way back to states. I arrived and it was chilly. I left my bags at the airport and had just packed what I needed for the night to go into the city. I debated if I would or not...but since I arrived at 3pm I didn't want to sit in some hotel by the airport when I could a be in the city in 20 minutes.

I got there and started looking for a place to sleep. It was fairly easy. I ended up finding this ** place right off St Honore. The woman behind the desk was sweet and when she saw my arm covered in Henna...she flipped out. She is Moroccan. She has a home in Essaouria she spends time at but otherwise rents out sometimes. CRAZY! She gave me a HUGE room on the top floor with my own shower. Seriously, for 60 euro I had a whole top floor to myself. The bed was so plush. It was feathery and wonderful. It also had an insanely comfortable down comforter.

I put on what layers I had and walked over to Cafe Ruc. I had a cheeseburger, french fries and some wine. Perfect.

I didn't sleep well that night. Mostly I was anxious to come back. But also there was a skylight right above my bed.. and since I was nestled in the top of the building, I could touch the skylight. I watched the colors change and watched the sunrise over Paris.

goodbye

This was the last picture I took in Morocco. I love it. The colors, the woman, the ritual of drinking tea.. it sums up everything I loved about my time there. It also made me miss my friends and family. I have not shared all the photos and all the stories. I need to keep some to myself until I can fully realize and understand how truly life affirming this trip was.

Every day since I have been back I just want to get back on the road. Anywhere. It is inspiring to know that the desire to travel is back and is more powerful than ever. I am already planning the next trip.

Riad Jnane Mogador:Medina

The last couple of nights..after I decided to delay my departure for the second time I checked into Riad Jnane Mogador. When I arrived they were not full..and gave me a double room for a single rate. It is not expensive and it is not cheap it is right in the middle! and my goodness is it perfect. The roof terrace, the rooms are quiet and very comfortable, the bathrooms are great...I had a few snacks at the restaurant and it was all good. The people working there where fantastic and friendly and the night shift manager was super great and I always felt safe! He even procured a few cigarettes for me at 2am one night after my computer completely died!

I of course tested out the Hammam and it was great but I liked the grommage better in Essaouria. The massage was great..very oily..and the woman was fantastic! she was working! and really funny. I would highly recommend this joint to anyone! Book ahead, I think they fill up pretty fast because they are in all the travel books!

Blue Chair:Medina

Berber Jewelery

Everywhere you go there is Berber jewelry. Most is reproduction pieces in silver.

There are a ton of pendants, and ones with what is described as a compass to be able to find your way out of the desert is especially popular, but not my favorite.

There is a huge amount in Essaouria because a lot of the men from the desert come to live for a few months to sell, or have stores/families there. Most of the time they will tell you they have something special and bring you in pull out a treasure chest and start unwrapping silver necklaces, rings and pendants out of pieces of cloth. It is a ritual and you sit through it and enjoy your tea and the pictures they show you of home.. oh and do you want to go to the Desert? Becuase they can plan that trip for you..so out come the pictures of all the people who have gone on their little trips.... The same thing happened to me 5 times in one day there. Harmless and in a town like that you just go with it...otherwise they will remember and believe me in a town that small.... it could not be to your benefit!

There are numerous antique shops in the souks in Marrakech. They are beautiful stores with all authentic lanterns, furniture, tapestries, kaftans, and jewelry.

I fell in love with these large black and white photos that were in various hotels and restaurants with women covered in silver coins and turquoise and coral and beads. I looked for some photos to bring home...but the ones I wanted I couldn't find, Truth is no one understood what it was I really was looking for. One day a sweet man took me to another man to ask about antique photographs... He said there was someone by the museum..I never found him.

I started falling for the coin headpieces which are silver and adorned with some beading and color. I looked and looked and found a few original pieces, but they were way out of my price range, we are talking thousands of dollars...even after the 'family price'.

The best book I have found so far to showcase how gorgeous these pieces and the women are in them is here. It is in French but that is not an issue, you can view the entire book online and it is well worth your time!

#74: Jemma el-Fnaa

The food stalls appear every night in the Djemaa El Fna. They all have numbers. The guys that work at the food stalls come up and try to persuade you to come eat their food..and there is some MAJOR competition since they are all serving the same thing. They are harmless but definitely working very hard to get as many tourists into there area...then other tourists see them and are more likely to sit down. I found one I loved and ate there about 7 times. If I didn't eat there and was walking around the square I would stop and have mint tea and say hi.

I would order a coke, veggie skewers, rice, olives, chicken skewers, Moroccan salad...all for about 10 dollars. This was also a great place to talk to other travelers because it is all set up on picnic tables and you just sit down and everyone starts talking! Good for the solo woman traveler who is at the square at night.

Just walking by...

Spice Market:Marrakech

So begins the last couple of posts about Morocco. I am dragging my feet to complete this because I don't want it to be over. I want to keep coming back here and uploading photos and reliving it. But it is also something I need to finish because I have so much more to talk about...and I want to be discussing things that are going on right now!

Every day I was in Marrakech I would stop by Cafe Des Epices. It is a great cafe with wireless in a small square which was called the Spice Market. The cafe was three levels and the people that worked there were so nice! They would have a Nos Nos ready for me. They have great sandwiches and snacks! There are a LOT of tourists that come and go especially during lunch, but it is a great place to sit as long as you like and hang out. I had some great conversations with other travelers learning what they are doing and where they are going.

I love that place! I even bought a few hats on my last day!

Love Prints at the Jardin Majorelle

Majorelle Blue

Majorelle Blue

The most stunning blue I have ever seen. Intense, vibrant and perfect.

The garden was majestic. It is small and crowded but a great place to sit and relax in a hectic city.

The Yves Saint Laurent memorial is very peaceful. I secretly hope one day that they open up his home and private garden to the public(as one of the workers said they will) but the Majorelle is a great treat!

And the gift shop is to die for. So many lovely pieces of clothing and babouches made from gorgeous Liberty cotton prints. I bought everyone of the postcards from the LOVE collection.

Jardin Majorelle:Scene