I Dare You...

I was with Bob Wilkinson at La Grande Orange last week and we started flipping through books while we ate lunch. I flipped through the book "Think Big" which is made up entirely of quotes regarding creativity, inspiration, going after your ideas and dreams while being movtivated to think outside the box. The book of course resonated with me and I bought it.

I always look back over the year{s} on the eve of my birthday. I can remember doing it all the way back to when I was a little girl. So much has changed in the course of _X__ years, wait I am not going to tell you how many candles I will be blowing out tomorrow ;-) but the point is that, as I reflect over my life, there is a lot to take in and a lot to think about.

This quote from "Think Big" struck me as the perfect birthday-eve quote "I dare you to, while there is still time, to have a magnificent obsession" -- William Danforth. Birthdays prove to us that the years are fleeting and time stops FOR NO ONE. We have one shot at this life and we can dilly-dally, waste our time and energy, or we can go forth and do SOMETHING really magnificent.

And whatever that "Magnificent Obsession" is, is up to you. We all have different goals, dreams and purposes. And the race is truly only against the amount of time we are given.

This is the tenth birthday that I am not getting to celebrate with my parents. Of course, it makes me incredilby sad, and they are on my mind all the time -- for some reason they have been in my dreams every night this week! But I refuse to sulk and wallow in their accident. They are gone, but I am not. I was given more time and now I am going to go out and do something with my "Magnificent Obsession" -- what will you do with yours?

Couture Water

I had lunch with several of of my creative & artistic friends yesterday at Oakville Grocery in Scottsdale. It was cute place to meet. It felt like an expanded La Grande Orange. They were selling Christian Lacroix Evian water bottles, and I of course had to have it! I am always a sucker for cool packaging design - ALWAYS! Christian Lacroix is one of the few remaining haute couture designers left. He is a master and a genius!

Moreover, the intricate lace-like pattern etched onto the bottle reminded me of dollie-placemat I found at the New York restaurant Falai. Brian suggested Falai when I was in New York last week. It is in the lower east side and it is marvelous! I highly suggest going if you are in the lower-east side and of course New York. It is a very design-savvy, modern-Italian-fusion restaurant. Small portions but everything is art! The platting, the presentation, etc. I asked if I could take the placemat because I had ideas of using it as a stencil.

Last night I spray-painted the placemat onto the back of a black hoodie. It is a work in progress, but it is on its way to being a pretty cool hoodie!

So from couture water bottles to placemats, some of my best inspiration comes while socializing over food or over everyday items!