a whirlwind Aug & Sept

woow! i'm back, people!!
the end of my holiday, my trip back memory lane, and more... sobs... it was my belated birthday holiday trip (thanks for my wonderful pressies and treats everyone!!! :DDD), forestprints 3 years birthday celebration, b+b 5 years anniversary celebration, and overall, a trip to re-charge our batteries..

well, i'm happy to be back of course! but also sad because i miss it there in chicago and nyc.....
the weather helped alot in my "arrgghhh.... yes, drive me crazy, singapore, you're doing a fine job!" vent the past few days.... lol

and being jetlagged... time zone difference... it's all crazy when we have work to get back to! i don't remember it being so difficult to go through when it was a short trip back to singapore in summer hols... when all i ever did was sleep, tan at the beach, booze at night, sleep more.... and eat of course ;p now we have work to get back to, work that can't wait, people who are impatient, people we have to please.... ppffttt

b's boss and colleagues couldn't stop harrassing him with work even while he was on holiday, so he just turned his damn phone silent throughout, and turned it on only for map use (gps and google earth rawks!!) and camera... i had to leave mine on for so many reasons, but mostly good ones. ooh yes yes, i love my new pda phone and 10x zoom camera! thanksssssss ya all! :D

i actually got 22 missed calls on my cellphone (leave a voice message if it's urgent! argh), i answered 9 phone calls, 2 of which was a big mistake to answer.
4.30am in new york, i got the strangest phone call. and it being 4.30am, i was really in no state of mind to logically rationally think through and answer it. but i just picked it up through sheer idiotic instinct.

"erm, hello?"
"hi! is this forestprints design?"
"erm, yes who's that?"
"hi! how do i go to your shop?"
"oh, how did you get my number?"
"from your website. i want to visit your shop"
"okay, from my website, you'll see the link stockists link, and all the shops carrying our items are listed there"
"but how about compassvale? how do i go there?"
"erm, that's not a shop, it's our home office"
"but i want to go there, can you tell me how to go?"
you won't believe my next reply, go ahead and faint or bang my head on the wall
"erm, you can look it up in the street directory" (????????!!!!!!!)
"i know, but it's easier if you just give me directions to the place"
"i think it's more difficult, just look it up in the directory, it's easier"
"but i just need to know how to get there"
"yah, a street directory will show you how, it's very easy"
"but.. okay thanks"
"okay, bye, thanks!"

wtf!!!??? who the hell was that dude????? thank gawd there was no one stalking around when i came back... (or so i think... ack!) what i was thinking??? look it up in the street directory!?? i said thanks??? for what??? boy, was i ever so helpful and friendly even in the midst of sleep. i disgust myself sometimes.

anyways... i've like a bazillion funny weird interesting stories to share... i've been repeating them for about 5-6 times to different peeps... i've very low stamina in telling stories, and telling them in real life is so much more fun because i like to be animated..ha!! ... so... hopefully i'll have a few more left in my system to share with all of you here..

i've been crazily uploading pics from my trip to flickr... have only picked less than half of all the photos we took to upload online... and yet i'm not even half done yet! and there're still nyc pics i've not uploaded! can you imagine!!!?? well yeah, the trip wasn't a short one, erm... about 24 days i think. and i was a very happy girl :D
"was"... now i'm ==> (-___-")

b and i woke up at 4pm yesterday.... 4pm!!!!!!!!
i walked to the living room and stared at the clock.... i thought it was not working again since it has broken down before (old pendulum wooden clock)... so i shuffled back to my room and stared into my cellphone....
3.57pm !!!!?!?! argh! i let out a scream, and b jumped right up. "4pm?????"
we thought it was still 11am or something.... jetlag is soooooo fun. yup.

i've lots more to share... but later. i've to catch the sun now. i missed it yesterday and wasn't able to take photos of new items... yes! have you not caught the newly uploaded items in the shoppe yet? well, be prepared! it's going to be an avalanche. we are in the midst of completing 3 huge ass orders, and the extras are just waiting for moi to snap pics, so watch out for it! restocks and new stuff!

back to work... arghhhh... dizzy.......

Olga Kern Dazzles Denver

On Thursday, September 20th I attended the Colorado Symphony's opening night. I chose this night because Olga Kern, the first woman to win the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 30 years, was playing Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on the Theme of Paganini (Opus 43). I sat in the left dress circle so I could watch her hands. The experience was surreal. While the following description may sound unflattering, it is meant to highlight how exceptional Olga is.

I could only see Olga's left hand but since it zoomed around the keyboard so quickly, that is probably a good thing. I was aghast to observe that Olga's hand actually looked alien. I am talking alien abduction like alien. Her fingers are exceptionally long and have that ability to spread apart in a way that would require Vicodin in us mere mortals. The joints that connected her fingers to the rest of her hand must have been double jointed because they could arch in a way I did not think was anatomically possible. I keep looking at my own hand and back at hers and realized why I never took up piano. The sum total of these observations was a hand that looked twice as large as normal. It seemed to extend all the way to her forearm. I was mesmerized.

I confess that Rachmaninoff has not been my favorite composer but you have to admire his Rhapsody. It is so dramatic and contains some of the loveliest melodies in all of classical music. It is one of Olga's signature pieces, and she plays it with great emotion.

During intermission Olga signed CDs. She was very gracious if a bit otherworldly. I get the impression this was more cultural than innate shyness. Olga has the potential of being on of the true greats if she would only change her wardrobe. That calf hugging sequined red dress and stiletto heals were dazzling for sure but surely gave her insurance agent fits. I would not have been able to walk two feet in that get up let alone glide across a stage. I recommend she be wheeled out in a sequined wheel chair with those alien hands encased in cast until she is ready to play.

Any time Olga is in town, I recommend arranging to be abducted. The experience will be well worth it.

Check out this season’s sympony schedule.

Where are All the Trail Refuges?

Ok, so I am already diverging from Colorado hiking, but I have to confess that I am no longer a European hiking virgin. I just returned from a conference in France. On off days, I managed to get out and hike. Two miles up an incredibly scenic trail we came to our first refuge. I can't tell you how many times I would have killed for Starbucks with a view after some serious elevation gain. Here was a house complete with kitchen, umbrellas, picnic tables and beer! Beer every two miles? That could work! So if all of Europe is dotted with fantastic trails and refuge after refuge, why can't we adopt this in the US? Are we colonials just not civilized enough?

Would the State of Colorado attract more tourists if we provided pastries, sausages, and double espresso? Would someone out there in the blogosphere explain this to me!

Aspen Gauntlet on Kenosha Pass

I grew up in California and my mother and I would take an annual pilgrimage to the Sierra Nevada Mountains in search of any color. It was rare indeed. A single tree would have us all a tingle. A small grove would elicit a near epileptic seizure. We would return from these expeditions ready to cook squash on the backyard BBQ, convinced we were awash in Fall’s mantel. My father, who grew up near Boston, viewed these events with typical East Coast noblesse oblige. He would look at us over the brim of his book with a condescending “foolish mortals” gaze. We were indeed so naïve. While it is true that the East Coast has those vibrant reds and cascading hillsides, Colorado has snow-capped peaks reflected in still lakes dripping with reflected gold. Having to burn a few calories to see it is an added value in my mind.

So, for this weekends leaf-popping expedition, a friend and I headed up highway 285 to Kenosha Pass. I have driven over this pass many times but confess have never stopped to cruise along the Colorado Trail that cuts across the road. We got an early 0730 start from the Denver Metro Area and were parked on the south side of the pass by 0915. While you can see the hillside of aspen from the road, what you cannot see is the sheer size of the Aspen trees in the nearest grove. This was Disneyland for leaf hounds. The trees towered overhead and swayed dangerously in the stiff 25mph breeze. The trail curved seductively here and there leading the walker onward. The path and air were strewn with leaves falling and fallen creating a golden ticker tape parade.

The Colorado trail continues south with sweeping views of South Park and the mountains beyond. We turned around after about two hours because it was beginning to rain. Upon return to the trailhead, we were greeted by 10,000 other peepers crowding into the parking lots and blocking the road. The take home point for this post is get and early start.

Wedding Photos in Kanab Utah

I have never been to Kanab Utah before we did their wedding photography, and my goodness! There is beautiful scenery every where! I would serious considered trying to convince all our bride to do there bridal portraits there except for it would be quite a drive. There were the red rocks and the trees that were turning colors. It was the perfect combination for Deanna and Gavin's wedding. Deanna is an animal lover so the wedding/vow ceremony was at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, with about 20 dogs! It worked out so great, I was surprised how well behaved they were, both the dogs and the couple! ;) It was a very dreamy place for bridal & groomal shots I thinking a couple times they forgot they were being photographed! ;) Deanna even hiked up the side of the rocks in her wedding dress for us to get a bridal shot! The groom Gavin was such a sweetie and was so nervous that he made sure that I didn’t fall backwards while trying to get a different angle for a shot on the rocks. They were a great wedding couple! Oh it was such a beautiful day! Gorgeous dress and amazing wedding pictures! Congrats!!!

back to worky sooooon.....

a kick-ass little break with mother-effing loads of fun, good times and shtuffff!!! we have to "upgrade" the size of b's duffle bag to a much larger one...lol.... more coming soon!! did you miss us??? hee maybe not ;pp we play hard but are workhorses too (if you don't already know!?) so keep your eyes peeled this weekend! woohooo! :D

Pretty vintage...

I thought I would share some photos of recent acquisitions which will soon be listed on our website . First is this gorgeous vintage white wicker folding screen. I love the scrolling designs at the top and I can just see it with vintage lingerie draped over it!



I also found this beautiful pair of matching "eiderdowns" when we last visited Shepton. I love their unsual soft brown background. I added the ecru crochet trim because the corded edge was missing from one of them. The flowers rich colours always catch my eye.



I also found a wonderful old green floral quilt. I have been looking for a green floral quilt for a long time and I can tell you they are hard to come by. Unfortunatly this one is not big enough for our king size bed but it certainly does have that vintage appeal which modern quilts just don't have!

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Which flower are you?

I found this fun little quiz through Marie's blog. I took the quiz and came up as a sunflower! Why not take the test and see which flower you come up as?

I am a Sunflower What Flower Are You?

"When your friends think smile, they think of you. There is not a day that goes by that you can't find something good about the world and your fellow human."

Wedding at Thanksgiving Point

Such a great place for weddings. We had another photographer friend contact us last minute about second shooting with him at a wedding at Thanksgiving Point, since we were down the street in Provo we headed straight there. Plus who can pass up a lovely wedding at beautiful Thanksgivign Point. There's nothing like letting the natural element wind, water, earth and fire add a spark to each picture. Although it was a blustery day (as Winnie the Pooh the Pooh would say) it didn't ruin anything. Actually the wind added a lot of style and dimension to the wedding photos. Nothing like a shot where the veil is air borne and Soooo much green grass!!!! I'm going to miss it in a couple of months!