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... and I haven't posted the November cakes yet! My only excuse is the usual nuthouse that is my life, but I will post the cakes tomorrow morning... promise!
As a small consolation, I will mention that I just added 2 new fabrics (in 4 colorways each - yippee!) to the superbuzzy shop. I think they're pretty darn cute!
And that's saying a lot! Initially, the plans were for my small extended family (8 of us all together) to join us in Ventura for the Thanksgiving celebration, but everyone's health seemed to indicate otherwise. My grandmother had a cold, and my uncle had just done heroic battle with kidney stones and was not yet fully recovered. They were obviously not thrilled about the prospect of a long car ride! I had already done all the shopping, so we quickly formulated plan B. We decided to have the actual MEAL up north on Friday so that we wouldn't have to do our driving on the worst possible day. I cooked as much as I could on Wednesday, and we hit the rode about mid-day on Thursday - right about when we figured others were getting ready to sit down and stuff their faces.
My aunt and uncle graciously agreed to let me, Jerry, and the terror stay with them at their home in San Jose. I was the cooking project manager on Friday, and I received incredible help in the kitchen from Jerry (the best cooking co-pilot ever!), my aunt, and my mom. I planned a basically traditional meal with a slight southwest twist:
I know that I'm no photographer, and certainly not a food stylist, but here are some photos of the spread nonetheless:
basting the turkey!
soup, turkey, sweet potatoes... yummy!
We planned on driving home on Saturday, but I was itching to get to San Francisco to see the new De Young and catch the Gees Bend exhibit before it leaves at the end of December. We made the drive up and caught the museum just as it was opening. The museum re-opened just about a year ago following the incredible Herzog & de Meuron design - wow! The building is incredible - clad in irregularly perforated copper sheets - and will change its appearance as the copper ages. The highlight for us was the observation tower, which appears to balance precariously over the narrow base. The tower features an incredible 360 degree view of the city and the bay - I could have stayed up there for hours! Some great pictures of the building here.
With Brynne along, I was not able to dawdle through the Gees Bend exhibit as much as I would have liked, but I can echo what I have read by others: the quilts are incredible and inspiring, and the stories behind them even more so. I haven't done any research on the after-effects of the recent attention paid to the Gees Bend quilters, but I can only hope that money is finally pouring in to this long neglected, but culturally invaluable community.
After the museum, we wandered through the Botanical Gardens hunting for lions (!) and ate lunch at the museum cafe. Then we drove out to the Golden Gate so that Brynne could get a closer look. We tried to take a self-portrait of the 3 of us in front of the bridge, but it wasn't quite pointed in the right direction, and then my batteries ran out! So, imagine the gorgeous bridge added to the top right side of the photo and you'll have a better idea. It was the perfect SF day - clear skies, brisk, and slightly windy.
I've opted not to go chronologically with my superbuzzy trip coverage, but thematically instead. I'm going to try to get everything all posted before everything gets too oldy-moldy. I see that Mariko is tackling the trip posts as well!
We had already walked most of Japan (or at least my feet were feeling like it!) by the time we got to Yokohama for the Quilt Show on Thursda, so I wasn't sure I was ready for the hordes of people and the large exhibit hall we discovered getting off the train in Yokohama. The women bound for the show had been quite easy to spot on the train: they were carrying quilted bags and totes, and wearing incredible pieces of wearable art - much more modern and sophisticated than the quilted clothing I see in the US. There were scores of women lined up waiting to get into the hall as soon as it opened at 10am. I was surprised at the rush to see the quilt exhibit; later I realized the rush was to do some serious shopping - not necessarily to see the quilts!
Although we were interested in seeing the quilts, our priority of the day was to take care of superbuzzy business. Stefana was such a gem - she stuck with us the entire day, helping me communicate when needed, and just being an overall good sport! Once business was taken care of, we wandered through the vendor booths and the quilt exhibits. Stefana and I dragged Mariko around while we admired the quilts (wow!), and we even found a super eggplant!
There were lots of amazing quilts there, and I probably didn't take as many photos as I should, but here is one I wanted to share:
I was completely amazed at how this quilter used these striped fabrics - such a cool effect and such a great pallette! I've uploaded more pictures of my favorite quilts and the quilt show on flickr (including a tiny glimpse of Mt. Fuji!).
Although the quilt show was not overwhelming in size, it was pretty overwhelming with the sheer number of people there. I did not see as many non-Japanese as I had expected to see, and, not suprisingly, I could probably count the male attendees (not including vendors) on my fingers and toes! The Japanese women were shopping with a purpose, snatching up all kinds of fabric, notions, kits, and gift items - including loads of vintage American fabric, buttons, and trims. I was impressed at the wide variety of cool crafty kits available - just more evidence that the craft scene in Japan is more geared toward the modern crafter than it is in the US. There were also vendors selling vintage kimonos and kimono scraps for premium prices; several of the quilts we saw on display were made entirely of silk.
After a few hours of this, we were thrilled to discover a corner with a bunch of foot massagers lined up! We all sat down for an extended period, and our feet thanked us again and again! In fact, Mariko and I returned to the show again on Friday and made a second stop at the foot massage station! Although we didn't buy one (!), I can definitely endorse them! If I were on my feet all day on a regular basis, one of these would be a necessity!
More superbuzzy trip news to come! Please let me know if this gets boring!
Wow! It's hard to believe that our whirlwind trip to Japan is over, and that I'm back home trying to adjust to this time zone. Everything went so quickly, it almost seems like an incredibly detailed dream. I have so much to blog about the trip that I'm somewhat overwhelmed... do I describe things chronologically (day 1, day 2...), or do I talk about things thematically (food, fabric, friends...)? I'm not sure how to go about this.
But, the one thing I do know is that Mariko and I could not have made the trip and had as much success as we did without the help of some incredible people. Our last night in Tokyo was fantastic - we met up with many of these friends for dinner and dessert, and it was truly the perfect evening... good food, better company, and a finale of chocolate!
And so, I want to personally and publicly extend my thanks to these people who made our trip so much fun, as well as a complete success:
Kat was our self-proclaimed personal concierge while in Japan! Not only did she help us get our feet wet on our first day with shopping in Shinjuku and Kichijoji, but she also helped lay much of the ground work for our trip - making phone calls on our behalf, emailing us tips and tricks, and just being a wonderful resource. She also helped to end our trip on a sweet note by introducing us to Choco Cro - home of chocolate croissants fresh and warm out of the oven. Yum!
Darin was a charming and mellow addition to a largely female group. Not only did he serve as baggage handler and photographer, he also proved himself to be a skilled guinea pig wrangler! I had a great time chatting with Darin about all sorts of things, and I'm really hoping to see Kat and Darin in California sometime soon!
I consider Molly to be a sort of silent partner in superbuzzy. After all, it was she and Jan who made the very first purchases for the shop. You probably already know how down to earth and sweet Molly is, and I was thrilled to finally meet her in person. We had a delightful dinner and an intimidating dessert. I wish we'd had more time to chat, but I guess this means I'll just have to go back soon!
I first "met" Anjali through a fun little swap we did for trims and notions a while back, and I've been hooked on her blog and Japanese candy reviews ever since! Anjali made the trek to Nagoya to join us for our dinner with Molly, and they did an amazing job ordering a fantastic assortment of food. Since Anjali doesn't live too far from me in California, I'm hoping to see her again stateside!
Jen is another friend who helped in much of the planning and organization of our trip. Although she has 2 gorgeous little munchkins that keep her more than occupied, she was still able to make her way to Nippori one morning to help us get oriented. I had a great time chatting with her and visiting with her beautiful girls as we strolled past all of the crazy fabric and notions shops in Nippori Textile Town. Jen is an incredibly talented quilter, and I'm looking forward to following along with her work on her blog.
Stefana met us later in the day for our whirlwind shopping excursion in Nippori. She was an extremely patient and steadfast shopping partner, even though she's "in the family way"! We were lucky that Stefana was also interested in attending Yokohama International Quilt Week, and she agreed to join us the next day and serve as our personal translator! She was so much fun to have along, and she even joined us for a much needed foot massage at the end of the day. We also got to meet her charming husband at our last dinner in Tokyo, and he was very charming and extremely tolerant of the large gathering of crafty women!
Like Molly, I consider Chico to be part of the superbuzzy family. She's a brilliant artist and illustrator, but she somehow found time to make loads of phone calls and to research various companies before and during our trip. I really don't think we would have gotten nearly as much accomplished without Chico's constant help. She seemed to anticipate our every need! I finally got to meet and thank her in person during our last night, and I'm looking forward to keeping up with her.
Jun and Minato-san also joined us for our last night out, and it was so fun to meet more of the Tokyo crafty contingent! Minato san shared some of her incredible knitting projects (wow!), and we learned that she is Chief of Rowan in Tokyo! Jun's list of projects seems neverending (what a busy and talented woman!), but she's generously volunteered to help us with some final superbuzzy inquiries!
As you can probably tell, I'm completely overwhelmed at how much generosity we met in Japan. These folks were all so incredible, and I truly wish we'd had more time for fun and frolic. But, the tremendous news is that we accomplished far more than we dreamed possible, and exciting things are just around the corner at the superbuzzy shop! In fact, we should have an update ready sometime next week to showcase the first batch of our acquisitions... I think you'll be thrilled!
Whew! It's been a whirlwind of activity over here... Since my last post, we took the Shinkansen to Nagoya where we met Anjali and Molly for a fantastic dinner, and then we all went out to Harb's for cake and tea/coffee. We spent the next day in Nagoya doing loads of superbuzzy business (more on all that when we get back!), and then took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo late that evening.
Yesterday was spent exploring and spending lots of money at Nippori Textile Town. We were incredibly lucky to be joined by Stefana, who is just as sweet and wonderful as you might imagine. She patiently guided us as we purchased bolt after bolt of fabric! Stefana has graciously agreed to join us again today as we head to our first day at Yokohama Quilt Week. We're not sure what to expect, but we're very excited to see what it's like. We've been snapping loads of photos, but haven't yet found a way to upload them for blogging - so we may have to wait until we get back to share all the goodness!
The US election results are exciting, and we're following the news as best we can from here. It will probably be another long day and late night tonight, but I'll try to get in another post when I can!
It's hard to believe, but Mariko and I just woke up this morning in Osaka at our little capsule hotel! We spent yesterday with Kat and her fabulous hubby - Kat took us to many of the hot crafty shopping spots in Shinjuku and Kichijoji. The shopping is overwhelming, but we were also thrilled to see many of the superbuzzy items in the shops here in Japan. I haven't yet fully begun to explore the culinary delights here, but we did have a lovely lunch yesterday in Kat's neighborhood. We spend much of the day today in Osaka, and then we head to Nagoya where we'll be meeting Molly and Anjali for dinner. Then, back to Tokyo tomorrow evening for more crafty shopping and the Yokohama Quilt Show! We'll try to figure out how to get some pictures up, but I haven't had luck so far...
More later!
Such a fun Halloween was had at chez buzzville, despite the fact that everything was *very* last minute and not nearly as involved as we might have liked. Our little lion charmed the neighborhood, and this is the first time she's really understood trick or treating. Last year we were able to make her candy "disappear" (daddy took it to work) and she never noticed; this year she is keeping a mental inventory of each type of candy. I swear this girl's a walking calculator if properly motivated! The true mystery to me is that she's become extremely fond of dots... Anyway, I promised photos of the beast, and here they are:
this is morning when we went (sans lion makeup) for a quick round of trick-or-treating at my work.
and here she is stepping out getting ready for the evening festivities
and here is the after shot, chewing on one of the aforementioned dots...
At some point after we had selected the lion costume, I actually thought there might have been a last minute switch to cowgirl. I found a cute, nice quality cowgirl costume (hat, vest, and skirt) at the thrift store, and I bought it for dress-up play. For a while, she was putting that cowgirl outfit on every day, and I was fully expecting her to tell me that Leo the lion was out of the picture. But, Leo appears to have staying power, even though the cowgirl is pretty darn cute too:
Now that Halloween is over, I guess that means that holiday crafting time is in full swing, right? Boy, am I in trouble...
