On the Last Friday of 2012, it Snowed

These past two weeks I've spent in the Midwest. As soon as I land and step off the plane, a deep comfort begins to awaken somewhere deep within me, radiating through me, somehow making a crumpled up piece of paper laying by my favorite corner bar feel sentimental.

But this past year has come with alot of mixed feelings. Too many sad events. I have been so scared lately. Worried. About my family, that's had to suffer the deaths of two family members this past year. But more than anything I'm worried about my Mom. I could try to explain here how much I love her, and how completely alone I'd feel without her by me, and how I'm starting to feel that I've lived too far, having moved here to the West Coast, and for too long, without living une vie quotidienne near her. This past year has made me morbid and scared. But it wasn't without joy either. Despite it all, every day there is something to feel incredibly giddy about. This dichotomy of life is so fascinating, so much happening simultaneously, taking us from inspired and exuberant to devastated. Tragedy interlaced with sheer, pure happiness.  That's what makes the experience of oneself and all that's around us so thrilling.

And seeing as how this is the last Friday in 2012, and it's snowing gorgeous soft snowflakes in Milwaukee, I can't help but feel grateful amidst harsh realities. Grateful for every moment, every sensation, grateful for my beautiful mother and her soft voice and for how she still handfeeds me berries [read: stuffs them into my mouth as though I were 2] as I sit at my laptop, designing or researching.

There's a new year around the corner that I'm completely not ready for. Or maybe I am. Maybe if I keep living in the moment like this I won't mind that the year is here before I'm ready for it.

I'd like to wish everyone who reads this a mindful, introspective new year. May you live in the moment much more often, stop to acknowledge how grateful you are to be where you are, and enjoy all of the beautiful ephemera that life gives us.

Happiness Is A Warm Puppy, Even If Said Puppy Might Be High

Pauli's MKE Guide _ part I

Milwaukee has a fantastic scene of laid-back gourmet that I feel compelled to write about.

coming very soon...

a  x p o l l i n a t e  s t u d i o  guide to MKE's authentic cool and delicious

-Alterra Foundry
-Beans & Barley
-Comet Cafe
- & more

crepe + design work sunday

inspiration for myself... and hopefully you too!

whether you think you can

or think you can't,

YOU ARE RIGHT.          Henry Ford    (unfortunately)

A C T I O N

Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action. 

                                                                                                        William James

Baking Without Rules

I've heard before that cooking is an art and baking is a science. I'm not sure where, perhaps my grandmother said it. I suppose it's true,

the most evident difference between cooking and baking is that baking is often times a precise chemistry and the specific intersection of proportion to degree of heat; therefore it's success, in large, is directly correlated to one's ability to follow a recipe closely. But something strange happens every time I attempt to commit to trying a new recipe: I begin to analyze and immediately deviate from it almost immediately. And unfortunatley [or maybe quite fortunately] as positive reinforcement, the baked good turns out delicious anyway.

Yoga Teachin

I'm on the schedule! Yay!!

This past month I went to work for Hapa Yoga, a fresh new San Diego studio right off the 805.

I got the job thanks to my friend Lisa, with whom I did the 200 hr YTT at Prana. She brought me to a challenging Ashtanga class taught by Roberta, [previous owner of Bird Rock Yoga] at Hapa a few weeks back. I began by subbing several classes, and now I'm on the schedule Mondays and Tuesdays! I love designing new sequences and having this balance with the design life, but most of all, what makes it truly worthwhile is seeing students walk away satisfied and visibly more happy than when they  came in. If you're in San Diego, come take my class! First one is on Hapa Yoga!! Check out the schedule and studio at Hapa Yoga


I'm designing my yoga resume and website today. For a long time now I've had this dream of teaching urban intervention yoga classes outdoors, for donations, since as far as I see it, the money's less important than people expanding their practice into the urban and outdoor environment, and getting comfortable with focusing on themselves anywhere. I figured a well-designed site will help me spread the word, since I've been really bad at emailing my friends and those I know to spread the word.

So far other than a grid layout I've designed a chart of what type of yoga I practice and teach. I used Excel for the accuracy and Illustrator for aesthetic. I realize designing sequences isn't part of teaching, but it does fit into time I take out of architecture and tutoring French and that's solely devoted to my yoga practice, education and teaching.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Snacking is critical to designing yoga graphics

The Time Kengo Kuma Lectured In San Diego

My frustration of not having a proper, full-time, salaried position was temporarily alleviated during the Kengo Kuma lecture at Woodbury University two weeks ago. For those who aren't familiar, Kuma is a Japanese architect.

His design theory touches materiality and structural design. There is a quality of emergent complexity to his work, where the structural rationale begins with a component that is iteratively and uniformly applied and repeated, until it populates a spatial span.

He was humble, soft-spoken and inspiring. He sounded like an architect devoted to and fascinated by his methodology and approach, and is committed to seeing an idea through, with a relentless patience.

Hand-drafting Sunday: the beginning of an isometric projection.

And I'm still wearing my hat on a daily basis.

Possible Design Portfolio Segment

Last March, after working on several personal projects with X - P o l l i n a t e Studio, I went to intern for Estudio Teddy Cruz, a local theoretical celebrity whose speculative work is published frequently and reaches architecture schools and publications globally. 

His Social Contracts tactics, the socio-economic and political groundwork for realizing architecture, is critical today more than ever, with the economic gap so drastically disparate. I'm a huge admirer or his design activism, and thus really want to include some of the info-graphics I worked on in the office in my portfolio. However, I'm just not certain that the story-boards read as well out of the context of his retrospect.

Those of you who are design savvy, please weigh in, I'd like to hear your opinion, on whether a diagram like the one below reads well enough to make it into a design portfolio. I've been toying with the idea of other info-graphics, but this one is critical to a local skate park project in San Diego. Thus far I've removed it, but I might add it back in, in some other capacity. Maybe play with scale, add text,or just feature an excerp. Thanks for the feedback!

Knitting As Therapy

So it's taken me about a year, but I've finally finished my first ever knitting project, which I began in Milwaukee last October. The awesome object you see hanging out on my head is my scarf-turned-slouchy hat.


Originally, I began knitting at a time when things were tough for my family in Milwaukee. Last year around this time, my grandmother spent many months in and out of the hospital, following an unsuccesful heart surgery. I flew home in October and helped out by staying at the hospital with her, as the Russian - English translator for the doctors and support and company for her. I decided to take up knitting to pass the time, as she mostly slept throughout the days. One of my mother's piano students, a teacher and expert knitter by the name of Rebecca, sat down with me and patiently showed me how to cast on stitches, then how to maneuver the knit and the purl stitch.

It was a bittersweet Autumn; spending time with my family in Milwaukee and being back home was amazing, while the inevitable situation with my grandma Ida was pressing and terribly hard on all of us. I found comfort in slowly working on my architecture portfolio, practicing yoga, spending time with my grandpa [the funniest and most upbeat individual I've come across in my entire life] visiting local firms whose work I admired, hanging out with friends from high school, drinking way too many cappuccinos at Alterra, and taking walks with my mom and Hadley in the autumn leaves. And knitting at the hospital. Often making mistakes, even starting this scarf-hat over a few times.

My grandma passed away in early February of this year. Tragically, and completely unexpectedly, my uncle, her only son, died suddenly of a heart attack six weeks before this. To even attempt to write about the sentiments and feelings my family has been experiencing wouldn't explain the half of it.

But strangely, as I reflect on last year's events, I can honestly say that knitting helped me; emotionally, it taught me, like yoga, to be more patient and introspective, and less hard on myself. Apparently making stitching mistakes is actually really really good for detail-oriented perfectionists like myself. Go figure. This may come across contrived, but it truly did change me. And even with the uneven stitches, the random switching of pattern and the occassional hole, I am going to wear my hat proudly, as I am doing today, and will be until California becomes too warm for one again.

A Home for Etgar Keret; or, Another Instance of My Thesis Being Realized!

Alley House

Behold! X - p o l l i n a t e s t u d i o 's Spice Holder

I'm a Yoga Teacher...Again!

After the travels and getting back into life, I'm teaching yoga again. So grateful and excited to be teaching at Prana Yoga in La Jolla tonight! It's where I received my training & I really love all of the instructors and the vibe of the place.

I designed a new sequence and even put together an awesome new playlist! I'll post it soon when I get a minute.

So you interested in joining? It's at 8pm tonight! Maybe if you hurry you can make it.

Yoga, or the Catalyst to Raise Western Consciousness

there is the option to embrace these movements autonomously. Without the historic precedent, because why should yoga keep insisting on credibility, anyway? The proof is in how it makes us feel. Agile, aware, closer to our consciousness, more aligned physically, like there's space between our joints, space that allows us to move within our own bodies.

Awathis system of breath with movement, and the soft determination that embodies yoga practice

A Saturday Morning in September

As you can see, Hadley beat me to the yoga mat this morning. The pup's got 
an earnest, if a bit limited practice. She mainly sticks to upward dog, 
downward dog and sphinx pose. 
In the bottom image she demonstrates Savasana.

This bun is about as polished as I wear my hair the past few seasons. I'm noticing that no matter 

how fancy the brands of my pieces of clothes get, the hair stays the same. Messy, easy, fast.

Reflections on a Busy Day

The Yom Kippur fast went fairly smoothly. I did start the day with cucumber water and several dried apricots. Lately I've been getting dizzy and lightheaded as soon as I feel hungry, so I didn't want to take any chances. I did get a headache from the lack of coffee, however. 

Today I'm stepping away from the home office today [and leaving behind this rambunctious little one]

[[not before taking us both on an hour-long sunrise walking adventure]], to do work at my beloved Influx. They use my favorite Cafe Moto roast, and I crave their coffee every single morning, especially in a mug.

I'm still working on the Paris Travelogue & from the looks of my schedule, it'll probably take another week or so of compilation. I'm working on it a few minutes a day, wherever I can squeeze in a break. 

This is going to be an organization-centered weekend. Everything from X-P o l l i n a t e Studio projects to thesis to personal projects. Loose papers have accumulated everywhere. The de-cluttering is long overdue.

Foods I've been enjoying this week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

potatoe gallette | yummysupper.blogspot.com

Pear + Apple Tarte | smittenkitchen

sesame seed Challah | David Feldman's grandma's Rosh Hashana recipe

Breakfast for Dinner | My Favorite!

  yogurt pancakes + blueberries

Yom Kippur | S E P T 2 5 2 0 1 2

For those who practice Judaism, at sundown tonight is the beginning of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews. It is the day of atonement, and is sort of like a cleanse for the soul. Actually, not just the soul, as one fasts for 25 hours, starting at sundown tonight to sundown tomorrow evening.

A few tips:

so the trick is just to cut back on this. if you can...

1. try not to drink too much coffee today, as tomorrow the withdrawal will hit you hard, rendering your fast unneccesarily challenging. Personally, that is almost an impossible feat, as I drink coffee, for the taste and for the caffeine, pretty much always.

2. stay very well hydrated

3. don't eat a huge meal tonight for the Meal of Cessation [or Seudat Mafseket]

4. Get lots of sleep. Maybe even a nap after services & before Break the Fast dinner tomorrow night!

So the first suggestion may be a bit late, as you could've done well to quit the coffee & other addictive liquid drinking several weeks prior to fasting. But still, I'm trying it today. No coffee. And considering that it's already noon, I'd assess that things are going quite well. Minus the pounding headache above my right eye.

To all a happy & sweet New Year & an easy fast!

Paris Travelogue | Partie 01

I'll upload more as soon as I compile the photos!

back from Paris!

before I share the incredible experience in France, I have to share this bit of domestic politics. As always, Jon sums up nicely...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/jon-stewart-fox-news-romney-47-percent-video_n_1899787.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Have I Forgotten that I'm a Francophile!?

It's four days until I fly through Detroit all the way to Paris, my cherished city. When I lived there in 2003 it hit me hard. Sunk into me. The last 9 years of my life have been eventful, however,  and I'm suspecting that with a formal education in architecture and practicing in the design field, aaaand now being familiar with life in NY and Seattle, will leave even a bigger impression than my experiences living there as an exchange student.

"Viens, viens ici," the city whispers to me. As I do a mad dash between projects to secure Paris Design Week activities, Anthony Bourdain recommended eateries, artisanal coffee roasters and cafes, and cutting edge art galleries, I ask in disbelief: "Have you honestly forgotten what a francophile you once were, oh sensitive girl? Doesn't the sound of someone speaking French make your heart beat fast? And what of your architecture thesis, didn't your premise begin with the notion of flanerie?"

I have a lofty goal of organizing all of the tours, hints of places to visit, getting lost and eating into a graphic pamphlet of sorts before Sunday morning. But that's mostly a dream as there are 3 project deadlines approaching in the next two days.

The Left Side

According to lifehacker.com there was a study published this year in Experimental Brain Research which suggests that your better more photogenic side is most likely the left one. Here's what the Experimental Brain article had to say:

"Our results suggest that posers' left cheeks tend to exhibit a greater intensity of emotion, which observers find more aesthetically pleasing. Our findings provide support for a number of concepts – the notions of lateralized emotion and right hemispheric dominance with the right side of the brain controlling the left side of the face during emotional expression."

my left side

Hadley's left side

Why is this of interest? I began to notice that Hadley turns her chin to the right and looks off into space for just about every photo I take of her. Eventually this got me curious... 

Why a Lack of Sincerity Is a Shame

disclaimer: this is a dark and critical post, don't read it if you don't want to read  hear my frustrations.

I have these neighbors, a couple. They moved in at a time when a number of strangely rough and unmotivated bar industry individuals, all socially and vocationally interlinked to one another, had moved into my downton complex of live/work artist lofts. Needless to say they turned the only downtown living quarters with a gate and front lawn into a daytime Coors light can and base-bumping top billboard hits headquarters and turned the concept of artists' lofts to "artists'" lofts within days of their aggregate arrival. 

That could be one reason why I was so pleased to encounter the new couple. They initially appeared so normal and delightful that even as certain events unfolded and truth pointed otherwise, I continued to imagine that maybe these were the intelligent, wholesome and fun friends I've been continuously searching for. I imagined we could cook heirloom vegetable dinners, play scrabble, and go see live shows since they were into similar music. Somewhat selfish, yes, but San Diego is a somewhat philistine suburban sprawl of a city, and making intelligent, interesting and sincere friends has been tough. At least for me. Anyway, she seemed sweet, and he energetic, and I genuinely delighted in their company. At the very beginning. 

Then things, as they usually do with time, began to surface. I quickly realized that business came first, and friendship much much later on their list of priorities. His energetic facade showed glimpses of a fake, pushy and opportunistic behavior geared mainly at a business agenda, and her sweetness melted into a self-centered and judgemental personality with an alarming lack of sincerity.

On our third or so outing, she began to reveal her actual thoughts. Here I must say that my deadpan and dry sense of humor does get lost on occassion, moreso in San Diego than say Seattle, Paris, and New York.  I was recalling a story of design studio and punctuating it with [what I perceived as] witty, sarcastic remarks. At one point my friend and one half of the couple in question roared with laughter. Since she seemed quiet I glanced at her to make sure she got the joke. 

She looked at me with a such a mixture of haughty disdain and hesitant reservation that I felt compelled to continue. I finished my story. 

The incidents didn't stop there. Every so often when we'd get together go straight into this mode, where she'd whisper to her husband, make those around her uncomfortable and create reasons why we all had to turn around and leave our place of choice for a social gathering.

I eventually realized that these were people who would meet you for dinner at a gastropub only to leave  once they realized their beer of first choice was not offered on the menu. Shameless. 

If there's one thing that I detest more than explicit self-centered jerks, it's solely self-concerned jerks masquerading around under the pretense of sincerely, carefree and sweet people. 

Another thing I realized throughout this process is that my friends are incredible, and instead of growing the circle, I need to focus on them. Even if San Diego's sprawl makes it impossible for us to not have to drive nearly half an hour to meet for a coffee, a picnic or night out. All the more reason for a dense and vibrant urban core! But that's a different topic and a different post.

Political Satire's Genius Season

After watching a few episode clips tonight I felt the urge to express gratitude for Jon Stewart's savvy, sharp, politically sophisticated and hilarious analysis of our socio-political happenings.  I haven't actively studied political science in over seven years, so he's basically become my go-to news source. 

In fact I get the majority of my news and proposed analysis angles from the guy. I mean, he is a scholar! A comedian scholar, which is actually borderline overwhelming it's so amazing. And just when I think that The Daily Show can't get any more clever[er], around comes - [drumroll...] 

E l e c t i o n  S e a s o n ! ! ! And then things truly get amusing. 

So by now you're probably thinking that my critical thinking skills are close to nonexistent, but he truly is one of my favorite analysts.

This Friday night the yoga photoshoot in La Jolla went really well. We shot at sunset and dusk and the whole experience was really just a lot of fun. The photographers didn't want to reveal any of the photos until they've been somewhat edited, and I'll post some here once I receive. But today I've felt a bit under the weather, so I'm staying away from the Labor Day crowds outside my downtown windows and am about to try to lull myself to sleep with some 1970s architecture theory.

Mes Accomplissements Culinaires

pour la semaine...

This next week is insane busy, but I'm going to challenge myself to 5 minute posts on the life's goings on. We're not only amidst multiple projects, but I have a yoga photoshoot this Friday with fantastic local photographers duo and friends of mine. Quixotic Pictures quixoticpictures.com.

Also, I set a goal of listening to France Radio while I design each day until Paris, for which the countdown has officially begun! 11 days!!! Must brush up on the rusty language skills!

Which brings me back to the post, which is culinary accompishments for the week, despite busy design schedule. Late Sunday night I made borscht. A huge gigantic pot of gorgeous dark red beet soup. I've grown up on it & I'm in love with the stuff. Only thing is, it's been so hot in Southern California, that next on the agenda is Cold Borscht. [which I feel is the actual name so I'm going to keep it capitalized]

My family recipe. Well, that's not exactly true. This is actually my grandfather's cook's recipe, but it's very close to our family's.

Up next, this is the carrot cake I made Monday night. It's a combination of several recipes I found online. One from epicurious and another the other from my new favorite gourmet boutique-ish cooking blog - SmittenKitchn. 

I accidentally threw in buttermilk that was meant for a glaze to the batter instead, but all for the better. The thing tasted amazing! It was for the first leg of Jason's birthday celebration, which took place last night. Some of us had the carrot cake with coffee ice-cream; a savvy, wise choice.

And this last image is my submittal to the gourmet grilled cheese-a-thon competition. I was going for somewhat rustic, somewhat home-down but with a twist. Ingredients include:

bakery sourdough

heirloom tomato

chipotle sauce [from Krakatoa, a local coffee & sandwich shop]

thick cut bacon

gouda cheese

muenster cheese

compe cheese

Ok, the time for these entries throughout the busy days will be increased to 10 minutes. As this one just took 15.

Last Minute Design Competition Submittal

Update: As promised I've uploaded a proper document of our submittal. On Monday we received an email from the jurors telling us that we've been accepted to participate and that our design is 'fabulous' !! We're really excited & grateful for the recognition, and we think the P U [P]AVILION is fabulous too. It'll be fabricated on a CNC using plywood, & on display in San Diego in October. More info to follow.

To the Bowhaus dog house design competition! This is just a screenshot. I don't think the design proposal brief is legible. I'll upload a proper PNG later, one that'll make the lineweights and colors read. This is all Hadley inspiration. And Jason, because without him the 3D model wouldn't be built using T-Splines. 

Disheveled Elegance

How many times has disheleved elegance been reinvented? When did it first start? I can't seem to fall asleep, so I'm considering the history of style until I do.

Jason's birthday g r a p h i c s

I realize there's more to architecture than pure aesthetics but I am admittedly graphics obsessed. I created this birthday invitation for Jason's 29th in about 20 minutes this past Tuesday when there were lots of projects to be worked on. Sometimes one must procrastinate, however, in order to play with typography. 

the inspiration for the subtractive type came from a museum exhibition invite

The composition below was inspired by an intersection of Jorgen Leth's The Perfect Human, Existentialism & maybe a dash of Dutch minimalism.   

A Short Trip to HorseShoe

On Sunday I took an hour out of the workday to take Hadley to the beach. It was a grueling competition submittal day so I almost didn't go. But then Jason convinced me we need a break and I grabbed Had & got in the car before there was time to change my mind.

Horse Shoe Beach. One of my La Jolla favorites.

 I chased Had down my 'locals only' passageway and had to blink several times once I saw the ocean. It was so much more bright, expansive and beautiful than I remembered. I sucked in gulps of salty air. I couldn't get enough.

  It was glorious. It reminded me how crucial balance is. I constantly get lost in design and start to rush around. Living downtown puts this false impession in my head that a break is a book and a coffeeshop. Which is nice. But the ocean was magnificent; a tiny vacation.  I told myself not to forget again that I live in a beach town, with beautiful beach cliff typography, deep gold sunsets, misty shorebreak, salty ocean air, and warm sand.

All It Takes

 Is Good D e s i g n . . .

To get me extremely excited.

I'm a serious sucker for cleverly designed stationary and zip cases made of  cool fiber and textured materials. That's why I had to share Almanac Industries, a Baltimore purveyor and crafter of letterpressed paper products and bound books. They also carry tasteful leather goods. 

almanacindustries.com

love. but can't justify the price.

plan and elevation. humble yet pleasing.

As I am obsessed with handcrafted just about everything, and love to bind books & my portfolio [a passion I picked up learning when I set out to perfect bind my thesis book in studio] I'm really impressed with the fact that they have a press and with just about all of their items for sale on Etsy.

shop.lamblife.com
my canvas zip case I picked up from Lamb, a design boutique in Grand Rapids, when
we passed through on the cross-country summer roadtrip



The hapticity of these items is just so alluring. Not to mention books have always been romantic to me; handling a rare or older book [read vintage if you happen to be a 'tween] or a matte cover design magazine leaves me elated, & brings out a sort of awe and sentimentality. Seriously.

Almanac Industries: leather enclosed notebook



It seems the arrival and widespread use of the iPad & Kindle for reading has thrust me further into my love affair with graphically pleasing and quality crafted books, [actually any physical books at this point] and letterpressed stationary. 

xpollinatestudio.com

A bit random, but the texture of x - p o l l i n a t e s t u d i o ' s cardboard lamps is 

in lockstep with the types of textures I love & of which I can't get enough.

The Time We Felt Small Victories

Last Thursday Jason Abe & I met with the owners of The Village and delivered our proposal. If you're thinking this is only a sign, then maybe I need to explain the scale. The sign's roughly 12-14' x 5'. 

intense discussions. our lamps overhead. can be found at  xpollinatestudio.com

But what was most exhilirating about the presentation is that the concept that we, along with clients Emma and Cynthia, collectively decided upon was a fusion of our three visions. It's three distinct yet intertwined ideas that layer to create the whole, which emphasizes how our varying strengths play together. 

a render of one initial proposal from the package.  

The next day was also the launch of our resource-spurred designed object series. You can check them out soon on our website. xpollinatestudio.com

cardboard lamps + graphic labels by X-P o l l i n a t e  S t u d i o

A Friday in August

Today was one of those mornings where I got up, staggered to my laptop, plopped down somewhat ungracefully and just got to work. Forgoing all of my morning rituals. I even denied Hadley her morning walk. These types of mornings happen once in a while. They can be traced back to grad school - when life had no balance, and was all about studio. About the push and getting your ideas out of your head.

But they're also a really effective way for me to growth spurt my way through a portion of a project, so this morning I accepted the urge and spent the first 4 hours of my morning glued to the laptop screen. No toothbrush, no breakfast, not even a coffee.

Around 11, I finally showered and dressed myself, pleased to find that old packed away clothes I haven't worn in a long while came together into a fairly pleasing outfit. 

It was also a day that the temperatures were so high that Hadley was panting as she lay on her bed. I went through a usb full of architecture office tour photos and found this image from the REX studio in NY. http://rex-ny.com Styrofoam concept and massing models, some stark white while others bright shades of orange and red. 

Jason came by on his lunch hour to discuss x-pollinate studio agenda. Hadley was pleased as always.

That evening, I headed out to meet Erin, my friend from Estudio; a super sharp girl with the keenest sense of humor. We met for happy hour at Jayne's Gastropub, one of my favorites, and a true gastropub, not the self proclaimed gastropub of our days with funny saucesand greasy bar food; the real deal.  We stayed through the beautiful dusk and into the night.

photo: lgbtweekly.com