ElegantKB

Mark Morris Dance L'allegro at Berkeley Zellerbach, KB is delighted!

What an excellent performance!  Strength, beauty, and color are all present in the 20th anniversary show from Mark Morris Dance Group.  The combination of SF Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the Chamber Chorus from UC Berkeley and the MM dancers was incredible.  I'm sure the critics are writing rave reviews again.  Handel's Concerto and the Pastoral ode from the Milton poems are masterpieces already. The collaborative effort is just outstanding.  I completely enjoyed the classic piece of MM choreography with perfectly gorgeous costumes and thoughtful scenery.  These dancers are incredible. Our special friend loaned us a copy of the Celebration book she purchased after the show.  The pages are full of incredible dance images and narrative for each piece. This is an awesome commemorative souvenir.  The cover photo barely does justice for this work.  

Handmade pottery for gifts, KB really wants to keep them!

We picked out these 2 great pieces at the High School Holiday Fund raising fair.  The price was amazing for these unique pottery pieces. It was great to meet the artist in person and tell her how much her work is appreciated. The bowl is a very unique color and many people were attracted to it.  It will look great filled with limes or kiwi fruits that are coming into season soon. The vase is really substantial.  I mean if you have an intruder it can do some damage.  It's stable and can hold a huge bunch of flowers without tipping.  We love the contemporary two-tone color combination.  We help Marin School of the Arts Visual Art Boosters by purchasing these at the fund raiser and that feels good.  We are always happy to  support local artists and schools.

Russian Tea Cookies, KB's family recipe never fails!

These cookies are so delicious probably due to all the butter and sugar.  We made them to sell at the fund-raising fair for Marin School of the Arts Dance Boosters.  We generally make these around the holidays and give them out to our special people.  I've been making these since about first grade and they are so easy that my daughters picked that up too.  Click here for a similar recipe I found on the web. We packaged them up in cello baggies we ordered last year from Sally Foster.  The polka dots are cute and I should have ordered more of them.  I think they are discontinued.  You can taste something like these Russian Tea Cookies at Tom's Cookie shop in the cellar of Macy's Union Square in San Francisco, only he makes them bigger and with some chocolates chunk which we do not add since it's really not needed.  Yum!

Day at Osmosis spa, KB is a new woman, recommend enzyme baths!

This is the nicest thing I have done for myself all summer.  We spent the afternoon at the Osmosis spa and sanctuary in Freestone, CA.   It's a beautiful experience!  The cedar enzyme bath is incredible.  It's so unique and hard to describe... you just have to try it. The zen meditation garden is perfect.  The staff is friendly and professional. I highly recommend Roberta for the facial treatment.   We both felt a complete escape from our everyday habits.  Here's a link to the Osmosis site so you can see pictures of this extraordinary place.  And I think it's great to mention they are a "green" spa.  Warning:  You may not want to leave!

Organic Breakfast Tea, KB recommends the Mighty Leaf, delicious!

I love both coffee and tea.  But if push came to shove, I'd rather drink tea.  There are more varieties and flavors of tea to explore. Today I tried a special organic breakfast tea.  This tea is especially special because it was part of a barter for a bicycle.  Some people, including my daughters, think this is silly.  How can tea be worth as much as a bicycle?  I remind them that wars have been waged over tea.... and all the tea in China must be worth something!  This is not your ordinary tea after all.  And it's not that easy to find.  Our Whole Foods Market is still under construction so there is really nowhere in town to buy these teabags-- except the Flour Chylde bakery.  So when I found out my daughter's friend's mother works for the tea company I was excited.  Not only did I get to make a new friend, I got to try some of the special blends and treat myself over and over again to new flavors.  Just look at the tea bag in the picture- you can see it's hand-crafted with care.  I'm delighted by this morning's cup of tea.  It's really tasty.  Our favorite blend has to be the Vanilla Bean- these tea bags disappeared from my sampler. Check out the Mighty Leaf site too!

Bonbons Assortis and Bonbons les Framboises, KB enjoys!

Every since I was a child I've enjoyed these little French candies called Pastillines.  I like to keep them in my handbag from time to time. There are many varieties from the company called La Vie de La Vosgienne.  I found some larger quantities on Amazon.  Here's a link.  But I prefer to purchase them one at a time at the local sweet shop.  I feel more privileged to select one choice flavor at a time.  My all time favorite is the Bonbons les Framboises.  They taste lovely, raspberry, and they are shaped like teeny berries.  I also like the assorted fruits pictured below.  These are little round candies just sweet enough for me. I enjoy the packaging, the pretty artwork and the dainty little tins.  The tins are great for storage too.  I use them to store items such as safety pins, push pins, favorite quotes and fortune cookie sayings.  I hope you taste the bonbons soon.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, KB wears green and lucky 24 kt. gold charm!

Here’s a sweet vintage greeting reminding everyone to wear green today!  I like the idea that everyone can be a wee but Irish today.  It makes me smile.

I found a perfect lucky charm yesterday at the San Francisco Gem Faire at Fort Mason.  It’s an actual 4 leaf clover dipped in gold.  This little charm would be a thoughtful gift, don't you agree? I’m wearing it with my green crochet cardigan layered over a cotton tee.  I feel lucky today!  I have to tell you more about the Gem Faire later.  Here's a schedule for the Faire if you're interested.  I found some very nice items that I will offer on ebay soon! 

Anticipating a Chocolate Art Bar, KB says it’s a delectable treat

I discovered a whole collection of Art Bars on the chocolate wall at our local sweet shop. When I saw that the bar is organic, Swiss chocolate and proceeds go to art education I decided to try it.  Also on the wrapper it said a collectible art reproduction card would be enclosed.  So there is a bit of intrigue.  My daughters scoffed at my expensive chocolate bar but they won’t mind when I share a bit of it.  I wanted to open it today while everyone was at school but I thought it is better to share something like this.And it was worth the wait.  It’s an excellent quality chocolate bar!  You can find out more about Art Bar at this link. We tried the milk chocolate. And the art reproduction card was an interesting piece from a woman named Mary Hambleton.  I went to her site and found some images I enjoy. I'm particularly fond of the dots and round shapes she uses in her pieces. I think I’ll try another Art Bar soon, most likely the dark chocolate bar because nobody likes dark except me! So if you see an Art Bar, go ahead and indulge!

Vintage Elegant Lady Gift Box created by KB

Here’s a wonderful way to put those elegant ladies on display.  First, I created a collage of some of my vintage lady images in my favorite photo editing tool, Adobe Photoshop.  Then I painted some blank papier-mache boxes using acrylic paint.  I chose a jet black for the outside of the box due to my philosophy that a touch of black makes things more sophisticated.  I chose a deep royal blue for the box interior.  I made 2 boxes using this square collage.  The other box was larger than the one shown here.  I measured the boxes and used Photoshop to get the size just right before I printed them out on matte paper.  Then I used artist's adhesive spray to mount the paper on the box lid.  The final step was a coat of shellac. The box made a perfect container for my friend’s gift.  I secured it with a fancy black ribbon.

I want to make more of these boxes using different images.  The only trouble is that when I went to the art supply store I had a hard time finding blank boxes that were up to par in quality.  If you look for papier-mache boxes be sure to test out the lids and make sure they fit properly on the boxes.  I'm picky about this.  I wasn't able to find more than 3 at one time that met my standards. If you know any stores in the S.F. Bay Area that I can check, please leave me a comment.  My other idea is to make my own box!

Black and White Photography and KB's Paperwhites

It’s not too late to mention this calendar featuring black and white photography by Marty Knapp of Pt. Reyes Station, CA.  This calendar was designed by my mother, who is a graphic artist.  Thanks mom, for sending me a calendar.  This is called Wind and Water patterns 2008.  I think the calendar, or Marty's book, or any of his prints make really nice gifts. Here's a link to his secure web site. Black and white photography is an elegant art in itself.   I can appreciate it, especially in these 12 images.  I like it so much I’m not even going to write on the calendar.  I don’t want to ruin the creamy pages with my scribbles. 

 

These delicate paperwhite narcissus are coming out in my front bed and all around the neighborhood here in Northern California. They used to come out earlier, around the New Year but I think they needed a nice freeze or something.  My garden is good to me.  I haven’t put in much time gardening lately.  Plants and bulbs established years ago are still happy to grow and bloom and move the season along.