Chronicles

My lunches are usually quite productive. I spend most bouncing around from place to place, running errands, making phone calls and perusing local shops in search of the perfect . But none of this can be done without first grabbing a bite to eat – food first, shopping second. On this particular occasion, I decided to go up the street to one of my favorite lunch places, The Market on Holly, to grab one of their delicious sandwiches. [...]

Last Wednesday, we spent a balmy evening outdoors with the girls at a concert for an old friend of mine, Janet Klein. [...]

The Huntington holds some 6.5 million manuscripts and more than a million rare books. It is by far not the average library visit. It is filled with breathtaking botanical illustrations, ornate calligraphy and old maps. I was glad to take my daughter Miya there to witness these magnificent hand made work of the past. [...]

One of the greatest sanctuaries in Pasadena is The Huntington Library - a private, nonprofit institution devoted to culture, research, education and beauty. It was founded by Henry E. Huntington in the early 1900s, a great philanthropist and world traveller who made his fortune in railroads, utilities and real estate in Southern California and had a keen interest in books, art and gardens. It is such a surreal and endless place. Every corner is magical and takes you to different times and distinct parts of the world. [...]

I was happily snapping away with my camera when a sudden feeling of "hey-I’ve-been-here-before" almost knocked me off my feet.  The throes of freshly-arrived tourists whisked me away from the cramped corridor and  on to the next room as I  blinked myself back to reality. The two hour tour inside the Udaipur City Palace has barraged me with thousands of visual stimulations. The colors, the patterns, the details, are too intense to be processed all at once. [...]

Plane ticket never fails to tickle me. I love to travel and take little adventures. When I was a little girl, I used to read Madita (“Madicken” in Swedish), a novel by Astrid Lindgren, over and over again. Madita was my childhood idol.  I was so fascinated by her character. She was kind-hearted, sometimes hot-tempered, smart, adventurous and often had crazy ideas. There was one chapter where she almost jumped off the roof with an umbrella, because she heard that by jumping with an umbrella from an airplane you can fly. [...]

I am both an early riser and a night owl, constantly on the lookout for quaint little spots to contemplate and recharge throughout the day. One of my favorite spots is Intelligentsia Coffee Bar, in Old Town Pasadena, because it is open from 7 am to 12 Midnight, Friday – Saturday and 7 am to 8 pm Thursday – Sunday. It is the perfect place to pop in and get a pick-me-up at any point in the day. Their ‘Gibraltar’ coffee is my go-to. It is a delightful cup that is somewhere between a macchiato and a cappuccino. [...]

It was my birthday last week and it has been a tradition to shop for myself on this historical day! My husband Dominic took me to this incredible hat shop in Old Town Pasadena - the Goorin Brothers. The interior took me back into an era when traveling brought social prestige and wearing a hat was a necessity. The shop was filled with jazz music, old posters, vintage luggage, Art Nouveau furniture and black & white photography. I could not help imagining an epoch cruise and needing a cloche hat so badly. [...]

A turtle followed her from her dream that morning. She carried it inside her tote all day long. The little new friend told her many stories. She sketched all his tales on her canvas tote,  to capture their friendship forever. [...]

Fresh from their morning art class at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena just down the street from the Studio, Melissa brought her girls in for a visit to the Studio. The girls instantly sought out the best parts of any office. After filling coffee cups with packing peanuts for a make-believe tea party they each took a seat across from one another with a piece of paper and a pen. . . . Days earlier Melissa shared her latest work, which she keeps with her in a small leather sketchbook. [...]

Last week, we managed to take Myra out for an afternoon tea session at Tirtayasa - a home of Melissa's and  Tulisan's first headquarter before we moved into the store. As Tulisan’s Head of Operations, Myra leads the team that has been preparing the production lines for our international debut. For the past couple of months, she has been splitting her time between the workshop, the factory, and the store so it was nice to have a quiet moment for a proper chat over tea. I always love Myra's quirky style, she's a little bit of everything: plain but [...]

The past few weeks have welcomed many new and exciting arrivals. The first, our arrival in the new studio. A quaint spot nestled in the heart of Old Town Pasadena, the space makes the perfect West Coast home for Tulisan. [...]