sprout creek farm

August 11, 2014

last week, we moved some furniture up to the campus apartment. on the way out of town, we stopped at sprout creek farm. apparently, hhh drives past it all the time and has seen its cheeses in brooklyn markets, but we've never actually visited.

there is a main complex that houses the market as well as a cow barn, it seems, and a couple other barns.

sprout creek farm is a working farm and educational center. prior to this, the only farm i'd visited in the hudson valley was stone barns, which is probably way too fancy an establishment to call a farm anyhow. also, i think it's in westchester county, which maybe isn't technically in the hudson valley? anyway. on our visit, there was a group of campers looking like they were learning useful lessons about the earth. there were also other people on tractors, tending to cows, doing generally farmer-eque things.

i just noticed that those benches are made out of pallets.

apparently you can stay at a cottage they have on the grounds! they will pair it with meals as well, and if you have kids they can go to camp. i was trying to figure out if they have adult farm classes, but it didn't look like it. (too bad. learning to farm sounds like an excellent way to procrastinate on my dissertation.)

the porch in front of the market, where i waited with willa while hhh bought some cheese.

these goats were awesome! they just kept staring at us as we approached. it sort of looked like they were about to put on some kind of performance. or maybe they expected us to?

it was a nice little detour on the way back to brooklyn. you should stop by if you have a chance!

kata noi

July 29, 2014

it's almost august, and i'm craving a beach vacation. since i don't have one planned anytime soon, i'm consoling myself by going through these photos from our belated honeymoon to thailand a couple months back. look at that sky! i'm setting it as my screensaver right now.

we stayed on kata noi beach, and since it was low season, there were barely any others around. our fellow guests consisted of several korean couples who walked around filming themselves at all times with some some sort of tripod contraption, and europeans who kept staging amateur photo shoots on the rocks down by the beach. there was a lot of self-documentation going on.

hhh and i spent most of our time in the pool, reading and eating, and thinking about what to eat next. hhh had a really difficult time grasping the concept of having nothing to do, so it took him a day or two to catch on. even then, he spent most of his time taking photos of the aforementioned fellow hotel guests and their weird antics, and the parade of chinese couples having their wedding photos taken on the beach right below our villa (see exhibits a and b).

there were a couple of afternoon showers...

but it was lovely weather for the most part.

the villa wasn't too shabby either.

we spent ninety-five percent of our time at the resort. my plan was to sit on my ass as much as possible, since i knew we'd be going to tokyo next and i probably would be walking ten hours a day for the next week. on one of our last full days, we went into old phuket town and had a meal. the architecture there is pretty interesting, a mish-mash of sino/british/colonial.

unfortunately, we went to town in the middle of a downpour, so we weren't able to walk around too much. plus, we had a driver foisted on us by the hotel, who didn't seem to think that there was anything worth seeing in old town and was very resistant to driving us around there. mostly, he just wanted us to go to this one seafood restaurant (which did turn out to have the most delicious fried giant shrimp and spicy mussels).

it was my first time to a beach in thailand, since i'd only previously transited through or gone to bangkok for work. i wouldn't say no to going back. now...where i should go for my next sun/sand vacation?

a country weekend

July 15, 2014

it's nice to get away sometimes (all the time). i was upstate last weekend with some friends. there was a lot of lounging about, swimming, grilling, aimless (but sometimes weirdly heated) discussions about celebrities, and a really lovely early morning walk.

we went into hudson one day. lunch was grilled cheese at grazin, and then window-shopping down warren street. steph and amy picked up some plants at the secret gardener on warren street.

i saw this pretty pink house, which reminded me of this one.

and then back at the house, i ogled the decor some more before jumping into the pool.

man, this summer has really sucked so far.

tokyo series: linens and textiles

July 13, 2014

i went to tokyo coveting all kinds of things. one item on the list was hasami porcelain, and another was a set of kontex towels. and of course, anything and everything from fog linen work. i had already seen fog linen products in taiwan at eslite spectrum, but was excited to visit the flagship store in shimokitazawa. i also discovered a couple of other spots with beautiful textiles.

the fog linen work store is not too far from the shimokitazawa station.

their linens are designed in japan and made in lithuania.

some bright gingham , plaid, and chambray.

these trays are also pressed linen, interestingly.

some of the coasters and placemats we brought home from fog linen work.

i had also read about cocca, a textile shop in daikanyama. the first time i tried to go, it was closed (but that's how i discovered the amazing allegory home tools across the street). i returned another day and got a closer look at their unique and super cheery fabrics.

the exterior of cocca on the day it was closed.

they also sell clothing, bags, and other goods made from their fabrics.

the walls are lined with bolts of fabric. a lot of these would make beautiful wallpaper!

on the day that cocca was closed, i wandered into a shop across the street. it looked cute but not spectacular...there was scaffolding up and a lot of random baskets.

but inside, they carried both hasami porcelain AND kontex towels! their prices weren't bad either.

the flax organics line of kontex towels.

it's safe to say that i made most of my purchases in japan at these stores. i've been using the towels since getting home, and they are suuuper soft. (hhh keeps asking when he will be allowed to use them.) these shops are definitely worth a visit, and both shimokitazawa and daikanyama are fun neighborhoods to walk around. plus while you're in shimokitazawa, you can stop in j.s. pancake for these amazing snacks. i could eat some of those mochi pancakes right now.

tokyo series: i ♥ muji

June 29, 2014

while in tokyo, hhh and i visited several different types of MUJI stores, even though there are MUJIs in new york and basically all the other cities i've visited in recent years. it was worth it: they totally save the good stuff for japan. first, we went to a fairly typical MUJI in shimokitazawa, which already had way more in the way of household goods and linens than stores in other countries. then, on our last night in the city, we were headed to rakushokushu maru (best meal we had in tokyo!) when we spotted a found MUJI.

found MUJI is a different kind of MUJI store--the first floor looks like some sort of exhibit, very curated and very sparse. the second floor is more commercial, and holds objects and goods sourced from around the world. while the items fits MUJI's general aesthetic, they don't seem to be produced exclusively for MUJI. it's reeeally quiet in found MUJI, and we tiptoed around like we were in a museum.

the signage on the first floor, at the back of the store.

in contrast, the flagship Yurachuko MUJI Atelier is livelier than most other MUJIs i've been in. there's certainly a lot more going on: the first floor holds a MUJI lab, full of clothing i haven't seen in other branches. up the escalator, there is a large cafeteria, as well as a sizable grocery section. we actually had to visit twice, because i insisted on coming back to see all the areas i missed the first time around.