Adoption-smoption, let's talk design!

Yesterday marked the start of our 9th month on the wait list. I'm not complaining, really, it will all work out the way it is supposed to. But still. 9 months???

But enough of that. A girl can only think about adoption for so many hours (22) in day. Some times she needs to just think about Other Things. And so today, in lieu of adoption talk, I'm going to talk about another one of our passions: architecture and design.

Last weekend was my birthday and so The Esquire and I took off for Palm Springs to do all the things I love to do most: eat lovely food, nap in lovely spots, drive around and look at lovely homes. Palm Springs is a mecca for a modern design junkie so with some help from Google, I mapped out a little self-guided tour of all the desert city's famous architectural landmarks.

Let me make it clear right from the beginning: I am not an expert. I know just enough about design and architecture to be really annoying but not enough to actually know what I'm talking about. But I do love to look and learn and so I thought I'd share some of the cool houses we discovered this past weekend. And what better way to get our minds off of adoption than by looking at the lovely lines of a Neutra right?

**Most of my info on these houses comes from the Palm Springs Modern Committee's website and the Palm Springs articles here.

The Kaufmann House, by Richard Neutra

Considered by many to be one of the most important and influential examples of 20th century architecture, The Kaufmann house was designed by Richard Neutra in 1946. I really, really love this house. Some people have Bird Lists, I have House Lists and this one was at the top. Sadly, the house is privately owned so we were just teased by the few cantilevers we could see from the street but that still thrilled me. You probably recognize the house from the famous Julius Shulman photos or perhaps the Slim Aarons photos (how much do you love that white crocheted outfit!) or maybe even from the Spring '08 J. Crew catalogue. Go here to read a really interesting blog about the history of this amazing house and to see some interior photos. And if you want to learn even more, go here to view the video and images put together by Christie's Auction House when they tried to auction off The Kaufmann House last spring.

Like I said above, I knew all about the Kaufmann house, but most of the other houses we sought out were all new to us. Palm Springs was booming in the '50s and the Alexander Construction Company made the most of that post-war boom by putting up all sorts of housing developments. These were the very first "McMansions." There were often 6-8 designs to choose from in a neighborhood and they all had the same Alexander formula "parking, breezeway, windows, wall." We saw it over and over again. Also, Alexander houses are known for their jazzy roofs...zigzag and butterfly, low gables andSwiss-miss type A-frames. I think they are so fun. (My fave house in LA has a butterfly roof...I'll have to find out who built it).

Come on, who wouldn't smile pulling into this driveway and seeing this roof every night:

The Alexander Company built houses all over Palm Springs and once we recognized the formula, it was like going on an Easter Egg hunt finding them all around town. Luckily, PS recognizes most of these houses as significant and so there was always a plaque to verify our find.

I really like this one.

Below is an Alexander home designed by Bill Krisel. It was called "The House of Tomorrow" and was supposed to be the original spec house for the neighborhood, but Bob Alexander's wife fell in love with it and demanded they keep it for themselves. Those polygonal floating windows are for the main bedroom. And those odd things to the side are called "bat wings." Another fun fact: Elvis spent his honeymoon here.



This house is not an Alexander. It's called 'The Ship of the Desert' and was built in the '30s by Wilson and Webster. Amazing how modern it still looks, 70 years later. No one would blink an eye at this house being built in LA today.


Thank goodness for zoom lenses. This is the famous Bob Hope house built by John Lautner in the 70's. Lautner was famous for his 'flying saucer' homes like the Chemosphere House here in LA. Apparently, Bob Hope and John Lautner fought over every aspect of this design.



On our last day in PS, we were lucky enough to find a little hidden gem of a neighborhood that apparently most residents don't even know about. Green Fairway Estates was also built by the Alexander brothers. It was the development they were working on when they both died in a plane crash in 1965. The slogan for this development of 2000 sq foot, 3- and 4-bedroom houses was "Live BIG in Palm Springs."

There were 9 master floor plans to choose from and with names like The Royal Singapore, The Maracaibo, The Royal Melbourne and theCapilano you can guess that these aren't really cookie-cutter houses. What makes this neighborhood so special is its sheer wackiness...which I'm afraid my pictures don't reflect very well. But trust me, the overall feeling you get riding down these streets looking at this collection of houses is ...well, wacky.

The architect, Donald Wexler designed some houses with these crazy Tiki-style, Hawaiian outriggers at the end of their very steep gables.

And next to that, he designed a crazy Aztec-themed house with the curved corners and the odd long narrow windows. And check out thattrapezoidal entry way.

And then mixed in with the South American and South Pacific style houses, he designed more 'normal' modern homes with glass walls that looked out onto the golf course. But to shake it up, he included stone walls that extended into the house. The desert sun can make everything look flat so architect DonaldWexler used the rock mined from the nearby desert to help cast shadows and create texture. I'm a big fan of the stone walls.






I wish my pictures really showed you how great this little neighborhood was. And while common decency made me refrain from taking pictures of the people we saw strolling around that Sunday morning, I'm guessing the owners are just as eclectic as their houses.

Ok. I'm done. Anyone besides Popi's dad still reading at this point? No matter, I had fun writing it all down...and that very act helped distract me for another hour or so from the you-know-what we are (patiently) waiting on....

Happy weekend,
Kat

PS...this is the little pensione we stayed at in Palm Springs, The Korakia. I picked it because it is very Moroccan both in style and vibe. And if you think I love mid-century design and butterfly roofs, just wait till I start talking about Moroccan riads and tadelakt!

The Great 22nd Experiment

And so... in three hours, April 22nd, 2009 will be over. Alas, the day didn't exactly pan out the way we were hoping but it was still a pretty amazing day.

For those of you involved in the Great 22nd Experiment...thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

It was an amazing thing to know so many of you were thinking of us today and aiming your beams of light in our direction.

And as my friend Maria said, "...the experiment was a success, the results just haven't been revealed yet."

Oh, and for those of you not involved this time...well, stay tuned I think we've got more to come...

xoxo-Kat & The Esquire

ps: It would be so super cool if, as you were reading this, you were listening to Together by Rabbit. But alas, I have no idea how to attach songs to my blog. So here's the less cool route... go here and listen to their first song Together. And then come back here and reread my entry as it plays. So you can feel the love too...

pss: but don't listen to Magic cause I've got dibbs on it...I'm totally going to figure this music/blog thing out and use it for some other especially poignant time!

Airport Magic

"There really is something magical about it. Just saying..."

That was Julie's response when I emailed to ask whether The Esquire and I should go to the airport last night to welcome home our friends just back from Ethiopia with their daughter. We had never been part of an "Airport Welcome Home Party" before and weren't sure of the protocol... Is it just family? Is it just very, very close friends? Should there be a party...won't it scare the child? We just didn't know and so I turned to the Expert in All Things, Julie, who told me we should be there. Because, "there really is something magical about it. Just saying..."

So we went.

And she was right.

We joined a big group of people in baggage claim waiting for the new family to arrive...some we knew, some we had never met, but by the time we said goodbye, all were wishing us good luck and saying "it's your time soon." Baby Anticipation makes friends out of strangers.

When the new family appeared, the whole airport heard our cheers.

Seriously, when is the last time you saw something this cute at the airport?

It was a reunion for these two. See, they had already met, months earlier when The Lady in the Hat was in Addis meeting her own cutie for the first time.

We all took turns holding her hand and soaking up her Ethiopian Magic.

Just in case you missed those eyelashes earlier....

Magic. Pure magic.

The Anticipated Babe allowed us to take photos and pet and coo over her with out a single fuss. And then her Grandmother hummed her to sleep...

PS...for more pictures of last night's magic, go here

Talismans.

I am not a particularly superstitious person. Not in the traditional sense anyway. I mean, sure, I'll yell "Jinx buy me a coke" if I happen to say the same thing at the same time as The Esquire but I don't necessarily go out of my way to avoid black cats or sidewalk cracks or ladders. I have been known to toss a bit of salt over my left shoulder, but like the Jinx Chant, that's more a habit than a superstition at this point.

But while I don't worry about broken mirrors or Friday the 13th or dropping dishcloths, I do tend to give meaning to certain random things.

When I was 16 my parents brought me a small silver cross necklace from Mexico. I have not boarded a plane without it on since then. Whether it's a small trip to the east coast or a longer trip involving passports, I never travel without that cross. I'm not in the least bit afraid to fly or to travel so is this a habit or a superstition...I'm not sure but I know I feel better wearing this necklace.

I have a certain shirt of The Esquires I always sleep in when he has to go out of town over night. Even if I have to pull it from the dirty clothes, I have to wear it when he's not here.

For almost 2 yrs now I have been wearing a string bracelet given to me by a Buddhist monk at Wat Pho in Bangkok. It used to be a bright yellow (the color used to represent the King of Thailand...who I LOVE with a devout passion) but now is a dirty chartreuse. When the monk tied it onto my right wrist he blessed it, my life and my future family. I'm not allowed to take it off...it has to break naturally. And so I continue to wear it (it shows no signs of breaking) ... but again, is this habit, superstition or fear of a Monk's Wrath?

So yes, I have things in my life that I attach meaning to. And lately, as the wait drags on, I've noticed that I am assigning even more weight to certain things.
I have started carrying around in my wallet the little Ethiopian cross shown above. I inherited it from my mother-in-law who purchased it when they lived in Addis. I touch it every time I open my wallet. I've also started wearing 24/7 this mustard seed charm. My mother received it from her uncle when she was in high school and I grew up loving to play with it. She gave it to me a few years back but for some reason, even though I still loved it, I just never wore it. And then suddenly, starting last month I have begun to wear it non-stop. I touch it and rub it and think about the parable of the mustard seed all the time.

And right now, sitting on my computer monitor I have these two things:
Our first Fisher Price Little Person black boy (I've named him Kevin...seems so 70's doesn't it?) and this little hand-beaded Africa key chain given out as a wedding favor at my friend's Susan and Wusu's ceremony a few years back. Green, white and blue are the colors of the Sierra Leone flag, which is where Wusu (and the key chains) are from. They met 20-something years ago in the Peace Corps in SL and were finally able to get married 2 years ago. Sweet huh? I feel both Kevin and this key chain are chock-a-block full of goodness and optimism so I look at them every day.

Oh, and have I mentioned The Esq's horoscope last week? (Horoscopes being something we both read for fun but only believe in if they sound good...you know how that works). Last Friday his horoscope in the LA Times said:

Your energy will be a bit scattered until you focus on one wish.
Create a symbol for your wish and carry it with you.

Yes. Well. Since then he and I both have the above photo of Kevin and the key chain as the screen savers on our phones.

I feel like we are in the final stretch of the Wait List Race. I feel like things are about to happen and for some reason, having all these little talismans, these good luck symbols make me feel better. I know they don't have any real magical power. And I know that our children will be revealed to us at the perfect time (April 22nd) so it doesn't matter how many Ethiopian Crosses I carry. But for some reason, having these things around helps me focus on the goal.

Silly? Maybe. But who cares. All I need right now is faith the size of a mustard seed. And an African key chain. And Kevin...

April 16th: Through the Years

This is where the Esquire and I were on April 16, 2005

My parents farm in Georgia



This is where we were on April 16, 2006

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

This is where we were on April 16, 2007

Oklahoma City National Memorial

This is where we were on April 16, 2008

Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve

And this is where I was today, April 16, 2009

Santa Monica Museum of Art, meeting Elias Sime, Ethiopian artist extraordinaire

And this is what the Esquire and I will eat tonight, to celebrate 4 years of sweet marriage.

Harmony's Special Anniversary Coconut Cheesecake...Thank you!

A Hollywood Easter

For Easter this year, the Esquire and I had one of those only-in-LA kinda of experiences. You know the kind I mean... when you mix a historic landmark with religion, high production values and a touch of kitsch. And the result is so oddly perfect that you wonder why you've never been before? Why have we never celebrated Easter at the Hollywood Bowl before this year??

It was a sunrise service and the website said the gates opened at 3:30. AM. Now, I love Easter, and I love my faith and I take it very seriously. But there is no way I am going to rush the gates of church at 3:30 am.

Here's what LA looked like as we drove to the Bowl at 5am. Notice anything weird about these LA streets? NO OTHER CARS.


You know what the Hollywood Bowl is right? Originally built in 1922, it's the largest natural amphitheatre in the US and one of LA's most recognizable sights. Remember the Bugs Bunny cartoon "Long Haired Hare"... the one where he gets into a fight with an opera singer. Bugs pretends to be the conductor and makes the singer hold a high note for so long that the amphitheatre ultimately collapses around them. The amphitheatre in the cartoon...that's the Hollywood Bowl.

Here's what the Bowl looks like at 5:30am at the start of the service.

Over 250 choir members from churchs around LA participated in the service. These kids were part of the International Peace Choir.

These two little girls, Janna and Danielle, had amazing voices for a 6 and a 9 year old. But I have to confess that I found it slightly disturbing to hear a 6 year old sing, in an adult's alto, "Does He still feel the nails, every time I fail." What was wrong with Jesus Loves Me?

Slowly the sky is starting to lighten.

In addition to the amazing choirs, there were 4 ministers who took part in the service, including Father Pedro Conreras from Colombia who was listed in the program as "an old Catholic Church Priest."

Also featured in the service was Tippi Hedren (famous Alfred Hitchcock actress, animal activist, mom to Melanie Griffith) who read a poem and opera singer Brenda Jackson who knocked the roof off with a version of The Lord's Prayer. AMAZING.

The most exciting part for us--at least production wise-- was the Living Cross. Here's what the website says about the Historic Living Cross :

Introduced in 1922, the Easter Sunrise Youth Chorus is the oldest tradition of the Easter Service. The children, seated in a Latin Cross formation, are attired in black robes. They rise at a signal from their Conductor, and in a dramatic, precise motion drop their outer capes, standing revealed in snow-white vestments as a massive “Living Cross,” singing “Christ the Lord is Risen today.” Today it includes children from third generation Easter Service families. A Fund Drive is now under way to raise money to rebuild the large, permanent cross structure on which the Youth Chorus sits, and participates as a living symbol of the Resurrection. During the five years that the Easter Service had to be moved from the Hollywood Bowl due to major reconstruction and improvements, the large metal and wooden structure fell victim to the outdoor elements and for the children’s safety, had to be destroyed.

Check out that picture. Now THAT is a cross. But of course, they had to destroy it, for the children's safety you know. Here's what the Living Cross looked like this year:
Ok, so it's not as impressive as in yonder years, but it was still mighty dramatic. Especially for us first-timers. When they ripped off their black robes, The Esq and I both gasped. It was a very well timed movement.

All the choirs joined together for a gorgeous version of "Hallelujah" from Handel's Messiah... which I've always thought of as a Christmas song but I loved it for Easter. Of course I love The Messiah so much that I will gladly listen to 250 trained professionals sing it any day of the year. It was really beautiful.

The part of the service that got me all choked up was when the West LA Children's Choir presented MLK Jr's "I have a Dream" speech in song. At various points individual children would say lines from the speech. Hearing a 10 yr old say, "in every village, in every hamlet"... it just got to me.

At the end of the service they released the White Birds of Peace. Click onto the picture to see the doves better. (I'm sad Tippi Hedron didn't help with this portion of the service...seems like a wasted opportunity).

The doves flew around and around over the Bowl as the congregation sang "Holy, Holy, Holy."

By now, the sun was up and with a final benediction from the "old Catholic Priest" the service was over. That's The Esq in the knitted hat.


I know it sounds like I'm making fun of the service but I swear I'm not. It was really perfect. Yes, it was very "Hollywood" in the fact that everyone involved in the service was a professional at what they did. Even the ministers have all have their own Church Talk TV shows. But it was small town in the fact that everyone freely gave their time and talent in order to put on this service. This service that means so much to the community it's been going for 88 years.

The crowd was amazingly diverse and everyone was genuinely happy to be there. And even though it was cold before the sun came up, there were still all these little girls, prancing around, decked out in their Easter finest. We spoke to everyone sitting around us and when the Peace was Passed you really felt it.

Easter is about joining together to celebrate a new beginning. And I can't think of a more joyful place to be than the Hollywood Bowl this past Sunday.

And the people said Amen.

xoxo, Kat

Hey! SoCal residents...

Sorry to make this blog so very geographically specific but I am just too too excited and this is the best way I know to share.

If you live anywhere near LA ... and if you haven't already been to the Santa Monica Museum of Art to see the Elias Sime exhibit... GO NOW! It closes this Friday, April 18th so don't waste any more time...
GO.
SEE.
LOVE it as much as we did.

Here is the SMMOA site with limited info on the exhibit. If you wait a few seconds the photo changes and gives you a chance to see a sampling of Sime's work. Sadly, these few photos didn't really intrigue me and so, stupidly, we waited until this weekend --the weekend before it closes!-- to go see the exhibit. We went expecting to see something, and maybe to come away feeling a bit closer to Ethiopia. That was all. We weren't expecting to fall in love with Elias Sime and his art. We weren't expecting to be so overcome with the desire to own one of his pieces that we would discuss how to go all Thomas Crowne and smuggle every piece out of there for our own home! (fret not... we took only the free photocopied brochure...the art is still safely there.)

Within seconds of entering the space, The Esquire and I were both...... well, speechless. I'm not sure if you call them canvases or tapestries... but they were gorgeous. Up close, they were sort of like Seurat's Sunday in the Park...just lovely abstract colors. But if you stepped back, suddenly the patterns revealed themselves and you saw things... the girl and her reflection, the hand reaching up.

I've done a quick goggle search, trying to find more images of Sime's work so you can see how amazing he is but there just isn't much out there (this is his first one man show in the US). The image below is from the SMMOA website. Click onto it, make it larger, so you can see the stitches. Amazing.



He uses only found objects to create with. So everything in his art has been found, recycled, reworked and reused in someway. Even his signature, his chop if you will, at the bottom right, is a flattened bottle cap sewn on to the canvas.

The stitched canvases were my favorite but that's not all he makes. He works in a variety of mediums... huge wooden thrones (which sadly we did not see in person as they had been moved to the Disney Music Hall for a concert), decorated goat skin containers, little sculptures made from mud and straw...

And there is the most amazing 10 minute movie about Elias Sime, his art, his neighborhood, his home. Peter Sellers (the opera director, not the Pink Panther) talks about Sime the man and Sime the artist and is so obviously moved by both. It is a joy to listen to him carry on.

Oh, and if you haven't been to Ethiopia before, there is another video of interest. The filmmakers simply put a camera on top of a car and drove around Elias' neighborhood in Addis Ababa.

Here's great review on the exhibit... this reviewer is much more succinct than I am about at why he loves Elias Sime.

Seriously, do what you have to do to see this exhibit before it closes on Friday April 18th. You won't be disappointed. And give me a call before you go--I'll meet you there and maybe afterwords we can go have some pie!

xoxo-Kat