I found this beauty case on ideeli, my current go-to designer sale site. In fact, before I continue, please go there and check them out. I’ve become Super Auntie Lynn to my friend’s children because of my designer baby fashion finds. Sleep sacks for $12, adorable dresses for $15. There are lots of fashion & household finds for women as well. Livie & Luca, that’s all i’m going to say
because i don’t want you beating me to their sales. Beware, this company keeps luring you back with free credits.
So where was I? Back to the Perfect Travel Bag. It’s made by Heys and called the vCase. Heys makes all kind of eco-friendly travel bags. I’ve searched all over the web, and this great bag is sold everywhere else for $70. Again, ideeli to the rescue at half price.
The Heys vCase is more than a cosmetics bag. I can see this as a carry-on turned purse, child’s toy tote or as big girl luggage.
The vCase shell is made of that lightweight durable polycarbonate composite just like those
ever popular wheeled bags you see all over the airport.
The interior is fully lined with zippered compartments and a removable mirror, and an attached strap for hooking
your vCase up to it’s big sister luggage.
There are thirteen colors & prints with two different finishes, metalic or smooth. I love the faux animal prints and shiny ipod colors. And that plaid, check it out.
A visit to the heysusa site reveals a really cool micro scale and Disney kid’s luggage. Their Raku Watch collection will assure you don’t miss your flight. All their products come with a lifetime guarantee.
vCase:
Measurement: 12 x 9.25 x 6
Weight: 2.2 pounds vCase is currently on sale via ideeli for $35, down from $70 retail.
You don’t have to attend in person to shop The Renegade Craft Fair. Now in it’s third year, this big time DIY event features hundreds of independent artists. Currently there are fairs throughout the year in Brooklyn, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles & Austin. Having just attended the San Francisco RCF in Fort Mason i was pleased to see a large contingent of Etsy merchants & other independent artists. Every item i found had an online presence, so i’ve done a little shopping for you to show you the variety available. I know, i’m such a martyr.
3 FISH STUDIOS is the love child of Annie Galvin and Eric Rewitzer, who are painters, printmakers, teachers, salon hosts & husband and wife duo extraordinaire.
Take a look at some of these reasonably priced hand made collectables. Check them out during San Francisco Open Studios coming up in October, the next Renegade Art Fair or at numerous on line and brick and mortar sites.
Talk about friendly and accessible, i found this on their website:
Email “hello@3fishstudios.com”, or call 415-865-0420 to come over and/or make an appointment to visit. Drop-ins are always welcome!
Our address is 610 22nd Street (at 3rd), #304, San Francisco, CA 94107. If you want to visit the studio, enter at 610 22nd Street, and come up to the third floor. We are down the hallway on the right.
Annie & Eric are quite prolific, check back with them often as there’s always a new line of limited edition prints or clever paintings. I mean, $50 for a one of a kind painting? An Obama print edition of 100 for $25 each. Such a deal. There’s no excuse not to start buying original art or add to your collection. After all, especially during trying times we need a little beauty.
Alison Simonian createdMISS ALISON, colorful & giftable handmade vinyl accessories. She has truly embraced the notion of reuse in a beautiful way. There are vinyl pouches, purses, belts, checkbook covers, card cases, and if you still can’t decide, gift certificates. Miss Alison gets around. Speciafically: Los Angeles, Occidental, Georgia, Atlanta, Illinois, Chicago, Somerville, Ashville, Philadelphia, Phode Island, Providence, Washington, Seattle, and of course the www. Whew. Miss Alison also gives sewing lessons. You go girl!
FEISTY ELLE takes craft to a higher level with bamboo, felt and a laser cutter. Not only is their jewelry light weight and affordable, but it is beautiful & eco friendly. The filigree leaf designs are amazing. But there’s more, specifically brooches, necklaces, hair clips, and a wonderful wire tree jewelry stand. Their work can be found at several high end shops in San Francisco as well as Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Vermont, Virginia, and on the online world at BuyOlympia.com, Facebook & Twitter. Friend them, follow them, find them and buy from those feisty elles.
TALKING SQUID, OMG, i’m in love with their huggable plush pillows and rugs made of 100% recycled t-shirts. Become a fan of Talking Squid on Facebook and receive $5 off your first purchase of $30 or more. Holding
those plush spheres called pillows should be considered a medical expense. Seriously, the booth at the Renegade Craft Fair could have charged $5 per person per hug. Since it’s not considered cool to be sitting and hugging a luvie bear after puberty, i highly recommend buying one of these beautiful and stylish pillows. Yes indeed, i’ll be buying one. Talking squid’s rugs are so popular they are currently out of stock and sewing each piece to order.
I MADE YOU A BEARD is just plain fun. Really, there is no reason to have a fake beard, then again, there’s never been a better time to own one. And why not. They clearly brought smiles to everyone who walked by the stand. Well, nobody just walked by, they mostly grabbed their cameras and a beard mask for their friends. It’s not just about fake beards, the wonderful world of IMYAB includes stationary, prints, t-shirts and a collection of portable moustaches. Erin Dollar, mad genius behind the self made phenomenon, states in her blog: “I make fake beards. Sometimes I make other things too – prints, drawings, piñatas, and cookies, mostly. I made this web log to keep track of what I’m making, and to share beard-related tidbits… because I like you, and you like beards.” Go on buy a beard, you know you want one.
If you can’t make it to the SF/Bay Area July 24 – Aug 9th, here’s my greatest hits list for your Netflix queue. As always, this diverse lineup promises to astound you with fantastic performances not likely to ever be seen at a theater near you.
If you just have time for one film, pick “Saviors In the Night”, the July 24th opening feature. Don’t worry, it’s playing again a few times in SF, Palo Alto, San Rafael and Berkeley. There couldn’t have been a better film to kick off the 30th anniversary of the SFJFF. Based on the memoir of Marga Spiegel, a 98 year old who survived the Holocaust with the help of a German Christian family. If you aren’t inspired, joyful & shedding a tear by the surprise ending you are truly made of stone. Marga Spiegel is scheduled to make a memorable appearance at the opening.
To bookend the festival, the SF closing film will be “The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground.” Fans of world music or klezmer will love this profile of a 20 year old band still in business, constantly redefining “jewish” music. The Director, Eric Greenburg, will be at the SF closing and a couple of band members promise to be at the opening in Berkeley.
I’ll give you a few appetizers to help you wade through the entertaining banquet before you. The centerpiece film on Tuesday, July 27th, Anita (Argentina), is an emotional story of a sweet woman with down syndrome. She manages to bring out the best in people she encounters during her wanderings while being accidentally separated from her family and lost. The lead actress, who has down syndrome, will be at the Castro screening.
The Freedom of Expression Award goes to “Sayed Kashua” , about Israel’s leading satirist. Kashua is of Palestinian origin and best know in the US for his bitingly funny television series, “Arab Labor.”. The SFJFF will be the international premiere of session two.
“Room And A Half” is a semi fictional account of Joseph Brodsky, Russian Jewish poet, who moved to the United States after being expelled from the USSR in 1972 and won the 1987 Nobel Prize in Literature. The director, Andrey Khrzhanovsky, will make an appearance in conjunction with the Monday, July 26 screening.
The “Tough Guys” series introduces us to Jewish actors and Jewish characters in gangster films. During her research, Nancy Fishman, the guest curator for archival programs, claims many Jews can lift a rock under their family tree and find a gangster. They were prevalent plagues to small business people, either involving owners in crimes or participating in payoffs. Selections include, “Scarface”(1991) , “Bugsy”(1932), & “Lepke”(1975).
Even silent films get there due here. On monday, July 26 the 1922 “Hungry Hearts” will play with a commissioned traditional period score by Ethan Miller, local San Francisco musician. It has been described as very contemporary with a bit of psychedelia.
Local Academy Award Nominee Sam Green presents his “Utopia in Four Movements” on the opening day in Berkeley. In an unusual move, Green decided to turn his latest project into a live self-narrated doc/ thought piece on idealism. Expect to see bits on the Esperanto & social movements, China, which has the biggest mall in the world, and some jewish themes thrown in.
Back to the rest of the world, “A Small Act” introduces us to a young Kenyan man who realized his life was changed by the gift of education bestowed on him by an anonymous Swedish woman who wanted to “pay it forward”. He is now a lawyer in Geneva and seeks out this generous woman who turns out to be a Holocaust refugee. “A Small Act” reminds us of the need to provide a leg up to those in need and of the absolutely crucial role education plays in children’s futures.
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
San Francisco: Castro Theatre, July 24-29
Palo Alto: Cinearts, July 31 – Aug 3
Berkeley: Roda, July 31 – Aug 7
San Rafael: Rafael, Aug 7-9
San Francisco: JCCSF, Aug 7-8
more info & tix: www.sfjff.org
Now that commercial Kombucha has started to disappear off store shelves after questions of alcohol content, what’s a fan to do?
Rancho Parnassus to the rescue. They are the first retailer to provide kombucha on tap. There are also bottles to go. There’s the custom grilled panini, obscure beverages, awesomeThanksgiving Coffee from Fort Bragg and crazy interior decor. The back corner is usually taken up by computer creatives using the free wi-fi, in fact, if there was a posted mission statement it would say something about encouraging the use of their space for collaboration. Film crews, artists, writers, all are welcome to inspiration central, Rancho Parnassus, the cafe/studio/project incubator. Oh yeah, the food, it’s almost exclusively local and they manage to keep the prices down.
This oasis of calm is located on dicey 6th street, home to down on their luck side walk sitters and live work lofters. Visit this unpretentious community oasis that’s become a destination cafe.
A collector you’ve never heard of has opened a pop-up gallery in a space you have never seen to showcase a remarkable collection of 20th century photography. It’s so large the SFMOMA would have to create another building the size of the new Fisher wing.
To find the gallery, you must wander down an unmarked entry between Pier 24 & 26. There you will come about an unmarked entrance with an intercom. Say the right words and the front desk will buzz you in. Behold the Pilara Collection. It’s jaw dropping from the moment you enter the hugh movie set-like warehouse.
Immediately you are greeted with a wall of late career Diane Arbus photographs from 1970-71 taken in a mental institute. Turn the corner to the right and bam, a giant Richard Avedon duo hits you in the face; A stunning portrait of an Interstate 80 drifter in Sparks, NV taken in 1983.
Wander past the early Eadweard Muybridge and contemporary Mark Klett panoramas of pre and post earthquake San Francisco. Tourists and locals alike will love the 100 year old images of famous streets, buildings, and ferries.
In the next room, at first I thought I was looking at a hall of Danish master paintings. Closer inspection reveals the play of old and new in the out sized works of Hiroshi Sugimoto. Right next to Catherine of Aragon you will find Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, all created in 1999.
Iconic images to the left, iconic images to the right, Paul Strand, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Chuck Close, Gary Winogrand, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange and many more local and international luminaries.
One could stare for hours in front of the double panel by Edward Burtynsky. Titled “Manufacturing #10a Cankun Factory, Xiamen, China 2005″, it’s a window into the soulless acres of rows of nameless workers cranking out widgets for export.
Boomers especially will love the nostalgic Avedon Beatles portfolio, known to most as the posters of John, Paul, George, and Ringo that came for free in their album and we’re all just kicking ourselves that we didn’t save them.
You will be moved to laugh and cry followed by an intense urge to go online and make another appointment. Every room, including the one with the amazing Vanessa Beercroft’s “Black Madonna with twins”, from the South Sudan Project, 2006, is worth several visits. See it all before it goes away or get on the mailing list for the next show.
All tours and exhibits are free. Pier 24 The Embarcadero
San Francisco CA, 94105
This is no mere chick flick, which it is, but it’s so much more.
The film introduces us to three diverse women whose lives manage to weave in and out of each others with dramatic consequences. The central theme is motherhood & adoption.
There’s Elizabeth (Naomi Watts), a smart, beautiful lawyer with ice in her veins. She starts up a romance with her boss (Samuel L. Jackson).
For Karen(Annette Bening), it’s the heartbreak of an unknown daughter that colors everything in her life. Her love store has gone out of business. She never got over her teen age pregnancy and being forced to give her baby up for a closed adoption. A new co-worker at her health care service ( Jimmy Smits), somehow manages to thaw her out with his gentle persistence.
Finally, we meet Lucy (Kerry Washington), the young woman distraught over her failure to produce a child with her husband. We find the two at an adoption agency, the central plot clearinghouse.
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but you won’t feel guilty, even if you’re a man. Mother & Child is a beautifully acted intelligent film. Five Stars. Get thee to Movies.com for show times in your area.
Clickfree Traveler has come up with three credit card sized USBs that will back up all your pix and travel essays on your pc or mac.
The 16GB with silver aluminum chassis is $69.00, the 32GB sports a classy slate grey aluminum for $129.99, and the powerhouse 64GB comes in Jet Black for $219.99.
Thanks to the fantastic San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, preview screenings currently in progress, I was treated to a great independent film, sort of a romantic comedy for the hip urbanite. Daryl Wein & Zoe Lister-Jones, a real life New York couple, wrote a fictionalized version of a point in their relationship when they tried having an open relationship.
There’s plenty to chew on here; codependency, monogamy, boredom, and the trials of keeping love going.
Daryl & Zoe co-produced, wrote, edited, acted and probably ran out for sandwiches for the crew to keep to their $14,000 budget. Commedian Andrea Martin (SCTV, My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Julie White (Six Feet Under), and Peter Friedman (Law & Order, NYPD Blue ) play the oh so very New York parents. The sedar scene had the audience roaring with laughter. It reminded me of the Seinfelt episode where George’s father hosts the celebration of Festivus, the airing of grievances holiday. The difference is that in Breaking Upwards, everything is believable, to the point where you’re convinced you’re seeing real life.
I hate to beg, so please just go buy some tix to see the film. It’s at the Lumiere in San Francisco this week only. If you don’t live in the area, it’s playing in
film festivals internationally. Please consult their website: breakingupwards.com.
Starts Friday, April 16 at the Lumiere Theatre. Filmmakers and actors Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones In Person Fri & Sat, Apr 16 & 17 at 7:20 & 9:40pm
The designs are inspired by street and euro culture, all leather is made in Ethiopia, and lined with goat leather. The crepe rubber soles are made in Liberia.
There are styles & colors for men & women.
Oliberte is a Canadian company working in partnership with African farmers, factory workers & suppliers to ensure everyone is paid fairly and treated responsibly.
I’m used to being called a princess, but i never knew i could use my powers for good. No matter where you live you can send your dry-cleaned dresses to The Princess Project and provide prom dresses to disadvantaged teens in California.
San Francisco:
Last year they served over 1,800 high school girls. Girls from over 145 zip codes received prom dresses and accessories.
Since 2002, The Princess Project has promoted self-esteem and individual beauty by helping send high school girls to prom in style.
San Francisco Givaway: * Saturday, March 27. 8am – 5pm
All boutiques & giveaways will be held at 901 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Volunteer
If you’d like to volunteer to help in San Diego, review the instructions and sign up here: http://www.mysignup.com/princessprojectsd2010.
Please direct media inquiries to: angela@princessproject.org
Please send financial donations or inquiries to: The Princess Project San Diego
PO Box 600761
San Diego, CA 92160-0761
