Sandier Pastures

Ahpeele’s simply gorgeous silkscreen prints on T-shirts are available in all shapes and sizes, hoodies and tunics. With so many styles to choose from, it’s so hard to choose just one!

Ahpeele is powered by the husband and wife team of Adam and Hiromi. They met in the US, lived in Tokyo for two years and now back to Adam’s hometown in Raleigh, NC where they built their own company designing and printing clothes, art and furniture.

Having lived in Japan for 10 years, I love Japanese prints and get nostalgic with it!

I had a short chat (via email of course) with the Ahpeele team and here’s what they have to say:

1. When did you start your craft/business?
Technically we started in 2004 when we moved to north carolina from tokyo but we feel it started when we first met in boston 2001.We didnt really do anything that made any money until 2004.

2. Where do you find the inspiration for your designs?
We’re really into nature as our obvious inspiration, but we’re more subtly inspired by food, tokyo cafe culture, and reggae. Usually Hiromi thinks of concepts/color ideas and Adam draws for hours on end and usually meet in the middle.

3. How do you plan to expand your business in the future?
We’re always doing something new so it’s constant expansion. More specifically we dream of opening a cafe, making more art, and finally putting the finishing touches on our retail store. Also working together with other craft people would be awesome.

Thank you Adam and Hiromi for the wonderful interview and giveaway! 

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:
One lucky winner will get to choose a shirt of their choice valued at $28 from Ahpeele!

HOW TO WIN:
Browse all the items at Ahpeele and mention a favorite.

That’s it!

For additional entries:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed
• Blog about this linking to this post and to Ahpeele.
• Submit to any social network (StumbleUpon, Kirtsy, etc) - Click on the “Share This” at the bottom left of this post
• Twitter this giveaway
• Put my button on your blog (button code is on my sidebar)

It is important to leave a separate comment for each of the entries to count. Thank you.

DRAW:
A winner will be chosen at random on 10th July 2009.

WHO CAN WIN:
This contest is open to everyone, wherever you live!

Good luck!

I’ve compiled another round of kid conversations with my five year old. I’ve tweeted most of these in Twitter but here it is again, for your reading pleasure (and mine). I like to put this here so I can read it again when she’s grown up.

If you like to see the first installment, you can see it here.

1. One morning during potty.
Pristine: “Mama, come here, fast!”
Me: “What, why?”
Pristine: “Our toilet bowl is getting smaller. My feet reaches the floor now!”

2. While I was choosing what to wear.
Pristine, playing personal wardrobe assistant: “Mom, how about this?”
Me: “Oh no, that won’t fit me yet.”
Pristine: “and this? this? this?”
All the clothes she chose was a little bit tight on me since those were my pre-pregnancy clothes!
Pristine: “Ooooh-kay, let’s buy pregnant clothes!”

3. On trying to explain a very difficult subject, with only a little time available (I was on my way out to work).
Me: “Oh, sorry it’s really so difficult to explain. I’ll try harder later.”
Pristine: “Why, it’s a riddle?”

4. She grabs a flashlight and poked it in my ears.”Mama! There’s something in your ears! Giraffes!”

5. At night when I tucked her to bed.
Pristine: “Good night, mom. I love you.”
Me: “I love you too. You’re the best.”
Pristine: “Best? But what about the other children?”

6. While I was chatting with my good bloggy friend, Stacey, in Yahoo Messenger.
Pristine: “Mom, how do you do that?”
Me: “What?”
Pristine: “That - typing very fast! Can I try, promise I won’t push Enter key and do many backspace later!” (this girl is techy)
She puts all her ten fingers on the keyboard and..

hglaghauthn jautpr jaluwp abanaupwgt bnalowegapu

Pristine: “Ok, mom, read it please!”

7. On one of our favorite role plays.
Me: “You’re Snow White because you are white.”
Pristine: “and mama, you’re Sleeping Beauty because you’re SLEEPING.”
Hmm, there’s something wrong with the equation.

8. While I was over-indulged in playing Wii Tennis.
Pristine: “Stop it mom or else your eyes will get dizzy!”
(What amazes me the most? She’s using the phrase “or else” I think I didn’t use it until I was married..”marry me or else” LOL)

9. Watching Kung Fu Panda.
Pristine: “Mama, are there any other animals than can do Kung Fu?”
Uhm, any Kung Fu Doggie in the works that you know of? Anyone?

10. I stepped into the room and saw her lying face up, eyes closed.
Me: “Pristine, are you ok?” (she just woke up an hour ago so I thought she must not be sleeping)
Silence…”are you ok!?” I shook her.
Pristine (wriggling): “Mama! Please stop talking to me now. I am playing pretend that I’m dead!”
Note: She’s fond of doing monologues, makes up her own script and visual effects. LOL.

11. I wanted to watch Blood Diamond on DVD but stopped it after a few minutes.
Me: “That’s it. Too much violence!”
Pristine: “oooh, why did you stop it?”
Me: “VIOLENCE, do you know what’s that?”
Thinking…..and had a sparkly light bulb moment.
Pristine: “YES! It’s like a guitar but you use it with a bow!”

12. Disagreement with dad.
Pristine: “Papa told a lie. Father lier is not good, right?”
Me: “What happened? What did he tell you?”
Pristine (vehement): “Well, he told me that Vicks is smelly! It’s not true, right?”
*Vicks gotta pay this kid!*
 
13. I tied my hair in a bun for a day and once I untied it, my hair had huge waves and she gleamed with joy,

“Wow, curly! Now YOU’RE my mother!”

(Naturally, she’s curly and I’m not.)

If you have cute kiddie quotes and you’re on Twitter, send your tweets with the hashtag #plum. Plumkeeperwill retweet it for everyone to enjoy!

Happy Thursday! Enjoy your kids, if you have one or two…

See what others aren’t saying at 5 Minutes for Mom and at the WW Hub.

Artwark offers an array of  jewelry with hip, young and fun with a spiritual side. Sarah, the talented artist behind Artwark is just 26 but had been making jewelry for 14 years.

Quoting Sarah:

Throughout high school and college, I worked full throttle in academia, but always saved time to create jewelry to relax. I percieve Jewelry-making/wearing- an ancient ritual: primal and innate, to make women feel beautiful & empowered.

Sarah designs, makes and markets her pieces all over the world from the boutiques & occasional events, focusing on creating unique jewelry to complement all skin tones to emphasize the inner & outer beauty all women posses. What started as a hobby became a full-time job for Sarah, who quit her daytime job to focus more on her creative work. I am amazed how many people I’ve come across the internet who gave up their day jobs to pursue the things they love to do.

Currently, Artwark is offering 3 lines to suit all your needs: high end, trendy and vintage. All items at Artwark is individually handcrafted by Sarah at her New York Studio.

MY PERSONAL FAVORITES:

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:
One very lucky winner will get to choose any one of these:

Clockwise:  Oui, Yes I do (silver and garnet), Message from above locket (brass), Oui, Yes I do in 14K Gold fill and brass with pink topaz, Mother’s Love  and So in love in brass (also in silver at request).

HOW TO WIN:
Browse all the jewelry item by Artwark on Etsy or Ebay and pick a favorite.

That’s it!

For additional entries:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed
• Blog about this linking to this post and to Artwark.
• Submit to any social network (StumbleUpon, Kirtsy, etc) - Click on the “Share This” at the bottom left of this post
• Twitter this giveaway
• You can also follow Artwark on twitter
• Become a follower of Sarah’s blog
• Put my button on your blog (button code is on my sidebar)

It is important to leave a separate comment for each of the entries to count. Thank you.

DRAW:
A winner will be chosen at random on 6th July 2009.

WHO CAN WIN:
This contest is open to everyone, wherever you live!

Good luck!

From our recent trip to Palm Jumeirah by monorail, I feel that this transport system is no way catering to the commuting public. It is built for tourism. First, the fare is too expensive. Next, they are even planning to charge parking fees for people coming from Dubai by car and going to Atlantis Hotel in the palm island by the monorail.

If that’s the case, then it will be more convenient to go directly by car and not bother about the parking fees at the Gateway station and the train fares, of course. However, for sightseeing purposes, the monorail is sure to entertain.

Since the monorail is elevated high above the ground,

riding on it will give a great view of the Atlantis Hotel and the whole of Palm Jumeirah.

Speaking of this famous Dubai landmark - The Atlantis Hotel in Dubai is inspired by the original Atlantis that Kerzner built in the Bahamas. It is huge and very, very pink. Built at an estimated cost of $US1.5 billion ($2.4 billion), the 1539-room Atlantis comprises two accommodation towers of more than 20 storeys each, a conference centre, spa, private beach and the water park. All told, it covers 46 hectares, or about 22 times the size of the arena in the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The last station of the monorail is Aquaventure station. Aquaventure is a 17-hectare water park filled with slides and pools inside Atlantis Hotel’s premises and can be seen from the train, too.

Hmmm, so enticing!

Don’t you just want to change into your swimsuit and join them?

We didn’t swim but we took Pristine inside Atlantis Hotel’s mini-mall (I don’t really know what to call it but it has little stores and restaurants inside…) to see the huge aquarium instead.

and she spent a good amount of time counting the fishes…

Trying to call their attention…

and just stare. Ah, nothing beats free entertainment!

The aquarium seen outside is part of one of Atlantis’ attractions called The Lost Chambers - made to look like the ruins of Atlantis. Not much to say since I’ve not been inside it.

~ entrance to The Lost Chambers ~

The ceiling has colorful artwork of sea creatures:

When going to the Palm island by car, you will not feel that this is a reclaimed, man-made island…

but when aboard the monorail, you can see that it really looks like the shape of a palm, with trunk and fronds and the huge hotel sprawled on the man-made land.

Photo not mine.

The entire site - the hotel and the land - was more than 10 metres under the surface of the Persian Gulf eight years ago.

Dubai has created a wonder.

* Just so you know, I was NOT paid by Atlantis Hotel to write this stuff. *

I don’t work on Fridays so I have the luxury to browse the news early in the morning as I wake up. I log in to Twitter and saw the Breaking News tweet: Michael Jackson is dead. Earlier, I have read a tweet saying Patrick Swayze died but it was a false report.

So I checked Yahoo News and had to wake my mother up to tell her the news. It was true.

The King of Pop is gone. I drove home last Thursday afternoon and the last thing I listened to on the radio was the big announcement about the contest to win a free trip to see Michael Jackson in London. The promotion had been going on for almost a month here in Dubai. Everyone is anticipating his big comeback.

Now there are concerts to do. No more comeback, no more moonwalk, no more amazing stage performance.  How sad, how tragic and how lonely. Suddenly I felt the urge to dig all the cassette tapes we have at my parent’s home. We had lots of MJ cassettes, those plastic stuff popular long before CD’s were born. They were part of the music of my youth, mine and my brothers. I am sure lots of people around the world felt the same wave of longing for a Jackson song. His death prompted surge in record sales in Amazon, iTunes and music stores.

I sit here and remember his Thriller video, how one of my brothers get to be MJ and the rest play zoombies. I smile when I hear, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” because I have dedicated it secretly to someone special long ago (too long ago I can’t even remember who). I stop and admire all Michael’s contribution to the music industry because I realize that I stopped listening to his music when the scandals came which is unfair. His music and his private life are two different entities. It can’t be denied that he is one of the greatest music icons of the century, despite the troubled life.

He is gone but his music will live forever. I won’t stop loving his music, even after his death.

The Turbulence Training Transformation Contest is two-thirds finished. I can’t believe how fast eight weeks went! As I have written in the past week, I’ve entered into the dreaded weight loss plateau for the past two weeks. The scale did not budge. I’ve lost a dress/pant size but the scale says the same.

Yesterday morning, I weighed myself again and it read -1.8 lbs off! This is my first weigh in since the scale and I had a fallout two weeks ago.

How I busted the weight loss plateau:

1. Increased physical activity - I used to do split training: one day of resistance training using the Turbulence Training program and interval training the next day. It was a great schedule considering the limited time I have.

When I plateau-ed, I felt the need to change my routine to doing these two activities in a single day. So it was resistance training + interval training for me three days a week. The rest of the week was spent on lighter activities at the gym that included Core/Ab work and longer sauna to relieve the sore muscles.

The key to fat loss is to do a variety of exercise/activites to “shock” the body - stop doing the exercise routines that don’t work anymore, increase repetitions or weight or the entire program.

I have noticed that when I incorporated intervals after the resistance training, my body feels so hot at night (no censor required here). I sweat even if the a/c is on and ask the other people in the house if they’re feeling hot or sweaty and no, it’s just me. I think the new routine has turned the fat-burning machine on, which is good.

2. Paid closer attention to nutrition- Portion control and clean eating was worth it. I ate food with only one ingredient, as much as possible: lots of fruits, vegetables. Nothing out of a box or can. Water or tea only policy. No softdrinks or fruit juices. I drank skim milk though.

But I am not a programmed machine, I do have a cheat meal once in a while.  Confession: I ate a slice of pizza yesterday and finished my daughter’s carrot and orange juice (1/2 glass).

My fitness friend, certified personal trainer Anna, wrote a great article about weight loss plateau and busting techniques here.

The end of the 8th week and I’ve lost 10 lbs since I started Turbulence Training on the beginning of May 2009. Still have lots of work needed especially when I see my belly but at least I am finally going “there”.

Here’s to the last four weeks of the Transformation Contest! I look at the upcoming Turbulence Training program I will be using and imagine lots of sore muscles, sweat and hopefully, sweet results.

Yoshika, the Japanese artist behind Euphorian Chic Studio creates unique 3D paintings and wall art using her signature 3D Relief technique along with regular brush paintings. She considers herself as a self-taught artist having the basic concept of making art by mixing the old and the new, the East and the West. She has received several awards and honors for her paintings for past years, and her works are collected internationally.

I had a short chat with Yoshika about her work and here’s what she has to say:

When did you start your craft?

For my 3D Relief Wall Art, I accidentally discovered this technique while I was experimenting various painting styles about 10 years ago. There were actually some breaks in my painting career. But I started to make it again last year using more modern elements. For my illustrations, I have been using computer for my design and illustrations for last several years.

Where do you find your inspirations?
Basically, my inspirations come from everywhere. But, I love to find the beauty in simple and small things in our life as it is one of my concepts for the name Euphorian Chic. Since the arts can make a huge difference in someone’s space, I would like to create something that adds beauty to someone’s life through my creativity.

If you love her work in her main Etsy shop Euphorian Chic Studio, you’ll have to check out her other Etsy shop called, Euphorian Chic Art & Design for cute illustrations!

Her complete work is found in her main website, Euphorian Chic.

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:
There are two prizes for one lucky winner!

1. Golden Meadow - 6″ x 6″ 3D Relief Wall Art
Created on 6″x6″x1/2″ wood panel. It has wall-mounting hole on back, so no framing is neccesary unless prefered. It makes a great earthy accent for a small wall space of moden contemporary room.

2. Set of 6 Flower Room Illustration Prints 5″x7″ (frames not included)
This is my recent illustration series “Flower Rooms”. It’s my line drawings finished digitally with textured victorian background. The flowers includes, Gerbera, Calalily, Ranunculus, Chinese Lantern, Rosegold Pussy Willow, Plum. Great for modern contemporary rooms.

These are printed on Fuji-color acid free photo papers, are signed by the artist, Yoshika at the back.

HOW TO WIN:
Browse all the items at Euphorian Chic Studio and mention a favorite.

That’s it!

For additional entries:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed
• Blog about this linking to this post and to Euphorian Chic Studio.
• Submit to any social network (StumbleUpon, Kirtsy, etc) - Click on the “Share This” at the bottom left of this post
• Twitter this giveaway
• Put my button on your blog (button code is on my sidebar)

It is important to leave a separate comment for each of the entries to count. Thank you.

DRAW:
A winner will be chosen at random on 3rd July 2009.

WHO CAN WIN:
This contest is open to everyone, wherever you live!

Good luck!

Ride with us in Dubai’s first monorail, connecting Dubai mainland and Atlantis Hotel at the crescent of Palm Jumeirah island.

In case you haven’t heard of the huge Dubai project of a man-made island that looks like a palm, you can see some info and images here.

I’ll stop this post here and let you enjoy the video.

Dubai’s first monorail from Sandier Pastures on Vimeo.

All kids who come to visit her become instant brothers and sisters.

See what others aren’t saying at 5 Minutes for Mom and the WW Hub.