Doughnuts for Civil Liberties Defense Center

 

Recently we had a little fun and fundraiser for Civil Liberties Defense Center. I simply bought a few dozen of the finest doughnuts from Oregon's famous Voodoo Doughnuts. We had bacon maple bars for the meat lovers and the vintage Danish teak tray in the front of the table is filled with Vegan doughnuts. Everyone stuffed themselves full of doughnuts for a great cause. We raised about $400 with just about 30 people and a bunch of doughnuts. It was a small effort but every little bit counts for small non-proftis that operate on a lean budget but who also pack a strong punch where it matters. In the case of CLDC they are constantly working to educate the community about our civil liberties. I love a great excuse to eat a great doughnut!  

    

LACMA: California Dreamin' of Mid-Century Life in the Modern Day

I knew it was going to be good when I saw that Airstream.

In January we stopped over in SoCal and visited the L.A. County Art Museum (LACMA) exhibit called "California Design, 1930-1965: 'Living in a Modern Way.' It was a short exhibit that packed many examples of the California mid-century life-style into a relatively small space. The exhibit offered prime artifacts that represented all aspects of everyday life from tea sets, bathing suits, video home tours, and of course furniture, furniture, and more furniture. The diamond of the exhibit is the re-created living room of Ray and Charles Eames of which you're not allowed to photograph but we may have caught one by accident. Here are a few pictures just from my phone because we haven't even downloaded the ones from the camera but here's a sampling anyway. The exhibit is going on until June so get your fanny over there. When your feet are pooped from walking all over the many buildings of LACMA you can have a glass of wine in a Bertoia bar stool at the museum cafe or Little Ethiopia is around the corner. We had an amazing meal at Merkato on Fairfax, the food was great and the staff was kind and informative when we were a little naive about certain foods. We even did a little Ethiopian beer tasting. You know you're at the right spot when the first thing you see is a bright shinny bean with an open door that is just screaming "WELCOME HOME!" Enjoy!

Hubba hubba! Check out that shape.

Last time I was at Eugene's Cone/Ball they had a prime example of the middle Eames chair.

What font is that? I love it!

LACMA at dusk. 

I think I might have said a bad but good exclamation when I first set my eyes on this bone chair. LOVE IT!

Here's a close up.

This was a desk and chair originally in Disney studios I think.

Yes, the clock is sexy but check out out the caption for the Ice Gun.

FYI Eugene fashion people - I would wear this at a summer BBQ.

I would also wear the bathing suit on the left.

I did not take this illegal picture! Proof? I'm in it! In between the indoor planter and light. Looks like Ray and Charles had me over.

Studebaker Avanti - super sexy for your late night drives between LA and Palm Springs!

An indoor planter in the coffee table - love it!!!

Cheers to LACMA and to the celebration of designers who knew all about modern life before it happened.

Palm Springs Modern Home Rentals: Your Next Vacation?

Our Palm Springs vacation rental home. Apparently a former residence of none other than Liberace himself!

Mustard colored front door and grated front window.

Welcome home!

Once past the entry way you have the kitchen to the right and living room to the right.

The living room with a bit of toddler proofing (bench blocking fireplace).

Our comfy living room perfect for cocktails and family games.

The outdoor dining room shares windows with the main dining, kitchen, and living area.

Everything was included except for your family, good times, and a special Mr. Monkey making margarita's.

January is almost over but since New Years is my favorite holiday I try to stretch out the fun and relaxation as long as possible. One way I can do that is by revisiting pictures from our last vacation. For this past holiday we rented a home with our chosen family. I love staying in a beautiful hotel but there's nothing like the comfort and flexibility of renting a vacation home. You can create your own dream modern getaway by renting from vacation rental websites like this. It's a nice alternative to a hotel especially when traveling with a group and with kids. I love being able to settle into a home for an extended period of time. I also love that when we travel with friends and family we all get the chance to lay about in our pjs and have lazy mornings and naps by the pool. And those who choose to stay up late snuggled up by the outdoor fire pit with a glass of wine telling stories of our lives can do that too. Over the next few blog posts I'll be revisiting some of our modern design and mid-century modern site-seeing excursions. We visited notable MCM Palm Springs sites and a few Palm Spring hotels that have been marked notable by the design world. We also made it to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to see their, "California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way" exhibit. While we couldn't take pictures of it all we managed to get some pix of the highlights. 

Happy new years! Cheers to living modern and living well.

Cascadia Wildlands: Come to Dinner

Exactly one week from today will be the Annual Wonderland Auction, a benefit for Cascadia Wildlands. Cascadia is a small non-profit based here in Eugene. Cascadia works for the protection of ancient forests and imperiled wildlife. You might not know that Mr. Monkey is on the board and he's actually the president of the board. You might also might not know that Mr. Monkey is an excellent excellent chef!!! All of this is important for you to know because this year amongst the usual fabulous array of silent and live auction items there will be a live auction item that will include dinner for 4 prepared by forest protector, MHA-builder, plant whisperer, back packer, hubba hubby, and all around wonderful president of the board of Cascadia - Mr. Monkey aka Jeremy Hall. The dinner will of course be served and enjoyed at our modest home in the new super kitchen and entertaining space. Mr. Monkey will be serving organic lamb raised from his family's Southern Oregon farm and we've already received a wine donation for the evening from our favorite Applegate Valley winery Wooldridge Creek Winery and Vineyard! So frickin' excited! Even you if you don't bid on dinner with us you'll have a blast drinking Ninkasi beer, eating Ring Of Fire food, and supporting a high-impact small non-profit.

Register Guard Profile: Loving the space we live in

This is the before of the next picture.

This is the after from same perspective!

We've had a beautiful fall here in Eugene. Sunny and crisp cold days make for a wonderful running, walking, and wine tasting season. It's also been a wonderful season to stay in the house by the warm wood stove and snuggle. This is the first fall/winter we've lived in the new kitchen/living room space and we are indeed loving the space we live in. We love it so much we want to share it. We were able to recently share the kitchen in our local newspaper the Register Guard. Here's a link to the Register Guard Kitchen story. Be sure to click on the tab above the article to see the photos. I've added some photos here that I took awhile ago so you can get the whole perspective.
David from engage: ARCHITECTURE and Jonathan (Bunchberry Woodworking Blog here) came over to answer Kelly's, the staff writer, questions. It was fun to have David and JP here again and seeing the space lived in. Mr. Monkey and I of course cleaned the kitchen for hours before the big photo shoot but Mr. Monkey couldn't be here the day of the photoshoot. The photographer wanted to come back to get pictures of Mr. Monkey and I together in the kitchen and after 2 missed appointments (not due to us) we finally made it happen. We do like the pictures and my only regret is not having my love quoted in the article as well. Mr. Monkey always has good insight to offer. In the end it was a positive experience and now we're wondering if we should try to share the work beyond our little region. Does anyone know a Sunset Mag staffer?

Autumnal Happenings in Eugene

Mr. Monkey perfecting a Saturday morning omelet with tomatoes and basil (still) freshly picked from the garden in October!

I'm getting my running routine back in action. Easy to do with skies like this at the track on Polk St. last week.

Mr. Monkey sorting through the colorful pepper haul at the Lane County Farmer's Market.

He did the planting and watering and I did the picking. We thought the rain was coming but we're still picking tomatoes off the vine!

Sorry for the feeble blogging as of late. I took a little break from the blog to enjoy the kitchen, our community, and enjoy this gorgeous fall that we're having. Here are some recent pictures of this seriously amazing October weather and the Eugene sights from around town. All the way down at the bottom is a silly picture of the boxes that just arrived on our front step. Looks like Mr. Monkey and I have a job to do this evening! I had to wait quite awhile to buy this next set of 2 wire bar stools from Modernica. I thought it was actually going to be a longer wait but a couple of weekends ago Modernica kindly had a 20% off sale. The sale saved us over $100 big ones! We're pretty happy that our fall entertaining now has seating for 4 at the magnificent island that Misters Schmitz and Plummer made.

Spectacular view of the sun and clouds doing a dance from up top the Margarita Holding Area (MHA).

Two boxes - two stools - two happy monkeys!

Jones Ceramics Kitchen Warming Gift

Thanks to my mother, Momma Monkey, we have this lovely addition to the kitchen. It's called an Ikebana Vase and it was handmade from Jones Ceramics down in Laguna Beach, CA. My mom knows the artist, Robert Jones through her association with the Sawdust Festival in Laguna and I have to say I'm certainly thrilled she does. The color is gorgeous and the lines are clean. So naturally it fits right into the kitchen and ties into our color scheme. The Calla Lilies came from the front yard and are now in the fall weather almost a distant memory. I look forward to having flowers in our Ikebana throughout the winter. We won't even know it's winter with all the brightness the new kitchen and sky lights provide.