Lawson Fenning is one of my favorite furniture outposts in los angeles.  They have two locations, silverlake and beverly blvd in hollywood.  I haven’t been to the one on Beverly, but the one in Silverlake is so great and even has a art/design/rare books area in back called ivanhoe books. 

This was one of those store fronts that i would always drive by and never ventured into, something very common when you live in the neighborhood.  What i love about the silverlake location, is once you walk in, you really get a sense of a beautifully designed space and how the pieces could potentially look in your home.    It’s not souless and cold which can sometimes be a complaint of mine about uber modern furniture.  They carry a tasteful and understated line of their namesake designed pieces as well as unique antique and vintage pieces and home accessories from SF favorites like Roost.

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I came across this site by accident in my search of why my favorite childhood flavor of ice cream no longer exists.  Back in the day, fancy “foreign” ice creams were introduced and were sold in small pints and not huge half gallon squares, i.e. Frusen Gladje and Haagen Daz.  This was before Ben and Jerry’s and before Godiva ice cream.  These ice creams were the equivalent of what Depeche Mode meant in the music world, fancy made-up euro words that mean nothing at all, that fed off our obsession and fascination of all things european and exotic.  It worked for some better than others.

In the eighties, Haagen Daz had a flavor called, Honey Vanilla.  I very often times scare people with my acute memory.  I went ahead and googled it to see if i did indeed remember correctly.  Yes it was true.  The flavor was discontinued in 1992.  wahhh.  However, in my quest for finding out what happened to a fabulous childhood memory, I came across this new flavor that Haagen Daz has released this February 2008, called Vanilla Honey Bee.  The story behind this is a sad one.  

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Once again, target has really picked a winner.  A few months ago it was loeffler randall and now, the forefather of modern geometric vintage inspired bedding, Dwell Studios, has designed an extensive line of bedding, table linens, baby gear, and furniture for Target   

Run, don’t walk to your nearest web browser. These items won’t last and I’m sure are impossible to find a full set of once at a store location.  Being the die-hard consumer I am, I got a ridiculous urge to stock up on some baby items for when that day comes.  It was a passing whim and then I went through the mental list of all the friends that are expecting this year-lucky them!  With prices about 75% less than the normal dwell bedding line (a crib set here will average $450, this does not include tha actual crib but the linens and pads only), I would say it’s well worth the sacrifice of a few hundred thread count and not a few hundred dollars!  Besides, the babies won’t even know the difference. Rumor has it, the adult size sheet and duvet sets are 700 thread count, which is still higher than anything at Ikea.

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I recently had another birthday. I’m an Aquarius, is that in any way surprising? I used to love birthday celebrations-always loved making a huge fanfare about them. I still do love birthdays since it’s a time to reflect on the past year, but I celebrate them in a very different way. One thing I make sure to do is one nice thing for myself. After recently taking up snowboarding again after four years of hibernating, I decided to treat myself on the day of my actual birthday to a nice 1.5 hour massage at a local Thai massage spa, Pho Siam. This place is great, affordable, and clean. once you can get past a pint-size Asian woman crawling on your back that kinda feels like a big monkey, it can be quite relaxing.

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This adorable timer is made by Alessi.  I received a birthday package from my sister who now lives in boston, MA. The best part of the package was how nicely all the individual items were wrapped once the box was opened- real satin, turquoise ribbon tied around green tissue paper.  What a visual treat!  My three year old neice, Kaia drew a beautiful card for me too.  Had i received this timer from a non-asian friend, i might have found it slightly racist, but the Mr. Chin kitchen timer is so adorable, how could one ever get mad?  It’s part of the “OrienTales” collection by Stefano Giovannoni with Rumiko Takeda.  it comes in 4 colors, pink and red, pink and gold, blue, and yellow and gold.  

Besides, it takes much more than a designer ‘chinaman’ to offend me.  of course ‘the chinaman is not the issue‘.

This is an extremely rare Knoll coffee mug that was given to me by a good friend, Jen Kuroki. She found it at a thrift store in portland, OR, back when one could still find gems like this at thrift stores and not vintage or antique shops. Since it was a gift, I have no idea what she paid for it, but since this was about 6 years ago, I’m going to guess, around a dollar. I am to this day still amazed that she would even part with it.

In all my years of scouring flea markets and ebay, I have never, ever come across another. I assume it was created as a promotional item, and only produced in a very small run. The large Helvetica logo that wraps around the mug was difficult to photograph, but everyone is more than familiar with this timeless, orange word mark. Unfortunately, I do not own any Knoll furniture as it is not ‘within’ my reach. Owning this mug is the equivalent of wearing a Gucci t-shirt. It’s a tiny taste of luxury in the form of an everyday, utilitarian object. I’m letting the world know what i want and isn’t that the first step to obtaining the unreachable, by voicing your desires? KNOLL i say.

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I was pleasantly introduced to this amazing treasure, of all places, at work.  Occasionally on Fridays, people will bring a bottle of whiskey or some other alcohol for an end-of-the-week tasting.  Personally, I don’t drink the hard stuff so when this bottle of St. Germain came through the doors I was so happy.  After the tasting, as all good tastings should accomplish, I ran out and picked up a bottle for myself at my favorite local wine shop, Silverlake Wine.

This artisanale liqueur is the quintessential embodiment of pure luxury and design.  The bottle itself reminds me of my favorite line of artisanal perfumes and candles that are also from france, l’artisan perfumeur.  it’s like a giant Costco version of the pungent scents, only edible.  This may be proof of heaven on earth.

The liqueur is made from elder flower blossoms  that are hand-picked once a year in the alps.  The completely artisanal method in which it is made is used as visual cues for the packaging.  Such care was put into the design of the labels and the small descriptive pamphlet that accompanies the bottle.   Whether is is the gold silhouette of a bicyclist transporting the handpicked blossoms, or the reverse patterned side of the labels on the bottle being visible through the glass bottle, this is truly a unique and rare product, in presentation and taste.  The pamphlet has cocktail recipes which are also available online.

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The retail sale season in Los Angeles has been unprecedented this year.  Due to the current state of the Writer’s Guild Strike, much more desirable items have been making it onto the sale racks at Barney’s and similiar, higher end boutiques.  I know its awful to prey on other people’s misfortune and there’s a lot of murmuring about how we are on the onset of a national recession, but all the more reason to stock up on luxury fashion items at a third or a quarter of the regular price.  It may  be awhile before we can afford them and retailers will most likely be ordering less of them to compensate for this over stock we are experiencing.

A majority of the luxury items i drool over are made or imported from Europe.  As we all know, this past year, the Euro dollar to US dollar conversion has been at an all time high.  Those of us in the consumer world have definitely felt the repercussion of that.  Paris made shoes, Italian handbags and designer furniture and housewares are all experiencing a price increase, whether it be enforced my manufacturer’s or good old conversions rates.  Last year, YSL handbags went up about $200 a piece.  I remember when a pair of Christian Louboutins were somewhat affordable when they went on sale.  Now they start at an average of $700 onward.  These price increases are about 20% higher than what we are used to seeing. 

After cooking several decadent meals for family who all gathered for the Christmas holiday in Los Angeles this year to get out of the cold, the least I can do is buy myself a pair of Zanotti resort sandals, a derek lam clutch, and some other trinkets marked down 70% or more.  These deals won’t last, but i will be glad to share with you some of the best deals in town.  

That’s what i call well-heeled and well-mealed.

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Wallflour (WF) was started to form an online community of people that enjoy a certain lifestyle similar to mine.  i am a realist and the word ‘budget’ exists in my life.

I work freelance in the Los Angeles area as a motion graphics art director/ designer/ animator.  I know there are a lot of slashes in that title and with wallflour, I am attempting to add web entrepreneur/ blogger/ product designer to it.  

For all the long hours at the office, day after day, and week after week, it really starts to feel like a rat race.  How does one enjoy the greatest luxury of all- Time?  Time to make a home-cooked meal.  Time to decorate your home.  Time to exercise so you can eat whatever you want.  Time to relax and read a book.  Finding the right balance in life may be the hardest thing to figure out.

Everyone enjoys the finer things in life, but it’s not always so attainable. WF will talk about being frugal in some areas in order to splurge in others.  Personally, I have a weakness for designer shoes and handbags.  Cooking at home is a means to an end.  Who am i kidding.  i have a weakness for anything that is designed and well-made - be it vintage housewares or designer clothing, shoes, accessories, electronics, gadgets, cars.  Even my dog might fall under this umbrella.  He’s a very special french bulldog named guinness.  i’m what i call a “style pig”.  i can’t get enough. it affects every aspect of my life, in and out of the kitchen. 

All those little things can add up. The daily coffee-out habit has made millionaires out of a few and left most a couple dollars short, everyday.   Instead of going out for coffee, get a decent coffee press and get the finest coffee you can buy at the store so going out for coffee is a treat or social event and not a routine.

And hopefully, some of this advice will help you open up to the idea of entertaining in your home by seeing how affordable it can be.  Wearing those four-inch Pierre Hardy’s  at home and having cocktails with friends can be glamourous, especially when you can put on your fuzzy slippers any time you like.  Two hours in, everyone will be so content* they won’t even notice that you shrank a couple inches and more importantly, your feet will be happy.