For the children I used an infant style font and for the adults I used something more traditional. I chanced upon a pack of printed origami paper in Muji in London the other day, it’s £4 for a pack of 40 sheets printed in a variety of different patterns. I used these for the children’s cards and they worked really well.

For the adults I went in a slightly different direction and used Liberty print paper. I love it but it is more expensive at £4 a sheet. I think it’s worth it though!

I hope you (and the recipients!) like them.

R.

]]> http://msuave.wordpress.com/2013/03/21/just-like-a-woman/ Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:33:34 +0000 msuave http://msuave.wordpress.com/2013/03/21/just-like-a-woman/ Just like a woman est le nouveau téléfilm de Rachid Bouchareb sur la cohabitation des cultures orientales et occidentales aux Etats-Unis, avec en tête d’affiche deux icônes féminins : Sienna Miller (Marylin), et Golshifteh Farahani (Mona). Radieuses, et touchantes, en danseuses orientales. Du jour au lendemain, elles quittent respectivement leurs environnements (maris, maisons, quartiers, ville de Chicago). Direction Santa Fe pour Marylin pour une audition afin d’intégrer une troupe professionnelle, et Mona l’accompagne ? Yes !! Car elle n’a qu’une idée à l’esprit ? Echapper à la Police à tout prix. Ensembles, elles développent une amitié plus qu’inébranlable en  traversant tout le pays en voiture pour aller à SF. Sur la route, elles font escale dans des cafés pour danser, et vont se lier à une communauté amérindienne qui va leur être d’une aide très précieuse. En tout cas, téléfilm à voir !

Sienna Miller (Marylin) & Golshifteh Farahani (Mona).

Et un look inspiration “Just like a woman” (accessible) : Chapeau et Jean The Kooples, Tunique et Pochette Zara, Bracelets Satellite, Carnet Croquis Muji, Tee-Shirt Petit Bateau, Robe Masscob, Lunettes de Soleil Asos, Boots Strategia, et Lotion Hydratante (visage) Pascal Morabito.

Un avant-goût de l’été et du contenu de nos valises avant un départ !

I bet these things smell incredible. I seriously bet they do. Well Spent really thinks so, too. We haven’t smelled them yet but holy mackerel that packaging is good. Check ‘em out.

Muji, the famed Japanese company making amazing affordable home/office/lifestyle products without a brand attached, is finally opening in Los Angeles this fall (via Dwell Online).

WordPress has been really great to us. We’re featured on our themes promo page which makes us feel pretty special. Here’s a guide to developing a theme, improving your theme, or whatever you want to draw out of it. This can only make your existing WordPress site better. I hope.

Someone decided to go and make the strike zones of match boxes look extra pretty and the result is success (via FastCo Design).

Our favorite design/font house, House Industries, has put out an app that lets you put their famed photo lettering over your photos. Finally, this doesn’t look like shit.

Harry’s Grooming is another, likely incredible, grooming line for men coming from the genius minds behind Warby Parker. Check it out (found via Cool Hunting)!

I personally love my accessories like they are a painting by Renoir or a Ming Dynasty real-bone china tea-cup. They are ART. Always treath your high-end accessories like art. Stow them away properly and always take good care of them. Make sure you have easy access to your “loved ones” in order to make your early morning mix-and-match decisions as easy as possible. I chose to put my crown jewels on display in my bedroom within reach of my closet. This way I can decide, while I dress-up within the valuable minuts which make the difference in being actually on time instead of being not-so-fashionably-work-related-late, on which items will grace my outfit. This way I make sure my outfit looks great even if I am in a hurry.

Courtesy of MUJI

MUJI has inked a retail location in lower Manhattan.

The Japanese retail company will be opening their fifth New York location at 52 Cooper Square in Noho. The location will span 8,600 square feet on the ground floor of the building that was previously leased to Samsung.

“The landlord was looking for a world-class tenant,” said Stanley Lindenfeld of Lee & Associates. “MUJI is a Japanese minimalist home accessories retailer with 500 stores internationally.”

MUJI prides itself on its simplified design and, as the company states, “in its deliberate pursuit of the pure and the ordinary, achieves the extraordinary.” This location will join a retail portfolio of 16 West 19th Street, 620 Eighth Avenue, 455 Broadway, and a simplified MUJI to GO in terminal five of JFK International Airport.

“A myriad of potential tenants, including dry retailers and restaurants, expressed interest in the property,” said Mr. Lindenfeld. “Establishments were looking to take advantage of the upscale young singles, families, and students that populate the area.”

The neighborhood has expanded in recent years with the addition of several upscale eateries and luxury residential building.

“It was inevitable the neighborhood would develop due to Cooper Union and NYU,” said Mr. Lindenfeld on the rise of Noho in recent years. “The Minskoff building (51 Astor Place) added a renewed interest in the neighborhood.”

Edward J. Minskoff Properties’ 51 Astor Place takes the place of the recently demolished New York Film Academy Cafe and will span 400,000 square feet and 12 stories when completed.

Mr. Lindenfeld was joined his colleague Mr. Henry Goldfarb in representing the landlord, 52/54 CSQ Realty LLC, in the transaction. Christopher Okada of Okada & Company represented MUJI.

The eye are is really delicate and the rougher you are with it the more this will come to light later in life. So be delicate, gentle and use lovey cotton wool and really good cleansers (best one on the market is Bioderma Micellair Water – this is what all the make up artists use, now finally for sale in the UK at and for the rest of the world you can get it at Sephora).

muji

shiseido cotton wool

chanel cotton wool

bioderma micellair water

Any of you out there familiar with the Muji CD player? It is/was a cute little box which you’d hang on the wall, press a CD onto and enjoy the tinny sound of tiny speakers spitting high-grade digital files into your ears.

Now you can — like any civilized person — ditch the spinning disk and just enjoy the music. Muji has now launched a Bluetooth speaker that looks a lot like the old CD box.

The $95 speaker hangs on the wall and plugs into mains power using a bottom-exiting cord. This cord also toggles power — yank it to switch the machine on or off.

You’ll also find an FM radio inside, and the usual complement of play/pause, skip and volume switches are arrayed along the top edge.

It looks like the perfect kitchen speaker. Or it would, if my kitchen weren’t already littered with Bluetooth speakers which I’m testing for review purposes.

Source: Cult of Mac.

THE HORROR

Holy crap, I’ve been gone forever. Sorry, guys. But if you’ve been waiting around for me to post, well, get a life.

Just kidding! Love ya, mean it.

I had to post because I just did something AWESOME. I soaked these Muji compressed face sheets ($2.95) in my Laura Mercier Perfecting Water Moisture Mist ($38, but lasts forever) and wore it around for a while. It looks totally serial killer-y (we should definitely make that a verb) but when I took it off after 15 minutes, my skin GLOWED. So you should do it. Japanese sheet masks are nothing new to the beauty savvy, but I haven’t seen them as cheap and easy (hey-o) anywhere else. Muji is amazing. Bonus: You can soak them in anything; DIY face masks, serums, toners. Not virgin blood, though, that’s just gross. Plus, who knows any of those anymore, am I right?

TRY IT. DO IT.

Sorry for the nightmares!

Sorry not sorry

Today was one of those days when you realise that New York is really not that big at all and how easy it is to bump into lots of people you know. Since the sun was shining and it was actually warm (so strange after yesterday’s snow storm) we decided to do a long walk. We started by strolling over Brooklyn Bridge and walking up to Soho where we stopped and went to Muji to pick up this little gift for Emmett as he’s not feeling too well. On the way out, a car tooted a few times and when we finally turned around we found that it was the Dunst family. As the lights were on red we managed to have a little chat before moving on. We popped into Paper Source where I got a few little bits for Easter crafting before heading to the park and then lunch at the yummy Jack’s wife Freda. I highly recommend for a lovely, healthy lunch. We strolled on through Nolita before bumping into Lucy, Jim and Teddy who had been on a massive bike ride and were on route home. We carried on towards Whole Foods and met up with Nick (or Nit as Rory calls him) for a quick chat before heading to Union Market to pick up supper. Just as I was selecting some delicious looking honey crisp apples, we heard someone chatting to Rory and it was Uncle Henry. We continued our shop as an extended family. With the weather being so lovely (we took our coats off) we decided to extend our walk and head to Williamsburg over the Williamsburg bridge. Rory fell asleep and O and I were able to have one of those lovely long conversations about everything and nothing. We suddenly heard our name called again and this time it was our lovely friend Allison who was out for a run. Stopped at the brilliant Brook Farm General Store where I picked up this lovely nail brush for Rorykins and then caught the ferry home. Laughing about how many people we’d bumped into in the city, we didn’t see one person in our own neighbourhood even though the parks were packed. A great day.

Muji (wiki page) is probably best described as the Japanese version of Ikea, though with a heavier emphasis on clothes. My first visit to the store in Ginza did evoke thoughts of Ikea – a better dressed Ikea on steroids and a chic style. And they sell food — all of it in rather plain, almost “No Name” style packaging.

But what’s inside convinced me that the place could be just as famous as a food store that sold hip well designed furniture as a clothing and household utilities shop. The cookies (which cost something like $2 or $3) were among the best cookies I had on my trip. But don’t trust my taste buds alone. Kaori picked up quite a few items, in buzzing excitement. And more than once she’s lamented we didn’t bring more back to Vancouver.

So Ikea shouldn’t pay heed to the people who suggest they stick to furniture. They should just hit up a Muji (Japanese website) and see how it’s done really really well.

And PLEASE open a Vancouver store!!!

Vivalahighstreet

Gift from a friend..

Vivalahighstreet

Is it a piece of cake??Look again..it’s my kitchen sponge..doing dishes is so much fun now!!

Vivalahighstreet

Seasonal desserts from Henri Charpentier..

Vivalahighstreet

Boots and jeans combination..always works!!

Vivalahighstreet

Love these warm fuzzy socks from Tutuanna

Vivalahighstreet

Candies from MUJI..

Vivalahighstreet

Bowl: Kwangjuyo
Place mat: Muji

In Korea, it’s a tradition to eat ttuk-guk (떡국) with your family every new years. Which also goes with a joke saying that you get a year older if you eat ttuk-guk. (Which I hate because in Korea I’m a year or tow older than I’m supposed to be. They say that you are 1 years old when you’re in your mom’s tummy…. Hmm… Still don’t like the idea.) Even today after about 10 years of living here in Seoul I still hesitate and start calculating my age when someone asks me! My first ‘How to cook’ post is going to be about how to make ttuk-guk with just a couple easy steps. After I got married I started major cooking for my husband and loved it ever since. I am a pretty busy gal so I like the recipes to be nice and easy but taste like the original dish. (Remember for a woman like me, I need to be able to do my hair, make up, put together an outfit for the day AND make a delicious meal for breakfast…well, I don’t need to but you know… we ‘perfectionist’ people want to.) Anyways, my mom made me ttuk-guk every Sunday for about… 10 years now I’m pretty sure this is the most simple way to make it. Here it goes.

설날에 아무생각 없이 당연하듯이 떡국을 먹었지만.. 결혼하고나서는 직접 만들어야되더라구요 헤헤. 저처럼 바쁜게 직장 생활이나 화려한 싱글 라이프를 살다가 결혼 하신 분들이나 아직까지 그러시는 분들을 위해 아주 초간단하게 맛있는 요리를 할수있는 방법들을 조금씩 조금씩 정리해서 공유해드릴께요. 아직 초보이지만, 1년동안 아주 만족스럽게 이것저것 잘 해먹어서 ^^ 스타일도 유지하면서 요리도 잘하는 방법들? ㅋㅋ 이라고 생각하시면 될것같아요. 첫번째 포스팅은 새로운 시작을 의미해서 떡국 만드는 방법에 대해서 설명 드릴꺼에요. (저는 저번에 엄마가 직접 만드신 만두도 냉동실에 있어서 넣어봤아요.)

*3 simple tips to remember when cooking Korean food.

1) Making the broth is extra important but extra easy
2) Prepare all ingredients ahead of time and store in freezer
3) Seasoning is easy of you know exactly how it should taste

*제가 요리에 대해서 처음쓰는 글인데요, 그동안 요리를 배우고 직접하면서 느낀 3가지 중요한 점들. 1) 육수만드는건 중요하지만 쉽다. 2) 야채는 미리 손질 해놓으면 시간이 절약된다. 3) 맛있는걸 많이 먹어 본사람이 간보는대에는 유리하다. 간단하죠?

Ingredients! (Serves 2)..in about 20-30 minutes!
(If you live in Korea, you can find these kind of stuff anywhere, but if you live abroad- go to the nearest K-town super market. They’ll have it all)

Anchovies (10-15 pcs) / 멸치 (10-15개)
Sea tangle (Small pc) / 다시마 (손반조각?)
Rice cakes (1 Cup) / 떡 (1 컵)
Spring onions (1/2 Cup; chopped) / 대파 (1 TS)
Eggs (2) / 계란 (2개)
Soy sauce (1 TS) / 간장 (1 TS)
Minced garlic (1/2 TS) / 다진마늘 (1/2 TS)
Salt & Pepper / 소금 간장
Dried sauteed seaweed (10 pcs) / 김 (10장)
*Optional: Dumpling (1 Cup; any sort) / 만두 (8개)

Let’s Start.

시작해볼까요?

STEP 1: Make the broth / 멸치육수는 만들어요

First, put the anchovies and sea tangle piece into a pot of water and let it boil for about 10 minutes.
Remove the anchovies and sea tangle with a sieve.
(TIP: To measure the amount of water you need, just simply fill the dish that you are going to use for the 2 servings and add 3 dishes filled with water.)

멸치와 다시마를 물에 넣어서 10분간 끓이고 건져내주세요.
(TIP: 물은 식사하실때 사용하실 그릇에 물을 3번 채워서 해보세요.)

STEP 2: Prepare the ingredients / 재료준비

Make sure you sink the rice cakes in water while preparing other ingredients. (I had some dumplings in the freezer that my mom sent me so I added a couple pieces!)
재료를 준비하는동안 떡은 물에 뿔려주세요.

STEP 3: Add the ingredients.

Add the rice cakes, (dumplings), into the broth.
Add a tablespoon of soy sauce and 1/2 tablespoon of minced garlic.
Let it boil for a couple minutes then add the spring onions.
Lastly, pour in the eggs with a circular motion. (Stir slowly with chopstick after 10 seconds!)

끓는 육수에 떡과 만두를 넣으시고
간장 (1TS) 과 다진 마늘을 넣어서 5분정도 끓이세요.
준비한 파는 올리고 마지막으로 푼 계란을 빙둘러서 10초 정도후에 젓가락으로 휘 저어주세요.

STEP 4: Serving

Crush bits of the dried sauteed seaweed and sprinkle over the dish. And Voila.
김을 위에뿌려주시면…완성이에요요요!

I hope that was easy enough to understand but will try and make the recipes short and simple for future posts.
I’m more of a visual person myself. XP  Enjoy!

For a nation that isolated itself totally from the outside world from the seventeenth century until the dawn of the Meiji period in 1868, Japan is now reaping the rewards of its insular past. In a time when we have access to the whole of the world at the touch of a button, elements of Japanese culture still retain an element of mysticism that makes its exoticism irresistible. It therefore comes as little surprise that the impulsive fashion industry has seized upon its expansive history for inspiration this season. The resurgence of what Vogue are hailing Nouvelle Japonisme has not been lost in translation, however, after numerous designers, such as Prada, Marni and Stella McCartney, have showcased pieces with notable Oriental flair in London and Milan respectively:

Karl Lagerfeld’s rather literal interpretation of the on-trend Japanese aesthetic in Chanel’s Spring/Summer 13 advertising campaign has received much acclaim, most notably as my latest screensaver!

Aristo-supermodel, Stella Tenant, is firmly back in the fold, seemingly defying the laws of time and space at the age of 42, whilst presiding over two models poised and – most certainly – posed over traditional takamakura. These oblong neck supports were once used to keep the heads of young maiko and geisha off the floor in an effort to preserve their elaborate hairstyles. However, you would be mistaken to believe editing this trend for this Summer 2013 is going to be a pain in the neck too!

The contrast between the straw tatami matting and the primary colours highlights the importance of a bold colour palette in nailing this look. Remember, red and white are notoriously difficult to wear and you don’t want to make the mistake of looking like a low-rent Madame Butterfly. Instead, take note of the belted silhouettes, billowing sleeves and tulip kimono cut; features that denote quality as opposed to mere decoration.

Cinch this Isabel Marant jacket in at the waist to emphasise the 7/8 sleeves and to exaggerate its boxy fit. This Maison Martin Margiela obi belt should be your weapon of choice for altering the fit slightly as well as for adding a twist a la Japonais. To compliment the jacket’s abstract pattern, don a simple black tee for pared-down chic before writhing into this Joseph pencil skirt. Japanese culture celebrates the notion that less is more, which makes this leather skirt of modest length and – some might say – immodest material the perfect addition to any wardrobe.

To ensure you set pulses racing at the speed of a bullet train; apply this Shiseido lacquer lipstick and Guerlain fragrance. Another Japanese export, Shiseido has created this lip colour with the intensity of a lipstick and the shine of a gloss that makes it the best implement for perfecting a bold lip. Whereas Shiseido can be applied liberally – just don’t get it on your teeth like your Aunt Mabel – the Guerlain fragrance is a two-spray affair; Mitsouko may have notes of bergamot and jasmine but it has remained virtually unchanged since its creation in 1919. The joie de vivre of peacetime following the Russo-Japanese war – the first Great War of the 20th Century – inspired perfumer Jacques Guerlain to create Mitsouko. Mitsouko, the fictional wife of a Japanese admiral and the mistress of a British Naval Officer waits for either her husband or lover to return from the war. It’s a pretty intoxicating story and the perfume reflects this completely, so consider yourself warned.

For a finishing touch, pick up a bento box from Pret a Manger to literally feed your salmon nigiri habit and stride out in these ‘flatforms’ from Topshop. For fashion week or the brave amongst you, you can pick up tabi ankle socks from Muji that would look brilliant with the flatforms, if you opt for a shorter skirt or a pair of shorts, for instance.

Now you have been given my own version of the samurai code, Tokyo is yours for the taking.

Domo arigato, Toby x

2012. The year that was. The month of August had been eventful and my trusty journal was the only non-living witness to it. I got myself a new set of pages to keep me company throughout this year.

MUJI Labo has been around for a number of seasons in Japan, it was launched as a diffusion line to its main collection and just when you thought MUJI clothing couldn’t get any more functionally understated, Labo undercut this concept entirely.

Focusing on the real detail, each pocket is designed to hold a MUJI pen and notepad; each pocket is reinforced; and best of all, every single fabric used is organic and even the buttons are made from recycled bottles.

Putting function at the forefront of the collection, my favourite thing about the collection is the burst of colour. From rich blues to rusty reds, it breathes life into the sea of stripes and beige. The menswear highlights feature brightly coloured raincoats and super soft linen trousers and for women – elegant shirt dresses and the ever sought after white linen shirt.

Launching in MUJI Carnaby Street branch, the Spring/Summer 13 collection will  be exclusively available in a handful of European stores.

Muji Found is a store that houses a raft of handmade, artisanal products that Muji has (not surprisingly) found from around the world. They present these products not as their own but as collaborations with other brands. For example, they recently showcased the German retailer Manufactum (who believes that ‘the best things in life still exist’ and as such helps support original manufacturers of product).

They are now extending the Muji Found concept into their regular Muji standalone stores by making it a section within the store – similar to how they treat Muji Labo (a clothing brand extension).

Muji Found is a nice example of a retailer that is looking to continue to innovate their brand (and stay ahead of the curve…not behind).

Address: Jingumae, Shibuya-ku in Tokyo (on Aoyama-dori near the intersection with Kotto-dori)

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