Monday, April 19, 2010

volcano/airplane update

i hope by now that everyone is aware of the volcano crisis. just wanted to give you and update: delta flew their 10am flight today from rome to atlanta. the status online is that the plane is in the air. so let's keep all of our fingers crossed that my flight is not affected on saturday. i will be very sad if i don't return on time. but id rather be safe than sorry.
volcano threatening europe's economy
by blocking all airways with
it's crazy ash cloud

positano

positano was so much fun this past weekend. and i am sun burnt which makes it even better! we got there on thursday afternoon and we had to get off of our bus and walk all the way down to our hotel, which is about 2,000 steps down. but before we started our trek, i bumped in to scottie's italian twin. seriously. this little boy puppy looks freakishly like scottie, it even has eyeliner like her. i almost cried.
wanna-be scottie
we laid around and then went to dinner together as a group that night. there was the cutest little kitty at dinner and it jumped in my lap while i was eating! i loved it until it gave our GTA a panic attack and a paramedic had to talk her down. it was scary. kitty was banned after that.
views from my hotel room
positano

kitty and i chowin' down
on friday it was pretty overcast so we bought ferry tickets to amalfi. in amalfi i found tons of limoncello! the south of italy is known for their limoncello so this is the place to buy it. i got my dad some. we just wandered around looking at the different tourist shops, then headed back to positano. i bought a sweet cover up that i had seen before we went to amalfi and then all of the girls sat down for drinks at a restaurant by the beach. i got a mojito.... mmmm....
view from the ferry


amalfi
the church/main square in amalfi
ferry!
on saturday we went to a beach where you pay 5 euro for a chair all day. it was totally worth it. we laid in the sun all day long which was my only goal for the weekend - get a tan. im so tired of cold weather. i was desperate for sunshine. and i got it! the beach in positano has black sand which didn't feel so good on my feet. also, when we were walking to the chairs this mysterious blonde dog ran up and dug a hole under courtney's chair. we ended up naming him carlos and fed him water and peanuts all day. he hung out under our chairs, came and went as he pleased. we love him.
looking up at positano from the beach

carlos i love you!
carlos catchin' some rays
bbbeeeaaaacccchhhh
ssuuunnnssshhhiiinnneeee
bronze
after everyone had gotten enough sun and drink, we headed back to the hotel and all ate dinner together at a really good restaurant called chez black right on the beach. the weekend was really relaxing and nice to just lay in the sun and not have an itinerary for once. i didn't make it to capri but i hear it's gorgeous so you should go if you're on the amalfi coast.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

design week

design week in milan was amazing. it was one of the best experiences i have ever had. it makes me really want to go to neocon this summer.

we flew in to milan on tuesday night and on wednesday morning we met max at 930am at the genova train station. he had the first years of his italian class with him so there were probably around 50 of us that he was herding around in the morning. it was really fun to go around with his italian students and interact with them. most of them spoke english. the first place we went to was called start!
the front


furniture made from recycled wood
those are pantone swatch colors
after that he took us everywhere in milan. not everything was in a warehouse where you could see it all at once like at neocon. it is spread out all over milan in different buildings.
some cool exhibition
NETwork 3d stitching furniture
by werner aisslinger

the lamp in the background is called pit
by e27 berlin
i love these lights
next door was an exhibition for environment. they had these incredible lights that looked like paper. i really liked it.
environment
once we finished with that max took us to this giant warehouse that have several exhibitions in one. this was a really fun place to see a lot of stuff in a short amount of time. there were some of the best things here.
smoke me! from paris
while i was exploring i ran in to the molo design room. i was freaking out. i love this stuff and i used it on my urban outfitters project this past semester. it is actual paper that comes with magnets that snap it together. you can make any shape and also put LED lights in them. they're incredibly durable because you can sit or stand on them.
molo design
from vancouver, canada
i love molo
one of the coolest things was this cardboard room. there were all types of furniture here. it was just really interesting. i love the moose.
project by alessandro antoniazza
and valter davanzo
io10 design
paperboard innovation
the most beautiful thing i saw was a crystal wall that had LED lights in it. it is like a room divider. i am obsessed with it.
lasvit crystal wall
koncern design studio for lasvit
across from the glass were these shelves hanging from the ceiling. they are in the shape of honeycombs. they have fronts to them that lift up, or you can leave them open. i love them.
honey-way
officinanove
this is a rug
with wood pieces on it
clock that writes what time it is
in the afternoon we visited a dutch exhibition where everything was made of paper. even the table was made of paper. it was really hard and durable, yet light weight. so interesting. and beautiful. i love the gold and black.
all paper
paper
paper
really neat exhibition
called established and sons
from great britain
i got a free bag from here
i love this room and everything in it
spring chair
anyone need a fabric deer head?
or person?
yarn stools
im obsessed with these lights
bocci
fabric volkswagen

interior design with max