In search of....

This morning I trekked out to my favorite part of town --the Flower Mart and Fashion District. I went to meet some clients friends frients( friends-clients?!). Carmela and Nina were on missions to find items for their upcoming weddings and I was along as a tour guide of sorts. This is not to say I wasn't on a mission of my own. Getting out and looking at flowers, fabric and notions gives me a lot of ideas.

While waiting for Carmela and Nina to arrive from the O.C., I perused the Flower Mart. I didn't buy any flowers. I knew I had a long day ahead of me and was afraid they'd wilt and look sad. I did pick up these.

Succulents

I plan to use them for a project I'm cooking up. More on that later.

Eventually, I met up with Carmela and Nina. We headed for Michael Levine's. Along the way, we looked at crystals and beads.

This block is fascinating. There are several fabric vendors on the way to Michael Levine. The fabrics range from who-did-it-and-why? to oh-so-chic. It makes for a good laugh and a good source of inspiration.

I found and bought these two pieces of fabric. Again, more info on their purpose later.

Joel Dewberry for Westminster Fabrics - Ginseng Collection

After 3 hours of meandering and bargain hunting, we headed to Little Tokyo for sustenance. We arrived at around 3. This limited our options since most of the restaurants are closed between 3 and 5pm. We ended up at a Korean BBQ/Sukiyaki/Shabu-Shabu house. I guess it's an Asian Barbecue house? It's a strange combo for a restaurant, but the food was surprisingly good. The portions were huge.

Carmela's Beef Barbecue


My Chicken Teriyaki


Nina gets ready to enjoy her lunch

Afterwards, we went and got some Mochi. Originally, we were going to get original style Mochi from Fugetsu-do, but it was so hot that we went for the ice cream variety.

My Green Tea Ice Cream Mochi


Carmela enjoys her Mochi

After lunch and dessert, we spent the next several hours gossiping and somewhat discussing their upcoming projects with me. I had a great time. I couldn't have asked for better company and seeing different materials has got the creative juices flowing. Let's hope my next couple projects end up as beautifully executed as they are in my head;)