Category: plants and gardens
Getty Villa: Not Your Class Field Trip
| October 28, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under antiques, architecture, art, Design, design history, Explore, interiors, Outdoors, Places, plants and gardens, See and Do, so-cal local, travel, weekend fun |
Today we’re going to take an unorthodox tour of the Getty Villa in Malibu – no docents, no lessons. Just a walk through this inspiration palace, looking at the things that truly caught my eye: patterns of repetition, symmetry, mind-blowing ornate detail and really really old stuff!
We’re not starting at the entry, oh no. We’re going straight for the best stuff. The outer peristyle, with it’s rythmic fluted columns and coffered ceiling offered perfectly framed views from every direction. To the right you have a gorgeous scene of fountains and bronze statues.
Notice the eery low fog. This was the most amazing weather, a perfect fall museum-going day.
To the left, as you peer through these amazing windows, you get a look at the Getty’s herb garden – where you could cure just about any ancient ailment.
My next favorite thing was the Amarilla Triana marble that covered much of the interior of the museum. What’s so special? It reminded me of old maps, collaged together on the floor, walls AND ceiling. Here’s a pretty good shot:
This is the underside of the staircase, i.e., the ceiling. Cool. And here’s where you can see it all together – plus me, looking like a goofy-faced angel.
I did pay attention to some of the art. My first favorite was this adorable little guy – a satyr playing inside a theatre mask. See his face peeking through the eye hole? He’s got a mischevious smile that totally made my day.
My next favorite was this statue of Zeus, such an awesome composite of materials, burned and partially melted it its lifetime. But you can’t bring Zeus down, and this pretty much proves it.
Oh, and that’s a slab of onyx behind him. Not sure why this one wasn’t back lit, but it was beeeyoutiful.
A few more:
inner peristyle garden
oh beautiful foggy day
random highlight of columns
even with modern machinery, I'm kind of impressed by this.
Hope you’ve enjoyed our little tour. My architecture and art history teachers would probably be disappointed, but I loved my inspiration tour of the Getty Villa! Ciao.
Day Trip: Malibu
| October 24, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under antiques, architecture, art, Design, design history, Eat, Explore, fashion, food, interiors, Outdoors, Places, plants and gardens, Seasonal, See and Do, travel, vintage, weekend fun |
With my plans foiled for a romantic weekend in Big Bear (fires, fog and bbq), we needed to come up with a backup plan for our mini-vacation last weekend. So we decided to dive up PCH and spend the day in Malibu.
I was expecting a bit of a beach day but got my wish for gloomy and foggy along the coast (part of the romantic fall trip I so badly wanted). The fog was so low it actually brushed past you when walking in or out of doors. Eeery and so cool.
First stop was the Getty Villa, a place I have had my eye on since before it opened in 2006 when I studied the remodel during design school. I have a whole other post planned later in the week so I won’t tell too much now, but I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and found lots of architectural inspiration there!
Afterward, we headed a bit further up the coast to grab lunch at Malibu Seafood Fish Market. The fish and chips (and Diet Rite) hit the spot and we got to watch people surfing just across the street. The people watching in Malibu is great too…
Especially at our next stop. The Lumberyard, the Malibu Country Mart and Malibu Creek Plaza. Lotsa lotsa moola here. I almost stole some ladies ‘cheapo’ Kate Spade sunglasses (totally by accident, of course) at the J.Crew.
And casually posh people like to chillax here by the aquarium and sip their lattes while enjoying an $8 cupcake (then head upstairs to Pilates)
We took in the scene, tried on a few obscenely priced pairs of clothing and then drove to a more affordable area - Santa Monica. There, hubs found a vintage pair of jeans for $7 and I played dress up with thrifted Marc Jacobs tops (which didn’t quite fit right). We picked up some spices at Penzey’s and then grabbed coffee and crepes to wrap up the day. Delish.
We came home worn out and happy, and to a very excited pup who thought we had left for good. Happy daycation.
Photo credits: lumberyard images from their websiteFood Files: Keep Your Harvest Fresh
| September 22, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under accessories, Eat, edible thursday, food, kitchen, Outdoors, plants and gardens |
How exciting – it’s the time of year when all the hard work we’ve put into our edible garden starts to pay off. Keep your fresh-picked veggies bright by storing them correctly.
$34.95
Root vegetables should be stored in a cool, dark place. I love this wire basket from Gardeners.com with a jute liner and lid (I would totally use this for decor too).
Most of your fresh fruit will stay fresh in the fridge – apples do well in the crisper, grapes, bananas and cherries should stay on the top or second shelf toward the front.
I’ve found that berries and most of my veggies do best when sealed in glass containers. My favorite are these from Crate & Barrel
$19.95
Avocado, mangoes, tomatoes, melons and citrus should all be kept at room temperature but out of direct sunlight. I like to make little color collections in various fruit bowls on the counter. I love these bowls from Wisteria
$19.50
and these from Etsy
from SalvageWoodworks
from DAHceramics
from Arkceramicart
Yum.
Edible Thursday: Cool as a Cucumber
| August 4, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under Body, cooking, edible thursday, food, Inspiration, plants and gardens |
Cukes are in season right now so they are easy to find and cheap to buy. Yippee! If you know what to do with the darn things…
Image courtesy of mysimplehomegarden.com
Here are 5 suggestions for putting them to good use.
1. Refresh your Water. Slice them thin and place 5-6 slices in a pitcher of water. After a couple hours in the fridge you’ll have a refreshing beverage for these nasty hot days we’ve been having. It instantly perks you up, and you can shake things up a bit my adding mint leaves or melon in as well. A nice change from standard water.
2. Shake it Up. Toss cucumbers into your morning or post-workout smoothie. They thicken it up a bit without adding too much to the taste (a tad sweet). They go well with berries and citrus for a little punch.
3. Persian Pico de Gallo. This recipe is from Vegetarian Times and is a perfect light party dip. You’ll need:
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 English cucumber or whole garden cuke, diced
- 1/2 small white onion, finely diced
- 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
- 3 Tbs lemon juice
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 1-1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp dried mint
- 1 tsp sumac, optional
Toss all ingredients into a bowl and serve immediately (though it gets a little better with a few hours to marinate)
4. Pickles! The process isn’t as hard as you may think but it does take a little time. Think about when you were a kid and you bit into a huge dill pickle. Oh, so worth it. Here’s a link to the process of pickling.
5. Cuke Face. It’s not to eat, but it’ll use up your crop and make you beautiful. It’s an aloe and cucumber face mask. And it’s simple:
- 1/2 Cucumber
- 2 tablespoons aloe vera gel (keep it in the fridge for an extra refreshing mask)
Peel and cut the cucumber into pieces and toss together with the aloe – use a food processor or blender to make it smooth. Apply gently but avoid eye area. If you have extra cucumber slices, use these to depuff your eyes while you relax about 20-30 minutes.
Rinse clean and apply normal moisturizer. Don’t you feel better? Aloe is great to soften and heal skin, and the water in cucumber helps minimize inflamed skin cells.
Wasn’t that fun? What else is in season…
Ain’t No Ordinary Town
| July 26, 2011 | Posted by Linsi Brownson under antiques, Design, Flea Market, found objects, Inspiration, Outdoors, Places, plants and gardens, travel |
I’m clearing the haze away from my recent vacation and getting back into the swing of things. I mentioned last week that I was heading to the lake – Big Bear Lake in Southern California.
Big Bear is known for it’s ski resorts and lakefront homes, but I found something unexpected there: quality antique shopping. Most touristy towns offer quaint looking ‘antique’ shops that are more like garage sales than anything else. But I was impressed by several roadside venues that had some pretty nifty stuff.
I picked up a couple of chairs (that I will post in another segment) and got inspired to create some new container gardens using found objects like these old railroad carts.
Or this old bathtub. Wouldn’t it look great to have some spindly plants growing out of that tear in the side?
Though a tourist town, the locals seem to be more interested in keeping life simple than catering to visitors every whim. This was evident by the expressions on our Paddlewheel boat operator’s face when the “adorable” children aboard tried to use the upper deck as their personal bunk bed, as well as hubs getting yelled at when going to the wrong side of the chair lift a second time.
“Hey buddy, get it together,” he said. “That’s strike 2. One more and you’re walking down the mountain.” (I must also mention that David was all bandaged up from a knee injury and could hardly walk. This guy was hilarious.)
I also loved this sign:
All in all, a great place to get away when you’re in the mood for something rustic. Beautiful mountains, perfect size lake with plenty to do. One of the best meals I’ve had in a while was as Jasper’s Smokehouse - I rarely eat bbq since I prefer my pigs and cows living. But this place had white meat turkey and vegetarian bbq options and they were mighty good. Our meal came complete with a jolly (chatty) proprietor who gave us the lowdown on Big Bear. His claim to fame is the regular visits by George Clooney who has an estate in the area.
Stay tuned for my flea market finds later in the week. Happy Tuesday.
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