Can't Afford Bitcoins?
Indulge in this Chocolate Ganache Lingot by Gontran Cherrier.
Also not to miss, La Valentino, a chocolate and chocolate Buche de Noel.
Did not realize that Gontran Cherrier mini-empire is now close to 60 locations including 30 in South Korea.
(* Image from Gontran Cherrier Instagram Feed)
Get a bird's eye perspective, book a tree house at Loire Valley Lodges near Tours (France)
Want to take a break from Zoom world, Loire Valley Lodges offers 18 tree lodges sprinkled around a forest with no WiFi and spotty cellphone reception. They opened in July 2020.
Each lodge opens onto the forest and the sky thanks to large windows.
Green Lap of Luxury for Green Day # 274
( Photo: November 4, Autumn Sunrise on terrace of lodge Via Nilo, via Loire Valley Lodges Facebook Page)
75 Years of Japanese Design, One Book by Naomi Pollock, Japanese Design since 1945 (Abrams Books, November 3-2020)
"For the Japanese, the concept of design is not limited to functionality and materiality—it is deeply connected with culture and tradition. In this sense, everyday objects become more than their function: they are to be reflected upon, to be touched and cherished."
I also wrote in Tree House for Grown Up Escapes, Pilotis in a Forest (May 5, 2016) about a previous book by Naomi Pollock titled 'Jutaku, Japanese Houses'
75 Years of Japanese Design on the menu for Tokyo Thursdays # 316
1990 Grande Annee Bollinger
Champagne for the people
After a day lifting wine glasses around Napa Valley, you might be looking for a quiet retreat.
A Stags Leap District cliff hanger, Poetry Inn fits the spot.
Enjoy full view of the valley from western facing porches.
Rates range from $610 (low season weekday) to $1950 (high season weekend.)
If you are already thinking Valentine's Day, Poetry Inn is offering a special package .
"Two night stay, two 60-minute massages, locally-made chocolates, a bottle of Cliff Lede Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, and a wine tasting and tour for two at the nearby Cliff Lede Vineyards tasting room, which is one of the Stags Leap District's most modern and acclaimed wineries. Rates start from $1,330 per night, based on availability. Check-in is February 13, 2015 and check-out February 15, 2015. Excludes gratuity on spa treatments. "
Pampered is your middle name at Poetry Inn.
Before devoring a bunch of additive ladded chocolate candy and collapsing from a sugar high, stop for a minute and consider tastier alternatives.
Popping Praline Mummy ($45)
or Frankeinstein Toffee ($30)
Halloween creations by Moonstruck Chocolate from Oregon.
(* Images from Moonstruck Chocolate site)
Exactly a month ago i wrote Bid, Art on Skateboards from Joi Ito to 1st Female Indian Skateboarder Atita Benefit We School India Skatepark...
Well bidding opens tomorrow March 20, 2014 and closes on March 26.
Since my original piece, Ai Weiwei joined list of those offering their Artboard-Skateboard design.
"The board Ai Weiwei provided is an image from his work titled, He Xie, or River Crabs. The quote, “The world is not changing if you don’t shoulder the burden of responsibility,” is from his book, Weiwei-isms."
Here's his design
As Ulrike Reinhard, one of the main forces behind project, notes there is more than riding a skateboard behind this initiative.
"The Learning Experience
A different way to school ……….
Take a group of rural Indian children between the ages of 8 and 14 years old, who have no formal schooling, and present them with a project-based learning scenario.
You might expect to get at the very least blank faces, and at worst some not very polite language.
But not when the project is to build your very own skateboard!
From the get go you have their attention. And then, when you go on to explain that you have no resources to give them, and they have to go and find everything they need themselves, an excited discussion ensues.
But, first things first…
What exactly is a skateboard?
To what uses could it be put apart from skating?
How big/small could it be to still work?
How heavy does it need to be to stop it tipping constantly?
How big do the wheels needs to be and what happens if you put more or less than four wheels on?
By now the group is totally engaged and coming up with many more questions.
As a group they discuss and generate ways to solve the problems, and chalkstone on a wall serves for a design space.
Some of the suggestions are:
Recycling for materials
Extra wheels
Large wheels
Dog powered
Two skateboards strapped together to provide a wide carrying platform
And many more are discussed.
After the discussion, there is the making, engaging with maths, hand-working, crafting and constructing. Before, finally, the finishing artwork, personal logo and then the testing.
The group of young people have worked their way through a project-based learning that any teacher would be happy to put their name to.
Sure, they had the guidance of a teacher, but she kept her input to a minimum, encouraging the young people to be constantly challenging themselves for answers.
The project might last anything from a week, if the group turn-up every day, to a month or more if they are only meeting together a couple of times a week.
The learning they have made is a secure lifelong learning across a range of subjects, with measurable outcomes and an end goal that is functional and fun.
Children in very different environments and circumstances require learning that is relevant to them and their lives. Often this is not building based, white western European and aimed at university entrance, but local, community based and aimed at improving their, and their communities’ lives."
To get your chance to help the project and hopefully be the proud recipient of one of these unique pieces, all you need is a minimum of 300 Euros ($ 411 at today's rate) and a little chance.
Rules of the Bid
ARTBOARD / SKATEBOARD IS AN INITIATIVE OF WE_SCHOOL, INDIA. Over the last year we’ve done various skateboard workshops – now we decided to build a skatepark in rural India. To raise funds for the skatepark we’ve asked designers, photographer and artists to “design” a skateboard. This site is set up to auction the artboards.
100% of the auction proceeds will go into the project!
The auction will be live from March 20 until March 26, 2014. During this time the YOUR BID button will be activated.
The minimum bid for each ARTBOARD / SKATEBOARD is 300 €.
Get your bids going and spread the word.
(* Images shared with permission, all rights reserved)
She knows how to make things happen in her many projects including currently We the School India an We Magazine- Middle East. Ulrike Reinhard is always generous with her time and advice so when she asked me to give a hand in spreading the word on an auction she is spearheading to raise funds for a skatepark in rural India, I could not say no.
This effort reminds me of model that was adopted for Menu for Hope (the brainchild of Pim Techamuanvivit of Chez Pim) of which i was happy to be a small part.
Ulrike and her team put together a nice international roster of creative minds and asked them to offer their Skateboard designs for Artboard/ Skateboard...
BIDDING OPENS ON MARCH 20...Bidding Links will not be active until that date.
Among the 20 pieces, I picked 3
Bollywood style by Kanhaiya Prasad Singh
Goddess like by Atita Verghese listed as the 1st female Indian skateboarder
Visions of Bamboo by Joi Ito
To get your chance to help the project and hopefully be the proud recipient of one of these unique pieces, all you need is a minimum of 300 Euros ($ 411 at today's rate) and a little chance.
Rules of the Bid
ARTBOARD / SKATEBOARD IS AN INITIATIVE OF WE_SCHOOL, INDIA. Over the last year we’ve done various skateboard workshops – now we decided to build a skatepark in rural India. To raise funds for the skatepark we’ve asked designers, photographer and artists to “design” a skateboard. This site is set up to auction the artboards.
100% of the auction proceeds will go into the project!
The auction will be live from March 20 until March 26, 2014. During this time the YOUR BID button will be activated.
The minimum bid for each ARTBOARD / SKATEBOARD is 300 €.
Get your bids going and spread the word.
(* Images shared with permission, all rights reserved)
Put some style in your holiday celebrations and holiday gifting with Boheme Chic 'Brut Reserve' Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne.
Boheme Chic will be available across the U.S in a limited edition tin box throughout the end of the year Holidays 2013
As part of my concierge work, I have been following the work of Journeys by Design who combines offering boutique African adventures with preservation and social entrepreneurship for a few years now.
They recently reshuffled their online presence and added a Journeys By Design blog where one of the first stories is about Bishangari, an eco-lodge in Ethiopia.
Read it and start dreaming about faraway escapes.
(* Bishangari image from 'Journeys by Design' blog)