Last night, past dusk, I walked to my car, parked on the Battery.
The shadows had lengthened enough in the South of Broad neighborhood that the color had bled out of everything, and the corridor was layered also with the scent of jasmine and men smoking cigars who were walking their dogs. Not many lights were on in houses, and Meeting Street felt like a dark tunnel of growing things above me.
The horizon opens up suddenly at White Point Gardens, and beyond it was the water, a calm night, still reflecting a bit of the green and more of the blue left by the setting sun. The moon and Venus were already out, and the trees were silhouettes like those of Clay Rice, perfect edges flat against a light background.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Belated Wine and Food Fest Gushing
OK, I know it's been almost a month since the BB&T Charleston Wine + Food Festival, but since it's sincerely one of the highlights of my calendar year, I'm still basking in the glow from this year's events. Each year is a bit the same and yet very different, and although I anticipate and plan a bit for the events, I really can never predict the fun that will ensue.
Two favorite unexpected aspects from this year:
-- The rise of the cocktail, and thus, the rise of the amount of spirit sampling in the grand tasting tents.
For an unseasonably warm weekend, the refreshing Ascot from Icebox was a wonderful respite, but by far, the stand out in this category was Cardinal Gin, hailing from Kings Mountain in N.C. The story is awesome -- twin brothers and their daddy, but even better is the gin. They were providing mini gin and tonics, and the buzz around how good this stuff was, the botanicals that were clearly evident in the sip, was a favorite conversation.
It's available at multiple locations in the Charleston area, so yippee for supporting small business and my taste buds at the same time.
-- Industry talk.
This year, for me, it was even more of a learning experience. The parties were awesome, yes, but so were the panel discussions on topics ranging from cookbooks to choosing a fish. Immersion was the key here, well, that, and getting over the free sample thing. Just lining up like cattle to get a sample can be fun for a while, but why not stop and talk to the producers you like and pick their brains? Or better yet, explore the festival beyond the tasting tents?
When you do this, it is like a food homecoming, talking shop as it were, whether you are chef, producer or enthusiast. The feeling is mutual.
Two favorite unexpected aspects from this year:
-- The rise of the cocktail, and thus, the rise of the amount of spirit sampling in the grand tasting tents.
.JPG) |
| The Ascot in mass quantities in its dispenser |
For an unseasonably warm weekend, the refreshing Ascot from Icebox was a wonderful respite, but by far, the stand out in this category was Cardinal Gin, hailing from Kings Mountain in N.C. The story is awesome -- twin brothers and their daddy, but even better is the gin. They were providing mini gin and tonics, and the buzz around how good this stuff was, the botanicals that were clearly evident in the sip, was a favorite conversation.
It's available at multiple locations in the Charleston area, so yippee for supporting small business and my taste buds at the same time.
-- Industry talk.
This year, for me, it was even more of a learning experience. The parties were awesome, yes, but so were the panel discussions on topics ranging from cookbooks to choosing a fish. Immersion was the key here, well, that, and getting over the free sample thing. Just lining up like cattle to get a sample can be fun for a while, but why not stop and talk to the producers you like and pick their brains? Or better yet, explore the festival beyond the tasting tents?
When you do this, it is like a food homecoming, talking shop as it were, whether you are chef, producer or enthusiast. The feeling is mutual.
Friday, March 2, 2012
A Jedi Makeup Master
Sephora opened up in Southpark mall when I lived in Charlotte, and I remember I almost hyperventilated the first time I crossed its threshold. Perfumes and sparkly shadow and glosses, oh my!
I walked out with a Christian Dior eyeshadow in a shade of Addams Family green that I thought made me look modern but instead made me look like I was getting over the Black Plague. I mean, I was going to pull through, but pictures of that period revealed that it was touch and go for a while.
I love color, and little pots of nail polish were just the thing, I thought, when I was having a bad day. Pretty soon I had a shoebox full, and one day I used them to paint a rocking chair. Really. They are enamel, and I was paring down my paint collection.
Yet another time I was sucked into something because of the vintage picture on the tin that promised a dewy, silent movie complexion. After smearing it on my combination skin for just a few days, I created an oil slick under my makeup that made me look like I had just finished a shift standing over a McDonald's deep fryer.
So when I met Andrew Petersen last year, make-up artist extraordinaire and founder of Misiu Beauty, I did not realize that he was the Obi Wan Kanobi of cosmetics.
We met socially, and I instantly gravitated toward his sunny personality and his positive attitude. He is genuine and although I mentioned coming to see him for a consultation, I never really followed through. He didn't sit me down in a chair under a magnifying glass, ph test my skin or any other such thing. We just chatted.
Well, over the summer, he revealed his Jedi makeup master status. We met for a glass of wine one night, and when we said goodbye, he rummaged through a bag in the dark parking lot and pulled out some samples literally in two minutes. Foundation, a perfume, and a Laura Mercier lip color. He said, try these and hugged me goodbye.
1. The foundation matched my skin tone perfectly.
2. I am considering hoarding the lip color, a sheer berry that I never would have tried, since during the winter, it makes me look like I've just returned from a brisk walk on an English moor.
3. And just instinctively, he chose for me a perfume that is my favorite ever. Rose Oud by Killian. It deserves its own blog post.
Wow.
But more than just his amazing knowledge is his sincere enjoyment of people. He loves to help people see the beauty in themselves, the beauty he sees and that he knows is much more than just their lip color or eyelash length.
Every time I apply one of those samples, I silently applaud Andrew for daring to be so generous with his laughter, his encouragement, and his knowledge. Bravo, my friend, your example is generous as well.
I walked out with a Christian Dior eyeshadow in a shade of Addams Family green that I thought made me look modern but instead made me look like I was getting over the Black Plague. I mean, I was going to pull through, but pictures of that period revealed that it was touch and go for a while.
I love color, and little pots of nail polish were just the thing, I thought, when I was having a bad day. Pretty soon I had a shoebox full, and one day I used them to paint a rocking chair. Really. They are enamel, and I was paring down my paint collection.
.JPG) |
| The fingernail polish rocking chair. Obviously, I had the yellow paint for a base. |
So when I met Andrew Petersen last year, make-up artist extraordinaire and founder of Misiu Beauty, I did not realize that he was the Obi Wan Kanobi of cosmetics.
We met socially, and I instantly gravitated toward his sunny personality and his positive attitude. He is genuine and although I mentioned coming to see him for a consultation, I never really followed through. He didn't sit me down in a chair under a magnifying glass, ph test my skin or any other such thing. We just chatted.
Well, over the summer, he revealed his Jedi makeup master status. We met for a glass of wine one night, and when we said goodbye, he rummaged through a bag in the dark parking lot and pulled out some samples literally in two minutes. Foundation, a perfume, and a Laura Mercier lip color. He said, try these and hugged me goodbye.
1. The foundation matched my skin tone perfectly.
2. I am considering hoarding the lip color, a sheer berry that I never would have tried, since during the winter, it makes me look like I've just returned from a brisk walk on an English moor.
3. And just instinctively, he chose for me a perfume that is my favorite ever. Rose Oud by Killian. It deserves its own blog post.
Wow.
But more than just his amazing knowledge is his sincere enjoyment of people. He loves to help people see the beauty in themselves, the beauty he sees and that he knows is much more than just their lip color or eyelash length.
Every time I apply one of those samples, I silently applaud Andrew for daring to be so generous with his laughter, his encouragement, and his knowledge. Bravo, my friend, your example is generous as well.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Get your dancing shoes on darlin, we're going out tonight
Last week I received an invite to see the Charleston Jazz Orchestra. I said yes, then realized it was for the 10 p.m. second set. Oh.
Now I love jazz. It's my main "writing" music, and I make a point to see some each year during Piccolo Spoleto. But I don't see it live as much as I say I want to. So I got off the couch, changed out of my Saturday night stretchy pants, put on some heels and made good on that orchestra ticket.
Best decision I made that week. My face hurt from smiling, responding to conductor Charlton Singleton's excellent direction and easy manner. The show was infectious, fun, and the 10 p.m. showing was open, loose, and more personal. Everyone that was there seem to feel it, including Stacy Huggins of Charleston Art Mag (who I missed seeing that night. I didn't look around really -- eyes mesmerized by the stage). Stacy's blog recap was perfect, check it out here, but I want to express how it made me feel.
It changed the course of my thoughts. I wasn't feeling great when I got there, and when I left, I was walking on air. It's the power of music, of a language that we all understand, of the joy that the musicians felt playing together. It washed over all of us, a gift.
Now I love jazz. It's my main "writing" music, and I make a point to see some each year during Piccolo Spoleto. But I don't see it live as much as I say I want to. So I got off the couch, changed out of my Saturday night stretchy pants, put on some heels and made good on that orchestra ticket.
It changed the course of my thoughts. I wasn't feeling great when I got there, and when I left, I was walking on air. It's the power of music, of a language that we all understand, of the joy that the musicians felt playing together. It washed over all of us, a gift.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Beadwork bonanza
When I came across Chris Maj's work on etsy, I at first, said "oooh." And then I said, "whoa." Why? I saw this:
And this:
And this:
And they are made out of beads, by hand, each bead threaded and woven together. Suddenly, I felt a kinship with all those people who look at my quilts and say, "You did all this? Wow, you've been busy. How long did it take you?" When underneath those questions is the unspoken elephant in the room:
How do you have the patience to do this?
The short answer is, we find it fun. Read Chris' long answer in my profile of her in Go Triad. And don't worry about how she does it, just appreciate the artistry, feel the connection to this art form that has been around since antiquity, and get your "oohs" and "aahs" ready.
And this:
And this:
And they are made out of beads, by hand, each bead threaded and woven together. Suddenly, I felt a kinship with all those people who look at my quilts and say, "You did all this? Wow, you've been busy. How long did it take you?" When underneath those questions is the unspoken elephant in the room:
How do you have the patience to do this?
The short answer is, we find it fun. Read Chris' long answer in my profile of her in Go Triad. And don't worry about how she does it, just appreciate the artistry, feel the connection to this art form that has been around since antiquity, and get your "oohs" and "aahs" ready.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Big Congrats from The Beehive
A few months back, I listened to a podcast of Christine Kane on "upleveling your business."
What does this mean? She asked, and then she proceeded to lay out the steps. While I enjoyed the lecture, I didn't feel the need to pursue listening to her any further. However, the term "uplevel" was one of those terms that stuck with me.
Today, I can report that I've seen it in action through my work with The Beehive -- one of my clients, Floradora, has expanded her business beyond Etsy to a fully live, beautiful and interactive ecommerce site! I am so proud to work with this home decor company.
Sarah Reed of Dodeline Design hit this one "out of the park," translating the Floradora aesthetic in an easy-to-navigate site, and then trained Floradora on how to customize and in general keep her items, and site, up to date.
 |
| Custom-designed table linens is a Floradora specialty |
Throughout the process, Floradora owner Courtney Scott really put in the work as well, creating wholesale pricing for retailers, organizing her stock by style collections, and in general thinking about her business and how she wants it to grow.
Congratulations to Floradora on her big debut, and The Beehive wishes her all the best!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Take it From Me
It's a hard thing to admit to myself. That the word "underemployed" has always fit. When I started out in my "grown up" career, I'd never heard the word. But it's true -- for my entire working life, save a couple of brief stints as a full-time newspaper employee (you know, another healthy industry), I've been UNDEREMPLOYED.
I have been teaching or teaching part-time -- full-time hours with adjunct benefits, or writing, or thinking about writing, or supposed to be writing but really mostly not writing, to writing again, then really writing. whew.
What do you do if you're me and underemployed? Well, you get more underemployed by working. Through the years, I've fallen back on a "steady" source of supplemental income: food service. I've waited tables, bartended, been bar manager, server trainer, and menu educator.
I've seen a person who almost severed his thumb not go to the hospital because he was undocumented. I've seen servers with fevers so high that they were almost delusional try to serve courses. I've been passed over on promotions because I did not party with the management, partying that included drugs. I've seen racism and sexism, and double standards, and I've done the math too, working out that that lunch shift where I made $17 in tips actually put me in the hole.
In each restaurant, I've found kind people, hard workers, and a caring manager or two. I worked in the mid-ranks of this high turnover industry, because I needed a place that was OK with my first schedule -- writing. I wasn't in it for a career, and it treated me like I treated it -- a numbers game, a slot to be filled.
That personal era has passed, but if you've haven't worked in the industry, chances are you are oblivious to the nature of it, that on a good day (or in a good place) it can feel like family, but for many of us hidden in the ranks, it feels more often like the place of the lowest common denominator.
I'm not here protesting or bringing signs or trying to whistle blow. I'm voting with my wallet, making my choices matter. Read the ROC National Diners' Guide, and make your own choices, at least when it comes to a chain restaurant. How do your favorites rank?
I have been teaching or teaching part-time -- full-time hours with adjunct benefits, or writing, or thinking about writing, or supposed to be writing but really mostly not writing, to writing again, then really writing. whew.
What do you do if you're me and underemployed? Well, you get more underemployed by working. Through the years, I've fallen back on a "steady" source of supplemental income: food service. I've waited tables, bartended, been bar manager, server trainer, and menu educator.
I've seen a person who almost severed his thumb not go to the hospital because he was undocumented. I've seen servers with fevers so high that they were almost delusional try to serve courses. I've been passed over on promotions because I did not party with the management, partying that included drugs. I've seen racism and sexism, and double standards, and I've done the math too, working out that that lunch shift where I made $17 in tips actually put me in the hole.
In each restaurant, I've found kind people, hard workers, and a caring manager or two. I worked in the mid-ranks of this high turnover industry, because I needed a place that was OK with my first schedule -- writing. I wasn't in it for a career, and it treated me like I treated it -- a numbers game, a slot to be filled.
That personal era has passed, but if you've haven't worked in the industry, chances are you are oblivious to the nature of it, that on a good day (or in a good place) it can feel like family, but for many of us hidden in the ranks, it feels more often like the place of the lowest common denominator.
I'm not here protesting or bringing signs or trying to whistle blow. I'm voting with my wallet, making my choices matter. Read the ROC National Diners' Guide, and make your own choices, at least when it comes to a chain restaurant. How do your favorites rank?
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