okay all...
this is my last night before i leave the west coast. in california, but didn't make it out to los angeles before dark...
i have been absolutely humbled by the beauty and kindness of strangers on this trip.
after austin, we stayed a night in amarillo, tx. dinner was amazing...i had bbq brisket at the country barn. check out their menu.
there is also an incredible donut shop there, called...the donut shop. i didn't get one of these for breakfast, but in hindsight should've.
the weather in texas was miserable; i have never seen so much fog in my life! but as we neared the border with new mexico, things started looking up.
yes, things got much brighter...
we skirted through to the painted desert. let me just say that if you have the opportunity to come here, DO. it took my breath away many times.
and i fell in love with petrified wood again...loved it when i was a kid, for some reason.
and then on to california, so that i could catch my plane today... :)
hope you've all enjoyed seeing some of my trip. peace.
since i last wrote, my friends and i were in virginia. our next stop was asheville, nc. this is rebel, my backseat travel companion.
our blue ridge mt morning was unbelievable.
from there, we ended up in new orleans. thanks to aforementioned cat, we got a sweet pet-friendly hotel room just outside the french quarter.
beautiful...
my favorite street, in my fave converse.
and then...we hit austin. and while we were at dinner, my friend spotted an aspiring designer - christie - who was wearing one of our knit tops. she loves fp, and i appreciate that she let me take her pic for the blog. :)
hi all...
this is the first chance i've had to post some pix...as of tonight, i am in tuscaloosa, alabama. it has been absolutely incredible thus far; i am already planning my next road trip. but anyway...just a few images to share.
first, waiting for my ride on my porch. wearing some sweet converse that i think are going on sale in the october catalog...not an advertisement for 'em, but they look great with everything. :)
our first (and maybe only) toll booth operator...definitely has the most coiffed 'do i've ever seen in one of those booths.
this is on the road in virginia...reminded me of maxfield parrish or something...
we capped off our first night in harrisonburg, va...where they served some of the best bar food i ever ate - this is a gouda grilled cheese from the blue nile.
some more touching stories from merrie, re: her travels in india...
"these are some pics we took last monday while visiting a school on 'baas,' a small village outside delhi.
the school was created 2 years ago in an area where the children have no access to a good education. its founder was the naval attache for the british high commission in india years ago, who ended up staying in india with his wife. together, they built an amazing home which they have opened as a guesthouse (bed and breakfast) for tourists.
it was fascinating to hear his stories of what he has been through with the indian government and the villagers while trying to help the children, but he perserveres, undaunted...amazing 'chap."
these pics are from the morning assembly they were having...all the children lined up singing songs and dancing with their music teacher ("mary had a little lamb," etc.).
when i popped my head in to take a peek, all the children stood up, unprompted by their teacher, and greeted me with "good morning madame". very sweet.
martin offers internships to english-speaking students to expose the children to other accents, etc. when we were there, a young girl from britian was just finishing up her month spent with the children. it was very emotional for her to leave, as the children performed their songs for her farewell..."
doub sent a few pics from their catalog shoot in california...
we can't share product shots quite yet, but here's our hair/makeup folks - johnny and nate - with model michelle...
and our stylist lauren...with a suitcase that has seen many, many parts of the world. this, i found out, was to be its last trip. :( hence her expression...
my brother and his partner, who live one of my many dream lives, spend 3 months out of the year here in philadelphia with family and the rest of the year in their home in hawaii. they, among other things, are local beekeepers. before they left this year, they harvested the hives and left me with a jar of local, organic honey. you can see the difference between the smaller jar of honey that was harvested here, and the darker honey from hawaii. apparently, when done organically, the color depends on the flowers the bees choose to collect pollen. check out their website to learn more about organic, biodynamic honey. i’d like to learn how to keep bees eventually when I have some space, but for now i’ll enjoy these gifts from them. wanted to give them some love for the cool things they are doing. xo.
a few interesting notes about honey and beekeeping…
1. it is said that eating local honey can help prevent and tame outside allergies.
2. there are said to be 212,000 beekeepers in the US, and about 95% of them are hobbyists.
3. the white house vegetable garden is home to a hive.
polaroids from courtney, one of our we the free designers...
she and her hubby visited the south - florida and south of the border, north carolina.
i love how graphic they are...
i got an email this weekend from one of our creative directors, merrie. she spends a lot of time in india, and shared this story with me about a little boy she befriended:
"this little boy's name is anshu.
his family lives on the grounds of our friend kundan's office and his father is the gardener.
kundan has developed a soft spot for him as he's grown up because he is so 'street smart'. he loves hanging with the big guys and doing what they do.
so, kundan decided to send him to a school that teaches english, which is the ticket to a better life in india. the school started only a few weeks ago, and we don't know if the family will see the value of a good education over the years to come, but we are trying...hopefully it's the start of something bigger.
i figured out no one had ever taught him his colors, so now everyday after 'tutions' he stops by our office and sorts my colors with me. (i work on my hindi, and he works on both hindi and english)."
I love this clever floor! It's all tiled with pennies! I bet it shines in the light very appealingly too! See it in person at The Standard Grill in the Standard Hotel in New York City!
Flickr user Straatis has a really interesting collection of photos of New York City in the 1940's. There is something so amazing about a photograph from the past, and actually seeing what was like 70 years ago! Not to mention seeing the Big Apple 70 years ago! Check out the set if you've got a little bit of time!
Skip Disneyworld. Go to Huntington Gardens in LA. I went there when I was in Los Angeles visiting our Free People stores last week. It is a beautiful cactus garden and greenhouse. Definitely worth visiting.
How would you like to live in one of these painted apartment buildings in Russia? I love all the eye popping colors! Check out this blog for many more great photos! I think my car needs a paint job like this...
If you've visited Philly, or live here, you may already be familiar with the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, which is responsible for helping Philly be the city with the most murals in the USA - we have more than 2,700!
The festive trucks shown above are part of one of the Mural Arts Program's latest projects. Partnering with Philadelphia University's Design Center, together they wrapped 10 of the city's garbage & recycling trucks in these funky all-over prints! They've been doing the rounds with the rest of the trucks since Earth Day, and the other day I saw one on my street! It sounds silly but I was excited! I think next they should wrap all the rest of the trucks...
This interesting building is, rather fittingly, the offices of Spanish Selgas Cano Architecture. Naturally, they designed it themselves. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I kind of like it, I like that you can see the scenery around it anyway, but it seems maybe small and narrow... What do you think?
Either way, an interesting concept!
This amazing house was designed by Senosiain Arquitectos for a couple in Mexico City after they decided they wanted a house that looked like a snail shell! They now live there with their children. I can't even imagine what it must be like to live in a house like that! I especially love the rainbow glass front window. For more detailed information about the house, and some more incredible pictures, see this page on DVICE.
These are from Boston.com's cool photo blog, The Big Picture. They're shots of the huge Hindu fesitival Holi, which is celebrated by, among other things, throwing colored power and water on one another! The colors are so gorgeous, and it looks like so much fun! Very spring! See more here!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on March 23, 2009 11:22 AM
This is Kelburn Castle in Scotland, which in June 2007 was partially painted by the Sao Paolo Crew, who are Brazilian graffiti artists. It looks so cool! I love to see a castle that is over 500 years old covered in some modern graffiti art! And it's so detailed! What do you guys think?
As someone who really enjoys watching people, this video just delights me! On a vacation in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, Japan, some people put their camera on the conveyor belt at a local sushi restaurant. I love watching everyone's reactions as they notice (or don't notice) the camera rolling by! It's like a little seven minute vacation...
I'll bet you never thought to spend the night in a renovated sewage pipe! However, at Das Parkhotel in Austria you can cozy up and spend the night (or a few) along the banks of the Danube in one of these well-decorated (and clean) pipe rooms. There are some more pictures on the hotel's site. I'd totally try it! Would you?
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on February 19, 2009 4:54 PM
This is the most awesome store front ever! This is The Guitar Store in Southampton England, with its security grate pulled down. I think it is so creative and clever to use the grate as the front of a speaker! Plus, the knobs on the speaker go up to 11, rather than 10! You can see that in the bigger size image, which is here. So cool!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on February 18, 2009 7:42 AM
Glamping, or glamorous camping, is starting to become more popular as a form of camping for people who wouldn't ordinarily enjoy camping. There are a number of glamp-sites popping up everywhere! Pre-pitched and lavishly furnished tents, stocked ponds, and numerous other amenities are some of the features of these places. For the most part they do not have electricity or internet though - thank goodness! I think if they had internet or electricity their resemblance to camping would be pretty much gone. The New York Times has a little article about glamping here. What do you guys think? Do you want to go glamping?
Located at the Station touristique Duchesnay, a bit northwest of Québec City Canada, this awesome and icy building is the Hôtel de Glace. Built in early January each year since 2001, it stands until late March and is made of around 400 tons of ice and 12,000 tons of snow! It's a real working hotel too, and though it's a bit chilly, (a steady temperature of around 25 degrees Fahrenheit) I think it would be worth it! Check out this nice little article about it on Life in the Fast Lane and of course Hôtel de Glace website if you want to see more.
The gorgeous pictures are by lander2006, except the first, which is by duplamox.
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on December 29, 2008 6:47 AM
Word has it that this floating building is not photo-shopped, but is in fact real and exists in Ukraine! I'll let you decide for yourself. Still, a very cool picture, right?
These incredible shots were taken at the Devil's Pool on Victoria Falls in Africa. In the Devil's Pool during September and December people can swim right at the edge of the top of the falls and not go over! This would be so amazing! Plus, Victoria Falls is arguably the largest waterfall in the world! What a great way to see it!
I love the looks of this book shop in a greenhouse in the garden at The Wapping Project, a hydraulic power station that's been converted to a contemporary art space and restaurant.
The architect writes:
“As an only child I lived in my books and still have every one of them. I also ran a shop in a dis-used hen house at the bottom of our ramshackle back yard where I sold jars of soapy water to myself and imagined who I would be" smiles Wright. "Now I’ve made a tiny glass bookshop with a coal fire, selling the most beautiful books, where everyone can browse and imagine who they might become, while others watch them through the glass and imagine who they are.”
Check out a complete article on the space on Dazed Digital.
Our knit designer Melissa took a trip to Niagara Falls over Labor Day weekend, and she took some gorgeous pictures!
The first few are from a canoe trip where they saw a swan nest. The swans ended up joining them in the water!
These hot air balloons were in a valley on the drive to Rochester. There were maybe 15 of them!
Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side. Amazing!
Posted by pruitt fpgirl on September 6, 2008 8:05 PM
These bunny trash bags are so cute! They were designed by Tokyo's MAQ Inc. to promote responsible waste disposal. I guess they're not getting the same message over there that plastic bags are no good? Or maybe they don't have enough public waste baksets and they need to cart their garbage around before they can dispose of it?
Isn't this house incredible?! It's 103 years old, and sits in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. After it had sat for empty for 20 years, the current owner bought it in 1961 for $3,600! Now, I know that was a lot more money in 1961 than it is now, but still- what a great buy!
To see quite a few more pictures, and some cute and interesting blurbs about the house, have a look at this New York Times article. Very cool!
