Tag Archives: flowers

ROSY OUTLOOK

Posted on August 31, 2010 by popcornsnaps| 2 Comments

It’s no secret that I love botanical gardens, and I’ve been super excited to post these photos ever since I took them a few weeks ago. Months after finally realizing with that Portland is named after one of my favorite flowers, I made an overdue visit to the famous Portland International Rose Test Gardens. It is one of the most spectacular places I’ve ever visited. I also love hanging in the roses at Ladd’s Edition and Peninsula Park, but the mega garden that is tucked into the side of the West Hills has one of the most vivid, concentrated and exuberant displays of flowers I’ve ever seen. We were running very late to dinner after dawdling too long at a wine store, or else I could have easily spent all day nestled among the petals and perfume and the golden late afternoon sunlight.

Wandering down the endless aisles of prickly blooms we spotted this amazing Ren Faire girl in a poofy pink ballgown in the midst of some sort of photo shoot. I couldn’t stop laughing. Only magical things happen in botanical gardens, I’m sure of it…

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Posted in celebration, color, nature, outdoors, portraits, summer

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LOSE SOMETHING EVERY DAY

Posted on July 30, 2010 by popcornsnaps| 4 Comments 

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.


Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.


Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.


I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.


I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.


--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied.  It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

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Posted in art, breakfast, celebration, color, food, lunch, memory, music, nature, outdoors, restaurants, shopping, snack, summer, texture, travel

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SINGAPORE BOTANIC GARDEN: BLISS IN THE OTHER PART

Posted on July 22, 2010 by popcornsnaps| 2 Comments

More Singapore Botanic Garden flowers (and croissant and club sandwich, both of which were surprisingly tasty and my only non-Asian food of the trip). My only comfort now is being so far from so much beauty is that Portland has the best roses in the entire world.

Part one of flowers here.

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Posted in polaroid

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SINGAPORE BOTANIC GARDENS: BLISS IN 2 PARTS

Posted on July 21, 2010 by popcornsnaps| 3 Comments

The Singapore Botanic Gardens is without a doubt one of the best places in the world. I’ve been — and loved — a lot of botanical gardens in the States, including San Diego, Los Angeles, Ithaca and Berkeley, but this one is so far in a league of its own it’s insane. I took hundreds of photos, so this post will be broken into two parts.

The layout is so beautiful and easy to navigate and there are so many special little zones, like the romantic orchid gardens, the indoor “cool” forest, a cute children’s garden, a restaurant I wish I had the money to afford, an outdoor concert hall, super cool outdoor bathrooms, and the bromeliad garden (pineapples!). It was like an intensely fragrant zoo without any animals. Also, it’s free. Best thing in Singapore.

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Posted in color, nature, outdoors, summer, texture, travel

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SINGAPORE AND LITTLE INDIA: FISH HEAD CURRY MAGIC

Posted on July 16, 2010 by popcornsnaps| 4 Comments

As exciting and life-changing as Singaporean food has been for me, I also have to admit that after all of the gluttony and decadence it’s been nice to return to my “boring” food like roasted potatoes, black bean salads and flash-fried kale. Also, Oregon cherries in mid-July. But the one dish that I will continue to pine for is Singapore’s iconic fish head curry, which I had to have only in Little India.

I happily ate the steaming, ochre-hued heaps of the poached red snapper surrounded by its halo of spicy tamarind and coriander-spiked broth. Thrown right onto a waxy banana leaf and eaten with fragrant basmati rice, the curry effortlessly managed to stay the centerpiece of the meal despite being crowded by table side competitors chana masala, tandoori chicken, garlic naan, and pickled vegetables. We also got an insane deep-fried fish fillet dish that came wrapped in those banana leap pouches you see above, coddled in a thick tomato paste and ground-up spices and hot peppers, but it was nothing compared to the tender morsel of snapper cheek that completed my meal.

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Posted in color, food, travel

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PRETTY SMART ON MY PART

Posted on April 9, 2010 by popcornsnaps| 2 Comments

[SS2010 photos via Erdem]

[Fall RTW photos via Style.com]

I LOVE me a good, busy print, so I am extra enamored of Erdem Moralioglu and his genius fabrics and patterns at his eponymous label, Erdem. For spring 2010 RTW, sweet, vaguely gothy dresses with 3-D minimal techno flowers and muted abstract washes, kinda Dries Van Noten, but way more British and romantic. And for fall RTW, swooping amber sparrows against heavily pleated and tucked grey silk, kinda like those trendy sparrow tattoos circa 1998 but you know what? totally makes it acceptable again.

But the best part of his collection were the watercolor lumberjack boots. God I hope these go into production because they are bananas. After Rachel Comey printed pants and Vena Cava fur and Proenza miniskirts and kneehighs, these boots are top 10 fashion moment of the year for me.

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Posted in color, design, fall, fashion, shopping

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joy shapes

Posted on June 1, 2009 by popcornsnaps| Leave a comment

i had a nice relaxing weekend. stayed in when it rained, went outside when it was sunny. ate leftover chocolate chip cookies and slept a LOT.

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made a new friend, before i had to return him to his home.

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read two great books.

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watered some new flowers and set them gently on the windowsill.

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had pizza for breakfast with some very black coffee. rejiggered some week-old slices from napolis with thinly sliced red bell peppers, zucchini, and basil and then blasted them underneath my broiler. tasetd even better the second time around.

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admired some turkeys (!) milling around in a field in owego before they noticed me and took off. turkey, why u so delicious?

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Posted in food, home, outdoors, summer

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