StL Visit

I haven't gone anywhere lately for work, but I did take a trip home to St. Louis to visit my parents and my friends.  Thanks to shitty midwestern regional carriers, my flight from St. Louis to Newark was either cancelled or prohibitively late (yeah right, I can manage a 30-minute transfer in Newark!) 2 days in a row so that I ended up staying in St. Louis 2 extra days.  Which made me feel like this:

Thankfully, my dad gave me a couple of free passes to the United Club lounge (because I no longer have baller status thanks to European companies flying you in economy), so I could be all like this during my 6-hour layover in Newark:

Also, Smashburger is awesome.  Thank goodness for their sweet potato fries.

Besides all of the travel BS (props to my company/boss for being so cool about me being 2 days late),  it was a nice trip.  Here are some photos.


Went to the circus with these two favorite ladies:

St. Louis is one of only two cities (did I get that right?) with their own circus.  Ours is the lovely Circus Flora.  

In America, club packs are a RIGHT.

Selfie with one of Alexis's kittehs.  They rule the joint over there!

Scotch eggs from Square One in Lafayette Square.

Late night snacking', midwestern style.

Salad with artichokes, tomato, cashews, feta, and chicken from Ballpark Village (which can go eff itself) in St. Louis.  Yeah, I know, it just looks like a buncha iceberg slop!  The waitress was all-to-eager to comp it, so I think others have been returning these "salads" in outrage, as well.  The place was packed.  I'mma save my ire for my yelp review (it's coming...), so I'll leave it here for now.

Ballpark vignette.

Juniper's fantastic Mallow King cocktail (smoked rum, coffee syrup, cynar, and a toasted marshmallow).  

Drinks on my last night with this hound at the Fox and Hounds.

The Man With The Cans

Before I leave St. Louis, there's one more thing.

I met a man, he had many cans.  (He was not called Stan.)  He had a plan for the cans--on his wall, not in a van.  Many decades and countries do they span, these cans.  If you like graphic design, you will be a fan.

Fashion + Chess

One of the highlights of my trip to St. Louis was the current exhibition at the World Chess Hall of Fame, A Queen Within.  First of all, that says World.  So, FACE.  St. Louis is a global city, y'all!

No, but really, this exhibit could have been dropped right into the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, as is.  It's legit.  St. Louis is lucky to have an exhibit of this caliber on, so if you live there and you haven't seen it yet--go.  Really, GO.  It is stellar.

You can read more about the show here.  There is tons of McQueen, some Margiela and Viktor & Rolf and Iris Van Herpen, but also some newer/smaller/indie-er folks like Minju Kim (you know I love) and Vibskov and Sandra Backlund... which leads me to the fact that the whole thing was curated by a Swedish lady called Sofia Hedman.  Just more evidence that Swedes are everywhere.  Also also, the custom headpieces by Charlie Le Mindu are extraordinary.  I would have paid just to see them, honestly.  You can see some here. 

I am interested to see where the exhibit will go next, as I heard they're in talks for it to travel.  I hope more people can see it, as it's really great.

Besides all of this, it's a fine museum and the hall of fame part is good, too.  I wish I'd had more time to read about the inductees, but luckily there's a bit of that online, as well.

St. Louis Eats and Treats

A quick run through of the places we hit up on our last trip.  There just wasn't enough time to get to all of the spots I had in mind (see you this summer, Guerrilla Street Food), so here are the winners.  

Sump Coffee had us driving from our West County HQ to the city on the regular to enjoy this delicious deliciousness in a non-BS environment.  I swear, my cappuccino tasted like chocolate-covered cherries.  And not like some Whitman's shit, but like some bliss from Marcolini.  It was a real moment for me, a setting of the bar.  That Blue Bottle capp' I had the week after in SF.  Not as good.

Now that I live in Sweden, I am developing a love of coffee--not only for its nom-nom goodness but for the socialization (hello, fika!) and, well, alertness it affords.  I can get good coffee here, for sure, but now they are all compared to my cup from Sump.  Oh, and check the blog, too, for some nice reading.

Here is an insta-hoo-ha of Marshall Faulk enjoying his pasta playing on his smart phone (is that one word?  Smartphone?) at the wonderful Pastaria.  Sample text:  Yo Tiki, I think I dropped my Superbowl ring in a bowl of spaghetti. Come fish it out for me? xo Faulk

But oh man, you should have seen the cougar parade passing by his table.

Pastaria is another Gerard Craft jam and despite the fact that the words "restaurant group" now appear behind his name (this totally skeevs me, in Cameron Mitchell kinda way), he is still putting out delicious and innovative food and bringing global flavors and newness to St. Louis in a way that still feels local and special.  I will state here (as I did in an ages' old yelp post) that the guy could use some serious help with his spaces and his interior decoration.  Pastaria is fine in that it's pretty bare bones, but for such cozy food the room was just too big and too cold.  And the acoustics were the pits, what with the highest ceiling ever.  

But the food.  Oh, the food.  B had the marinara pizza, which passed his muster and garnered some fine praise.  And before you feel sorry for this gluten-free gal up in Carb City, they make their own gluten-free pasta in house.  What?  Thanks for not sleeping on your gluten-free homies, Pastaria!  I had mine with roasted pork, marscapone, and apples.  Yum.  Oh, and we had the shaved kale salad to start, which was like a steroidal caesar salad.  Double yums.

Can we talk about the name for a sec?  Is it Pas-TARE-ia or PAS-ta-ree-a?  Hmm?

I accompanied B to the Record Exchange on Hampton and spent a couple of hours there, finding all sorts of things.  Housed in an old library, it's beautiful on the outside and stacked to the rafters inside.  We didn't even make it up to the room of 45s this time.  This summer...

Another St. Louis treasure trove just around the corner from the Record Exchange is TFA.  We have followed them from location to location, but now they are settled in on Chippewa.  They always remember us for buying our beautiful Wendell Lovett fireplace there years ago.  This time we bought a family of three (Japanese ceramic) squirrels to hang on our wall.  

This is a Wendell Lovett fireplace for you to enjoy.  This is not at TFA.

Peep some of the merchandise here.  Wow, right??

Other favorites for eats are Local Harvest Cafe on Morganford, which is also gluten-free friendly, bien sur!  

And last year's James Beard semifinalist chef's resto, Salt, which now has apparently filed for bankruptcy.  Keep it together, St. Louis!  Those roasted beets with horseradish, feta, apple, and olives are too good to lose!

The Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood has a damn fine menu, too.  And a delicious pumpkin cider to boot!  It is less cozy than its downtown counterpart and the hillbilly band could have turned it down a few for me, but for those of us holed up in WestCo with moms and dads, it's a heckofalot closer.  

We will definitely have to try the Crow's Nest again, as sadly they were out of most of the good stuff (read:  brains) when we went.  Any joint that serves good beer and brains done multiple ways (nuggets to start, on a sandwich for an old school StL main) goes to the top of my list for next time.  Respect!

What I did not like was seeing the old Pevely Dairy building lying in rubble on the side of S. Grand.  I acknowledge that St. Louis U. wouldn't have made such strides without Larry B.'s vision, but let's be straight.  He is a dude mad with power and caught up in the finer things.  So weird that he's actually a priest, hmm?  Manicures, a tan, and nice cars tend to look better without a collar on.

St. Louis Holidays

Oh, St. Louis.  It had simply been too long.

Over a year!  Can you believe it?

The longer I have lived away, the less it feels like home... though it always will be.  Does that make sense?  Every time I go back, I feel nostalgic that I don't live there any longer.  But that's just nostalgia playing its nostalgic tricks.  Moving back would mean changing so many things in my life (including my career) that it's just not feasible.  So I will remain St. Louis' biggest rep wherever I find myself living.

This was the scene at the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Des Peres.  There was a guy with an O-tank on wheels, but I'm sure you assumed that.  What a glorious Christmas scene!  Make sure to stop by your local DMV for a dose of holiday cheer!

I rolled in with my 180-some-odd days' expired license and managed to answer the troll's (You should have seen this woman.  "Troll" is kind.) questions to garner myself a new license.  Toot!  There's something to be said for keeping a root in the States (US iTunes has waaaay better stuff than its Euro counterpart)... and I certainly couldn't do this without my parents and their TLC of my mail and bills and such that still comes to the house on Fiddle Creek.  

StL pride.  

What the what is "Strayer University"??  I promptly effected some "He ain't come back since he gone to that Strayer University" talk.  It was genius, I tells ya!

The time we spent with these all-time faves was much too short due to my darling goddaughter catching a nasty virus, as well as to general holiday craziness.  But we had one glorious night, which is not accurately reflected in this photo, though I do love the range of emotion.  Ph and I are happy as clams, B looks like he just smelled something rancid, and M looks wary.  We ate at Pastaria, which is well worth any wait in excess of an hour.  But more on that in a minute.  

Spotted this mess at my parents' local Walgreens.  How anyone ever thought this was a good idea, I don't know.  Just because two things pair well, it doesn't mean they should be combined!  Why not steak-flavored red wine next? Oh, and I take issue with the use of "fine" here.  If you state that it's fine, I'm sure that it's not.

I also spotted some vodka-infused white chocolate peppermint whipped cream at the liquor store in Palm Springs and stood there with my jaw open for a good 30 seconds.  First, sick.  Second, we Americans are a fat bunch.  Third, white chocolate is disgusting in any form, but whipped in a can with vodka is not doing it any favors.  Fourth, you know people are squirting this directly into their mouths.  Keep it classy, America!

Look at these two!  B and I had a lovely lunch with these ladies at the wonderful Local Harvest Cafe on Morganford.  Those curls!

I really missed seeing this little lady, but luckily we had a little time together before a yucky virus thwarted the rest of our holiday plans.  She is growing so quickly and is such a joy to be around.  Can't wait to see her again this summer!

And this is her big sister Cosi, who is showing off the lovely brocade skirt from H&M somebody brought for her.  This girl knows how to rock an outfit, hmm?

I'll leave you with Hilde, who is enjoying the heck out of a bird video on YouTube.

S.N.A.R.K.

Someone (Mom, you're busted) sent me a link to a "Fashion Designer" competition sponsored by this total crap magazine in my hometown.  This is a glossy mag that looks professional until you open it and see that it's rife with typos and bimbos.  It is all about the "scene" in St. Louis with the same people popping up at the same places, looking like they were just teleported from 1998 in their James Perse-tanned-watered-down-LA looks.  A high-end version of them is shopbop.com.  A low-end version is, well, them. 

Let me pause before going further.  I know there is good style in my hometown; I see people bring it all the time when I am home.  I have friends there who have great style.  But generally, there is a lot of brand-whoring bad taste.  And it's this BS that gets the local "press."  To me, good style is not trying to be something you're not.  It's not showy (except when it's in feathers or gloves or feeling dandy... more of that, please!).  It's not trying to emulate what you think is another city's style.  (I see the photos of the people on the scene, pretending they are in LA.)  It's not tarted and pushed up or fake-tanned.  That's too easy.  (Oh, and it's also gross.)  I realize my hometown is smack in the middle of the country, so why not make St. Louis style about authenticity, vintage, or well-crafted midwestern items?  When did St. Louis become infatuated with bastardizing bad LA style?  (I will not even sink so low as to give Christian Audigier the thrashing he deserves, but I don't understand why so many people in St. Louis wear that mess.)

OK, so back to this shit rag.  Because it is so removed from relevance or hipness, this magazine is sponsoring a competition to find the top 6 Fashion Designers in St. Louis.

Wait!  SIX? 

Why even pick winners?  "Well, thanks for coming out, folks.  Looks like you ALL win!" 

I didn't dig around enough to see what all six will win (or if there will be a no-holds-barred cage match to pick the ultimate winner... YES, now I'm interested!  Oh wait, that's MY competition.), mostly because I remember how much I enjoyed watching those first few seasons of Project Runway back in SF* (with wine and Stellies and Milosh, bien sur) and now the exact opposite feelings arise when I think of anything remotely smacking of Project Runway.  Besides, isn't Project Runway itself so watered down?  (Hello... Lifetime, is it?)  How can people squeeze any more from the idea of it?  Why not figure out a new, inherently St. Louis-style competition instead of copying something that was cool 7+ years ago?  And make it about ribs, please.  (Oh wait, now we're back to MY competition.)

So my mom sent me the link for the local designers in competition to see if I knew anyone.  I did not.  Therefore I feel it's well within my right as someone who actually works in "the industry" to remark on what I found.  I didn't put names or names of lines with the quoted material below.

Except that I must tell you that one of the "labels" is called Haus.  HAUS.  As in what frat dudes call each other at the gym.  Or how one burly bub would formally address another mid-rile:  "Take it easy, Haus."  (OK, maybe it's spelled "hoss," but they are homonyms.)  At the very least, it's the German word for "house."  So why why WHY would you ever choose this word to represent your line of ladies' wear?!? 

For the rest, I tried to categorize them for your laughing, er, reading pleasure.  I was struck by how serious these designers took themselves, especially for people who aren't seeing major sales, raking in real dough, or working in a major fashion market.  (Sorry StL, but I don't think anyone considers you a global fashion hub.)  My favorite was all of the designers who wrote about themselves in the third person.  Wait... is this blurb from Vogue?  Oh no, it's just YOU trying to make yourself seem more important because "someone else" is talking about you.  Phhffft!  You don't fool me!


Here goes:

1. BOHEMIAN
This word was a real bugaboo for our designers.  I caught a "boehmian," but the real beverage-spitter was "bohomenian."  Bohomenia?  That's in eastern Europe, right?


2. CHIC
This simple one had them all a-tizzy, too.  Witness:  "Sheek" and my favorite "Sheik."  As in "Duncan"?  Or "Mohammad"? 


3. AVANTE GARDE
Is that what they called it in the Olde West?

I blame the magazine for this, as apparently they offered this spelling in their drop-down menu.  Shame on you, dumb magazine;  you're making this worse than it has to be.  The best part was seeing how many designers slotted themselves as "Avante Garde," when there was nothing at all edgy or avant about their pieces.  One "Avante Garde" designer went so far as to reference the great gateway artist Salvador Dali**: 

"Artistic Influence? Salvador Dali is one of my favorite artists, and definitely influences my work. I love the fact that since he is a surrealist artist, when you look at his work it is always different, nothing is normal. And I would definitely say that when I go to create a garment it is my goal to produce something different and unique."

Still bad, but at least this one has heart!


4. IN OTHER BAD SPELLING NEWS
I give you:  "Izzac Mizarahi" and "Dani Atrach."  The last one's actually a dude.  He may be no "haus," but he certainly doesn't end his name with an "i."  Tsk, tsk.


5. BONDAGE TAPE IS NOT ELEGANT RESTRAINT
"[Label name deleted] is inspired by the black-and-white visuals of Hollywood's classic film noir and tossed with a dark gothic aesthetic using corsets, buckles, and bondage tape. It projects a feeling of the elegant restraint of women throughout past centuries."

Also:  "tossed with"!  Hi-yah!


6.EARTH, WIND, AND FIRE
"My line is for those fearless ones that love being vibrant in bold colors. What you see now is what happens when I listen to music whilst sketching. In this particular case, I was listening to Earth, Wind, and Fire."

That's right, in this case I had on the grooves.

Also note:  "whilst."  Thank you, your majesty.  We will let you know if you're in our top six.


7. GIVE IT THE GUSTO!
"MY LINE REPRESENTS A PLETHORA OF STYLES, URBAN,CASUAL, SHEIK, EDGY,COMMERCIAL, ALL WITH A LITTLE SEX A PEEL. I'M NOT A ONE NOTE DESIGNER, I HAVE RANGE. MY PHOTOS ALSO SHOWCASE VERSATILITY, MY PIECES ARE NEVER CONSTRUCTED TO GO WITH ONE THING, THE SHIRT COULD BE PAIRED UP WITH A SKIRT OR A HOT PANT DEPENDING ON ONES PERSONAL STYLE & PERSONA. ALL PERSONS, PLACES, AND THINGS ARE MY INSPIRATION!!!"

This guy barely comes up for air.  (Also, he used the ol' ALL CAPS trick to put him in front of the others!)  You surely caught:  "Sex A Peel." (Reminds me of the big "potato a-peel" ending of the old Tato Skins commercials.  Except there it actually made sense.)  And "Sheik" (previously discussed).

Also, thanks for telling me what your photos show.  I'm reading this on the internet so I'm not blind, bozo.  Noted that the shirt could be "PAIRED UP WITH" a bottom of one's own choosing.  I'm pretty sure this "up with" phrasing is accompanied by a mouth click or a hand snap when stated live.  And finally, settle the hell down with your inspiration.  Really, "ALL PERSONS, PLACES, AND THINGS" inspire you?  Well, I don't want to see a line based on the turd you dropped this morning.  Hey, you said "ALL."


8.  META
"The line explores a variety of design elements, such as line, shape, and repetition."

Wait... the "line explores... line"?  Duuuuude.


9. TOO GOOD NOT TO SPILL
I know I was going to keep this anonymous, but what is this??

N9NE17

How do you even pronounce that?  And what does it mean?  If the name of your line is written in code, how could it possibly be marketed to the general public?  And the people with good taste, the people circling in the real fashion world?  Well, I'm pretty sure they don't play this shit.  Go on, you try explaining your line's dumb name to Andre Leon Talley.  I dare you.  I guarantee you he renames it something descriptive in no more than four letters, the first two being S and H.


10. YARN-SPINNERS
Check out these scene setters.  Please allow me a few [] interruptions:

"When you walk out your door, the world becomes your audience. The streetlights suspended from above guide you down the runway. The flashbulbs are going off, blinker by blinker as you walk down the street. The beat of your heels mimics the one being projected through your headphones. Your thick designer sunglasses morph into blinders [Blinders?  Oh, I get it now. I'm a horse.], delaying the daylight of reality.  [Stupid reality and its light.  Good thing I have these blinders.]  Anything other than that cup of coffee in your near future seems to fade away. Slow sipping leads to reminiscing, while staring at the red lipstick kiss on the side of your coffee mug… [Yuck?  Why is this mug dirty?] You’re suddenly thinking of his voice and how delicious he smelled… [And how good that NARS Dragon Girl looked on him?]  You just had to slide him the napkin with your number signed in that same red lipstick. [Oh thank god, you've been talking about MY red lipstick this whole time.]  The memory makes you smile as you take another sip of your coffee.  [So I'm a whore not a horse?]"

AND

"Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a beautiful Princess and her beautiful Mother, the Queen. [The Queen Mother, is it?]  If you close your eyes and let your imagination gobble you up, you'll escape to the mysterious kingdom. [A monarchical kingdom?  That is mysterious.]  It IS a wonderland. Animals, trees, flowers, and the even the shadows at night, talk to you for hours and hours. [Are the walls melting yet?]  All the mythical stories are here for the taking. [Tell the one about when Zeus wants to get in that one lady's pants so he turns her into a cow!]  The kingdom has no sense of time. [Oh, no requests?  Boo.]  What year is it? No one knows. [And no one cares if the Zeus story is off the table.  Hurumph!]  Everything glistens in the fresh sunshine and when the moon rises, the dark creatures come out to play. The little Princess twirls everyday, like a ballerina swallowed by a perfect tulip. [I don't like the idea of these predatory tulips.]  The Queen is independent, generous, and caring. The kind of beauty that never gets lost. [Can someone tell me where I left my beauty?  Please??]  My designs are born in this wonderland. A dream land that is delicate, brave, unexpected, and enchanting."

I can't make this stuff up.



In conclusion, I would put up anyone--ANYONE--I have ever worked with in this industry (or any other industry, for that matter) against these jokers.  Hell, I would even put up my own self--and I can't sew!  At the very least, I could guarantee an insightful and creative blurb with no more than one spelling error.  And that might just be enough to take this competition.




* (Disclaimer, I watched most of the 2010 season when I was home for 3 months and was trying to support one of the St. Louis designers in competition, but there was lots of bad shizz, to be sure.)

** After a discussion with Sweet Daddy on the road somewhere between Biarritz and Bilbao, I concluded this:  Dali is a gateway artist.  He got me and many other 8th graders interested in art.  But when I look back at Dali now, most of it doesn't hold for me.  I know he had chops; he could really paint.  And I appreciate the code, the idea of things representing other things.  But I just don't respect it like I did way back when.  Partially, this is because of later Dali's overly marketed persona.  But also it's because I don't think surrealism holds up so well.  Most of it looks so dated.  And why must every museum gift shop--no matter the bent of the museum--have some melting watch paraphenelia on offer?  Stop it, people.  So thanks to Dali for piquing my interest in art, but 37-year-old Jodi sure doesn't see it the same way as 14-year-old Jodi.  But that's growing up for you.

The Best Things

Nicki, a corgi called Buddy, and pork steaks...

Does it get any better?

This must be my lucky day.

Pretty Ladies

You wouldn't believe that upstairs tornadoes were, like, touching down.  These ladies know how to keep their cool.

Antonina Marcella

...or just Nina for short!

She is my new goddaughter.

Sunday was one of the best days ever... full of love and warmth and music and family and friends.  I swear, my face hurt from smiling so much!  I am grateful to have such beautiful and kind people in my life.  No, really.  So many times that day, I was struck by how lucky I am to have the people I do in my life.

And this baby... oh this baby!

Nina.

She is like an old soul.  She looks at you, and I mean really looks at you--deep into your eyes.  This kid gets it.  I swear, she knew what was going on the whole time.  I can already tell she's going to be artsy like her momma and intellectual like her poppa and kind and thoughtful and generous like the both of them.  I can't wait to be a part of her life as she grows up.

 Nina and her godfather, Kyle.

 Holding her in the pew.

She is official!

(By the way, all of these pretty photos [excepting the first two above, obvs] were taken by the lovely Lauren Frisch.)

Kyle, me, and a happy Nina.

AMP + JE.

Pulling on daddy's tie.

They are radiant, no?

Audrey Comes to Dinner

 And though she is all eyes for pasta...

she knows to save room for dessert.