I need to do this http://playfullearning.net/childs-play-the-art-of-toy-rotation/

From Playful Learning

Getting some sun in Maui this weekend. Starting now.


What's in our bag?

1. Baby Boden towelling poncho; bodenusa.com
2. Finis jelly swim goggles; amazon.com
3. Tucker and Tate toddler swimsuit; Nordstrom
4. Patagonia reversible baby sun bucket hat; Patagonia
5. iPlay surfs up swim diaper; Day One
6. Down at the Beach board book; Waimea Valley Visitors Center
7. J. Crew Italian matte top and hipster; jcrew.com
8. Tallow sunset suit; Drifter Surf Shop & Cafe
9. Tori Paver betty bandeau and daisy bottom; sirenecollection.com

textiles from Anthill Fabric Gallery and Silahis

Big news! Sugarcane is designing a mini toddler line!

Who? Why? Wha?

On a trip to Cebu in the Philippines, I was inspired by the indigenous fabrics at Anthill Fabric Gallery. I love the tribal designs and the vibrant colors. I love even more that the textiles are still made by artisans on antique wooden looms. What's even more impressive is that the artisans are Philippine hill tribe mothers supporting their families, while keeping a native tradition alive.

Anthill collaborates with designers to create demand for these fabrics, supporting the artisans, their craftsmanship, and their traditions. It's a cause I believe in and makes me feel proudly Filipino. I never thought I would design a line but here I am, jumping in with both feet.


Anthill Fabric Gallery
Pedro Calomarde St.
Gorordo Ave., Lahug, Cebu City
Philippines 6000

The Silahis Center
744 Calle Real del Palacio (Gen. Luna)
Intramuros 1002, Manila
Philippines

Today is the first day of the autumnal equinox. It's officially fall. Put on your fall hat!

Birkenstocks are back. The last time they were really popular was in 1993 and I was in high school. There was a girl in school who wore it everyday with her denim shorts and Baja poncho. She had big, curly hair, was almost 6' tall and lanky. She owned that hippie aesthetic even though she was from an upper middle class family.

This time around, though, they're not on the feet of hippies or wannahippies. They were seen on at least 4 runways in New York Fashion Week SS14 as reported by Fashionista.com. Vogue people admitted to wearing them in this article. Refinery29 even challenged their tastemakers to style them. Birkenstocks are being worn by many heavy fashion people, the harbingers of retail, so it's only a matter of time before these comeback kicks are on everyone's feet again. J. Crew has an upcoming collaboration with Birkenstock that splashes truth to this theory. They may seem harmless but, because they make your feet look extra flat and extra wide, Birks can also make the rest of you look flat and wide by osmosis. They can look good only on very long legs and/or very skinny legs. Nevertheless, the look of comfort is so seductive that it may not matter.

Thoughts?

Runway photos: Fashionista

Left: Birks in the Houghton fashion show. Photo: the Wild. Center: Birks on a celeb. Photo: Pinterest. Right: Birks on a fashion blogger. Photo: The Man Repeller.

Even the men's fashion shows had them. Photos: Esquire Magazine.

I walked past this place and had to turn back around when I smelled the delicious food being cooked inside. Bio is a tiny shop a block away from Union Square with lunch offerings that not only taste good but are also interesting. Jalapeno agave strawberry juice, anyone?

Bio's pastry is hard to resist. Every time I go there, I want to try one of everything!

The agave strawberry juice is sweet, tart, refreshing, and so healthy.

drool

An open faced turkey sandwich with salad and agave strawberry juice for lunch.

Because no meal is complete without dessert. The house chocolate: cayenne pepper, lavender, turmeric, sundried tomato, berries, fleur de sel, and flax. And it's vegan :P

Leave your heart in San Francisco

Bio
75 O'Farrel St.
San Francisco, CA
http://www.biologiquesf.com/

Amelia's trip to Disneyland turned out to be a fun day. The crowd was the lightest I've ever in my life seen it and we got on the most rides I've ever in my life been on. We got on Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Casey Jr. Circus Train, the carousel (twice),  It's a Small World, Space Mountain, Star Tours, Innoventions, Matterhorn, the Haunted House, Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones, Winnie the Pooh, the Tiki Room, and the Monorail. We weren't even planning on going. We originally wanted to go to Legoland until I mapped out how long the drive is from Burbank. Two hours. One way. With a toddler, who doesn't like sitting in a car seat and is vocal about it.

Up until this time, I haven't taken Amelia to Disneyland for a couple of reasons. First, I don't believe she'd understand what's going on or where we are. It's like, "what's the point?" Secondly, I didn't want her to be exposed to its hyper commercialism and learn its cartoon characters before she learns the alphabet. I certainly don't want her to have any princess dolls, princess makeup, or princess high heels. There's only 1 princess around here. Joking! She remembers a lot of things even after only 1 mention. She's memorized a few of her books already, so I know how impressionable she is. Finally I got over myself and just decided to have a fun day, which exactly what happened. It didn't corrupt her. She still doesn't know any of the characters. She refered to Mickey as "a mouse!" No princess paraphernalia came home. But she did get more sugar than she's ever had in her life, and that was my bad.

Too early in the morning. She's not into it.

Have you ever seen no line in Disneyland?

Pointing to the flying elephants

 

Her favorite ride

Her 2nd favorite ride

Just conked out

And then she used it as a weapon on innocent bystanders

Out again

My favorite picture

One last sugar rush before we left. She gnawed through the plastic inside the store. I had to pay for this.

It's been a long time since I've been to the movies, approximately 20 months actually. So when I went, I wanted a sure thing. I don't want to take chances with my sweet, precious 2 hours off. The movie has to be good. It has to be worth my time. I'm glad to report they were.

4 of the 5 movies I saw were here at the Aquarius.

20 Feet from Stardom features "unsung heroes behind the greatest music of our time," backup singers whose voices you know but whose names you don't. It shows a history of backup singing, the obstacles the featured artists faced, the choices they made, what separates the divas from the backup. It displays their talents beautifully and I couldn't help fall in love. There were many performances in the film that were so good they gave me goosebumps, but when I heard Lisa Fisher's studio solo I was blown away. It's true, what our grandparents said, "they don't make music like they used to." The movie ticket was a small price to pay to journey back in time.

Now on to the teen portion. It's like when I read the Hunger Games trilogy and then The Night Circus, The Fault in Our Stars, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Paper Towns and even Ender's Game. All of a sudden all my kindle recommendations were teen lit! Ah, well, at least they were good.
I loved The Way Way Back. I love the cast, the acting, the writing, the story. It started as the summer that would never end, and it became the summer you didn't want to end. Even the trailer is irresistible. Go see it already.
The Spectacular Now was the more serious teen movie. It felt so real, at times uncomfortably so, but that's how it is, isn't it? Shailene Woodley is a star, and she'll be starring in the aforementioned The Fault in Our Stars movie.
The World's End movie got stellar reviews from rottentomatoes.com, Jimmy Fallon, and Kevin & Bean. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost were hilarious in their KROQ interview with Kevin & Bean :) I've never seen Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz. It was just ok for me. It felt too long, but I suppose it's pretty good for its genre.

Just as I started my summer movie spree with a musical documentary that took me back in time, I ended with another one.
Harana documents the vanishing Filipino tradition of the serenade, which was last practiced 30 years ago. The music here is beautiful and it shows that great artists are found not only on main stages. Sometimes they are found on a fishing boat, a rice field, or behind the wheels of a tricycle.

I found out about this film when I went to see Spectacular Now. There were promo postcards just sitting on a ledge inside the Aquarius theater's miniscule lobby. I noticed the title Harana right away. I thought, "Hmm, I wonder what this movie is about because harana means serenade in Tagalog." It didn't occur to me that the movie title and the word I know would refer to the same thing. They did! And there were only 4 showings at the Aquarius: 7pm on September 4, 5, 11, and 12. You can still see it next week.

I bought tickets in advance because we had only 1 chance to see this. My sister Ricci was free from work only on the 4th, and my mother-in-law was available to babysit Amelia only on the 4th before going back to Hawaii. I didn't think the theater would sell out, because how many people could possibly want to see a Filipino documentary about serenading on a Wednesday night? Nevertheless, I wasn't going to take that chance. I bought the tickets over the weekend and went with Ricci and Tom to the first showing at the Aquarius.

Florante Aguilar, the man behind the movie, and Executive Producer Fides Enriquez held a Q&A session after the screening. Florante even signed Ricci's CD. I hope they succeed in getting it into wider distribution. Like Ricci said, it makes me proud to come from such a romantic and musical culture.

Left: This was the postcard I found last week.  Right: Florantes signing Ricci's Harana Kings CD.

I got my inspiration for this project when we were visiting various daycares. One of the daycare providers said that she asks all parents to provide pictures of themselves, so that the kids can look at their parents' pictures if they miss them. At that point, I knew I would include our pictures in Amelia's daycare bag, whether the daycare we chose asked for them or not. However, I wanted to give her something more durable than a printed photo (Amelia is notorious for tearing paper), so I decided to make a mama doll/dada doll.

I got printer fabric from the fabric store.

I printed out a photo of Marc on one sheet and myself on another sheet.

I ironed the prints to set the ink

I sewed the prints on duck cloth and then sewed the prints together facing each other. The bottom was left open so it could be stuffed.

.

This is what it looks like turned inside out. It was stuffed with batting and the bottom was sewn close.

The finished product.

It's like I'm an action figure. Haha. Happy back-to-school!

Enjoy the holiday!