my sister's bath and beauty sense

My sister, Melanie, is one of Bloomingdale's most noted patrons. Where I am content to find an odd scrub or cream from a shack on a street in Bali, Mel knows what's "In" on the stars' bath and beauty lists. Though I could appreciate her fifth Avenue saavy, I really didn't understand what the big fuss was.

Later, when I had my own cafe and boutique, I enjoyed being a buyer and retailer of such luxurious products. My sister, for example, loves Bliss , a bath and beauty line from New York's "hottest" spa. I was always delighted to get samples from her. My favorite is still the Lemon + Sage scent.

I usually spend my money on globe trotting; for Melanie, a busy mother of three, she spends it on pampering. (This to be sure, is quite understandable). In the near future, with our Mild Child:BODY line, I will definitely look to my sister's prowess to charm our products onto Bloomie's shelves.

a day at the beach

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This morning a good friend of mine was heading out to the beach with her kids and I tagged along. It seems like some time since there's been a beautiful here on the island. Other friends came around with their kids and we surely looked the odd bunch, lying out to get some rays while the Korean beach-goers hid under big umbrellas, long sleeved shirts and visors.

Sand between the toes and the smell of coconut oil (though I was using olive), was just what the doctor ordered. A beach body line is definitely in order, and I think it would be fun to have during the deep dark days of winter when one is loathe to venture outside because of the sheer gloom and frigid cold. It will be a beach in a bottle, or something of the sort. Time to start drawing.

more inspiring patterns

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Karen Barbe has a really fun collection that Bloesem featured a few days ago. These patterns remind me of the tiles in my old cafe. Prior to my cafe, the building had burnt down to reveal beautiful Italian tiles, hidden under layers of old carpet and glue. These colors are very similar to the palette I used in the wallpaper design below.

sample packaging

vintage wallpaper inspired mod design

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I'm sitting down with an amazing smoothie combination: banana, coconut milk, a dash of pineapple juice, plain yogurt and a dash of cinnamon. I bet it would make a yummy body butter. I was looking through san fran girl's blog, I saw this amazing photo with vintage wallpaper. I love vintage and modern mixed together and would like to create a line of designs that serve not only as packaging for Mild Child, but also for stationery, wallpaper and fabric.

As a young child in the seventies, my mother, even with five children, was much the seamstress. With her humble little Singer sewing machine and patterns of smocks and jumpers, my mom made some of the cutest outfits for us with some of the coolest fabric.

a yummy candle + soap flavor

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These coconut and lemon cream balls by san fran girl are great, yummy inspiration for our candle and soap line. Each flavor will be available in soap and candle form. Of course I'm partial to the soothing colors and the aroma is certainly glorious. I can't wait to get into the kitchen and start mixin' a batch.

itchin' to make an office + studio + nest

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I love the color combination she's come up with here. It reminds me of my forlorn office back at home in Savannah (I wonder if it's still intact?) I'll have a makeshift office space for a few months- perhaps the garage? - and then it looks I'll be trekking back to my little island lost at sea here in S. Korea.