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Archive for January, 2008

New York City continued….

January 20, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized

And the story goes on!  Our last night in NYC was spent experiencing Kaseiki which is the Japanese version of a chef’s tasting menu—Outstanding!!!  We had dumplings, sea urchin, crab, sushi, soups, duck, etc. etc.–all delicious bites and just beautifully presented.  It was almost a shame to eat it but not quite.  The highlight was meeting a brewmaster from Iware who presented his Sake for us to enjoy.  He was visiting from Japan and introducing his Sake to the patrons of this fine restaurant.  It was quite ceremonial and the sake was delicious.  Our waiter told us that unpasteurized sake doesn’t travel well and it is almost unheard of to have it in North America.  This sake was just delightful.  My daughter had her picture taken with the brewmaster showing him pouring his sake-an advertising moment!  I had no idea that there were so many types of sake.  The prices ranged from about 40.USD for a small bottle to almost 300.  Our courses were paired with the appropriate sake which made the evening even more special.

Now I do have to mention that I did find some lovely stones which I will be incorporating into my spring collection.  I am starting to work on that now.  I found emeralds and rubies that were an intense colour (enhanced by the manufacturer) and quite striking.  Also aquamarine which I will pair with silver and light smoky quartz or whatever strikes me at the moment.  I often start out with an idea and then go off on a tangent which is totally different from my original thought–not a bad thing as sometimes unusual and exciting designs result.  I also found obsidian disks which are a blackish grey and will use with wire.  One of my favourite finds was green amethyst-a lovely shade to bring the spring in with.  I am going to start adding pictures to this blog.  Please watch for them.

Please check out my events section.  The year has started with my planning several shows.  As confirmations come in I will post the dates.

Posted by Stephanie @ 6:41 pm | Comments

2008 and New York City

January 17, 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized

The new year has more than started.  It is not surprising to feel that the days are just running away.  I have recently returned from New York City after accompanying my daughter who was there for business.  It is an absolutely great city as everyone knows who has been there.  My plan was to walk everywhere that I could and I am happy to say that I did–for miles.  Our hotel was right at Grand Central Station on 42nd Street.  From there I walked all the way down to the lower east side and back,  to Central Park and also checked out all the surrounding area which was full of gemstone and bead distributors as well as jewellery merchants (with fine stones such as diamonds, emeralds etc.).  January is a great time to be in New York because of the sales.  Americans do know how to mark down.  My favourite phrase–“50% off the last ticketed price”.  Designer outfits that were 7 and 8 hundred dollars could be had for a 100.   Retail sales were somewhat soft this year so there were lots and lots of things to choose from. 

Grand Central Station or Terminal is a shopping mecca in itself.  The shops open at 8 a.m.  One of my favourite is O & Co. which among other things sells exotic olive oils and vinegars.   My favourite oil is green lemon which is wonderful in salads.  Our hotel was right above so it was not even necessary to go outside.

Another feature of the station, besides the phenomenol architecture, are the dining possibilities.  Lots to choose from.  We went to the oyster bar and had absolutely fresh and delicious oysters of several varieties plus other seafood.  We sat at the bar and the waiter did a good job of not paying too much attention to us or even making eye contact.   He did not ask us if we needed our drinks refreshed or anything else that might enhance our dining experience, appeared totally disinterested==until it was time for the tab to be paid.

We also dined at Aquavit where we partook of the tasting menu.  It was absolutely delicious-compliments to the chef.  There we had attentive service and it was greatly appreciated.  With our dinner we had flavoured Aquavit which is vodka flavoured with different herbs,or spices or fruit.  We chose the customary aquavit which was anise and caraway and then also had one with horse radish.  Altho this sounds strange, the flavours were quite subtle and very enjoyable.

Now you may ask what all this has to do with jewellery.  Well not much, but it was fun.

More next time about our Japanese tasting menu experience.  Sake is a great thing!!

Posted by Stephanie @ 4:18 pm | Comments


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