my new addiction

help! i'm hopelessly addicted to trader joe's matcha green tea yogurt! my handle (greengelato) actually refers to all things cold and green tea. trader joe's is notorious for discontinuing their products; i will be forever sad when and if this item falls victim to the thieving ways of traitor joe.

4 points of interest

Green Tea Parfait @ chicco on Robson
Originally uploaded by Miss Peach

1) i've been getting many hits for searches on red mango

2) i earn about $1 a week on this thing via adsense. sah-weet. that means i can earn money by blogging about food, which will then enable me to buy more food...like this:

3) this green tea parfait has to be LE PERFECT FOOD and basically encapsulates everything i adore about good cuisine: green tea ice cream, mochi, cake, red bean paste, and green tea pudding. kill me now please.

4) i am going to see placido domingo at the bowl tomorrow followed by dessert and drinks at yamashiro. they should have a dessert like this, no?

yay.

i bought this bag recently off of bluefly.com. i luuuuuurve it. it's the first bag i've ever bought over $30. :) it's so me.

i test tried the new red mango

i had a sneak peak of red mango yogurt today in their corporate office in culver city. like pinkberry, they have a plain and green tea flavor coupled with an assortment of dry and fresh fruit toppings. red mango is the original gangster of "italian" frozen yogurt- first founded in korea and now copycatted by the notorious pinkberry here in los angeles. all my friends who have tried both red mango korea and pinkberry have preferred the former, so we were all ecstatic to discover that red mango was going to open stores in los angeles.

i brought along 3 fellow pinkberry fans to the taste testing today. we tried both flavors while red mango president, dan kim, waxed poetic about the virtues of their product. apparently, because the korean version is so similar to pinkberry, they changed the american version to simulate more of an authentic yogurt experience. that's right, red mango somehow made pinkberry's frozen yogurt taste even more yogurty. whether that's a good or bad thing is up to the taster, i guess. i personally prefer the "crunch" texture of pinkberry, and apparently, it's due to the higher water content. i was pretty disappointed that they changed the original korean recipe since it's supposedly better, but i guess they figured that they wanted to take a different strategy since pinkberry has already captured so much of the market.

the green tea flavor, however, was much better, eons superior, to that of pinkberry's medicinal green tea concoction. this was immediately obvious to all of us as we took our first spoonful. i might even prefer red mango's green tea version to that of pinkberry's regular. however, if i want a cold green tea dessert, i will always prefer maeda-en or ciao bella green tea gelato.

pricing is about the same, though you are not psychologically finagled into buying a medium + 3 toppings. small is 2.50, medium 3.50, toppings are $1 for first and 25 cents thereafter.

red mango's marketed as being the "healthier" yogurt. it has more yogurt cultures and less calories (about 40 per serving). it's also going to be served in a more coffeehouse atmosphere (they hired coffeebean's designers) rather than the mini-MOMAs of pinkberry and its imposters. (btw: some of the pinkberry design replications are assaultive to the eyes). is this enough to give red mango a competitive edge? i don't think so. if i want a heatlhy yogurt fix, i'll buy dannon for 50 cents. a difference in 40 calories and some yogurt cultures isn't enough to make me a red mango groupie.

ultimately, it will come down to...parking. whichever store has better parking options wherever i happen to be in the city wins. if both are equal, i will probably choose pinkberry.

oh and the most important fact of all: red mango doesn't have mochi!!!!!!!!

if you're a blogger and want to try red mango, email Elizabeth@redmangousa.com. their westwood store is opening at the end of the month.

ps- in other news, my dad is teaching math to the police officers of the jail paris hilton is staying at. should i ask him to get an autographed black and white striped jumper? an autographed ball and chain?

yay for new art.

i just got this $35 print for free via thumbtackpress.com by advertising on my blog for 3 months. woohoo, who new blogging about art and design could have such fun perks. thumbtack press is seriously THE best place to buy prints online. this piece friggin cracks me up everytime i look at it. it's by gianluca foli and titled "kuma dansu".

i also recently acquired two paintings! i fell in love with vietnamese art while gallery hopping in hong kong several years ago. i couldn't find any prints that i liked but i did discover a company in hanoi that internationally ships artist reproductions. this kind of stuff is REALLY common; there are entire areas in indonesia and vietnam devoted to repros of famous paintings (i bought one in indonesia). if you want the company info, let me know (margaretlee (at) gmail.com). these paintings were $60/$45 which is really a preposterous deal. here are the paintings in my apartment element:


two musicians by nguyen thanh binh
(i am obsessed with this dining set. a fantastic craigslist find from a woman who collects mid-century furniture from estate sales. i <3 vintage walnut furniture)


fishing season by dao hai phong
(this is the most comfortable sofa-bed in the world...from crate and barrel. i'm not a huge fan of the design but it sits in my husband's office/ guestroom)

pink bridal shower fun

i hosted a bridal shower for my dear friend this past saturday. i’m her MATRON of honor (i still can’t get over the whole “matron” thing) and had a blast putting together the party with the other bridesmaids. we held a brunch, in honor of the bride’s love for breakfast foods, in a gazebo located in my apartment complex. it was my first time throwing a shower- it was A LOT of work (i basically pulled an all-nighter making all the desserts) but totally worth it! i’m not really a pink girl, but even i wasn’t overloaded by all the pink. ☺


we toasted and cheered the bride's entrance


the gazebo in action


a close-up of the tissue pomanders. they made such a difference in the party ambience despite their time-consuming creation. these are basically a huge version of the tissue flowers i made (though i didn’t make these).


the menu: swiss and mushroom quiche, spinach and jack cheese quiche, scrambled eggs, sausages, mini cream cheese and lox bagels, mini cranberry tuna melts, two fruit platters, berry parfaits, white chocolate raspberry chocolate cupcakes, green tea cheesecakes, french vanilla panna cotta with mango coulis, and cinnamon streusels




hehe, here’s my husband briefly crashing the party for some food. the gazebo is actually about a 5 minute walk from our apartment, so he helped transport some of the heavy items.


harney and sons wedding tea! i bought this in new york 4 months ago for this specific purpose.


i’ve always wanted to make these little food flags at dinner parties but i knew at least half the guests (ahem, the boys) wouldn’t appreciate them. they were really easy to make!








this chafing dish comes in super handy! SO worth the investment!


these plastic wine glasses were 50 cents each! i should've bought real glass ones from the 99 cent store.




pink drinks, of course!


place settings- with my favorite anthropologie napkins!


one of the bridesmaids bought all the flowers at the downtown flower mart and did an amazing job of arranging them. the vases are actually leftover ones from my bridal shower last year!




one of the bridesmaids bought this tablecloth at the FIDM scholarship store for $1 a yard! it was actually my favorite element of the shower. :)


gift table


the favors. the boxes contained thong underwears and the sugar cups contain japanese milkys candies. we had a fun time showing off our cute (and a few really trashy) thongs. wish i had some pictures of them!


here’s my present that i wrapped. halfway through the flowers, i totally regretted making them since the small flowers are hard on your hands, but it was worth it in the end- we used the flowers for her rehearsal bouquet.


the bride and i. we told her to put the wrapping on her head.


with her rehearsal bouquet




bridal party photo (minus one bridesmaid).


having fun with the pomanders.

rooms to inspire

I just bought this book for my mother in law- Rooms to Inspire: Decorating with America's Best Designers. It just came out last week and so I'm pretty confident that she either doesn't have it or hasn't perused through it already. My in-laws just bought a summer home on some island off of Georgia so I'm hoping she'll appreciate the interior design inspiration. :)

It looks like a really cool book. Maybe I can actually read it when I'm over for the holidays or something, hehe.

looking for pictures

i bought this frame several weeks ago from boom design and i'm having a hard time figuring out what kind of pictures to put in it. the window sizes are kind of awkward as the entire thing is only 11 x 14. the rectangles are also too narrow to put any standard vertical photos without looking chopped.

i think i'm going to just print out cute images i see and include them...esp for the tiny windows.

but i do love this frame. :) slowly yet surely, things are going up on our walls.

magazine overload

i just subscribed to domino magazine! it's about time i stop leeching off quick reads at the bookstore or supermarket lines. :) i notice they use a lot of cool/warm combos- i'm loving this orange and blue, of course.

i already subscribe to martha stewart living and the economist and i recently received gift subscriptions to dwell and gourmet. that's five magazines!!! i have a hard enough time keeping up with the economist's weekly reads.

what magazines do you guys subscribe to?

i made mini green tea cheesecakes topped with fresh raspberries with a gingerbread crust. i love making finger-friendly desserts for parties because there always seems to be a pie overload (or at least the parties i go to). i hate making pies. they are ugly to me and mine will always be inferior to the ones at apple pan. YUM, the best pies ever.

i'm so predictable...

long time no post, i've been on vacation. :)

orange is my favorite color...but only as an accent color- especially when paired with blue or green (and lots of white). i find that i always gravitate towards pictures that utilize these colors. some things that have caught my eye recently:


happiness! heidi giftwrap (via decor8)

i bought this pop ink plate from mr. french awhile ago. i didn't realize that it was made out of melamine so i have to figure out a way to hang it. we definitely have an orange/blue theme going on in our living room. :)



i LURVE this wall color. this was supposed to be the wall color of our apartment but it ended up turning out more sky blue-ish. bah. Eva Zeisel (via apartmenttherapy.com)

okay, there's another picture of an orange ottoman against a blue couch but i can't find it.

the motivation to blog is low...

when it feels like nobody is reading your blog. hehe. i have to keep reminding myself that i started up this thing for myself (as sort of a creative outlet and a place to archive art and design products) rather than to pander for attention. it's also nice b/c i can comment on peoples' blogs now, whereas before, my username directed folks to a super old 2002 travel blog. yes, i've had this sucker before the blog revolution.

anyway, i've noticed that so many design bloggers are really into cats. i'm a dog person all the way; cats kinda scare me, cat ladies scare me more. when one of my anti-dating friends told me that she's thinking of getting a cat or two, i sincerely worried about her. here's a picture of my doggie- precious (my sister named him when she was young). i lurve him. from a completely subjectively objective opinion, i will say that he has the cutest, most affable personality in the world (and a cute face to boot). kind of a messy eater, but that adds to the charm.

i just made the best salad

seriously, i think salads are the closest thing to food art. i love all the bright colors of the produce and how it all comes together organically to create something beautiful. i didn't take a picture but here's one i found off of flickr from disneymike.

ingredients:
- fresh organic greens
- sliced papaya
- sauteed red, orange, and yellow peppers
- grated pecorino cheese
- sliced avocado
- grilled chicken strips
- lemon and olive oil
- cracked pepper and coarse salt

oh my gosh, i found a goldmine!!!

ok, i am on the major search for prints and paintings for our new apartment. i've scoured etsy and a few other sites but haven't really found the "umph" i'm looking for...until tonight. i discovered thumbtackpress.com via we *heart* prints.com via who knows where via who knows where, etc etc.

thumbtackpress.com is AWESOME!!! i'm located just a "few" of my favorite prints. my blog is turning into a veritable art gallery. sorry, i didn't include the titles since i was copying over so many prints. oh, and by the way, i'm doing all of this while playing "settlers" with 3 men who are too engrossed in this board game and a basketball game to share in my art excitement. :)

alex noriega
title: pollution is nice
hmmm...as an angeleno who hates pollution, this may be something i may have to put up on my wall as a gesture of optimism. one of our good friends is getting his phd in atmospheric science, this is his bread and butter...i shall email him this picture. hehe.

gina triplett


josh sears
reminds me of my high school, college, grad school days.

josh sears
i like this print but people with super long hair really freak me out.

Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
the title of this is "perky nipples".

(i'm not going to include prints from jeremy forson, but he deserves an honorable mention on my blog because his art is SO NASTY AND SCARY!!! )

jared drew moody

jared drew moody

jared drew moody
(my husband might actually like this one)


jaime zollars

heiko


Gianluca Foli

Gianluca Folì
so silly! so preposterous! i love it!

Gianluca Folì
(i'll probably buy this one. hehe)

alex noriega


chris silas neal


chris silas neal




shino arihara

here's some other art i stumbled across tonight.

rachell sumpter from http://www.littlepaperplanes.com


kim cogan from http://www.theartprint.net


katy horan from http://www.kopilot.net