Little Treasures

As you may have read on a previous post, I will be traveling to the Pacific Northwest in a few weeks. Besides seeing the Chihuly exhibits or even visiting the original Starbucks in Seattle, I'm actually looking forward to finding the miniature horses on the sidewalks of Portland, Oregon. I think my kids would enjoy going on a little scavenger hunt while we are there.

An artist named Scott Wayne Indiana noticed the abandoned horse rings along the Portland sidewalks (apparently back in the early 1900s, people used to tie their horses and carts to the rings) and decided to tie miniature plastic horses to them. His little art project continues to this day with the Portland people starting The Horse Project which encourages the public to tie their own horses (or other animals to them).

(above photos via)

Which got me thinking about other more local scavenger hunts that may be fun to know about. 

I'm sure you've heard about the hidden Mickeys at Disneyland. There are over 100 hidden Mickeys throughout the Anaheim Disneyland Park. A hidden Mickey is a partial or complete image of Mickey Mouse purposely hidden or blended into its surroundings. Some are pretty obvious:

(photo by Terry Hodges)

Some not so much (these are tiny rivets on the iron guards around the front entrance trees):

Go check out this website to find the most up to date list of hidden Mickeys for the Disneyland Park in Anaheim. Have fun finding them all. 

At Legoland in Carlsbad, California, Miniland USA is the attraction to visit. It's a small scale replica of major cities in America. Apparently in Miniland USA there is only one bathroom built into this attraction. I believe it is located in the New York City section. Find it and be amused.

(via Flickr)

Can there be such a thing as a hidden bridge in my own hometown of San Diego? I was born and raised in San Diego and only recently heard about the two "hidden" bridges. Both the Quince Street Bridge (located between third and fourth avenue over Maple Canyon) and the Spruce Street Bridge (located between fourth and fifth avenue over Kate Sessions Canyon) were built in the early 1900s. Both are hidden neighborhood bridges that are used mostly by pedestrians. The Quince is an old trestle bridge and the Spruce is an old suspension bridge (or as the locals call it "the wiggly bridge"). These bridges are not exactly little treasures, but they are certainly hidden treasures that I can appreciate for the fact they've been around over 100 years and I only now knew about them.  

Have any hidden or secret treasures in your neck of the woods?

Art is everywhere: Chihuly

The hubs, my kids and I will be taking a train ride up to the Pacific Northwest at the end of this month. We will make stopovers at Portland-Oregon, Tacoma-Washington, and Seattle-Washington. Needless to say, I am looking forward to a long-needed vacation out of town as well as visiting places I have never been. 

I've been compiling a list of places I hope to see over at Pinterest (check it out).

One of the places I'm excited about visiting is Tacoma, Washington, if only for the chance to visit the Tacoma Art Museum for one Dale Chihuly.  I became aware of this artist when I visited Las Vegas's Bellagio and witnessed the most amazing and beautiful ceiling sculpture:

(via)

To my untrained artful eye, it looked like an explosion of sugar candy. Chihuly's Fiori di Como is actually a representation of Italian fields in the spring. 

(via)

The Tacoma Art Museum has the largest permanent collection of Chihuly's glass work. Chihuly was born in Tacoma and continues to gift the museum with his work. 

Several of Chihuly's work can be seen for free throughout Tacoma. The most significant is his Bridge of Glass which leads to The Museum of Glass. The Seaform Pavilion section of the bridge has over 2300 pieces of his glass sculptures seemingly suspended over the walkway. 

In Seattle, Washington, I have to make it a point to visit The Seattle Center to visit Chihuly's Garden and Glass Exhibition.  Chihuly's glass sculptures are seen "growing" out of the garden and in the "greenhouse." 

(via)

Just amazing.

Flashback Friday: Me

What's more appropriate for my Flashback Friday than ME! Today is my 42nd birthday. Should I look at it as a day of aging? No, I should celebrate it for what it is: the day of my birth and the wonderful memories and experiences I have had over the years. 

Here's looking at you kid with the homemade haircut and the cute yellow dress - hope you have many more years of memories and grand adventures.

Art is everywhere: Walking dead inspiration

The Walking Dead's season finale was this past Sunday and now I have to wait like 10 years (okay, I'm being a tad bit dramatic) before season 4 premieres. 

In honor of Walking Dead, I'm sharing with you one of my favorite Zombie recreations using food.  I'm okay with my kids playing with their food as long as they create something as hilarious and creative as below:

Enjoy!

(via)

Flashback Friday: Grimace

In the grand old debate on what Goofy was (man or dog?) and what Gonzo was (bird or insect?), when I was a kid I wondered what Grimace was (must be something with the letter "G" that makes things ambiguous). 

Those of us ol' timers remember when McDonalds had McDonaldland. McDonaldland was McDonald's marketing tool which began in 1971. The fantasy world was inhabited by Ronald McDonald and his cast of supporting characters (Officer Big Mac, Hamburglar, The Fry Kids, Mayor McCheese, Birdie the Early Bird, to name but a few). Most of these characters traits were easily correlated to who they were: Ronald was a clown, Officer Big Mac and Mayor McCheese were a hamburger and cheeseburger respectively, Hamburglar was a guy who steals hamburgers.  

(via Flickriver)

But what was Grimace? He was a big purple, blobby thing with big round eyes and bushy eyebrows. He originally began as a bad guy who stole milkshakes, but by 1972 he was changed into a good guy and his appearance was made less menacing. 

McDonald's described Grimace as such: "He is a big fuzzy purple fellow and Ronald's special pal."  Thanks McDonalds for making things as clear as mud. 

You know there are just some mysteries which shall forever remain a mystery - like Stonehenge, crop circles, UFOs - I should come to accept that the big purple blobby thing called Grimace shall remain that big purple blobby thing called Grimace. He was officially retired from McDonalds in 2003 - RIP Grimace.

Cloches

Glass cloches were originally invented by the French. The purpose was to protect young plants from the harsher outside elements (i.e. weather, insects, etal). They acted almost like a miniature greenhouse. 

But lately, glass cloches can be used for home decor. People put any treasured or interesting item under them. Some of my favorites include the following:

(via Twig Terrariums)

If I had to put a plant in a cloche, I would choose a terrarium (the cloche would protect the terrarium from not just the weather elements, but from me - because I would probably kill it in a New York minute). 

(via Enchanted Doll)

How awesome is this porcelain doll! with her sterling silver head dress with fresh water pearls and Mohair wig, you can see why she needs to be displayed and protected under her glass cloche. 

(via designlovefest)

How about putting miniature furniture under your cloche? I had a thing for miniature chairs at one point in my tchotchke-infused life and now feel I need to bring that obsession back just to put it under it's own glass dome. 

(via Pinterest via Rockett St George)

I like the idea of shoving a bunch of your kids toys inside of the cloche. Probably a good storage method too for all my son's loose lego figures - home decor and toy storage...Score!

(via sfgirlbybay)

This idea is my favorite: something as simple as a paper figure or origami placed inside the cloche. It's easy to change out once in awhile. 

Have something you love to display? Well cloche it. 

Art is everywhere

When I look for art I sometimes do not have to look further than my own home. My son, Milo, is five years old and has an imagination as limitless as every child seems to have. 

Just recently while I was at work, my sister emailed me a photo of what my son and his cousin, Isa, had created using a piece of plastic and fallen succulent leaves. They said it was a robot and doggone it! it looked like a robot:

(photo by Stephanie McMahon)

While I kill plants, my son makes art out of the dead parts - we make a perfect team.