Posts filed under Travel Diaries

Secret City

Pictured Above

1. A corner between two studios with a cute robot mural peaking out

2. A door to one of the studios (so curious to see what's behind!)

3. A confusing (but so cool!) M/W sign on a door leading to nowhere specific (actually, since I posted this, I have found out it leads to no other place than the restroom... indeed, that is somewhere VERY specific, shame on me!)

4-5. A few of the paintings featured in the main showroom 

A Night at the Art Gallery

This Saturday I attended the Secret City event organized by JoMar Visions. If you have never been to this gem of a gallery, I would highly recommend attending one of their upcoming events! In addition to displaying great local artists and providing studios for them to work in, the gallery is famed for its eclectic environment and deconstructed industrial feel (which is exactly why a great friend of mine will have her upcoming wedding there!) 

About the Secret City

This particular event was a tribute to Mark Kistler and his TV show "Secret City". The artists featured on Saturday included Arianne Venable, Aziz Anzabi, Alexa Aldana, Elizabeth Arlington, Ernest Lizcano, Frieda Henson, Gilbert Ruiz, Iwona Jankowski, Joana Esteves, Jim Adams, Marie E. Casamayor, Mark Roden, Raymond Dunlap, Sarah Cloutier, and Scott Altruiste Cravens. I especially loved Mark Roden's abstracts (some of which I featured below!). 

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Katya Popova and filed under Travel Diaries and tagged art houston events wedding venue.

Food for the Soul: a Houston Walking Tour

Museum District in Houston

Today was a truly stunning day to be outside in Houston (first sunny AND warm day for the year at its best!) I took the opportunity to spend it while taking a walking tour of one of the oldest parts of Houston - the Museum District. 

This particular 2-hour tour was hosted by the AIA Houston chapter which offered an architectural and historic context to each of the sights we visited (they also offer tours of Downtown, Montrose and the Heights and with the very affordable price tag of $10, these tours are even more worth your while!).

My Highlights

The tour started in the serene Cullen Sculpture Garden which showcases masterworks of 20th- and 21st-century sculpture by artists including Louise Bourgeois, Dan Graham, Henri Matisse, Auguste Rodin, and David Smith. This garden itself is a masterpiece created by sculptor Isamu Noguchi (the same artist who created the original and now famous paper lantern light fixtures!).

From there, we continued our walk through the Museum of Fine Arts. Its main building, the Caroline Wiess Law Building, is a fine example of juxtaposition of  William Ward Watkin's Neoclassical style (from the 1920s) and Mies van der Rohe's International Style (Bauhaus) from the late 1950s. 

Another favorite part of the tour was our stop at the Asia Society Texas Center. Designed by Japan-born, Harvard-educated Yoshio Taniguchi, it combines contemporary international design with an understated elegance and serenity one associates with Asia. It is one of the newest members of the Museum District (it was completed in 2011) and it is a stunning homage to attention to detail and clean design. 

A special thank you to AIA and our tour guide, Jason, for an unforgettable Saturday morning!

Posted on January 11, 2014 by Katya Popova and filed under Travel Diaries and tagged travel houston hometown unexpected beauty.

A Hidden Gem (Or is it?)

Sightseeing 

Castillo de San Marcos

Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse

Memorial Presbyterian Church

 

St. Augustine, FL

When it was suggested to me that I travel to St. Augustine, FL, I thought, where? I had never heard of St. Augustine until the day I decided to drive 100 miles from Orlando and visit. And as it turns out, I am in the clear minority when it comes to knowing about St. Augustine. With over 2 million visitors a year, it clearly holds a lot of tourist draw (and to be fair, it felt like all 2 million of them were there the same day I was!). I completely understand why. It has a lot of history (it was founded in 1565!), beautiful scenery (fully restored buildings from the Spanish and English rules of Florida) and, of course, great ocean views. So if you are ever in the Central Florida region, I would highly recommend a visit to Florida's old capital and America's oldest city! 

 

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Katya Popova and filed under Travel Diaries and tagged travel holidays family orlando.

Happy New Year!

Some Party Essentials

I Always Start with the Menu 

Delicious Party Favors

Wrap it in a Theme (Polar Bears!) 

Unify with a Color Scheme (White, Gold and a bit of Black)

 

 

Happy Holidays!!

I must confess, I am rather sad the holidays are over. But at the very least, I have this blog to write about them and remember how much fun it was to plan for a good meal and enjoy the party with my loved ones!

A few posts ago, I shared with you the menu I was planning on for Christmas and I am happy to report that all the dishes came out beautifully! Hands down, my favorite was the turkey. It was fresh, juicy and just perfect! And as usual, I spent quite a lot of time setting up the table decor (my favorite part of any party). This time however, I had help from the best of helpers: mom. After a trip to the local Marshall's (where we purchased placemats and a few decorations) and Target (where we found the polar bears at 50% off plus the paper christmas trees and candles), we were able to complete our polar bear theme. 

The colors we used this year were gold, white and a punch of black. It was all inspired by the design of the menu I did a few weeks back. The menu also inspired the handsomest party favors - custom made cookies by Cakes and Cookies by Claudia. 

All in all, I think I am really liking the idea of hosting celebrations! I am already looking for an excuse to have another one soon!

PS: A shoutout to our lovely hosts: Jessica and Stefan Popov and the great help from Jenny Blair (still dreaming of that casserole!) and of course, mom and dad, who are always willing to assist in any loving way they can. 

 

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Katya Popova and filed under Travel Diaries and tagged food holiday christmas orlando family love polar bears menu.

Travel Adventures | the Fog City

 

Sightseeing

  • Pier 39
  • Bay Bridge
  • Golden Gate
  • Ghiradelli Square
  • Lombard Street

My mom had a dream of visiting San Francisco since her early days as an architect. Next best thing was to see her daughter visit the fog city... Speaking of which:

The Fog City

End of October is cold and foggy in San Francisco. Yet I fell in love! I spend a mere day in this soaked with culture city and it left me craving for more. The stacked rows of gorgeous houses, the steep streets adorned with vegetation and character and the stunning unobstructed views... all working in inexplicable harmony to capture your gaze.

I would call San Francisco magical. And I will end this post with some wishful thinking...

To be continued....

 

 

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Katya Popova and filed under Travel Diaries and tagged favorite places san francisco travel fun alcatraz hats leather jacket scarf.