May 2010 - New Orleans, LA
Once again I got the chance to travel to one of the most amazing cities in this country. The city is back and doing well! If you havent been there, I couldn't recomend it high enough. The food for four days was out of control! Just amazing! And dancing to DJ Soul Sister's grooves at Mimi's was a night to not be forgotten.

October 2008 - Sheboygan, Wisconsin
I was invited to do a workshop at The John Michael Kohler Arts Center as part of their "Do It Yourself" Series. It was a really amazing project to get to work with people to find their own voices and ideas in their discards. I do believe the process has opened much more for many of the participants than initially expected. Several of them commented that they would be making more lamps for their home now that they knew how easy it was to do. Several lamps were built in the workshop. A few of those lamps were built by kids. It was really an amazing, exhilarating experience.

The biggest surprises were unexpected, however. The first was the food. The food in Sheboygan was amazing. Well the food was amazing due in part to one very influential family, The Vigletti's. The Vigletti's own four restaurants in town, and you will be hard pressed to find bigger foodies' anywhere. Early bites and breakfast stuff at Field to Fork, perfect! Un fussy, almost more of a market than restaurant, but everything is as fresh as possible, local as possible and organic. Dinner at Trattoria Stefano should not be missed and trust the waiters to guide you through what is best that day. They will not steer you wrong. They seem as into the food as the chef. Now, the night before, at The Duke of Devon I had a brilliant prime rib and interesting appetizers and a perfect port creme brulee that was recommended to me as a dessert that would go well with the heavy beer they recommended with the prime rib.... I was not sure... beer with creme brulee? Surprise!... mmmmmm yummy. The only Vigiletti's restaurant I didn't have time to hit was Il Ritrovo, but I hear the VPN certified pizza was off the hook as well (VPN certification being a huge deal as it is really tight but guarantees a truly authentic Neopolitan pizza, just like the originals from Naples, Italy.) The second HUGE surprise was that The Center put me up for my stay at one of the Kohler family homes. It was an amazing structure built by architect, William F. Deknatel of Chicago. He had worked as a designer under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin, during the years of 1932-1933. The influence is clear. The home was called "Windway". And it was no real surprise when I found a cover of Architectural Digest framed on the wall that had a big photo of the staircase of the home. The cover was dated back in the early 40's. What a wonderful trip! Who knew!
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May 2006 - Phoenix & Tucson, AZ and New Orleans, LA
I got to visit a couple friends in Arizona this May. While there, I did a good deal of scouting for shops and found one I think is worth checking out. Its in Scotsdale and is called HAUS. Definitely a shop to watch.
Form Pheonix I flew to New Orleans. It was an amzing trip. It would be a sad thing for the U.S. to lose that city. It was just amazing
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November 2005 - Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
While in Rio, I visited The Rio Design Center in Leblon, Got to go to my one Oscar Niemeyer building, Museu de Arte Contemporanea in Niteroi and spent a day in an area of Rio near Centro called Santa Teresa where the beginning signs of artists taking over can be seen.
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