Monday, August 31, 2009


this morning, rediscovering the beauty of multiple pieces of buttered toast for breakfast. but i'm not going to show you a picture of said breakfast, b/c photos of breakfasts on blogs is like, so 2007

soon i have to tell you about my best friend's wedding, shopping the barney's warehouse sale and thus decreasing my life force, the work from this past week, and being on the precipice of cooking again.

later skaters.

Saturday, August 29, 2009


Going to play spades with the duders now. Sometimes I cheat, but no one will ever know how. Just finished three weddings, and feel I can move mountains. Got tons of photos for you tomorrow. Illustration by the talented Lily Lin.

Oh, hell yes.


Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Geeze, and I almost forgot to say thank you to everyone who came out to the shop this weekend! Someone recommended we get a margarita machine, whoever you are, Eric won't stop talking about it, so thanks for that.
See you next weekend,
SR



some green shizzles i threw together in a bouquet a few weeks ago. eric was kind enough to pose with it. we're flying so fast around here these days i feel like our wheels are going to fly off the flower cart, my eyes will pop out on springs, and nea will start answering the phone:

"I can negotiate with the boss to get your centerpiece price down to $150 in exchange for 2 pigs ears, the end crust of a baguette and a kong full of peanut butter. But I won't roll over for any of this. Is that part clear? No rolling over, and NO high fiving. I'll write up the terms and send them in a pee-mail."

Thursday, August 20, 2009



From and order this morning: Purple dahlias, coleus, scabiosa, black-eyed-susans, jasmine.

At some point in the past Eric and I both quit smoking, and tonight I desperately miss it. Lots of things banging around in my head all week to share, but I am one of those writers that has a difficult time actually getting to the writing.

Granted it’s been tough in New York this week, what with the heat and all. Apparently, Darla, our one-tooth wonder is struggling too – as I type this I’m watching her out of the corner of my eye. She’s positioned half-in, half-out of the liter box and cat pee is slowly pooling in the middle of the bathroom floor. I already know that I will probably forget that I witnessed this, and step in it an hour from now.

I had just prepared for myself a fancy chef’s salad, and now I have eaten it. Perhaps you would call this more of an anti-pasta plate, a mingling of marinated artichokes, nostrano salami, arugula, some Spanish cheese which I don’t recall the name of. Once, while heading east on Rt. 6 near Indian Point, Eric and I heard a radio host use the phrase “the finest meats and cheeses in all the land…” ever since we refer to cold cut dinners as such.

Monday, August 17, 2009

TO THE PRESS AND THE MASSES!!!!











The stage is set for a new chapter of Saipua.


Returning with their cast of handmade olive oil soaps and unusual seasonal flowers, owners Sarah Ryhanen and Eric Famisan at long last reveal the newest incarnation of the famed Saipua Saga.

During a 2.5 month intermission, longtime friend and architect Jeremy Barbour of Tacklebox designed and built out the 700 square foot storefront hidden behind a rollup gate off the beaten path, 2 blocks away from their previous location.

Curtain rises at noon on Saturday August 22nd!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

camp saipua at clear lake highlights








Nea and Eric made a cold Sauna. Hiking. Swimming. Yawn.
Whilst looking for my Mummo's internet connection (as if) in the cellar we discovered her decade-old blueberry juice/botulism collection.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

i'm back.


i always think about what i'm going to have for dinner during savasanna. i can't seem to meditate. i try going to my "special meditation place" which is a frozen lake covered in snow with big pine trees all around. nice, right? then madonna whooshes in all shambala'ed and shit like in the Frozen video. and from there it just gets worse. i consider mehndi, earrings that connect to noserings with little chains. dead can dance. and then the worst happens. i remember a tragic little trend from the early nineties. gregorian chants in pop music. the end.

um...what's your special meditation place?

Saturday, August 8, 2009

going to sauna


Heading to this lovely place in northern Ontario today to visit my Mummo for her 91st birthday...the wood burning sauna (in both photos) was recently repaired which means my first real sauna bath in years. I am leaving my computer at home. See you late next week....

[My grandfather on the right, Mr. Seppa in the middle, and I'm not sure who is on the left. Around 1975.]

Friday, August 7, 2009


I've been enjoying the "One in Eight Million" series from the NYT.
Especially The Treasure Hunter, by Jack Fortmeyer.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009


nea and I finished the coconut cake (which needs more explanation at some point) this morning. 90+ muthaf$%ing degrees in nyc today.

as I consider yet another klymaxx video* on the youtube i realize I'm going to be late. but I've wasted time well this AM scrolling back through all the brilliance that lies waiting in the new Vena Cava blog.

*tangential to the recent Expose shame spiral

Monday, August 3, 2009




I don't think I've shown you these - centerpieces in brushed aluminum boxes for a wedding last month at Tribeca Rooftop. Where Jay Z got married apparently. Anyway...these centerpieces have hydrangea, ecchinecea, ranunculus, peonies, roses, queen anne's lace, scabiosa, cotinus and thistle.

Going to the flower market now to hopefully score some material for a magazine shoot, it's monday - one of the worst days for floral pursuits on 28th street, but I have some things up my sleeve...