shells in boutonnieres

Nuthin' prettier than teeny shells on bouts of mini callas, white bouvardia and galax leaves.

a mini vacation

Ahhh, it's been a hectic week. A week of unintended absence here at crosspollination.

Kyle left today to fly back to Auckland after a too-short two week visit. We had a great time while he was here, stuffing our pie-holes at all the Austin barbeque and Mexican joints, swimming at Barton Springs (above, image from here), and hanging out with family and friends.

Next week it's back to business as usual, with fun posts coming to a computer screen near you.

kate breakey show in austin

Yeah, I've posted about Kate Breakey's decadent photograph/paintings before, but I snuck in and saw the recent show at Stephen L. Clark Gallery here in Austin right before they took it down. Sorry I didn't give you a heads-up. Still, you can see some of the ethereal images here.

rhode island farmstand

Visiting New England recently was such a relief from the Texas heat (which had been such a relief from the Auckland cold). My friends decided to take me down to Little Compton, a quintessential seaside town in Rhode Island. A gorgeous beach greeted us, but my favorite part was sitting under the shade trees at one of the farmstands, drinking Del's lemonade. We watched the farm hands bring in a fresh load of corn, as well as a pumpkin the size of an armchair then bought blueberries and veggies to cook up for dinner. And what a great bouquet of dahlias and basil in the middle of their fruit display! At least I'll be headed into another mild summer in Auckland in a few months.

photographer: ngoc minh ngo

Ever since my recent trip to NYC I've been obsessed with photography and styling. So I was pleased as punch to find out about Ngoc Minh Ngo, whose photographs have graced the pages of the best magazines in the world (via automatism). Go women photogs!

And to make my week even better, I've been playing around with my new Canon XSi and 50mm f1.8 lens. Good images coming soon, no excuses now.

san francisco: rose and radish

I visit the lovely Rose and Radish blog periodically for a fresh blast of West Coast modernism. Next time I'm in San Francisco I'll definitely be attending one of their themed installations of art and craft items mixed with home wares and flowers (images from the Woodland show below).

Guess what? The talented floral people at Rose and Radish also do daily flower deliveries and events. To see behind the scenes (even more), check out Jill's blog small stump. In addition to working for Rose and Radish, Jill makes and sells nature-inspired goodies on her website, but get in line if you want some of the birch-bark vase covers or cute little mushrooms!
All images from Rose and Radish website.

nyc: tropical flower wholesalers

Tropicals are some of my favorite cut flowers, and the NYC wholesale flower district has some of the most amazing specimens - blooming banana stalks, king protea from New Zealand, sprouting coconuts, unusual types of ginger and heliconia to name just a few. Still wracking my brain to figure out what the huge brown and white dried leaves might be - anyone know? Images snapped at Caribbean Cuts and G. Page shops.