Our beloved and bizarre vintage amusement park, Lakeside, is revving up for opening day. 

I can hardly. stand. the EXCITEMENT!!!!

 Preview alert!!!!

 My new shop is NOW OPEN!

Check out Club Oceanus, the limited-edition silkscreen shop by The Voyagers, now up and running on Etsy!

 I still have a couple of items unlisted, but most of the very limited edition line for spring/summer '12 is online right now!

 Again, this line has been printed in very small editions, sizes based mainly on requests I received online on the blog and on my facebook page. 

So if you do not find your size/choice available, PLEASE message, comment, or email me at maialarkin at gmail dot com and I will do my best to accommodate you in future editions.

 Meantime....happy spring!!!!

 I hope you are enjoying the season as much as we are!

Club Oceanus.

 A couple of images that my mum brought from the family archives, these of me (right) and my best friend on our ranch in Southern Colorado, where we spent our summers.

This is us playing "musical chairs" from horseback...a game that I think we cribbed from a 4-H competition we saw in a nearby town. 

Ah, those summers of childhood. On horseback, in the fields, in the sun, on the mountain, lying in the grass at night to watch the satellites make their quirky way among the interminable stars of the Western sky.

Almost there!

Thanks everyone for your patience, my new limited-edition silkscreen design shop, 

Club Oceanus by The Voyagers, 

is nearly finished and will be online at Etsy soon!!!!

Stay tuned for updates in the next few days!

Today, a lovely video from Luxe TV including my designs for Mini & Maximus' fabulous summer collection, 

Rock, Paper, Scissors!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW!

 After the Met, Q and daddy took a cab back down to Rivington for a much-needed nap. 

But I had other business to take care of.

Very important business, involving oodles and oodles of macarons.

 So, in the fine weather, my mum and I strolled down Madison in search of NY's version of Ladurée.

 It was worth the wait, and we spent the rest of the afternoon ambling around the periphera of the Park, trying out all our different flavors of heavenly macaron.

 When I finally returned to Rivington, this is what I found, a fast asleep Q after her long day of museum-going and park-playing.

 As tired as she gets on the high of the big city, it took her a while to wake up, even at the mention of sweets.

 But once she saw the box, you can believe she sat bolt upright in bed!

 Her favorites? Predictably, the pink ones.

I did not see that box of macarons again once she had it in her hot little paws! 

Ah well. Next time.

 A few images from Press Check day at the screenprinters. 

The weeks before Press Check day are always a bit trying. 

I have spent many of the winter months gathering ideas in my Moleskine, then weeding through through the ideas, selecting my favorites, rethinking my selection, re-selecting. 

In the weeks before placing my order for shirts, I sit down in the studio and work out my fonts. I have an inspiration board of fonts lined up, and I play with them day after day. 

When I finally have a selection of hand-drawn fonts that I like, I scan several of my images and inspect them at actual size. 

When I'm happy with my selections, I submit the order. 

Then a few weeks pass, during which I exist under a false sense of confidence. 

But then the day comes. 

I receive an email from the screen printer saying that it's time to book a date for the press check. 

And that's when I really panic. 

Generally, after the press check email, I overthink my selections to a ridiculous extent. In a fury of last-minute panic, I remake images, re-write fonts, and generally work myself up into a state. 

Finally, it's too late, and I am forced to make a final decision and book a solid date for the Press Check. 

When the morning of the Press Check arrives, I have to settle my mind, admit that I've done my best, and let go of all my doubts. 

That's when things get really fun.

 In the final reckoning, I love Press Check day. 

All doubts have been put aside, and I am finally free to see the fruits of my labour come to life. 

This is my screen printer, Rollie. He is a true artist, and I'm lucky to have him. He has tattoos of naked ladies all over his forearms, and he is a true professional. Rollie knows his stuff.

 I love my screen printers. 

As the wife of a longtime chef, I have seen the workings of many a kitchen. Most kitchens are pirate ships. My screen printer's shop is even more of a pirate ship than just about any kitchen I've known, and equally as professional.

 Above, bottom left, is one of the shop dogs. She has the same name as me. She really loves to fetch. She also loves me, or so she tells me. Who knows, maybe that's what she says to all the girls.

When I come home from Press Check, it is always a good day. I always drive home from Press Check with a smile on my face. I know that I have done well, and that my work has been executed with style and class.

My screen printers are not only an excellent pirate ship, but also an environmentally-friendly operation. They work clean. They use environmentally-friendly, water-based inks, and their operation is mindful of the environment at every stage. 

I am fortunate. 

Summer tees will be in my shop in May!

My daughter has beautiful feet. 

Like mine, they are very long. 

Like a puppy with big paws, I expect that this one will grow very tall. 

I hope that these feet will take her on many an adventurous path and to many a magical place throughout this gorgeous world.

 In the early days of "mud season" in the Vail Valley, you can still slog your way through the sticky clay mud at the bottom of a trail and make your way onto the slushy snowpack. 

There is something magical about hiking in the deep snow with bare shoulders.

 It's one of my favorite times of year...but here in Colorado there are a lot of times of year to love ;)

 Thowing sticks with Mathilda.

 Pausing to contemplate in a favorite spot.

Q ensconced in her favorite spot, lounging in the sun motes on the couch in the condo!

 Q on a recent "taco night" (this is Denver, after all) running the balance beam outside the local laundromat in the unicorn tee that I designed for Mini & Maximus.

"Have you ever crossed the Sahara on a camel?"

"Frequently. When I was a boy we used to do it all the time."

- Noel Coward, Private Lives

 More of the Met, because it's my happy place.

 

I love this picture of my friend Carol Silverman, who is set decorator for HBO's wonderful Boardwalk Empire, sharing photos with my mum on the iPad. 

It's nice to have family and friends together in a place as magical as this. 

 

 

Q happily occupied with her sketching notebook while the rest of us chatted. 

 Q and her beloved LaoLao.

 

 

Apparently my mum and I have similar scarf-wearing styles. Funny, that!

After the museum we met up with our friend Anne and her family at a nearby playground to let the kids run it out in the spring sun.