24

Passover in Japan!

On April 24th, 2008 we threw seder-avoiding fifth day of Passover party complete with the hostess in a Kimono airmailed from Tokyo. As this party was Kosher for Passover, Orthodox style we made fresh grapefruit, orange and strawberry juice by hand. Sixty lanterns and plenty of lucky bamboos made the intimate crowd of revelers jubilant as they munched on delicious Kosher non-dairy mango sorbets in real mango peel cups at the pink, white and green themed bash.

15

A Room Full of Drama and Colour

What’s this little miracle? Oh, well, that’s just Martha Stewart’s media empire prop closet. . .WAIT!?!?!? WHAT? How amazing is this? This is what The Adventure School’s office is turning into, slowly. I think that before 2008 is out, we will have to hire our own Prop Librarian. WOO HOO! Until then, please take comfort in these amazing images and many more from Martha’s blog.

14

Passover is right around the corner!

Erev Pesach is Saturday April 19, 2008 aka 14 Nissan 5768, on this day, Passover begins at sundown. What are you going to do? We have some ideas for you. It’s time for the four questions and as always its time for a creative party theme. Here are a few we suggested to one of our Passover clients . . . The overt and time-honored Passover theme, like “Parting of the Red Sea”. Obviously, with this one, you will re-create the Red Sea in your living room complete with a floor akin to the bottom of the ocean and lots of sand castles made out of brown sugar as table centerpieces. Another great launchpad for a more traditional Passover theme might be a Middle Eastern “Land of Milk and Honey” scheme that will invite your guests to lounge on the floor by candlelight? Hookahs and Afikomen unite!

For the contemporary Passover party, might we recommend KBCS 91.3 Disc Jockey, the ultra-funky turntablist DJ Uncle Megabhuti playing funk jams about freedom with a frisky, urban, funkadelic feel?

If you are hosting a seder on the first night, maybe you can bring a child who will be at the party down to a pottery painting studio and have them paint a personalized seder plate, you better hurry!

13

Ahoy Ballymaloe!

Today, was an awesome day for The Adventure School team as we sent off one our nearest and dearest buds, up-and-coming Seattle foodie and table top expert, Emma Schwartzmann, off on an Irish adventure to the
Ballymaloe Cookery School. We wish her the best and hope to be amongst the first mouths she feeds upon her return.

12

Table Topsssssss!

Recently we have come up with some devastatingly good table tops ideas! Please feel free to use them because they totally rule. For starters, we are way in to ditching the table top linen and just covering the table with something else.

Here are some other things that are not linens to consider:

1. plywood
2. a mandala made from different colored beans
3. branches from your neighbors magically soft bushes

And what about flowers? Flowers are expensive and often times bad for the earth. SO, sometimes, it is better to go without. What about the following to replace flowers on your table:

1. eggs
2. geodes
3. antlers
4. sharp sticks

And, what about silverware? To us, flatware is like a religion. It can really save you! So, it’s best not to skimp here. One of our favorite sets for everyday use is Equestrian by Ralph Lauren.

You can almost always trust Kate Spade home to do right by flatware, some of our favorite designs of hers are Classic Quilted and Whitney Avenue.

11

Life Lessons and Photo Shoots

Today, we did a photo shoot for a bridal magazine. It was shot by a fun photographer named Jim Henkens who was wearing a denim shirt. I think this is an overlooked classic American fashion staple! Bring it back, America! Anyways, as I said it was a great shoot, I will keep it mostly a secret so it will be more fun when you see it but I will fill you in on some important tips learned throughout the morning.

TIPS:
1. Crystals are practically invisible, therefore, they are a great thing to have on hand to prop things up with
2. If you don’t have some sort of dreamy, wizardy prop to do the job, go outside and borrow one from Mother Nature, the greatest prop-stylist and wizard of all!
3. If you stay up all night preparing for something, you are probably a perfectionist and will be late arriving to where you need to go anyway because you will have to stop somewhere for that one must-have indispensable thing (like a blue sharpie). Just let go of worrying about being five minutes late, and give thanks to the world for being so FUN!
4. Why shouldn’t a bride sit on a blanket at her wedding?

10

Candles

The Adventure School mantra on candles is this: Candles should create light. So, if you use them, use them en masse and make sure they are really doing their thing. We don’t want to see any votives, tea lights or candles shaped like bumblebees! NO! Get yourself some sweet candlesticks and get ‘er done. The taller the taper – the better. But . . . those big wide candles with a huge diameter . . BOO! NO! Multi-wick equals yuck! The cutest candles in town are Ana striped candles, found locally at all Watson Kennedy shops.
And please no wacky candle holders that make a swirly shape and are bolted into the wall. CANDLESTICKS!!! CANDELABRA! Use a mason jar, but just keep the lines of your flame holder clean and shapely, not swirly and curly.

9

People Love us on, Yelp!

Yelp! Friends, let’s take a walk down quoting-Yelp lane.

From the review of Yelp reviewer, kfaye, “If I were a millionaire, I’d hire The Adventure School to plan my day-to-day life. Forget parties, I’d want them to plan my trip to work, my mid-morning snack, my trip to the dentist, my grocery shopping experience, and my pre-bedtime reading session. They always take it to the max, no matter what the occasion.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!”

As Levar Burton would say, “don’t take my word word for it”. Head to Yelp!

8

The Adventure School is Popular in Japan!

West Coast, Worldwide!

The World Wide Web is a hilarious place. It is funny when you find yourself out there in the blogosphere. The Adventure School was written about recently on this blog, Airgraph, based in Japan. Since young Iwata is out of the office at the moment, there is no one to translate for me. Therefore, as always, I look to the GOOG. Airgraph states (in Japanese) that their main goal is to: pursue the possibility of keeping the creative alive on the world wide web through the birth of new goods, and expectations. (or something like that).

This:

アドベンチャースクールだから体験学習かなにかと思ったら、アメリカのイベントプランニング会社のサイトでした。ネーミングにまず遊び心ですね。そして、時代を感じさせるマップの島々にマウスオーバーしたときのアニメーションが秀逸なんですよ、各島すべて見ることをオススメします

Says (something similar to) this:

Adventure learning experience from school or something and it’s here in the United States was the site of an event planning company. Naming first sense of fun. And the age of islands to feel Map mouseover animation is brilliant when you think, look at all recommend each island. (According to Google Translate!)

7

Tigers!

The cover of this month’s Ranger Rick is a photograph by the OFFICIAL event photographer of The Adventure School, Philip Kramer. YEAH! Philip shot this amazing picture of a Tiger from a mere 20 feet away! Adventure-O-Rama! Our hats off to our adventuring pal and future Explorer’s club Co-Flag Expedition team member! And big UPs for scoring the cover of one of our fav childhood publications, Ranger Rick! Also, fyi, Ranger Rick is published by the National Wildlife Federation – AWESOME!