The Adventure School

July 14th, 2011 found the Corson Building immersed in the disguise of a vibrant and bustling Moroccan market for this year’s annual Bastille Day. Complete with the photo booth by Sol Hashemi, goat staring, chicken races, hookah bar, henna tattoos, magic, oysters provided by the Walrus and the Carpenter and crêpes by Wiley Bush and the Joe Bar, among the famous fare of the Corson Building; all to the sweet jams of Eldrige Gravy and the Court Supreme, Diminished Men, Bradley Dunn and music for the kids by Caspar Babypants, ending the night with an impromptu Célébration de la france parade and sparklers at midnight.

Jennifer Sung is an inspiration. She decided 4 years ago to leave her chemistry job at Johnson & Johnson in San Francisco. She traveled for a year throughout Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Spain and China, then moved to Seattle, and started looking for jobs in the culinary world. There were some low moments when Jennifer almost got pulled back into chemistry but she knew what she wanted and held out. Sung first joined the food industry as an ice cream maker for Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream. She then moved to Vashon Island and sous cheffed at Sea Breeze Farm’s La Boucherie where she honed her sharp cutting skills. Now Jennifer is a cheese maker at Kurtwood Farms and tomorrow she is teaching How To Cut A Chicken in The Adventure School Lecture Series. Sign up for the lecture and ask this woman more questions about food, adventure and how to live life.

4. Your favorite party supply?
Tequila

5. Your favorite book of the moment?
Growing a Farmer by Kurt Timmermeister, duh!

6. Describe your dream party place.
A beach, clear blue water, a reef, a fire pit to grill fish, and palm trees

7. What is the evil version of you like?
A fat girl who doesn’t share her food

8. What gives you confidence?
Accomplishing tasks well

9. Name four essential elements of a good party.
Fun people, a boat, a bullhorn, and cut-off shorts

11. Favorite adventure supply?
A sharp knife

12. Describe the best party you ever attended.
The best parties are the ones that appear out of nowhere. Flashdancing was one of them.

Brooke & Jesse are basically living my dream life. They run a small farm in a neighborhood in north Seattle, specializing in various strains of mushrooms (currently focusing on varieties of the oyster, AKA Ostreatus!). They’re lecturing at The Adventure School tomorrow, July 19th, at 6pm. Come learn how to grow your own mushrooms, and perhaps go home with a DIY kit. You can find them at the Wallingford Farmer’s Market on Wednesdays and the Madrona Farmer’s Market on Fridays. Read about their adventurous inclinations below!

2. Food & drink you don’t want to live without?
Brooke: Ravioli with butter and sage or beans and rice
Jesse: Pho
Both: Coffee, coffee and more coffee!

Brooke: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I can’t believe I never read it before! It was a landmark in changing the way our nation dealt with labor rights and our food supply, and a darn good reason to avoid canned meat at all cost!

6. Describe your dream party place.
A fiesta in a tiny town in coastal Mexico. We happened upon this very scene a few months ago and it was amazing.

7. What is the evil version of you like?
Tired because we’re too busy trying to avoid #3.

8. What gives you confidence?
Brooke: When I’m nervous I hum unconsciously. I think this forces me to breathe.

9. Name four essential elements of a good party.
Good music, good food, smiling faces and feats of strength

10. What do you appreciate most about a party host?
The ability to make you feel effortlessly welcome, even if you don’t know anyone there.

14. Do you have a style icon?
Ummmm… Goodwill! (Can a store be a syle icon?)

16. If you could teach a class about anything in the world ever, what would you teach?
Mushrooms, for sure.

18. What is your spirit plant?
A mushroom, of course! (Although technically it’s not a plant…)

I hope you got your tickets adventurers, because this time we’re going further than ever.

The Adventure School and The Corson Building are teaming up for an experience of titanic measure: Bastille Day Fete 2011. Here is a video of last year’s fab-o action. (http://vimeo.com/13386110)

It’s not too late to get your ticket, gang. If only for the experience of running from a gang of manic sheep or playing petanque against the backdrop of Casablanca.

If that does not convince you, there will be a goat staring contest. If the goat wins, it gets an alfalfa flavoured lollipop. If you win, you get one.

**In case you haven’t yet heard, tomorrow, Tuesday July 12th, will bring The Adventure School’s very first lecture in our brand new storefront! Please join us from 6:30pm to 7:30pm for INTRO TO URBAN BIRDING, brought to us by sweeties Houston Flores & Austin Cockman. We are located at 610 2nd Avenue in Pioneer Square! Read below for more info on tomorrow’s presentation, as well as Adventurer Profiles for the lecturer’s!**

Feeling out of touch with Mother Nature? Want to look “cool” in the eyes of your friends and coworkers? Let local birders, Austin Cockman and Houston Flores, jumpstart your adventure with an Introduction to Urban Birding. Within the confines of our busy city, there lives a thriving community of birds. Every bush and every tree provides food and shelter to a surprisingly diverse amount of species. Join us on July, 12 at 6:30 and learn to identify our local avifauna while reconnecting with nature in your own backyard!

2. Food & drink you don’t want to live without?
Food: Peanut Butter
Drink: Peanut Butter

3. The scariest thing you can think of?
Falling, or watching somebody fall…L

5. Your favorite book of the moment?
Moby Dick (Reading it for the first time. It’s awesome!)

6. Describe your dream party place.
I’m mostly looking for an outdoor area with a big field, expansive views and warm weather.

7. What is the evil version of you like?
Houstini. He’s this horrible guy who mindlessly throws recyclables away.

9. Name four essential elements of a good party.
Friendly strangers, friendly friends, endless food and a great DJ.

11. Favorite adventure supply?
While adventuring, it is really important to not forget to eat good food and drink plenty of water. It will help you keep your wits.

13. Hotel room or campsite?
Going to bed at dusk next to a busy river, waking up to the dawn chorus…Ahh!

16. If you could teach a class about anything in the world ever, what would you teach?
BIRDS!

Spanish, rock climbing, gardening, insect and plant identification, long distance running, block printing, sewing.

I was 9 years old. My family road tripped out to McCarthy, Alaska, an old mining town perched up in the mountains in the middle of NOWHERE that you could only reach by riding inside a hanging cage that was hand pulled over a massive glacier fed river. During a late night blue grass music festival I joined ranks with an eclectic group of hippy kids to play the world’s best game of hide-and-go-seek tag, ever.

The creatives behind multidisciplinary design studio, Free Time Industries, need your help in taking their projects to the New York International Gift Fair in August. They have exciting, thoughtful new products up their sleeves that we cannot wait to see / touch / wear / adventure with / etc. You’ve heard us speak about these ladies (Amber, Kate, Ariana & Naomi) from time to time here on The Adventure School blog, and frankly, we can’t get enough! You can find their Adventurer Profile here, where you can learn about their mottos, their spirit animals, and how to throw a great party. Free Time is asking for small donations to aid in sending Amber back East to unveil 3 new creations… They’ll send you something from their studio in return!

I first met Jamie Iacoli at photographer Charlie Schuck‘s O B J E C T party in December which he held in his loft on Capitol Hill. Around that time I’d seen a couple of blog posts about Iacoli & McAllister‘s design aesthetic, speaking to their thoughtfully crafted made-in-the-USA pieces. One of the spaces curated at Schuck’s O B J E C T party was done by Jamie. She had used necklaces that she and her partner, Brian McAllister, designed to create an intricate wall hanging as part of the show. Amazing. I wish I had a photo! Ultimately, Jamie is an Adventurer and that’s why we love her. She’s highly creative, hilarious, smart, thoughtful, and has the best legs I’ve ever seen. True.

1. What skill do you want to learn?
I just bought a loom from Justine Ashbee, she’s going to teach me to weave. (At least she’d better.)

2. Food & drink you don’t want to live without?
I can’t live with out raw kale salads, toasted almonds, hearty bread, and kombucha.

3. The scariest thing you can think of?
Oh I don’t like to think about scary things. Can’t even try, I have enough anxiety as it is…

4. Your favorite party supply?
It used to be booze, but that is changing – I’m growing up. I’d have to say amazing conversations, followed quickly by yummy food.

5. Your favorite book of the moment?
I’m actually trying to start a book club, I want to read some South American magical realists (in the vein of Gabriel Garcia Marquez) as well as Jean Cocteau.

6. Describe your dream party place.
Lobster BBQ on the beach with bonfires, with adorable cabins and hot tubs nearby.

7. What is the evil version of you like?
Running low on sugar (food) and no caffeine, that’s the evil version of me. Watch OUT.

9. Name four essential elements of a good party.
Food, booze, friends, and magic.

10. What do you appreciate most about a party host?
Taking my coat and planning enough to have someone else make drinks so they can mingle.

12. Describe the best party you ever attended.
My last birthday was pretty fun. I had 30+ of my closest friends over to my tiny apartment. I infused tequila with jalapeños, there was a youtube DJ playing really bad (but awesome) old school hip hop, dancing ensued. Everyone was blind wasted by midnight. After saying goodnight to everyone I walked, on my lips, to my sofa and proceeded to puke in my shoe.

13. Hotel room or campsite?
HOTEL ROOM. Any day. I mean I like nature and all, it’s just at the end of the day I’m just looking for some modern conveniences.

14. Do you have a style icon?
Lauren Hutton, Francoise Hardy, Jane Birkin, Sofia Loren (!!!), Ann Bancroft (circa The Graduate) just off the top of my head.

15. Where is your next adventure destination?
We have a few in the cards, we’re going to rent a house somewhere on the coast. Small gathering of 8-12 friends, food, hot tubs, two hand touch tag etc. We’re also going to fly to AZ in late summer (when we aren’t going to die of heat strokes) rent a car and drive around AZ and NM for two weeks. It’s going to be our spiritual journey and it’s going to be magical.

16. If you could teach a class about anything in the world ever, what would you teach?
Quantum Physics for sure. If I was going to be able to teach that class it would mean that I understood it, which would be AMAZE-balls.

17. What is your motto?
When I was younger and more cynical it was “That and a dollar will get me a hot dog…”

Rachel Pally has introduced a uniquely vibrant and casual elegance to Los Angeles Fashion. After studying dance at UC Berkley, Rachel started her line in 2002 and has since been hailed as Los Angeles’ “Jersey Girl”. Rachel’s love of dance cultivated her desire to convey the fluidity or movement and the beauty of the human form in each garment produced. She has overseen the company’s design direction and led it’s extraordinary expansion since the beginning. From the classic cropped gaucho pant to the coveted caftan dress, Rachel Pally has prevailed in the Jersey arena with her innovative designs and the ability to fuse simplicity with glamour.

1. What skill do you want to learn?

Tango, hand drums, beekeeping

2. Food and drink you don’t want to live without?

Chocolate chip cookies, blueberries in June, figs, Costa Rican Coffee, White Nectarines, Anything that grows in my garden.

3. The scariest thing you can think of?

The oil spill.

4. Your favorite party supply?

Tiki torches, and paper plates for easy cleanup.

5. Your favorite book of the moment?

The Dragon Tattoo Series and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.

6. Describe your dream party place.

My backyard, sitting around the fire pit, roasting marshmallows and drinking whiskey.

7. What is the evil version of you like?

I play her every day at work. She’s a ball-busting, no-nonsense, straight-shooter. I try to be nicer when I come home.

8. What gives you confidence?

A tan. A pair of sexy shoes. A good day at work. A kiss from my man before I get out of bed to “put my face on”. When I think I can’t do something but I do it anyway. When I look at my staff and I know I’m good at what I do.

9. Name four essential elements of a good party.

Friends. Friends. Friends. Booze.

10. What do you appreciate most about a party host?

That they have to do the post-party cleanup. That’s a big task. And just the drive to send out an invite to gather folks together. That’s awesome.

11. Favorite adventure supply?

My North Face fanny pack and a headlamp, for those kinds of adventures. A huge purse that I can carry everything in, and a good shoe and a box of Band-aids for a New York kind of adventure.

12. Describe the best party you ever attended.

It was at a huge house in Beverly Hills– I was invited by some friends. There was a trampoline & a photo booth and a hat-making- station and a band… And a service called “Home, James” to help you home if you drank too much. A cute boy would put his scooter in your trunk (Ooh… that doesn’t sound right) and drive your home in your own car, and then ride off into the night on his scooter. It was good. And I made a wacky hat with plumes and glitter.

13. Hotel room or campsite?

Both! My family has a rustic cabin in the Sierra that kind of covers both categories– and it’s one of my favorite places on earth.

14. Do you have a style icon?

My grandma, Dory Pally. She has the most impeccable style– very Bohemian. She always wears a fresh flower in her hair, simply jewelry and flowy linen clothes. And a jean jacket. She’s gorgeous.

15. Where is your next adventure destination?

The cabin! My family, my man, our dog…

16. If you could teach a class about anything in the world ever, what would you teach?

African Dance– Gardening– Cooking– Can that all be one class?

17. Your motto?

Stop thinking, start doing.

18. What is your spirit animal?

Crazy Monkey? Loyal Pup? Stubborn Bull? Sweet Lamb? Gorgeous Gazelle?

Mike broke the news at 4:00 AM when he woke up to Azerbaijanis parading through the streets of Baku waving flags and honking horns.

Congratulations to Italy and Sweden in second and third place. Get ready for Eurovision hosted by Azerbaijan in 2012!

I first met Tina Frey when she began selling a selection of her jewelry in a boutique in San Francisco called Nida. One is instantly drawn to her creations by their candied hues and polished surfaces, and I’d find myself hovering over each piece in the case, fantasizing about what it would be like to slip the emerald bangles over my wrist or feel the weight of the hand sculpted, beaded necklaces around my collar. You can’t help but to touch the resin baubles, understanding their shape, running your fingers over their surfaces. Tina takes delicate care in hand-forming and hand-polishing each piece, and leaves enough time for herself to party it up in Swedish castles and roam Southeast Asia. Read on for more colorful tidbits about her, and take a peek at her Macy Necklace in The Adventure Store!

I’d like to think I don’t have an evil side…I don’t really want to know!

It used to be campsite…but I’ve outgrown that and prefer a nice hotel room now.

16) If you could teach a class about anything in the world ever, what would you teach?

I would teach them to be confident in themselves and that they can achieve whatthey want if they believe it.

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