Singing John Prines' Angel from Montgomery

Singing Angel from Montgomery - John Prine

Breakfast at Pine State Biscuits.

We talk about solar energy, hip hop, and hair pie in the same breath.
We know we listen to better hip hop than you.

And we think Portland is definatly better than Seattle except for the fact that its not Seattle. 

We don't drink at starbucks and we're impressed with stumptowns bold richness and a distinctive lack of bitterness.
We like the rain we hate the rain.
We dress for the weather and compliment each others laptop bags.
We talk about Juxtapose magazine and Banksy and try to remeber Paul Newman movies.
We laugh and we laugh and we bring jokes full circle. We do not feel alone. 

Seattle ----> Portland

First thing to know, when you unlock the door the alarm goes off, so you have to hit the lock button on the key fob, but the lock button doesn't actually unlock the door. AND its a stick. Lucky I know how to drive one.
10 am on a bright sunny Sunday morning, Mnt Ranier is busting out of the clouds in its purple mountains majesty and we are on our way.  I have an obcenely low number bouncing around my bank account and I'm hoping it all works out because.. fuck it! I'm on a roadtrip, headed toward the sun. Life is good.

Please excuse bad grammer or punctuation. I'm trying a new android app and typing om a small screen.

The birth of La Gabacha

 

I have long dreamt of owning my own restaurant. Nothing fancy, little more than a taco shop but different, hipper, more my style. A little tradition steeped in contemporary Mexican culture.  A little more vale desmadre (worth chaos or devil may care), surely a heap of VIVA la RAZA.  I stay up nights documenting in my head, specials, menus, drinks, music, artwork.  

But... the one element of this desire that leaves me fetal in the corner mumbling numbers like rainman is money. The kind with lots of zeros, the kind the likes of myself has no link to.  I log my fifty hours a week, I make my rent, and I pay as much of my bills on time as I can. But I watch my credit wheeze and cough begging resuscitation and stare at my savings with great determination in hopes that I can will the numbers upward.  

Investors, financiers, returns, interests, shares... the thought makes me loopy.  How do I get it? How do a pay it back? And how does anyone make money? 

In honor of 2011: the year I find my joy, I am dedicating my spare minutes to finding things out.  Why let a little ignorance get in the way? No one else does! 

So... I leap, in hopes that the net will appear!!!

First course of action: The business plan.  From what I gather, very important.  Easy enough, I have the idea, I know how to budget food and labor and I am passionate about my ideas. So, off to the internet I go. 

Lessons learned: sites that say they have free templates often do not.  There are a lot of people out there that want to sell you their 'turn key' plan for business.  Come to find out I already have the information and data I need, I just have to get it out of my head and onto the screen.

1st Question: Business name?  Easy,  La Gabacha = it means 'white girl' 

appropriate I would say as I am clearly not Mexican, and it sort of rolls off the toungue and sounds like biting into a hard shell taco, or a forbidden dance. Really, it's what I was called while traveling through Mexico and working at Frontera. I liked it, it stuck.

2nd Question: Your company logo? Now here others might think; get the data done, work on the hard numbers first, the artwork will come later. NOPE! not me, the need for a logo spurred a three hour creative endeavour that after much consideration has become what i think is a great beginning to a memorable and approchable logo.

The Birth of La Gabacha:

La Gabacha mas Chida: the coolest white girl

 She's pretty cool right? I am not alone in my love for Mexican pop and folk art, Dia de los Muertos, sugar skulls, and the artwork of Jose Gudalupe Posada .  I am also a fan of Craftychica.com. Kathy Murillo and her husband Patrick make amazing chicano pop art, hopefully it will adorn the walls of 'La Gabacha'. 

My name, Cameo, has bequethed me a knack for collecting cameos, so I came up with the idea that it would be a posada style skull in the style of the traditional cameo relief.  The flowers are marigold used in all sorts of festivities and the knife and fork? well that should be obvious.  It will need some color later on but for now I think she'll do.  

 

 

 

On to question # 3

Let me know what you think and I will keep you posted on further adventures in business plan writing. 

New Etsy Site.

I've always been the artsy type. Never in any one discipline long enough to excel at it, unless you count cooking (and I do).  One week I am a knitter and I'm going to knit cute little things that I'll sell at Sunday markets and become independantly wealthy off my efforts.  Oh but wait... crochet! I love crochet! it's faster!  I can crochet little mushrooms and hats and scarves and sell them at Sunday markets and become independantly wealthy off my efforts.  But... if I buy a sewing machine I can make my own clothes and sell arm-warmers and scarves from second hand stores..  but ...wait if I ... or if I ... but I like... ohh, but this is really cool!  And alas I end up with 100's of half started projects, boxes of odds and ends and pens, and paints and pieces of broken things I will eventually make into other things and I will sell them at Sunday markets and become independantly wealthy off my efforts. 

Finish it or toss it! And now there are enough journals made from vintage books and knitted floweres with buttons and sweet little findings... arm warmers are all the rage and a thousand indie girls are making them better than me...

But, what I always come back to is a glue stick and a paper, images that i didn't have to draw, pieced, altered and embellished.

That said I have combined my love of food and my love of glue and while the two would never pass your lips together (unless you like to dip your fries in Elmers...) I've created Cooking on Paper -

I'll have cards and little arty pices of collage and assemblage for purchase and while I am no longer looking to become independanly wealthy off my efforts it does make me happy and if I can keep myself in glue sticks I'll feel good about the effert spent. 

So please check it out and buy a set of cards for a friend.  If you live locally contact me and I can save you the shipping.  

Cooking as Art

Lady Allister's fondness for fishes

Cooking as Art

La Santa Ensalada

Cooking as Art

for the ladies... Fruit