I first met Tsia as a customer; she sent me a copy of her book, Side by Side: 20 Collaborative Projects for Crafting with Your Kids. The book was just what I needed. My daughter Carmella and I enjoyed several projects together.
We later met up, face to face, in NYC over lunch. Instantly I felt I had know her forever, a kindred spirit. Living on opposite coasts, we meet up when we can. Once she and her family, so awesomely, picked Steve (my notorious boyfriend) and myself up from the Honolulu airport, on our way to New Zealand and spent the day together, going to the beach and eating tacos.
“We tell ourselves stories in order to live” …what is the story you are currently telling about yourself?
I've been trying to let go of a lot of the stories I tell myself especially about myself. Honestly a good story is just a good story and not truth. So that's the current story.
If you could have your mother or father cook you any meal what would it be?
My mother liked to eat out and it would really give me a lot of joy to have dinner with her and my dad at the Spring Street Bar in 1976. I would order the chicken crepes and a Shirley Temple.
What’s the best advice you have been given?
To not be responsible for other people's karma.
What’s something about your job as a mother and designer that most people would be surprised to know?
I am winging it.
What’s something you’re proud of?
My daughter thinks I'm a good mother.
If you had to leave the states where would you live?
New Zealand is amazing. I loved Christchurch. Let's all live there.
Do you see your style changing when you get older and what about when you’re 80, how do you imagine your style?
My style has always been consistent (big sunglasses, big prints, big sweaters, big smile because I have big teeth). At 80 I hope to still be alive, still have some of my teeth, be more comfortable with myself, less vain, more playful. Pretty much means I will be dressing like a circus clown at that point.
Last movie - I mostly watch TV
Last book - I mostly read magazines
Last thing you ate - kale with this parsley tahini dressing that I make that is out of this world
Last airplane ride - Sacramento (why, god, why?)
Last hard choice - to say no for the sake of my own sanity
Last gift you received - a beautiful pinch pot my daughter made
Last purchase - groceries. always buying food. but if you want something more glamorous i finally after 3 years purchased a ring from Mociun I love
Last argument - concerning bedtime, and you can come over and enjoy it any night of the week.
Last kiss - everyday
Last dream - I woke up with an idea for a performance piece where I walked around the 1660s circumference of Manhattan to return it to its original pre landfill shape
Last comfort - I admit it I ate a cookie
Last thing you’re coveting at Beklina - those amazing alpaca shag pillows
