The Princess Project is a nonprofit that provides free prom dresses and accessories for high school girls who couldn’t otherwise afford them.  Their 2009 dress and accessory drive is from February 8th-14th.  Please consider donating jewelry, purses, wraps, and new or nearly new gowns in EXCELLENT condition in all fabrics, sizes, and colors — see the donation guidelines.

The Princess Project is currently operating in the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego — you can find donation drop off locations here.

You can now find Aiko Designs jewelry at Marques, a lovely little shop on Clement Street in the Inner Richmond district of San Francisco.  You’ll find plenty to love at the store with it’s antiques, home decor, jewelry and gift items.  The owner, Ubi DaCosta whips up a gorgeous display and changes it up every few months.

More info on Marques from their site:

Marques offers a wide variety of unique gifts and home furnishings. A balanced mix of new, vintage and antiques items make the store atmosphere resemble a boutique on a small street in the old world. All products are sourced based on uniqueness, quality and elegance. The store carries favorite brands from France such as Roger & Gallet, Bronnley from England and Boticario from Brazil. Art work fill  walls with delicate botanical prints, mirrors and lithographs. Upholstered toille chairs and slipcovers add resemblance to the eternal elegance of european country homes. the china and silver collections consist of Transfer ware and hand painted porcelain from Great Britain, France, Germany and other European countries. The use of color on this store is dramatically acute with collections of gifts combined as: Blue-white, black-white, pink-white, lavender-green and my favorite the orange and deep purple. There are thousands of great gifts ideas. Oh, there is jewelry all over the place, old and new sitting on plates and tea pots, just a true treasure hunt. The store was opened on March 2006 and the inventory is refreshed weekly with new arrivals.

The Asian/American/Modern Art: Shifting Currents, 1900–1970 exhibition closed today at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.  This exhibition presented the work of artists of Asian ancestry who lived and worked in the United States and many of whom had their works exhibited at the de Young in the past. One of the goals of the exhibition was to create awareness of this under-represented group in American art history. Two of my favorite artists (Chiura Obata and Ruth Asawa) were included in the exhibition.

The exhibition store was curated and had items created by and about artists of Asian descent.  Aiko Designs jewelry was selected to be sold at the special exhibition store — it was a wonderful experience to be a part of something so amazing.  You can still find my jewelry at the de Young, and if you can’t make it there in person, check out their online store.