Planning A Wedding In Nature? Get Hitched in Mendocino

Mendocino County is one of the most splendid destinations in the county for its miles and miles of rugged coastline, charming inns and glamping spots, locally driven restaurants, and eternal views. Whether your style is high-toned or hippie, Mendocino has an outdoor wedding spot that will tickle the fancy of you and your betrothed. And because it is only a few hours drive from the San Francisco Bay Area, you can easily get guests up to Mendo from SFO. It feels remote, but it's not too remote, logistically speaking — a perfect combination for wedding-planning.

One cool choice is situated just a half-mile from Mendocino National Forest. The Oak Granary is a land-based environmental education organization in the Potter Valley, a 305-acre organic farm with a steel barn for events that can accommodate up to 150 people. Three houses on-site can comfortably speel up to 20, and there are campground facilities for up to 50.

Over by the coast, Spring Ranch Agricultural Preserve is a 1,000-acre dairy and cattle ranch amidst a fragrant eucalyptus forest — the largest on the entire California coast. The working organic farm morphs into a rustic-chic event venue with its classic 1840s salvaged wedding barn from Ontario, Canada. On the property is a 5,500 square-foot, 19th century Victorian home, as well as a honeymoon loft, which invokes the feeling of being in a tree house.

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Meet Caroline Constas, A Female Founder In Fashion

It's the days leading up to Montréal Grand Prix and designer Caroline Constas is being fêted the by the luxury Canadian department store, Holt Renfrew, at their annual Grand Prix event.

She enters the party being held at the top floor of the Ritz Carlton, her statuesque framed draped in a long, white, strapless goddess-gown of her own design. Earlier in the day, she posted a photo of herself with her collection's display at the store with a caption that read, "Dreams to come true.”

For Constas, this year's Grand Prix event is not only a dream come true, but it's also a homecoming of sorts. Being honored by the department store coincides with the Montréal native's 5th of year in business at the helm of her namesake label.

"I've been dreaming of working with them [Holt Renfrew] for years and years because growing up in Montréal, that was the place you aspired to shop,” she says.

As a young fashion brand, to stay in business in a cutthroat industry after 5 years is, indeed, recognition-worthy. Constas, however, has done more than just stay in business—her brand is thriving, and the Holt Renfrew event is an acknowledgment of her success.

Her collection's whimsical-yet-elegant vibe is directly inspired by Constas' upbringing and globetrotting lifestyle, which is marked by life in New York, summers in Greece and inspiration trips to foreign countries.

"It started when I was 8 years old, and I was traveling to Greece every summer to visit family,” she says. She is the daughter of a Greek-Lebanese father and an American mother who, through these visits, exposed her to the world from a very young age.

During her childhood travels, she found herself sketching the clothes she wanted to wear on her holidays, and over time she became aware of the keen eye she possessed for spotting trends that crossed borders.

"I was always very focused and aware of fashion and how fashion differed, and how it was similar across different cultures. I was able to see what was overlapping between different countries,” she says.

A key factor to her success is that Constas herself is the ultimate muse for her brand—she knows her customer because she is her customer. "I start each season with the question: What do I want to wear that isn't in the market?” she says, admitting she is designing for herself first and foremost, knowing that women like herself will gravitate to what she's offering.

In addition, Constas is regularly featured on her company's social media in her designs and also posts pictures and musings from her personal travels. Images of her wearing her label bring the clothes to life in a way only she can, and the content, as a result, is a physical embodiment of the Caroline Constas brand story. She is undoubtedly one of her company's biggest assets.

In the beginning days of her label, it was this idea of creating clothes for her own personal lifestyle led to the creation of the Lou top, the design that put her name on the map.

Constas had always been searching for cotton shirting in feminine shapes and came up with an off the shoulder silhouette in a blue striped fabric traditionally used for dress shirts. An editor came in to view the collection, snapped a pic of the shirt and posted it to social media, which then led to Oprah's stylist pulling the shirt for a shoot. The next thing she knew, the Lou top was on the cover of O Magazine. "It was absolutely surreal,” the designer says of the experience.

Meet The Mastermind Bringing Marijuana To The Modern Mall

It’s official: marijuana has made its way into the modern shopping mall. Situated between two mainstream chains, J. Crew and West Elm, Higher Standards is readying to open the doors of its second location at Ponce City Market in Atlanta on April 20.

Last week dosist celebrated its standalone space and last month, The High End became a reality for Beboe and Barney’s New York. But first came Higher Standards, which opened in late 2017 at Chelsea Market in New York City. Co-founded as a side hustle to his role as chief marketing officer at Greenlane Holdings, an international distributor of cannabis products and accessories, Sasha Kadey is the mastermind behind sparking the retail revolution taking shape in the post-legalization era.

As the traditional head shop fades into history, an experience more closely linked to the cannabis lifestyle is the future. Kadey explains, "Higher Standards is not a cannabis brand, but a lifestyle brand rooted in cannabis culture. Cannabis use really is a lifestyle for many people, so naturally cannabis brands are lifestyle brands."

Also Higher Standards’ creative director, Kadey, 35, has created a concept intended to expand across the country in harmony with its own brand, which includes glassware, cleaning kits, accessories and a just-dropped HS Streetwear capsule collection. Curated pieces from classy cool consumption brands Storz & Bickel, LEVO, Grav Labs, Puffco, Tree Trunk and PAX are matched with marijuana-minded home goods from Malin + Goetz, Blackwing Pencils, Oxford Pennant and Revelry Supply in both brick and mortar locations with select HS supplies available online. There is no cannabis for sale, but yes, a small selection of CBD self-care items is also stocked.

Back home in Miami Beach following a launch party for a Jonathan Adler collaboration and a Greenlane IPO announcement earlier this week, I caught up with Kadey, to talk about the current cannabis retail environment, Higher Standards' new Atlanta location and the meaning of lit luxury.

Startup to Bring Holographic Video Glasses Into View

Researchers at the University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences have developed a new breed of augmented reality display that is capturing high-tech imaginations. Inventor and professor Nasser Peyghambarian has been working on video holograms for over two decades.

Today’s popular virtual reality technology uses goggles that completely block out the outside world. In contrast, augmented reality creates an environment that layers computer-generated perceptual information like images, sounds or touch over what we experience in the real world.

While companies like Microsoft are commercializing devices such as Hololens 2 that enhance virtual and augmented reality, the inventions that EARDG Photonics Inc. has licensed represent a different technological approach; the new technology will provide augmented reality wearable glasses that allow users to combine the real world around them and an augmented holographic video display with superior performance.

Peyghambarian is leading the company along with Lloyd LaComb, also a UA optics research professor and experienced industry leader. The two have a history of successful collaborations; together they developed TIPD, another company advancing 3D holographic displays. Working with Tech Launch Arizona, the UA office that commercializes inventions stemming from research, EARDG has licensed the technology, along with associated technology from TIPD, to develop it and bring it to the marketplace.

"While it is important to conduct state-of-the-art research at universities and publish in high-impact scientific journals," Peyghambarian said, "it is as important to have a consistent effort on translating innovative research out into the real world through technology transfer and creation of startup companies so that it not only creates jobs, but also improves lives."

A dedicated educator, mentor and National Academy of Inventors Fellow, he also notes that such inventions and startup companies represent excellent opportunities for students. "Those that work on such technologies with us are highly sought after as they gain experience in solving real-world problems," he said.

Naked Restaurant In Paris Closing Due To Lack Of Nude Diners

If dining naked in Paris seemed like a good idea to you, you are no longer in luck. O'naturel, the city's premier—and only—naked restaurant is closing. Conde Nast Traveler reports that after a 15-month run, the high-concept-low-clothing theme establishment has discovered that, for some incomprehensible reason, it turns out people don't want to eat naked in public. It will shut its doors in February.

Back in late 2017, Forbes senior contributor Cecilia Rodriguez revealed that at the then-new joint in the 12th arrondissement, diners disrobed upon arrival in the lobby—hence, the coat check became an everything you're wearing check—and a pre-opening soft launch was for members of the Paris Nudist Association. Apparently, a big curtain blocked dinners from bypassing voyeurs. And surrendering one's mobile phones and cameras meant your fellow diners weren't going to post your nudes to the 'net.

O'naturel is the brainchild of twins Mike and Stephane Saada, who were looking to capture a piece of the nudist-happy French market. As of this writing, there were a mere six reviews of O'naturel on TripAdvisor. "You [disrobe upon] entry and also [have] to leave your mobile phone with clothes- to prevent you sneaking photos of other diners!" one reviewer, who missed experiencing what it's like to dine naked at London's Bunyadi, noted. "

So, what's the problem with a naked-theme restaurant? For now, that remains a mystery. It's possible that it's simply too much of a niche strategy to be sustainable. It attracts people who want to dine out AND want to be naked while dining out. While consumers tend to enjoy dining out and sometimes enjoy being naked at, say, the beach, it may be that the Venn diagram overlap between the two is simply too small. And dining in the buff at home is one thing—but in public, it's quite another.