Got into Miami and met R.at the airport in a very nice white rental Kia. We zipped into town famished, and decided to have lunch in the Design District and check in on the team. And So we did. They were all in fine form and after a great deal of hi-ing and helloing we had a lunch of yellowtail grilled and this wonderful escarole. Off to the new celeb's shop, "the Sheik of Chic", Majed J Al-Sabah's shop who was debuting two collections of furniture art which was enough for me just to say that I had seen the best and I could go home.

Al-Sabah in his brochure in his tribute says about his collections:

To deliver my Middle Eastern design message to the world. Being faced with a lot of ignorance til this date, I wanted again to show the world how beautiful our region is.

Highlighted were selected works by Huda Baroudi and Maria Hibri and Pieke Bergmans. Baroudi and Hibri started Bokja taking artisanal ttraditions and sensibilites of the east in crating contemporatry furniture and fusing them with a medley/patchwork of iconic middle eastern fabrics. Fabulous. Bergmans collected middle eastern furniture, decorated with a riot of mother of pearl and inlay and laid hot glass forms on the surface of these pieces, scorching the furniture and fusing the organic glass shapes with the rigid decorative pieces to wonderful results. To top it off, if the work wasnt great enough, they perfumed the air with spicy incense and had trays of enormous dates and nuts offering generous hospitality and warmth to all of us who visited. I highly recommend visiting.

Back to the glasslab, a little time to relax and do emmail and then dinner with the team at Garcias. Early night. I hope the convention center this morning.