Going Down

...under, that is-to Australia. At least the mister and I are considering it for our (I hope) annual December getaway. Nothing is official but I am entertaining myself thinking of all the places I'd love to check out on the jaunt.

Kangaroos! Beaches! It would be summertime down in the southern hemisphere in December so I will have to get myself bikini-ready. Urm...

Gorgeous noms at the Bourke St. Bakery chain.

The Carlton bar in Melbourne, with flocked walls and a taxidermy theme.

A beautiful fallen tree at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. 

Decor demanding a visit at the Spice Table in Sydney.

I will make sure we get to Brisbane if only to hug a koala at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. If I did it with snow monkeys in Nagano, hell yes I'm doing it for cuddly koalas!

Melbourne's Southern Cross train station-I plan on us taking the Sydney-Melbourne route by train so hopefully we'll get to see this marvel.

Oh, Hell Yes

Matches everything, instantly screams the person wearing it is awesome. Now I just need an extra $1050 laying around...Shourouk necklace available for the wealthy here.

The Greys

Yesterday featured a rainy morning, the kind that makes you want to curl up under the covers and make it a movie marathon kind of day with nothing but the grey of natural lighting filling the room. Today I walked the Silverlake reservoir and was more than happy to trade my sunglasses for a hoodie. I just love grey skies and overcast days-is that wrong? I guess for the tons of people to move to LA for the sunshine it's sacrilegious, but I can't help but relish the opportunities to get cozy, snuggle, and layer up. No doubt tomorrow will be 80 degrees though, so allow me my little pleasures the rare times they're allowed.

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I Like When Other People Do My Hair

Life's busy at the moment, so unread blog is low on the totem pole of priorities, but I have to share this photo from work on True Blood yesterday. I was a fangbanger, which for the twelve people out there who don't watch the show, is a human who wants to get bitten or *ahemed* by a vampire. While most people were given outfits, apparently I'm crazy enough to get away with my own wardrobe, because all I was handed was one measly spiked cuff. Though the hair department made up for it by giving me this quasi-beehive 'do, since all tramps from Louisiana looking to get banged by a dead dude wear their hair high...Whatever, I enjoyed it because lord knows I have zero talent doing much with my flat, thin, sad mop of hair!

Sorry for the lack of gothy makeup-14 hours later, I really didn't care if I looked the part anymore.

Another Man's Treasure

My dad is moving down to San Diego for a while and renting out my childhood home so I went up to see him this week and help pack. One of the (only) perks about moving is the culling of crap, of which there has been much, but since he's downsizing this also meant having to part with some of his desirable stuff too. Thankfully for me, this means I was the recipient of many of these sweet items, even if my dad was quick to remind me it was only "temporarily." While I was wary of taking much, knowing how little space I have for additional "stuff" and how little desire I have to collect any more clutter, there were some things I was more than happy to find room for. The take (plus a giant jar of coins that I am happily rolling):

I've wanted a Moroccan tea table ever since I was little and grew up with this one. While this is one item dad claims I have to give back, I'm happy to have it for however long I can! I'm also holding onto this antique Moroccan tea pot and Moroccan shabbat candle holders for him. Gotta rep the old country!

Detail of the folding wooden bottom.

I found a couple boxes full of old records-including some by Rolling Stones, Simon and Garfunkel, David Bowie, and the Beatles-and I had to take some of them for nostalgic purposes, even if I don't own a record player. 

Wind chime my dad picked up in Turkey last year and I get to keep! 

One of three antique Moroccan daggers. I wouldn't be surprised if they were modern "made for tourist" versions, but I think they look cool anyway!

Some pillows that are either from Morocco or Israel, which Chloe seems to be fond of. 

None More Black

Whoops, I have a blog! Sometimes, since nobody reads this, I forget. But since it's here, I ought to at least attempt to throw together a post. I've have been trying really hard to maintain my whole "2012 is going to be awesome!" mantra as to stay positive and forward-thinking, but feel my same ol' issues starting to create fissures in that plan. It may just be that I've had a pulsating headache for the past three and a half days, that a job I was certain I would get has been pushed back leaving me in a will-I-or-won't-I state of limbo, or that I am pretty much only getting work on ridiculous gigs like 'do jump squats while wearing a snorkel for tv'-yes, that is actually something I agreed to do for money because I need money desperately. Whatever it is, I'm not going to let it derail me like I did last year, but I am decidedly feeling a bit dark at the moment.


Image from here

Week In Photos

Happy New Year! Yeah, I'm over that ish too. But I had to post the photo because it's probably the only one of me I've ever seen where I have any boobs/cleavage. Who knew those were there? 

Went to see the Rose Parade floats on Monday. This dino is from the LA Natural History Museum's and my personal favorite. Man, what a clusterfuck. It was a cool experience and in the end I had a good time, but I'm glad I have had the experience so that I don't have to replicate it anytime soon!

Finn and the newest 'Da Bird' toy get acquainted. 

Christmukkah came late this year for the "kids" but was worth the wait, I think! Another Atomic Attic creation.

Wearing the set of handmade bracelets my awesome 11-year old cousin Natalie made for me. 

A literary lover's dream register at Co-op 28, a newish boutique on Vermont Ave. that's happily within walking distance and stocked with great jewelry and fun t-shirts. 

Mark's first haircut at the fabulous Sweeney Todd's Barber Shop down the street from our apartment. 

Needless to say, I was smitten with the results.

Window Shopping the Reimagined

I still haven't recovered financially from the trip overseas and the holiday season, so buying much beyond my weekly groceries and gasoline is out of question for the moment, but that's no reason not to keep looking at beautiful things. At the top of my current list of fantasy items are all things that have fun with design:

This Mandy Coon bunny bag evokes the Velveteen Bunny of my girlhood memories, acts as a belt (so much smarter than an annoying, easy to lose clutch), and is basically right up my cutesy alley. I would pretend that the velvet, tweed-like fabric makes it sophisticated, but the truth is that I don't care if by carrying it I'd look like an overgrown toddler carrying her stuffed bunny. 

Rachell Sumpter is an artist I've followed for years. I love her paintings, which often feature the Pacific Northwest and its native inhabitants reinterpreted with modern day touches (think gals in knee high socks and fringed hair spear fishing and riding polar bears), and love this just released kaleidoscopic natural spiderweb. At just $25 from Tiny Showcase, it's an easy way to add color and vibrancy to an empty space.

Who says bookends have to be boring or stuffy? These Artori ones are downright hilarious and would make any bookshelf a little more dynamic. 

I'd seen this Dannijo necklace floating around the interwebs for a while and felt sort of indifferent to it, but when I recently saw a woman wearing the collar at Anthropologie, I swear, it looked a-frickin-mazing in person. She wore it with a little plain grey t-shirt and looked like a million bucks. All for the price of about $300...sigh. Oh well. 

Katsuno

For Christmas Mark's brother and fiance generously got everyone in the family tickets to see Wicked together at the Pantages Theatre. Beforehand we all met at Katsuya for dinner; I was pumped because having been designed by Philippe Starck, it had on my ever-expanding list of restaurants to someday make it to but with little expectation that I ever would get around to it. I should have known from the moment I couldn't figure out how the hell to open the door that I am not cool enough for this place, however. That's okay though, because it's really not cool enough for itself either. The waiter subscribed to the used car salesman mantra of upselling, the decor was (with the exception of the bathroom, of all things) a bit of a letdown, and while I enjoyed my food, it was neither spectacular or particularly memorable. Still, there were some highlights:

At the entrance to the restaurant and bar. 

A rainbow of color on the bar.

One of the house specialties, spicy tuna on crispy rice was like tuna on a hash brown. Not amazing, but satisfying.

The Dragon cocktail, which combined vodka and ginger with yuzu. After trying yuzu juice in Japan, I'll order anything with it! This was tasty. 

The mirrored bathrooms meant endless Ayelets. 

I just love the lip print on this DKNY dress Mark got me for Christmas! 

One-Eyed Gypsy

This time of year is heavenly for me not only because of the holidays (yes, I am one of those people) but because Mark is on a sporadic vacation from work that means we not only get to go on getaways but actually get to go out on little dates together on the weekend. Hurrah-me out on a Friday night with my boyfriend, not at his place of employment! It was, therefore, the perfect chance to check out One-Eyed Gypsy, a newish bar Downtown where Bordello Bar used to be and one that is not open on any of his regular nights off. Owned by the people who opened Villains Tavern, I was hoping for something spectacular. I mean, it's got a weird gypsy/carnival theme, offers free skee ball, and has a photobooth. It would either have to serve me ether alcohol that made me go blind or support cruelty to animals for me not to like the place. It ended up being a distinctly Downtown type of dive bar, which is to say that it was cool and not full of pretentious peeps, but also wasn't quite so mindblowingly unique. The decor was a slightly hodgepodge assortment of carnival and mystical Eastern gypsy theme that could have used some clarity, but they have live music nightly and strong drinks so it's definitely on my list of worthwhile Downtown hangouts, which includes the Down and Out and Bar 107, if you're wondering.

 This taxidermy yak greets people at the bar's entrance.

 Carnival themed food makes up the menu here. Love the idea of sweet potato tater tots!

This band was pretty sweet. Yes, that's an accordion and it was actually awesome to see a band use it as an integral part of their sound. 

2012 Begins

Happy New Year, y'all! Here's to hoping for fun, excitement, and positive changes in 2012. Here's a look at how I kicked off the festivities-tying the ends of a million balloons. Now it's time for my once yearly pizza binge to ward off this hangover...