Photo Week In Review

So, most of my week has involved being chained to the computer, eeking out these e-porfolio essays while distracting myself with images of pretty clothes I don't need and picking up the million packages of Legos and Studio Ghibli dvds from the Post Office that Mark has been buying himself like he's making up for a lifetime of missed childhood Christmases (Remember this post? She definitely wants us to move by now!). Still, I managed to have a bit of fun with the perfect mix of window shopping, hanging out with good people, and one of the Village Bakery's addictive donut muffins thrown into the mix for good measure. 

I tried on these lovely Persol sunglasses while Mark picked up a pair for himself at the Optical Shop of Aspen on Melrose.

A multitude of skulls and antlers at Seven Grand, where I hadn't imbibed in at least a couple of years!

Mas Malo didn't have the intimacy I enjoy at the original, and I found the food and drinks to be a little less yummy, but I can't say the chevron walls didn't make my heart skip a beat and earn the Mas a few extra points.

Pop Culture Hipsters

While doing my semi-nightly perusal of Pinterest I came across this image of Frida Kahlo by Fabian Ciraolo:

 He's an artist from Chile who takes iconic people or characters and re-imagines them as current-day hipsters. It's entertaining to think about Grace Kelly with an eyebrow piercing or John Wayne with a full sleeve of tattoos and I love the floral, galactic backgrounds that add to the dreamlike quality of his work. 

 Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz-clearly we're not in Kansas, anymore. 

 Salvador Dali. I think this one is particularly spot on with the jacket, sinewy exposed abs, and belt buckle. 

Dapper Skeletor loses his unitard in favor of a polo and checkered suit. 

It's not all about pop icons though. A couple of my favorite other pieces:

Killer. I want this one for my home-the bow, the floral "eye mask," the hair. Like I said, killer. 

A Love Letter To Etsy

I continue to be surprised at the wealth of fabulous stuff available on Etsy. From packaging supplies to extremely well-made clothing, and home decor that ranges from whimsical modern tat to classic vintage wares, there is really nothing you can't find on there. I took a break from visiting the site for a few months when finances where low and the pain of looking at so much coolness that couldn't be mine wasn't worth the ooing and aahing that a visit inevitably delivered. For whatever reason (because I am crazy) I've been lurking and shopping on Etsy again the past few weeks.

It all started innocently: I wanted to buy some bow tie collars for a Sante D'or photoshoot and knew Snoop Catty Catt, the maker of Finn's amazing birthday suit was just the gal to buy from. Boy was she. The offer of 25% off for our rescue suddenly had me throwing bows and ties into my cart like a crazy cat lady with a serious penchant for formal wear.

Then I started thinking of some upcoming occasions I have to bake some goodies and needing packaging to make them look extra special (perhaps to *ahem* make up for my limited baking skills). One look at Pretty Tape and suddenly I own tartan tape, Christmas ornament themed tape and a host of other awesome things like checkered multicolored twist ties to keep plastic cello bags looking cheery. I bought more tape from this seller than I did when I was actually in Japan!

The final and most extravagant (I know what you're thinking-buying cats bow ties, let alone cats that aren't even your pets, and fancy twist ties is already extravagant enough, but if you are thinking that, you cuh-learly don't know me) buy was an amazing technicolor dream rug that-wait for it-also features chevron stripes! It's a boucherouite, a type of Moroccan rug that the same people who make the famed Moroccan wedding blankets make from leftover pieces of fabric. Seriously, this thing was a steal-not so much cheaper than other versions that it's clearly a made in China fake, but so immensely gorgeous and affordable to boot! Dying to have it laid out on the floor of an otherwise stark, white room. Gaaaah. I love you Etsy. I love you.

Thank Fuck This Week Is Over

Crazy ass, horrible week. Like tears ever day bad. So let's review the good stuff that kept me from jumping off my balcony and rejoice that it's Friday mf-ers (even though I am staying home like a granny tonight to work on my e-portfolio for school)!

 I picked up this sweet little card at Ige on Beverly Blvd. after having a seriously tasty salad over at Susina Bakery with my mom on Monday. Man do I wish I could have tried one of their almond croissants!

 Ayelet in eyelet. More noteworthy, however, is that I took this photo using Apple's Photobooth application. Because I am the proud owner of a brand new MacBook Pro laptop! Mark brought it home to me as a total (major) surprise the other day as a sort of make-up gift for our anniversary and Valentine's Day. I am such a lucky lady and cannot wait to stop using this old, ugly, and annoying PC. Apple for life, bitches!

 I am currently obsessed with filling the pantry with Weck jars. They look so much more streamlined than having a bunch of ugly boxes or loose bags of lentils spilling their contents all over the place. After picking up some Hawaiian black salt up over at the Broome St. General Store that was packaged in a tiny version, I realized that everything just looks better in coordinating jars! I picked up some local produce (and a package of Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cups-so sue me...) at Atwater Village Farm over the weekend and loved being able to immediately give the items a pretty home.

Between the Weck jars and Martha Stewart's new line of office supplies for Avery, I'm totally in organizational mode. Get. It. Done. We reorganized the bedroom on Tuesday and it looks a million times cleaner and more open now. I picked up these elastic tags to keep our plethora of cords under control, a folder that adheres to the inside of a cabinet drawer to keep all of our random appliance guides in one out of the way place, and labels for the Weck jars. I'll be buying a billion more of the items once I have time for extra projects.

Today I went on a tour of the LAPL's Central Library with the San Jose State ALA student chapter. While I'd been there before to pick up research materials I never quite realized what a beautiful and massive space it is. This stained glass globe light is surrounded by the twelve zodiac symbols and a ring of lights to represent the library's central theme-the light of learning. It's spectacular and cost $50,000 in 1933.

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. 

Can We Talk About Harajuku Mini For A Sec?

Gwen Stefani. She's bordering on annoying most of the time but homegirl undeniably has style. And her line for Target is so perfect, because the things that make me roll my eyes at her are things that are perfect when done in kid version. I like a lot of what she puts out in her L.A.M.B. line but the prices are simply not realistic for me; I managed to snag a few pieces when it first came out, but those days are long gone. So while I wish she'd made some things for us extra-large children, I'll take what I can get. The designs feature a level of detail that's hard to come by in diffusion lines like these, and extends so far as to have puffy burger tags on the baby clothes. How can you not love a cranky looking lion with a hair pick in his mane or a plaid dress that's bound to make your little girl look like she's a mini Vivienne Westwood creation? Yes, this is another post about kids clothes written by someone without kids.

Mid-Walk Eye Candy

Quite possibly my favorite house in LA, Frank Lloyd Wright Jr.'s Sowden house on Franklin Ave. is sick-the house was built around a pool, looks like a hidden little Mayan temple in a jungle, and generally is just gorgeously unique. Still can't believe one season of those dumbasses on America's Next Top Model got to live in this dreamy space when you know they had no idea who Wright even was.

Bat skeleton stencil means Halloween spirit will last as long as he does.

Jack-o-lantern got in on the action too.

Super Slides

Teardrop Park's minimalist kids' paradise in Battery Park City, Manhattan.

Genius subway station short-cut in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Surreal slides to the Mediterranean Sea at the Hotel Citta del Mar in Sicily, Italy.

Technical University of Munich shows it's forward thinking mindset in Germany.

At the Tate Modern in London, England. Forget vertigo-you had better believe I am sliding down one of these in December!

Hats ON!

These 1930's inspired hats by Behida Dolic Millinery leave me seriously swooning lately. They are sophisticated and while they certainly evoke the feeling of being out of the past, have a timelessness thanks to the impeccable craftsmanship and modern choice of colors. $400 plus is a lot to drop on anything, let alone a throwback accessory, but a girl can dream. Or hope to collect gift certificates come the holidays, you know, either one. Distant hope of attainment aside, the work is definitely impressive when it makes you want to chop off all your hair, knowing full well it'll never look half as charming as the models. 

Bananers Miles Thompson Commission

Ever since I first saw the paintings of Miles Thompson I've been almost obsessed with the idea of having one of his pieces for my very own. I love the quirky little details, the whimsy of his styling, and perhaps most of all the Southern Californian culture and nostalgia as subject matters. While his work (that I've seen) is mostly tiki/surf inspired I knew as a fellow native Californian and history buff, once I could finally weasel my way into requesting a commission he'd be open to my dream vision. That vision was pretty much totally realized last Saturday when he delivered our painting. I mean, hot pink cake being eaten by Smokey the Bear in a forest, a worm smoking a stoagie, a hair bow wearing snake, John Muir chilling barefoot with the wildlife, and dozens of other details that I'm still discovering? It's crazy, it's fun, it's my very own little California-based fairy tale.  It was definitely worth the four years-plus of pining away and the six months between getting the ball rolling and MT finishing up the piece to his liking. For those of you with a shorter attention span, here is some of his more...muted?...works.

At Play

So as I made clear here, I'm really into the idea of combining colors right now and decided that while I usually leave the nail art to manicurists or pre-made Minx nail strips, it would be fun to try my shaky hands at a tie-dye/graffiti inspired look that works because it doesn't have to be perfect. Next time I'll vary the colors more so the look is easier to see, but this was a punchy way to keep myself entertained while sitting in traffic or listening to drab lecture moments this week. Before adding the crackle polish, paint your nails in any number of color splotches and vary the design to make the look more like tie-dye; the more it resembles the swirls of rainbow sherbet, the better the end look will be!

So as mentioned with that talk of lectures, now that school's started my life is much more boring. I did manage to check out the Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA with my mom last week, though. While some of the exhibit's inclusions were unnecessary and sort of silly (I think we could have all done without the angora sweater from Ed Wood...), I fell in love with his drawings so full of lines that they resembled etchings and was mesmerized by how current they look, even though much of the most impressive stuff was from the late '70s when good ol' Burbank-residing Tim was just 20 years old. It was really inspiring to see into the mind of someone with such a unique aesthetic vision and a never-ending slew of ideas. There's also something to be said for someone who manages to make the quirky and downright odd seem approachable. Edward Scissorhands shouldn't have been for the masses, but there's so much charm in the detail of everything Tim does that it's hard to deny his talent or how it makes us feel. I couldn't take pictures, but here's the print I bought and the baby t-shirt my mom got me (erm, no, I don't have a baby, but when I do he will win a best dressed award).

I also had my first opportunity to check out the Stark Bar, which has brought even more drool-worthy seating to the museum's outdoor space. LACMA's outdoor environment is truly becoming a whimsical paradise for afternoon adventures, even with that awful 1970s Japanese Pavilion building.

PeacockHead Goes Live

So...finally, after wanting to open up an Etsy shop for a couple of years now, I have one. It's called PeacockHead and offers bead necklaces in bright color combos and bobby pins with over-sized polymer clay "gemstones." I dunno if I actually expect anyone to buy anything and the stuff listed so far isn't exactly avant garde, but it has been useful for me to make stuff and feel like the creative sector of my brain has been getting a workout, so I guess so long as I can bribe my mom to buy a necklace or something to try to make even on the supplies to start everything, it's been enough of a success. Plus, now I can wear a crown of opaque gemstones in my hair, so what's not to love?! Here are a few of my favorites currently in the shop: