Yet More Things I Will Always Be Obsessed With

Matchbooks.

Some of my favorites: The Dresden, Red Lion Tavern, Madonna Inn, El Carmen, The Standard Downtown, Bar Lubitsch, etc. 

This jar is getting full fast...

My Japanese treasures. Kawaiiiiiii!

I'm not a pyromaniac or a smoker but I cannot get enough of matchbooks. My great-grandma collected them and I have saved them from my own travels and adventures since I was about 20 years old. They are wonderful little pieces of art, often quirky, and a fun way to track my favorite haunts and destinations. I only save ones from places I've been to but have some ancient ones from a stockpile in Mark's grandparents' house-while I can't imagine a day when Smokey the Bear approved of a National Park putting out matches, they had the Yosemite-issued ones to prove it. Obviously times are a-changin' and matches are harder to come by; when I was in Japan last year I found the world's cutest matches but they didn't come from a hotel, restaurant, or bar. They were in the gift shop of Tokyo's Tobacco and Salt Museum (which is run by a tobacco company and which I went to specifically for these matches-kitty paws and bunny faces people!). I didn't find any matches anywhere else, though. Thankfully, Los Angeles is still replete with places that use them as advertising. Hurrah!

Kitschy Baked Goods.

 Bake Lab cupcake kit turned decor. 

How to keep greedy hands off of your cookies.

I rarely bake, because if I did I'd weigh 500 lbs. but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the science and art that goes into the process. Because I am a planner and am always thinking about the make-believe time when I'll need to bake or have someone to feed my treats to, I do have a few baking supplies, and you know they are not the type of shit you'd find at Williams-Sonoma. I bought this cupcake kit because it was adorable, but until I need deer-studded mini cakes with fabric flags sticking out of them, I let them serve as decor in the kitchen and get some use out of this little cheese cloche I found on Etsy. The ABC cookie cutters are perfect for making gingerbread men and for making their eaters laugh.


Heels.

 My first pair of heels, Marc by Marc Jacobs snagged on sale and still one of my faves.

Nude Footwear patent and ruffle suede beauties.

Crazy Marc Jacobs shoes I got on eBay. Believe if or not they are pretty comfy. 

If you told me a few years ago that this would make the list, I would have laughed at you. I am still a flats girl-when I'm running errands, I just want to get them over with, not worry about having to add emergency room to the list when I break my ankle. But in the evenings I'm reluctant to go out without heels. I feel like I'm a normal height for once and it's sort of amazing to be able to see people eye to eye. The higher the better! Plus, I love being able to wear shoes that are playful-there are so many ways to re-imagine the heel shape, or if you are crazy like me, wear a pair with backward heels.

More Things I Will Always Be Obsessed With

Beetles.

The little beetle painting hanging up in the apartment, from Etsy seller Christie Chase.

Amazing shed beetle wing necklace, available here. 

Cute little beetle knob in happy colors, available here.

Bottega Veneta clutch with amazing weaved beetle detail, no longer available. 

Yes, really. Maybe it's the Victorian in me. I am not one for sciences like chemistry or physics, but natural history? I'm all about it. This semester I will be working with the Natural History Museum on a grant-writing project and I'm already excited about having the built-in excuse of already being on the property to wander the museum after meetings. While I could love any old dinosaur bones or giant geodes (and I do), I have a soft spot for beetles-the way some have horns and resemble rhinos, the metallic green ones I've randomly found on the sidewalk even though they look far too exotic to be city dwellers, how they can be giant without being disgusting like other bugs once they get so large you see all of their creepy details. Now, all beetles are not created equally; some are indeed just ugly. And larvae? Make me want to scream like a little girl. But the fancy ones, they let me forget all about their less attractive brethren. Those beetles are little self-contained units of everything that's cool about the natural world.


Glitter.

Confetti eggs with tutorial from here.

Cake made with edible glitter, from this adorable Kate Spade commissioned video.

Okay, if I have to explain why glitter is worthy of obsession, we just cannot be friends. Seriously! Glitter is sparkly, it's glamorous, it's fun, and while it's a pain in the arse to clean up, somehow it's worth the trouble. Every single time. It's things like glitter that make me happy to be a girl.


Heath Ceramics.

A couple of years ago while on a trip up to San Francisco I discovered the Heath Ceramics factory over the bridge in Sausalito and took one of their Sunday morning tours. Hands down best thing I did on that trip, and I did lots of fun stuff. I don't want to sound like an over-dramatic hippie and say it was life changing, but...it was sort of life changing. There was this gorgeous tile with a so many shades of red it was like a volcanic eruption captured in ceramic. I decided right then that if I ever had the opportunity, I would have to have some of their tile in my home. That trip involved visits to two places with kilns, so I guess it was a bit of my ceramics love blooming and a bit a growing awareness of interior design (I had just moved out of my dad's before this trip and still in a decorating frenzy), but I still think about that factory with the amount of joy Henry must have felt when he was let loose in Willy Wonka's. It was just an added bonus that a few months after my Heath discovery they opened their Los Angeles outpost. During my first visit to that store Mark found his first apartment, right down the street, so you might say Heath is indelibly marked in my mind. Now that Mark has started seriously talking about getting a house I'm not obsessed with finding the perfect place, something in the Ivanhoe district or any of that-all I want is a cute little place with a shitty fireplace, bathroom, or kitchen for me to have the excuse to replace it with Heath tile! Fingers crossed.


All images of Heath tile from the Heath Ceramics website.
All uncredited images are from Tumblrs without original sources listed.

Things I Will Always Be Obsessed With

Masks.
Perhaps it's the idea of hiding, or making yourself feel as though you are free to be someone other than who you are expected (or expecting yourself) to be, but there's something very alluring and confidence-building about donning a mask. It's also just a lot of fun to play a character, something that is utterly foreign like an animal or something that doesn't exist at all. I got my first couple when I went to Venice during Carnevale a few years back and would love the bunny mask below for Halloween (or whenever I'm feeling particularly bunnylike...). While most of them are impractical unless you are a socialite going to lots of crazy parties, sometimes we all could use a little escape from reality.

Leather bunny mask by Tom Banwell

This ridiculous Tour de Force silk satin mask is perfectly mysterious and dramatic for a ball or secretly dressing up in your room and dancing around. Available (for too much green for me) at Shop Luna and Curious.

Love the humor of these painted masks.

Last image found here.

Balloons.
Does this even require explanation? Balloons are the perfect way to add fun, whimsy, and celebratory verve to any event. I mean, I'd have balloons to celebrate Fridays or a rainy day if it were socially appropriate and hope whoever came up with the balloon house concept in Up got a raise . Every birthday or balloon-justifiable holiday I'm searching the interwebs for an outside-the-box type or heading out to Vine American Party Store (party supply mecca, y'all) to get my fix.

Valentine's Day balloons this year. Don't try at home, driving was...not fun. 

Balloons for my 26th last year. 

Marcel Schmalgemeijer decorated dinner party I would have died to attend.

The most beautiful hot air balloon I've ever seen. Almost beautiful enough to make me forget I'd be standing in a giant wicker basket attached to an open flame in the middle of the sky. 

Hot air balloon photo by Jose Villa

Mushrooms.
It really pains me that Mark hates mushrooms. I've tried cooking with all types of varieties in hopes of coaxing him into changing his mind, but with minimal success. I know mushrooms aren't exactly the most flavorful food to be obsessed with, but it's really not eating them that attracts me. And it's not their "magical" properties, either, though I doubt I'd be disappointed with them. It's how they look and the images of woods, nature, and camping that they evoke for me. Plus, they're the perfect amount of woodsy without actually having to get my hands dirty...

Little toadstool kaleidoscope I picked up at Kellygreen Home, in Silverlake.

The mushrooms on Franklin and Rodney before their shitty new paint job.

Porcelain parasol mushroom hanging out on my sideboard.

Middle photo by lacymarie on Flickr.

Things I Will Always Be Obsessed With

Photobooths.

I have pretty much made it my quest in life to take a photo in every one in LA. I still get pissed at bf that he didn't want to shell out the $7 equivalent to take photos in Japan. Ugh! Anyway, the black and white is as flattering as it is nostalgic and there is just something so magical about discovering a photobooth and stepping inside. There's also that little genius bit of having to crank out poses under the pressure of time that lends itself to goofy, adorable images. When I moved in with bf I framed a collection of all the pictures we've taken together and hung it in our bedroom.

Photos from the Short Stop, Bar 107, Cha Cha Lounge, The Standard Downtown, and The Hudson.

I took these at Mixville in Silverlake on what turned out to be a lame night out. But can you tell here? No. The power of photobooth.

Traveling.

I'm the daughter of a travel agent, had a passport before my first birthday, and used to beg my dad to take me with him when he went to LAX for work so that I could watch people leaving on trips and live vicariously through them. In short, it's no surprise that no matter how broke I am, I am always planning my next adventure. Thanks to my dad (who is a fellow wanderluster and encourages my disease) and spending a year of college living in London, I've been able to make a dent in my long list of must-sees. Peru, Turkey, Morocco, Thailand, and Tahiti make up the five countries I'd most be willing to risk exploding 30,000 feet in the air to visit.

Last year in a capsule hotel in Tokyo (totally for the novelty of it-bitches were loud as hell in that place!).

Carousels.
I don't remember whether or not I cared for carousels as a girl, but I love them now. From the traditional style of the Griffith Park carousel that inspired Walt Disney to build his own version, with its now well weathered horses, to the Crayola, cartoonish sea creatures on California Adventure's Triton carousel, I just have to take a spin when I see one.