Tinga es Buena, Indeed

For someone who lives in LA, I don't eat very much Mexican food. My hips would be as wide as some of those crazy dresses Marie Antoinette used to wear if I did, but sometimes I'm willing to say eff it and go for tacos. One of new favorites is Tinga, with food that is colorful, fresh, and full of flavor. It's not heavy, except that it's definitely good enough to make me want to eat my weight in their tasy offerings. I also find the atmosphere, which is casual and unpretentious, great during lunchtime; the sunshine pouring into the little place is the perfect compliment to the food and how can you knock a place that has skateboards shaped like bullets and mermaids hanging up? I usually go for their short rib tacos, which come with pickled red cabbage, queso fresco, papas bravas, salsa verde and some other little tasty bits but I've got to try the mushroom quesadilla next. Wild mushroom pate and avocado salsa-nom. I have also had the best chocolate chip cookie there, with cayenne and cinnamon mixed into the batter. Seriously, I am also not someone who eats cookies very often but I still think about that one. You can be sure if I'm on the Westside and I'm craving some healthier Mexican fare, I'm driving straight to La Brea.

Look at the colors! I love how the food here looks as much as I love how it tastes.

Short tib tacos. Sorry the crappy photo doesn't do them justice.

First two photos courtesy Tinga's website

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.

Strange Days

The world is a scary place. It's also a wonderfully ridiculous one. Note to self: keep perspective.

Dark Delicacies

I favorite loads of Etsy shops but there are only a few I actually keep visiting, hoping for a sale or new listings, continually impressed with their original offerings. One of those is Blood Milk-which calls its made-to-order goods "supernatural jewels for surrealist darlings." The jewelry has a Gothic, macabre vibe with its claw and sword themes, but is also sophisticated thanks to great detailing and the use of more unusual materials like rose gold and mattified stones. It's dark in the ethereal rather than the Hot Topic cheesy sense, making these pieces worth their price tags and likely to be worn for years. The following are all high on my perennially growing shopping wishlist (hint, hint):

Swan Song ring in rose gold

An as-yet unreleased amethyst claw ring

Lorraine cross

Owl Skull necklace