bloomfest festival

There has been an upsurge of festivals during this summer season.  I can't complain because it's free and I get to enjoy some decent music, yummy food trucks and beer gardens on a Saturday afternoon.  The Bloomfest festival was held in the Arts district in DTLA and the area manages to change and gentrify every time I visit.  I wonder where the real artists are now because the place is surrounded with luxurious loft spaces and high end condos.  Maybe the artists recieve a discount in living in the art commune because their making the murals or stamping their graffiti on the concrete floor, like the owl above, or defacing telephone poles with stickers, who knows?

It was tons of fun to soak in the sun, eat my Korean bbq and listen to some free music.  I finished my meal with a Coolhaus sammy (red velvet ice cream swirl + chocolate cookie), yummy!

I also did some window shopping from the various vendors, such as the American Apparel flea market.  There were some cute skirts and dresses, but there were defective items with holes and stains, and a bit overpriced.  I also saw some silkscreen prints and while walking about, stumbled upon dry spilled paint on the sidewalk...loved it.

To get everyone excited about art, they had random artists painting on the side walk and displaying their original art for purchase on a stop sign.  There was a section where anybody can grab a paint brush and finish a painting if they desired.  The event was a hodge pod of fun randomness.  Bring on some more festivals to fill in my summer weekends.

a crafty sunday

The mayor of Los Angeles decides to allow free rides on the metro during Carmageddon; we surely took advantage of on anything free and hopped on the Gold line from Pasadena to Chinatown for the Renegade Craft fair (RCF).  It was a nice change from driving around in our air conditioned cars and partake in the fun adventure of public transportation.  The weather was sunny and the temperature was not blistering hot, so it was a great day to be outside for our trip to DTLA.  
The RCF was being held at the historic park, conveniently located off the Chinatown metro stop.
The craft fair had all sorts of handmade jewelry, plush toys, silkscreen posters, canvas bags and a photobooth for kicks. 

 The RCF felt like I was online shopping at Etsy, but minus the shipping and handling.  I ended up purchasing a silkscreen poster of a bicycle @ Strawberry Luna.  The bicycle design reminded me of my trip to Amsterdam and how much fun I had biking all over the city.  They have some amazing designs and the color treatments are vibrant and engaging.  The price tag is not bad either considering it's hand made silkscreen.

Here is moi after my purchase in front of this colorful school bus.  I believe more children would take the bus to school if it looked like this!

carmageddon on a saturday

The scare of bumper to bumper traffic and impending doom due to the 405 closure was more hype than real.  Surprisingly, the roads were clear and it felt like a normal weekend kind-of-traffic.  It was my weekend off, and was I going to be stuck at home twiddling my thumbs? Nope!  The most logical thing was to partake in the Eat Real festival in Culver City because it was free and the majority of Angelenos were scared to drive on a freeway, hence the traffic was smooth and stress free.  I had a great time learning about fresh foods, seeing a hen lay eggs and food coma.  I indulge on a tasty dessert, which consisted of a freshly baked waffle and homemade strawberry ice cream.  The well drinks were yum as well.