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.

artsy cabo san jose

The last day of our short trip to Cabo was some shopping around Cabo San Jose city.  It's a short walk from my parents time share and it's such a cute little city with a french cafe, jewelry stores, artisan shops and art galleries.  We manage to spot my favorite mural of fruits and random art on the walls we saw 2 years ago, still intact with vibrant colors.

Me and my sister, Lizzi

The French Riviera is the french cafe where we enjoyed some cafe con leches and yummy croissants on the day of my birthday 2 years ago.  Our second time around, we only manage to enjoy some pastries to go, but the great memories of enjoying some coffee and pastries in a french cafe in Mexico, oh so random.

Here is me holding a handmade plush toy owl and other zoo animals below at a street vendor.

These are random galleries and art boutiques around the streets of Cabo San Jose.  It was great to walk around and window shop.  My eyes were always capturing a mural here and there; I also enjoyed seeing the hand painted signage throughout the different stores.

I love the vibrant blue paint of this cantina and the use of font style too.  While my sister was deciding in purchasing a shark tooth necklace, I quickly captured these cute little hippos when the gallery owner was not looking.  I didn't know the little girl was a shop keeper too and quickly ran to the gallery owner and told on me.  Whatevs!

I truly enjoyed my time in Mexico and I am looking forward to my next visit 2 years from now.  Until then, I will cherish all the memories of Cabo San Jose.

black swan

A good film is when it disturbs your thoughts and allows you think about the character living in her own conflicts. I was impressed with Natalie Portman's performance as Nina;  an Oscar contender indeed.  I saw Black Swan at one of my favorite places, the Landmark theatres in west L.A. I must show you the sketches from the talented sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, who designed all the ballerina costumes and the amazing white dress of Natalie Portman's character Nina, during the scene where she debuts as the new Swan Queen.  Designers should showcase their sketches more often because you can see the beginning to the end of their masterpieces.  Anywhoo, go see Black Swan.

doodles

Since my career switch, I lost a lot of my drawing skills and time dedicated for drawing. I used to finish sketch books, larger than this book in less than a year. This doodle book (size 10cm x 14cm), took me at least 2 years to fill. Shame on me! I switched careers to make time for drawing, designing, and being creative, but all I do is run around to start drips, monitor bodily fluids and talk to stupid doctors who think their god. I yearn to paint, draw (not doodle) and use my pastels until it's all gone. Well, summer is coming and hopefully I will make time for my passion.

american presidents

I stumbled upon this picture in flickr and it will direct you to the artist who cleverly illustrated the history of American presidents. Yup yup, change.

frisco fun

My sister, cousin and I decided to head up north since we were all off from work for 3 days. It was kinda my idea since I wanted to see Frida Kahlo's exhibit and we all love the unique shops up there, it was meant to be. There were some memorable moments, like lost reservations and panic to where we are going to sleep. So with all that ishness, we were able to get a room at the Maxwell Hotel for a 4 star price in 2 star accommodations (never again)! The upside about the Maxwell Hotel is the location. We were near everything and we were always out and about, so it wasn't a big deal if the place was getting remodeled and the sheets have holes in them. A lesson learned from this experience is never buy into that "hook it up" thing unless I see a reservation number, a last name of the friend, and I gave my money up front for this hook up and even then it seems shady business. Other than the drama, it's always good times in frisco.

moca free thursdays

Lately I've had tons of time to kill because school mode is officially over and somehow your suppose to get back to life mode in a snap of a finger. When I was in school, my mantra would be "When I'm done, I have to do this, or that, or go here...", quiet difficult with my limited resources and gas prices nowadays, I have to really think if I should trek out to San Mo or even the farmer's market on Fairfax. Nevertheless, downtown L.A. is fairly close to my house and MOCA is free on Thursdays after 5pm. I have been meaning to catch the current exhibition of Marlene Dumas because, a) she currently resides in Amsterdam, so there would be lots of racy art, and b) get myself out of this San Fernando Valley heat!

Reflection of the art: Not as racy as I thought. I like her themes of children, pregnant women, the dead, and the female nude, but she could have pushed the envelope a bit more. There weren't as provocative as MOCA made it out to be and it was a bit dreary, but not dreary enough to make me swoon. Overall, you really can't go wrong because it was free and I got to do something different in a late afternoon.

target

Back to school target ads I saw on the myspace log in page. It took a bit of quick action on command keys (shift apple 4) to take pictures of these four symbols. Adorable aren't they?

eames stamps

A sucker for collectible stamps and a fan of anything Eames. Since I can't afford to buy an Eames lounge chair or anything designed by them, stamps are the next best thing. Yup, I still send my bills via postal service. I can't seem to switch to paperless because I like stamps so much. If I worked at a billing place and all I did was open mail, I would definitely be those people who save nice looking stamps. One of my favorites were the Star Wars and DC comic super heroes collections and now these Eames stamps.

finally...murakami!

The last day of 2007, I got to see some Murakami.  The exhibition was very enjoyable due to lots of colors and of course some L.V.  When those bags came out, I never was a fan.  It's strange how much value the bags have become since they were displayed as art at the exhibit.  I always liked the cherry pattern though.  I never knew the cherries had faces on them, so darn cute.

Also, shutterfly offered some free 3x5 cards again... oh so took advantage anything free. 

a friend visits

An old travel friend I met while living in Spain visits me en route on her North American adventure.  Cle will be in the States for 4 months to work part time, save some money and try to see as much of America as she can.  Our schedules worked out pretty well since my break from school started today, and I wasn't going to work until Wednesday.  Since a car is a necessity in L.A. (even going to a supermarket), I had to show her the Getty museum for some great views of West L.A. and 3rd. Street Promenade for some ocean air.  I always seem to forget L.A. is ridiculously congested on the freeway, side streets, back alleys, gosh everywhere that most of our time was spent on the road, from point A to B.  I drove from Santa Monica to Hollywood and Highland in one hour and 30 minutes.  Crazy!  It was draining to drive bumper to bumper in a 5 speed civic.  My left foot hurts!  With all the crazy L.A. traffic, It was great to see an old friend and show a bit of L.A. along the way.

desk

Yah, just bored.  And I had to take this pic of the heart lettuce my sis found while making a salad.

pit tickets number two & hammer fun

Monday:

Woo hoo... Snow Patrol was awesome!  But then again, we had pit tickets.  It's an exhilarating experience when the performer is a feet away singing the songs and getting all sweaty.  I had such a great time and I should be more picky about seat selections from now on.  Well, pit tickets are rare, and it's pure luck to have the opportunity to purchase them.  It has been a good year :)  Hot Hot Heat were great live as well.  I never knew the lead singer looked so much like that curly head cheeseball from American Idol 1, Justin Gaurini.  Strange.


Uncanny resemblance!


Yah, so much skinnier in person!


Emotional singer, yes.

Today:

Summer school is over, hoot hoot!  I finally had a chance to meet up with Christi and we went to the Hammer Museum so she can get inspired in how to decorate her new place.  The statue should work fine in the living room and why yes the middle sculpture is going to be great chandelier for the dining room.  Ate some garlic fries from this cute Greek restaurant in Westwood, yum!  Of course it was such fun laughing out loud with all the "news".