exit through the gift shop

It's the best documentary I have seen up to now. It's about a guy who shoots videos as a hobby and decides to make a documentary about graffiti artists. He sought for the most elusive and mysterious graffiti artist out there, Banksy. When he finally has the opportunity to shoot Banksy, the pseudo filmmaker becomes a graffiti artist himself. He finds success and is considered to be reckoned with in the Art world. It's such a brilliant documentary because it raises the question what is art? Is it art because there is so much hype about the work or is their talent behind the creations. After the documentary, I questioned Banksy's exhibition in L.A. a few years back. It was a strange art show because he is well known as a stencil graffiti artist, yet he had sculptures to paintings galore. I thought it was a joke because I didn't believe him to be a fine artist. I consider graffiti artists as rebels of the art world. I can go on and on about this documentary because it raises more questions than answers about Banksy. Either way, try to catch it one of these free week nights when your looking to be amused. Oh, btw, I saw it at a Landmark movie theatre and I fell in luv with that place. They have couches as movie seats and it felt like I was watching it at home amongst other strangers. Note to self, more movie watching in a Landmark movie theatre.

facehunter @ lead apron

I heart fashion blogs, and so does my sister. She found out Facehunter (Yvan Rodic) is doing a book tour in North America and is making a stop in Los Angeles. Of course we jumped up to the opportunity to meet Facehunter and maybe purchase his book. His book signing was at Melrose Place. It was in this cute bookstore, Lead Apron. They mostly sell expensive hard to find art/coffee books. The price tags on these books were cha ching expensive! I went off on a tangent once again, so yes we met the Facehunter. One thing that surprises me about Facehunter is he dresses classic chic', in contrast to the people he photographs. Also, he was intrigued about people who follow his blog. He didn't even want to talk about the blog or book. He was asking us what we do for a living, what nationality we are and even asked how are day was. Swiss people are so nice. Anywhoo, my sister was the one who purchased the book because I'm not into buying books about fashion, though I luv perusing his blog. I must say, it's made with LOVE. The hard cover and inside binding impressed me, in contrast to the Sartorialist book. The Sarts' book is pathetic looking. Anywhoo, the quote he wrote on the book is referring to the size of his camera. His minolta was just innocently right next to him and I asked him if that is the camera he uses to capture street style and he said "Yes". We were aghast how small it was since the majority of these fashion bloggers photograph with Nikons or Canons. It's not even an SLR! Truth be told, it's not the equipment, it's the eye; and so, He wrote "Size doesn't matter!". What a funny Swiss.

gucci artisan corner tour

My sister Darah is in the know with all things shopping. Gucci launched a tour in March called Artisan Corner. These artisans are from Florence, Italy and they were in the Beverly Hills location, assembling and crafting Gucci leather bags in front of our eyes. There was also a video from the factory of Gucci, displaying the craftmenship of bag making. The bag I purchased was actually made at the time, location and with an actual artisan from Italy. It was a nice experience to see how much precision and attention to detail the artisans possessed and to deliver a perfectly hand crafted bag in such a short amount of time. It truly was a unique experience since the tour will only be making a few stops in North America. After Los Angeles, the Artisan Corner will be heading to Chicago and their last stop will be New York. It made our shopping day special since the bag I purchased had my initials branded inside and my sister's wallet was branded with her name as well. I am such a materialist. Click here for some more details of the Artisan Corner Tour.

my current thing, urth caffe

I remember going to Urth Caffe ages ago with a friend. I never gave this place a thought since I couldn't stand the obnoxious people that sip coffee at the Melrose location. As you grow older, you tend to allow stupidity around you since I am there for the coffee. I can withstand posers, wannabe actors/agents/stylists, I dunno because I truly luv their spanish lattes. The lattes are amazing. One reason is, I really...really... really miss my cafe con leches from Spain. Everyday, I would drink coffee because it was fairly cheap (uno euro) when I was living there. There hasn't been a coffee place that matches the coffee and coffee experience than Urth Caffe, well except for Aroma Cafe in Studio City ( I heart those gnomes). For the most part, it is very entertaining to sit and people watch. The people are hilarious actually and they are in their own little world as well.

swooshing in lake tahoe

This trip was reminder of what a beginner I am. I have been snowboarding for several years, but I never go more than 1 or 2 a season. It really shows since I didn't even know how to carve; how embarrassing! This trip actually made me realize to be serious in learning how to carve and enjoy snowboarding too. I have to go down that hill with carving style. Well, I never got to learn how to carve during my trip in Lake Tahoe, but after the frustrating time down those amazing hills, I made 3 more trips on my own to my local mountains and finally learned how to carve (^_^). Hopefully by next winter season, I will remember to swoosh down the mountain with style.

NYC, a second time around

I haven't been to NYC since I was 21 years young. Did the city change or what? It's only been 9 years, but so many barrios have had a facelift and NYC is so much dirtier than I remembered. Granted, I have traveled to other cities, and now I can compare subway systems, parks, eateries and just street traffic and NYC is much dirtier. I still <3 NYC. It's still fun to ride on the metro underground and come up to the street level and be transported in a different barrio. It's also a treat to be out so late because the city never sleeps. I work nights and I still follow that crazy vampire schedule and even in L.A. the only places that are open are diners or taco trucks. The highlights were seeing the new MOMA, guggenheim, magnolia bakery, strawberry fields and just walking around taking it all in. I hope to revisit once again NYC!

hello kitty tea party

My sis and I decided to have a nice tea party at Hello Kitty 'Three Apples' Exhibit. It was every little girl's dream to have tea with such an iconic cat like Hello Kitty. We grew up with Sanrio. We bought pencils every weekend because that is what we could afford as little school girls. To own a sanrio pencil box made you luv school and luv to do math since you have a cute pencil to write with. Oh those days. I am still a bit of a nerd because I still use my favorite Ahiru No Pekkle pencil box to house my pencils. I heart sanrio and I heart Hello Kitty.