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.

bazaar

The Bazaar by Jose Andres @ the SLS hotel has been my favorite dining experience to date.  My sisters and I went to the Bazaar during Dine L.A. a few months ago and I am still nostalgic.  There was so much to see from the unique chairs and a gift shop filled with one of a kind necklaces and art books.  I love the chairs in various lengths, shapes and sizes.  The table settings were off the wall as well; the whole restaurant was filled with these bizarre objects.  The food were like art pieces and tasted so unique too.  Let's go back to the Bazaar!

A group pic @ the gift shop area.

What a cool candle and to have these hands as jewelry holders, how cool that would be?

The bartender making my liquid nitrogen caipirinha and our various tapas.

My liquid nitrogen caipirinha, oh so yummy.

A unique take on empenadas and cotton candy foie gras, delish I might add.

??? and organized cesar salad, with quail egg on top.

12/31/10

I celebrated my last day of 2010 by making no plans or "playing it by ear" as people would like to call it.  I started my day by having brunch with my sistah at our favorite spot, Larchmont Bungalow.  I luv having brunch here because everything seems to taste so damn good.  We shared our fave crab egg benedicts and some yummy banana and nutella waffles.  I drank their house coffee because I needed a little pick me up to start my day.

After brunch, we walked around the area and window shopped at the Library.  The place is stocked with   lovely vintage things.

The sign just fits the mood of the store, a vintage library.  This face just made me smile.

Here is moi and oh my, I just want that doctor's bag.  Yes, it's hidden behind the shoes and books, but I still manage to spot the bag for some reason.

Let's just pretend I ended up being a lawyer.  I would definetely purchase the fine piece of LV and some Gucci too.  After window shopping around the Hancock park area, my sistah and I went to the Grove to find some new year's eve deals.

I spotted this sweet porsche with my name on it.  All I have to do is car jack Dylan McKay from 90210 circa 1990's and decorate the dashboard with the Hello Kitty plush toy.

I caught the sun setting at the Grove, beautiful isn't it?

Of course I make a stop at Anthropologie to see any good deals and peruse around the various displays.  I happen to walk into my bedroom in Paris... a girl can dream.  I had to take this pic of the new waffle cookie from pinkberry, delish.

My sisters and I had a late dinner at Bottega Louie because we were feeling some Italian food.  The restaurant was super crowded and the wait time for a table was an hour.  This was 2 hours away from the new year.  I scanned the restaurant and was lucky to spot an empty table at the bar area where you can order the same food, with first come, first serve service.  We had our last dinner of 2010 family style, which consisted of portobello fries, pizza, lasagna and shared a chocolate raspberry macaroon for dessert.  My sister Darah and I only had 30 minutes to find a decent bar to ring in the new year.  The Standard was a close walk and hopefully we could make it up to the roof top pool/bar area.  To our dismay, it was to capacity.

My sister and I ended up in the lobby of the Standard and to our surprise, it was decked out to the nines with 2011 balloons and a decent DJ.  The Standard was nice enough to hand out free champagne bottles to toast the New Year.  How cool is that?  One of the best New Year's celebration to date because it seemed everything fell into place.  I luv living in L.A. because the city surprises you sometimes, in a good way.

happy new year*

The end of another year and the beginning of many possibilities. I wish everyone an epic 2011.

Photo by Lizzi, gif made by moi.

my christmas

Christmas was another day of fun filled family activities.  My sister and cousin happen to choose gingerbread house making as the activity for the night for the kiddos.  I happen to partake in gingerbread house making because I have never built one myself.  How crazy is that?  I have a niece who stated she builds one every year.  Oops on me, I had to build one.  For the following day, on my sister's birthday, my family and I brunched at DTF dumpling house and pigged out on some tasty dumplings.  We ended her birthday extravaganza with a dinner and the anticipated movie, Somewhere, written and directed by Sofia Coppola.  The film had the similar mood as Lost in Translation and the coolest part is seeing the inside of the Chateau Marmont.  I was surprised it looked like a shit hole, but then again, it has the old hollywood feel decor and the comfy couches made the chateau feel like home.

My gingerbread house.

 

My sister's cupcake cake with some delish macaroons! Oh so yummy macaroons.

DTF dumpling house, such good dumplings and isn't this adorable?
My fav drink during dinner, PCN, yum!

My two sisters enjoying their burgers. Somewhere mood board of Sofia Coppola.

sweet lady jane

Sweet Lady Jane cafe reminds me of tiny cafes in NYC.  You would think no one is inside, but the place has a house full of people sipping tea and enjoying some dessert.  The cafe is located in an odd place around random stores in West L.A., like a hole in the wall with nice decor on the front and inside.  They have some tasty cakes, coffee and tea in decent prices I might add.  Another gem in the city.

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.