sunday, lazy sunday..

mmm, my favorite. fresh berry lemonade.

the most incredible ice cream. available here.

Fennel which was used to make delectable scallops w/ orange sauce and fennel salad.

Lovely finds from the Hollywood Farmer's Market, 1. 24.10

Although my eyelids may feel heavy, and sleep can't be very far off, this Sunday was definitely one for the books. These pictures are from last Sunday's Farmer's Market. More to come on todays happenings, for now I'll leave you with a great song..

meet me in the garden of eden.

Check out the drag city website for Joanna Newsom's newest single, off her forthcoming album set to be released February 23rd. Its sounds much less shrill, much more palatable than her past works. very pretty. Looking forward to hearing the rest.

100.

This is really great.

100 skills everyone should master.

Some on my list-

2. 15. 22. 64. 70. 73. 76. 82. 97.

And you?

It's hard to get by just upon a smile..

LA from high above Wilshire, 1/27/10

What a busy week! I hate those weeks that some to literally slip form your fingers, and before you know it they've past. I feel like it was extremely busy, but if you asked me what I did I couldn't even tell you. There's been a buzz going since the opening of Art Los Angeles Contemporary, the first inaugural fair of its kind in LA. I am so excited about the confluence of so many artists, galleries and enthusiasts alike in our little town, and think it can only get bigger and better from here. Unfortunately we showed up too late for the opening reception (so typical of me! I need to seriously work on my timeliness) but have allotted all day tomorrow to wonder around. Can't wait for it. Tonight I'm hoping to stop by the Alex Prager opening at M+B and then off to Eddie Izzard at Club Nokia. Hopefully he is funnier than the last time I saw him perform, regardless it is slated to be a great night. Looking forward on reporting my findings from the fair!

ps. how beautiful does LA look in those images? I took them after the rains, when the city is so crisp and fresh. So incredible to see from Catalina to San Bernadino. in love.

nothing would keep her a child

Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest was one of my top 5 favorite albums from 2009, so I was extremely excited to come across a new track from them. Its a lovely cover of Hot Chip's And I Was A Boy From School. Coincidentally, yesterday we ventured out to Bergamot Station to check out a couple shows, one of which being Alison Schulnik at Mark Moore Gallery. I'll touch on the show more tomorrow, but for now I have had a very long day and simply want to share the touching video she made for Grizzly Bear. What a serendipitous collaboration. I think both the song and her work compliment each other so beautifully. Judge for yourself, and definitely check out the new Grizzly Bear track here.

My Style, Francesca DiMattio: The Artist Gives Us A Peek At Her Offbeat-Chic Style

My Style, Francesca DiMattio: The Artist Gives Us A Peek At Her Offbeat-Chic Style

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I am so in love with her style, and her beautiful home. Totally inspiring in that great taste and design can be had regardless of a large price tag. Makes me really want to go thrift.

teen dream

Beach House, Teen Dream

Just wanted to reiterate how lovely the new Beach House album is. Ever since I heard Victoria Legrand serenade my ears last year I was hooked by the beautiful synthetic melodies. There is something so deeply resonating about her vocals. Gorgeous album to just drift away with...

silver soul

vcr

the xx, vcr, great song.

I could swear every star had a song..

Pollyn 1/23/09 @ Kinkead Contemporary

Just have to rave about what an amazing surprise I got this weekend! Ok so the surprise wasn't even slightly intended for me, but I will stand by the fact that I think I had to be the most excited guest at Barry Belkin's birthday party held at Kinkead Contemporary this past Saturday night. Chris and I arrived around 9 to a great DJ, an abundance of alcohol and hor d'oeuvres and proceeded to have a wonderful time chatting it up. At one point I am standing out back and I hear a familiar beat, and I look to Chris and go, "Is that Pollyn?!?" Knowing that the band was expected, he responded something to the effect of "Yeah, sorry must have forgotten to tell you. Do you know them?" At which I literally ran towards the front room and sure enough, one of my favorite acts right now, in the flesh! You have to understand I have been waiting since last August to check them out, and then wanted to see them for New Years but alas tickets were sold out. Obviously it was an amazing set, but even so much more so seeing them in such a great, intimate space! Was such an incredible night, with great music and people all around. Turned out to be just the start to a lovely weekend, but I'll leave that for another post.. PS If you don't know Pollyn I HIGHLY suggest checking them out- beyond words!

parce qu'elle l'aime

Ahh Godard, you make my heart sing. Nothing puts me in a better mood than a glass of wine and a Godard film.. Since I was first introduced to Alphaville by my (uncomprehendingly beautiful) french film professor in college, I was hooked. His films have a timeless way of calling us out on our bullshit in a way that is so enjoyable. Yesterday I watched Une Femme est Une Femme, starring one of my all time idols, Anna Karina. The film is so quirky, but is so spot on in its portrayal of the relationship between men and women. Absolutely love it all, the colors, the clothes, the music, the attitudes..

Makes it easier to bear.

Anyone in Southern California can attest to the immense amount of rain we have had to tolerate. Yes, it is rather pathetic how incapacitated us Southern Californians are by some wet weather, but guess what, we pay the price to live somewhere so beautiful with an average temperature of 72 degrees. If only running around in the rain was as romantic as it looks in films..

However in honor of the given weather, thought I would share some of my rainy day favorites. When its cold and gloomy outside, all I want to listen to is warm, sultry music with a little bit of funk that heats up the soul. Music with some oomph. Currently including-

Adele. Ayo. Al Green. Bill Withers. Cat Power. Corinne Bailey Rae (The new album sounds beautiful). Dusty Springfield. Dr. Dog. Isaac Hayes. Jacqui Naylor. James Brown. John Lee Hooker. Jolie Holland. Mayer Hawthorne. The National. Neko Case. Norah Jones. Otis Redding. Ray LaMontagne. Stevie Wonder. Sharon Jones.

Hoping everyone is finding a little romance in the dreary weather..

Image found here

addicted.

One of a kind, custom made repetto brogues.

Love these shoes. Love this song. Loving love.

all dressed up..

all dressed in DVF.. 1/15/10

I was seriously feeling the color combo of this dress and jacket- I generally wear the dress with a black jacket but was pleasantly surprised when the deep purples worked so beautifully together.. I must have a thing for this aubergine, as I currently have the most beautiful carnations in the same hue..

So on day 4 of the rain.. Loving the pensive quality of this weather, but not enjoying how sleepy it makes me.. Off tonight to the opening of the LA art show, hoping to report on some exciting things to come, we shall see..

rain rain..

Pretty much just getting through the wet weather by looking forward to this..

we are h u n t e d

this is pretty (seriously) amazing.

lights out.

Chris' wallet. Feeling especially relevant tonight.

Spent a hot second at the Gagosian opening tonight, regretted not taking any pictures because there was some great stuff on view. Am digging Aaron Young's "f* you, I'm cooler than you" deal. I got a kick out of seeing an artist, especially a young one, with all these skater culture references in a big beautiful Beverly Hills gallery. I'm thinking one of the gold plated barricades would make a nice addition to my front entrance, no? Also an interesting, motley mix of things upstairs. I enjoyed seeing the play of the works against each other, what with the Ruscha, Warhol (and some new artists I had never heard of to be honest). Quite a scene- saw many familiar faces, and even indie darling herself Chloe Sevigny was making her way in as I was out.. More tomorrow, as now is time for sleep.

Rhapsody in Blue

Jason Martin, Terse, 2009

So last night ventured out to Venice to check out the 3x3 show at LA Louver, and amongst the Joel Shapiro, Peter Shelton and Richard Deacon Sculptures, I simply saw blue. That beautiful, surreal Klein Blue. The odd foam/plaster/frosting texture simply added to its mystique. I just wanted to reach out and poke it, to see if they would deflate (not to worry, I held myself back.) The painter behind the 3 works is a Jason Martin, of London. On the flyer it noted his works on aluminum, but I could see no aluminum so I did further research, and sure enough the majority of his works are these amazing oil on aluminum paintings. They are stunning (and also available through LA Louver, just to note). Ethereal, mesmerizing, but am the only one that can't help but see hair? Like a glimmering horse's hide.. I would love to see these works in person, note to self, must do.

Jason Martin, Cusk 2007

Jason Martin, Primavera, 2007

Upstairs on display were some Sol LeWitt gouaches, my favorite of which not being the larger grids and more intricate, layered pieces, but the simple bands of color. There are moments where the colors bleed into one anther that were so beautiful...

Sol LeWitt, Irregular Vertical bands of Color Superimposed, 1992

Then it was off to Piccolo, where though we had to wait about 30 minutes past our reservation, they more than made up for it. We were immediately brought complimentary glasses ofprosecco, and heaping servings of their homemade duck prosciutto with a gorgonzola cream. I truly do regret not taking a picture of my pumpkin gargagnelli, the visual impact of the orange hand-wrapped pasta against the vibrant ( though mysterious) green sauce was stunning. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. Definitely recommend the trip over, just bring along your sense of humor, and some patience, and you won't be sorry.

Tonight its off to the Gagosian for what looks to be in interesting show of a young artist, Aaron Young (no pun intended). Can't wait to report on the night's charades. Looking to be another lovely, art filled weekend. Hope everyone in California enjoys a last sun-filled weekend before a rainy week...

Photos from here

do you recognize the smell..

Alexis Harding, from ACME gallery

Wow, how the time is flies when you're having fun! Such a cliche, I'm well aware, but very appropriate. Wishing I could grasp on to time, and stop it from moving so quickly. Last weekend was such a blur, such a lovely, lovely blur... Started out Saturday night at the 6150 Wilshire galleries, highly recommend checking out Dan Zeller at Daniel Weinberg if you want your mind blown a little.. Having worked in pen and ink, I can't even comprehend the amount of patience required to complete one of these works, they are mind-bendingly beautiful.

And another highlight for me were the Sasha Pierce and Alexis Harding paintings at ACME. Sasha Pierce is in a realm with Dan Zeller as far as patience and dedication, and Alexis Harding just kind of rocks my world. I mean how delicious does that look?? His paintings are just so visceral and fugitive. You just want to reach out and smell it and rub yourself in it a little, no? After being stuck behind some a*hole who didn't think twice about blocking our car in, Chris and I headed down to Culver City to check out the Jered Sprecher show at John Kinkead. The show was especially memorable as Chris knows Jered from grad school, and I definitely saw a connection between their processes. Really stunning pieces.

Jered Sprecher at John Kinkead

After some delicious Natalee thai, headed to the after party where I may have consumed 1 too many glasses of the elusive punch (mmmm).. and we called it a night pretty early. Had a lovely Sunday languidly doing nothing, and then walked to the grove to check out Youth in Revolt, which was quite cute. Rounded out the weekend with dinner at El Cholo.. Overall, I really don't think the weekend could have been much better..

Which brings me to Monday. Ahh Mondays.. Been trying to wrap up these grad school apps, luckily had a distraction with a trip to "Little Osaka" for some crazy good ramen and a trip to one of my new favorite places, a beyond-trippy Japanese market, with everything imaginable (and undecipherable...) Stocked with some Sake, we continued my film education with Chinatown, which I simply found to just be sad..

So today was spent playing pretend college student, and I spent the day at the UCLA Arts Library doing some research. What an amazing resource! I could spend hours perusing the stacks.. Ahh how I missed the environment, and realized how little I appreciated it while I was actually in school. Then met up with a lovely friend in Manhattan Beach, which was a place I hadn't checked out since moving down here. What a great little place! I didn't realize how much I missed the sound of the waves and the smell of the ocean..

Hoping to be done once and for all with these apps in the next few days, but busy days they will certainly be. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with my posting so they won't all be quite this long...

xx

these streets will make you feel brand new.

Why am I having such a hard time writing these essays?? It shouldn't be very difficult to extol on my own virtues? Perhaps I am putting too much pressure on myself, but at the same time getting into these grad schools means everything to me. So I am trying to assuage my doubts and just be positive, and more than that confident in my abilities. I'm finding it to be made a little easier listening to this song, and just keeping New York as my inspiration..

Looking so forward to going out on the town tonight- gallery openings, interesting people, and hopefully some great art..

Hoping everyone is having a lovely weekend..

so that happened..

Ammo Restaurant, 1155 N. Highland 90038

Wow, how to sum up this week.. It's been all together pretty wonderful. Been on culinary adventures (Cuban, Japanese home cooking) seen some umm, classic, cinema (Blue Velvet, The Room anyone?) saw old friends, got to know some new ones. Last night was really wonderful. In fact I owe a lot of thanks for the success of this week to my Los Angeles Arts and Culture afficianado, Chris Kuhn. He has been showing me the ropes, and I am hugely grateful. Last night we stopped by an opening at Circus gallery, where I really impressed even myself by falling down the stairs in the middle of the gallery. Walked through the show pretty quickly, there was a video that was pretty beautiful, New Dawn Fades and it is by Jen Liu.

After my, spill, we headed over to Ammo, and had an incredible meal (and an absolutely beyond words cocktail, that somewhat nulled my memory of said fall. It was some kind of deliciousness involving fresh cranberry/orange juice/ ginger and vodka.) Every bite was deeeeelish, but I think a first for me was that my favorite part of the meal was the dessert: 2 of the most perfect bites of heaven-sized ice cream sandwiches. I proposed going back for dinner one time and only ordering 4 servings of them. Just saying...

Now I absolutely must get back to the arduous task of graduate school entrance essay writing, but at least I have KCRW to be so thankful for right now, as they have posted Vampire Weekend's newest Contra available to listen to in full. Check it out here.

PS. How ridiculous is this weather? It feels like the middle of July in LA. Uber love.

l a l o v e

.."celluloid and sand, coyote fur and car exhaust, contrail cloud and chlorine, bitter orange and stage blood and one bushel of ghostly, shivery night-blooming jasmine flowers like blown kisses from the phantoms of the ten thousand screen beauties who still haunt our hills every full moon because they think it's a stage light." "Hollywood's a good place," he said.

One of my favorite artists is Zoe Crosher, whose work I was so lucky to be introduced to by my art mentor/goddess/extraordinaire Miki Garcia. I fell in love with her works, particularly the LA-Like series. Hers are some of the most hauntingly beautiful images, particularly the Transgressing the Pacific Series (2008), which depict locations along the Pacific where people have disappeared. I absolutely love the eerie beauty of the images, and they raise so many questions about LA and the life those of us that live here lead. It's interesting that these images came to mind today, as I am enjoying one of my best weeks in the city so far. I think its that I find her images to be so deeply beautiful, and that I am finding you have to look below the surface in LA to find true beauty, but its definitely there. I love that I am finding it.

Please, please check out more of her works here. I hope you'll fall in love with them as much as I did.

Open Your Heart

love love love this.

If this doesn't make you smile, at least in the slightest, there may very well be something wrong with you.

Working Woman..

Business Attire by lauradores featuring Yves Saint Laurent accessories

Items in this set:
Chloe Animal-print silk blouse, $732
Rick Owens Chunky-knit alpaca cardigan, $690
Chloe Flat over-the-knee boots, $1,295
CHLOE' - SUEDE STUDDED AND CHAIN SHOULDER BAG, 1.607 EUR
4 Pocket Velvet Leggings - 7 For All Mankind, $149

Such a long day at the office, ok granted "the office" is my grandparents condo, and I simply worked on a power point presentation for my grandfather all day, but don't think I have lost sight of my big city dreams. In honor of those, I thought up a dream outfit, comfortable enough to hop on a plane and jet off wherever my next client maybe, but with just enough glam. (If you're wondering about the abundance of Cartier, I was inspired by a recent trip to the mecca on Rodeo. UUUHHHbsessed. Ahh, someday, someday...

awe-struck.

Dandelion Seed Heads and The Moon, 1961-65

Yesterday I went to see the Charles Burchfield show at the Hammer, entitled Heat Waves in A Swamp, before it closed today. I am so glad I made it the whole 5 blocks away to check it out. The gathering of works spanning his entire career, along with notebooks and doodles, was incredibly beautiful. I fell in love with his strokes and use of color, and delighted in his eternal optimism and soul-searching. One of my favorite aspects of his work was how he elaborated on pieces from much earlier in his career, by simply adding pages around and increasing the size, as if to say that we never have to be finished with one thing or another, and there is always the chance to return back to something and expand on it and make it better. I also have to take a moment to comment on the beauty of his use of water color, The transparency allowed for the colors to truly shine. Left feeling so inspired. For more on the show, look here.

can't get enough..

of this song.



the postmarks, no one said this would be easy, memoirs at the end of this world, 2009

new year, new you.

Ahh 2010, how nice to meet you.

Last night I hosted a lovely night in with a couple fabulous people. We had a wonderful time reminiscing, hoping, and pondering. My favorite part was when we went around and asked what your favorite moment of 2009 was. Mine was when I made up my mind (with the help of some really amazing people) to follow my dreams. Although when I think about it, follow isn't quite the right word. Perhaps it would be better put to say to "lead" my dreams, as I never have, and never intend, on being someone who simply follows a pre destined path. Having said that, I hope to lead my own course in 2010. I am thinking wherever it takes me, its going to be a big year. For starts, whether I like it or not, I turn 25, which is a pretty big milestone. I will finally have to make peace with being in my mid twenties. Gone are the years of irresponsibility and endless consumption, and welcoming the years that will lay the foundation for the rest of my life. (No pressure or anything.) Really looking forward to moving to New York, and hopefully attending grad school, which will provide me the necessary tools to really follow my big career dreams. 2009 was a big transition year, and I feel like I grew up a lot in the past 12 months. But really looking forward to seeing what transpires next..

In the spirit of things, it seems only necessary to make a few resolutions. Perhaps by posting them here, it will make me more accountable. (Perhaps...)

- Procrastinate less. Take charge of every moment. Stop wasting time.
- Try and define further my goals, and how I can become the person I need to be to make those happen.
- Learn how to write better, and write more.
- Go to more live shows. Broaden my musical vocabulary. Listen to more vinyl.
- Read on a wider variety of subjects. Learn more and more on subjects I know little about, like history.
- Ask more questions.
- Listen to the answers better.
- Paint more.
- Be increasingly accountable to myself.
- Experience as much as I can.

Who knows where the year will take me, but as my grandmother has always said, isn't that the beauty of life? Wishing you the best year yet, and that all of your dreams become reality..