Food Love

Aloha poke with kale & seaweed over brown rice from Poke-Poke at Venice Beach
Bread pudding from Schulzies

Three Things

• Ever evolving and always colorful Venice Beach Graffiti Pit makes for a great photographic subject and backdrop - the skate park a few feet away makes for some great entertainment as well with some really talented skateboarders of all ages.
  

• View from the convertible on a boat on the way to Balboa Island in Orange County. Sure beats waiting in traffic on the main roads.
  

• LA Galaxy vs. Real Madrid exhibition game at the LA Coliseum. Last summer was a lot of fun, traveling around Europe during the World Cup - getting to watch Landon Donovan, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Benzema take to the field together was just as fun!
  

Dee Eye Why (Part II)

First DIY project complete! It's been a while since I've worked on a jewelry piece, so I wanted to start simple. On the other hand, I'm absolutely mesmerized with these great pieces by Dannijo, CC Skye and Joomi Lim that mix chain and metal work with more feminine details and styling.

Baby steps first though since I hadn't worked with chain before. I picked up single and double link options with some ideas in mind but no idea where to start.

One performance episode of So You Think You Can Dance (Season 8 picks currently are Sasha, Melanie, Marko, Jordan & Tadd, if you are curious) later, and I had a new addition to my ever-growing necklace collection. All I had to do was cut the double link chain slightly longer than the single, get creative with a few jump rings, crimp beads and wire...onto the next challenge!

Food Love

Tuesdays are for my random Three Things posts. I've decided that Fridays will feature a singular shout out to my favorite dining-out adventures.

Rosemary's Baby from No Reservations food truck

I've always enjoyed couscous, but this food truck order made me LOVE Israeli couscous.

Dee Eye Why (Part I)

After attending Thread Shows LA and spending numerous Sundays at the various flea markets in the area (Melrose Trading Post, Rose Bowl Flea Market to name a few), I started feeling my creative side wake up again. I would walk away with some great pieces from the hours spent wandering back and forth between booths and talking with vendors, but part of me cannot help thinking, "I can definitely do this instead of spending xx of my monies on it."

So last weekend - on the heels of doing some inspirational blog-browsing on swellmayde and P.S. I Made This and just so be it at a shopping center which featured a Michaels as I did errands, I stocked up on some great beads, chains and jewelry-making-necessities instead of hitting up the Renegade Craft Fair (maybe next time, guys!) ...so stay tuned to see what comes of these pretty beads.

Three Things

• How cute are these Kauzbots? Each version represents a different philanthropic cause, a percentage of which the sale proceeds will be donated towards.
  

• Automatic arm party courtesy of Rachel Abroms' awesome leather wrap bracelet. Just add watch, maybe a skinny charm bracelet from Melrose Trading Post and you're good to go.
  

• I've tweeted several times about how happy I am that I participated in the CSA California program that delivers fresh produce to my workplace every other week - I figured it's about darn time I featured it on the blog as well. I've learned so many great ways to prepare new types of veggies that I never would have been brave enough to buy at the markets or stores myself.
  

Localizing - Show at Barre

Hands down, my favorite place within walking distance from my apartment has become Show at Barre. I was severely disappointed when the John Hughes edition of For the Record we had bought tickets for was canceled - but that did not stop us from checking out the Coen Brothers edition, which is running for the next few months.

For those unfamiliar with the setup, Vermont, Rockwell and Show at Barre are all owned by the 1714 group. Kyle and I met there early for a round of sangria, kobe sliders, hot & skinny fries and grilled cheese with charred tomato bisque, after which we were sufficiently energized for the show.

We transitioned over to Show at Barre, which is the cabaret-style bar area adjacent to Vermont and were promptly seated at a tiny table amidst more tiny tables and booths facing the stage whose backdrop is Vermont Street. Additional patrons started filling up every nook and cranny of the venue - the place was packed for opening night.

I don't want to give too much away for those looking to check out the show, but I will say that it ran a great gamut of songs and acts from the Coen Brothers movies - O Brother Where Art Thou?, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, etc. One of the best parts is how the show isn't contained to the stage. The cast utilized every possible open space amongst the audience, really engaging us into the performance. We were truly hooked, from the opening to the closing.

Naturally, we made plans to snag tickets to the monthly Hip Hipsteret which was scheduled for the following Wednesday. Once again, we were blown away. The larger ensemble covered music from Adele, Florence + the Machine, LCD Soundsystem and more - weaving it into an original cabaret performance.

As with the other shows, there was a two drink minimum, but the bar also provided a special selection in theme with the night's performance. They also allow patrons to order from a full menu of appetizer, entree and dessert items as well which is great - we can vouch for the skillet baked chocolate chip cookie and molten chocolate cake.

I cannot give enough kudos to the team that coordinate all of the various performances not to mention the culinary team behind the 1714 establishments, so you'll just have to go and plan an outing yourself to one of the shows. I know we already are scouting out the upcoming schedule for the new additions and the menu for our tastebuds' appeasing...see you there!

Three Things

• I found Stitch's doppleganger on a t-shirt at Co-op 28, this awesome little store right down the street from my apartment. I cannot say enough good things about the neighborhood of Los Feliz - so proud to becoming well-versed in the local gems I have within walking distance!
  

• The line at Wurstkuche is totally worth the wait. I may also be addicted to their Chipotle Ketchup.

• Paradis ice cream (also on the list of walkable gems) has filled the void that Greenville's Luna Rosa left in my heart. Specifically filled their Chocolate Sorbet paired with Roasted Hazelnut Cream.

Curls Curls Curls

Since having moved to France in March 2010, I'd only had a handful of haircuts. So it being Summer 2011 now - naturally, a change would probably be in need. I'd mixed it up a bit with some ombre coloring back in April (shoutout and thanks to Quint back at the Ivy Salon in Greenville) but decided I needed some major lightening up of the length and ease of styling given the summer heat and my proclivity to dedicate more time to snoozing than blowdrying in the morning.

I diligently did my Yelp research and ventured out to the west-side this morning for an appointment with Hidemi at Hair Epoch. Few hours later, I emerged with lighter layers and easy-maintenance wavy curls. As with any hair treatment, the last stretch of sitting around in the salon chair made me super-fidgety, but I'm super happy with the outcome. I definitely plan on returning back to Hidemi, Epoch and the Mitsuwa market right next door!

Happy (Belated) Birthday, America!

July 4th weekend consisted of a great road trip adventuring. Friday afternoon was spent paddle-boarding in Malibu (many kudos to the Malibu Surf Shack for awesome service) followed by the Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA. The outdoor installment made up of various vintage streetlight styles is beautiful.

Saturday was spent traversing the great mountains and deserts to get to the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, we had to wait about an hour at the entrance due to an accident - but we entertained ourselves with Pictionary Man, the high-school-mix CDs I had packed and some squirt guns that were supposed to be a surprise for the Vegas pools.

Luckily, we were still able to enter and explore the trails along the South Rim before the sun started to set. Minus the abundance of tourists and multilingual ooh-ing and ahh-ing around us, you really could feel as if you had found yourself on another planet. The timing of the sunset really highlighted all the different layers and colors of rock in the terrain - it probably also saved us from heat exhaustion since the highs were around 110 that weekend.


Sunday morning, we joined the rest of the LP friends up in Vegas. And well, what happens in Vegas...gets posted to Facebook. So you'll just have to check that out to get the rest of the weekend story!