May 2012
2 posts
April 2012
2 posts
March 2012
4 posts
7 tags
The Writing on the Wall.
Got the Detroit buzz from SxSW today from my friend Sam! Apparently there’s something happening called Secret Walls. Eight artists from all over the world traveled in two Chevy’s from Detroit to Austin to face off in a 90 minute street art battle. Two Detroiters, two New Yorkers, a couple of London blokes, a Scot and a Canuck in an art war? Sign me up.
And in this corner, the hometown...
February 2012
3 posts
4 tags
January 2012
6 posts
1 tag
3 tags
1 tag
December 2011
5 posts
3 tags
1 tag
November 2011
1 post
8 tags
The Vista: Sufjan in Perfect View
At a theatre in Silverlake is not how I imagined my first Sufjan Stevens experience. My ideal scenario involves an impromptu run in at the Bronx Bar in our native Detroit at the jukebox, some shared laughs ending with both of our groups of friends falling in friendshiply love with one another and growing old as a pack of falsetto singing, banjo playing, godparents to eachothers children. But I can...
October 2011
2 posts
8 tags
Fly Away Home. Anna Paquin's Crowning Achievement?...
Two times out of the 9 that I’ve arrived at LAX I didn’t have a ride to pick me up (let’s not talk about it). While taxis were an option, I am my father’s daughter, and convenience still gets sacrificed on the alter of frugality with shockingly mindless ease. So, with my pennies pinched between my fingers I googled my way home. The interwebs informed me of the bus that...
15 tags
Occupy Los Angeles
In the thick of the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City, there is a sister movement happening in our west coast corner of the good old red, white and blue. As I cycled into work this morning I took a detour to go to (ironically) Bank of America to deposit my paycheck. As I approached the corner of Hill and 5th I saw a big neon orange 99% dancing through the sky above a sea of Angelenos.
...
September 2011
4 posts
7 tags
The First Time I Got A Quran at the Point of Sale
The following story happened a bit ago, but it just came to mind again today when I was looking at my disaster of a bookshelf.
It fell apart, obviously. That’s what happens when you inherit a bookshelf from a former FIDM student who half put it together and you finished the job with your bare hands rather than the necessary tools. The move to Echo Park didn’t help the matter...
9 tags
Guest Blogger: Brother Virgin
Everyone has such a unique and personal experience acclimating to new city. Especially one like this. My brother just moved to LA earlier this summer to pursue his masters and has written a few stories of his own. I love him very much. Even though he never let me talk when I was little.
Enter, Lincoln’s blog.
...
5 tags
Local LA Brand, SKINGRAFT, in Vogue Italia
Once you pick your jaw up off the floor after thumbing through the so-shocking-it’s-kind-of-euphoric corset editorial in Vogue Italia’s September Issue, keep thumbing! You’re going to end up running into a shot featuring local LA brand, Skingraft’s, Goat Hair Shoulder Jacket.
There was even some planking involved. Such a statement of the smallness of the world, the...
James Jean
Into it.
August 2011
2 posts
6 tags
Malibu Inn: Vintage Mood. Epic Food.
Not my catchy headline-no, no. That’s all them. The ‘Vintage Mood. Epic Food.’ byline on the Malibu Inn sign was enough to get us to flip a u-ey on the PCH.
After a heavenly afternoon at El Matador State Beach, the Detroit trio (my grad school bound brother, writer/stylist/creative force of nature friend, Angela, and little old me) were hankering for some memorable menu items...
6 tags
El Matador: My New Favorite Beach
One of my favorite Detroiters, Angela Wisniewski, was recently in town to style another Michigan native, Mayer Hawthorne, for his upcoming album cover. Sister friend called me up to see if I was interested in assisting her on the job. And, of course I couldn’t resist spending a day with a handful of people from my beloved motherland.
After a successful day of draping, taping, tucking and...
July 2011
4 posts
6 tags
The First Time I Felt Inspired By Sand
San Diego Day Trip.
The two options for the day were A. Go to downtown San Diego to scope out the Comic-Con characters or B. Hit Imperial Beach for a stroll through the US Open Sand Castle Competition. Trekkies or waves? I needed a dose of nature more than a dose of culture, so….beach won. (Real truth? We worked off the assumption that since it was the last day of the festival a lot of the...
7 tags
Under The Sea Atop My Plate
To celebrate the new layout and all the hard work that Sam and the team at Lenume put into this fresh site you see—good eats were in order. Sam is the king of finding the best hole in the wall places and he didn’t fail to maintain that sterling reputation when picking our destination for the evening.
If you ever take Glendale Blvd. to where the 2 starts, you’ve driven past...
3 tags
Lotus Festival...? Ok! The Best Way to Tell the...
Before anything else happens, watch this and inform yourself about the most recent love story currently taking place on Echo Park Lake. Maria the Goose is being relocated. Construction beings Monday, July 11th. Will the rehabilitation of the lake and impending construction be the end of them?
I wanted to throw a ‘Goodbye Lake’ party this weekend, but looks like the Lotus Festival...
June 2011
2 posts
6 tags
La Descarga: The First Time I Decided to Inhale a...
American citizen? Can’t travel to Cuba? Head to the corner of Western and Santa Monica Blvd—you’ll forget all about how the embargo affects your life. A little slice of Havana right in the heart of Hollywood.
La Descarga, Spanish for unload/unleash/unburden, will make you do just that. The night I went it was an hour until closing time so the crowd had cleared and all that was...
5 tags
The First Manicure I Didn't Feel Ashamed to Buy
I hate the abbreviation ‘mani-pedi.’ Literally, cannot say the word without some sort of physical reaction. Slight gag, eye roll, look of disgust, etc. Do we not have enough time or energy to get the rest of the syllables out? Too much work for our leisure culture.
BUT—-For those of you ‘mani-pedi-ers,’ I have found a little gem of a salon in Silverlake per a...
April 2011
1 post
7 tags
The First Time I Got Hit By a Semi
Not me. My car. But I was in it, so that counts.
I was minding my business at Sunset and Alvarado on my way to lunch with a friend. Anyone who’s familiar with those cross streets knows there’s a 76 gas station on the corner. It can be a bit tricky trying to navigate the traffic when getting back on the road.
Eased out. Made shallow turn. Settled, crooked in the lane. My bumper...
March 2011
6 posts
15 tags
Theophilus London Checked Key Club Off My To Do...
Can’t say I’ve ever been frisked upon entry at a concert, but as this blog constantly reminds me (and hopefully you), there’s a first time for everything. After a minor rub down outside the door at Key Club we crossed the threshold into the famed spot on the Sunset Strip and elbowed our way through a sea of high tops, wide brimmed fedoras, PBRs and ice (the kind that goes around...
7 tags
Eulogies & The Dears
Photo: Eulogies at the Super Secret Swinghouse Party.
Frontman (don’t know his name and am posting live from the show and don’t want to waste any more time on my phone than necessary looking it up) delivers best on stage one liner.’This is a party right? It feels like showcase…’ Hahha, come on kids! Let loose! A memo for all future rock show attendees…They already took the time to write and...
7 tags
Did I Just Have Lunch At An Ashram? New Vegan/Veg...
And the award for most Out-of-the-Ordinary Dining Experience goes toooo…..Cafe Gratitude! Not because the food was strange (well, not to me, but maybe to my BBQ loving Texas relatives). It was actually delicious. I just wasn’t quite sure what to do when a perfect stranger began taking my order with the following question…
‘How are you blessed in your life?’
I...
9 tags
Detroit Music+ Jason Bentley + NASCAR?= Dale...
So, this is more of a Detroit story this time around, but I’ve been craving some Motor City action lately and it’s expressing itself in this post. A girl gets homesick sometimes!
I was driving down Pico Blvd. sometime last year and heard this really Beach Boys/Beatles-esque track playing on KCRW. Immediately was into it, naturally. These were my pre-Shazam days, so I had to wait til...
8 tags
What Does a Canadian Give You for Valentine's Day?...
So I know that I’m kind of pulling into the station a little late on this one, but it’s too good to not talk about even after the fact.
I went to a party at Belle Jar vintage waaaaaaay back, maybe in December or January? My friends and I noticed the DJ right away for a number of reasons. She was beautiful, her vibe was free and full of life —- AND she was wearing this great red...
February 2011
4 posts
15 tags
They Need No Fancy Headline---> Local Natives.
Saturday night was a combination of all the right ingredients. Inspiring venue a la Frank Gehry, the men of the hour, Local Natives and the perfect company (my little brother in from Detroit. Devoted Local Natives fan). Consistently running 15 minutes late, you know I mean business when I arrive somewhere early. We slid into the concert hall 20 minutes before the show started and nearly wet...
5 tags
7 tags
Phantom in the Shadow Shadow Shade
So, who happened to be at Spaceland tonight?!
Oh wait, sorry….
The Satellite…
Anyone as perplexed as I by the name change? In fact, I was so taken off guard when I found out that The Satellite was the new name of our beloved Spaceland that I was forced out of my introspective bubble to ask questions to strangers. Something that occurs more often now, but never as a product of my...
5 tags
The First Time I Never Met Lady Gaga
The buzz in the city during awards weekends is probably one of my favorite LA novelties. Parties going on everywhere. Everyone is curious whose name will be called. And I have to say, although I didn’t get to watch them as I was taking a disco nap for Lady Gaga….I couldn’t have been happier that legitimately talented people were awarded and recognized. And, beyond that, they...
November 2010
3 posts
5 tags
Upper House Pho Life
Living in Koreatown for about a year now, I’ve discovered some pretty great hole in the wall spots. I’ve also found some holes in my walls, but that’s for another day. BUT, this find today was an exceptionally happy one. Upper House is now my new favorite destination when my hands are failing me in the kitchen. Dear Future Husband, I never fail in the kitchen. Xoxo, Future Wife....
9 tags
Bobby Kennedy Assassinated in My Backyard & The...
Grab some popcorn, this one’s gonna be a doozy.
The following describes the best thing I have experienced in LA, ever. All exaggerating tendencies aside, the Robert F. Kennedy Inspiration Park moved me deeply. If not number one, it definitely makes the top three, nestled between a lecture given by the daughter of a public defender on the Charles Manson’s case about corporate social...