On Repeat: Rhye

Oh my, I can't seem to stop listening to Rhye - Woman

This band seems so secretive. Although the lead's voice sounds a lot like Sade - spoiler alert! - it's actually a man. I did a quick search for a photo since I wanted to have some sort of visual of the man behind the voice...but there doesn't seem to be any! In an age of over-the-top celebrity appearances, I can respect that they don't want their "look" to interfere with their music. Their recent feature on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic continues to peak my curiosity but I guess I will continue to wonder because I will be out of town when they return to LA's El Rey Theatre on May 10th. Somebody do me (and yourself!) a favor...buy a ticket and snap a photo, ok?!

Hear the entire MBE/KCRW session here! // Another cool article on NPR if you care for more.

BFFS-4EVA

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the most organized host. Sure, I'll save you a cat-free pillow case, fluff you a comforter, vacuum the couch, and have Jackie make pumpkin pancakes in the morning...but when it comes to figuring out what to do throughout your stay, I won't have an entire agenda planned. LA is a wonderful city with a lot of things to do but it's so widespread that you almost have to choose only 1 or 2 things a day. Typically those activities include food, shopping, or something active like a hike or a yoga class.

When Erin came to town, we didn't do much of any of those things! I've known Erin since first grade, so whenever we're together, it doesn't take much to keep us happy and I love that about her. Instead of stressing over where to take her or what to do, we just decided to do whatever would make us happy at the moment, which ended up being the Stanley Kubrik exhibit at the LACMA (probably the closest either of us will get to seeing The Shining since we're both babies!), climbing walls at Rockcreation, skipping the gym to play card games and eat pastries at Sweet Lady Jane, taking our time shopping/gawking at LA Marathoners at the Promenade, split-and-swapping at the new Burger Lounge, and a few more...[life-changing, totally awesome, wish-i-could-post-photos] unmentionables.

Come back soon, Erin! I promise not to plan anything!

Broccoli Blooms

Ah ha! I've never been so excited about broccoli before!

To be honest, I was a little skeptical about the broccoli plants. Our garden plot neighbor had a few extra so we figured, why not try it? It was really happy for a few months with lots of steady growth and humongous leaves. I didn't even know how or where the crowns were going to form until this weekend, voila!, they were there! We're going to let them form a little more before we bust out some stir fry with these. But how cool?! This whole process of "urban farming" (can we even call it that??) has been so rewarding. Just yesterday we had some chard from the garden with steak and roasted peppers. While I was kind of nervous about finding a slug in my food, it tasted delicious! To top it off, this whole experiment as totally paid itself off. We've had lettuce for weeks and it doesn't show any signs of stopping.

Local readers out there -- does anyone know of a veggie swap? It would be so fun to trade some of our butter lettuce, arugula and radishes for peas, tomatoes, peppers...

Starting a Garden

Here I go adding to my list of old-people leisure activities....

Before beginning our veggie garden, we went to the farmer's market to talk to a seasoned farmer about the best ways to begin. As we suspected, he told us that we need to prep our soil before even thinking about what we want to grow. He suggested getting a few bags of EB Stone Planting Compost (no chemicals, no sir!) and mixing it into the soil so that's exactly what we did. Thankfully, the people who had this raised bed before us cleared everything out...just leaving behind a few grape tomatoes.


We got on our hands and knees and cleared out as many roots and leaves that we could!
We were told to water the soil and give it a few days to let all the nutrients seep in...hopefully this will set a good home for our veggies. Now we wait...I can already tell that this whole process will be a long lesson in patience!

In a few days, we'll probably head back to the market to get some veggie starters. Instead of starting with seeds, this will give us a few months head start. Maybe one day we'll start from seeds, but I don't mind a little cheating here and there to keep my confidence levels high.

I got a little crazy in Photoshop and I doubt that this will all fit, but here's what we'd like to do:


If anyone has any tips, I'd love to hear them! More later!

Jackie Wins

In addition to winning 2 tickets to the Divine Fits this upcoming Sunday, Jackie also recently won a 1-year lease on a highly-competitive community garden plot! We can begin planting in November and we can't wait to start growing some winter leafy greens, beans, beets, carrots, zucchini and herbs. I hope that I inherited my mom's green thumb because we're going to need it! If we lived anywhere else in the world, this may not be the right season to begin a garden, but everyone keeps telling us that we shouldn't have too many issues since the climate is so mild here (80 degrees at the end of October - what?!)

Before we moved, one of our neighbors down the street had planted a few rows of vegetables in her side-yard and I've been inspired to do the same ever since. She had the most perfect looking little herb and veggie garden...it seemed like she could have had kale salads for days! If we can come close to her success, I'd be happy. All I want is to be able to harvest one home-grown meal...is that too much to ask?

Brooklyn's Annie Novak is another huge inspiration. She's an "urban farmer" and grows everything on the rooftop of building in the middle of the city. You can check out more photos of her amazing set-up right here on the Selby.

 

*Nope, not about to get a chicken...let's leave that to the professionals. 

Photos are all from the Selby.

In Our Eyes

Summer into fall soundtrack: Niki & the Dove, Instinct (listen on Spotify)

Instinct is one of those albums that I have had on repeat for months. I'm not much of a music editor / critic so I'm not going to even attempt to write up something to convince you to listen to it. Just do it! Start with Tomorrow, The Fox, In our Eyes and prepare for a mini dance party (or in my case, a craving for some good 80's style Jane Fonda aerobics).

***

Photo: taken by me on an iPhone and then edited in Photoshop. Filter Culture Collide Fest October 7, 2012. Please note awesome floral headdress. Lead singer, Malin Dahlström, would be the best bargain-bin elementary school art teacher if this music career doesn't pan out! She was well-equipped with pony beads, floral earrings and anklets, and feather/popsicle-stick fans. Impressive.

Simple Truths About Summer

"The cure for anything is salt water. Sweat, tears, or the sea." 

- Isak Dinesen

***

Isak Dinesen must have lived by the sea because she sure knew what she was talking about. 

Another beautiful summer has come and gone. I'm thankful for all the days spent on the hot sand and in the waves. We only live a few blocks from the beach so almost every weekend, we'd walk west for a few minutes, down through the bluffs and end up in paradise! Coconut waters, veggies and hummas, an entertaining podcast, soduku and soft waves. That's what I've been doing instead of blogging! Oh, and plenty of sweating too. Now that it's almost October, I'm close to reaching my 1 year anniversary of actively and intentionally exercising and eating relatively clean! As for tears? There hasn't been too much of that - maybe a few during this summer's SYTYCD (ah hem, this gooorgeous routine).

***

Side-note: Investing in art is my new favorite indulgence. Luckily, there are so many websites dedicated to bringing inspirational pieces to homes without breaking the bank. Jen Bekman's 20x200 is a great place to start but I found this calming print on Society 6 and I'm so tempted to make it mine. It is pay day after all! 

Apartment Crush: Dabito's Los Angeles Home

Apartment Crush alert! Dabito posted photos of a dreamy Santa Monica apartment rental a few months ago, but he also has a beautiful home of his own! In his interview on Apartment Therapy, he explains the details of his creative process. The space looks comfy, colorful and modern and best of all, he created all this on a strict budget! Dabito is a self-proclaimed "vintage vulture" and found most of these items at thrift stores, Craigslist, and flea markets. Talk about an inspiration. He advises, "be patient" when it comes to putting together your home, a tip that I have taken to heart!

We finally got Jackie's beautiful collection of botanical drawings up on the wall this weekend but we still have a box full of art and decor sitting on the floor, waiting to find a home. After filling up millions of holes in the walls of my last apartment, I'm hesitant to start putting holes in my pretty new, blank walls. I've been scouring Pinterest, watching lots of HGTV, and reading my favorite blogs for inspiration, but haven't taken the leap quite yet! Will keep you posted.

Last but not least: For all you Craigslisters out there - ever want a tool that would let you browse CL by image instead of by title? Guess what? That exists!! Check out picclick.com and it'll save you tons of time. Yes, no more clicking through coffee table posts and being disappointed with this.

Moving!

Well, the 10' UHAUL is rented tomorrow. It's actually happening - we're moving!

Here's a friendly reminder to my future-self: do not try to sell all your stuff and buy new stuff at the same time! We have been carting around the same Craigslisted furniture for the last four years, so we thought it was about time for some upgrades. The Craigslist hunt is fun and exciting but oh so tiring and sometimes disappointing. The selling process is the most tiring part since you want to style up and clean your items and than you are on beck and call the moment someone shows interest. We've had a few funny *and weird* run-ins throughout this entire process, but also many successes. More on that later.

Until I have the time and energy to post a proper update, here's a cheeky little vintage sign that reminded me of what summers used to be like before they were taken up with grown-up things like moving apartments, selling furniture, and working full time!

Lately...

A few quick updates since I haven't posted in a while...

1. Coachella #4 - my fourth time attending, but first (and probably only) time I will be considered VIP!!


I didn't bring my camera into the festival, but managed to take a few photos pool-side. We had a blissful weekend in the desert filled with amazing live performances. St. Vincent, Bon Iver, Santigold, Dr. Dre/Snoop/50 Cent/Eminem and Feist are my top picks of the weekend. It still baffles me that I can list those artists in one sentence.




Take me back to that lazy river, pronto!

2. Muay Thai Boxing - a fun workout that has me sore for days...according to our trainer, the bruises and cuts are the sign of a true bada** fighter. Great. Looks like I'm well on my way! ...Do bada** fighters also have blue toe nails?



3. Low-Carb Challenge: 5 days ago, I was challenged to cut out carbs after breakfast. After getting over the initial shock of taking rice and noodles out of my diet (umm...noodles are my life), it's actually been fun to try and be creative with what goes into my body. When you're writing down everything you eat, it's much easier to say no to unnecessary foods. Side-note for the Con readers: Supposedly I am subconsciously dreading the moment I have to turn down BonTon cake...I dreamt about it last night! BonTon must be my most beloved indulgence. Please feel free to take advantage of this confession the next time I visit.


(Hoisin pork loin veggie skewers - a delicious, low-cal Real Simple Magazine recipe!)

New Obsession: Gobi Mongolian BBQ

It's been years since I have had Mongolian BBQ and I don't know why I was waiting so long. Jackie discovered Gobi in Silverlake, an awesome little spot that lets you pile on all the grub that you can fit in a bowl. As novices we were a little timid with how much food we could "fit" (see the first image below) -- with fresh veggies, 4 meat options, tofu, and toppings galore, it wasn't hard to fill your bowl before getting to the noodles. We ended up pushing stuff down and piling the noodles high:


...we were obviously pretty excited about it...but we were quickly showed up by another BBQ patron...
...now THAT'S a noodle pile!

We dreamt of mongolian BBQ the entire weekend...and returned two nights later to do it right.

Whaddaday

++ via pinterest ++

Thank you, Mr. President, for a day off.

Instead of being stuck in the office my day was:

• 3 parts fun with Nats - discovering a new lunch spot in my neighborhood (who knew?!)** // window shopping & coming home with a dress very similar to the one above // Smoothies

• 3 parts productivity - clean laundry (!!) //  depositing checks // power fusion class at the gym

• 3 parts failure - losing the parking ticket at the mall // locking myself out of the apartment // feeling just over-all kind of gross

• 2 parts HALLELUJAH - the parking attendant let us go without paying the $21 fee!!! // the window-locking mechanism on our front windows work!

Lessons learned? If you get impatient in a busy undercover mall parking lot and shake fists at fellow drivers, karma may just kick you in the butt and make your parking ticket disappear. If you acknowledge that you were wrong and apologize to the universe, a nice parking man might just say "adios" and let you leave without paying a fine. Whoo! Oh, and don't lock yourself out of your own apartment. 

---

**Attention Santa Monica residents: Interim Cafe is a little hidden gem! With no sign on the outside, you must have a little faith when finding parking around 6th and Wilshire. Do not give up! The chicken quesadilla will not disappoint. I was also eye-ing their acai granola bowls and extensive smoothie menu...next time. Dad, as a warning, you will think this place is "earthy".

I'm still kind of floored that Nats was able to introduce me to a new restaurant in the area! I thought I had my 'hood figured out by now.  

Holga Adventures

Holy moly, what a great start to 2012. It feels like summer in LA and I don't mind! Not one bit. For my day off, I took advantage of the beautiful weather and went for a little jaunt around Runyan Canyon with Jackie. It was especially busy - it felt like we were hiking in an amusement park! I don't know if the three day weekend, the weather or new years resolutions are to blame. Probably a combination of the three.



We brought along my trusty camera and experimented with the Holga lens, as you can see. After some indoor experimenting, I decided that the Holga lens was much more appropriate for outdoor settings and I love the vignette effect that I got on a lot of these shots. I kept thinking that it was funny to use a plastic toy lens on such a nice digital SLR. Don't these remind you of those disposable camera shots that you would get developed from summer camp?

Sidenote: I didn't take a photo of it, but the Kale and Coconut smoothie from Naturewell in Silverlake is definitely worth mentioning. There is nothing better after a dusty LA hike! Go brave the hipsters and get one, if you are in the neighborhood.

Hiking it Off.

When the parents are in town, it's all about eating and shopping. Factor in Thanksgiving and Black Friday and we already had a pretty full agenda lined up. To balance out the heaviness of sweet potatoes and mac n' cheese, we suggested dragging everyone up the Hollywood hills to the Griffith Observatory. With the forecast reading 80 degrees and sunny, it ended up being the most perfect afternoon outing.

F E I S T

As good, as amazing, as wonderful as can be. These four-part harmonies in Cicades and Gulls still give me the chills.

She sassed the crowd, wooed the first few rows up on stage, went through Metals, Mushaboom'ed and left out the overly-played single, "1-2-3-4". A double-encore ending with a beautiful version of Let it Die and The Limit to Your Love (with Chilly Gonzalez on the piano)....all worth the wait.