sf

My trip to San Francisco was filled with lots of the usual activities that I enjoy while travelling: drinking, eating, shopping, and museums.

Friday was a blur, we ate and bar hopped and ended the night at a crazy punk bar. I had no idea there are so many kids under 30 who are "punks" in this day and age. A few weeks ago I saw a punk couple at Cha Cha Lounge with The Darlings, and we couldn't stop staring they were so out of place. I started to get nervous when I noticed how many random dogs were wandering around the bar. Scary.

Saturday started off with Shane's AMAZING buttermilk pancakes - we were sneaky and made him promise before we went to bed the night before. After the pancakes Katie and I left for our girly day of museums, eating and shopping.

We started with the de Young Museum, which featured the YSL tribute show. I am sad to say, I was not too impressed. The first room was filled with really beautiful pieces, mostly Le Smoking or other black tie, black garments. But the rest of the show was sort of a mish mash, with too many of this or too little of that. I'm glad I saw it, but I was underwhelmed. A pleasant surprise came with the Warhol Live show that was going on downstairs at the museum. It was all about his participation in the music industry throughout his career. I had no idea how many album covers, beyond The Velvet Underground and Nico, that he really did. I am always happy after I see some Warhol. We ended the day with some food, coffee and shopping, see previous post about the impulse shoe buy.

Before the partay in my honor, we got some delicious pizza at Delphina Pizzaria and participated in some sidewalk wine drinking. Eating delicious and fancy pizza reminds me how there is really no place to get such a thing in LA, and it makes me MAD!

The rest of the night is a blur, and I had to wake up way too early the next day to catch my flight back to LA.

Thanks Shane and Katie for such a fun weekend!

sat/sun

Suddenly my life has gotten busy, and I cannot be more happy about it. I feel like I've been running around nonstop since Wednesday. YAY!!!!

After a Friday night of bar hoping, which led us to the conclusion that only the Gold Room is any good on the weekends, and that the cool kids don't stand in line, I spent my Saturday eating my way around the city. I seem to have developed a new weekend formula.

I went to lunch with Alexa, who finally returned from her European adventures at Alegria, where I had their amazing Huevos Rancheros. For those of you who I told I would never eat Huevos Rancheros again, because of my negative association with the word "huevos", I obviously lied. I cannot resist the goodness that is Mexican food with a fried egg on top. I also got a papaya and lemon smoothie thing that was delish. It was really nice to catch up with Alexa, whom I so missed while she was away, and to live vicariously through her Europe trip. We stopped by The Fix after lunch, where I got a cookie and coffee, which was totally unnecessary after I CLEANED my plate at Alegria.

(Thakoon for Target dress, Mother's belt from back in the day, Sigerson Morrison flats)

After napping off my food coma and re-grooming myself, I met my cousin and her BF and some of their friends for dinner at The Bowery on Sunset. I had read/heard about it a million times, and the fact that they are supposed to have the best burgers in LA. Katie and I shared the sliders, which were, in fact, very tasty. I don't know if they beat the Racquet Club's sliders, but maybe it is nostalgia that makes me say that. 2 of our dinner mates got the burger, which comes on an English Muffin. They both seemed very pleased with that concept, but I remain skeptical. I will have to go back and experience their burger another time, as the sliders came with regular hamburger buns. I think it is safe to say, I did a little bit of binge eating yesterday. Whoops. It was lovely to see Katie and Jerod though, and I promised to go visit them in Manhattan beach on a Friday and spend the evening with them after a relaxing day at the beach. I wish I could have been more fun and stayed out later with them, but I had to behave and be ready for the photo shoot today!

(Vena Cava dress, Vanessa Bruno blazer, Costume National shoes, Abaco purse, antique bracelet)

I was super excited about my outfit, BTW, because this is one of my dresses I got at the Barney's Warehouse sale. As for the shoes, I bought them years ago at Halo and never wore them - to young and not sophisticated enough to wear all the beautiful clothes I owned - but have recently rediscovered them,and have gotten quite a lot of wear out of them in the past few months. If I had dates to go on, this would be the outfit. The photo is awfully dark, but the fabric is beautiful. That is what those girls do best, interesting silk prints made into pretty date dresses!

As for the photo shoot...It was so fun. I don't know why I ever doubted wanting to be a stylist; it is like playing dolls with humans! I have lots of photos and more stories to tell, but will have to post about it later. I must rest for my big day tomorrow, first day of the internship!

b-day celebrations

CUPCAKES and candles!!!



My presents!!!!

From the photos, it looks like it was just me, all dressed up, celebrating my birthday by myself. But I promise you, I had a whole group of people over!

I wore a 3.1 Phillip Lim dress that I found at the Barney's sale. It is so fab. The front is all sophisticated and simple, but the "jewels" are covered in leather. Then the BACK, omg. It is mesh. SO hot.

Decorations made out of a road map of Los Angeles. I cut out the letters to spell my name, but I thought it wasn't appropriate to personalize it when I made them myself.

Star Gazer lillies and macarons. 2 of my favorite things! The macarons were no La Durée, but they were pretty tasty none the less! The caramel ones were by far the best.

birthday weekend over

I had a super fun birthday weekend, my sister came down to visit, and we basically ate (while I simultaneously drank) our way around Los Angeles. As usual, I didn't take enough pictures, like slim to none, so all I really have are my memories...ahhhhhhhh.

We ate 2 delish meals and spent way too much time in the car on Friday at Ford's Filling Station - where we saw Luke Wilson!!!! - then at Canelé, which wasn't as good as the last time I ate there, but tasty none the less. I did get a ticket while at dinner, it is a pain that parking laws are completely different in every city within Greater Los Angeles, they really are the fastest way to throw money down the toilet. LAME.

Saturday, my actual b-day, was fab. We started the day with giant muffins from La Brea Bakery, papaya, coffee and PRESENTS!!!!! I got the one thing I really wanted, Ugg slippers - so glamorous, I know - plus some awesome surprises, most exciting was the CHANEL WALLET!!!! Now, I am officially a grown-up. Because only grown-ups have Chanel wallets, even when their mom buys them for them. Lunch and champagne at Blair's was followed by the best/worst pedi/manis and then it was time to get ready for the partay!

I had a lovely get together with my friends, with amaaaazing chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, tons and tons of champagne and macarons from Paulette and of course, failed to take any pictures of the festivities. But I did manage to take some photos of the apartment (well, living room) decked out in all it's festive glory. I will post them later.

We ended the weekend with lunch at Gingergrass, a trip to the fancy new Glendale mall, where we shopped (I tried on all the headbands at Crewcuts and finally decided on a belt to wear as a headband. Good thing little girls are so little, then I can wear their belts on my head), ate gelato and watched Shopaholic, then we finished the night by watching the last hour of the Oscars, which I found boring, while eating party leftovers. Where were all the famous people??? Where were Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, the Wilson brothers??? Why was Miley Cyrus there and not them???

I was very sad to drop my sister off at the airport this morning, but happy about our successful weekend. Instead of getting back into real life, I've spent the day snoozing and snacking. Real life starts on Tuesday.

I am now officially 24, and officially unemployed. If I am lucky, 24 will be as good as 22 and 23. Even though there were some rough patches in both those years, they have been a whirlwind of excitement, with world travel and lots of accomplishments, and full of learning curves. For the first time in my life I have been really comfortable and happy with myself, my choices and my surroundings. It is a good feeling. I just hope that it continues!

My only problem is that I cannot stop eating the cupcakes and cookies that are still in my fridge. It seem such a waste to throw such delicious things in the trash. But the size of my butt after a weekend full of drinking and desserts is beginning to concern me.

back in the land of sunglasses

After an extended visit in Portland, which included 2 weeks of being house bound due to snow, lots of eating, drinking and one epic new years, I am back in Los Angeles. I miss home, of course, but am determined to make this my home again, at least for now. Much to my discombobulated cat's dismay, I promptly rearranged my living room (for the 5th time), and I am almost satisfied. Now for the job...As my fortune from dinner tonight at Mao's Kitchen with Alexa said, this month will be full of life changing events!!!! Bring it.

ladurée = cookie love

I don't think it is really fair to call Ladurée macarons cookies, but that is probably the closest equivalent. In reality, Ladurée macarons (macaroons to some) are 2 small pieces of tender yet crunchy flavored cakes sandwiched with the creamiest of filling. They come in every flavor imaginable and all taste like little pieces of heaven. When you enter into one of their stores, you get to pick and choose from the hundreds of macarons spread out in front of you, in a rainbow of the prettiest colors, and then they are put in the sweetest of green boxes with gold foil detail. You cannot help but feel like Marie Antoinette when you eat them.








My sister and I were reminiscing about Paris the other day, while I was sitting in bed in Los Angeles and she in hers in Portland. I told her how I had been going through my daily blogs and saw that Alix of The Cherry Blossom Girl had made a trip to Versailles and brought along Ladurée macarons and some other beautiful pastries from their store. And since we are both obsessed with the Sophia Coppola film Marie Antoinette and Ladurée macarons we found it amazing that we hadn't thought of that ourselves! Part of the problem is that both times she came to visit me in Paris, it was the dead of winter, so traipsing through the grass in the gardens of Versailles with macarons and a bottle of champagne was just sort of out of the question. But we did promise each other that the next time we are in Paris, we will make the trip, baby and all!

I've never really had anything other than their macarons, but I found this on the website, and thought wouldn't that be the most amazing wedding cake ever?

all photos: www.laduree.fr

And the name makes it all the more enticing. L'Entremet Marie-Antoinette.

wine tasting partay at the murphy's

I was lucky enough to be invited to my good friends' Linsday and Kevin's house for a wine tasting of Argentinian Wines from Anuva Vinos, a Buenos Aries based wine distribution club. Due to the stormy/snowy/icy weather, I had left 2 messages for them saying I wasn't coming and then I was. Due to the hilly location of my parent's house, I didn't know if I was going to be able to venture back out till about an hour before the party started. Man, am I glad I made it!

We tasted 6 bottles, 1 white and 5 red, and got the presentation straight from the founder and Portland native, Daniel Karlin.



The wines sampled were limited production, carefully selected Argentinian wines and included Anecon Torrentès 206 (white and delicious), Cavagnara Malbec Reserve 2004, Familia Mayol Bonarda 2005, Zaino Malbec Reserve 2004, Don Juan Reserve Blend 2004 and finally Mudai Pinot Noir 2005. By the 3rd bottle, I wasn't really paying much attention to the presentation and was interested more in socializing. But presentation or not, it was a super fun party.

The food and friends were fab; the Murphy's throw the wildest and most fun parties of anyone I know. In addition to the holidays, we got to celebrate Pat and Kelly's engagement (YAY!!!) and my homecoming (duh).

Mr. Murphy et Moi.

Lindsay, Kelly and Me.


Oh. And I got bangs.


Lindsay wears a J. Crew Sweater, Kelly a Marni Dress and I forget what label fabulous furry jacket and I wear a Gap men's flannel shirt, Petit Bateau t-shirt, Earnest Sewn Jeans, Vialis boots (not shown) and Bucherer watch.

I must repeat that day/nights outfit. As it was super comfortable, I first got dressed that morning at 5 am for my 7 am flight, and cozy for the cold weather. I topped the look of with my J. Crew (Balenciaga) Blazer and my DIY green cowl scarf.



Kevin in his Ugly Christmas Sweater. I think for a minute they thought about giving it that theme.

Thanks Lindsay and Kevin for a super fun time!