LA baby

Just got back from a weekend in LA with my sister, Jackie, and was it eventful! So eventful that I didn't do a very good job at taking pictures...sorry. Here's a break down of our memorable weekend...

Fri, Sept. 21:
Dreadful flight on AA. No movie, no food, but we did get there on time. Rented a car from Enterprise...got the only purple one in the lot (no joke). Drove to our hotel, Maison 140, in Beverly Hills (yes, in our purple car) http://www.maison140beverlyhills.com/ with our fussy, but trusty GPS system. This boutique hotel is small, but nicely decorated if you are into things French / Asian, Chinoise I should say. Met up with our friend, Grace, for dinner at Massimo http://www.massimobh.com/ where they serve delicious homemade pasta. Afterwards, stayed out late to have drinks with old Cooper Union friends whom I haven't seen in 10 years! Lots of running in the rain. Weaning off the jet lag quickly. Maison 140 has the most comfortable bed ever!

Sat, Sept. 22:
Cloudy and rainy...had brunch at Little Next Door http://www.thelittledoor.com/lndhome.html which was absolutely delicious. Left the car window a bit open (brilliant) and the driver's seat got soaked (it's just the beginning). Decided to do some shopping on Roberston, then drove to a couple of stationary stores, Pulp on La Brea and Soolip http://www.soolip.com/ on Melrose. Pulp (no website) is my favorite with a huge array of lovely cards, stationary, and fun gifts. While on Melrose, we stopped to have a snack at Elixir Tonic & Tea http://www.elixirtonics.com/ in their serene garden. Walked back to the car to find a ticket on our windshield for our just expired meter. I mean really! No cop in sight...did he jump out of the bushes the second the meter stopped?! We then drove to downtown LA to meet my mom's cousin for the first time, as well as, our cousin, Wendy, for dinner. He prepared for us a fabulous shabu-shabu feast (japanese hotpot), so we ate and drank until 2 am again. Looking forward to our hotel bed, we go to our purple car only to find that the battery has died and the keys won't come out of the ignition! That's the kind of ride we get for $15 a day. Long story short, after 2 tow guys came, it finally got fixed. Luckily we were home by 3:30 am. It definitely could have been worse.

Sun, Sept. 23:
Finally...the beautiful LA weather we were waiting for! We met Wendy for brunch at Toast http://www.toastbakerycafe.net/ which was interesting. Lots of LA types for good people watching. Then we drove to Venice to meet up with Grace. Noticed quite a few new stores on Abbot Kinney from the last time I was there. Some that caught my eye were Tortoise http://tortoiselife.com/, a lovely Japanese design store of mostly home products and jewelry, The Modern Dog http://www.come-sit-stay-shop.com/, a place to buy all things to spoil your pet (or my pets), and Urbanic Paper Boutique http://www.urbanicdesigns.com/, a cute local card shop. We also took a stroll on the boardwalk and stopped at a cafe to find Mos Def hanging out there with friends. YES, he looked good...and NO, I did not get a picture (he looked exactly like the internet pic above). Later, we had dinner at Joe's http://www.joesrestaurant.com/ with Grace and her boyfriend. Looks conservative, but more laid back than you would think...delicious with French flare (the restaurant, not the boyfriend...haha).

Mon, Sept. 24:
Packed in the morning to go to the airport. Sad that we had to leave so soon, especially with the nice weather. Dropped off our now beloved purple car at Enterprise (no road side assistance charge...yes!) and stocked up on snacks for the flight home. Practically a day on the plane.

Need any tips on LA travel (not that you would necessarily want them from me), or if you have stories / recommendations of your own, email yours truly or post a comment!

I Heart MoMA

I finally went to the MoMA this weekend to see the Richard Serra sculptures, which are impressive, as well as, dizzying. For those of you who haven't seen them, they're only up for another few days...Sept. 24th to be exact. The purpose of this post is not to talk about the Serra sculptures or that mediocre painting show, but instead, recommend the smaller exhibitions that one might overlook. The first recommendation is of a little printmaking exhibit called "Repicturing the Past / Picturing the Present" which is up until Nov. 4th. Seductive self portrait etchings by Louise Bourgeois (similar to the picture shown), etchings by Picasso, series of lithographs by Max Beckmann, a wonderful fairy tale inspired multi-color print by Kiki Smith, and a room full of Kara Walker screen prints are just the striking few that are on display. Another little exhibition worth seeing is "Lost Vanguard: Soviet Modernist Architecture, 1922-32", which consists of breathtaking photographs by Richard Pare of Soviet avant-garde architecture in the post revolutionary period. Showing through Oct. 29th, Pare captures the beautiful simplicity of shapes and patterns in their seemingly abandoned state. If you're into Minimalism, there's also a note worthy exhibit called "Lines, Grids, Stains, Words" with work by Agnes Martin, Sol Lewitt, Hanna Darbovan, Ed Ruscha, Glenn Ligon, and Eva Hesse...up until Oct. 22nd. An upcoming show that I am extremely excited about is "Georges Seurat: The Drawings" due to open Oct. 28th. Most famous for his Pointillism paintings, for those of you not familiar with his drawings are in for a real treat...they're dark, full of mass, and simply gorgeous (also see picture shown). Needless to say, take a trip to the MoMA soon...especially if you are tired of the gallery circuit and need some inspiration!

Ahhhhhh, Fall...

is fast approaching and so are all the fabulous premieres of my favorite tv shows...about time! this list is only of the shows i'll be leaving work early and canceling dinner plans for, so start putting these dates in your iCal. also, feel free to add more show dates in the comment section...Flavor of Love 3 and I Love New York 2 strongly prohibited! sorry to those of you who have lost all respect of me because of this post.

ANTM (cycle 9) - CW - Sept. 19, Wed, 8pm
oh Jaslene. HELLO Nigel. hopefully Tyra did something about her hair line...

Project Runway (season 4) - Bravo - Nov. 14, Wed
Jeffrey Sebelia won last season...the meany who cried when he was accused of cheating. i wonder what challenges they'll have this season...design a day to evening outfit out of spaghetti?

Nip / Tuck (season 5) - FX - Oct. 30, Tues, 10pm
OMG...where do i even begin with this?! this show has gotten so out of control, yet i can't stop watching....religiously. long story short, in season 4, Escobar finally gets killed, Christian & Michelle break up (never liked her anyways), Matt & Kimber have become Scientologists with a baby to come (i mean really, Matt), and Sean & Julia are now separated. this brings us to season 5 where they've moved their practice from Miami to LA...lots of previous homoerotic under tones....we'll just have to wait and see what dramas are in store for us in the 22 episodes to come!

Caveman (new show) - ABC - Oct. 2, Tues, 8pm
whhhhhyyyyy would you make these Geico commercials into a sitcom? there goes the brilliance of the commercials...yet i'm curious and have to watch the first episode...at least.

Survivor: China (there's so many, i lost track) - CBS - Sept. 20, Thurs, 8pm
for the dorks out there, i watch this on and off. the fact that it's in China might make me watch this again.

CSI (the original Vegas one) - CBS - Sept. 27, Thurs, 9pm
conveniently after Survivor...again, i watch this on and off. i need my fix of CSI mystery type stuff...plus William Petersen who plays Grissom (the original Manhunter, before all those other Thomas Harris book to movies came out) is in it. he just knows everything.

Eye Candy

weekend happenings at my studio:

1) some little gouache pieces on the wall
2) recently completed edition of a card
3 & 4 ) work in progress drawings of strings & ribbons

Nina!

HAD to put this picture up simply because it's ridiculously cute. courtesy of Amanda & Jerry. check out their sites (Famke Janssen at the dogrun for example) for more:

http://www.onetensullivan.com/
http://www.lunasmydog.com/blog/

Studio Labor

for those of you that wonder what i do now that i'm p/t at the Gap....and IF my studio exists, here are some pics/proof. if not blogging or drinking at the local wine bar, i spend most of my time at studio 302 screen printing work for my line, Beau Ideal. i will keep everyone posted once my work is ready to view & sell, which should hopefully be soon. enjoy this holiday weekend before the summer is over!