Playlist 005

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I rented a Prius on my trip—my first time renting a car, ever! I felt so quiche I can't even. I really loved that little car, except that the rear window is divided in half horizontally by a big black bar that seriously obstructs your view of the cars behind you. But other than that, you know, it was fine. It had a really sweet sound system and—get this—I could play my iPhone directly through the speakers! There was a USB port in the car! What'll they think of next? Anyway, I downloaded a free trial of Spotify Premium and drove around feelin' like a distant Kardashian cousin. Here's some of what I was listening to...

I didn't make this in 8tracks because last time I did that I got an email saying one of the songs became unavailable? So I'm replacing that jankness with a janky list of YouTube/Soundcloud links, below!

01 Know It Ain't Right M.I.A.
02 Hot Spot Foxy Brown
03 109 Toro Y Moi
04 Solos Tony Dize Ft. Don Omar
05 I Want Your Love Kelis
06 I Follow Rivers (The Magician Remix) Lykke Li
07 #88 Lo-Fang
08 One Of a Kind G-Dragon
09 Rollercoaster Janet Jackson

This Fruit Takes L.A.

Ohmygod you guys, sorry it has taken me so long to get this off my chest. I've only been back from L.A. for two measly days and haven't had any down time—I got in at 7:00am on Tuesday, dropped my bags off at home and went straight to the office with a ton of shit to catch up on. But I'm going to share with you my trip now! All of it in all it's Prius-powered, good-better-best-meal-driven glory. Since I'd never been I hustled to see as much as I could in one go, so brace yourselves.

FUN FACT! I didn't wear deodorant the entire week ^_^

Wednesday

EAT/SHOP/SEE I started the day with a drive out to Abbot Kinney Boulevard, a sick shopping area that gave off some *hella chill* vibes. I shopped Mise En Scène, HURRA! (which closes today so get on it) and Tortoise General Store. I did lunch at Gjelina, grabbed iced coffee at Intellegentsia and made my way to hang ten at Venice Beach.

Thursday

EAT/SHOP/SEE I drove to the downtown arts district and grabbed a capp and a banana muff at The Pie Hole (only half as fun as it sounds) then shopped my brains out at Hammer & Spear, 12345 (<-- better than a lot of NYC boutiques, will share what I bought there later), Apolis, Alchemy Works, Poketo and Iko Iko. I ended the night with a sick-ass dinner at Bestia with my L.A. bestie (snap), Dabito. Apparently this place is mondo popular and we were lucky to get in? (It's on Vanity Fair's L.A. Hot List this month, I guess they read my tweets.)

FUN FACT! I think all the increased sun exposure made me break out. Is that normal?

Friday

EAT/SHOP/SEE I spent Thursday night at The Line because #TreatYoSelf, so I had breakfast there, checked out and mosied on over to the Silver Lake area to check into my AirBNB. I had the most incredible lunch ever (no joke) at Sqirl, checked out Griffith Park at Sunset (pics next week) and met up with some friends in WeHo for drinks and dinner at Dominick's.

FUN FACT! I saw Anne Hathaway at LACMA wearing a fedora.

Saturday

EAT/SHOP/SEE I woke up at 1pm on Saturday, stumbled over to a disappointing brunch at La Mill (apparently the only thing worth ordering on their menu is the brioche donuts? I got #sadwaffles) then spent a chunk of the afternoon wandering around Chinatown. I discovered Actual Size gallery and took in the current exhibit while chatting with co-owner Justin John Greene (more about the space here). I popped into Ooga Booga to cop some 'zines then rushed over to Daikokuya for a quick Ramen dinner.

TRAVEL TIP Go it alone. I think a lot of people are freaked out by the idea of going somewhere and doing something alone. I used to be alone and out of my element all the time, living in China and whatnot, and I forgot how good that can be—how much it can help you experience a city in a different way. Sure, you don't want to be alone always, but being alone and open to interacting with strangers you meet is great. I wouldn't have talked to Justin for twenty minutes about art in L.A. if I'd been with someone who got bored of the exhibit in ten seconds. (And I would sure as hell not have gotten a seat at the bar at Daikokuya if I'd been rolling deeper than solo—by the time I left, there was a waitlist of over thirty people.)

Sunday

EAT/SHOP/SEE I drove out to Santa Monica Pier in the morning—pretty lame, boring, skip it—then made my way over to LACMA for an hour before my phone died and wouldn't turn back on so I had a motherfxcking heart attack, almost threw myself off a building, went back to the car in a storm of burning rage, then was able to eventually restart it. So after that I hit up Joan's On Third for a short rib sandwich, then dropped in on Melrose Trading Post since I wasn't going to be in town for the Rose Bowl. MTP sucked balls compared to the BKFlea, though I may be biased, plus I had to pay $3 to get in.

FUN FACT! I have never been so dependent on my phone as I was in L.A. I even started referring to the Google Maps voice as "that divine goddess" in my head.

Monday

EAT/SHOP/SEE I started my last day in L.A. off with a three-hour campout (yo, I paid for valet, get used to me) in Republique where I caught up on some work while gorging myself on this divine spread. Then I sunned in Echo Park for a hot sec and made my way to the Hollywood (sp?) area for Vanity Fair's social club.

TRAVEL TIP Don't shop in L.A. Shop in NYC, duh.

COLOR & PATTERN (AND PLANTS!)

Massive vacation dumpage is forthcoming (doesn't that sound exciting?) but in the meantime I'm reblogging this from a post I did for Lonny. The color palette and plant action are in tune with what I've been loving most about L.A., so it kind of makes sense? Plus, you can see a little bit more of my totally awesome curtains.

Inspired by the amazingness of the McNally Jackson Store, I "merchandised" my desk a bit more—stacking back issues of apartamento with a picture frame on top (I don't know those guys in that photo, it's just something I found in a bin at a thrift shop) and the Small Spells planter next to that, this time with a jade plant instead of my money tree. I bought a few new home things on this trip and have been feeling inspired to blog more frequently about the little changes I make to my apartment, so that's a good thing. But in the meantime, look out for my first L.A. post on Wednesday!

POSTCARDS FROM LA LA LAND

 

Just a super quick update to let you all know that I'm enjoying L.A.—shopping, shooting, driving, eating, etc. I'm trying to shoot the trip mostly on IG, duh, but also on film. I'm using this old Pentax I found at my parent's house, so I may hold off on updates until I see what I've got there. Just thought I'd let my fans know, since I'm sure you're all totes emosh about the lack of love on my end. Soon, though! Bisous~

INVENTORY NYC

I'm packing for L.A. as I write this; I think I have at least four solid outfits total, plus a few pieces I can mix-and-match. Leather, black, brown, scoop necks, etc. At this point, other bloggers would be Instagramming some adorable collage of separates next to a bowl of fruit, a candle and a vase of flowers. I do not have my shit together at that level. My room looks like it was completely ransacked by a crazy person—which, I guess technically, it was.

That being said, I wanted to share my visit to Inventory magazine's NYC outpost before I start going HAM with L.A. updates. Photographer Dave Potes told me about the shop at Michael William's Pop-Up Flea and it took me—whoops, three months—to get my isht together and head over there. So glad I did, though, because it was #supercute. I bought a candle (fig, sunwashed oak, amber) and a particularly inspiring copy of Brutus. (The store is right next to Koji Kusakabe's Extra in a weird little nook off the Bowery, in case you undertake finding it on your own.)

Ok, stay tuned to IG and Twitter and whatever the f*ck else—I'm headed to the best coast, baby!

TOROS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

As in, 'Brr, it's could out here, there must be some...' (AKA everything I know about climate change I learned from Bring It On.) Today's look goes out to my momma, who hooked me up with this old Ann Taylor sweater last time I was home. I love the longer proportion of it with my Brooks Brothers skirt, worn here with tights, all covered up in teddy bear fur—basically melding this look with this look. Also of note: I'm wearing a nose ring!

CAMMING WITH MY BOYFRIEND

Happy Valentine's Day! If I knew how to make a gif of me not giving a flying fuck, I would, but instead I am sharing this stupid video I made a while back. It's kind of themed? It's sort of about love? But it's mostly about shaming my family. Also of note: I think I've officially replaced sex with food? Anyway, I've been really busy this week and didn't have time to update with any real substance—soon, though!

SEXY PARTY PHOTO DIARY

Three things I learned at Details magazine's #MarchIssue party:
01 I need to learn to check my damn coat. I look like an angry dumpling in all of these pics.
02 Garret Neff is insanely gorgeous AND nice. I wish I could have my virginity back, just so I could give it to him.
03 Nick Wooster doesn't think of himself as a celebrity (I asked) (but he totally is one).

See more of my analog adventures (including a throwback to the first time I met/accosted Neff) here and here. Special thanks to Through Whose Crew for providing the disposable cameras for this!

Assembly New York #FW14

"Dressing in the dark...for the dark" was the mantra for last night's dimly lit Assembly New York presentation, held in Gramercy Park's National Arts Club. The collection drew on cabals to serve up some major coven vibes and featured "articulated school uniform tailoring resultant of midnight trysts". There were white creepers by Underground, lots of gorgeous coats, wide brim hats and even leather bandanas, all in a range of moody hues. I'm reading The Goldfinch right now and the whole thing felt oddly in tune with that mysterious, Dickensian spirit. Click here for more from Assembly.

The Look at Carlos Campos

"I wanted the skin to look as healthy and as beautiful as possible," explained Walton Nuñez, the key makeup artist for this season's Carlos Campos show. "We used a lot of moisturizer, then went back with concealer—which we diluted and spread over the face. We have some mascara on the ends [of the lashes] and a brow set. We used a lot of EvolutionMan—it's created by a man for men, so it doesn't feel makeup-y, it doesn't look makeup-y. He just looks his best." Nuñez (above) backstage at Carlos Campos, 2/5/14.

Check Instagram for more coverage from the men's shows!

PACIFIC NORTHWEST VIBES

Oh my god, you guys, I'm going to L.A.! I bought the plane tickets yesterday. I've never been before and I'm freaking. I get the impression it's many different things to people and I wonder what it will be for me. To me. For just under a week. Conveniently enough, Dab just blogged about what to do out there, so I guess I have a head start on creating an itinerary.

This post isn't really about the City of Angels, though, as you might have surmised from the title. Basically, it's another fugly gray day in NYC and all I wanna do is stay in bed, reading and drinking Earl Grey. Alas, I had to get up and "live my life", which sounded better as a Rihanna hook. Anyway, here are some indulgently spartan interiors that make me want to curl up with a good book (or back issue) and just read, read, read...more on my L.A. trip later!

Sources, clockwise from top-left: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06.

Fruit Fancies No. 10

Clockwise from top-left: Acne | Ami | Illesteva | Miansai | Sibling | Aesop | Acne | Lanvin | Comme des Garçons

Almost exactly a year ago today I posted another raincoat-centric Fruit Fancies—I guess I start subconsciously prepping for "spring showers" come February? Except raincoats are something I can never commit to. I love them, I really do, especially ones as simple and statement-making as this Acne number, but I feel like the nice ones cost a small fortune and then you wear them like, six days a year. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I need to just commit and I'll find myself pleasantly surprised!

The Hamish Bowles Face Mask

Three easy steps to being the most beautiful girl in the world...

Yesterday, while everyone was gathering 'round their "televisions" to watch "super bowl" I was having a really productive time on the domestic front. I did mondo laundry, cleaned my room, bought groceries, bleached my an–er, tweezed my eyebrows and was just generally capable. I'd even gotten a haircut the day before (I'm back at Fellow Barber in Soho; this time I saw Ashley—she was great!) and was feeling extra sharp—but then I realized I had run out of hair products and was in desperate need of a new groomtine. To make matters worse, I then remembered that I hadn't exfoliated in a really long time. This effectively doubled the amount of crisis I was having, so I determined to try this recipe for a homemade face mask from a recently acquired back issue of Fantastic Man.

The recipe is recounted by Bowles' mother, Anne. It's quite simple, really; here's what you'll need: one (1) egg, one (1) teaspoon honey, a bowl, a whisk. To make the mask you whisk the egg white (just the white) in a bowl until it's frothy, then slowly add a teaspoon of honey—beating all the while—until it's blended. Then, "apply liberally" to face and neck. One thing you might notice is that it basically looks like...hmm, what do we call semen in polite company? I guess semen. It looks like you just got out of a bukkake orgy. Like you have spooge all over your face.

The recipe left me with an excessive amount of goop, the consistency of which was runnier than I expected. I tried to rub as much as I could all over my face; it kind of hardened like a meringue, as the instructions said it would, but it never really looked as "masky" as I wanted it to. Again, it just looked like a bunch...yeah. I left it on for 20 minutes and sort of camped out, fiddling with my diddly and whatnot, then washed it off. I looked into the mirror and...I'm not so sure it actually worked? I was supposed to be left with "skin like a baby's bottom," but I think my skin is pretty much the same as it ever was. Balls.

Have you ever tried a homemade mask like this? Did it work?