Okay, last weekend it was freezing cold, raining cats and dogs, yet today it was scorching hot. I was all bundled up and looking forward to wintery weather today. We took the train to downtown LA and bumped into our friend Connie on the way to the Renegade Craft Fair.
Guess what? It’s fucking HOT!!
Hi Connie!
This bus was so rad! I want to drive it across country like the Partridge Family. It looks like I used a retro filter but this bus has such a cool vibe, it turned out looking vintage on it’s own.
Can you spot the pyschopath onboard the Looksy bus? I was nerding out.
You had me at…
Tall enough for my giant stature and soo many goodies inside!
I came very close to buy a bunch of these cute earrings but I lose them so often.
I’ve been a fan of Nan Lawson’s art ever since I bought my Steve Zissou brooch *which did I tell you? I accidentally put in the laundry so it’s faded now*
The highlight of going to the craft fair for the past three years has been buying rosemary almond candy from the P.O.P. Butter candy booth. Guess who wasn’t there this year? Bummers! At least we know to find them on Sundays at the Mar Vista farmers market if we really want some.
We did get our annual Magnolia photobooth picture.
I decided to buy one item I really, really wanted rather than a bunch of little impulse buys.
Nan Lawson Margot & Ritchie tote
I couldn’t be happier with my choice. Here’s a complete list of talented vendors for those I’ve missed. Thank you for another inspiring, fun craft fair.
No, not the fish but the raddest dog ever, Tuna. My BFF first introduced me to with this adorable chiweenie a few weeks ago. I started following him on instagram just to see this face!
Best Derp face ever!!
Today this guy was at Handsome Roasters so I had to go get a photo with his lovely face. He was so tiny and sweet.
He wasn’t showing his teefs but his Mommy showed them off for me.
His Mommy giving Tuna some water
There were a lot of fans to see him, he’s got quite the following. Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped by Poketo to get our #poketoholiday photo taken by Meiko with this colorful backdrop by Adi Goodrich. I see some familiar faces on Poketo’s photo stream.
Meiko took this one with my camera.
Liv calls Poketo the toy store since she always wants a toy from there. The shop always has fun things going on and is beautifully curated by Ted & Angie.
They have too much cute stuff I want to buy!
I can’t wait to make this yummy smelling mulled cider by Urban Palate on Christmas Eve!
What a fun day! We sent out our holiday card so in a few days I’ll share it.
As you may already know *from my Instagram* Antz pulled a “Hey, wanna go to an event 5 minutes before it starts?“on me today. Well, of course I’m game! He got an invite for a black and white themed party at the new Bloomies in Glendale. Any party that hands out masks at the door is my kind of affair. It’s funny how much black and white attire we’ve acquired in the last year, so we were prepared on short notice. I had many wardrobe choices for Liv but we decided to give her Misha Lulu striped dress it’s last soiree before it’s retired to her clothes-I’m-hoarding-that-don’t-fit-anymore drawer. You would think the party was in Olivia’s honor the way she schmoozed the crowd and posed for photos.
The Bloomingdale’s director was captivated by Olivia. They had a nice chat about her Ban.do accessories.
Happy Hanukkah to me??!!
So I met this pretty rad chick, her name is Samantha fucking Ronson!! We are totally buddies now, she’s gonna DJ Liv’s birthday party. She told me to use hashtag #wutangisforthechildren
The store was lovely
Every single person told us she was adorable and she should be a
model…yeah, I feel the same way too folks. There were lot’s of
Bloomingdales executives and very wealthy peeps who were there to donate
to the VH1 Save the Music foundation
Checking out the Ralph Lauren dresses in the kid’s department.
Hello Christian Dior metallic pink pumps! I would never wear them, just frame them and look at them
All boots need confetti in the heel!
Hello handsome!
Our lovely three year old, looking like a pro on the black carpet. One of the paparazzi dudes snapped her photo so look out for her in People magazine!
Gift bags
So what was in that swag bag you say? A tote bag that I can have monogrammed on the 8th, $25 gift card, some gross colored nail polished appropriately named “load” and some old lady smelling eau de parfum. Thanks Bloomies!
On
earth, we use the word “burrito” to describe a tortilla filled with
things you eat. Pretty simple stuff, and I’m surprised you at least got
that part right. My burrito was, in fact, filled with food. In this, you
and I agree and are friends. But this is also where my lifelong hatred
begins for you and anyone else whose brain has been repeatedly scrubbed
with the same mixture of bleach and Pop Rocks as yours has. Because that
should have killed you, but left you around long enough to do what you
did to me today. Let me explain:
You’re an idiot.
Let me further explain:
Burritos
are eaten from one end to the other. So that means when you assemble a
burrito with motherfucking ZONES of ingredients going that direction,
you create a disgusting experience for the burrito’s end user. When you
make a burrito, you should put the ingredients in layers lengthwise. That
way, every bite has AT LEAST A FUCKING CHANCE of getting at least two
types of ingredients, and there is little chance of becoming almost
hopelessly trapped in a goddamned cilantro cavern.
Have
you ever eaten one of the things you make all fucking day? You should
try one. They are pretty good WHEN YOU ARE NOT WILLING YOURSELF THROUGH
THE FUCKING EMPIRE OF SOUR CREAM ONLY TO END UP IN LETTUCE COUNTRY.
When
you eat a burrito, you don’t stand it up and bite down on it lengthwise
like a fucking Rancor. Humans can’t usually dislocate their jaws, and
I’m not a fucking pelican. But you must think that’s how it’s done,
since that would be THE ONLY FUCKING WAY to take a bite of your
crapstrosity and have it taste like a burrito.
And guess what else, player? You probably can’t guess anything,
because I’m pretty sure you’re just a mop with a hat on it that fell
over and spilled some shit into a tortilla, but just in case, here’s
what:
Humans also don’t
eat burritos like fucking corn on the cob. Like a fucking typewriter
from one end to the other a little at a time and then DING next line.
But today I wish I had tried that. Because at least THEN I would be able
to eat some rice, then beans, then be all like HEY BEANS I’LL BE RIGHT
BACK JUST GOING OVER HERE TO THE GUACAMOLE FOR A SECOND.
Nope.
My
experience was more like HEY BEANS IT’S JUST GOING TO BE YOU AND I FOR A
MINUTE UNTIL I CAN FUCKING EXCAVATE THE RICE FROM BENEATH YOU BUT BY
THEN YOU WILL BE A FADING MEMORY OH HEY I WAS WRONG I’M IN THE FUCKING
CHEESEOSPHERE NOW RICE MUST BE NEXT I HOPE IT’S NOT ANOTHER FUCKING
SALSA POCKET.
You built this thing like a fucking pack of LifeSavers.
And
don’t even fucking think I’m about to open this shit up and re-engineer
your nonsense 90 degrees. I ALREADY PUT A HOLE IN IT WITH MY FUCKING
MOUTH. YEAH. THAT’S HOW I DISCOVERED YOU FUCKING SUCK AT LOOKING AT
THINGS. I AM NOT GOING TO DO FUCKING TORTILLA ORIGAMI TO GET THIS SHIT
BACK TOGETHER, ONLY TO END UP WITH A BURRITO THAT’S BEEN SHOT IN THE GUT
AND IS BLEEDING YOUR INEPTITUDE.
What’s
that? I should ask you to mix it up first next time? IS THIS JAMBA
JUICE? I DON’T WANT TO DRINK MY FUCKING BURRITO THROUGH A BENDY STRAW,
AND I DON’T WANT A PILE OF BURRITO SOUP IN A FLOUR CAN.
I just want a burrito.
In conclusion:
You’re
the worst thing that has ever happened to the universe, you owe
everyone everywhere an apology for this burritobomination, and I hope
your babies look like monkeys.
Also,
it is meant to be a work of humor. If you take from this that a human
being really got as angry about a burrito as the post suggests, please
never introduce me to the human beings you know.
Slowly but surely the lovely photos from the Misha Lulu Fall/Winter 2013 photo shoot have been appearing in online shops. The line isn’t officially released yet but you can pre-order pieces. My friend Gracie has an amazing shop, go take a peek. I’ll wait!
Here’s some more behind the scene photos from the shoot that I can now show you!!
Liv was chatting with Jessie the photographer about the peacocks on the grounds
Off to the set
She loved playing with the other girls
The cape and dress is so adorable!
Liv is such a character!
I can’t tell you how welcoming and sweet everyone in the Misha Lulu family has been to us. If you have little girls, check out Misha Lulu, I couldn’t recommend this rad line more!
I first heard of the Swedish company H & M back in 2000 during a trip to New York with Antz. We were being typical tourists and found the store near Times Square. It was Christmas time and ridiculously cold *being from LA, we were not prepared for the seriousness of East coast winter* so we decided to pick up some sweaters. I bought a green long sleeve wool sweater and Antz bought a thick striped turtleneck *haha, here’s the turtleneck sweater*
Early 2000’s fashion, we are fresh to death!
The store was nice, it was a big deal when H & M came to Los Angeles in 2006 but I haven’t really shopped there since. Today I found a nice surprise browsing Pinterest to find that H & M has expanded their clothing line into home goods. Pretty awesome home goods too, these are on my wish list.
Sunday we went to the Renegade Craft Fair at Los Angeles State Historic Park in Downtown LA. This is our 3rd year and the fair never disappoints. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular but I was happy to see our old friends at the P.O.P. Crunch candy booth. We bought Pecan and Rosemary almond candy. I couldn’t pass up a delicate gold knuckle ring from Paperbird Creations and I got an extra 20% off by spinning their wheel. I also got lucky by finding Collisionware pot holders and oven mitts booth. We took our traditional Magnolia Photo booth family photo. Sadly the line was too long for the yummy organic popsicles from Front Porch Pops. I sure wish we did wait cause the weather was super hot and muggy. I saw so many familiar booths and lots of new shops too. Someone told me the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco is incredible, so now of course I’m hoping to go for a weekend next year *along with our trip to Europe and every other trip I want to take* Antz and I have been to San Francisco several times but Liv has yet to go up north. The Renegade craft fair is the live version of Etsy/Pinterest, so creative and inspiring. I can’t wait to go to the holiday market in December to find rad gifts for Christmas.
Well not quite, but Sunday we went to Home Depot *after waiting 48 hours for a guy to come over to give us a quote but never showed up, why is it so hard to get a quote?* and did some pre-reno shopping.
Sheesh, could this kitchen look anymore dark and depressing?
I wanted to find out about renting tools *tile wet saw, floor sanders, etc*. We went to our local Home Depot only to find out we had to go to another one because they didn’t rent tools from there, D’oh! Turns out I like the second HD much better. It’s a bigger store, really well stocked, not crowded at all *due it the store being practically hidden* and the salespeople were actually helpful and knowledgeable! Hooray!
We got a price list of the tools for rent. It’s pricier than I expected, but it’s cheaper than having a professional do the work. I am really bummed that Home Depot no longer carries my Goddess Martha Stewart paint. The paint guy suggested we try Glidden as a substitute so we bought some samples to test out on the walls this weekend.
We chose Natural Wicker for the walls and Toasted Mashmallow for the trim.
We also found the subway tile for the backsplash for only a fraction of the estimated cost I budgeted. Sweet!
I budgeted $350 for the backsplash tile, now we only going to spend about $50 for everything!
The store’s display wasn’t impressive. I wanted larger tiles but since it’s a Do-it-ourselves-on-a-budget project, I’ll take it.
I shopped the knobs and drawer pulls section since Ikea doesn’t have what I’m looking for.
The price is perfect but Goddess Martha is bumming me out with the dated nipple knob. I am over the brushed nickel style so I’m still on the hunt. I practically bought every style of knob to bring home to test out on the cabinets. I almost like these antique glass ones but Antz is not a fan.
Nah, these knobs are too dainty for the doors
It’s understandably difficult to imagine the new knobs on such fugly cabinets. You like that paint job?? I can’t even begin to think of how much work it will take to sand away years of poor paint jobs on those upper cabinets. My biggest concern is the brand new lower cabinets will make the old uppers look horrible. Oh well, if need be maybe next year we can get the uppers replaced, after we get the foundation fixed and the house painted, and the….and the….headache!
On a happier note, I picked up some strawberries to plant since the bugs ate our old patch.
My assistant gardener
The wildflower seeds we planted last year have finally filled in nicely
…is also was the last day for Anthropologie’s 15% dishware sale. Since I received an additional 15% discount coupon for my birthday, we decided to take advantage of the 30% savings to get some lovely kitchen pieces.
Liv found the cutest friend and followed her around the store
whenever I go to Anthro, I just want to slide into bed and take a nap
I’m keeping my new dishes secret for now *in case they don’t work out* but I will share with you the steal of the century rug we found for $199!!
Isn’t she pretty?
I found it in the sale section without a tag. It took quite some time to find the sku number for it but I was totally expecting it to be at least $499, come on, it’s Anthropologie $$$! I had no plans to buy a rug today but a 6 x 6 wool rug with that perfect color palette for under $200…along my 15% discount?! Shoot, I bought that sucker so quickly! Too bad I couldn’t find any curtains for our bedroom but FOCUS LIZ! My new kitchen goodies are inspiring me to paint everything bright white. I couldn’t stop staring at the hardwood floor.
With some heavy duty sanding our floors could look like this
I pointed out to Antz that maybe just leaving the kitchen floors unstained after sanding them, we could leave them “distressed” which is pretty much how they look now, and we wouldn’t have to worry about the upkeep with a perfect darker finish. Anything that requires less maintenance on my part gets a thumbs up from me. #lazyforlife
Anywho…we stopped by Design Within Reach to check out their Tolix stools which happen to be on sale. They are really comfy and come in white but the Marais stools with the wood top from Industry West are $100 less and come in bright, fun colors. It’s a real shame this place is in Florida and shipping cost $70. These chairs are on the secondary list, after plumbing, cabinets, countertops, new sink/faucet, dishwasher, floors refinished and an electrician. I may not even get them this year, but one day.
I’m crossing my fingers we can start the kitchen work next week while Liv is on Spring Break. We are going to start sanding the upper cabinets. We still don’t know if we are going to keep the existing cabinet doors or leave them off. Here’s a close up the hinges so once we take them off, you can see why it will be difficult to put them back up.
The previous owners annoy the heck out of me! How could someone voluntarily chose such an ugly color? Then proceed to paint the cabinets in such a haphazard, sloppy way!!
This is what it would look like if we took the doors off.
Not terribly pretty
Our food stash would have to move to our pantry and I would display my new Anthro pretties in there. I am considering painting the inside of the cabinets blue like this.
We have so much work to do, I’m half excited and half bummed that we can’t just hire someone to do it all. Any of you lovelies tackle a big home improvement project? I’ll take some photos with my toolbelt on.
