nifty thrifty

during my last visit to ye ol thrift store, i snapped a few pics of some classics. enjoy.

DP workin it 9-5





can you say a lb of foundation?


holler!


somebody was a fan...


i saw him in my nightmare last night


meet my grandpa


i've had my eye on this baby for awhile...the film part is holding me back


and the perfect christmas gift for that special pre-teen in your life: get her maxing those credit card now! MALL MADNE$$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

manga!

my cable is out and it's one of those lazy days so i ventured over to Hulu to see what i could find. this show is RIGHT up my alley- Gourmet's (RIP) Diary of a Foodie. what a cool show. i just finished watching this episode about Italian home cooking. inspiring and beautiful. enjoy!

bedhead

i've always thought the first room you should decorate in a new house is your bedroom. this is your den plus you spend a third of your life asleep so you better make it good! maybe it's the "colder" ah hem...weather upon SOME of us that is making me focus on the bedroom again, maybe it's my unhealthy obsession with fine sheets. whatever it may be, i've been dreaming again and here's what i've found.

via Dwell bedding

EXCITED x10

just when i thought i had missed any possible showing of "Visual Acoustic" in the LA area, my prayers were answered by the movie gods. literally 5 minutes ago i found out there will be saturday/sunday showings of the film @ 11am both days at
Laemmle's Playhouse 7
673 East Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, 91101

Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, VISUAL ACOUSTICS celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman, the world’s greatest architectural photographer, whose images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream.

Stahl House (CHS#22)” photographed by Julius Shulman (1960)

Shulman, who passed away this year, captured the work of nearly every modern and progressive architect since the 1930s including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Frank Gehry. His images epitomized the singular beauty of Southern California’s modernist movement and brought its iconic structures to the attention of the general public.


Julius @ work


did i mention i was excited?!

reading rainbow

i am currently reading a beautiful design book, "Living in Style Without Losing Your Mind" by Marco Pasanella. his design philosophy is simple and clear and on point as far as i'm concerned.

(Marco's house. Notice the 12ft ladder in the mirror's reflection which leads to a shelf with a cookie jar. humor and design intermingling.)
"To have a great home, the point is, you don't need a platinum card for flair for fabrics. You need to know how to see"-MP


"To be really stylish, you need a touch of bad taste."-MP


"Continuous primping, poofing, folding, unfolding, stashing and dragging are signs that you are working too hard to be comfortable."-MP


"Burnished leather. Apple Pie. Miles Davis. Design is primarily a visual medium, it is not exclusively so. To be truly great, a design has to stimulate all our senses."-MP


"To be smart with money and gentle on the earth are not special hats but integral parts of everyday design."-MP


"To design is to play, to try things out, to take risks."-MP


"A home's power comes not just from what is seen but from what is treasured."-MP (like those chairs i lust over)


(Mario, his wife and son)

Apple and Pear Crisp

• 2 pounds ripe Bosc pears (4 pears)
• 2 pounds firm Macoun apples (6 apples)
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For The Topping:
nocoupons

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
• 5-6 slices of crystallized ginger (my addition)
  

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel, core, and cut the pears and apples into large chunks. Place the fruit in a large bowl and add the zests, juices, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch oval baking dish.

For The Topping:

Combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1 minute, until the mixture is in large crumbles. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit, covering the fruit completely.

Place the baking dish on a sheet pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve warm.

ala Ina Garten

-so i had 3 pears and 3 small apples so i used this recipe as a guide and adjusted as i saw fit. for example, i only used about 3T of butter as opposed to 2 STICKS like the recipe called for. it's one of those recipes you can play with. it came out damn tasty.

LB in all her glory

when i think about moving north, it's days like this in the city i call home that keep me here. pure beauty.
**photos ala andrea, my friend and photo snapper**

oops i did it again

while walking back from the post office this am, i made a detour into blue windows, a cool little boutique in belmont shores that sells clothing, jewelry, books and chachskis. overall the place is spendy so i rarely go in. today i found some cool deals that i liked and so did my wallet.

i'm a sucker for old maps. i'm a sucker for san francisco. well this isn't a genuine old map but it's pretty rad. great colors (that don't show up in this picture well), grainy feel to the paper and a copy of the real deal. $4


i also scored 3 cool wood cut out snowflake ornaments, $3/each. in the picture they look white but in reality they are a light, unfinished wood. and you know i love me some wood.

DIY

my friend adriana is a huge force wrapped into a small package. i first "discovered" her via a sunset mag article on garden bloggers. i related to her and liked her garden philosophy. and then when i saw she was a fellow long beacher, i was even more excited. lb is a "small" town and turned out to be even smaller once i finally met her. we have a couple mutual friends...go figure.

adriana writes a blog, anarchy in the garden, which chronicles her adventures in her home garden as well as the many community garden events she's involved in. people are taking to her (as they should) and you too might see her on your nationally syndicated tv some day soon. she is teaching people one seed at a time that anyone can garden and produce food in their own yard.

check her out. buy a anarchy in the garden shirt to spread the word that DIY is where it's at. power to the gardeners! power to anarchy in the garden!

christmas in southern california

my "holiday" wreath ala Target. i'm usually a pine fan but figured this baby would have a longer life...and an afterlife once i decide to deconstruct it.