LA's Westside and I. A reconciliation.

I have talked sh*t about the Westside of Los Angeles for as long as I have lived on the city's other side--you know the section to the East of La Brea which anyone who lives there will tell you is superior. But with a recent job shift to Santa Monica [which is a city unto itself--a concept I still do not understand and only remember due to the strange looking street signs] and perhaps the fact that I am, ahem, getting older, I have recently considered taking the plunge, packing my boxes, and leaving skinny jeaned, indie loving hipsters for Birkenstock wearing, beach cruiser riding yogis. Horror of horrors--what has become of me??

I'll tell you--I think it's the quiet. And the closeness to the beach. And the higher percentage of trees to grit.

And this week I got a card to the Santa Monica Library. Which may not mean much to you. And, quite frankly, I only got so I could take out Spanish lanugage audiobooks. But to me it means Santa Monica in my wallet. And one step closer to a reconciliation, if not possible love affair, between the Westside and I.

Shop: All I want for the secular holidays is...

It's almost Thanksgiving. Which means it's almost the holidays. Now, were I still a practicing Jew, I might reap the benefits of the 8 glorious days of Hannukah. I don't remember the full story of the oil and the lights and all that hullabaloo. But I do remember the 8 consecutive nights of gift receiving from my childhood. And I miss those days. As it stands now, holiday time doesn't signify much more than a few days off and an overload of wreaths in public places.

Well, I want to bring the gifts back. Friends, family, fans [and maybe Santa?]--please behold my holiday wish list...because a secular girl can still be a material girl.

Gifts to satisfy Yours Truly...or whoever's on your shopping list...

Perfect pictures. You know how the pictures on this blog are often just a little bit off? The lighting seems poor or the resolution just plain sucks? That's because I'm shooting with a 3 year old point and shoot. Or worse yet--occasionally my flash-less Blackberry. The number one item on my wishlist this year? A Nikon D60.

Deliver it raw. I want to be healthy. I do, I do, I do. But my dinners usually consist of boxed foods and flavor packets. Santa Monica's Rawvolution has just the solution for my cooking woes: The Box. Weekly delivered meals include 'Nut Loaf with BBQ Sauce' and a 'Mock Turkey Sandwich.' And yes, those do sound good to me.


Enlighten me. Reading Vanity Fair makes me feel one step closer to the well-dressed, well-read and well-cultured. Cause if you can't beat 'em...and you can't join 'em...read about 'em. A subscription would offer me 12 months of highfalutin culture via VF's glossy pages.



Sophisticated patterns. Plaid is in this season...again. But looking like a hipster in an oversized plaid button down is not for me. Instead, I'd rather don Topshop's super cute Dress Coat and fill both my trend quotient and my desperate need for warmer garments.


Delicate drinking. Is anything cuter than drinking out of animal shaped glassware. No. Decidedly, no. These Animal Head Shot Glasses at MollaSpace are just the thing to get your friends completely wasted in absolute style and grace.*

* The 'grace' part only applies until words start slurring.


Affordable art. I am out of room on the walls of my studio and I am also--I'll admit it--out of money in the bank for new art. Blood is the New Black offers affordable pieces from your favorite artists. They also kill two birds with one stylish stone. The pieces are wearable tee shirts, you lucky art fans. I like this tee by one of my fave LA artistas, Kime Buzzelli.

Responsible reading. Author Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything is Illuminated) has tackled new subject matter with Eating Animals, a chronicling of his year investigation into meat eating. I'm already a vegeterian, yes. But I'm always in need of new fodder for the veg fire.


Do good. While I don't agree with the 'give at the holidays' mentality--I don't think generosity should be limited to Jesus' birthday--I can't argue with giving. And I encourage you to give the gift of giving to your pals. JustGive.org and Kiva.org are two great organizations that help do the good work for you.

N.B. - Hannukah begins at sundown on December 11th this year. And since I'm closer to Jewish than anything else, you better hit those stores soon my friends. Or, in light of my secular stance, I suppose I can accept your gifts at any point.

We Like To Party: the Silverlake Art Crawl fiasco.

When folks talk about a 'crawl' it generally involves a group of destinations--similar in theme and close in proximity. The Silverlake Art Crawl would have better been called a scavenger hunt. One with stops very, very, very far away from each other. In which guests are tasked with finding good art and interesting activities. Which were, as it turned out, relatively hard to find on the crawl's itinerary.

But here are some of the more interesting things and places spotted along the crawl.

Gogosha is an optical store for those with, shall we say, taste. We came upon it by accident after the first two stops along the crawl failed us. Pictured below are a ridiculous pair of sunglasses by Mykita and Willhelm that I tried on for kicks (as featured on Sex and the City).

We discovered Lawson-Fenning, a fabulous furniture and design store. Especially awesome? These big, big feet.

In the back of the store is yet another store, Ivanhoe Books, with beautiful coffee table books to last your living room's lifetime.

Materials & Applications hosted a fish taco party in their courtyard. M&A is a seemingly very cool research center, specializing in architecture, urban landscaping and design.

The fish tacos were made with tilapia fish bred in the center's most recent installation. This is either really cool. Or really gross depending on how you look at it. And depending on if you happened to overhear that tilapia are bottom feeders.

There happened to be some great street art right outside our parking spot. This was not thanks to the Silverlake Art Crawl. This was simple and pure luck.

The folks at Subliminal Projects Gallery (Shepard Fairey's Echo Park art lair), let us in early to get a sneak peak at WK Interact's show, 'How to Blow Yourself Up' which opened later on that night. I became aware of WK's work during a show I worked for Seth Carmichael of Carmichael Gallery. A-mazing.

We stopped by Junc Gallery to celebrate Blood is the New Black's 5 year anniversary with founder Mitra K. Great people. Great art. Great cupcakes (c/o Lemonade, my new favoritest spot for food in LA).

And worth sharing, is my new friend at the vintage lingerie shop next to Junc Gallery. She's fun. She's fabulous. She doesn't talk much.

Text o'the Day: Hey Papi Wus Up

Earlier today, in a case of mistaken phone identity, I had the pleasure of participating in the following conversation over text...

Texter: Hey PAPI WUS UP WIT U

Me: Who is this?

Texter: Dis is DASHKA U GAVE ME UR NUMBA OFF MYSPACE U LEFT IT ON MA COMMENT DO YOU REMBER OR U STILL NOT SURE?

Me: Wrong number.

Well, not 'rember'ing Dasha or our apparent MySpace love affair, I entered in Dashka's name in the MySpace search box, intrigued by who might show up.

What showed up was this:

Allow me to zoom in closer so that you might get a better glimpse of Daksha's literary interests.

I am so, so scared.