Buff Monster @ Corey Helford Gallery 4/14/12
April 13, 2012
Nick’s Cafe: New to me, but not Los Angeles.
August 30, 2011
This past weekend I wanted to find a new breakfast place in Downtown LA. There’s a gazillion yummy restaurants, but I wanted to find a new dive-perhaps a place I could go every weekend. I was craving The Pantry, but I was little under-the-weather and didn’t want to stand in line. And then….I found Nick’s!
Right past Chinatown, on the way to St. Vincent’s, there’s it was. I must have driven by it a hundred times, and never really noticed it.
Well, It’s been there since 1942. And, according to our lovely waitress, people who frequented the place back then still come in now.
Parking was a breeze. There’s a parking lot. And, on our way in, I noticed two becca pieces, so I knew the place was cool.
Here’s one of the Beccas:
When I got inside, I realized Nick’s would be a perfect location for a movie involving a diner. Just take down the tons of amazing Los Angeles ephemera hanging on the walls, and the diner could be anywhere.
I imagined Bukowski frequenting Nick’s. It seems like his sort of place. The staff seemed to know everyone. The waitresses were super friendly and down-to-earth. They were not actresses. They were professionals. There were so many scrumptious items on the menu that we requested their help picking our breakfast.
This is what we got:
My friend got eggs and corned beef hash with a side of bacon (which was amazing). I got the Scrambled SoCal.
Everything was delicious, fresh and homemade. The only downside–my scrambled egg portion seemed a bit small.
I’ll definitely be returning. I want the wait staff to know my name.
Love in Los Feliz.
August 16, 2011
I love this photo I took of the Andre piece in Los Feliz.
Outside of the PDC on Melrose (where I’ve been spending a lot of time lately), there’s a collection of strange yet totally awesome sculptures. I took a photo of a few of them a few days ago. I researched the random pieces of public art and found out they were created by Miranda July.
July is a filmmaker, writer and artist. She might be most well-known from her film Me and You and Everyone We Know. Her new film, The Future , comes out later this year.
I love her “Eleven Heavy Things” project (the sculptures outside the PDC), as they were designed for interaction and photography. There are basically 11 witty photo opportunities. You should totally check out the front lawn of the PDC if you are in the area.
From July’s website:
“…Though the work begins as sculpture, it becomes a performance that is only complete when these tourist photos are uploaded onto personal blogs and sent in emails — at which point the audience changes, and the subject clearly becomes the participants, revealing themselves through the work.”
Production of this work has been supported by Deitch Projects
RAD.
DTLA:Where Anything Goes-Like Angel City Brewery
May 22, 2011
“We love it Downtown! Anything goes…,” one of my 23-year-old friends told me yesterday.
Earlier in the day, she posted on Facebook that she was going to be Downtown. I texted her, and it turns out she was in the city for the Red Bull Soapbox Race. We made plans to meet up at Angel City Brewery in the Arts District. I was excited to go, as I had never been–and it’s been open for over a month now. I once considered myself to be a sort of connoisseur of all things AD. I’ve lived here for about six years now, and I’ve seen this place change….grow into a real destination.
At night, the streets were once empty–looking like a city set. The AD is often used for filming–especially for creepy murder scenes on CSI. But now, the streets are rarely vacant. People come from all over–even the West Side (like my friend) to experience the art, energy and amazing food/drink DTLA has to offer-especially the Arts District.
I once had more time to explore my neighborhood But now, I’m so consumed with work, that I don’t have as much time for downtown adventures. I’d like to bring back my “Local Celebrity” posts. I’ve been planning an interview with Joseph Pitruzzelli (co-owner) of Wurstkuche (and basically, like,the mayor of the AD) for like a year now. It will happen eventually–I promise.
Sorry for the tangent; my point being that I’m kinda upset I haven’t been to Angel City Brewery earlier. It’s just down the street from Wurstkuche and has lots of free (yes, free!) parking.
At 27,000 sq ft, the place is huge. Apparently, the building was once a cable factory (the kind of cables that go on big bridges). The space is really industrial, which I adore.
Angel City is open Thursday-Sunday (see website for details). They don’t sell food, just yummy, locally-brewed beer. The beer is only $5 for a pint of one of the four selections on tap.
You can get food from food-trucks that park outside the building. The space hosts music and art events.
Right now there is a Street Art exhibit going on in conjunction with the MOCA exhibit. Becca and Saber are some of the artists who have pieces for sale in the gallery. Actually, the whole space is like a gallery (see photos above). And, there’s a giant slide.
You’re not supposed to climb up or down the slide–but I think they should open it up and make it a centerpiece attraction- like Trail Dust Steakhouse in Denver (I’ll never forget that old slide).
I mean the whole operational slide would fit perfectly into my description of Angel City Brewery. The only way I can describe the place is like an indoor park. It’s so spacious, and there’s picnic tables for seating. You can even bring your own picnic dinner. They should add some see-saws and monkey bars. It would be perfect! I mean, it’s Downtown–where anything goes, right?
Playfully Patching Potholes in Paris
May 3, 2011
“guerrilla knitting”
adore
Art in the Streets @MOCALosangeles
April 24, 2011
I’m a huge fan of street art. My friend Matt introduced me to the beauty of graffiti and other urban art ages ago. We’d drive around town and look for new work. I actually think that’s how I ended up finding my loft in the Arts District six years ago. No one would come over here. It was pretty bare–except for the walls of the old buildings, which were decorated with spray paint. I fell in love with the industrial part of the city.
Shortly after I moved into my loft, I traveled to France, where I discovered one of my favorite street artists- Fafi. I used one of her pieces as the inspiration for my commercial design thesis.
I’m still so inspired by the work I see on the streets. Right now, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA as an exhibit completely devoted to Street Art. If you get a chance–you simply must check out this collection. It’s more of an experience than merely a trip to the museum.
See below for my experience in photos:
Week in Photos…
March 5, 2011
The Men and Women of Marc Jacobs
February 13, 2011
A few weeks ago, I picked up this AMAZING book about the Men and Women of Marc Jacobs. Photographed by celebrity photographer, Brian Bowen Smith, this book is one of my favorite new coffee table adornments!!!
From the intro: “Many things can be said about the appealing men and women that Brian Bowen Smith has captured in these photos. They all work for Marc Jacobs, in the company’s stores and corporate offices, all over the United States and the world…..The thing that you keep coming back to is that these look like people who actually like what they do for a living…People want to work there- and not because of the clothes. The men and women in these photographs look like they belong to something they actually want to belong to….”
The best part about this book? It was free! I heard about the give-away through a girl who had seen a twitter post by the official Marc Jacobs Twitter account- @MarcJacobsIntl. Robert Duffy was appearing at the Marc by Marc Jacobs store nearby–signing these beautiful books. By the time I got to the store, Duffy was gone, but one of the super nice employees gave me a copy. I haven’t had much free time to look through the book yet. But, below find some of the fab photos of the “Men and Women of Marc Jacobs”.
Also- This week, you can watch the 2011 Fall/Winter Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs fashion shows streaming live from NYC:
From Twitter: Join us for the FW11 shows in 9:16 HD! web/smartphone – http://bit.ly/Web_LIVE – or on Facebook – http://bit.ly/FB_LIVE
