Lincoln- songwriter, guitarist, etc.

As previously posted, Tim turned 24 on June 3rd. He came home late next evening and I greeted him at the airport with a flaming cupcake. No, just one lit candle. The following day, we drove up to the valley to celebrate. Our friends from home (really Tim’s friends from high school, but they’ve welcomed me so well I call them my own) live out there and have a suitable yard and a grill. Much better than our 2 x 5′ area of grass by our apartment’s parking area.

The deal was that I’d do all of the work except for the actual barbecuing, better left to the boys as my disinterest in meat leaves me pretty ignorant in the way of cooking it. I think Chris did most of the actual barbecuing, and while I just had a boca burger, it was WAY better than my usual microwave method.

Chris, chef & Tim’s former bandmate.

I made some “healthy multigrain salad” inspired by a delicious meal from Home (restaurant).

Lincoln, musician and assistant preparer of healthy multigrain salad.

Justin and his vacation hat.

Dayna looking bad ass in her aviators.

Dayna brought the balloons. The one in the back was an “It’s a boy!” balloon– the store had a small selection.

Tim and his “Drill” hat from the thrift store.

I got a lot of cupcakes from Crumbs in Glendale.

They were so pretty and delicious so I had to take many pictures. We’re all big fans of the Howard Stern show so I made sure to get extra of the Baba Booey and Artie Lange cupcakes. A portion of the proceeds from the Baba Booey is donated to Lifebeat and a portion of Artie Lange’s proceeds goes to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Tim turned 24 at the beginning of June. Sadly, he had to fly home to Boston that week for his grandfather’s funeral. I was unable to miss work that week so I spent my time planning how to cheer him up and celebrate his birthday when he came back to Los Angeles.

I’m working on a post about his birthday celebration but in an effort to break it down I’m making this post to show my appreciation for this wonderful man. We’ve been together for nearly three years– marked roughly by July 3rd, the day he told me he had had a crush on me for months, also conveniently the day of my going away party to move 3,000 miles away (which was put off for a month while we spent nearly 100% of our time together). We have our bad days like anyone else but for the most part things keep getting sweeter. Especially him.

Thank you for waking me with breakfast, assembling our things– new and old (elliptical machine, dusty record player), making me laugh, listening to my job complaints at all hours of the night, and being so handsome.

Tim bought tickets in advance for us to go to Roller Derby to see the Varsity Brawlers as his co-worker is on the team. We saw them at the LA Derby Dolls’ Doll Factory on Temple, within walking distance of our place. It should go without saying that we’ll be going back. They’re sponsored by Stila Cosmetics so Molli and I got free (full size) mascaras upon entry. Drinks there weren’t too expensive but it was limited to Tecate and Jack & Cokes (the kind that come in a bottle– they were better than I expected though). I think they had wine, too, but I’m not that kind of girl. The match itself was awesome, even though LA’s Varsity Brawlers didn’t win.

We went to El Cid afterward to see a Ramones’ cover band. My dad was really into the Ramones when he was in college and got me listening to them pretty early on. It was really fun to sing and dance to the cover band even though usually I’d think that covering the Ramones is sacreligious… It just made me think about how awesome it must have been to see the Ramones in the late 70s/ 80s. Anyway, we had driven by El Cid so many times but never expected what we found (the sign says “Flamenco”). It was fun and pretty cheap although cash only (they have an ATM– with fees and all).

The next day was spent eating. And shopping. We woke up just slightly hungover and brought Molli to Fred’s on Vermont. She had said she hadn’t eaten anywhere good in LA so far so I had to take her to my favorite, and it was a hit. We walked around Skylight books and a farmer’s market before bringing Tim home to sleep while we shopped. We went to Reform School, Dean, and a few other shops. Dean’s website does not do their products justice, you need to go in and see and touch the soft, recycled leather accessories. I love Reform School, I could easily spend an entire paycheck there in an hour’s time. And it’s not even all that expensive, just so well-curated. I bought this print, but I can’t make out the artist’s name. I feel like I’ve seen it before. Does anyone know?

We stopped at the Steven Alan Outpost on Hillhurst before heading to Melrose. It was what I expected– beautiful clothes, cheaper than full price but still certainly not cheap.

On Melrose, we walked in an out of a handful of shops unimpressed and decided to stop into the trading post. I think Molli bought 40 necklaces there. My loot was significantly smaller but I’m pleased. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with these old photographs.

I love the scissor necklace I found. Most jewelry that screams, “Look at me! I make stuff!” seems to be pretty tacky in my opinion. I love statement jewelry on other people, but I’m much pickier about it when it comes to myself. I prefer delicate pieces like this. Plus it was five dollars.

I scored this faux leather bracelet for around three to five dollars. I found instructions online on how to make them and it still seems like magic to me. I may make some though, I’d love some other in colors and in dark, chestnut browns.

A few weeks before, Tim and I had gone to the trading post. It wasn’t a big loot kind of day but I did find a seller with a whole lot of bleached coral and other oceanic goods.

We never make our bed, unless we are about to sleep and the blankets are particularly messed up.

My dresser. Tim’s isn’t in the best shape for photographing right now.

Glitter arrow from Something’s Hiding in Here that holds some of my necklaces.

Antique mirror, low-end and vintage jewelry.

Jewelry and belt buckle in an antique wooden chalk box with tiny glass Ikea bowls.

Victoria Smith (SFGirlByBay) posted her favorite prints up for purchase on 20 x 200 here leading me to find:

Christian Chaize

This looks surreal– not just the water but the teeny tiny far away people. It has me thinking about times where I’ve felt like just a grain of sand on earth. All of the people in this image have likely felt that way at some point, yet they’re all out there living their lives ranging from fascinating to mundane. I can only imagine, and my nosy side surely does just that.

Michelle Arcila

Michelle Arcila cites music as an inspiration for her work, likes to make “musical joke” songs with her boyfriend, and has her work on record covers. (Which ones? I don’t know. Michelle, please put a CV/ Resume on your website!) It shouldn’t be a surprise that if someday technology advances to the point where Stevie Nicks’ vocal cords can be cloned and inserted into my larynx, I will be choosing Arcila as my exclusive album artist.

Liz Kuball

A fellow Angeleno photographer with shots of the East and West!

Through her blog I found a link to the website for the film Somewhere to Disappear starring photographer Alec Soth during his pursuit of men who have chose to “disappear” from society for his project “Broken Manual”. Soth was a great inspiration to me as I prepared to travel West last fall.

Daily Design Discoveries shared a link to this 1923 Leica 0-Series Nr.107 that sold for a record-breaking 1.9 million to a “private Asian collector”.

I’m loving this ring the most.

Here’s a taste of her illustrative work, a sketch for a new project.

Kaye’s website – Datter Industries Shop – Kaye Blegvad’s Blogvad (hah!) – Kaye Blegvad illustrations on Etsy

Before I moved in with Tim my knowledge of cooking extended to baking sweets and making a box of mac & cheese. I swore I’d learn to cook when we moved in together nine months ago. And guess what? I really did. Ironically, Tim made the food in these pictures and I just washed the fruit (I’m not a morning person, even when morning extends to noon). However, I’ve gotten pretty damn good at penne with ricotta, spinach or basil, and tomato sauce. I’ve made salmon with white wine and a baked potato with tomato and ricotta (see a trend there?). Tim and I have been really into burgers. We went to Trader Joe’s recently and bought chicken and turkey burgers. Additionally, the salmon we have is the perfect size for burgers. We may be obsessed, but at least we are well fed and full of protein.

I’ve been working on making things lately. Jewelry, specifically, but I have some other ideas in progress. Tim thinks these look unfinished or unprofessional, but he doesn’t get that it’s leather cord with vintage beads. I’m not sure. I like them! Any input? I’ll be listing some on etsy soon. I hope to eventually have more handmade in the shop than vintage. I have so many ideas!

To keep up with my ideas, I’ve been drinking a lot of caffeine. I know, bad. But so good. I’m trying to save money and drink Starbucks “Via” instead of buying $5 drinks but it’s so hard. I need to invest in some more insulated cups with lids/ straws because we lack a dishwasher so I always run out of the house last minute without a coffee and end up getting one.

I made a paper chain a while ago and hung it up for a party. It’s still up. I have no intentions of taking it down. I would love to make a bunch and hang them but we have awful ceiling fans everywhere. Tim doesn’t get why I hate them so much. Even as I lie awake at night watching it sway above us, cringing in anxious anticipation of the moment it snaps off and decapitates us both.