Posts tagged california

last weekend, my friends and i journeyed to catalina. i went when i was younger but remember nothing about that trip other than the shorts i wore. they were orange. for this trip, we woke up at dawn to drive to long beach to catch the early ferry. the trip there was not so bueno, the majority of us were feeling queasy from the ride. but we reached land and started soaking in the loveliness of it all, got ourselves some breakfast and all was well. after breakfast we rented kayaks. if you know me, you know i was not excited about this. you also know that is an understatement! ha. we got in our single boats and started rowing. not gonna lie, i hated the first hour. but then we made our way to a beach, pulled up on shore, had some beer and collected seashells and once again, all was well. the row back was much smoother and less stressful since this time i knew where we were going and how long it would take to get there. after kayaking, we marched ourselves to the other side of the bay where half of us parked ourselves on the beach and the other half went zip lining. (guess which half i was in?) from there, drinks and dinner (oysters!) and then the boat ride home. it was a full, exhausting, fantastic adventure. 

going to the antelope valley to see the poppy fields has been on my la bucket list for about 3 years now. i always seem to forget until its too late and the season is over. the same thing happened again this year, but i figured i’d give it a go anyways just in case. it was pretty brown, but it was a beautiful day for a little hike and there were pockets of orange here and there - enough to make me want to come back next year a little earlier. 

this week i finally made the journey to this is not ikea. it was basically {overpriced} heaven.

stacks and stacks of vintage luggage.

vintage signs.

carousel parts. 

i need this tv in my life.

you guys. can we talk about kimchi fries for a minute? because they are incredible. i have dreams about these kimchi fries. y’all know i’m a sucker for a food truck - especially a food truck with a great gimmick. frysmith definitely has their gimmick down. they don’t have a huge menu so you’re not overwhelmed by too many options, but the options they do have are all pretty great. the first time i had the truck, i opted for the safer carne asada fries, but the second time i went all in for the kimchi. now there will be no turning back. everything about them is perfection: the spicy, the salty, the pork, the cheese, and of course the kimchi. 

oh man, i’ve been meaning to do this one for quite some time. i love randy’s donuts. i wish there were still more kitschy buildings around town. like, why is the brown derby not still in business?! come on now. 

hooray for hollywood! does anyone else wish the sign still said “hollywoodland”? what i wouldn’t give to see that back up on that hill. regardless, as long as i live here, i don’t think the hollywood sign will ever get old. i love it so. 

hey ya’ll, i’m gonna have a booth selling my little paintings at the native la flea market coming up - april 1st (no joke!) so mark your calendars and i’ll see you there! 

the parking garage in santa monica was packed this morning so i had to park on the roof. luckily it gave me a chance to see the views i would have otherwise never known existed! 

i cant even begin to tell you how much i love the sushi burrito. when i first heard about it, i was really confused, but really intrigued. in my head i was picturing some sort of mexican/japanese fusion, obvi, but its not. its really just a big uncut hand roll. my favorite is the #2 - spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, crab and avocado. its seriously heavenly. anytime they tweet that they’re at sepulveda & palms i know what my plans are for the evening. oh - and don’t forget to get a side of the spicy sauce. yum!

miss heather wanted to go to the flea market yesterday morning to get some furniture, so we went along. normally i just head to the melrose flea market because its close and well curated, but the rose bowl flea market is huge and happens only once a month - and probably has better bargains - so thats where we headed. 

yesterday was absolutely gorgeous and 85 degrees. we rode our bikes to the beach. 

the last couple of weeks i have had zero motivation to paint. not a great issue to have when you’ve resolved to paint at least once a week. i know it shouldn’t feel like a chore, but if i don’t make myself do it, then i’ll end up like last year only doing two paintings the entire freakin year. marshall suggested i maybe try a different style or subject to get me out of my funk, which was a great idea…but turns out the reason why i paint what and how i do is because i have no other ideas. finally i was so frustrated i just had to get something on canvas, so i ended up with these little guys. nothing special, but i guess the resolution never stipulated that they had to be special paintings, they just have to be paintings. i may go back and outline them in black like my usual style, but i do kind of like the hand drawn quality the non-outlined images have. we’ll see. so these are for the last two weeks and the current week we’re in. i have wednesday off, so i’m hopefully going to regroup in my brain, go to the art store for supplies and inspiration and run around town to take some photos. 

here’s the last painting i did before the slump.