It’s finally feeling like actual Fall in the Bay Area and if you’re like me, the chunkier the knit, the better. This one is an old knit from Glamorous (you can find this brand at Bloomingdales.) Fall is my favorite time of the year. I’m looking forward to a quick trip to LA next week for @Twelfthknight’s family Thanksgiving and then right back up for my family’s meal. It’s going to be a whirlwind holiday season this year full of Pop Up shops that I’ll be hosting for Rothy’s Shoes and all the various blogger events, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Sometimes I feel like I’m always searching for some resolve or peace of mind. Maybe I’ve always been restless. Not sure what I’m always searching for exactly, but I know that to be completely content with oneself and where they’re at in life is quite rare. Striving for more but better yet figuring out how to get there is always on my mind, day in day out. If you’re anything like me, it’s exhausting am I right?
A few days in Paso Robles (2 hrs north of LA) with the furbaby and @Twelfthknight helped me reach some calm finally in a long time. Every dip in our hotel pool, a morning tour of Hearst Castle, and some really nice time spent wine tasting and eating…can’t get more relaxing than that.
Hearst literally built his dream. And so will I, one way or another.
As always, thank you for reading and keep striving :)
Thank you for taking the time to read my last post, I appreciate the kind words from you guys, I really do. I’d like to move on to our regular scheduled program today though…If you’re reading this blog post, I am now currently in my home away from homes, the city of Los Angeles. It’s nice to be back even just for a tiny bit and I plan on bopping around, revisiting old haunts (and new.) It’s perfect “Fall” weather here as it will barely break 70 degrees and I’m absolutely ok with that.
You’ve probably seen a lot of bloggers already wearing the Over the Knee boot trend, aka OTK. I thought, alright…why not have some fun, so I bought these bad boys from Public Desire for $72. A lot of gals pair their boots with dresses or skinny jeans, I opted for denim cutoffs because I’m still not ready to let go of warmer weather. What are your thoughts? Are you jumping on the OTK trend?
*I’m in LA just for the weekend, and then I will be off to Puerto Vallarta for a much needed respite. Can’t wait to come back refreshed and share those photos with you. Until then :)
Hi everyone. Not sure about you, but I’m so looking forward to cooler weather. For me, that means more sweaters, and light layers, but I want to have fun with them at the same time. Bodysuits are a way of doing that, which brings me to my favorite brand currently: Clayton.
Clayton’s affordable and easy to wear line are currently sold through my two favorite sites Revolve and Shopbop. I genuinely have been a fan of their jersey knits for a little while now, they’re the quintessential LA girl brand. So when they came out with all these bodysuits, I decided to try them out. Of course, the most flattering way to wear a one piece is with a high waist, so I opted to combine both trends together, and voile. Easy, effortless, and also proving that you don’t have to be built like a Kardashian to wear the trend…I think you guys will be seeing more of these looks from me. What do you think?
Time is a funny thing. For starters, it’s free and yet priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can sure spend it. And when you’ve lost it, you can’t get it back. Allow me to give you some examples:
When I was in Middle School through High School, I would stare at the clock every day and hope and pray that time moved faster so I could either get to art class (my outlet) or get home. I had a terrible time in school growing up due to bullying, so little me always wanted time to move faster.
And when you’re young and you experience loss or are dealt with very difficult circumstances, you see time differently. There’s just not enough of it and you realize just how important time really is with those you love. This is precisely why time well spent with family takes such precedence for me, as I’m sure many of you can relate.
Moving out of my little city of Piedmont to Los Angeles was great, but also a literal measure of time. Graduating with my BFA (4 years) and working professionally for 5 years in “the business” amounted to a few months shy of a decade. But now that I think about it, time flew by so fast and I’m not sure that I can say that I used my time always to my advantage. Working hard is fine and all, but working smart is another. 12-14 hr days on set, running wardrobe as a free agent is ridiculous (some may say reckless) and exciting all at the same time. When you’re in your 20’s you feel like you can do everything all at once and take on the world, but realistically it comes down to luck and timing. And I realized much later, that my time was more precious than a flimsy paycheck for the work I did or the people that took my time for granted. Absolutely.
Currently, I’m using my time wisely and I feel like the momentum I’ve had with social media and this blog has been the best use of my time, dare I say ever. Why? Because the results are coming in quickly and I’ve gotten to meet a lot of interesting and relateable people through blogging, all over the world. I put in the time, the work and learning curves, and the return matches or exceeds. Rinse and repeat. I’m happy, and I only hope that by the time I turn 30 in October, myself and the blog will have grown even more with creative ventures.
I’d like to thank you all for taking the time to read and follow along with me. I’m sure you can relate to this post so I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments!
*This blog post is made possible by Nicole Vienna. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible.
Happy Memorial Day everyone! In the spirit of all things American made, I’d like to introduce to you, Jackie Prophit of Malibu American. After coming across Jackie’s bags on Instagram, I kept coming back to her feed and noting her beautiful bag designs, craftsmanship, and attention to tones and contrast. I was smitten. By the third click coming back, I reached out and now here I am toting her best seller, The Topanga in Bubble.
This bag is amazing, it holds literally everything I need to get by each day. An extra pair of shoes, my macbook, 2 chargers, a phone, a small wallet…a light packaged lunch. You name it. My whole life in one luxe bag, basically. And blush tones, my favorite :D
As you know, I love to support and promote small brands. Jackie is a self taught and self made designer, a one woman production team. What’s more fantastic is that Malibu American is made in California, something very important to note. My years in LA have garnered me a love for laid back luxe designs and now I can carry it on my shoulder up here in the Bay Area.
Be sure to give Malibu American a follow on Instagram to see all of Jackie’s beautiful bags and colors. And thank you to Rachel Radcliffe for yet another beautiful set of photos.
Fringe actionBlushing in “Bubble”Lace up flats from Public Desire (shop my looks here)
Happy Monday all. As most of you know Los Angeles is my favorite city. I’ve lived, worked, and played here for many years, so it’s always nice to come back down for a little bit now that I’ve been in the Bay Area a while. Do I miss it? Hell yeah. I miss the daily grind of the city, the little magic if you will. We treated this trip as a staycation. It was nice to swoop in with @Twelfthknight and the fur baby for a few days to eat, relax, take in some art, and just be. No agenda, no work, just living that LA life as only we know how :D
As always, thank you for reading. And a big thank you to Sole of Brasil for adding some boho style to my look. If you’d like to shop Sole of Brasil’s online store for comfy Brazilian shoes, be sure to use “Lauren15” for 15% off at checkout.
Abbott Kinney Blvd, my favorite street in Venice away from the beach and tourists.Lemonade via the Main Squeeze Lemonade Truck. Shoes by Loeffler Randall.Abbott Kinney has some of the best murals in the area, this being a favorite.@twelfthknight and Moobie’s favorite mural :D – Abbott KinneyWe were excited that PDX came to LA! Blue Star Donuts, ladies and gentlemen. The blueberry bourbon rosemary donut…lives up to the hype.The perfect weekend ensemble. Wearing a Paige tank, Joes Jeans, Mgemi flats, and Minkoff bag.My favorite stop for plant life. Isabel Marant on Melrose Place (taken during Farmer’s Market)Farmer’s Market berries on Melrose Place.Picked up some Alfred’s coffee before heading to brunch with friends Amy and Paul. @Twelfthknight has never been and I was happy to show him my favorite coffee kitchen in the area. We also met a french bulldog there named Winston.#ButFirstCoffee thanks to Alfred’s. And now off to brunch.The interior of Republique on La Brea. We ate with my old friend Amy and her husband. She’s a talented makeup artist in the industry. FYI: There is always a wait for this place, and rightly so. If you eat for dinner, you may place reservations.Back at the apartment with my sun appropriate things. (we stayed in Miracle Mile, a few blocks from LACMA)Moobie loved having the place to himself a lot, he was truly on vacation :DLACMA at night. Earlier we saw Ryan Seacrest and Diane Keaton there for an event.Tsukemen at the best ramen house in Los Angeles, Tsujita LA. I took my parents here a long time ago, and now I’ve taken @Twelfthknight :) My favorite neighborhood in LA for authentic Japanese food.Purple rain, in honor of Prince. Our street was lined with these flowers every morning.Another local favorite, Joan’s on Third. A market, coffee spot, deli, and great food.Boho vibin’ with my gladiators thanks to Sole of BrasilLast breakfast at Stir Market on Beverly. The best bacon in town! And the entire staff is incredibly generous and kind, we will be back.
It’s been a while, hope you’re all well and thank you for being patient as I’ve been a little behind lately here. However you can always find me on Instagram to see what I’m up to each day! I’m happy to finally release two of my projects that I’ve been Department Head on, a commercial for Nongshim USA featuring Ki Hong Lee (The Maze Runner franchise) shot in Los Angeles and the November Issue of Diablo Magazine on stands currently, shot in Oakland, CA.
Fun Fact: It took 14hours to shoot this 30 second commercial in the Hollywood Hills. As per usual, I was the only female on an all male film crew.
Ki Hong Lee for Nongshim USA: Watch the commercial here >> Full CommercialFun Fact: Lena Ahn is wearing a Hye Park & Lune Baseball Tee. Ki Hong is wearing Marc Jacobs.And that’s a wrap. Hope you enjoyed, this specifically airs overseas on all networks in Seoul and Hong Kong, however you can watch it on Youtube of course. >> Full Commercial
Soon after I got back from LA, Diablo Magazine called to have me style their November Issue and I happily signed on because it marks my first editorial shoot in the Bay Area. The Food and Wine Issue is an important one because let’s be honest, I love to eat and what’s most fitting is that we shot the whole thing in Oakland, just minutes away from where I grew up. Be sure to pick up a copy, on news stands, grocery stores, and Barnes and Noble in Northern CA. Cheers!
We made the cover!Behind the Scenes with Model Hannah Tokuno for Stars Management. Fun Fact: Hannah is wearing an Ulla Johnson dress, pulled from local boutique Shop McMullen.We shot this set at Pican Restaurant in Oakland. Photographer: Norma CordovaFinal Edit.Hannah wearing BCBGeneration.Final EditFinal Edit: Hannah wearing an Ulla Johnson dress and Cate & Chloe layered necklace (my own.)
As always, thanks for reading and keeping pace with me.
Well, it was a whirlwind trip this time around but I’m glad that the boo and I could get away for some little sun and r&r for the weekend in LA. Staying in an apartment in Echo Park was great for those of you who know where this little neighborhood is. Just outside of Silverlake Junction, Echo Park is a tiny neighborhood that boarders the hipster coffee district of Silverlake and Sunset Blvd as well as bordering downtown LA. We did a lot, ate even more, snagged some new tops at the Greylin warehouse, and had a fun run in with Neil Flynn from Scrubs (he’s now on ABC’s The Middle.) It was nice to be back in LA for some relaxation, but now that I’m back in the Bay I can say it’s nice to be home. Until next time LA.
White Washed x Outside the Bates Motel Installation created by French Artist Vincent LamourouxDinner x First order of business: Daikokuya Ramen in DTLA. One of my favorite ramen houses in all of Los Angeles County.You love the man. Yes. Yes I do. Graffiti Art on Sunset.Smile for the ego. Always. #Butfirstletmetakeaselfie. Graffiti art found on Sunset and Bates.Echo Park Lake in all it’s glory. Downtown in the background. #NoFilter.Echo Park Lake and the Lotus Pond:) Also, how cool is this Cheap Monday tank? Underneath, wearing a Brandy Melville cropped bralette for layering purposes.Superb breakfast while you wait for the paddle boats.Square One Dining @ The Boathouse on Echo Park Lake. Left to right: Breakfast Tacos, Cheddar Grits and Bacon. Horchata. (The original Square One Restaurant is in Silverlake.)Lattes at Dinosaur Coffee. The boy flipped out and fan-girled so hard when he saw his favorite actor Neil Flynn behind me. I played it cool as they took selfies together. You can see his on Instagram @Twelfthknight :DWhite out.White out. Vincent Lamouroux painted these palm trees in ecofriendly paint for his installation.White Out at the Bates Motel. See for yourself if you’re on Sunset and Bates.Going home: You can’t go on a road trip and not get In n Out. That’s blasphemy. Animal Style, of course.
Thanks for reading, you can always find more daily photos during the week of my adventures on Instagram @shoes_and_sashimi
G’morning ya’ll. I find this post so fitting. This was shot a few days later, post Runyon Canyon. If any of you really know me, I’m not a runner. Like, at all. Don’t get me wrong, I love to work out. I just do other means of exercise, preferably in temperature controlled rooms such as spinning and yoga. I have love for Mother Nature absolutely, but I don’t really do the whole hiking thing especially when it’s pushing 90 degrees dry heat. That’s bordering suicidal to me, personally.
Last week however, I was coaxed into doing Runyon which is rather rare. Apparently I was feeling bold that day, but was with nice company, so I sucked it up and swapped my tranquil routine yoga flow for the vertical dusty incline stairs. It was hot. A dry 94 degrees to be exact. No sane person in their right mind would voluntarily be out there running up a damn mountain enjoying it. The little puppies at the base of the mountain were whining and I don’t blame them. One weenie dog named Twig planted his paws in the dust and refused to go any further. I’m with you Twig, I feel ya.
But we did it, actually we killed it. And the views from the top of the ridge are quite nice once you get up there. God speed, Twig.
What’s your workout of choice? :D
Sweatshirt by Wildfox CoutureTevas. Because the Birk is last season.
