if i haver: california

Showing posts with label california. Show all posts

My neighbors are so rad. Every night at the artist's community where I live is like a uber-creative childhood slumber party. I love all of the goofy shenanigans we get into. The other night we decided to do an impromptu awkward family/band photo shoot for Picture Day. I have a slight obsession with cheesy things from the 90's so I, of course, adored every minute of the shoot. I'm really happy with how the photos came out! I think they look pretty authentic without looking like we tried too hard.

Here are a few of my favorites:

One of the things that I think can really make or break something that is intentionally and ironically cheesy is attention to detail. I had a ton of fun taking and being a part of these photos, but I had equally as much fun getting the color/glow of the photos just right.. I also got a special thrill out of creating and placing our "Picture Day" watermark on all of the photos. I know.. I know..I probably should tell the world about that.

You can check out more of the photos from the shoot on Flickr! Like what you see? Comment below!

10.27.11 // trailer trash

Well, I moved.. like two months ago.. ah.. I've been bad at this whole blogging thing lately! I'm going to get back on the bandwagon soon because exciting things are on the horizon! I want to document here in my little corner of the interweb. For now, let me just say that I'm living in an artist community. I made the big bad move over the border of Orange County into LA County in August and it's been great so far. I'm living in a back lot with two other mobile home dwellers - both painters - and it's been amazing and inspiring so far. It's so nice to meet other people that are living small, mobile lives!

I was living in someone's driveway before moving to where I am now. It was fine for what it was, but, more importantly, it really served to solidify my desire to live in my trailer full-time by helping me prove to myself that I could actually do it. After a few months there I definitely welcomed the change to a communal environment. Driveway living can be lonely!

I got up early yesterday to take some shots for my up and coming Etsy store (be on the lookout for a post about it very, very soon!!) and decided to snap a few photos of my living situation while I had my camera out. So, without further ado, may I present to you... my tiny little home on wheels (again.. I did a post on my trailer a while back, but these photos are better and more up to date!)

8.8.11 // it's been a while

I'm still alive.. and still in California!

3.16.11 // !!!inner children united!!!

Ah! I haven't blogged in so long. A lot has happened here in California since my last post! I've been hanging out in my trailer, hanging out with friends, designing t-shirts for an up and coming t-shirt line, painting my car, Skyping with my parents back in Connecticut, working on a awesome vegan food truck called Seabirds, and spending way too much time at Whole Foods (I do a lot of my drawing and doodling there!)

My friends and I have also jumped into the creative deep end. We have so many fun and creative plans and projects in the works - it's really exciting! One such endeavor is an organization called Inner Children United. I've been impressed by organizations like Improv Everywhere and Newmindspace since first learning about them a few years back. They encourage the fun and spontaneous (two things that I can't live without) in everyday life. My friends and I wanted to start something similar here in Orange County, California... thus, Inner Children United was born.

Inner Children United is more than events and members.. it's a movement. It's about getting in touch with the kid that lives in each of us and allowing that kid to take front seat (even if they're under 12 years of age and it's illegal to do so by law... that might only be a law in Connecticut, so that joke might be lost to anyone outside of the state...)

We're working on building up our membership and planning some super exciting events. If you live in Southern California or will be in the area let me know! We'd love to have you in our group. We've also created an Inner Childred United Facebook page and Youtube channel. Why the Youtube page? ...Here's why...

My friend, former fellow Roadie and Inner Children United co-creator, Ray Ricafort created the beat and my friend, fellow Roadie and musician extraordinaire, Mariana Iglesias (aka Audrey & the Deer) took our photos. It was a wonderful collaboration/Roadie reunion! We consider this video a first step.. a launching point to spring off of. We have some big plans for the umbrella of Inner Children United - events, videos, and a public access show to boot. Stay tuned!

february 28, 2011 // home sweet trailer

Well, it's official. I'm living in my trailer. I found a family on (where else but) Craigslist willing to put me up in their driveway with an electrical outlet and use of their bathroom and kitchen - perfect! I really like my trailer. I spent about a week and half before coming back to Connecticut for the holidays solely working on getting the trailer in living condition. I cleaned it up, repainted the interior, decorated, got some scented candles for ambiance (and, of course, a smoke detector) and now it's as cozy as can be. Here are a few shots of the interior.

I found two of these great owl wall hangings at a Goodwill in Montana for something like $2.00 a piece. I've definitely seen something similar at Urban Outfitters for close to $40.00 each!

I love candles.. they just make me feel more at home. I made some lanterns out of mason jars, wire and twine. They were super easy to make and actually give off a good amount of light!

I got these postcards (art pieces to me...) for free at a local art walk a few months ago. I especially love the bear.

My friend Jason passed on these old photo slides to me. I've wanted to do something with them for a while, but wasn't sure how I could use them. The other day, I was holding one of the slides up in front of me. The sun from outside shone through the slide and made the picture visible. This gave me the idea of hanging the slides in front of one of my trailer windows.

february 9, 2011 // bad public access shows

When I get back to California a few friends and I are planning on putting together a 1-hour public access show for local television. For those of you who don't know this already, I'm kind of obsessed with public access television. It's just so.. so.. liberated. In an effort to prepare for our television debut, I've compiled a collection of bad public access shows for my friends and I to reference for inspiration. Here are a few of the "best" I've seen.

and my personal favorite..

january 7, 2011 // destination: desert

On Friday, a few friends and I headed out to the desert to visit Niland, California. At first glance, Niland doesn't look like much. There's a laundromat, a small grocery store and a restaurant/bar in the main part of town.. not a place that most people would think to make a vacation spot.. but hiding just off of the main strip of town are two national treasures - Salvation Mountain and Slab City. I've visited Niland a few times, but I always take something new away every time that I visit. Salvation Mountain was built by folk artist Leonard Knight as an outward declaration of his faith to God. He built the entire mountain by hand using adobe clay and straw. It's such an awesome place to visit.

Just down the road from Salvation Mountain is Slab City - what's been called the last free place to live in America. People from all over the country and world go to Slab City with their trailers and RVs and live on cement slabs. The slabs are all the remains of Camp Dunlap - a WWII Marine barrack. It's a quirky community.. made up all sorts of people. My friends and I spoke with one guy who had moved out to Slab City after losing his job with a traveling carnival. He now spends his days converting an abandoned swimming pool into a skate park for the community.

Every Saturday night in Slab City, the residents hold a open mic at an open-air venue called "The Range". A man by the name of Builder Bill started up the show a few years back and people come from all over to perform there. When I went out to Slab City back in September with Roadtrip Nation's Roadie tour, we gave Builder Bill one of our RV bumper stickers. I was really excited when I noticed that it had been put up on one of the walls at The Range!

Bill was kind enough to grace us with his singing talents. He played a song that he performs at the opening of open mic each week. Here's a little taste of that!

I definitely want to camp out to Slab City soon with my trailer. Maybe I can talk a few friends into coming along and performing at The Range one Saturday night!

january 6, 2011 // partyfuntimes!

Tonight I celebrated my 25th birthday party in California. It was a crazy day - I flew out of New York and into Las Vegas (where I was storing my car at a friend's house for the month that I was home) and then I drove from Las Vegas to California. After that I headed straight to dinner with a few friends (which was super fun!).. then it was party time!! I love my friends. They're all so amazingly wonderful. The party was so much fun! (pinata + goody bags + pin the fruit bowl on the middle aged men = partyfuntimes!!!)..

december 28, 2010 // feeling torn

Man, I thought I might feel this way eventually.. but it happened sooner than I'd expected. I'm feeling torn. Sorry if that made you get that Natalie Imbruglia song stuck in your head.. but it's true. I don't think I've ever felt this torn before!

Here's why - I've been living in California (including leaving there to do my roadie job for Roadtrip Nation for two months) for a year come this March. When I left, I told my parents that I'd probably be back in six months at the most, but then time flew by.. as time tends to do.. and I was having so much fun hanging out with my friends from Roadtrip Nation, making new friends and working that I didn't come home for any significant amount of time (minus coming home for three days in July.. but that seems like a dream because it was so short) until the beginning of this month.

I've always been really close to my parents, so leaving home in the first place was especially hard.. but I know that leaving home after spending the holidays with them will be even harder. I feel like I want to be in two places at once. I want to be in California because socially it's amazing.. everyone there is as weird or weirder than I am, there's always something new and creative to do and where I live is close enough to L.A. that I can drive there for a concert without really having to think much about it. I have some amazing friends here on the East Coast that I love, but there are only like five places to go in my hometown at night.. and most things close around 8pm..

Regardless, part of me wants to be here in Connecticut because only seeing my parents twice over the course of a year is something that I don't want to make a habit of doing. I'm very seriously considering moving back to the East Coast - maybe to Brooklyn or some other nearby young/hip/things-stay-open-later-than-8pm place. I don't know. The only real plan that I have right now is flying back to California for my West Coast birthday party (I'm having two parties this year.. I feel so lucky!) and then driving up to Montana where my friend Sarah lives for a month to write and illustrate a childrens' book.. (I'll be writing a post about that soon because I'm super excited about it!!)

Anyway, I guess this is just a rant about how I'm feeling so I can get it out of my system. I don't want to leave behind all of the amazing people I've connected with in California, but I also don't know how often I can come back out to Connecticut if I stay out there and get a full-time job with... ick.. vacation time.. (which, if I want to live comfortably and do cool things, I'll have to do) ..sorry, but I have a lot of issues with corporate jobs.. I hate that they control my free time so much.. sorry.. ranting again.. that's a whole other blog post! Maybe I can clone myself or live between both coasts in the Midwest. If you know of any solutions, please, please, please e-mail me or comment below.. I could use some advice!

8.19.10 // BACK OF MY NECK GETTING GOOD AND GRITTY

I haven't posted an outfit in a long time. I've been busy trying to find work in California and painting my car (work in progress photo below..), and as a result my blog as suffered. Everyone out here seems to have their own personal style. It's so fun to go out and see so many people wearing styles similar to the ones that I've seen on some of my favorite fashion blogs and have it be normal. There are definitely trendy people back in my home state of Connecticut, but the West Coast style is just different. I love that I can wear prescription-less glasses in California without feeling like a little kid playing psychiatrist and that beanies are in season here year-round.

SHIRT // mom's! found it in the attic

PANTS // thrifted

HAT // handmade

SHOES // thrifted

GLASSES // gifted!

Here's a shot of my new(ish) painted car. I still have a lot more work to do, but I hope to have the entire car painted by the end of August! I decided to buy a Volvo station wagon before I left for my cross-country road trip. This one's an old Vovlo 940 wagon.. she's a beauty and got me all the way to California without too much trouble (minus an oil-shooting-from-the-engine incident that both she and I have decided to forget about..)

6.14.10 // MELLOW YELLOW

DRESS // thrifted

BELT // thrifted

TIGHTS // thrifted (but they were new!)

SHOES // thrifted

JACKET // thrifted

My apologies for not writing in a very long time.  I have been settling into life in California over the past month or so and haven't made much of an effort to chronicle my outfits or my life here.  One thing that I have been doing constantly is visiting Trader Joe's.  There's one like a block away from my apartment complex.. and I . CAN'T . HELP . MYSELF!  It's crazy to finally be out here and so far away from my family.  I love the beach, but even more than that, I love the people.  I met some really amazing people when I worked out here last year for a while and I wanted to come back for more of their positivity and creative energy.  California just seems like the perfect place to be right now.  It's equal parts liberating and awkward being so far away from home.  I feel a lot like Bambi when he first tries to stand on ice (side note - did anyone else think that Bambi was a girl?!)  I know that being on my own is something that I can do, but I'm not as sure-footed and confident as I would like to be.  Maybe once I get some antlers things will be different.

5.13.10 // IT'S ALL HAPPENING AT THE ZOO..

My friend Hayley and I recently visited The San Diego Zoo. We, of course, listened to "At the Zoo" by Simon & Garfunkel on our drive down. The visit reminded me of two things: how amazing life is (there are so many varieties of it!) and how happy cotton candy can make me.