Lovin' Lanvin.. Prepping for Fashion Night Out..

In preparation for this year's Fashion Night Out and all things fashionably awesome.. this video just got me in the mood to be more creative..

What do you think the casting call was for this job?? Must be 5'9" or taller, pale skin, runway look for high end designer.. Oh and must be able to dance.. somewhat..

The Lanvin Fall 2011 Campaign Video.. pure awesomeness:



...fashion is not for the faint of heart..

Photos by the Sea... Featured Photographer: Mark Ramelb..

A photographer friend of mine, Mark Ramelb, has been shooting pictures for quite some time.. He's such a loyal friend and photographer that whenever there is an event, Birthday party, get together, you name it, he is right there with his trusty camera(s).. He has gotten some great visual documentation of me and my friends being silly and some that are definitely frame-worthy. You can always count on Marky Mark!!

On one of my last visits to Hawaii we did a quick shoot at Kaka'ako State Beach.. Since it feels like forever since I had been in front of a camera, I was excited to take these pictures and work with Mark officially for the first time professional wise! If you're looking to get some pictures done, call Mark and set up an appointment.. He is super nice and you may even make a friend out of it!

Let me just say that I did need help walking on those rocks with my wedges.. NOT EASY!!

Picture time!!









...photos by the sea and sunshine in my eyes..

Destination: Palm Springs, CA...

Finally, a travel post! Feels like forever since I've had a vacation or even a mini vacation.. You'd think after moving to the mainland I'd be gone every single weekend at the pace I was going living in Hawaii.. I had to go out to 29 Palms, CA for a work assignment but the nights are mine when the work is finished... We opted to stay in Palm Springs since 29 Palms didn't exactly have a whole lot of options as far as hotels go. GREAT IDEA!! I had never been to Palm Springs and was excited because we got to stay at the ever so infamous Ace Hotel and Swim Club!! This made the trek from San Diego to 29 Palms all worth it! That's a three hour drive... phew! Far for this girl where you could drive to the furthest point of the island in about 45 minutes..

On the way to Palm Springs, we passed a million windmills.. they seem to go on forever.. so cool..


The streets of Palm Springs...


Upon check in, I already knew what to kind of expect from other bloggers and fashion editorials that have shot at the Ace Hotel.. I can't explain how excited I was just to see the rope display in the lobby.. AND a photo booth?! Take a gander..







After such a long day of driving and working, it was nice to finally check out the digs for the night.. All I wanted was to lay by the pool and relax and take in my super micro mini vacation.. Upon walking into the room, music was playing from the Eagle radio station... this was a pleasant surprise.. AND a fully stocked bar?! Too bad I still had to work the next morning..






Pool time...




Desert sunsets..



For dinner we headed to the King's Highway Restaurant.. A place that has a corduroy elephant for an accessory is A.O.K. in my book..





We wandered around the hotel... basically to find more photo ops and scope out the place.. Vespa to rent anyone??




The next morning we grabbed a little breaky at Koffi next door.. O.M.G. probably some of the best coffee ever.. and their bagel breakfast sandwiches are the shiz..


Tried getting a little artsy with my picture taking even though my little Sony Cybershot is pretty much shot.. Someone get me a new camera!!

...desert rain and desert sunsets are my all time fav...

Batter Up!!!

It's baseball season and with Petco Park so close and a trolley ride away from the apartments, it's hard to not take in a weekday game here and there.. A friend of ours got box seats during the Padres vs. The Nationals game and it was pretty darn awesome.. Hot dog anyone?! Pretty much a tradition at any baseball game I attend... Swing batta batta batta batta!!!






Inside the luxury little suite.. multiple game watching... TV and real life.. So spoiled..







Oh and now ice cream bigger than my head seems to be a new tradition...



...re-creating memories from my childhood of watching baseball games in the stands with my family and catching fly balls...

A New Vintage Dining Room... With Painted Upholstery!!

I purchased a settee off Craigslist and probably spent a little more than I should have BUT considering the ones in the antique shop in Ocean Beach were well over $500 I got a steal of a deal.. I bought it more out of impulse since it was priced reasonably in comparison to the antique shops I sifted through and was somewhat happy with the purchase.. not quite what I was looking for but close. I was piecing together a dining area because all the generic ones I had seen at furniture stores I just wasn't into. Too cookie cutter for my anthropologie taste. I already had the table I also purchased off Craigslist.. So all I had was this settee and the table. Next up was purchasing the remaining chairs. I bought the other khaki button tufted chairs with super pretty nailhead trim off Overstock which I'm very pleased about. After many months of staring at the dining room section of the apartment, I just wasn't satisfied.. there was just something wrong and cluttery about it all. I researched how to reupholster furniture and for this piece was more money I wanted to spend and too hard to do myself. I then checked out painting fabric.. was this possible and something I could do?? I stumbled upon Hyphen Interior, a blog that featured a wingback chair that was painted!! I thought long and hard what colors I wanted and if I wanted to risk painting a potentially high-valued antique piece of furniture. I finally went to the craft store and purchased the materials listed on the blog (minus the latex satin paint - opting for only acrylic paint).

Check out the goods (I forgot to include the Metallic Krylon gold spray paint I used).. I also had to buy a second bottle of textile medium:


Here is the before picture of the settee..


I followed the directions on Hypen Interiors except I skipped the latex satin paint and only used acrylic for all coats.. My first coat of paint.. The settee came with a roll pillow which I started on first to get an idea how the paint was going to go on the fabric.. After that first coat I was excited to get started on the settee...




This little settee took five coats of paint.. I didn't get it quite white but more of a gray with white because of the texture on it... I like that you can still see the pattern through the paint. Pretty sure I developed some form of carpal tunnel in my right arm from all the coats of paint...


After the last coat of paint dried I taped up the edges where I was going to spray paint the wood... Hot pink for a nice touch...


Right after spray painting it and carefully removing the duck tape...


The finished product!! I'm quite happy with the way it turned out.. At first I thought to myself, crap, did I just mess up a perfectly good piece of furniture? But after putting it with the rest of the dining table, it matches so much better! Pretty sure Coconut likes the new piece as well.. She matches too!!



How does painted furniture feel?? Well after five coats of paint it feels like a canvas you paint on. It's still comfortable to sit on, just not super soft.. I did use the sander to try and soften the fabric a little.. As I've read other bloggers post, it's like outdoor furniture feeling, but not really..

...taking something old and making it new and beautiful again...