Update

An update:

I am now living in West Hollywood, California, with a stupendous job and a sunny pooldeck and occasional NYC homesickness. Two weeks ago I visited NY again for fashion week. Not really. Really it was for fun and my birthday and I only did two remotely fashiony things: 1. hang out with Tsemaye Binitie, probably one of the most talented up-and-coming designers this season, while he cast girls for his Sunday presentation and 2. ended up at the Helmut Lang after party with the gorgeous (and much missed) Alissa. Let's not mention any interaction I had with the male sex while in the city as anything along those lines is always clearly a disaster.

That trip was followed by Vegas with the work girls the next day. Which was an eye-opening adventure to say the least. Learned a lot. None of it had to do with gambling.

Oh and then I turned 22.

At last, however, I am in full recovery. Spent the morning in Burke Williams (a six month present from my lovely and forgiving boss), the afternoon on the pooldeck with Bonfire of the Vanities in my lap, and am now attempting to make orzo while slightly intoxicated with a homemade whisky sour. Too much lemon and not enough sugar.

The screenplay I wrote last year has yet to make me millions but I have five different kinds of cheese in my fridge currently (jack, cheddar, bleu, parmesan and feta) and that is enough success for me at the moment.

The point of this was to let everyone know I now have a tumblr. And a pintrest. Follow them for more images and less rambling!

http://adventuresinbliss.tumblr.com/
http://pinterest.com/splendidness/

And now for one more reason I'm going back to NY in the spring:

She is gorgeous and winter-fuzzy and I miss her to DEATH.

xoxo

L

UptownDowntownBohemianSomething

It's been a little while since I did an outfit post so there's some catching up to do. I still tend to approach getting dressed like putting on a costume (that's part of the fun of it after all) so yes, a couple of these are a little funny. But I wore all of them out of the house :)

 Oh the magical things you find when shopping your closet! Suddenly this tube-dress/bathing suit cover-up from a street market on Oahu transforms into a perfectly trendy high-waited midi-skirt! And sooo comfy in this disgustingly hot weather! I actually ended up swapping the white tank for a black LCS one and strapping on some chunky heels for a night out in Brooklyn with my girls.

 Sunday brunch in the Upper East. Just wish the hat had stayed on a little better...

Dive bar date with Mary. Red lipstick, whiskey, va-voom-y hair and all the silliness you can imagine.

Plane outfit for the flight to San Diego. Ok confession, I did swap the Rosseaus for sandals and then put them back on once I arrived. I dunno, there's something about standing at the curb in a great pair of heels with your weekender bag next to you, waiting for a handsome man (my dad in this case) to pick you up in a convertible and whisk you off to an estate in the country... the Madrid pants are definitely one of my best European finds to date.

 Can't remember if I wore this to the Ed2010 Happy Hour or the Mediabistro mixer last week...both bars packed with kids like me trying to find a job. I tend to get stupidly excited when I find new uses for things (see Hawaii skirt above) so discovering another way to style this tribal LCS bandeau pretty much made my night.

 Gotta stop cutting off my shoes in these pictures though. These rust pumps are so old they're getting a bit rickety, but I wear them anyway. The color and fit are just so perfect...

This is Jasmine. She's the gorgeous Arabian I get to ride when I visit my friend Dave out on Long Island. She's pretty much the most amazing horse you'll find anywhere. We like to gallop through fields and kick up wild turkeys - Jasmine doesn't spook at anything. She's quite the little princess though and she refuses to get her feet wet...

Random NYC sunset at Riverside Park a couple weeks ago. It's the little things :)

My First Encounter with the New York Fashion District

Let me first premise this post by reminding you that for the past two years I have relied on the resources of the Los Angeles Garment District for notions, fabric sourcing, etc. Through my adventures there I have snuck out of parking lots (because I didn't have a permit), parked my car on strange buildings (leaving my keys with strangers and praying they don't drive off), and pawed through endless tiny, cramped shops full of low quality fabric, trying to find a diamond in the rough to make it all worth while. In a few words, the LA Garment District is shoddy, dismal, dangerous, and dirty.

So when I ventured into the New York Fashion District last week, I expect more of the same. Maybe just bigger because it was New York after all.

What I found was a virtual wonderland of some of the most amazing collections of material I've ever seen in my life. There was just SO MUCH GOOD STUFF. I've been away from my sketchbook almost three months now, (my lack of inspiration most likely reflecting preoccupations like I don't know, job searches?) and I had an entire Resort AND Fall collection ricocheting through my brain after only two hours digging through the endless piles of goodies.

Below is a compilation of my discoveries. Normally, these would be trade secrets, but as my sewing machine is still in Orange County, I figured I might as well share...

See??? It's AMAZING. Pulled out "just a few" fabrics I'm absolutely dying to work with. Not telling you what I want to do with them though. That's cheating. Use your imagination :)

 

 (Ok, this one is obvious. Floor-length McQueen style skirt anyone?)

 Actually scraped together the cash to buy this last one. Even though I don't currently have anything to sew it on...Stay tuned for a truly fabulous Fall creation...

The Washington Heights Digs

So my little NYC home has it's downsides (no AC, air mattress bed, hour-long commute to anywhere, no local nightlife) BUT it's HOME. It's got a big kitchen, my own space, laundry in the Columbia dorms next door is dirt cheap, and I've completed all the nesting rituals to make coming home at 2am feel like the best thing in the world. I've been getting a lot of questions about what said apartment looks like, so I grabbed a couple snaps to give you a little peak into my home in the Big Apple.

The room. That big white patch of air out the window is the George Washington Bridge. The sun sets right behind it and then it lights up at night - gorgeousness every day.

Shoe collection!

Makeshift makeup table on my broken suitcase.

The chick who had my room before left this desk behind! It became my dresser/desk/bookshelf.

Jewelry :)

 Portfolio, cookbook, fave books and movies and knicknacks

Closet had a few hangers in it when I got here and I brought some with me, but there are still 2-4 items on each one. Good thing I had practice doing this last summer in London. There's some LCS faves in the back...

 In case you're wondering, yes, it WAS absolutely essential to bring five purses with me to New York. The fifth is the big black one from Florence that I keep on my desk.

 Bathroom cabinet! Yeah...it's a good thing both the med students I'm living with don't believe in a lot of toiletries.

GENART IS BACK

Let me first say how THRILLED I am that GenArt is back up and running again! For those of you who don't know, GenArt is a national nonprofit organization focused on promoting up and coming talent in the film, fashion, art and music worlds. After closing their doors just a little over a year ago, GenArt is back in motion with fantastic new leadership and an upcoming year of exciting events.

Last week I was lucky enough to participate in their first big event since the relaunch, the GenArt Film Festival. Tweeting from the red carpet six nights out of the seven night festival, I got to meet some incredibly talented people, watch some fresh, moving and thought provoking films (shout out to the programmer Aaron Levine - the selection was brilliant), and of course attend a ridiculous after party at a different venue every night! Baby event planner's dream? Um definitely!

It's crazy to think that I worked my first GenArt event just a little over two years ago at the Box8 fashion show during LA Fashion Week in March of 2009. I remember standing in the back after all the chaos of seating people had died down and watching the models charge the runway, the flashing lights, the pounding beats, for the very first time...that event helped shape my career. And now here I am in New York City and GenArt is still helping shape my experiences and my dreams. Thanks so much to the leadership, staff, and volunteers - you're changing lives you don't even know about. Keep it up!

Below is a quick recap of the festival. Many many apologies to the films shown on the second night - I wasn't in attendance so I can't really comment...

Night One: Opening night at the Zeigfeld Theatre. Gorgeous venue.

Highlight: hanging out with Jennifer Vineyard of NY Mag waiting for Harvey Keitel to appear.
Film: A Beginers Guide to Endings - a fun romp with spot on casting and just enough unbelievably ridiculous situations to make you feel like a kid again but enough borderline humor to make you remember you're a grown up, albeit one with an imagination. I left the theater laughing and rolling my eyes. Not a bad first night.
 Afterparty: Vermilion. Two floors and great floor to ceiling windows. I just wish it hadn't been so insanely crowded...

Night Three: Screenings held at the SVA Theatre on 333 23rd St where they stayed for the rest of the week. With all the chips served as favors a thorough vacuum job must have been done because I never once saw crumbs lying around.

Highlight: meeting the fabulous Alex and Emil on the red carpet. Well, on the press side of the red carpet. What exactly do you call that?
Film: Norman. I laughed, I cried, I laughed again, I cried again. I kept waiting for this coming of age film to get pretentious (as indie films dealing with subjects like, oh I don't know, suicide and cancer tend to do), but it never crossed the line. Brilliant, spot on acting jobs by Dan Byrd and Emily VanCamp. Def my favorite film of the week and a total surprise.
Afterparty: LAVO. This was a good night.

Red carpet at the SVA - that's the child star of Henley, that night's short film.

Little blurry pic of the GenArt team and Norman director Jonathan Segal (third from left) and star Dan Byrd (second from right)

Night Four: Back at the SVA.

 Highlight: Getting my tweeting camera to actually focus.
Film: Gould's Gold. Quirky documentary about an eccentric's quest for gold in the earth revealed by Alaska's melting glaciers. The characters were great but I think the most interesting part of this film was the insane amount of effort it must have taken to shoot the footage itself. Plus, add sweeping Alaskan landscapes and everything looks amazing.
Afterparty: Le Poisson Rouge. Not my favorite venue. Not the best crowd. I tweeted a few photos and then peaced. (Also ended up getting lost that night and ending up outside of a friend's apartment in the rain with no idea how I got there...)

Crew of Gould's Gold. That's Gould himself on the far right.

Lea Mathiesen - director of that night's short film, the Renovation. Super sweet girl, great style and a supporter of one of my fave Scandinavian designers, Henrik Vibskov.

Highlight/Embarrassment: My boss Aurora putting my name in the "networking" game sponsored by dating organization HowAboutWe...and then tweeting my progress for the world to see.
Film: The Pill. Smart, witty, and (as the boys told me) "terrifyingly relateable," this film about...well...the morning after, was a nice escape into a lighthearted depiction of what makes the New York dating scene such a wild ride. Plus the director, J. C. Khoury, is a great guy.
Afterparty: The Chelsea Room. Many interesting encounters via HowAboutWe and I had a very entertaining time. Let's just leave it at that.


Night Six:

Highlight: Having a good half hour conversation with J.C. Khoury about film and his love for New York City; meeting the gracious and gorgeous Aine who still owes me a dinner date.
Film: American Animal. By far the most controversial film of the festival, this peek into the life of a terminally ill, white privileged sociopath sparked in depth, philosophical conversations deep into the night. In my own opinion, it was a poignant, brash, and almost offensive slice of the truth about a generation of instant gratification, few consequences and self-centered living. 
Afterparty: Avenue. One of my favorite venues by far. Great crowd, great conversation, pretty fantastic night.

 

Writer, director, and star of American Animal, Matt D'Ella is either visionary or insane. Or both.

Closing Night:

Highlight: Being with the GenArt family on the last night of a really great festival.
Film: Salvation Boulevard. Ok, I was really worried I was going to hate this movie. A comedy about Christian fanatics and an ex-Grateful Dead follower? The caricatures of ignorance and prejudice could have easily been too much for me. Hello? I'm a Christian, love Jesus and am NOT a fan of ignorance or prejudice, thank you very much! But instead of hating this movie, I actually quite enjoyed it. The humor was tasteful and rollicking and, in more cases than I care to admit, hit very close to home in its surprisingly accurate depiction of the suburban mega-church.
Afterparty: Hiro. Great night, great people, great dancing, great last night of the festival. Yay!!

Jeff Abramson. Co-founder of GenArt and all around great guy.

It was closing night so I had to get some LCS in...

(we match!!)

Disclaimer: yes, I did steal the movie poster/logo stuff off the GenArt website. They were good pictures...visit www.genart.org - get involved in this fantastic organization!