she hit pause. studios.

She Hit Pause Studios, Inc. was created by Matt Schwartz, photographer, and Kate Shawver, web designer/developer, in Spring of 2002. Kate and Matt live in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. I just love love love their photographs and would kill to be one of their subjects. Matt has been photographing his version of the pin-up girl for the past 10 years and all of his models are friends or people who have purchased his work which I think is just fantastic!



She his pause studios' work has been featured in Daily Candy and is currently for sale at Anthropologie. That's right, I said it. ANTHROPOLOGIE.

Troop Beverly Hills: The Experience

I don't know if you've heard of a little movie called, TROOP BEVERLY HILLS? Let me just start by saying, this is the movie I would plead my father to let me rent every Saturday afternoon between my girl scout meetings and Pocahontas inspired slumber parties.


It's also the movie that made me want to move to L.A. to become a legit wilderness girl. Now, approximately 13-18 years later (you do the math), Troop Beverly Hills is finally being appreciated the way it should and I am extremely intoxicated with the idea of dressing up girl scout style and celebrating this little gem of a movie!

Here are the details:

Troop Beverly Hills: The Experience. A sing-a-long, dance-a-long, quote-a-long, and if we're lucky, Shelley Long! Coming to LA Monday October 5th, 8pm at King King Hollywood!

Come celebrate the 20th anniversary of Troop Beverly Hills. Be an honorary Wilderness Girl for one night only (for now)! Earn patches, boo Velda Plendor, dance "The Freddie", and of course sing Kumbaya.

Get your tickets here!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, toute le monde! I'm very excited to spend this weekend dinner party hopping as it's been a stressful week and the more wine, the better! I'll finally be attending a Hollywood Forever screening of An American Werewolf in London, as well as a tennis match with friends and attacking those blueberry crumble bars on Sunday! What plans do you have?

Blueberry Crumble Bars

Yeahhhh, I'm going to have to make these. As soon as possible. As in this Sunday. Won't you join me?


Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

This is for you

Rob Ryan in a British artist who specializes in paper-cutting and screen printing. His book, This is for you, is one of my favorite possessions. Ms. Lily introduced me to Rob a year ago and my dream is to have his artwork and books in every room of my house. The best part? Rob has his very own etsy shop and his very own blog!


To purchase the book: This is for you by Rob Ryan
* P.S. This book makes an excellent present for any sort of occasion. I highly recommend buying one for yourself and trying not to give it away!

Saipua Flower Shop

Saipua Flower Shop may be my dream fantasy. Saipua is a little shop in Red Hook, Brooklyn which specializes in floral arrangements for special occasions.


I am dying to have a said special occasion so I can order some of these delicious looking bouquets!





I guess it's a bit over the top to plan a trip out east just to visit a flower shop -right? Because I'm seriously considering it. If you live in the Brooklyn area will you please go visit this adorable little shop so I can live vicariously through you? Thanks!

Style Crush: Zooey Deschanel

Why are Ms. Zooey's outfits always so crush-worthy? I think if I could have a tour of anyone's closet, it would absolutely be hers. Here are some of my favorites below!

500 Soundtrack Give-a-way Result

Congrats to the lovely Marci Liroff for winning the 500 Days of Summer Movie Soundtrack!! Marci's name was chosen by an online random number generator.



Marci Liroff said...
Dear Katelicious:
I've been following your blog and just LURVE your writing. I had no idea! I feel like I'm seeing the city thru your eyes. I just loved 500 Days of Summer (of course, my only criticism is that MY name wasn't on it!!).
Thought the soundtrack was joyous and exactly what I would expect for a movie like this - with some wonderful surprises too. I will hold off actually purchasing it until I win your giveaway contest. See? Positive thinking!
Lots of love - Marci

Stay tuned for more free give-aways in the near future! Thank you all for commenting!

Friday Give-Away!

Here it is (finally): my very first Friday give-away! I hope to make these more frequent in the future but we're gonna start off small with a copy of the 500 DAYS OF SUMMER movie soundtrack. To win this C.D. featuring The Smiths, She & Him, Feist and Regina Spektor, leave a comment below. On Monday I'll randomly select a winner and send you the CD in the mail for free! Good Luck!

Open Your Heart

Check out this adorable Lavender Diamond music video of their song "Open Your Heart" directed by the very taltented and cool Sia! Highlights: roller skating, pink tights, keyboards and cartwheels! This video was filmed in the streets of Silverlake which makes it extra special to me!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, everyone! I have some good treats for you today! I am headed out of L.A. to go camping in the Los Padres National Forest this weekend and I can barely wait to wear all my flannel clothing (at the same time), sleep under the stars, participate in many a campfire sing-a-long and hopefully come back dirty, tired, and happy! I am in charge of the S'MORE portion of the trip (obviously) so I'll try to bring back some pics of the messy goodness.

The picture above was taking by Rune Guneriussen and is my dream camp scenario. Rune is a fantastic photographer who is known for taking photographs of inanimate objects in unlikely environments. Imagine if every path was lit with lamps? How cool!

The Small Stakes

Jason Munn's Small Stakes posters are exquisite. Arising from a love of independent music, design, and making for the sake of making, his posters have become a fixture in the local independent music scene. He started The Small Stakes in the fall of 2003, and it has since unfolded into a successful independent design studio, producing nationally and internationally commissioned work in a range of print materials, including book covers, album packaging, T-shirt designs, screen-printed posters, and illustrations. Some of my favorites are shown below. Click here to check out more of Jason's work.

Eagle Rock Visitor's Guide

I spend most of my free time spelunking the east side of Los Angeles. I have recently been spending my days in Eagle Rock, CA which is just a 10 minute drive east of my house in Silverlake. Eagle Rock has got that funky artist suburb vibe that I rarely can find in L.A. proper. I enjoy going there when I tire of busy city life. Here are some of my favorite spots to hit while I'm there!

The Oinkster

The oinkster is my absolute favorite place to get a burger in all of L.A. The owner used to own a fancy hamburger restaurant downtown and got so sick of the snotty clientele he moved his place to the burbs and created an amazingly perfect burger and fries for just $9. This place makes their own homemade catchup AND sells peanut butter and jelly cupcakes. What more could you ask for?

Lady Boutique

My lovely friend Hollin took me to Lady for the first time the other week and I just adore it! It's this lovely little boutique that sells Anthropologie styled dresses, shoes, belts and jewelry for great prices! I fell in love with a black patent leather bag there and am hoping to go claim it after pay day this week!

Auntie Em's Kitchen


Two words: Perfect. Brunch. Dining at Auntie Em's is basically like dining in someones kitchen. Their are free mugs of coffee and tea while you wait for your table and their are different fresh organic meals written on the chalkboard that change daily. I went for brunch this past weekend and sampled (oh yes, both) the coconut crusted french toast with berries AND the homemade biscuits with gravy. It was pure divinity. Also, they are known for their amazing red velvet cupcakes!

All Star Bowling Lanes

The All Star Bowling Lanes is the best bowling alley I have yet to try! They are cheap, fun, and it's never crowded (in the best way). They also have a bar attached to the lanes with 1) a full Chinese food menu (what?!) 2) cheap drinks 3) a karaoke machine! I have been to birthday parties here, seen free concerts here (Rilo Kiley!!) and even gone here on a date! It's def worth the trip and if you tire of bowling there is always Chinese food for dinner, drinks afterwards, and a night of Karaoke ahead of you!

Foster's FreezeI am a dairy queen freak, and since there are few that still exist in L.A. I find Foster's to be an excellent second choice to get my milkshake fix!

Fatty's Cafe

To be honest, I've never actually been to Fattys but i've only heard excellent things about it and it's on the top of my list of places to try. I do know it's a vegeterian joint that's supposed to have great decor and service, as well as food. Has anyone been that can vouch for this?

Thanks for reading - Enjoy your Eagle Rock adventures!

Brook Farm General Store

I stumbled upon the Brook Farm General Store website and think it may be perfection. Based out of Brooklyn they sell everything from Lavender Linen Water to ice cream scoops to stainless steel pocket flasks. Because I'm going camping this weekend, my eyes can't stop ogling this site! Their items are reasonably priced, to boot!






(Thanks, Rachel!)

Let's go to the Movies!

This weekend I had the pleasure of viewing SHAUN OF THE DEAD (I know, I know how is this my FIRST screening of this movie?) in a Circuit City parking lot down the street from my house. It was, simply put, amazing! Not only was there a huge movie screen that looked like a black bouncy tent, there were food trucks selling sweet potato fries, homemade ice cream sandwiches and cheeseburgers! I was in heaven. To top it off, the night ended with a Zombie dance party and fashion show! Because outdoor summer movies are one of my favorite things in life, I've compiled a short list of the best places around Los Angeles to catch an outdoor flick before the summer is over. See you at the pictures!

The Vineland Drive-In
This is the only real legit drive-in movie theater I know of in Los Angeles. They play first run movies and you get to stay in your car and tune in on your radio like back in the olden days!


Hollywood Outdoor Cinemas
This is where I went this past weekend. I suggest bringing blankets and some sort of comfy low chair. The charge for this event is donation only so you can save your dollars for hot chocolate!


Hollywood Forever Cemetery
These movies are shown in the infamous Hollywood Forever Cemetery. You sit amongst the graves and watch spooky movies! This place is always crowded so make sure to get there early!


Downtown L.A. Drive-In
These movies are shown against warehouses in downtown L.A. There are family friendly screenings as well as more adult movies so make sure to choose wisely!

A little thank you!

As you can probably tell, La Petite Choue has had a petite make-over! I am very excited about all the new changes and I have one person to thank for this: the incredible and lovely Ms. Lily Stockman. Lily and I have been best friends since high school, and to this day she remains the most brilliantly artistic, lovingest warrior yaya friend a girl could have. A grand Merci Beaucoup to you Isabel!! xx - Kate

P.S. I will be doing an artist profile on Lily as soon as her website is complete - so for all of you who keep wandering into my living room exclaiming about the amazing art (which she is 100% responsible for) get excited as you'll get to see more of it soon!!

Happy Friday!

This week was a long one but Friday is finally here! I am excited to spend this weekend cake-baking, Time Traveler's Wife watching (I finished the book last night!!), brunching and exploring some new boutiques in the lovely Eagle Rock. I have started a small tradition of spending my Sunday mornings curled up with the New York Times listening to Sunday morning music which usually includes M.Ward, Kings of Convenience, El Perro Del Mar and She & Him. This music somehow allows hours of Sunday laziness to slip by without consciously being noticed! Have a great weekend!

Au Revoir, Simone!

Have ya heard? These three lovely lassies from Brooklyn are AWESOME. I first fell in love with them when I saw their music video for "Sad Song". Complete with a fog machine, a dance party that no one comes to, crepe paper decorations and cupcake making, these girls really know how to party. I have seen them twice live and they do not disappoint. They are known as " Three girls with keyboards" but their voices are just as lovely as their piano notes.

Check out their video below, and if you're feelin' them, make sure to also download " Dark Halls", " Night Majestic" and "Stay Golden". P.S. Their band is named after a line from Pee-Wee's Playhouse - how great is that?!?

Coconut Cake

Is it Saturday yet? I say that only because I have decided to attempt to make Barefoot Contessa's delicious Coconut Cake this weekend and I can't stop dreaming about it! I will let you know how it turns out. In the meantime, click here for the recipe and try it out for yourself! Your loved ones will thank you . ..

(Thanks Lil!)

P.S. I ended up making this and it turned out to be the most delicious thing I've eaten in a WHILE! Check out the lovely picture Ms. Bree took of the cake PRE chow down session!

Falling

It's August which means it's almost the end of Summer which means it's almost my favorite time of year: FALL! I know this may be a bit pre-mature, but I simply can't help myself. Fall weather, fall tv shows, fall outdoor concerts; it's my absolute favorite time of year. Here are what I'm most excited about!

1. Tights
2. Mad Men
3. Apple picking
4. Project Runway
5. Halloween costumes
6. Cider
7. Falling leaves
8. Evenings so chilly that you need to wear a sweater
9. My Birthday
10. Wearing shades of Grey
11. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE movie release

What are your Fall favorite things?

New York, I love you!

Happy Monday! I have watched this trailer approximately 354 times this weekend. I can not WAIT for this movie! PARIS, JE T'AIME is one of my favorites and this is the NYC version. Their use of Phoenix's rockin' song " 1901" doesn't hurt either!

The best Flea around!

The Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena MAY be my favorite place in the world. It reminds me of a monthly big vintage treasure hunt and I always come home with the best stuff! Over the years I have collected a vintage parasol, brown suede cowgirl boots, my dining room chairs, a lovely french bohemian table and some antique jewelery!


Since I sort of consider myself a flea market veteran, here are some tips if you are first-timer to make sure your experience is a great one!

- Wear comfortable shoes. Your feet will hurt so be nice to them!
- Wear something thin and light and that you can easily try clothes on over or under. There is an amazing clothing section of the flea market but no dressing rooms. I usually wear some sort of leggings and a thin dress over-top
- Wear sunscreen or a hat. Or both.
- Bring plenty of cash. It costs $8 to get in and although they have ATM machines there, it costs a fee to use them.
- Take lots of snack breaks. I highly recommend the frozen lemonade cart!
- Bargain. Times are tough and you know that seller doesn't want to wrap up his vintage antique sofa and cart it back home with him.
- Drink lots and lots of water. It gets hot out there!

Here is my list for this week's treasure hunt:

- One more dining room chair
- Gold mirror
- Console Table
- Lamp Stand
- Vintage Books
- Tablecloth

I will report back on Monday with my findings!