J.Crew it

Excuse me, J. Crew, this may be your best marketing campaign yet! This video is truly adorable and makes me want to own everything in their catalogue! I love how french and hip this is!

Movies in the Garden

I love this poster. I love this outdoor movie night. I love Mi Alama where this takes place in Silverlake. I love the all the ideas of yummy food I can bring flooding my head. I feel like this may be California's version of Shakespeare in the Park and I'm dee-lighted by it. Now, who wants to be my Labyrinth date? 

Music Mondays

Denmark's dynamic duo Quadron is one part singer Coco and another part musician/producer Robin Hannibal. They're a little bit Lykki Li with a dash of old-school 60s big band feel (think the Shangri-La's My Boyfriend's Back). Their self-titled debut album was released in March and check out my favorite song, Slippin', below!  And of course, a happy happy Music Monday to you all!

Let's go to the movies!

The setting: a friend-of-a-friend's front yard in Eagle Rock.
The attendees: Family's with children in footsie pajamas. Hipster teenagers forced by their parents to get some culture. Writers and Artists. And and old dog named Wilbur.
The movie: A Little Romance (1979) starring Laurence Olivier and a teenage Diane Lane.

The spread: An old fashioned popcorn machine. Red Vines & Raisenettes. Cupcakes and Beer.

What else?: A 10-minute intermission mid-movie to replenish our popcorn bags. A pre-movie sing-along. And a really fantastic time.

All photos taken with the ToyCamera for iPhone. Mode: Random. Vignetting: on.

100 Things

Keri Smith is the author of several bestselling books about creativity including the bestselling Wreck this Journal (2007 Perigee), How to be an Explorer of the World –the Portable Life/Art Museum, (2008 Perigee), The Guerilla Art Kit (2007 Princeton Architectural Press), Living Out Loud – Activities to Fuel a Creative Life (published 2003 by Chronicle Books), and Tear up this Book! :The Sticker, Stencil, Stationery, Games, Crafts, Doodle, And Journal Book For Girls!, (2005 American Girl). Her newest book, Mess: A Manual of Accidents and Mistakes will be released fall 2010 by Penguin Books. Keri spends her days playing with her husband and son, reading, cooking and writing books. As of fall 2010 she will be teaching part time at Emily Carr University of Art & Design in Vancouver B.C.

Keri's latest blog post lists 100 Ideas to inspire you. Some of those include:

1. Go for a walk. Draw or list things you find on the the sidewalk.
2. Write a letter to yourself in the future.
3. Glue an envelope into your journal. For one week collect items you find on the street.
4. Find a photo of a person you do not know. Write a brief bio about them.
5. Spend a day drawing only red things.
6. Go to a paint store. Collect ‘chips’ of all your favorite colors.

Check out the rest of Keri's 100 Lists here!

Poster Cabaret

Poster Cabaret began selling underground gig posters on its first website in 2002. Originally inspired by late 1990's gig poster art, the website has grown to include the top artists of the underground poster and print scene. Along the way, Poster Cabaret has been featured on countless art and design blogs. In 2010, the online gallery has most notably appeared on the Grain Edit design blog, the New York-based Apartment Therapy blog, and in Martha Stewart Living magazine. The current website launched from Austin, Texas, in August 2006. The online gallery, international in scope, includes over 2000 different posters and prints from over 75 artists. The web gallery is organized by artist, not band or concert venue. The site is intentionally void of extra content which makes the viewers eyes happy! Here are some of my favorite new releases from Poster Cabaret below!

Milk & Cookies

One of my favorite dessert hot-spots in L.A. is the delectable Milk. I have a Saturday afternoon tradition; I order the healthy-est (yet delicious) Cobb salad, then make up for it with one or maybe two gooey desserts! This past weekend I tried the snicker doodle and girl, let me tell YOU. Milk also makes triple chocolate milkshakes, home-made ice cream sandwiches (you pick the gelato, they pick the cookies) and red velvet cupcake cones. I mean, it really doesn't get much better.

All photos taken with the ToyCamera for iPhone. Mode: Random. Vignetting: on.

Music Mondays

It's Monday and you need some new tunes! Check out my favorite new artist, Marina and the Diamonds. This 24-year-old Welsh/Greek songstress always felt she was destined to make music. She once even tried out for a boy band in an effort to get her foot in the door. But it was when she started writing her own music that her career and her agile voice really blossomed. Over the last couple years, she's taken the UK by storm and earned the praise of critics and music fans alike. Check out her latest album, The Family Jewels, and my favorite song below, I am not a Robot. For all your music lovers out there, Marina reminds me of Bjork mixed with a little bit of Metric and a dash of Hot Chip. Happy Monday!

The Kids are All Right

The Kids Are All Right is the heartfelt new comedy from acclaimed director Lisa Cholodenko,(Laurel Canyon, High Art) starring Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, and Mark Ruffalo. Two teenaged children (Alice in Wonderland’s Mia Wasikowska and Journey to the Center of the Earth’s Josh Hutcherson) get the notion to seek out their biological father and introduce him into the family life that their two mothers (Bening and Moore) have built for them. Once the donor (Ruffalo) is found, the household will never be the same, as family ties are defined, re—defined, and re—re—defined. I saw an early screening of this last night and adored it and think you will too!

Summer Reading

I love books. My house is covered in them. I have recently opted to leave the television off after work and curl up with a good book instead. Here is my 2010 Summer Reading List. What's on yours?

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
2. Water for Elephants Sara Gruen
3. The Elegance of the Hedgehog Muriel Barbery
4. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
5. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Photo by Max Vadukul of rock-star daughter Georgia May Jagger for Vogue China July 2010.

Southern Comfort

I spent the past weekend in my favorite state, North Carolina, and can't stop thinking about how life is so easy and slow there. I sampled more  biscuits and sweet tea than are necessary for an average gal and caught a few lightening bugs in a mason jar on the muggy summer evenings. One of my favorite quotes of all time reminds me of my home-away-from-home and I'd like to share it with you.

"I want to lay up like that, to float unstructured, without ambition or anxiety.
I want to inhabit my life like a porch."
        - R. Wells

July 4th Photo Bliss

Check out this gorgeous 4th of July inspired collaboration photo shoot by talented photographer Kelli Trontell and stylist Vanessa Warren of Butterfly Sparks.  I just may re-create all this 4th of July good-ness next year!