Scenes from the Weekend

Well well, hello Monday! Did everyone have a swell weekend? I have to be honest, I ate my way through this past weekend, which goes against rules # 1-75 on my new years resolution list. Oops! Bree and I took a road trip (I say road trip because with traffic, a stop for snacks, a trip to refill gas, and 2 looped listening sessions of Girl Talk's latest album the route there took us over an hour) we arrived in Venice for an adventurous afternoon. I am a east-side L.A. girl at heart, but I do love me some beach lovin' every once in a while. If I was forced by law to leave my beloved Silverlake, my next choice would totally be Venice. So B and I walked the streets of Abbot Kinney, dined at Gjelina and shared the most delicious Gruyere, Caramelized Onion, Fromage Blanc & Arugula Pizza I've ever tasted. We chased our lunch with the butterscotch pot de creme with salted caramel and creme fraiche and amaretto gelato. Real women order dessert, kids. Just sayin'.  Sunday was filled with celebrating best boy pal C's birthday at the Eagle Rock Brewery. We ate from the the No Jodas! Cuban Kitchen food truck and sipped some of the most delicious specialty beers I've ever tasted. The evening ended with a cookie cake (obviously!) and all of us standing around the campfire drinking jugs full of beer and reminiscing about all of C's past birthdays, and just how much we love him! A good weekend, if I do say so myself!

Help Pay the RENT!

Hi friends! As you've probably noticed I've been a little M.I.A. on ze blogosphere this week. Shame on me, I know! But I swear I have a good reason!

As you may or may not know, I've been a musical theater nut my whole life. I've dreamed of producing Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize winning rock opera, RENT, since I was 15-years-old, and now it looks like my dream has the ability to come true! This spring I will be co-directing and producing RENT in the up-and-coming art district in downtown Los Angeles. I've put together an incredible team of brilliant people to help me the get job done well.

We've just launched an online fundraiser on Kickstarter to try and raise funds to put on this show. Kickstarter is an incredible program which helps artists raise money for creative projects.

**The catch***: Kickstarter will only give us the raised donations if we meet 100% of our goal. If we don't meet that goal, you guessed it, we get nada. Kickstarter gets nada, you get your money back and theater in LA is forever lost. (ok maybe that's pushing it - but you get my drift!)

If you have time and are interested in La Petite Choue, RENT: The musical and bringing an art community to Los Angeles, Please check out the fundraising site and watch the promo for the musical below! (Scout has a cameo!)

The idea here is that a lot of small donations can add up. I know that times are tough so whether you can contribute $5 or $500, please know that every single dollar helps us reach our goal!

There is no pressure to get involved but I hope you do! And I hope you spread the word!

Thank you so much!

Lots of love,

Kate & the cast & crew of RENT

Newsflash! L.A.

I've decided to start a new section of this blog entitled Newsflash! L.A.. These posts will cover cool Los Angeles discoveries, hidden gems of the city and basically anything hip and interesting I hear about that I think you will dig. I've gotten a lot of comments from readers in the past asking for me to post more about our darling city, so you guys, this one's for you!

So the first Newsflash! L.A. post has of course to do with (shocker) DOGS! L.A. is an extremely dog friendly city, so friendly in fact, that we now have our own dog ice cream sandwich food truck. That's right, I said it. A FOOD TRUCK. FOR YOUR DOG. ICE CREAM SAMMIES. Phydough, the gourmet dog cookie/ice cream truck brought to us by the the kids over at cool haus, launched their new business on January 5th and continues to grow strong. With ten flavors of cookies (including duck fat, red velvet, and the mysterious "original") and four flavors of ice cream (including peanut butter bacon and foie gras), it's entirely possible you'll want a Phydough treat for yourself.

Extra Credit: All of Phydough's cookies and dough ingredients are organic and human grade. AND they'll also happily cater your dog's "special day," from adoption day to birthdays with dog ice cream galore! Scout and I talked it over, and this weekend we'll be sampling the carob swirl/peanut butter and bacon sandwich, puppy style. She was really craving the carrot honey, but I talked her into something a bit more classic.

Emersonmade

I just really adore every single thing Ms. Emerson of Emersonmade puts out there these days. Isn't that red doily valentines t-shirt to die for?

My Favorite Things Series: MegVentures

Hi Guys! We're back again with The Favorite Things Series with one of my favorite bloggers! Ms. Megan Steel of Megventures lives in the great state of Washington and takes the most breathtakingly  beautiful photos of the magical woods around her. She also has a great sense of style and is one of the cutest little pumpkins out there! Check out her favorite things below, along with some of her own photography, and pop over the her blog to learn some more about her!

meg's favorite things

film

Love Actually. I could watch it every day and not get sick of it(even though it's pretty much a 

Christmas movie). In fact, I've seen it so many times I could probably recite the whole thing! A very close second would be Stranger Than Fiction. I'm a big fan of any movie that has to do with life, love and the pursuit of happiness—with a dash of comedy

book

Anything botanical encyclopedia related. I have a growing collection of old plant books, and those are what I read most. I'm not actually a big reader (except blogs, I read a mass amount of blogs), but the last batch of novels I enjoyed were by Christopher Moore

food
Cheese is my favorite food. Hands down. As for cuisine, I really like Greek and Mexican

libation
sparkling Cider (I'm one of those rare folk who don't drink any alcohol, it's just not my thing)

album
music is the hardest for me to choose favorites of... I'm lucky to live in a world with Pandora and an awesome sister who is very into music (she makes me the best mixes ever and I just got her to start blogging!). I like so many different albums, but I would say my most listened to would be Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago

place

The woods. Preferably in the early morning fog. With a camera in hand

day
Sunday

clothes
I'm in the process of defining my style... I know I'm a fan of comfort, neutrals and unique pieces. Currently, my dream closet would look just like Need Supply Co., but my real closet consists mostly of items from thrift stores and Forever 21

band
Right now I'm loving The Local Natives, The Head and The Heart, Fleet Foxes, Ra Ra Riot and anything that includes Justin Vernon

blogs
Just a few (I read so many good ones!): ☁ (jeana sohn) // size too small // unruly things // folkloric // hannah and landon // clever nettle

person

My handsome fellow Jamie and my lovely sister Amanda

smell

Rain. I'm such a Washingtonian!

Thanks so much for participating in The Favorite Things Series, Meg!

Loving These .....

new line of Moxy RollerSkates by Urban Outfitters which come in colors like Teal, Purple and Strawberry! I need these skates on my feet pronto!

Scenes from the Weekend

It was 90 degrees and sunny all weekend here in Los Angeles and it really truly felt like summer in the city. The weekend consisted of a birthday fete featuring a doughnut cake at my favorite Silverlake hidden gem, Cafe Stella, a visit to the newly opened Artisan Creamery in Pasadena (brown sugar vanilla bean with homemade marshmallow bits, anyone?), playtime with the petite-monster, Scout, some exteriors shots of my house/cabin (I promise more are coming soon!), and some tissue-paper crafts inspired by the local farmer's market fuchsia peonies; aka this weekend was filled with decadence. I'm really enjoying playing with the new camera; recently nicknamed Mathilda (said like Natalie Portman's character in The Professional - MA-TILTH-DA), and hope teaching myself the art of photography will gradually get easier as time goes by. Baby steps! Have a great week everybody!

Happy Friday!

photo via le love

Happy Friday! What are you all up to? I have two birthday parties (they never cease!), a trip to this ice cream shop and a fun project using this new awesome 8mm vintage camera iphone app! Below are some of my favorite posts from around the web this week! Have a terrific and fun weekend, and for all of you east coast bunnies, this summer-inspired photo is for you! Stay warm!

Big Bang's The Residency Post

Design* Sponge's We Like it Wild Winter Market Post

Mrs. Lilien's Shirley Temple Post

Pennyweight's Inspired my Mint Post

Frolic's Ace Hotel Portland + Lisa Warninger Photography Post

just some thoughts

how time really does fly by so quickly
how is it already january?
(and if i blink too fast will it be march?)

how scout is growing up to be such a big girl
and how i sometimes feel sad that in a few months she will no longer be a puppy
(but i know she will always be my puppy forever)

how all of this new exercising really makes my days better
spinning and kickboxing and yoga, oh my
(and how i sleep much much better at night now)

how this weekend i'm so very excited to try a new ice cream shop
with my favorite boy pal c
(what flavor shall i get? salted caramel or carob chip?)

how the shootings in arizona make my heart ache
how could things like this still happen in 2011?
(and will people ever stop being so violent?)

how friday night lights is the absolute best show on television
and how i wish coach taylor and his wife truly existed
(oh and, tim riggins anyone?)

have a lovely day, darling friends. here's to you and your sweet thoughts!

photos via tinywhitedaisies

Loving These .....

Rustic yet chic dog collars, leashes and harnesses for your pup by Found My Animal. I want all of these for little Scout!

Magic Monday

Happy Monday! Music Monday is coming to a short halt for a fortnight while I exchange it with Magic Monday: Kate's attempt at taking magical photos throughout the city of Los Angeles whilst promoting world peace (or world peas as one of my favorite friends calls it) and juggling a 9-7 pm job, a puppy, and producing a musical. I think I can do it! I do I do! That being said, here are a few photos I snapped this weekend from one of the many birthday soiree's I attended.  I think this party topped them all as there were cupcakes, champagne and chickens involved!

Happy Friday!

photo via Ana Stefanovics

Hi! How are you guys? I have six count them SIX birthday parties to go to this weekend! My question is: what were people doing during March in the 80's that led to so many babies? Golly! Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Below are some of my favorite posts from the web this week. Oh! And how cute is little red riding hood above? This picture makes me wish I had red hair and a lovely little green coat to go along with it. HAPPY WEEKEND!

BigBang's Farm in Winter Post

Pennyweight's Style Icon:Eddie Campbell Post

Unruly Things sweetly nautical for spring Post

Oh Joy's closet & casa with Abbey Kellet Post

Black*Eiffel's Healthy Recipes that actually taste good Post

Artist Profile: Hollin Pulley

Since photography is obviously a big theme on La Petite Choue this week, I couldn't help but introduce you all to one of my favorite photographers (who lucky for me, happens to be one of my favorite friends), Ms. Hollin Pulley. Hollin is a pilates instructor by day and rogue photographer by night. She is also is what I like to call a triple threat; she's from the south, she has a dog and she loves desserts equally as much as I do. Hollin even inspired me to purchase my own camera (we have the same Canon Rebel Ti2) and her photographs are simply stunning. I am also slightly biased as she is particularly talented at shooting animals (ahem, notice the many pictures of my Scout!) Stop by and say hello at her little blog here and check out some of my favorite of her photographs below!