Santa Monica Beach

Guys, I'm super lucky. I live about a dozen blocks from one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Honestly, it's so close I could go there every day (read: I should go there every day). The boyfriend and I had a good-old-fashioned sleep-in and after I read four chapters of Sense and Sensibility (with a British accent in my head, of course), I proclaimed: "It's a perfect day, let's walk to the beach!"

We walked down Montana Avenue, which is kind of like a smaller version of State Street (the main street in Santa Barbara). It's got tons of restaurants (mostly Italian), cafes (mostly Italian), dry cleaners (can't figure that one out--there's seriously like 14 dry cleaners) and wellness centers (think: yoga studios, massage places, acupuncturists, etc). There's definitely a bougie-vibe to the whole place, but it's not the worst thing. I actually kind of like it. It's a twinkly-light, tree-lined street leading straight down to Ocean Ave. Kinda pleasant. We grabbed coffee and sandwiches to take with us, because once you get down to the beachfront, your dining options are pretty limited and full of "you're paying for the location, bitches" price tags.

It's about a 40 minute walk from my apartment on 14th street down to the actual beach. As frequent visitors and locals know, Santa Monica is perched atop a pretty large cliff and getting to the beach requires going down some fairly steep stairs, crossing over a pedestrian bridge above PCH and walking across a very long stretch of beach to get to the water. It was a Sunday, so the beach was filled with families, roller skaters, skateboarders, surfers and volley ball players. It's a very long, expansive beach so even with the perfect weather Sunday ingredients, the result was a beach that doesn't feel all too crowded. The boyfriend and I jumped in the ocean and to our delight it was the warmest water I've been in since I was in Hawaii over seven years ago. We laid in the sun for a couple hours, talking about this and that, reveling in how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place and making tentative plans to do this more often.

If you're going down to the Santa Monica beach and you need to drive, I would recommend parking in the residential neighborhoods of the Palisades and walking a couple of blocks to get down to Palisades Park (the grass park on the cliff above the many sets of stairs down to the ocean). Or, you can always find parking in any of the parking garages surrounding the Promenade. The rates aren't terrible, you can usually get away for under $5 if you stay for two-three hours.

After we'd lounged for a good time, we walked over to the pier, thinking that we might stop for a beer at Big Dean's, but the crowd there was a little too intense so we decided to start walking back home. On our way back we stopped in one of the many Whole Foods on Wilshire and browsed the beer section. We chose two new beers and were really happy with both of them. My favorite was the Sofie farmhouse ale that was light and refreshing, and even a little sweet. And yes, we drink beer out of wine glasses.

Even though we got second degree burns on our legs and backsides, the sweet beach day was totally worth it. Next time we go: SPF ANYTHING.

19 Signs You're Doing Okay

1. You are alive.
2. You are able to see the sunrise and the sunset.
3. You are able to hear birds sing and waves crash.
4. You can walk outside and feel the breeze through your hair and the sun’s warmth on your skin.
5. You have tasted the sweetness of chocolate cake.
6. You didn’t go to sleep hungry last night.
7. You awoke this morning with a roof over your head.
8. You had a choice of what clothes to wear.
9. You haven’t feared for your life today.
10. You have overcome some considerable obstacles, and you have learned and survived.
11. You often worry about what you’re going to do with your life – your career, your family, the next step, etc. – which means you have ambition, passion, drive, and the freedom to make your own decisions.
12. You live in a country that protects your basic human rights and civil liberties.
13. You are reasonably strong and healthy – if you got sick today, you could recover.
14. You have a friend or relative who misses you and looks forward to your next visit.
15. You have someone with whom to reminisce about ‘the good old days.’
16. You have access to clean drinking water.
17. You have access to medical care.
18. You have access to the Internet.
19. You can read.

The truth is, you’re doing better than a lot of people in this world.  So remember to be grateful for all the things you do have. (Reblogged: from here)

Contemporary Still Lifes on Artsy

Here's another post I made for Artsy about contemporary still lifes. It's brief and superficial, but, hey, it's something!

Still life painting is perhaps the most calculated of all genres. The artist first chooses the scene, and in most cases, arranges the image to their liking. Sixteenth and seventeenth century still lifes focused on portraying important themes of the day such as vanitas, which is, very loosely translated, a meditation on death, such as a skull, religious devoutness, such as a loaf of bread and a glass of wine, and regal status, for example, a sumptuously displayed table. At this time, artists were concerned with representing real life in a precise and natural manner through subjects that would convey specific themes to their viewers. Toward the middle of the 19th century, modernists (i.e. impressionist and post-impressionist artists) began to break away from the realism and naturalism of the past. No longer concerned with classicism and traditionalism, these artists broke from the Academie and introuduced bold color, sweeping gestures, unique perspective, and tangible emotion to their works (think of Van Gogh’s seminal sunflowers). Rejecting the conventions of the traditional still life which focused on the subject and symbolism, expression and process became increasingly the focus of the contemporary still life.  With the advent of Pop art, contemporary artists like Wayne Thiebaud, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, combined traditional still life representation with the bold colors and spatial concerns of the modern era. David Hockney similarly utilizes a combination of classic rendering with expressive color and unique perspective.

Posts on Artsy

Artsy recently set me up as a featured contributor on their site. I know, I know, it sounds cool, but nothing's really happened with it yet. I'd love to get some followers and write a lot of important posts, but so far I've only written two short articles and I'm not sure what the point of it is. I do enjoy it. Maybe that's the point. 

Here's a link to my recent micro-article about Picasso erotica. I'll go out on a limb and say it's NSFW, but it's Picasso, so it's art, so it's okay? (I'd like to discuss this idea [that erotica in art is acceptable and other forms of erotic are not] at some point in the future as I think it's salient and crucial to the larger art historical conversation).

Bon chance,

Diana

If you can't manage to get onto Artsy, here's the text from the post:

These prints are among the last etchings that Picasso executed before his death in 1973.  Over seven months in 1968, Picasso worked on the 347 Series, a narrative collection of 347 etchings (to provide context, Rembrandt created 300 prints over his entire lifetime).  Loosely drawn, perspectives thrown, bodies contorted and grossly exaggerated, Picasso combined his cubist angles with soft naturalistic forms reminiscent of his Rose period to illustrate the narratives of musketeers, bullfighters, bordellos, and erotic and voyeuristic scenes. Picasso believed that "art can only be erotic;" sexual overtones dominate much of his oeuvre, especially in these later works. Whether he depicts a sexual encounter as a solitary act or as a pair of lovers passionately entwined or even prostitutes partaking in a full blown orgy, Picasso adeptly strips away the veil of propriety and provides us with a raw and honest portrayal of our most basic human instinct-to please and be pleased through sexual means. 

These specific images are examples of proofs pulled before steel facing of the etching plate, printed long before their respective editions were pulled, with more contrast and bolder lines than the regular editions. These proofs were kept by Picasso for his personal collection in the course of creating the 60, 156 and 347 Series. Steel facing is a modern technique whereby the soft copper plate into which the image is etched receives a thin coat of steel via electroplating in order to harden its surface. In this way an edition can be printed from beginning to end without degradation of image quality, unlike Rembrandt etchings, for example, whose bare copper plates wore down from the pressure of the press over the course of printing an edition. This resulted in a visible softening of lines, as well as a diminishing of subtle contrasts and tonal depth in examples from late in a print run. Although steel facing allows for consistent quality throughout an edition and is in this respect an improvement over a bare copper plate, the process necessarily reduces textural delicacy and tonal depth to some degree. Therefore, proofs before steel facing are the ultimate vehicles for displaying the authentic origination of the full expressive capacity of the etching process

Moving Day

Guys! I just moved into the city today!

My new apartment is in Noe Valley and I absolutely love it.

Isn't it a cute neighborhood? My roommates told me its nickname is "strolley valley" and I believe it. I walked to whole foods tonight and passed about 10 strollers on my two block trek.

More updates to come, maybe even some pictures of my new room.

A Website You Should Know About

 via I Love Doodle

via Patrick Morgan

 via Good Design Makes Me Happy

Designspiration.

Sometimes I get trapped in this website for hours. It's very similar to pinterest. Once you start, it is very difficult to shut the laptop and go to sleep.

Designspiration is a resource for finding all images related to design. You browse through other users' saves and collections and publish them to your own collection (similar to "pinning"). You can search freely or you can follow specific users whose collections you are particularly drawn to.

The basic trends within this website are: Architecture, Art, Book, Business Cards, Fashion, Illustration, Layout, Logo, Packaging, Poster, Print, Typography.

I found this website a few months back and I revisited it today and found that they have created the "collection" feature to organize your saves into a more user friendly fashion.

I am currently taking a web design course so everytime I visit a website these days I tend to analyze it and critique it. Overall I love this site however, I think what may make it more effective is if they had a larger limit to the number of images on a page. I love pinterest because of its infinity of pins. You NEVER have to click "next page" in order to get to more pins...you just keep scrolling. Designspiration could take note of this.

You do have to request an invite, but I encourage you to request and join! It's so inspiring!

Beauty Trend: Ombre

 So I am getting my hair done tomorrow at Mercer Street Salon, a swanky salon in the Marina. I'm getting Balayage instead of my regular blonde highlights. I'm excited to see how it turns out; I am paying a pretty penny to get it done, so I hope I am very happy with it! It's been a huge trend lately, and I especially love the subtlety of Elizabeth Olson's hair above. I will post pictures tomorrow :)

Catherine Opie

Ice Houses and Surfer Series by Catherine Opie.

Great Art21 video on this amazing photographer from the series, Change.

Slight Panic

I haven't gone Christmas shopping yet. 

Q & A: Boots for Fall

Hi guys! This is the first in a series of Q&A Sofia and I will be doing with each other. We both have similar interests--art, fashion, design--but we  have different areas of expertise. For instance, when I have graphic design questions or photoshop issues or shoe dilemmas or need typography advice I go to Sofia.

Question: Sof! I DESPERATELY need (read: want) two new pairs of boots for the fall...I don't want to spend tons of money but I do want them to be high quality in both material and style so I can wear them to work. My work is fairly casual but I do want something that looks polished and will elevate my jeans or cords. I like brown and black, zippers up the back, knee high, motorcycle style..ummm ok I think that's it...HELP me??

Answer:

Ok so you asked this question at the perfect time! The Half Yearly sale for Women and Children at Nordstrom just started on Nov 1st! I would start by shopping in my department (salon shoes) because the quality is so much better than women's shoes.

Cole Haan is a great option because the price point isn't too high (especially on sale) and they have Nike air in the sole so you will be extra comfy. My favorites won't be on sale but they are great...black AND brown!

Another Trend that is really popular amongst the designers for fall 2012 is the short boot...motorcycle, dicker, combat etc. Jimmy Choo has an awesome one called the "youth". It is $995 so for a more realistic version you should try the VC Signature "warren" it is going on sale and it is very similar. It is about $200 on sale, I believe.


If Salon boots are too pricy then women's shoes does have some more mid-range pricing. A few brands I recommend are Sam Edelman (trendy), Frye (classic western), Ivanka Trump, Enzo Anglioni.

Sam Edelman (cute huh?)

Happy Shopping!

My Favorite Thing

I love laying in the grass when I'm on my break at work. Sometimes I'll read (today it was Jane Eyre). Sometimes I'll pet dogs that walk by me. Whatever happens, happens.

It's quiet and calm, and I am still.

What Makes Me Happy

I just had the best weekend! My dear friend Jessie and her rad girlfriend Jace came down to visit from Portland--and they brought the gloomy, rainy, wonderfulness of their city with them. I loved seeing them so happy and so in love :) We stayed up late catching up, they taught me how to make Tom kha, we took white wine and scrabble to the beach and made up new words. We even took a random trip to Downtown Disney.

Not only did my friends come into town, I also had a perfect house warming party on Saturday :) My parents and little sister even came! There were so many new faces brought in by my lovely roommate, and plenty of familiar friends from college and Santa Barbara. My parents were wonderful sports for coming to an all 20-something party--that's part of why they are the cooooolest parents around. We had a funny costume box with random items from an entire life's worth of Halloweens that people could use to spice up their outfits. My mom made some delicious mulled wine and we had Nightmare Before Christmas on in the background. Over all, I was the happiest girl on the planet.

Being surrounded by my friends makes me happy. It's how I recharge whenever I'm feeling down. I love all of you!

Rain

Today was the first real rain of the season, it smelled wonderfully clean and fresh outside.

I enjoyed waking up to the sound of the drops on the roof and I'm excited to fall asleep to its steady tapping tonight.

Also, I think I may need to invest in some rain boots since I will be commuting in the rain. Which ones do you like better?

Hunter Regent Apsley Rain Boot

Burberry Buckled Rain Boot

The Duchess Shoe

So, in order to feel more like a Duchess, I decided to buy the Kate Middleton L. K. Bennett Sledge pump now that I have a 33% discount at Nordstrom....

aren't they perfect?

now all I need is Prince William.

An Octopus That I Like

Judy Fox

Octopus, 2009 

Sculpted in terra cotta, cast in poly resin and painted with casein paint 

12 1/2" (H) x 17 1/2" (W) x 15 1/2" (D) 

Ace Gallery

Cindy Sherman :: SFMOMA

So last week I went to one of SFMOMA's events on thursday night. The main exhibition in the museum right now is Cindy Sherman, so the night was focused on her work.

Thursdays are already half price at the museum, so general admission was only $9 and they served free wine - what a deal!

Anyways, on the rooftop terrace where the coffee shop is along with a Calder mobile and a Louise Bourgeois spider sculpture, the room was filled with avid San Franciscian art lovers sipping wine and crowding around some of Cindy Sherman's photographs come to life. There were about five people dressed up as some of the personas Cindy Sherman becomes within her photographs. Each one had a few "pop up" performances- singing, dancing, rolling around on the floor etc. After this taste of her work, I was dying to go see the exhibition.

It was astounding to see the same person (Cindy Sherman herself) create numerous different personas within dozens of photographs.

I also found it interesting that she did not title any of her photographs, I think it invites the viewer into a conversation with her art and you can decide for yourself the identity she creates within each piece. 

What do you think of her art? Who are your favorite artists?

Two Thoughts

I wish the weather would allow me to wear cable knit. Also, I still haven't had a pumpkin spice latte yet...

Image: Closet Visit

Look Out Hollywood, Here I Come

I'm starting this new thing. Instead of watching mindless television (read: ANTM, The Voice, Don't Mess with the B in Apt 23), I've decided to watch movies that I've never seen, but have always meant to. I've had enough with my lame excuses--I'm too tired to focus on something deep, I am too scared, it seems too heavy right now, blah blah blah. Enough's enough.

So last week, for three consecutive days, I watched (for the first time ever) Pulp Fiction, Shawshank Redemption, and No Country For Old Men.

All of these films are on IMDB's Top 250 Best Films of All Time list, and now I can see why! Instead of boring you with movie reviews, since you've most likely seen them all anyway, I am going to attempt to summarize my sentiments about each film in two sentences.

1. Pulp Fiction: Seeing someone's head blow up was not as bad as I thought it would be, but watching them pick up brain guts was just as bad as I thought it would be. Uma Thurman was not as involved as I had imagined.

2. Shawshank Redemption: I guess if I were falsely imprisoned, I'd try to make the best of it too. He is lucky that Morgan Freeman was his friend because I want Morgan Freeman to be my friend.

3. No Country For Old Men: I almost puked from constant anxiety. How can one man be so sexy in one movie and an absolute psychotic-demonic-homicidal-lunatic-freak in another?

Thank You

So I have received two thank you notes in the last week, and I was completely blown away upon receiving each of them. The fact that these two people took the time to sit down write a card by hand and mail it with a stamp made me realize how much they truly were thankful.

The first note I received was from a houseguest thanking me for my hospitality when she came to visit for the weekend. The other was a thank you for coming to her birthday party and bringing her a gift.

These notes prompted me to remember some old-fashioned manners that most of us have discarded in this digital age. Yes, when I receive a gift I always say "thank you!" but I haven't put it in writing since probably 2002-when my mother made me sit down and write my thank you notes after my birthday bash.

Has saying thank you in writing become completely obsolete?

With thank-yous on the mind, I found the cutest set of thank you notes at Target this weekend. I never would have known, but my friend Anna reintroduced me to the stationary section in Target and I found the cutest cards! It was hard to pick one, but I ended up with these:

Santa Monica Pier

I'd never been to the Santa Monica pier. Weird, right? I've lived in Southern California for my whole life, but for some reason, I'd never gotten around to visiting this particularly famous landmark.

So the other night after work, I had nothing to do. No plans, no back-up plans, nothing. I don't know very many people in Los Angeles yet, and everyone that I do know lives on the Eastside, so it can be a real pain in the you-know-what to get across town at 6 pm. Instead of going home and sprawling out on the couch to watch tv until I fell asleep (embarrassing) like I'd been doing almost every night (embarrassing)....I decided to take myself on a date.

It was like destiny had made it so that I would have the best time ever. I got a parking spot right next to the pier and it only cost me $2.00! A rarity that I greatly appreciated.  As I approached the pier, there was a HUGE group of homeless people who were being fed by some really lovely people. There was a guy singing with a large snake slithering around his arms and neck, and some people were painting seascapes. Police quietly milled about, but it was peaceful. Everyone seemed in harmony--there was a general feeling of goodwill in the air.

I walked onto the pier and immediately felt like I was in that show Rockett Power. Tito! The Squid!  Woogity woogity woogity. You know, that one.

There was a totally charming amusement park, complete with a roller coaster, ferris wheel, and fortune teller.

I meandered down the pier and stopped to breath in the salty air. I wasn't dressed very well for the outing, but for some reason, it didn't really matter. The air whipped my dress around and blew my hair into perfect beach waves. The water was a deep grey-blue, with an diaphanous sheen. As the sun set, it turned periwinkle and the sun blazed on the horizon. Waves lapped against the columns of the pier and seagulls cooed as they coasted across the horizon. A man sat at the edge of the pier and played California Dreaming.

I bought myself a hot dog with chili and fritos and sat on a bench to watch the sun set. I was in no hurry to be anywhere and I have never felt better. I highly recommend taking yourself on a date sometime soon.