Good Morning/How do you get ready?

Everyone has their daily routine...some people start with a shower, others need a cup of coffee before they become human again. Here are a few of our must-haves--our go-to items that we just can't live without.

1. A cup of coffee. When Sofia and I lived together (and even when we didn't) we always started our day with a cup of coffee. Sometimes we would have some fried eggs and avocados, but no matter what, we always had a steaming cup of coffee in our hands. We really love collecting  pretty tea cups. We have a whole slew of the anthropologie mugs, like this one and this one. But one of my favorites is from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London!

2. Biosilk. This stuff is pure luxury. The smell is divine. We use it when we get out of the shower, or on dry hair to help tame flyaways. You will have to test it out a few times to use the right amount for your hair. Word of caution: err on the side of less is more. It's pretty potent.

3. Aveeno Skincare Products. It takes people years to find skincare products that really work for them. Like a best friend, once you find one, you can't let it go. Aveeno products have worked really well for us. We like the natural ingredients and find that the result leaves us with silky, touchable skin, but doesn't leave any oily residue. The Daily Moisturizing Lotion is pretty kick ass, too.

4. bareMinerals. There's no question about this. Hands down, this product is the BEST face make-up ever. All of our friends swear by bareMinerals. The foundations are easy to mix and match and the bronzers are epic. It's like the Sisterhood of the Traveling Powders. We can magically share the bronzer, because Warmth looks good on all skin colors--it just depends on how heavily you apply it. I wear Light and Sofia wears Fairly Light. Our super tan friend Sarah goes with Medium Beige. With so many options and combinations, you're bound to land on the perfect shade!

5. Dry Shampoo. For days when you "accidentally" hit the snooze one too many times. Spritz a little of this stuff into your roots, and you are good to go about your day with the guise of a freshly showered mane. Tresemme is an affordable one, but if you want to splurge, beauty stores have a wide range of really effective dry shampoos.

6. Diorshow Blackout vs. Bad Gal Lash. Mascara is super personal. I think every single one of our friends uses a different product. Although Sofia and I can agree on most everything, this is an area where we differ. Bad Gal Lash has worked for me because I have hyper-sensitive eyes, that are really big and prone to getting things in them. Bad Gal Lash doesn't flake and it goes on pretty light, really it just adds a darker color to my lashes. Sofia loves Diorshow because it really pumps up the volume and deeply intensifies the black lash that she wants.

Now that we've shared our favorite getting ready items, we'd love to hear from you! What are some products or rituals that you can't start your day without?

F*** Yeah Fest

Hi guys, sorry for the lag in posting. Things have been weird for both of us. We (for completely separate reasons) have been having trouble accessing the internet for a little over a week, but now we are back online and ready to post some cool things that have been going on.

Last weekend I went to FYF. Check out the cuties below.

The festival was SO fun, and I totally did a crazy thing.

I snuck in.

Yep, you heard it right. I totally snuck in, and it was AWESOME. I walked up and stared at the ticket lady's face, showed her a crumpled up piece of random paper, and just scurried right past her and another security guard, as my friends distracted her. I bolted into the venue and was swallowed by a sea of LA hipsters. Helllooooo. So rad.

The festival was pretty cool! As it often is in LA, it was really, really hot and sunny, and relatively grimy, but still plenty hip. The festival was held in Los Angeles State Historic Park, which is adjacent to Chinatown. It's more like a huge plot of dirt and some grass, but it made for a really easily navigable festival. The stages were lined up consecutively, which made the sound a bit muddled from the back, but if you were close enough to the stage you couldn't even hear the other bands playing.

Of course, Father John Misty was my favorite performance. He is so weird with those girly hips, but that's part of his rock star charm. King Khan and the Shrines were super fantastic--a little too much action in the crowd for my taste, but the music was totally funky! We saw glimpses of bands like Cursive, Atlas Sound, and watched Yeasayer and Beirut from the back of the crowds to finish off the evening. Over all it was a great all-day event! I recommend wearing flats, bringing lots of water, and wearing TONS of sunscreen if you go next year. Below is a funny picture of my boyfriend, the King of the Sneak. dork.

The American Psycho at Tavern

I just moved into my new apartment in Brentwood on Sunday. So far, I love it here. It feels like the perfect transition to go from Santa Barbara to Brentwood; They have a similar vibe (glamorous, small town-feel, proximity to the ocean), the only difference is the constant buzz of traffic from the 405, but I'm sure that will become white noise soon enough.

When I was at work yesterday, my colleague came running in and said, "Batman just walked past me!" So of course, I ran out to see the American Psycho and followed him into Tavern, the restaurant/bakery/bar on our street corner. He was a lot shorter than I had imagined, but maybe even more handsome! I felt the celebrity buzz power through me like a drug. What a rush! EeeeEeeEee Christian Bale EEeeeEeeee!

Initially I wanted to write this post to tell you about Tavern, so let me do that. It is such a great place. Very Anthropologie meets Oxford University in a submarine, if you know what I mean.

Last night I met my friends Brie, Meg and Lo for drinks and some bar bites. We sat at the corner of the bar and gave each other updates on the goings on in our lives--starting grad school, selling art, the trials and tribulations of communal living. Lo and I ordered 24th Street Pale Ales, which I highly recommend, and Lo and Meg shared turkey burgers and fries, while Brie and I shared lamb meatballs with feta, pine nuts, and currant (OMG) plus a side of rosemary corn--holy moly.

The atmosphere is just perfect at Tavern. It's warm, dimly lit, spacious, and the food is fantastic. I hope that I can take you there when you come visit me :)

Metrospectives

To begin our adventure on this blog, we thought you might like to see what we see.

Diana: I just moved to LA a few weeks ago. Coming from Santa Barbara, I knew it was going to be really hard for me to adjust to the metropolitan lifestyle--traffic, scary nighttime walks, and a constant feeling of being rushed. I knew I had to find places where I would feel a sense of calm. Somewhere I could remember nature--or at least find perspective. My good friend, Alysia, took me up to her roof on the top of the Gothic loft apartment complex she lives in, in Downtown LA. We relaxed with snap cups of chardonnay and spicy pepper jack cheese. We talked and talked for hours about moving, life, friends, roommates, house hunting, and it felt good. I felt peaceful, and if I squinted my eyes, the blue sky could have been the ocean...if I didn't look too hard.

Sofia: I've lived in the bay area my whole life, except for those four fabulous years in Santa Barbara, and the city has always been a wonderfully inspiring and magical setting. This photo was taken last December when Diana was visiting. We ventured to the top of the deYoung Museum, where I was interning at the time, and absorbed the beautiful scenery: the rooftop gardens across the way at the California Academy of Sciences, the fog rolling over the bay, and the colorful Victorian houses sprinkled about the Sunset neighborhood. My internship ended at the museum a few months ago and oh how do I miss it! Not only did I love being surrounded by the wonderful art and working with my fellow art-lovers, but I also miss spending so much time in golden gate park--the foggy and freezing setting is comforting and cozy. I'm crossing my fingers that I may get hired on full-time someday :)

If you are ever in the city and looking for something culturally fulfilling to do on a Friday night, check out the museum's "Friday Nights at the deYoung" programming, I used to help every Friday and it was a blast. The museum offers drinks, art, live music, interactive art projects, performance art and so much more--and the best part is, it's free!