I think this mix explains itself once you give it a listen.

Tracks:
Erykah Badu: Agitation
Here We Go Magic: Ahab
Stevie Wonder: Superstition
Adele: Rumour Has It
Mulatu Astatke: Yèkèrmo Sèw (A Man of Experience and Wisdom)
Bonnie Raitt: Mighty Tight Woman
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti: Can’t Hear My Eyes
Bill Withers: Do It Good

(photo from the library of congress)

click on the photos for possible more info on flickr!

After sharing a billion photos last week, I decided to give my camera a break for most of this weekend. It was a rather low key, taking care of business kind of weekend, full of errand running and obsessive cleaning, freelance projects, a haircut (bangs again!) and even making some jewelry. Saturday night I did manage to fancy myself up and met Krista in Hollywood for some Brazilian food and Emily Henderson’s Secrets From A Stylist premiere party. I put a lot of faces to names there (like Ms. Brick House herself!), but mostly felt pretty out of my element and it was so crowded I probably missed a lot of bloggers I might have known. Emily has such a great personality and style that I’m sure the show will be pretty fantastic. I don’t have a TV so I’ve yet to see it! Sunday my grandparents came to town just in time to see the shit show on the beach as the cops drive onto the beach at the drum circle to get everyone out, so I’m sure they think highly of my Venice lifestyle now:) Can’t believe it’s already Monday…

Because it was a short and busy week, I didn’t dive into the blogland enough to put together a typical Friday Bits with finds. But earlier this week Sandra’s post of 30 Pictures really moved me, and I thought it would be fun to dig around my photos for specific photos that meant something to me as well. So, here we go. Feel free to do your own as well, it’s pretty fun to hunt for photos, and is more interesting than the typical meme/survey passed around.

(click on the photos for more info on flickr)

01 / someone i spend a lot of time with:

02 / a picture of myself:

03 / a picture of someone in my family:

04 / a picture of something that makes me happy:

05 / an old picture of myself:

06 / a picture of my sibling:

07 / a picture i never posted on my blog before:

08 / a picture of a person i miss:

09 / a relative of mine:

10 / a picture of my favorite place:

11 / a person i can tell everything:

12 / a picture of my everyday life:

13 / a picture from a place i love:

14 / a picture which reminds me of old times:

15 / a picture of friends from my childhood:

(all my childhood photos are at my dad’s, but I do have this from junior high, my bestie Merrill and I, 9th grade.)

16 / a picture of myself:

17 / an unusual picture:

18 / a picture of my spare time:

19 / a picture i’m satisfied with:

20 / a picture of the people who are closest to me:

21 / a person who’s always there for me:

22 / a picture from a time in life i miss:

23 / a picture from last summer:

24 / a picture that makes me sad: (sandra’s was happy, but that already was #4, so I changed it)

25 / a person who always makes me happy:

26 / someone i’m always having fun with:

27 / a picture i always laugh about:

28 / a crazy picture:

29 / the latest picture of myself:

30 / someone i will never let go of:

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Click on the photos for possibly more information on flickr. All photos were shot with a Canon A-1 using Fujifilm Neopan SS 100, pushed two stops when developed.

First of all, I was going to split this into two posts, but they tell a story and they seemed weird split them into two. Secondly, I haven’t shot black and white film since…college maybe? It was once all I shot, because my old Pentax takes amazing black and white photos, and I was going through a pretty standard moody phase of thinking black and white was the only thing worth shooting during high school and college. But seeing Brian’s recent black and white photos really inspired me. I used to buy the cheapest black and white film I could find that I could have developed at the drugstore, but I put the word out on twitter that I was looking for something new (I LOVE twitter for advice!) and just as I suspected, Kristen had a great recommendation of Fujifilm Neopan SS, and Elissa suggested pushing 100 film to 400, which I hadn’t done in ages either. It’s funny because I’ve been online friends (livejournal, haaaay!) with both of them since the days I was still shooting black and white film in college! The results are fantastic, I’m so pleased with all of the photos that came back. I’ll definitely be shooting black and white again.

So, the weekend. I worked from home for a few hours Friday and and had Monday off, so it was a long one. An exhausting one. Will’s best friend Jarrett came in from Phoenix and stay with us for a few days, to star in a short film Will wrote and directed and our filmmaker friend Riel shot. Two different shoots – one in a temporary spaceship Will put up in our loft, and the other on the beach at 7am, after barely five hours of sleep and MANY margaritas to get us through the spaceship shoot the night before. Walking around on the beach with elaborate cameras and a man dressed in a homemade spaceman costume draws a lot of attention, but somehow we got lucky and no cops bugged us for not having a permit. I think the film turned out amazing, I’ll share when it’s done someday. We also took a trip to The Museum of Jurassic Technology, aka the most magical place on the earth, filled with beautiful, strange oddities and wonders I can’t even begin to explain without you seeing it. I can’t believe the few photos I took even came out as much as they did. I couldn’t stop thinking of Alison and Stephanie the whole time. The rest of the weekend was spent eating, thrifting, relaxing, and eating mini donuts from the cafe Will got a job at down the street. He has a kitchen to himself making sandwiches all day long, which is kind of perfect for him. It’s not exactly what he was looking for, but he actually loves the job – even though they made him shave his beard off. But now I kind of like that distinguished chin back in my life…

Really loving Sharon Van Etten lately. It’s been a while since I felt moved by quiet, soft female vocals but something about her grabs me.

My film will not be ready til Tuesday night, so proper weekend photos will come Wednesday, but I thought I’d just post the handful of digital shots I took randomly at this odd hour. I’ll tell you about the weekend in more detail Wednesday, but Saturday morning was spent shooting a short film on the beach, and we had this brief break from the rain with beautiful weather that morning. The giant puddles held beautiful cloud reflections. Sunday we went to Long Beach to the huge flea market and I scored a simple vintage Coach bag for cheap. The bowls are vintage Pyrex I got at the Rose Bowl last weekend. And the last photo is the of the Josie Maran lip stain in Jive, per many of your requests to see what it looks like. Flickr changed the color a bit, but it’s a florescent coral – a little more magenta in certain light.

I’ll be back Wednesday!

I’m working from home today for a funny reason that’s a big downside to LA: I ain’t got no wheels. Will needs the car for important reasons, so I looked up how to take the bus to work. Oh, the hilarity. One and half hours, including a mile of walking, all to get me where I can drive to in 30 minutes. I’d brave this hilarity (I’m okay with buses and walking) if it weren’t for us having a half day today for Presidents Day weekend, so it’s just a pointless adventure. Luckily my boss understands my predicament. LA public transportation sucks, and it sucks even more on the West side of town. But in return I get sunshine and fruit.

1.  The Science Of Sleep. This movie is particularly dear to my heart because discussing how good it is was Will’s icebreaker to first talking to me back in our days of flirty courtship.
2. London – A Visual Diary. I’m trying to plan a trip to London in May for a very exciting reason, so this made me smile.
3. Hand Made Art Pop-Up Shop. If Abby’s involvement in Little Winter is any indication of how good this event will be, all you Texans need to check this out.
4. Beautiful scabiosa stellata pods.
5. Loving everything Clamlab makes, especially these mugs. Must get my hands on these beauties (literally). via Modish.
6. Extremely fun hair and makeup at Jeremy Scott that circa 1999 raver Kate would have killed for.
7. “You know what? Kimmy Gibbler was actually kind of cool”
8. I know Toast is like posting crack for lifestyle bloggers, but I’m in awe of the photos in their Early Spring catalog.
9. I need to tell you how obsessed I am with Henry James Bunman. I think you see why.

I have a three-day weekend and am toying with the idea of shooting film, so weekend bits will come Tuesday morning at the earliest! Have a great one, everyone.

Now and then I get emails/comments asking me about what beauty products I use, and I’ve been crafting this post for ages. While this may seem like an off-topic post for my usual thing on this blog, I’ll have you know: I’m not much of a girly girl, but I am a beauty product addict. This post was really fun to put together, albeit time consuming. I wanted to keep it simple, but I feel it’s necessary to explain the products I use.

I’m not a big beauty blog reader (I’d love to hear about your favorites, I find most of them annoying!), but I love Into The Gloss, and Andrea got me hooked on Lisa Eldridge, a makeup artist who has these incredibly informative video tutorials on makeup. I could watch them all day (her soothing British accept helps, I think). For the longest time I was a drugstore makeup girl, but after college Andrea introduced me to M.A.C, and I instantly saw the benefit of saving up for the good stuff. When I’m low on cash I usually go for L’Oréal or Revlon.

So, let’s start with what I use every single day. I’m pretty low-maintenance, and try to keep things as natural as possible without looking too bare. I usually do my makeup relatively the same every day – but on the weekends I often skip eyeliner, and when going out at night I’ll make my eyes more dramatic.

1. M.A.C Blot Powder – I have oily skin, so this just absorbs oil and mattifies with barely any color.
2. M.A.C Select Moisturecover – My absolute favorite concealer – I use this just on my t-zone, sparingly, to even out color.
3. Boscia – This isn’t makeup, but is worth mentioning as it’s crucial to my beauty routine. I have acne-prone skin and have tried every product under the sun since I was a teenager. Less than a year ago I discovered Boscia – which is totally preservative-free, botanically-based and doesn’t use any of the chemicals I always thought were necessary to take care of acne. It’s incredible, nothing has worked this well for me. I started with this kit and then ended up buying the full-size versions of all of them.
4. M.A.C eyeshadow – Huge range of colors, long lasting. Sometimes I use the Sephora brand, sometimes Revlon, but I prefer M.A.C if I can afford it. My favorite is Motif – a peachy color that’s kind of opal-like.
5. Sephora Retractable Eyeliner – I’m a fan of retractable eyeliner because I hate sharpening pencils, and I love the little sponge on the other end to make lines softer. I like black and matte charcoal.
6. Benetint – My favorite cheek stain, hands down. Perfect flushed-cheek color.
7. Eyelash curler – A lot of people are afraid of them, but I use it every single day as my lashes are not that full. Don’t be scared! I’m not picky about the brand, but usually buy the cheap Revlon kind at the drugstore.
8. BADgal Lash - The absolute best mascara. A few months ago I got a free sample of the plum color, and though I was skeptical of putting colored mascara on my lashes, it’s the best. You’d think it would be good for a night out, but it’s actually good for when you make you eyes up really simple – it makes the color of your eyes pop and the plum color isn’t super noticeable.
9. Clinique Airbrush Concealer – A fairly recent find, it’s already a favorite product of mine I use every day. I only use it under my eyes and on spot breakouts – it’s somehow magical and doesn’t crease, it’s very light but zaps away darkness.

1. Josie Maran Magic Marker – It’s funny putting this on here because I JUST bought it this week, but I’m so obsessed with it, it’s definitely going to be something I use often. Lipstains are hard for me to wear usually because my lips are so dry, but something is different about this one – the color is super intense, and Jive is an amazing shade of fluorescent coral. They aren’t kidding when they call it stain – be careful!
2. M.A.C Matte Lipstick in Ruby Woo – A perfect vintage red for a dramatic look. This stuff is pretty incredible and super intense – the trick is to only wear mascara on your eyes to not look like a clown. It’s pretty long lasting, but it does require some touch-up if you’re going to wear it all day. I recommend using a lip liner pencil with it, otherwise it’s difficult to put on straight, especially after it wears down a bit.
3. Nailpolish – I have a hilariously large nail polish collection, but my favorite brands are Essie and RGB for their color selection and being the most chip resistant. Playa Del Platinum is my favorite Essie color. Toast is my favorite RGB color.
4. Sephora Nano Liner - Sometimes a fun eyeliner color is in order for a night out, and I like these little Sephora liners. They’re cheap, too. The silver green color is really nice, doesn’t scream “Hello, I’m going out clubbing in my metallic eyeliner”.
5. M.A.C Studio Fix – When I need a little more coverage this foundation and powder combo is my go-to. I’ve been using it more often lately now that I’m in a more corporate office under harsh fluorescent lights. I usually just dust a little on my t-zone as covering up my freckles on my cheek bones looks weird.

Now, I didn’t cover hair here because I don’t use anything exciting. I buy whatever grabs my eye at the drug store, and I don’t use any product. Somehow I’m obsessed with makeup but could not care less about hair products. Sometimes I use argan oil to smooth out fly-aways, but only because I bought it for my skin and it made me break out, so I found another use for it!

Thanks for reading the longest post in the universe, guys. Please share your favorites, I’d love to hear about them!

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by Warby Parker to see if I wanted to give their new 2011 collection a test drive before they were released. I don’t normally accept people sending me things, even just a test that I have to send back, but as you know I’m a huge fan of Warby Parker. I think their glasses are amazing, their prices even better ($95, and that includes prescription lenses), and their donate-a-pair for every pair you buy program is the icing on the cake. So naturally I fist pumped in the air and told them HECK YES! They sent me five of the 14 new pairs, and by looking at the rest I didn’t receive, I think I got the best pairs to try out. It was hard to take these photos because the demo lenses in the frames are not anti-reflective, so it was impossible to remove the reflections as I’m no pro with taking portraits!

clockwise top left: Begley, all of them + Begley, Sinclair, Owen, Preston (my ears are crooked and couldn’t handle this pair straight!), Winston.

The new collection focuses on more bold and vintage-style designs, something I think that the affordable eyeglasses market (is that even a market? ha) is severely lacking in. The moment I pulled the Begley out of the box, I threw another fist in the air – they’re exactly what I’ve been searching for but haven’t been able to find in a small enough stature for my face or low enough price to swallow. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about the flat tops – but after trying them on I like the way the tops don’t go above my eyebrows, and it makes them even more unique. The Sinclair is a really nice shape too – a good pair for someone who wants a vintage style that’s interesting, but not too bold or hipster-y. If I didn’t love the Begley so much, I’d probably go for this pair, but they might be a little too average for my taste. The Winston is pretty great – a bit much on my face, but look awesome on Will (below) – I really want him to get a pair! The Owen is another good bold pair that would fit a girl with a larger face or guys, and the Preston is simple and a little thinner if you want something less bold.

Winston, Owen.

I think I’m pretty sold on the Begley style to get to alternate with my Fillmores. I love the new greystone color, but I think I’m going to get the whiskey tortoise because I think that color suits my coloring better.

Just as a note: Warby Parker is not giving me anything in return for this post, nor did they ask me to post this. I just think highly of their company and thought some photos would be fun for you to all see. Also, it will be a long time before I post this many pictures of my face with that unintentional smirky grin this huge again here, talk about stressful.

A busy weekend that included, but was not limited to: experiencing first hand the amazing produce that’s available here year round and making an entirely local meal (never done that before), driving everywhere to visit galleries, baking bread, finally getting into Twin Peaks (wow wow wow, but do I even need to tell you that?), getting so engrossed in that New Yorker article about Scientology (downside to being on the left coast: it takes almost a week for NY mags to get to me) that we left an hour late for my next topic of discussion: The Rose Bowl Flea Market. WHOA! All caps very much deserved on that whoa. I thought I was prepared, but we were in fact not prepared. We roamed for over two hours, only to cover maybe 1/3 of it (if even that? I couldn’t see the end, I swear), leaving incredibly sunburned and with blisters on my feet. I scored a set of three marigold Pyrex mixing bowls, and Will got an 8mm camera and a super amazing/terrifying mannequin he’s going to use for an art piece. I was on the hunt for vintage beads and a little desk, but all I could find where amazing chairs and dressers, things we can’t get yet. As for beads, I saw nothing! Does anyone know if there’s a seller there who sells vintage beads? Lots of vintage jewelry, but I’m interested more in bulk/bins of just beads, taking necklaces apart doesn’t work for me. We will be back – armed with more water, food, sunscreen, and shun fashion in favor of my running shoes.

Stay tuned for a special post in place of Music Monday today!