seeking homebaked chocolate chip cookies

the nytimes writes about the search for champion chocolate chip cookies. a delicious quest. raw dough or chewy centered or crispy crunch, i'll take these cooies any way i can get them.

best of all, this article's first paragraphs feature my hometown hero Ruth Wakefield, who invented this perfect cookie in whitman, mass. her recipe is published on the back of every pack of Toll House chocolate chips.

and NOW i find out that she also published a cookbook: toll house tried and true recipes. yup, she's a woman after my hometown heart.


image of chocolate chip cookies from nytimes.com

be kind, design

sometimes i think about buying something for a longgggg time.
and some(wonderful)times, my gut instinct kicks in and i just buy it.

i saw this be kind, design T-shirt, and it was immediate purchase.

the magical simplicity of color/font/message made me do it.

available at designismine [etsy] for $19.

summer style: dresses & shorts

i'm feeling the whole summer style spectrum, from comfy shorts to pretty dresses.

i especially love the idea of the shirt and shorts (and shades!) in los angeles.


photos of los angeles and paris from the sartorialist

july july!

july is a favorite month of mine. a swing into summer. sending us to the closest beach. long, sunny days and late, muggy nights. smelling like saltwater or campfire or lakewater or coppertone sunscreen. buzzing mosquitoes. lots of fresh fruit and corn on the cob and grilled hotdogs and tomatoes & basil. flipflops and sundresses. picnics and barbecues. and many birthdays (:

this month in dear LA, i'm excited about saturdays&sundays of beaching, hiking, thrifting, and farmer's marketing. some great [free!] concerts: here, here, and here. evening picnicking with cemetery movies at cinespia & outdoor music at the hollywood bowl. and maybe even a surfing lesson or two...

oh how i do love this summer month of mine!


image of mirror lake from my flickr

from curbside to beachside

within days of sharing my love of curb crawling , i did score a great treasure on my way home from work.

two perfect (well, almost) french beach chairs were begging for a new home & some TLC. so i scooped them right into my trunk, and now they're sitting pretty under the tangerine tress in our backyard.

ok, they are a bit beat up--but with a few dabs of wood glue and fresh colorful seating fabric, they'll be ready for the summer in no time!

so started looking online for some inspirations for new seat covers...

i'm wondering: quirky english prints? or classic french stripes?



[left] thornback&peal deck chair from the handpicked collection
[right] les toiles du soleil from basic french online

the photographer's shadow

intriguing? haunting? check out this whole collection of shadow photos.

the photo above is from MoMA's collection (full description). it was taken by an unknown photographer at Coronado Beach. apparently MoMA has a whole display of anonymous photographer's shadows.

garfield minus garfield

i can't stop looking at garfield minus garfield. it's the classic comic strip--minus all characters except john arbuckle.

wow. on his own, this man lives a twisted life!

earlier this week, the creator/reviser (along with original cartoonist Jim Davis!) was interviewed by the nytimes. in his words, the revised comic exposes the empty desperation of modern life. that's pretty deep for dear garfield.

flock - framed!

excited to have a new print in the house!
here is flock by good shape design.

i even have it in a frame already!!
this is major progress...

thank you nana!

opening night: diane cockeril & chris engman

a bit delayed... but this past saturday was the annual Culver City Art Walk. i was short on time and late in the day, so i didn't get a chance to see very much--but i did land in JK Gallery for the first time.

i was literally drawn in off the street when i caught a glimpse of these photos by chris engman and diane cockeril.

cockeril's photos (above) focus on the mundane but colorful curbs of LA. she collages her photos together, looking at these curbs as "meandering riverbanks, rich with meaning in their encoded system; swift currents of color, patterns and language."

engman's photos (below) make you look twice at buildings, places, things. framing, inserting, challenging. seemingly ordinary, but contrived. i like juxtaposition (and, come to the think of it, i like the word juxtaposition).

june june june

in my mind today:

june is bustin' out all over
all over the meadow and the hill...

you can feel it in your heart
you can see it in the ground
you can see it in the trees
you can smell it in the breeze

look around! look around! look around!

soak up some over-enthusiasm for june on youtube (: