Friday 11 November 2011

DIY VS DDIY

to do it yourself, or dont do it yourself.
that is the question.

DIY projects have so much appeal, so much pizazz!
i've always considered myself to be a little crafty. i feel such a great sense of satisfaction when putting my energy towards something creative.

also, of course, i long for one of these types of convos:
"oh my god! i love your ___!"
"oh gee thanks, i totally made _____ myself!"
"no way! you are a goddess of handi-crafts and creativity."

now thanks to the internet and sites like http://www.etsy.com/, the DIYers of the world are having their hay day. if you like to spend your time and energy into building a craft this is YOUR time! its the day, the era of the DIYers.

while i was away in california, i stumbled across some excellent DIY colour block moccasins thanks to the fabulous ladies at http://www.honestlywtf.com/ and since then have had not only an obsession with the site, but also with the idea of creating my own said mocs.
as i have said once upon a time i am the proud owner of 4 pairs of these delightful, comfortable shoes (ps  just found out the boyfriend is not a fan... go figure.) and was totally ok with sacrificing one pair to the arts gods.

as a recap from an earlier blog:
my inspiration: http://honestlywtf.com/diy/diy-color-block-moccasins/

arent they excellent?!
THIS is how you do a DIY project. these ladies have it down. i would highly recommend checking out their site for other brill ideas.

so, being rightly inspired i decided to take the plunge. i grabbed ye olde mocs, headed out to michaels for some fabric paint and started the process of revamping... out with the old in with the new!

i decided to use my oldest and most faithful pair of mocs, the classic browns. and while i was perusing the section of fabric paints i had originally thought that i would want to use the adorable pastel green as the wtf gals had... but then i wanted to do gold. but then... i decided on hot pink.
hot pink?
what was i thinking?!
definitely not a regular colour for me, but i decided to follow my gut and try it out.

so here is the process:

so step 1: remove laces from clean mocs.
mine are especially ghetto so yes, they are clean, but sadly will always have that *ahem* vintagely chic dirt look about them.

then choose the foxy colour of your choice. as we know, i went with the foxiest of them all... hot pink.

here are the results:

voila!

im a little torn.
do i like these? i think so... right?
they actually photograph lovely. i love the contrast between the brown and the pink, especially while the leaves are still down and that rich brown all over the ground.

but up close to me they just look like a diy project... and im not sure im down with that.
i can see brush strokes and after coats and coats of paint i can see brown.

but on the other hand they just look so neat!
i love colour block! i love a pop of colour!

so this is what i propose. i am going to wear them out a few times and see what the public has to say.
will i get some side eye glances? will people ask what i was thinking?
OR will they be met with mad applause and acceptance?!
only time will tell. i am going to wear them a few more times over the course of the month of november and report back in december.
and i will answer the question, at least as far as mocs go: DIY vs DDIY

until then, i have a few more DIY projects up my sleeve. next up: chalk board wine glasses!

let the poll begin!
shoes out and about day one: today.

Friday 4 November 2011

what to expect when youre expecting

this is not a tale of pregnancy.
this phrase is extremely relevant for an adventure i had this past weekend.
my adventure to fort mcmurray.

the feeling is very hard to describe when you are first going to a place that you have never seen knowing that within the next few months it will be your home.

the way most people do it is visit a place, fall in love, vow to move there and then
a) never do and live thinking about the place they fell in love with then never moved to [not to be specific but oh i dont know... for example some place beautiful and romantic like say france]
b) end up living there after having had a moving or wonderful or generally a great reason to move [like say a job... in france?]

my situation is different.

long term (6 years!) boyfriend moves to remote northern location.
"girlfriend, when your work contract is done will you move to said remote northern location with me?"
"... yes. where are we going?"
"fort mcmurray."
"say again?"

unlike some, i know where this place is.
having worked at a bar in edmonton at one point, this particular albertan frontier town was on my radar.
fort mcmurray has a reputation for three things:
1. alcohol
2. cocaine
3. prostitutes
... not really my thing.
knowing these things, knowing that my life was headed in that direction i did what any sensible girl would do: PANIC research.

this plan, however, turned up many dead ends.
fort mcmurrays situation is not helped in any way thanks to its uninformative website. research was a task that to be honest, just got too boring and difficult to continue.
putting the search on the back burner, things move forward pretty quickly.

early september everything is put into high gear.
brilliant boyfriend moves, i begin my 6 week tour along the west coast of north america.
internet in hotels is spotty, boyfriend is immersed in work.
communication is not at an all time high to say the least.

the common story that i hear from boyfriend whenever chats are available is this: do not believe the stories. do not get stuck on the stereotypes. this place is amazing. you will like it here. i promise.

... interesting.

the 6 weeks of this lag of tour comes to an end.
i have fallen in love with b.c... kelowna in particular.
i am now on a course due north to see what is to be my new home town.

with baited breath i board the plane. yvr -ymm. a small plane. an empty plane.

i will spare you the mush details of my reunion with boyfriend at the airport and tell you this:
you can never expect what you do not know.
first hand accounts do nothing.
a truckers opinion at a bar is skewed.
you can never know what to expect when you are expecting.

i expected to hate. to endure. to have a stiff upper lip.
i hoped to be optimistic. positive. hopeful.

forget everything you have heard about this town. about how it is a hole or the place where hope goes to die. forget the stories of a friends friend or your co-workers brother who lived there and hated it.
forget it.

here is what i saw:


i was struck by an incredible sense of potential and of endless possibilities.
to live in a place like this is an adventure, and yes im sure i will have some hard times and frustrations and the whole 9 yards of emotion, but having been to the place i had heard so many negative things about i am still shocked at how excited i am to explore this part of the great white north.

the ups and downs will be documented, but here we are. 8 months out before the move.
i am getting excited to go live in the forest.

who woulda thought?

Tuesday 25 October 2011

how to: spend 6 hours on your nails

tired of the same ol' thing on the tv?
eyes too strained to enjoy the company of a good book or even a magazine?
have many hours to spend but nothing to do and nowhere to go?

well do i ever have the solution for you!

last night i found myself in this very situation.
a girl can only watch so many crime shows while staying in a hotel room ya know, so it was time to turn the tv off for a night.
looking at  my royal blue nails i had a flash of inspiration; during my days using stumble upon, i had come across an idea for nail art that seemed like i would never have the time to fiddle with. well! as luck would have it, i did have time to fiddle with it!

enter water marble for nails.
as seen here: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/18BZdL/heynicenails.com/post/2766491113
this technique looks beautiful, but also seems like the type of thing that could not only be messy, but extraordinarily frustrating.

despite my reservations on the project, last night i decided to attempt the technique.

step 1: gather your materials


for this i gathered the only nail polishes that i have on the road with me me. classic, excellent essie to the rescue again.
so for these nails, you need a base coat. i went with the blue because i was already wearing it.
logic.
you also need a cup with room temperature water, a stir stick or tooth pick and if youre not in a hotel room, i would say tape or something to go around your nails so you dont waste a bottle of nail polish remover like i did cleaning up... but we will get to that later.

step 2: drop nail polish into water, swirl with stir stick/tooth pick to create a pattern



this is the nail polish in the cup pre-swirl. but this is the first step of the process anyways!
here is the problem with this step while travelling: i was dumb.
i used one of the hotels glasses instead of the paper ones they provide for coffee... thus ruining and subsequently hiding all evidence of said glass cup.
i eventually used the paper one, also ripped it in half to make it easier, which it did because....

step 3: dip your fingers
in a slight angle you have to set your fingers in the design that you most like in your swirl of polish. you have to do this pretty quickly because the polish water becomes a film that just causes a big mess.
and so this is the part where having tape around your nail would be ideal because my hands ended up looking a little something like this:



so it looks neat for sure.
but omg is it messy!
though clean up and everything i ended up having to redo so many of these by nicking the nail with polish remover. on top of everything else, it is so hard to get nail polish of of your hands!
and can you believe at this point, this is what success looked like.

step 4: reevaluate.
you've come this far.
you re not happy with the results.
do you leave it? move on? fully aware of the time and tears that's gone into this only for a sub par set of nails?
NO!
you re-do what needs to be redone.

i even came up with a quick fix - before the nail polish is dry after the dip, take a damp tissue and get rid of the excess nail polish! it makes clean up with straight up removed better.
i tried fiddling with different techniques and patterns and in the end, as a first attempt, it was worth it.

step 5: enjoy the mess
yes. you will make a mess.
this is a piece of art, not a project!
there is a reason they call this trend "nail art"
after literally 6 hours of trying this, here is my space:



and finally...
step 6: basque.
enjoy the fruits of your labour, even if its not the prettiest, enjoy that you spent time on yourself with just yourself... or a friend. but you took time to just do something for you.

here is what my end results look like:


the edges are rough and it needs some cleaning up around the sides, but all in all i would call this attempt a success.


so upon reflection:
would i do this again? probably not. it took a lot of time and a lot of nail polish and a lot of nail polish remover.
that being said, it might be better when i have all of the necessary materials at hand and now that i have a better idea of what it is like it might move faster.
i would also do this in a ventilated room.
or in a room with a window.
i might have killed some brain cells working on this project and am in desperate need to get out and have some fresh air in my lungs.

i did enjoy having some me time, and if even one stranger compliments the end result, i will feel validated.

good luck with your DIY if you choose to turn your nails into a piece of art too.

Friday 21 October 2011

peachland

the place is as dreamy as its name.

peachland is part of the okanagan region and is lakeside to the brilliantly lovely okanagan lake.
its a quiet little town that would so easily be overlooked by just driving by, but a quick jaunt over to the left hand side of of hwy 97 brings you to the picturesque little town.




i met with my cousin shayne, local resident of this brilliant little town, and while under the weather, said cousin still made my hike up pincushion trail- the steepest hike in peachland.

well, it was beaut.
truly it was.
we arrived to our lookout point at dusk and the sky was a cottony pink and blue.
having not been totally well this vertical hike winded me to say the least, but luckily, the view from the top made it all worth it.

and so, here are the fruits of my labour; the view in all its glory:



these photos on the whole are on the darker side, but they are all totally representative of what peachland is all about.
mountains, water, sunset.
happiness.

i am truly going to miss the okanagan, but stay tuned for next weeks adventures in van city where i am going to explore the following:
fashion
food
drinks.

i have 6 nights in the big city and plan to take full advantage, starting back to the basics with doing my nails with some nail art tomorrow night and possibly a delicious basil gimlet.
... actually, why wait?
to the bar!

Wednesday 19 October 2011

accidental protestor

i love BC.
so much.

as i explore kelowna and prepare to head back to vancouver in a few short days i cant help but fall deeper and deeper in love with this glorious province.
at the same time, im in a bit of a bind. i am truly enjoying life here, and yet, it is not in the cards for me to move here.
as the days slowly pass by i find myself closer to the day where i will inevitably be moving to fort mcmurray, alberta.
i dont know what it looks like, or what to expect. i hear different accounts of what its like up there all the time, and so in my mind it is now a kelowna clone. a clone-a.
(im so funny.)
in a week i will be visiting my future home for the first time. with any luck, there will be no snow and the weather wont be bone chilling and i can find some similarities between this place i have come to adore and the place which i will soon be calling home.

until then though! BC! ooooh mountains and lakes... you are infectious! how can i cure myself of you?!
my time here started off in vancouver and my first weekend i decided to explore the sights and sounds of downtown.
i took the sky train.
brilliant.
 i can use my bberry while i travel! convenient.
my adventure on this above ground subway brought me right downtown to the city centre.
suddenly i heard something.
calls and shouts. the voices of many sounding like white noise.
i followed it, of course.

occupy vancouver.

aaaah yes!
i should have known.
it was occupy the world day with protests from stockholm to toronto to vancouver.
the first world occupants coming together to protest first world problems.

this was my very first protest! hooray!


people had something to say about everything and anything!
there were 5,000 people gathered in front of the art gallery, ready to share their feelings on how injust this world is.

my thoughts:
protesting, especially peaceful, is an excellent way to be heard... or is it? i cant really decide to be honest. is being a part of a mass, especially one that is basically now just a trendy mass, the best way to get a message across?
i have my doubts. 

my take-aways:
protests are an excellent place for taking photos.


i saw that mob mentality can happen pretty fast.
a big group people who are all looking for an outlet, its interesting.

i was accidentally a part of the global movement of occupy the world which got me to thinking: is there something i believed in enough to have me mobilize? to have me march, rain or shine, to sleep in a tent for days in protest?
... i dont know.

i may not agree with what people protest over sometimes, but being a part of this, even if i was just an accidental protestor, made me really thankful that there are people in this world who would do these things, and who are ready to stand up and share their hope for a better world.

so i guess final thought:
kudos occupy the world.

Monday 17 October 2011

beautiful british columbia

things i have noticed:

1. Toms
these shoes are on nearly every human being of every age.
... especially in kelowna.
toms also appear in never before seen colours and patterns.
so, with all of these shoes around i cant help but think to myself: are the people of kelowna socially conscious or just consciously trendy?

2. Weather
apparently residents here have very little or no regard for the actual temperature.
its cold! why are you wearing flip flops!
i seem to be in a constant state of shivering while the locals seem either content of borderline uncomfortably warm.

3. Fashion Style
did you know that vancouver was voted #3 worst dressed city in the world?
thanks to BC being the mecca, the birthplace of lululemon, the amount of althletic wear being worn out and about for any occassion has led to this dismal ranking on a global scale.
vancouver is the bottom of the fashion food chain.
i, however, have found that people here dress awesomely. even more impressive than the californians.
... i also own 27 pieces of lululemon, so what does that say about me?

4. Right of Way
 pedestrians first.
cars dont honk at people walking, or bikers, in fact their entire road system is set up for foot traffic.
flashing green lights are at most intersections, and not to be confused with those of ontario which mean advance left turn, mighty dangerous to the unknowing driver, these green lights mean the intersection is pedestrian controlled, giving anyone on foot a 24/7 right of way.

5. Company
people go out in the day and hang out.
blenz in kelowna, for example, has been busy since my arrival at 11am, and long lines  persisted for the 4 hours that i sat there... yes, 4 hours.
but people werent just coming on their own or just coming and going... they came in packs.
to hang out, to chat, to visit.
there was always noise! pleasant noise: laughter, volume and the mumble of conversation.
it is wonderful.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

walk awhile with me & share the wonderous worlds i've known

“The bridge will only take you halfway there, to those mysterious lands you long to see. Through gypsy camps and swirling Arab fair, and moonlit woods where unicorns run free. So come and walk awhile with me and share the twisting trails and wondrous worlds I’ve known. But this bridge will only take you halfway there. The last few steps you have to take alone.”
– Shel Silverstein

my month in california has come to an end.
isnt it strange how time has this amazing ability to pass both quickly and slowly at the same time?
well, as i was so kindly reminded by the streets of LA, all things are relative.


time is of course no exception.
and while my time here is over, and has passed at a glacial pace as well as in the blink of an eye, i have been looking back and taking some time to reflect.
there has been good, and bad, and simply ok.
i have been to the mountains, the valleys and to the ocean, and i have compiled some lists and as always, probably too many pictures.

and so, with that in mind, here is my time in California in lists and in pictures:

the highlights
1. napa
perhaps the wineries were not explored, maybe the mountains were not hiked, and maybe the wine bars were not experienced. but it doesnt matter.
napa is on this highlight list because it is a place that i would certainly come back to.
i want to experience the wine train, taste a grape straight from the vine, and re-walk the alleys of downtown.
this is a re-visit and i would recommend this place to anyone.

2. whole foods
yes, we have this at home, i know.
but here in LA there is one around the corner. and have i taken advantage? yes.
as a wise friend once said, "it looks like whole foods exploded in your fridge... how cliche"
indeed.
i will miss my easy access to this grocery store and my daily trips to the comprehensive salad bar. i will miss a whole area of vegan food and garlic and saffron rice. i will miss my fridge being well stocked on works dime.
i ate well and healthy thanks to whole foods.

3. my re-newed love of friendship bracelets and craftiness
being away from my friends and family has allowed me to explore some potential for excellent crafting in the future (ie. moccasin alteration and this: http://unsimpleliving.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/melted-crayon-art/)
as well as a huge love for the friendship bracelet revival.
colourful string is apparently my bestie on the road.

4. buenos dias sabrina
having a friend visit is always incredible.
having a friend visit at the perfect time? priceless.
3 days of adventure, singing in cars, exploring alley ways, roof top parties and lounging on beaches.
the past few days must have an abrieviated highlight reel of its own:

a) el matador beach

a secluded, secret beach of pacific hwy 1 just outside of malibu, el matador beach is home to brilliant sea birds, starfish, waves crashing against the shore, secret caves, and secluded beaches.
good company doesnt hurt anything either.

b) a romantic ride on the solar powered ferris wheel
ok, well maybe it wasnt especially romantic, but it was a ferris wheel. and it was on the santa monica pier.
and it did over look the ocean and the ride involved sunset. so maybe it was a little romantic.


c) the getty museum


a mixture of hillside, gardens, architecture, city and gardens. the getty is a tour on the outside is just as interesting as the art filled rooms upon rooms on the inside.
this place was the pleasant ville of museums. white people, dressed in white, with white umbrellas.
i did like it, but i think i prefer a little bit more of a boho feel in museums.

d) brunch at bottega louie
visit the website.
drool for yourself.
picture sex & the city-esque brunch.


4. LA street art

there is a difference between street art and graffiti. between mess and beauty.
la street is a fantastic blend of political and social commentary and beauty.
the arts district in la has the most fantastic art.
i will share a few of my favourites:




5.  venice beach
the ridiculous amounts of jersey shore clothes, bright colours, roller blades, long boards, jewelery... amazing. i will not soon forget venice beach.
i actually returned to venice beach during my stay here, at night with the brilliant sabrina.
the abandoned beach had a totally different feel. it was definitely sketch.

but low and behold, a firey beacon called us from above, and we found ourselves on top of a hotel with outdoor fire lanterns overlooking the greater los angeles area.
totally pretentious and moonlit, this was yet another different venice, complete with aerial views of police cruisers combing the beach and lapd helicopters using their spotlight on the boardwalk.
aaaaah venice....

6.  being confused as a california girl.
aaaah the day came.
strolling about town and having someone ask me for directions.
this is how the convo went:
angelina jolie: "hello there! i seem to be lost, can you point me in the direction of the kodak theatre"
me: "oh im sorry! im not from here actually!"
a.j: "no way! with the sweetly styled blond hair, excellent accessories and overall efortlessly chic appearance i thought you were a california girl"
me: "ooooh ange, thanks but i am but a pasty gal from toronto with dreams of looking like palo alto gal"

exagerated? slightly.
but, someone did ask for directions, asked me where i was from and told me i looked like a californian.
so no, i am sorry, i did not get a chance to properly document the awesome dress styles of the locals, but i did witness it for a month, and i guess it rubbed off.


there were of course frustrations along the way and reasons that would have me not want to come back to california, but resolution #11 states: be positive.
i will take these highlights, and the many others that i did not list and keep them as my memories of sunny california, and leave behind the negativity.
being grateful can come in many different ways, and i do feel lucky and thankful for these 3.5 weeks here on the coast.

fare thee well california, and now onto the great white north... vancouver tomorrow.


Thursday 6 October 2011

dream catchers


during my stay here in california, for one reason or another, i have become obsessed with dream catchers.
i dont know why suddenly they catch my eye when they are hanging on someones rear view mirror, a shop window, or on a wire over a boardwalk shop on venice beach... but they do.
dream catchers are said to allow positive dreams to slip through the web to the sleeper while the negative dreams are caught in the web and would die in the morning light.
pretty cool, right?!

i would like to think that my new obsession has something to do with something more than their bright colours, their many feathers and boho vibe.
i'd like to think that im drawn to the history and the stories of these little circles being able to ward of bad dreams.
...but i dont.
i think i like them aesthetically.
im sorry. its true.

the whole native trend isnt just a piece of canadiana, it can be found all the way down south here in california.
moccasins, feather earrings, totem symbols and fringe on shirts... its brilliant!
i myself am the proud owner of not one, not two, not three but four pairs of mocs.
admittedly that total just shocked me too, i might have a problem that needs addressing, but for the time being i am in my element!
in fact, thanks to those brilliant gals at http://www.honestlywtf.com/ i have my next project already lined up for when i get home:

out with the old, in with the update!
want to do yours too? check out this excellent tutorial and i will share my progress too once i am back home in november.
http://honestlywtf.com/diy/diy-color-block-moccasins/

since being away i have really been inspired to become more crafty! i have so many crafty ideas in my head, i cannot wait for the chance to execute.

work has robbed me of my daily energy and errgo of my chance to get out and explore LA as well as my chance to explore and photograph california style at its best.
though i am not admiting defeat i will say this much: i have failed to show true cali style, to which i will ammend this weekend.
my brilliant friend sabrina is coming to visit me this weekend and together we will explore street art, french cafes, and be judgemental and appreciative of the way the gals here in LA dress.
i will find examples of the abundance of dream catchers, native style as well as the undone-chic-ness that is the californian girl!

as bedtime approaches and i sit in this lonely hotel room i kind of think its funny that i would really like a dream catcher hanging over my bed.
maybe it turns out i do like them for more than their loooks.
bonne nuit.

Monday 3 October 2011

a different venice

ive always dreamed of going to venice.
since my grandmother gave me a tape of vivaldis symphonies intertwined with stories of the masquerade of venice, i needed to go to the city on stilts.

well, being in california for work i cant exactly hop a plane and go to italy, but woah hello! im in the LA area.. totally able to go to a different venice.

to go to venice beach had been in the plan yesterday,but i didnt make it that far. in fact, i barely made it out of my hotel suite at all.
a little sad, yes.
but the truth is i really really liked taking the day to not drive and really not do much of anything.
... and i didnt. i built another bracelet, read the hobbit and watched way too much law & order.
but behold! i made an excellent little bracelet.


on the left is the one i made a few days ago, on the right is the one i made yesterday.
the one on the right is:
a) simply a million times better
b) filled with colour superiority
c) enhanced execution
* bracelet on left is by chance the exact same colours as the cover of the copy of the hobbit i am reading. unintentional influence much?

these are still not finished. they need bling and some pazzaz. as part of my quest to become a california fashionista i need the appropriate californian accessories.


ok, so since yesterday was such an epic fail in plans i decided to give it a go today.
did i succeed?
yes i did.

venice beach, california.
... man am i ever glad i came.
aaah venice.
a place where the gals dress a little skanky and a little trashy and the guys are pumped full of roids and love their tank tops.
it was wonderful, but at the same time, a little frustrating.
why?
well. because i was hoping to find you (and me) some excellent examples of what california style looks like. and maybe i did in its own way, but no photos of the peeps. it was the jersey shore of the west!

this week, long beach, maybe new port beach, and definitely downtown... i will find these fashionable people and learn from them.

but in the mean time, allow me to share.

venice has an excellent amount of street art

 copious amounts of bikes


the ocean
and the best part, these guys.



please note their signs:
"shitty advice - $1"
"lost"
"questions for a dollar!"
"nice things!"

brilliant.

venice is a place that i just fell in love with.
it was raunchy and corny. there were people from all walks of life. and it was brilliant.
im excited now to explore the many other beaches of the greater LA area.
i dont expect anything to be quite like venice, but i think if there is ocean, if there is a boardwalk and some interesting folk i will like it.

oh! and on my quest today i made a purchase.


aaaah. the perfect souvenir from venice.

resolution #15: be happy... check.




Saturday 1 October 2011

california one

and the road a-winding goes from golden gate to roaring cliffside, and the light is low as our hearts become sweetly untied beneath the sun of california one.
i am curently in a gigantic suite all to myself in LA, having left the north of california yesterday.

the whole bay area was pretty much excellent, beautiful and sunny. but i was definitely ready to move on and i cant help but think but one day, maybe years down the line, i will find myself back in northern cali, back in napa... you will find me on the wine train.

to celebrate a week and a half of early mornings and hours of driving, i decided to get up early and go for a drive!
visiting this part of the country, there was no way that i could leave without driving the famously gorgeous hwy california 1.

the journey took me up and downs some massive green mountains, through winding roads and small mountain towns including the lovely half moon bay.
i had no idea what to expect as the entire drive was going to be based on how ridiculously varied the landscape had been for the first hour.

but then it happened.
spoon came on the ipod shuffle, i summon you of all songs.
the mountains slowly gave way and all of a sudden there was ocean. miles and miles of ocean.
my eyes teared up.
i have never seen anything like it, and despite all the annoyances and frustrations of my time in the bay area, everything all of a sudden just seemed worth it.


it was just beautiful.
there were stops all along the way so plenty of opportunities to stop to take some photos.



there are ridiculous loads of pictures, but these are just a few of my favourites.
this was the first time i had ever thought that i could spend the rest of my life beside the ocean.
the smell of the air, the cool breeze... everything was so ideal.
my desire to stay forever was most certainly amplified by how fantastic the weather was.
sunshine, the sound of the waves crashing against the beach and the cliffs... my god it was ideal.

i was reminded of a poem... im so tacky. but its true!
i dont know much about poetry, and do you think i remember verses? hell no.
except for one.
edgar allan poe who said
i stand amid the roar of a surf tormented shore, and i hold within my hand grains of the golden sand. ... is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?
thats how i felt. fully.
as i sat on the waters edge thats how i felt. for the first time since i arrived in california. i felt like i was living in a dream.

it all came to a bit of a halt when we came to the end of the coastal drive... at santa cruz.
santa cruz is decidedly not my favourite place on earth. so much so that i literally did not take one photo as it would have been a waste of space... and my camera is digital. so figure that out.

it was like the altlantic city of california...you know, like the idea is on the right track but the execution is poor.

the next day i was off to the second lag of my journey, LA.
i had to prepare!

so, step one: nails.


no more summer colours for now, i am putting on some LA glam!
gold nailpolish a la sally hansen.
my inspiration being of course the gals from honestly wtf
http://honestlywtf.com/beauty/good-as-gold/

... thats as far as ive gotten so far.
i hope to enjoy time at the beach tomorrow, venice beach to be exact. i hope to take my best friend, my camera.
i hope that i can truly capture the awesomeness that is california style, because it truly is awesome.
so that is my goal for my time here in LA- capture the essence of california style through pics!

challenge accepted.

OH! also, speaking of challenges... voila the results of my current project:



ooh la! it is not finished yet! stage one of the project is complete. plus its a trial run and it went better thean i thought. so success.
so now i think im going to have to wait until vancouver to complete the project, but it is promising.

LA is going to be a few weeks of some experiments and projects.
i hope to truly immerse myself in all that the city of angels has to offer.

california here we come.

Wednesday 28 September 2011

china beach & the golden gate

adventures abound!

today was the first day i had the opportunity to explore the immediate san francisco area.
like much of my california experience, with this adventure there were many pros and cons.

pros:
1. the ocean
2. clean city
3. colourful buildings and clean architechture

cons:
1. traffic: worse than in toronto! nutty drivers on top of it too!
2. a bit boring. yes, i found san francisco a bit boring! who would have thought? maybe it was the area, but i just thought it was like any other city ive been to, but on a slant.
3. driving on the hills! how do people do this? i thought i was going to slam the poor rental car into people behind and in front of me.
4. parking. no place to park. as if i was going to park streetside- parallel parking? i think not. and then! any parking garage was a minimum of $20.

however. despite the pros and cons, the days tour started off with a bang.
searching for a place to get some good shots of the golden gate bridge that was not a "golden gate vista" tourist area, i turned off the gps and used good old  fashion intuition to guess where i would want to go.

thank you gut feeling:


this is the ocean.
this is the beach.
that is the bridge.

brilliant success.

over joyed with my findings, i took off my moccasins and explored the beach.






i loved the ocean. everythign about it.
i loved the sound. the smell. the feel of the air. i could have sat and watched it for hours and hours and hours.

coolest thing, there was a woman fishing!
FISHING.
in the ocean.

people do fun things in the ocean.

and then, out of the ocean and away from the awesomness, and into the city.
hills.
oh my god driving on hills i would cry about walking up.

WHY?

why would people build a city like this? if i was obese and was like, in my 50s i would totally have had that life ending heart attack.

it was cool though.
finding a place to park in china town i took the natural route of a lazy person, downhill.
brought me out to the harbour where i experienced sea gulls (ahem... did you know theyre actually called herring gulls? thank you ornitholigist boyfriend) of an unusual size... SGOUS.

allow me to demonstrate said SGOUS:


Sea Gull of Unusual Size... SGOUS in all its glory.

i then had a delish meal seaside at The Plant- Cafe Organic.


yum! hummus plate! pesto and lemon hummus' with pita, garden salad and the greenest olives i have ever seen in my life.
the whole restaurant was filled with 30 something groups of ladies with a heck of a lot of make up- not the atmosphere that i had hoped to find in a organic cafe in san fran.
where were the trendy people?

having spoken to my sister, i had felt inspired to explore california style with analysis through photos... but there was noone to use as my subject.

fail.

where were the people when i needed them!
its ok though. i will find them and analyze cali style soon.

however! in true san franciscan style, the trollies were out and about.

that was exciting!

oh california.
you make me happy.

in my second week here i am feeling ready to move on from san fran. tomorrow is the big sur, a coastal drive and then thursday its hello to the big time: LA.

i think the drive tomorrow will do wonders for a couple of my goals for this week:
1. be happy
2. be positive

goodbye san francisco- tomorrow, hello santa cruz.