Hmmm... Rough Day but with Bright Spots :-)

This is one of my favorite photos I've taken of my mom's garden - A little inspo for a long week:

So I was attacked by a virus, got in a fight with a spider and lost and have the bruises and rug burns to prove it, and my living situation seems to be disintegrating by the minute. Currently, I'm at home with my mom with a cup of Earl Grey and some cream puffs, wading through my property outline. My property midterm is in about a week, so time to get crackin'. Although I am planning on taking tomorrow off because I'm getting braces. Yay! Yeah, not so much. And then next Saturday is Tawsh's b-day and I am excited to give her her gift. :-)

Another update? I got a Twitter - so follow me at Notes_Sojourns! I'm addicted already and found so many great blogs as well as connected with my idols from CaliVintage, A Beautiful Mess, The Drifter and the Gypsy, My Girl Thursday, Pennyweight, Seablanket, sfgirlbythebay & Brunch at Saks. I can't even tell you how exciting it was to hear from them - it was like a little dose of Emergen-C and a latte from Four Barrel every time I got a Tweet back :-)

Okay, back to property and I am crossing my fingers for a little time tomorrow to thrift with Nat and see Crystal's new baby!

xoxo

A Trip to the City

This past weekend, Tawsh, Jen, Jenna and I spent two days in the city with Leah, Benny, Jeff, Carrie, Rob, Max, Kevin, Lolly, Cassi and Alexandra. We met Jeff and Leah in Dolores Park, went to Four Barrel (my fave for the best latte in the city,) where we picked up Carrie and Cuco's Restaurant for the most amazing plantain burritos. The burritos were such an interesting texture and flavor, smoky and with heat but also a touch of sweetness. Afterwards, Max, Kevin, Cassi, Alexandra and Benny came with the crew to Smugger's Cove, a tiki bar, where we took up the entire top floor and sipped on rum cocktails all night long. I can't remember a lot of the specific drinks, but the daiquiris, the mojitos and the flaming volcano drinks were tremendous. After a couple of hours, we then headed to Underground SF, a gay dance club. So much fun and such good music - a mix of 90s pop and hiphop. Once the club closed, we headed to Kevin's, where I fell down the stairs - like what? After spending a few hours recovering, Carrie and I hit up a cheap Chinese place for lunch and Dynamo Donuts for coffee, took a nap and then met Rob at Philz for a delish chai tea latte before hitting up the Folsom Street Fair with the other amigos. The Folsom Street Fair was crazy overload of nudity, fun and general insanity. By then, we were all feeling rather awake so we walked to the Mission and had an array of delish Vietnamese dishes at Sunflower, which was Carrie's choice. And it was a good one. I had pan-fried garlic noodles with veggies, Carrie had vermicelli noodles with these phenomenal spring rolls. Others had pho, beef dishes, pot stickers. And I also had a Vietnamese iced tea - life-giving. It was a wonderful meal to end a wonderful weekend :-) (And the drive home at 4:30 in the morning was equally amazing though I was barely conscious for it.)

Once again, I am just overwhelmed by how lucky I am to have these people in my life. They are warm, intelligent, hilarious, and talented and I love them. So much.

*The song is Suckers - Get Your Body Moving

Four Barrel - 375 Valencia

Cuco's - 488 Haight

Smuggler's Cove - 650 Gough

Underground SF - 424 Haight

Dynamo Donuts - 2760 24th St

Philz Coffee - 748 Van Ness

Folsom Street Fair

Sunflower Cafe - 3111 16th

{Music} Stream Feist's New Album!

OMG just made my day!

*Google reader peeps should click through to access.

{Inspiration Wednesdays}

1. Marilyn Monroe's first modeling photos - natural beauty

2. Coffee helps fight depression in women - which is great, because I'm on my eighth cup of the day

3. Two things: I need to try this recipe for tomato-feta relish AND I need to do a happy hour at Palo's - who's down?

4. Elsie's grilled cheese combos - I'm salivating as I type... pear, honey and ricotta is next on my list. I know I say this everytime I post about A Beautiful Mess, but I just love Elsie.

5. These photos from Sarah Orme via Here Comes the Sun

6. This necklace:

Source: google.com via Amber on Pinterest

7. Some boho chic styles I'm way into right now:

Source: weheartit.com via Amber on Pinterest

Source: thosedamncitykids.tumblr.com via Amber on Pinterest

8. Some delish recipes:
Homemade apple fritters via Seemingly Greek:

Source: seeminglygreek.blogspot.com via Amber on Pinterest

Beer and bacon mancakes via will cook for friends:

Source: willcookforfriends.blogspot.com via Amber on Pinterest

pumpkin whoopie pies via Brunch at Saks:

Source: brunchatsaks.blogspot.com via Amber on Pinterest

krispy kreme bread pudding via Food and Wine:

Source: foodandwine.com via Amber on Pinterest

An Afternoon in Dolores

On our arrival to SF this past weekend, Jen, Jenna, Tawsh and I met up with our friends Aaron, Jeff, Leah and Rob in Dolores Park for some basking in SF fog. Gorgeous park with gorgeous views and lots of ops for people watching and dog petting. Lovesit.

{Music Monday} Beirut - Postcards from Italy

Exhausted from my trip and reviewing for class tomorrow. Fun things to come. xoxo.

Twinsies!

You know when you've become friends when you're on the same caffeination schedule, you make eye contact during class and know exactly what the other is thinking, when you're boy crazy but have totally different tastes, when you finish each other's sentences and when you show up to class wearing coral tops, loafers, and straight legged jeans. Which is exactly what happened to Gillian and me this week. Lolz.

Santa Cruz and SF for the Weekend

Tawsh!

After studying ferociously to get ahead for next week, I am currently on the road with my girl, Tawsh, to visit amigos in Santa Cruz and SF. On the itinerary, a night out in Santa Cruz - probs the Red and a reunion with the Banana Slugs, including Kat, Emil, Aimee, and Hannah. And tomorrow, Carrie, Rob, Max, Jeff, Jen, Jenna, Alexandra, Cassi (?), Benny (?) and I partying in SF. (The question marks are because I haven't really warned them yet of these plans - surprise!) I can't wait to be with the crew again and it'll be good to get out of my study bubble for a lil' bit. Hope you guys have a great weekend too!

xoxo

Lunch at Lemonade

Jeff eating, my soup and salad combo, and the WR lemonade. Yum.

My friend Gillian checked out Lemonade last weekend and loved it. So when my friend, Jeff , suggested we do lunch there, I was more than enthusiastic. Because I love lemonade. A lot. It's favorite beverage. You can original lemonade, you can have flavored lemonades, you can lemonade with herbs in it, you can have alcoholic lemonades, you can have lemonade with tea. You can have lemonade with tea, herbs, and alcohol. Yeah, I love lemonade. So I ended up drinking a lot of it at the DT Lemonade branch on Flower. In addition to my cauliflower soup (a little salty) and butter lettuce salad (delish!), I tried the watermelon rosemary and the blood orange lemonades. The watermelon rosemary made my day. It reminded me of when I made my fresh rosemary lemonade at home and affirmed my efforts. With watermelon, it was less tart, but superbly refreshing. The blood orange one had a bit of an aftertaste, but was way more sweet. It took me like three hours to drink, but I haven't been so well-hydrated in years. Also I loved the "food court" it is located in. Underground, this is like the posh grown-ups cafeteria with so many unique options that it justifies a traipse down there soon again.

{Inspiration Wednesdays}

1. Music mixes curated by designers across the nation. Check out Designers.MX to discover new music. My new addiction.

2. The best accessories from NYFW from Refinery29. These Calvin Klein heels are AMAZING and they also remind me of the heels my crazy cool crim prof wears. So I want them.

3. My Navajo print obsession continues with this AE sweater

and this UO one

4. This crazy cool app, Identified, is a must. It molds Facebook into a professional network and shows you how to increase your score and make you more attractive, also allowing you to see what your profile looks like to others.

5. I want to watch these shows. For the fashion. And for the cute boys.

6. This song from The Peach Kings on repeat.

7. Drooling over these polka dot outfits via Cup of Jo.

8. A great photo essay of 1940s Manhattan from the Daily Mail. I want to go back to NY now.

9. Some good blogs to peruse:

Simply Stardust: a photo blog. Whimsical beauty.

French Essence: Enlightening on the ways of French women

JenniferKoman: a friend from the DB and fellow 1L at Hastings. She's funny and stylish and I love it.

Bon Iver at the Shrine

Last night, Alexis, Steph and I agreed that the Bon Iver concert was an out-of-body experience. We felt drugged, comatose, stunned after the concert. It was weird. But phenomenal. Justin Vernon's voice = perfection. There is just no other way to describe his vocal range, presence and talent. I am in shock. So if you have a chance to see him - do it.

Alexis, Me and Steph waiting for Justin :-)

As far The Shrine goes - it's a gorgeous venue, despite its embedded location of USC (I shouldn't hate so much, but I'm a Bruin, sorry 'bout it). Parking was a little hectic when we go there and the Shrine parking lot was closed (and it's located a block away from the venue and we didn't know that), so we parked by Denny's. Cool. The acoustics and seating at the Shrine are great and I know this because we were literally in the last row, but the theater is so steep we still had a legit view of the band and the sound was en pointe. Def. going back to a show at the Shrine and definitely marrying Justin Vernon. It was a good night for discoveries.

Other than that, my day was interesting. I had cold Chinese for breakfast - my guilty pleasure. Then went to a civpro review session that was surprisingly helpful and got cold-called in property. I managed to sound semi-intelligent. But failed miserably when I could handle the roll call in crim. And then we talked about rape law, which is a sensitive issue. I have been really impressed with my classmates' articulation and eloquence on these issues thus far, but yesterday was a little tough. Anywho, I came home and made a caprese salad with a twist and sun-dried tomato pesto pasta for Steph and Alexis. And then I saw my future husband, so it was a great day.

My new owl print from Etsy, work and Chinese. A good morning.

In other news, I am going to SF with Tawsh on Friday!!! Tawsh is finally back from her jet-setting and we are going to spend the weekend with our loves, Carrie, Rob, Max, Jeff, Alexandra, Cassi and any one who I forgot but can't wait to see! That and Four Barrell, Painted Bird, photo ops, roadtrip music and a night in the Mission is sending me in overdrive to get as much work done this week as possible. Wish me luck!

xoxo

{Music Monday} Men I'd Like to Marry

I'm seeing Bon Iver tonight. I can't focus right now, I'm so excited.

Recovering from the Weekend

Katja (The Glowing New Mother!), Larissa (The Gorgeous Bride!), and Me at Larissa's Wedding

Partying at the Vanguard with my new law school friends on Thursday. Death by puppies at home in Orange County on Friday. A Santa Barbara wedding with a gorgeous baby and a beautiful bride. Brunch and shopping with Cailin at South Coast today. (And now furiously calculating the damage done to my budget with my Sephora and Zara purchases. I just really needed my fall mustard coloured clothing and new mascara and new eyeshadow and eyeliner and tshirts and nail polish. I mean I probably could have done without the $30 mascara. But then again, maybe not. Now counting down the minutes to Bon Iver tomorrow night with Steph and Alexis. Cool. I'm in law school. So I should probably think about reading at some point in the oh, the next five seconds.

Here's to the beginning of a wonderful week!

xoxoxo

Afternoon Shenanigans at The Standard, Downtown

505 S. Flower St.,
Los Angeles, CA 90071

My dear friend Larissa is getting MARRIED ON SATURDAY! Crazy times and I am soooo so excited for her! As part of an all-day bachelorette party, we hit up the the rooftop bar of the Standard, followed by dinner at the Library Bar and the Edison and a few others. It was my first time on the rooftop during the day and the sights were spectacular. It was like this quasi-Vegas/retro pool party with over-sized sunglasses, inappropriate wedges, and so many high-waisted bottoms, I almost died. That and the mustache-themed bachelor party were just too much for me to bear.

{Inspiration Wednesdays}

In an effort to escape the midweek doldrums I very often face, I'm adding a new feature: {Inspiration Wednesdays}. In the past, I randomly post smatterings of inspirational photos, songs, articles, etc. whenever I feel like it. However, I think my inspirational desires are better managed, organized, and featured when compiled into a weekly list. So welcome to Inspiration Wednesdays (which may be renamed if I feel so inspired).

1. The New York Times published a fascinating article on Jackie O, including audio clips of the young widow discussing her life in the White House, her relationship with "Jack," and how the press made her different. Incredibly insightful, poignant, and thought-provoking. Her voice is so breathy and her intonation is so different than I expect. My favorite quote: "Everything... had been a liability... Everyone thought I was a snob... When we go into the White House, all the things that I had always done suddenly became wonderful, because anything the First Lady does that's different everyone seizes on." Hm, some things never change.

2. My new favorite Tumblrs: confetti garden & Lyla & Blu

3. Ms. Magazine Blog did a post last week of the Top 100 Non-Fiction Reads chosen by Ms. Mag Readers. I really want to read Marilyn by Gloria Steinem and Out of the Vinyl Deeps by Ellen Willis.

4. My new Warby Parker glasses! Beckett in Striped Chestnut. A) I love them. B) When you order a paid, WP will donate to someone in need, so check them out :-)

5. East London Fashion History in 100 Seconds. Love it.

6. Loving my new Etsy purchase from littlebluebirdstudios. I ordered this sweet little vintage dictionary page with my favorite bird for only $10!

7. This gorgeous photos by Edwin Tse from the lab magazine via lanalou



8. This photo of Nicki Minaj and Betsy Johnson makes me happy via Refinery 29.


9. OMG OMG Jamie XX did a monster mix for the BBC Radio - perfect to pick up my energy level. Listen now!
Jamie xx Essential Mix by Young Turks

Summer Night Speakeasy - Varnish

118 E 6th St.

Los Angeles, CA 90014

My friend Anthony is a huge fan of Cole's (famed as the creator of the original French Dip) but I haven't been yet. I know, I really need to get on that. However, I had an opportunity to try out the “secret” speakeasy in the back of Cole's, called Varnish. I. Love. It. It reminds me of the Shady Lady in Sacramento – the waitresses are dressed in this adorable retro-esque clothing and the bar low-lit, dark polished wood, and cozy. It's perfect for small groups or couples. I tried the three house beers – the hefe, the stout and the lager (?). By the third one, I was a little tipsy, so I'm not sure. The hefe was my favorite, although no surprise there. I would love to go back and try the cocktails as Anthony said they were great, but that night was slightly more chill. I think it would a great place for dinner and drinks before going out. (Images courtesy of Yelp.)

{Music Monday} Pumpkin Spice Latte Mix

London Autumn Leaves

With the return of my beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte, I cannot be more eager for autumn to begin. Mother Nature seems slightly more amenable to my desires this coming week with Los Angeles temperatures hovering in the mid-70s, a god-send after near-100 degree days last week. My playlist this week includes old favorites, like Ingrid Michaelson and Regina Spector, as well as new additions, such as Kathryn Calder and Lucy Rose. Enjoy :-)

{Photography} toi et moi Lookbook

via Daydream Lily.

I love everything about the Toi et Moi lookbook. The styling, the lighting... I want to be able to take photos like this... hmmm inspiration

Blog Changes, Goals and {Music} Still Corners

So beginning next week, I want to incorporate mor structure to this little blog o' mine. Things to look forward to: designated days for fuller posts on music, my personal photography, and food and new posts of "On the Town," which will be both about the places I've travelled and legit places in SoCal. Also, because I'm rather proud of my overflowing closet, I will also be integrating outfit posts. Yay! Also, the blog layout will change a little, as will the tags, to make the blog more reader friendly.

So that's my goal for this week and next week: To restructure both this blog and BohoBeat (which is in the works with Carrie). I've been trying to integrate one new goal a week since school started as a way to better manage my time and keep myself sane. So two weeks ago, it was working out five days a week, this week it was finishing my reading and notes by Tuesday, and now the blog goal. Other goals to add will be pre-posting for the blogs, incorporating yoga in my weekly fitness routine, building a Twitter following, and participating in a photo challenge.

So with those little updates out of the way - some music for your ears:

{Wedding} I never liked Kate Moss that much...

but then I saw these wedding photos in Vogue. The perfect mix of bohemian and elegance. Breathtaking.