me and Hunter...

"It's you and Hunter!" A gift from one of my cousins from Christmas...
Ahhhh, yes, apparently, my family sees me as an owl who loves kitties- so good!!!

note: the owl is wearing glasses, like yours truly....

The things we buy, the stories they tell...

One of my favorite things to do in the bit of free time is to stroll around Target, looking, at the people, as well as what they have for me to buy. People watching can be so educational aside from being super entertaining- who needs tv when you can go out and actually see people, and sometimes talk to them if you're feeling social, rather than watch them on a screen...? Yes, Target is a guilty pleasure, but, well, my life is sort of full of guilty pleasures....you only live once. And what great way to kill tow birds with one stone- I can pick up my day-to-day necessities AND be entertained! So, I particularly enjoy observing WHAT people buy, in this case, it was about what I bought- see below. It's fun to think about what people buy, what they're going to dow with what they bought, and why they bought it?


What stories can we make up about what I bought?
(In case this image isn't clear for you, I bought a GQ magazine with James Franco on the cover, a Revlon lipstick, and a christmas gift for my cat- come on, it's a catnip toy in the form of a can of sardines for pete's sake!)

City dwellers

Upon making my way through Santa Monica, turning down an alley to avoid all the obnoxious foot traffic of tourists, vagabonds and the usual mall crowd, I couldn't help but stop and take a look at this creature surfacing from the underground with big, bright red eyes....even HE wants to avoid the crowd...

the real 'la vie quotidienne' by Lanvin for H&M

So, part of my day consists of wandering on the interweb, as it is also part of your day I imagine...
And this is one of my recent stumblings if you haven't stumbled here already ; probably more ladies than gents, but it's not about gender here...

I love this site for many reasons, but, I few I'd like to point out here:
-the narrative quality all on the main page
-the illustrative style
-the use of color
-the clothes (of course)

I like that this site tells me a story about the TYPE of girl who wears these dresses- in a simple, yet very cute manner. As a consumer, it definitely has me sold on these party dresses; it's like the whole idea behind beer commercials (or advertising in general): if you drink this beer, these hot girls will wanna hang with you....

Also, I love incorporating the hand-made feel into work. To me, it communicates a more personal tone...

As for color, the dresses are the main point of focus, sprinkled throughout the page.

As for the dresses, well, I'm not sure I'll spend $250 on those dresses, yet....

Inspiration for a Monday...

Upon taking a leisurely lunch on this breezy, yet warm Monday afternoon, which kinda reminds me of what my mom would refer to as 'earthquake weather,' I stopped by this bookstore near my work, just because I was out and about. So as I was perusing, I came across one of this series I've been inspired by...
This is London, by M.Sasek is part of a series of books I've been in the processing of accruing. I currently own This is Hong Kong, Paris and New York...
In addition to being charming children's books about world travel, they're also aesthetically pleasing in their simple yet captivating illustrations and layout...
If you spend a lot of your time in shopping malls and plazas, you've probably seen these at Anthropologie and Barnes and Noble; and if you haven't already sat down with these books, maybe now's the time...

In with the old...

So, maybe it's just me, but it's not just about the object but rather the WHOLE experience of the object. I'm sure many of you feel the same.

So, I know how cool it is to walk around with my whole life at my fingertip-literally, on my telephone (which by the way should be called something other than a telephone because it does more than just that...), I can listen to my whole music catalogue WHENEVER I want, but that doesn't compare to this:

walking into a record store, exchanging hard-earned cash with a person for a brand new record, taking it home, opening it to admire the artwork, checking the track listing, smelling the crisp sleeves with fresh vinyl, placing side 1 on the turntable and setting the needle to hear that warm, crackly sound of amplified vibrations, the speakers turned all the way up so that I can hear it from my bedroom if I want to (which by the way isn't very far if you've seen my apartment).

My iphone cannot do that.

And maybe I'm just growing old and nostalgic for the things that remind me of youth...I do not know, but what I do know is that it isn't just these songs by these artists I enjoy. In fact, I don't think I could enjoy it as much if it didn't have the whole experience to go along with it.

I guess what I'm getting at here is that it's this PERSONAL experience that we're losing from downloading from iTunes, or whatever we're downloading from. You don't have to interact with ANYONE to access that music. In fact, we don't even have to touch it. We just click on a few links and it magically shows up almost instantly on our screen for us to listen to endlessly...so weird.

But it doesn't end here. Everything I love, I love because of the interaction I have with it: my favorite places to eat are my favorite not just for the food but also for the ambiance, the service, the crowd...I haven't given into a kindle because I love the smell of books, the feel of flipping pages, the cover art, using random objects on hand to mark my spot, going to the library....I buy things based on the package, partially based on my education in design, which came from my exposure to appreciating objects for their aesthetic qualities, as my mom used to sew a lot, which meant that I of course developed that interest...

My point here is that it's a much bigger picture here: USER EXPERIENCE.

So what if I like all these records, or have them. They're no good collecting dust on the shelf; kinda like a great pair of Chuck's- they're much better after a coupla months trekking across town so they fit to the shape of your foot....

So, this moment I had last night that I just shared with you wasn't about me being nostalgic. I embrace change and modern technology, I own an iphone for Pete's sake!

But to let it replace experiences like listening to records, the best technology couldn't even come close...

NOW! NOW! NOW!

So, I spent my lunch at the beach, as it is right across from our office. I made my way across the scorching hot sand, into the water, just enough to cool down my feet. I stepped into the sand as the tide pulled back and then ran away from the crashing waves, just as the little kids were, except that I couldn't step back into the office with a soggy dress. The little kids probably went to Ben 'N' Jerry's afterward, as they are only focused on enjoying summer.

So then I thought: "Maybe I ought to snap a pic of this moment" as that seems to be this generation's obsession. I was so inspired by the ease of these children's mood. They seemed to be focused on just the ocean, where as I was busy pondering whether or not to pull out my iPhone (this is why I do not have a photo for this entry).

This thought made me realize that we're living in such a time where we document EVERYTHING, and yes, I'm guilty; but I was able to decide, in this moment of connecting with nature, with the season, with the mood/ environment of summer all around, that "Nope-that would just spoil this moment."

What I'm getting at here is that WE'RE NOT PRESENT.

So, I'm here writing this because I thought I'd share this experience with you, so that you can learn as well; and maybe it won't stick for you, but hopefully you'll be a smidge more aware of the fact that you may be blowing an incredible moment. I have these conversations a lot with my friends about tweeting and Facebook about: who cares where you're at, what you're doing, or thinking. If anything, it's a place to brag about how cool you are, but we all participate because we can, and because it's kind of fun, like a guilty pleasure. We're so caught up in all of this posting/ updating/ tweeting/ blogging about EVERYTHING we do/ see/ think / hear/ feel that that amazing moment we experience gets lost in us trying to record it so our focus isn't on the experience anymore, but rather CAPTURING that experience.

We (and I say 'we' because I am guilty of everything) are so in to preserving that moment as if we're never going to experience it again- and yes, that may be true for some experiences, but, well, what I'm getting at here is that I recognized that we spend so much time elsewhere: dwelling on the past, planning the future, in transit from point A to point B, that we lose the NOW. And it isn't long before the now becomes the past, so I say, in those moments that you are trying so hard to record, worry about preserving AFTER the fact, or let someone else capture the spontaneity of your experience (they'll probably capture it more organically than you might be able to). And I'm not saying not to record anything, as it is fun to keep track of life, just don't forget to live...

LIVE IN THE NOW! (sometimes...)