Friday, August 28, 2009

Back-To-Fall Wish List

Dara is the only one of us going back to school this fall, but I'm as obsessed with back-to-school shopping as I was at 13 (when I spent my entire summer savings on a small wardrobe of Delia's clothes). It was also incredibly convenient having an early September birthday as a kid, which meant double the opportunity to stock up on fun autumn pieces. While the LA weather doesn't warrant seasonal wardrobe changes, and I don't have school as an excuse to fulfill my wish list, I'm just going to live vicariously through Dara and my make believe back-to-fall wish list:

{blanket-like sweater seen on Garance Dore}

{Acne Atacoma wedges}


{Prism "New York" Clear Frames}

  • {Bass Penny Loafers}

{Heart Tights seen on Garance Dore}

{Gold Pod Ring by Lora Mallory}

{Warrington Coat by The Row}

~ Haley

Polaroid Love

Just savoring every second with our beloved Dara before she relocates to NoCal...



Josh's mind being blown by the force that is Magnum Desire :)

Monday, August 24, 2009

Goodnight Hollywood Blvd


(downtown Los Angeles from the Griffith Park hike, by me)
Yesterday marked the beginning of my final week in Los Angeles. I knew this day would come- I've known it almost from the day I moved to LA 5 years ago- and now that it's here, it's less easy to wrap my mind around than my 22-year-old self could have anticipated.
Over the past couple of days, my LA life has been rushing back to me in spurts ....
...arriving at the Oakwood apartments to a dry heat in early January after a long, cold cross-country drive ; witnessing Josh and Jim lug a giant fridge up several flights of narrow stairs at their first apartment in Burbank, probably much to their physical detriment; meeting my mentor in styling and great friend, Tin, on a commercial for a bank, and the moment on that day when she said to me, "Have you done this before?" and I knew I wanted to "do this" for a long time; apartment hunting for weeks with Greg, who I barely knew, until finally he spotted the “for rent” sign in front of the place we would call home for the next 4 ½ years; our first Thanksgiving hosted at the Sherman Oaks apartment (we thought it was a big one- 15 people- little did we know!); an anniversary on the ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier; getting brunch at Frank’s Diner in Burbank with 20 other Emerson graduates every Sunday for months; the day Carol walked up to me after one of those brunches and said, “We should be friends;” the day Haley and I met at Literati Café and decided we were going to start our own clothing line; making Vans with cupcakes on them for her Princess Cupcake gigs at kid’s parties and making my Duchess shoes “just for fun;” the “prom” Meghan, Sarah and Diana hosted at our house, introducing a whole new wave of people into our absurdly tight-knit circle; Lucas and Sarah’s first date at a tea house;“old person” lunches with Greg when he worked the night shift and I had no freelance work coming in; the moment we knew Enchanted Royals was going to be the name of our business; the Thanksgiving where Josh sat in my room after everyone had left and talked about Carol for hours; the party three months into their relationship where Carol beamed at me and said, “Dara. It’s so great”; the day Carol, Haley and I had our first official production meeting at King’s Road Café for the first three Enchanted Royals videos; Haley asking me if I “had a heart” for Chris after months of constant platonic hang-outs; creating the Fun Guy shoes with him and writing a song for Greg’s birthday- the inception of Warm Air Telegraph;sitting in a car with Penny and admitting out loud for the first time that I “might like Chris;” driving with him to Las Vegas one month after we’d started dating and stopping for food at one of those crazy buffets and thinking to myself that I could talk with him for 5 hours straight and never get bored or run out of things to say (2 and a half years later, that fact still stands); sitting at the airport while waiting to fly back to LA after a month-long Japan/Europe trip and receiving a text informing me that the next day, I was going to assist Marjan- the high-profile stylist who I would assist nearly every day for the following 2 years; the day my first sketch for her became a real, honest-to-goodness costume; filming the 3rd Enchanted Royals video at “Unkie’s Ranch” in Santa Barbara and calling Robin, who had moved in to Chris's apartment 3 days prior and didn’t know any of us, to drive an hour and a half north to fill in as the Prince of Charm; screening the Enchanted Royals videos at Mountain Bar and playing Warm Air Telegraph’s first show; the day I walked in on Son Ark practicing with Chris on bass for the first time; the day Carol and Josh moved in together; the day Haley got her own place and the day she met Mike at the Starlight Lounge; copious “production meetings” (dinner parties) with Haley and Carol; our final Thanksgiving in Sherman Oaks (with 40 guests); Penny publishing her book; the day I was accepted to Academy of Art and knew my life was about to head in a very different direction.

That’s a lot of words up there; and of course it's barely the tip of the iceberg. I guess it’s no big surprise that all of that unfolded while I was making constant plans to escape.
Leaving Los Angeles is the right thing for me right now, but I don’t regret a moment I spent here- and I’m lucky enough to know that I will always have the people I spent them with in my life. I love you.

(the 1st Thanksgiving: 2004)

(the last Thanksgiving: 2008)

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Canon, how you taunt me.


Good lord. Just as I was finally getting comfortable/confident using my Canon G10 digital, I was notified (via the photography blog of a fellow Emerson College class of '04 alum, Ian Grant) that now there's a G11 available! For crying out loud. Guess what, Canon? Your G10 suits me juuuuuust fine. Especially when taking into consideration that the next time it will be economically feasible for me to purchase a new camera, there will in all likelihood be a G15 available for purchase. However. It looks pretty awesome.

Look into preordering and all the new fancy details here.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Magnum Desire's trip to the Viceroy

I'm moving to San Francisco in less than 2 weeks; with or without an apartment. To commemorate this strange, strange time, Carol, Haley and I took a 1 night vacation to the Viceroy, an intense beach-side Santa Monica hotel that's less than an hour drive from our homes. It was a memorable weekend with two irreplaceable ladies.
--Dara
Haley gets ready WHAT IS THIS LIGHTING.
Haley takes in the view
Paris 1900
fancy martinis
shield mirror
"sweetbreads": what the server called these.
Enchanted Royals and Marais USA
<3<3<3

My weekend on the Russian River

living room
idyllic
tube gang
WHAT.
at the Thugs show
my favorite picture of Greg of all time

Patrick's saltwater taffy
toasty

--Dara

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Backpackin'

Today, as I strolled from my house to my boss's (which is about the distance I hope to live from public transport in San Francisco) with my messenger-style Apple-store-issued computer bag slung across my body, I realized I'm going to need to find a bag that helps me out a bit on the equilibrium front - and that is maybe a little better-looking. This brings me to a whole new sector of back-to-school fever that I really hadn't considered: What kind of backpack should I get??
In this corner, we have a bag from the new Jansport Heritage Collection (thanks, miel et cannelle).

Very minimal and vintage-inspired; and really, who can argue with Jansport?
In THIS corner, we have the ever-present Fjallraven backpack (thank YOU, for me, for you and creatures of comfort!).

Also clean and vintagey; though how I would ever decide between putty, graphite, and forest green as a color is beyond me.
So perhaps we ought to turn to Etsy.

This little lovely (here) is a mere $40; though I'm not sure how well the vintage canvas would stand up to inclement San Franciscan weather.
Finally, we've got your Duluth Pack daypack (I already use the standard shell bag as a daily purse).

They have a backpack that's specifically designed for laptops, too, but I don't know that I can swing $155 right now.

So...what say you, friends? Opinions? Suggestions? I open this highly important topic for discussion.

--Dara

Enjoy Cupcakes

So, you know. You're camping at the top of a mountain, at the base of which rests Neverland Ranch and the winery town of Los Olivos. You're going to do two things; take pictures of the crazy posterboard offerings in front of Michael Jackson's secluded former home (see fig A), and you're going to attend some wine tastings.
couldn't/wouldn't make it up if I tried.
(fig A)
So we headed to Los Olivos. The first place on the agenda was called "House," an adorable little boutique wine tastery (©Dara Weinberg 2009) that boasts a highly covetable decor and shares its space with the potentially even more adorable Enjoy Cupcakes. Kevin, who was very sweet, allowed us to take photos to our hearts' delight, and there was even a CUPCAKE TASTING (which Haley participated in but which I, woefully, missed out on).
at Enjoy Cupcakes in Los Olivos
at Enjoy Cupcakes in Los Olivos
There are some pretty wild flavors, like Chocolate Blackberry Syrah and Vanilla Marscapone Chardonnay (they are surrounded on all sides by wine tasteries, after all). How delicious do they look?? If you're ever channeling "Sideways" in that neck of the California woods, I HIGHLY recommend.
More info here.

So.....we camped.

hike day 1
yuppie camping
Elena's Keds
behind the Coquelicot wine tastery
Haley embraces the sun
Coquelicot wine tastery
uncooked quesadilla
Birthday kids; he 28, she 26. Yay!!
pre-hike Day 1
The gang at Neverland