"I just look at the dopeness. But you, it's like you just look at the wackness, ya know?"

Dope things to do tonight:

1. "If you like to party in the 80's you almost certainly still enjoy partying in the 90's. So let's keep this musical adventure rolling..." If you're staying in, but still want to party listen to King Hans plays dj at www.bigduckmusic.com from 10-12pm.
2. Que Bajo?! @ APT with Geko Jones & Uproot Andy. Special Guests this week: N-Ron & Disco Shawn (Bersa Discos). Andy is my friend, he is awesome. He knows about all kinds of crazy music and will really make you wanna shake your money maker. Geko is cool too.
3. Go to Lit. It is the best lounge in New York.
4. Nothing - because you have the most annoying cough ever (I went to the doctor its not swine flu!) and you'd like to have a fun weekend. This may be more wack than dope- I'm really not sure.

genie on a bicycle

Shirt: Hand me down from Dad, Club Monaco

Pants: Elliott Mann from the boutique on 9th St. (insanely soft, but stretched out majorly at the waist, good thing I'm handy with safety pins)

Sandals: Sam Edelman from Urban Outfitters (me thinks I'm kind of over gladiators but I'm not really inspired to buy new shoes plus shoe waste is so bad for our environment).

Sun glasses: Birthday present from John, thanks bud.

Backpack: Muji

Post work photo op on a sweltering day before going for a beer/unsweetened iced tea with John. Felt rather ethereal- I think as a result of my kurta-esque ensemble. However, I was quickly brought down to earth when service at the pub was laughably bad. So bad, we were not willing to cough up the annoying but standard New York 20% tip. I do believe tips should be a reflection of service, and if the service sucks, well then, so will the tip- but I still felt like a jerk.

when i went to school in olympia

Dress: Thrifted in Kensington Market, Toronto
Denim shirt: Urban Outfitters- super sale 8.99$
14 Hole Dr. Martens: Magic Shoes on Bleeker St. (it is now closed but was one of the greatest shoe stores of all time).
Glasses: Deadstock from glasses store in LES (can't remember the name).
Backpack: Muji
Iced Coffee: Deli at 23rd and 8th

Plaid Shirt/Jacket: Value Village, Kamloops, BC.

Birkenstocks: Discount shoe store on 34th St.

Tshirt and shorts: Helmut Lang

Coffee: Deli at 23rd and 8th

Strolling to work on a breezy Wednesday. John and I both feeling very Seattle grungy and discussing Marc Jacob's epic Spring '93 Perry Ellis collection (why oh why can I not find any good pictures of this- somebody please help!), early 60's style, and 90's rap. New favorite song: Lost Boyz Renee.

whatever you do take care of your shoes

I always imagined I would be the kind of woman who got dressed for work. Not dressed in a suit and pumps kind of way but dressed, in the very French, I just rolled out of bed and look incredibly sexy and put together topped off with a pair of killer heels kind of way, i.e. Carine Roitfed, Franca Sozzani, Emmanuelle Alt, and basically every woman photographed by Scott Schuman. Especially the ones on bikes- oh, how I dream of one day being immortalized by The Sartorialist on my rusty red bike, effortlessly stylish, cruising around town.

Alas, although I dress in effortless and (I hope) stylish outfits-my pièce de résistance is not a pair of killer heels. Perhaps it is my always practical mother's influence, perhaps it is the fact that some days I am on my feet for hours at a time, but the bottom line is, I am a woman who wears flats to work and, I must admit, love it.

The above photograph was taken at my company holiday party- the heels belong to my fiercely stylish colleagues (I believe I was wearing black 14 hole Dr. Martens that evening). I love this picture, and was thrilled when my friend Yas (also a lover of flats and a woman with a great eye for fonts) asked if should could hang it up in her house. Even though I don't wear killer heels on a daily basis (I have been known to add some serious additional inches during non-office hours), it doesn't mean I can't appreciate a few pairs when I see them. As for my pièce de résistance, I don't have one just yet- I think I'll need at least few more years to find the one item that totally defines my personal sense of style. (Special thanks to my genius friend for opening my eyes to the wonderful world of hyperlinks.)

things that make you go hmm?

Some things I love about New York: walking by a bent airplane inside garage doors on 19th St., amazing jeans for 40$ (thank you Alysha), sample sales, bridges, Korea Town, bike rides into Brooklyn, trains that show up just as you do, running into 3 people unexpectedly in one day, Riverside Park, roof tanning, Coney Island, NY1 weather on the ones, egg creams and chocolate malteds...

What do you love?

three is a magic number

"Three is a magic number,Yes it is, it's a magic number. Somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity You get three as a magic number.... It takes three legs to make a tri-pod Or to make a table stand. It takes three wheels to make a ve-hicle Called a tricycle.
Every t riangle has three corners, Every triangle has three sides, No more, no less. You don't have to guess. When it's three you can see It's a magic number".

Top picture is from a great, whiskey infused day in Central Park with two Johns, a Jake and a Melinda. Bottom two are from 125th St. last weekend after going to see free music at Columbia University with Steph. Steph has the most amazing hair. I biked there and back on the west side highway- it was truly sublime.

mmm i wanna shoop

Here I go, here I go, here I go again (again?) Girls, what's my weakness? (Men!) Ok then, chillin', chillin', mindin' my business (word)Yo, Salt, I looked around, and I couldn't believe this I swear, I stared, my niece my witness The brother had it goin' on with somethin' kinda...uh Wicked, wicked (oooo) - had to kick it.....

If you wanna shoop too (you know you do) listen to King Hans Zimnoch aka Killa King aka the Snowman play dj tonight from 10pm to 12am at::
http://www.bigduckmusic.com/

tempeh surprise

John and I love this meal. I think I make it at least once a week. The days I get to bring tempeh surprise (John invented the name) leftovers to work are always good ones. I got the recipe from Fresh at Home- a cookbook from the restaurant Fresh in Toronto http://www.freshrestaurants.ca/. I follow the recipe pretty loosely, but it always turns out delicious. Sometimes I make it with brown rice, sometimes with soba noodles. And depending on what I have lying around I will either make a tahini dressing or a sunflower seed dressing. I think it is the combination of the saltyness from the marinade on the tempeh, the creamyness of the dressing and avocado, the acidity of the tomato and the sweetness of the pear that make this meal so damn good. Plus, eating steamed broccoli, kale, bok choy and or cabbage will make you feel insta-healthy no matter how much cheap beer and or whiskey you have consumed. My camera battery was dying when I took the pictures, I think it really affected their quality. I was hoping for something like the images on http://www.smittenkitchen.com/ but that totaly did not happen, she (my camera) fully died right when eveything was done- so sadly there is no final shot of my culinary masterpiece.

happy earth day

Whenever I ride my bike to work I lock it on this post. This sticker is a very nice thing to see before starting the day.

cherry lips, blue souls and a yellow jordan

Scarf: Baby bjorn from Granit (I wasn't kidding when I said I wear it almost every day)
Jacket: Acne from Copenhagen
T-Shirt/Dress: Air Jordan from NikeTown Chicago
Tights: American Apparel
Shoes: Alife Chuck Sneaker from Alife Rivington Club

On my way home from work. I was craving some color because the past 2 days had been so grey. Ended up at a bar called Joe's in the East Village followed by a delicious dinner with Lindsay and John at Odessa. Lindsay had come right from work and brought us croissants. I think we left them at the bar. Bummer.

hipster grifter

I became intrigued by The Hipster Grifter story in The New York Observer after seeing it on New York Magazine's approval matrix. I love the matrix. Whenever I am stuck looking for words to express my thoughts about something or someone I often use the succinct matrix vernacular of highbrow-brilliant, lowbrow-brilliant, highbrow-despicable, or lowbrow-despicable.

NY Mag was pretty bang on with their placement of the story on the matrix. It is a little sad, and a lot interesting. You can read it here:

http://www.observer.com/2009/style/hipster-grifter

black on black

Jacket: Acne

Pants: Funny Israeli store on 9th St. at 2nd Ave.

Shoes: Chucks

Sweatshirt: Granit

Scarf: Baby Bjorn from Granit

Bag: Muji

On 2nd Ave. headed uptown to class and in search of a 7-11 slushie.

same same but different

Granit is from Sweden. Its is awesome. I purchased 2 of my favorite items at Granit while visiting Stockholm with my friend Josh. Josh is hilarious, brilliant and a really great sport when it comes to my need to look in every single store and my love of picking out clothes for him, especially skinny jeans. Back to my purchases- I acquired an amazing, deconstructed black v neck sweatshirt and a massive grey jersey baby bjorn that I wear as a scarf almost every single day. I always get compliments on the scarf (the picture is a detail of the bjorn wrapping instructions printed on it). The recent Missoni collection with all the layers and scarfs and drapey things reminded me of my scarf. (http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/F2009RTW-MISSONI).

Muji is from Japan. It is also awesome. Muji and Granit share a clean, minimalist aesthetic, a specific example of a unique similarity between Japanese and Scandinavian design. I first went to Muji in Paris on my father's recommendation (when it comes to all design related things my dad always point me in the right direction) and totally fell in love. Every time I saw one while I was in Japan I checked it out. I was pumped when they started opening in New York and especially pumped when one opened 2 blocks away from me on my street. I'm pretty sure my heavy canvas tote from Muji is the current It bag.

I think I can safely that that Granit and Muji are two of my favorite shops. Ch ch check them out- I bet you'll dig them too.

http://www.granit.com/

http://www.muji.com/

earthquakes, the dead, gay rights, painted ladies, bridges, fog, beach.

if i were taller i would have a pied-à-terre in san francisco. sf is gnarly. it has two distinct vibes, beach and bay, and an abundance of amazing neighbourhoods. the weather can be a bummer, but year round, you can just hop into your fuel efficient car and cruise 20 minutes down the coast to beaches and sunshine and surfer babes. you can also drive to vineyards and wine tasting rooms. i loved wine and labels at bonny doon (https://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com/) the most (thank you jared). sf is home to some of my favorite places on earth- the haight, city lights books and the japanese tea garden in golden gate park. sf is also home to my friend jason. j and i met when we were about 15 and bonded over our love of phish, franny's, jack and jill. the sf beat really suits him. jason is a great person to know because he is the king of good food. he took john and me to one of the most delicious and cozy restaurants ever called the front porch (http://thefrontporchsf.com/main.html). john and jason both had fried chicken. i had the vegan plate- all local organic stuff- which was good but didn't blow my mind. the grits, however, did blow my mind and are now on the list of food i dream about. a list that includes the beauty's special from beauty's in montreal (http://www.beautys.ca/) and the black bean and avocado burrito that you can only get at the take out window of cafe habana in manhattan (http://www.ecoeatery.com/).

moral of the story:i heart sf. best song to listen to while driving up and down the coast: carey by joni mitchell (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFGrRSVW8jk)

dancingshoes

shoes: nike air force 1s

this was taken on an epic spring/summer day last year that involved me, les (she's an architect. i always wanted to be one. i'm kind of jealous of her because being able to say you are an architect is just so cool, but happy for her of course, and not mad at my vocation at all) , cat power at the now defunct mcaaren pool concert venue, and a mickey of vodka craftily concealed by the tent like dress/shirt i was wearing that was sold to beacon's closet this fall.

"Now I step through the door in the flyest pair of DunksQuit lyin, you ain't seen these at Foot Locker, chump And I ain't about to argue, shoot game with you punks Who don't know Air Jordans from some Reebok Pumps" murs

throw your hans up in the air

"....To get back to my original point though, I don’t want to hear or see normal stuff, I want to be amazed. I want to feel like a kid in a candy store, with eyes wide open. I want to feel as confused as kid in school who has just been introduced to calculus. I want to be the first primate to discover the wheel; I want to set my eyes on as many brand new things as I can" king hans zimnoch

if you want to feel like a kid in a candy store- listen to hans play dj tonight from 10-12pm. you'll
want to dance. i promise.
www.bigduckmusic.com

1975?

i love this picture. i didn't take it, but i love it. its a photo of john flanked by two of his oldest friends- mike b. and jeff g. taken a few summers ago while they were on a treeplanting related, cross-canada, greyhound bus trip. i love it because it could have been taken in 1975, 1985, 1995 or yesterday. i also love it because it perfectly captures that moment in time where 3 young guys feel totally invincible and totally free. i think someone should capture that feeling and sell it as a perfume- eau de i can do anything.

john, jeff and mike are all super talented musicians.

listen to their music, its good. new favorite song: sentinel by jeff greene.

john- http://www.myspace.com/johnvonhotpantz

jeff- http://www.myspace.com/jeffgreenes

john + jeff + mike- http://www.myspace.com/plasticbynaturemusic

polka dot door

leggings: american apparel

sweater: helmut lang

scarf: table runner from urban outfitters

jacket: my great grandmother's shearling coat 

docs: from shoe mania 

glasses: l.a eyewear from cohen's fashion optical 

gorgeous day. went to the what goes around comes around warehouse "sale" (i'm not a big fan of putting words in quotations, but this was a pretty lame attempt at a sale) in tribeca. buying vintage clothing in new york city is like sticking a fork in your own eye. so silly. value village, i love you. 

bjtm

i saw the brian jonestown massacre for the first time about 2 weeks ago. the night before the show john (my boyfriend, bestfriend, musical collaborator, outfit advisor, partner in crime etc..) and i watched dig!, a wicked documentary about the brian jonestown massacre and the dandy warhols. the two bands had a love/hate relationship- they were inspired by each other but were also super competitive. i was familiar with some of the dandy's music but not so much with the bjtm- the much grimier and rockier of the 2 bands. the lead singer of bjtm- anton newcombe- is the perfect example of a rock star. how did this band pass me by during my teenage years? between listening to 102.1 the edge and q107 toronto's premier rock and roll radio stations through junior high and high school, i though i had my bases covered. guess not. moral of the story: rock and roll will never die and plaid shirts and blue jeans are the greatest unisex concert outfit of all time. my new favorite song: miss june '75.

http://www.thecommitteetokeepmusicevil.com/artistsDetail.asp?id=1&p=a

yellow and blue

7th avenue on a sunny day. the blue building is home to an old school hardware store. i tried to buy a drill there once but it was going to be 79.00$. so i went to home depot and got one for 32.00$. sometimes its hard to support the little guy.

goodwitch

jacket: mackage, sleeves shortened by moi

skirt: club monaco

sweater: vince thrifted in l.a

shoes:converse

bag: muji

scarf: actually a baby bjorn from granit, awesome store from sweden

waiting for the L train. perhaps going to the turkey's nest?

tokyo

a wall of dancing lights that come towards you when you put your hand in the little hand prints. i think these should be everywhere.

hello

i live in nyc. i like magic. sometimes i wear heels, sometimes i wear flats. i like rock and roll and whiskey. i also like red wine and cheese. i hope you like my blog.