Living In The Future

Oscar Niemeyer, 1967 - Sunset Strip, West Hollywood

Yesterday while I was driving home from my long weekend spent at the beach a few sights jumped out at me. Some were more familiar than others. What interested me most was how they had a common thread that began to narrate a story of sorts. LA Past and LA Present became LA Future... Suddenly I realized I was living in one giant movie production complete with locations and costumes and an interesting supporting cast.

Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills

Sprinkles Cupcakes, Beverly Hills

Cupcake ATM

Neiman Marcus windows showcasing Otis student designs

Sunset Plaza, West Hollywood

Edward Durrell Stone, 1962 - Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills

This morning when I awoke I continued to write the script. I wonder how it will all turn out?

Rapunzel Bangle DIY

I was out and about the other day and decided to make an impromptu pit stop at Opening Ceremony. It is a store like no other. Very aspirational, highly inspirational (it inspired this post!). I hope it will become to LA what Fred Segal once was... Okay, before I go off on another tangent, let me get to my point. I was saying how inspired I was. Particularly inspired when I stumbled onto yet another work of art by Delphina Delettrez. (You may remember this post when an obsession with a DD cuff unleashed a flurry of creativity resulting in a hand painted clutch???) 

Well, this time Delphina's "Rapunzel Bangle" was the culprit. The Rapunzel stole my heart and broke it all at once - she was so pretty and so unattainably expensive! If you feel an obsession coming on too, don't feel sad for us because I've found a way to get the look and it's pretty darn easy. 

Here's what you'll need:

Cheapy bangles - found these at F21

Colored floss (I think choosing one color in a gradation of light to dark would be cool too) - found these at Michaels

You'll also need a ruler and a nice pair of sharp scissors  

Step One: Decide how adventurous and impractical your bangles are going to be. I decided 12 inches sounded just long enough to be dramatic without having to worry about the situation getting too tangled down there. Keep in mind the floss is going to be folded in half and looped around the bangle so I doubled the initial length, making it 24 inches.  Measure each strand, clip and set aside in a nice neat stack.  

Step Two: Making sure the strands of floss are even (I used 8 strands per color), fold stack in half and loop around bangle. 

Step Three: Pull ends through the center of loop

Step Four: Pull the ends tight until the loop is flush with the bangle. Repeat.

I used 6 colors for the first bangle and 8 strands of floss for each color

For the second I used 7 different colors and 5 strands of floss for each. This time I added two strands of the neighboring shade to each grouping so that the colors sort of bled into one another. 

If you're going to be this bold may as well pile it on!

Thoughts?

Do you think you'll give it a try? 

Happy Friday everyone! Glad to be back... I missed you so...

Have a great weekend!

Lining Up For Pizza - 800 Degrees, Westwood

That's right - we lined up for pizza because we knew it would move fast and it would be worth the wait. It is the genius idea from the good people at Umami Burger. Seriously, why didn't I think of this?

Once inside you stay in the line and place your order as though you were at a Chipotle or Subway. You choose the foundation for your pizza - bianca, margherita, or marinara. You build your pizza from there by using or embellishing their suggestions or creating your own!

800 Degrees is Neapolitan style pizza, which is meant to have a thin chewy crust devoured by knife and fork. I love a thin crust but prefer a little crunch so be sure to request extra crispy before it is sent off to the wood burning oven if that is your preference.

Vintage Pizza Boxes as Art

Other than being served fast, 800 Degrees has nothing in common with fast food. This gorgeous hunk of prosciutto perched in this sophisticated piece of equipment is proof!

The Burrata Bar

HIgh Tech Soda Dispenser 

Old Fashioned Wood Burning Pizza Ovens

About two minutes later... Margherita base, sopressata, Calabrian chilies. Multo Bueno!

Caponata and Pinenuts from the Burrata Bar

Tartufo

I just love a charred, blistered crust. Don't you?

I hope this post finds you all well and hopefully still my readers after my long and unexplained absence from the blogging world. First my back surgery and then - a burglary! My laptop was among the items stolen. This post is dedicated to my boyfriend - who missed my blog so much he generously replaced/upgraded my laptop!!! The world doesn't feel like as cold and uncaring when you have a good man in your life. Thank you RC.