Local Inspiration

We had a nice break from the heat last week and I went down to Bishop Arts to eat on the patio at Cafe Brazil and enjoy the breezy day. I saw that my favorite gorilla was in the window at Ginger Fox Gallery. I have mentioned this gorilla before but this time I have a picture to share. I finally got a printed card of this happy painting too!

close up

I just love her use of color, the bright fuchsia and the stark contrast of the black fur with the bright yellow flower....it makes me happy. Her attention to detail is incredible.


At the Artisan Collective, I always drop in to see what's new and I was so excited to see that Manuel Sarmiento had some new pieces.

  I love his style and his long stick-like people, he also has some miniature chairs that remind of Tim Burton's style in a way. But his new pieces were playful metal ants that could be hung on a wall or I'm thinking my backyard fence, a perfect playful accent to my garden! I could not find pictures of his newer work, but here are some of his past works. He uses scrap metal and re-purposes it ways that are so unexpected. See more here

Of course I also had to make also make a trip to my favorite pie place. I've always loved their floral touches in their menu design and other pieces and I recently discovered who created their branding and website.
Such a great sense of style and use of color, great design makes me happy.

I keep the menu in my cube for happy inspiration

What are you inspired by lately?

For the Love of Pie

This weekend was wonderful, we had a welcome change of weather it was cool and breezy and beautiful! I went out to Bishop Arts this weekend and ate at my favorite outside patio spot, Bolsa.
Then we went to wander around the shops and by happenstance (or as I have since referred to it......destiny) we parked out by Hunky's  and walked by the cutest old house turned business I have seen in quite a while and on top of that.....they made and served pie!

photos and more information here

I don't know why but pie is definitely my go to dessert, whether I'm having a bad day or I want to celebrate something, I want to make a pie. Pie is definitely a labor of love, and Emporium Pies has really goes the extra mile.

I didn't know what kind to try first, and ended up going with bourbon pecan (aka the druken nut).
I got it to go so I could walk and shop and enjoy it later, look how cute they prepared it!

It's in it's own little basket

look at the beautiful pie!

 It makes me want to get in the kitchen and start experimenting because I just got THIS in the mail.
What can I say I love pie. I hope to do some more fashion and crafty posts this week. Gonna go work on that now :)
Happy Monday !

Cake and other things

Here's what has been happening lately.......
The Jason Mraz concert was amazing! He just kept playing non stop and his band was really awesome, I'm really glad I got to go with my dear friend. Needless to say I have been listening to him incessantly, which is not really different from any other time but whatever.

my fav concert shirt with my new crossbody bag

pretty light show

Jason jamming with his band

The weather has been so nice lately! Almost fall like, it's been cool and very pleasant. So pleasant in fact, that when I was at Bolsa last weekend I sat on the patio. Here's a picture from the patio, I wish it was better quality so you could see the great purples and blues in graffiti across the street ...

Last week was kinda busy and all I wanted was some cake.
Because cake makes everything better :)
I finally got around to baking and drawing this week.

complete with chocolate flowers

I am pretty drawn to cream and pink these days. What do you think about the font I drew for "cake"? I'd love to know your thoughts..... Ok well I hope to blog more this week...
 Happy Wednesday!

Top 5 Tuesday

This is what I'm excited about this week! One of my favorite artist and etsy inspirations is the Black Apple. She paints marvelous paintings and creates all sorts of cute, and girly art. I am particularly smitten with her flower girl collection not sure yet which one is my favorite but right now it's the Geum painting.

I love her inquisitive expression

 I'm always excited about new movies and Wreck it Ralph is no exception. Much in the same vein as Pixar, Disney is taking ordinary objects and making them interesting and heartfelt. I am more excited about Ralph than Brave to me it's seems too similar to How to Train Your Dragon mixed with a headstrong Katniss type but we'll see. I'm trying to be open minded :)

Video game villains need support too

I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to go back to Dirt and I did sooner than expected. Now my strand of pearls succulent has a friend, a living stone succulent. I think it looks like cartoonish coral, and I can't wait to get some pretty flowers.

So happy together!

One of my favorite TV chefs, Eric Ripert always has a fun new spin on traditional recipes. My latest discovery is cauliflower couscous with blanched veggies.

Looks pretty amazing

He makes everything look so easy, I'm very excited to try it though, especially since my local fresh market carries bok choy. Get the recipe here.



And last but not least I love Sweet Bestiary's cute and playful creations. Especially her girls with bird pins. Her little monsters, finger puppets, and centaur like creatures are so quirky and sweet. But I'm quite taken with her latest offerings.

I love her attention to detail! Her braid is amazing

Hope the rest of your week goes swimmingly. What are you excited about lately?


photo locations: 1, 5

Local love- Bishop Arts District

I wanted to share my latest trip to Bishop Arts District this past weekend. I love all the cool eclectic shops and fun places to eat.....my current favorite is Bolsa. Their menu centers around local and fresh ingredients. I really love their pulled pork BBQ sandwich, they make their own horsey pickles and they are amazing! I plan to try their flat bread and bruschetta tasting sometime soon.

I also love Dude, Sweet Chocolate, they have very interesting dark chocolate offerings, and if you aren't sure about something they let you try samples in their fun little store. The staff is really nice and helpful. Last time I got to try tub of love and crack in a box which were delicious but I went with my old standby FM1410-2 pickled and smoked tomato jam soft chocolate toffee. I know it sounds weird but it has very subtle flavors it's sweet and a little bit spicy it has bits of jalapenos too. 

I love their packaging

I love looking around at the Artisian Collective, and seeing what new art is in the gallery. I was quite smitten with Brice McCasland's bird paintings. I can't find the ones I saw there but this gives you an idea.

I love his attention to detail

And last but not least. There is an awesome florist called Dirt. I'm sucker for pretty design, I love their logo almost as much as their arrangements. They do traditional flower arrangements but I really love their succulents, and after a couple years of drooling over them I made my first purchase.
It's a string of pearls succulent and you only have to water it once a month. That's my kind of low maintenance plant :)

Look how cute it is

 They also had beautiful pink peonies that smelled amazing and were literally the size of a baby's head. I would of bought some if I was going straight home. But there's always next time, I've got my eye on a couple more succulents that I'm super excited about.

So in short if you are looking for a fun place to explore you should take a trip down to Bishop.