portland-->boise

the second half of my trip to boise was fantastic too. the last time i had been was almost exactly one year ago. time flies! it was so good to see all of my family. my aunt from las vegas was visiting too so my grandparents had all their kids there with them and enjoyed it, a lot. they had family pictures done, and they turned out so amazingly cute.

i landed in boise on monday in the early afternoon and the first thing i noticed was the sun! having been lacking it for the weekend made me miss it, surprisingly. i think the humidity made me miss it. boise is such a green and beautiful city, i love it there. it feels like home to me. anywhere my family is, is home to me.

my little cousins didn't know i was coming, so we thought. turned out my grandma slipped and they heard her mention how they needed to pick me up from the airport. that's okay, i still love you grandma. ha ha. i went with my aunt to pick my cousins up from school that afternoon, and how i miss those big hugs, chatter, laughter, and happiness those little girls emanate! it's sad though, to see how fast they're growing and to know i'm missing so much of their lives.

it was a busy and fun week. we did a lot of things, one major thing being food! i didn't want to eat ever again by the time i got home. i think everyone was pretty miserably happy by the end of the week!

the week kind of went by as a blur. we did so much and just enjoyed spending time with each other and being on vacation. but here are the highlights: my aunt and myself went to the boise state campus to ask some questions and just see the campus. it's very pretty and interesting how it's so quiet but it's in downtown. it was a good trip and fun to see a college other than an art school. we did some shopping, of course! we also attended and helped out at my two younger cousins elementary school carnival. that was a lot of fun. it was a really big deal and there were a lot of people there. they had carnival games, face painting, hair 'dying', food, raffles, and prizes. i left with whiplash though, which is still bothersome. leave it to me to injure myself at a elementary school carnival! i spent a bit of time sewing while i was there. i had made my cousins some clothes and had to do final fittings and attach some straps. we had a little fashion show and photo shoot, which they loved. being there and walking my cousins to school every day was something i will always remember. those big hugs i got before they went to class were such a joy!

this trip was really special for me. i got to spend time with my grandparents and talk with them. the wisdom they have to offer me is priceless. if i could follow anyones example perfectly, it would be my grandparents. i admire and respect them so much. i miss them and cherish the memories i have of them being around while i was growing up. i had one conversation in particular with my grandparents that spoke volumes and really got me thinking and gave me some clarity. sometimes we find answers to questions we didn't even know we had.

the week was amazing, and i didn't want to come home when saturday rolled around. but we said our sad goodbyes and i headed home.

my grandma making her amazing chocolate chip cookies

we NEED one of these in california

my favorite part of the carnival: the local

station for the meridian fire department came out

kylie, sydney, ciara

having fun with the photoshoot :]

my grandparents build-a-bears. my grandpa told me they always

have to tell the bear to leave the bunny alone. ha ha.

kevin devine

this post can also double as my obsessed post as well. every plane ride and since i've been home, i've been stuck on mr.devine.

courtney and myself discovered kevin devine when we went to see the jesse lacey solo tour [which was an even more epic night]. his voice takes a little getting used to, and at times sounds raspy and harsh but that's one of the things i've grown to love about him. his lyrics are striking and very intelligent. kevin is very much a liberal and many of his songs have underlying meanings relating to politics and world issues.

the concert:
courtney and i were definitely not expecting the experience we got that night, but are glad we did. the show was about twenty minutes outside of portland. as we were driving down a road, there was a small road off to the left that was surrounded by large shrubbery and had a big wooden sign, we almost missed it. we followed the road a little ways back and came to a large building with big steps and courtney jumped out to ask where we were supposed to go. we went and parked by a building in the back and headed up the huge stairs of another building. when we went into the building we went to the back where the was a restaurant. we walked through the restaurant and followed the winery signs. then the sign took us through some hallways that were for hotel rooms. at this point we were a bit confused and convinced were were going the wrong way, but kept following the signs. they led us down another flight of stairs and then we saw a wine bar. we saw a small hallway with tables and people sitting at them drinking wine and eating. we kept looking for a room, a stage, something that would tell us where kevin would be performing. we found nothing and finally asked the bartender. he said kevin devine would be performing at the end of the hall in a few minutes.

the tables were full but at the front of the hallway there were two stuffed armchairs so we took those. kevin devine came down the hallway and picked up his guitar and started playing...two feet away from us. no microphone, no stage, just him and his guitar. at first people were talking through the set, but by the end he'd made new fans out of the people that were just there for wine and dinner, not him.

after the set we hung out for a while and then got up to talk to him. when we walked up he said something to the effect of, "you're not from here". and then went on to tell us that he remembers faces and remembered us...it was our third time meeting him. ha ha. i probably wouldn't have believed him that he remembered us, but the fact that he knew we weren't from oregon before we even said anything was pretty convincing. the first two times we met him we didn't really get a chance to talk to him, but this time we stayed for probably a half an hour talking to him.

i knew kevin was an intelligent man, but i figured anyone can be intelligent on a website or chat forum or blog, they have all the time in the world to research and spell check and look up better fitting, more appropriate and smarter words. in person he blew my mind. i have a newly earned respect for him and how intelligent he really is. we talked about different things when he asked about my scissors necklace. we then got onto the subject of fashion, jobs, internships.

he was very patient and seemed to be having fun as we took polaroids with him. unfortunately my camera batteries decided to not work so all i had was my camera phone, and it was way too dark in there to get a picture with any detail.

it was so amazing to see how down to earth and sweet kevin devine is, and the fact he remembered us was amazing. this experience is one i'll remember for the rest of my life. it was an amazing 21st birthday for courtney and she had tons of fun as well, even though they didn't even card her.

a picture i took of him on my phone while
he was playing, you can see how dark it was

burbank-->oakland-->portland

my trip was so amazing, and i did so much, i've decided to break it up into three different posts.

as soon as i landed in portland, oregon i knew it was going to be an interesting place. the airport was so different from any other airport i'd been in. there were power, water, and paper conservation signs everywhere, living up to the hippie rumors i'd been told.

the descent to the airport was breathtaking...and rainy, as the entire weekend ended up being. i'm okay with rain, i love rain. what i do not love, however, is hot rain. the humidity was ridiculous and my hair and skin absolutely hated it. other than that portland is a lovely city. the old feel of the city and all the bridges make it such an amazing place. but then again, i love draw bridges and double decker bridges.

after courtney picked me up from the airport we went to a very delicious local pizza place, mississippi pizza. it has a great vibe and live bands, and amazing pizza, of course. the neighborhood was older and very cute. and i think i stunk of LA because i got some funny looks from the locals. i was told the second i open my mouth it's a dead giveaway where i'm from. whoops...LA pride, though! ha ha.

the next day was courtney's 21st birthday. we walked around downtown portland, had a birthday lunch, shopped a little, saw the school she's attending, and then returned to her apartment to get ready for the kevin devine concert that night. before the concert we stopped at the school bbq and kickball game. it was fun to people watch and see all the different types of people attending the local schools.

the kevin devine concert that night was so amazing and epic and memorable and...i could go on and on...so i decided it should get its own post.

courtney dropped me off, bright and early, at the airport the next day to head on to boise. we said a sad, and half asleep, goodbye and went our separate ways.

it was so good to see courtney and catch up with her. blackberry messaging is just not the same as our talks with off the wall topics and inside jokes. i've missed my best friend...a lot. until we meet again.

courtney's wall of polaroids

what moist and humid portland did to my straight
hair, then it proceeded to turn it into an afro

bottom of the double decker bridge

a new polaroid to be added to the wall

jet-setting

okay, maybe not exactly...but i'll go with it.

tomorrow is my much anticipated vacation, and for the first time i've actually procrastinated packing. i usually love to pack and have it completely done days before i leave. lately i've been so tired after work, packing is just unappetizing. scary...

i love to fly. i love airports. i love airplanes. i'm so excited to fly tomorrow. i just might have trouble sleeping tonight. yeah, i was that kid that couldn't sleep on Christmas eve because of the excitement and anticipation. the first year i slept through the night on Christmas eve was when i was 18. yeah, that was only three years ago...

let's get this party started! maybe i should get some sleep first...maybe.

fashion's night out

a couple days ago, september 10th, was the second annual fashion's night out. the first fashion's night out was last year in new york city and this year it expanded to, well, everywhere! i went with a couple friends, bryanna and dani, down to rodeo to celebrate the night.

there was a really fun carnival theme. rodeo was closed down to traffic and the streets were filled with stands, food trucks, and even a ferris wheel. all the stores were open and many had bands, hors d'oeuvres, and drinks. there were also a few stores giving out balloons. we kept seeing these really cute gold horse balloons, but never did find where people were getting them from.

it was great to see all the different people that had come out to celebrate and all the different styles and fashions. there were some people extravagantly dressed and others in jeans and a t-shirt. we grabbed dinner after, and the night was a success!

me and dani

bryanna (in her adorable betsy bustle jacket
that she got a million compliments on) and me

I forgot what store this display was for, but it was
an amazing wall of hundreds of hand sketches

RAGC

my most recent musical obsession is right away, great captain!, which is actually a side project of andy hull. andy hull is the lead singer of one of my favorite bands, manchester orchestra.

right away, great captain! has a mellow, infectious sound that always puts me at ease and has been the perfect soundtrack for my drive to work. many of the songs have striking lyrics and catchy phrases that you have to listen for. they don't sound forced, which is one of the beauties of this project.

everything andy's touching is turning to gold. can't wait to get my hands on his next side project with kevin devine, entitled bad books.

je amour dior

i have always admired and loved christian dior. he, and his brand, have been a huge inspiration to me, especially recently. part of this fascination probably comes from the fact that i love the fifties and the amazing silhouettes that came out of the era, specifically the new look.

in the united states, dior isn't as recognized and praised as it is in europe. in europe dior is the creme of the crop. it's the most prestigious brand and if you own dior, it's your prized posession. in the united states we chase brands like burberry and gucci, and i'm speaking from a moderately wealthy consumer view point.

i was recently looking through a book that dior uses for training and educating their new employees. the book is amazing and took my breath away. it has a history and picture after picture of couture gowns done both by dior himself and his predecessors. all of the beading and special pleating or embroidery, along with many other parts of the dresses, are hand done. the designs are breathtaking and i honestly can't find another way to describe them. this is my porn.

another thing i admire about dior are his quick sketches. they sometimes only consist of two lines but you can see exactly the dress he's envisioning. his finished sketches are beautiful as well, but i just love that with so few lines he can create a vision. i was in heaven when i visited FIDM for the first time and the halls of one floor were lined with his hand sketches. i took an illegal picture of my favorite one, the yellowed picture below.

after looking through the book i was so inspired, as i always am after looking at dior designs. je t'aime, dior.