the beautiful thing about vintage finds to me are the stories that they leave behind. denise found these bruno magli gems in a pretty little row of vintage shoes at ahab bowen. she also found out that they were purchased from the daughter of a flight attendant- who wore these shoes on the job. these shoes have been all over the place! i knew instantly that i had to grab them for her. after wards, we went back to the condo, threw on her mother-in-law's old dress from the 50s and took these pictures at sunset. gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.

everytime i vacation in another city, thrift stores is always a must. ahab bowen (named after the farmer who lived in this historical building) in uptown dallas is probably the most impressive one i've been to. the vintage collection is absolutely immaculate. not only do they make items easy to find and price them reasonably, but they clean, press and steam everything there. sadly, they will be closing the store at the end of july and moving down to an antique mall.

pentax k1000, kodak 400 iso

its been forever i know, but i had to put my creativity on hold because quite frankly.. i sort of lost it over the past few months. i went to dallas last weekend in hopes of finding inspiration with a camera in hand.. and i did. i'm a little rusty but nothing practice can't fix :)

hopefully there will be more photographs soon once again.

beauty bar, dallas tx
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this month's mix is a compilation of my favorite oldies and lowrider classics put together with love. initially i wanted to share this for the month of february. due to popular demand from some of my great friends, i figured why not share it now? these songs are reminiscent of three summers ago spent with the wish crew and last minute trips to the west coast. i don't know about you, but i'm absolutely over winter. so use your imagination and enjoy this with your windows rolled down and the heat on blast ;) remain optimistic, we're getting closer to warmer weather any day now.

01 peggy lee - you give me fever
02 aalon - rock n roll gangster
03 animals - don't let me be misunderstood
04 freddie scott - hey girl
05 del shannon - my little runaway
06 leslie gore - you don't own me
07 mickey and sylvia - love is strange
08 dixie cups - going to the chapel
09 the young rascals - groovin'
10 the chi-lites - oh girl
11 the flamingos - i only have eyes for you
12 brenton wood - oogum boogum
13 the ronettes - be my baby
14 aaron neville - tell it like it is
15 dusty springfield - spooky
16 the zombies - she's not there
17 malo - suavecito
18 mary wells - my guy
19 phil phillips - sea of love

download it here
xoxo

*download link updated 3/15/11

my "places to go" list seems to be growing out of control! i found more natural and historical sites that i plan on visiting in the south that i am pretty excited about. while those places are feasible, there are other far away cities that i would love to travel to as well next year. i'm positively sure that i will return to the the bay area and nyc but i've been falling in love with the idea of seeing portland for a while now. after favorite-ing so many beautiful photographs on flickr, i think i will seriously plan a summer trip there. for wishful thinking, i would really love to go to south australia. a few years ago, i wrote about my search for our long lost cousins in adelaide. thanks to facebook, we are connected now and they've given a lot of encouragement in visiting them down under. if given the opportunity, i would really appreciate another trip to cambodia. i've been missing my family and that beautiful country a lot lately.

i am obviously obsessed with wandering from place to place.
what is on your travel itinerary?

williamsburg, brooklyn ny
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my great friend alicia had been talking about going to max brenner for dinner way before i even arrived in new york. much to my surprise, chocolate was a pretty big deal at this restaurant. i don't recall ever listening when she would gush over how great the chocolate fondue was- because i don't really like chocolate like that. but it was her birthday and i wanted her to enjoy it. thats what friends are for, right? ;)

max brenner
union square nyc
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drink up baby, look at the stars. i'll kiss you again between the bars.

rose bar
gramercy park hotel
new york, new york
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late night lattes
verb café
brooklyn, ny
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i discovered taco chulo in williamsburg with my gals during my last winter visit to new york. the nachos left a really great impression on me, so it was imperative that i would get dinner there while i was in town. this is a brooklyn favorite of mine.



ensalada de temporada with avocado
spinach, red cabbage, romaine lettuce, fruit, jicama, pumpkin seeds dressed with a lime-cilantro vinaigrette.



my double exposed nachos chulos
chile con queso, pickled jalapenos, refried pinto beans, guacamole, creama and pico de gallo over home made tortilla chips.

yum yum yum
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i will be boarding my flight in the morning to get my yearly new york fix for the next four days. i love new york because i can be anonymous to my surroundings, just as the city is to me.

strange and unfamiliar.

on our last night in nebraska, i finally met my sisters good friend jamie wolff, who writes yummy reviews of dishes over on her curry and ice wine blog. what else would bring us together than.. food? we left the decision up to her so she chose ramo's pizza & pub on normal and 48th in lincoln for our dinner. despite the limitations of anything being opened late on a sunday night, jamie made an excellent choice. we ordered the pepperoni and cream cheese & the bbq beef brisket pizza. they sound very heavy, but were absolutely enjoyable. i normally eat just three slices, but i was five in (even with a glass of boulevard wheat!) which says a lot.

mr. toad's is a small and intimate bar much different than the others on the main drag in the old market. "the gentlemen's english pub" is lined with leather bound books and a grand piano in one corner. it was a nice place for my sister and i to go out for girl talk and drinks, especially on a cornhusker game night. more my speed.


here's to the weekend
cheers xo

i caught avi buffalo playing a show at the slowdown the night i arrived in nebraska. located in north downtown omaha, the slowdown neighbors film streams, urban outfitters and blue line coffee (to name a few) it's a cute little hipster haven that reminded me of space 15 twenty in los angeles. the venue opened its doors in 2007, created by the founders of indie music label saddle creek records. they do a handful of shows during the week but are also opened monday through saturday nights with plenty of fun things to get into (board games, a photobooth, pool table and not to mention.. a colossal bathroom that puts atlanta music venues to shame!)

friendly bar staff. no smoking. clean bathrooms.
favorite place to be in omaha.

there is so much that i want to say about my visit to the nelson-atkins museum of art in kansas city. but words cannot express in volumes how wondrous it was. my time there was brief so i don't have much but the photographs of things that absolutely stopped me in my tracks. i hope to visit again soon before the end of the year.

westport coffee house, kansas city, missouri
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tomorrow morning, i will be boarding a flight to kansas city, missouri. depending on how things pan out, i will either be wandering kc all day or driving to nebraska. i will then spend a day in omaha and trek across the great midwest back to atlanta. time away from home never fails to ease my soul- no matter how short or how long the trip. sometimes i have to nurture the wanderer in me.

even if you end up staying exactly where you are- take a moment to notice the small things around you. you'll be surprised. have a beautiful weekend.

i haven't been using any film or traveling as much as i would like to. october rushed itself in, and i keep forgetting. so far this month is looking good in the music sector- exactly what the doctor ordered. the warpaint/xx show happened yesterday, which i felt might have taken an eternity to arrive. next friday, local natives will be back in town and this time i'll make sure to be there.

i'm currently looking into some dates for a winter vacation in nyc. since i'm no longer eligible to fly stand-by with airtran, i have to start planning ahead (rats to getting older) i'm not really great at it either. i considered doing november but nothing struck the match. i just saw that the radio dept are going to play at the bowery ballroom on december 1st. peter hook presents unknown pleasures will also be a few days after at webster hall, which could be kind of interesting.

while in san francisco, i stayed at the hotel whitcomb right off of market street. this historic hotel once served as san francisco's city hall for a few years when the city was left in ruins from an earthquake in 1906. i loved the dark and historic grandeur architecture of this building. conveniently, there was a starbucks in the lobby that had really delicious paninis too. my favorite was the roma tomato and mozzarella panini. these savory bites, along with crime television kept me company in my cozy bed. mmm, so delish.

i spent my last san francisco evening with the boys in dolores park. the wind finally calmed down and it was warm enough to actually enjoy being outside. it really dawned on me then that i was going to have to catch my flight home the next day. the west coast withdrawal had already began.







i really liked this city. it was really good to me.
until next time san francisco
xo