As you can see from this quickie collage I threw together, Chandra and Andy’s wedding was beautiful, well-planned, and left room for us to get a little crazy (especially on the dance floor – please note the comfy shoes I changed into, photographed above). It was a great weekend and a day we’ll never forget.

I stumbled upon that Lucy Liu quote online today and couldn’t stop laughing. Well, maybe I’m exaggerating. It was more of a snicker, and it was quite short.

Anyway! Happy Friday guys and dolls. As I sit here sipping my Ice Blended White Mocha beverage, I can’t help but be thankful to be indoors today. It has been around 100 degrees everyday this week. Too hot to handle, fo sho.

My lovely Aunt who lives in the beautiful city of Pasadena emailed me with this neat blog to check out today:

They have two etsy shops: one that sells vintage fabric (pintucksew), and one that sells apparel (pintuckstyle). I was already planning a thrifting adventure tomorrow, so looking through their shop is definitely inspiring my wish list.

Pintuckstyle 1940s-Inspired 1980s Vintage Dress

I absolutely love the fabric that you see at the beginning of this entry. I wish they had more than half a yard. Wouldn’t that be adorable as a short, elastic banded skirt? I wonder if you’re getting the same visual as I am, and if you are, isn’t it cute!? Haha. Also, this dress is great, but would look ridiculous on me, as I have broader shoulders. But I love it anyway.  I would probably remove the sleeves.

That’s all for now. Keep cool out there, kittens!

“Oh Cathy, I never broke your heart. You broke it! …You wandered off like a wanton, greedy child to break your heart and mine.“

Monday evening two friends and I headed North to the ultra gaudy Beverly Hills, home to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to see Wuthering Heights (Wyler, 1939) which is a part of the Academy’s current film series: Hollywood’s Greatest Year – The Best Picture Nominees of 1939.

The film started at 7:30pm and we got there around 7:15pm, so we had some time to check out the displays in the lobby.

As you can probably tell, these pics were taken with my iPhone. I left my camera in the car. Doh! Oh well. Here, Kendra (probably the biggest Laurence Olivier fan under the age of 50) stands next to the french poster for Wuthering Heights.

Here, Kendra gives her thumbs up next to a photo display for the film. She was excited! So was I! The costume sketches were great.

Our $3 (with student ID) not only got us entry to see this wonderful film in the gorgeous theatre, but we also received this great program with fun behind the scenes information about Wuthering Heights.

We eventually found our way into the theater and it was PACKED! The screening began with a vintage Mickey Mouse cartoon which co-starred the always funny Pluto. Then an introduction was given by some guy who’s name I can’t remember. Next, Samuel Goldwyn Jr. came up to the stage to share with us the story of how his father (who produced this film) got a hold of this script by chance. One day he saw writer Ben Hecht moping around the studio and asked him what was wrong. Apparently his (and co-writer Charles MacArthur’s) adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s Wuthering Heights was not being well received by studio heads. They were saying that it was too morbid. So Mr. Goldwyn read the script, and luckily for us, he loved it! It was nice of Mr. Samuel Goldwyn Jr. to share that story with us. We also had the privelege of seeing a 40 second behind the scenes clip of the cast and crew on location in Thousand Oaks, California where they filmed the cliff scenes. Very neat.

I don’t think I have the words to adequately express how fabulous this film is. This is the first time I’ve sat through the entire film and paid full attention. I’ve seen it probably 5 or 6 times before this, but always half-watching while working on my laptop. The acting in this film is top notch. The same cinematographer who shot Citizen Kane also shot this film. The costumes evolved beautifully throughout the film and supplemented the storytelling. Olivier is really intense as Heathcliff… but when is he not intense? I thought David Niven as Edgar was absolutely dreamy. I told Kendra that I thought he was more attractive than Olivier in this film and she responded “FAIL.” Haha. Lastly, I thought Merle Oberon played Cathy well. Cathy was such a bitch!

I highly recommend this film, if you have not had the pleasure of seeing and experiencing it already. If you enjoy romantic dramas, I guarantee you will appreciate this film.

I wish my camera didn’t die, otherwise I’d have photo evidence of how even more beautiful Ms. Badu is in person. Not only is she a great singer and songwriter, but she’s a great performer as well. If she’s ever in your town, go see her! I’ve been a fan since high school, and OMG was it amazing to finally see her live. Thanks KUCI for the tix! She is most certainly an icon in the fashion world. Or at the very least, in my fashion world. She is constantly evolving, but always staying true to who she is. The outfits that she wore at her show were out there… but at the same time reflected her style really well. The first outfit she wore was a beautiful silk black asian inspired dress with a pink floral robe over it and a shiny silver outer-space/1920′s inspired cap. Like I said, it was OUT THERE, but it worked. Sometimes it pays to just have fun with your ensemble.

Alas! As it is Sunday, I have a nice little dress that I’ve spruced up to make it more modern and young. I didn’t really make much of a tutorial today, mostly a little photographic journey from beginning to end. So here we go:

This little dress story begins with this copper and black hounds tooth number that I found at le thrift store. It is clearly a 1990s style jumper of sorts with a lot of potential. The fabric caught my eye, and I knew it would be an easy fix.

I started by trying on the dress and taking in about 2″ from the top. In doing this, I was able to heighten the waistline without having to deconstruct anything. Score!

So after sewing both straps, I cut the excess, ironed it down and top stitched it up to make it look schnazy.

Next, I tried it on again just to make sure everything was going according to plan, and it was! I then pinched and pinned the sides all the way down to where the pockets began to fit properly. I sewed that up on both sides using a straight stitch.

Once that was finished, I tried on the dress once again to figure out how short I wanted the dress to be. I ended up cutting it about 7 inches shorter. Luckily because of the geometric lines provided by the print of this fabric it was easy to measure and cut.

Lastly, I ironed and pressed a hem around 3/4″ around the bottom and double stitched that baby up. Because the fabric is nice and sturdy and hounds tooth-y a machine stitched hem does not look bad.

And there we have it! A pretty simple fixer upper, but I am really digging this dress. It’ll be nice for hot summer weather, and perfect for the winter worn with a nice pair of black tights and a black cardigan. Voila! Another successful Upcycle Sunday, if I do say so myself. (Raises the roof). Have a great week my lovelies.

Now, now. I really do like LA. I love the energy, the history, and just the overall punk rock feeling mixed with the uber corporate. The best of both worlds really, but also an incredibly strange place. Very ugly beautiful, but the other way around, I guess. Beautiful ugly?

Enough of my rambling! There is a point to this entry, I promise.

It’s the beginning of June. The beginning of Summer. And when I think of summer, I think of travel and trips on the metrolink to LA, because I did a lot of that last year. Whether it was to visit friends who live there or to see shows, LA will always be associated with summer and good friends for me.

So! This summer there are a lot of cool exhibits and museums that I need to check out. You should too! Here are my top three that I need to see (like that rhyme?):

Classical Frieze: Eleanor Antin at LACMA

Remember a long time ago when I went to see WACK at the Geffen Contemporary? And how I went on and on about how much I love Eleanor Antin? Well, to reiterate, I think the lady is pretty great. I want to see her newer work and how she has evolved as an artist and great thinker.

The Darker Side of Light: Arts of Privacy, 1850-1900 at the Hammer Museum

The museum website describes this exhibit as the hidden art from this time; the seedy underbelly, if you will. Focusing mostly on works from France and Germany, these pieces present a darker side of the Impressionist era.  I’ve never been to the Hammer Museum. I remember last year they were showing Kara Walker’s work and I missed out! I will not miss this.

Craft and Folk Art Museum

Their tagline explains “because a shrinking world requires an expanded mind.” YES! I agree, CaFAM! Their exhibit Celestial Ash looks neat. Their other current exhibit doesn’t sound all that exciting to me. I’m interested in seeing their permanent collection. I can’t believe this museum is right across the street from LACMA and I’ve never noticed it! I stumbled upon this site today. I’ll keep you posted when I visit. Admission is $5 for general public. Not too shabby!

First of all, remember a long time ago when I wrote about Burda Style? And how awesome I thought they were because they provided open source patterns? Well, yesterday I received an email from them, as I usually do since I am on their mailing list, and I see this lovely pattern:

Unfortunately, you have to purchase it. Now, I’m all for paying for patterns. That’s fine. But when you advertise your company as “Open Source Sewing,” I feel that it is misleading to do so and charge for a pattern. The term “Open Source” derives from the free software movement, so the implications of this term are “FREE.” I mean, $3.50 is a bargain compared to some of the patterns out there for $18.95, but that is besides the point. I just feel a bit disappointed.

In other news, for all of you embroiderers out there, this fine lady (who’s blog is AMAZING, by the way) has uploaded a free embroidery pattern. And it’s super cute! I might actually try it myself… we’ll see what happens.

Moving on. Last night I got home and while going through my junkmail I found an advertisement for THIS. I think god loves me this month. Either that or Elvis Crespo was reading my mind and knew that I have ALWAYS wanted to see him live. SUAVE!

This is seriously the cheesiest music video, probably of all time. You gotta love the costume changes. I like to call it “The many faces of Crespo.”

Lastly, I recently joined Indiepublic. So far I’m digging it. It’s a nice way to network with other independent crafters, artists and designers all over the world. And everyone is super friendly! I spent about an hour on their site the other day and became really inspired and excited about adding more items to my etsy shop. Good stuff.

Alright kiddies! That concludes my Topsy Turvy post. Don’t forget to check out KUCI Nights at the Yost Theater this Thursday! Only $8! It’s a bargain to experience some new music. I’ll also be HERE on Friday. Yay Lykke Li! I’ve never seen her live, nor have I been to the Hollywood Forever Cemetary. Should be fun. I’ll try to take blog-worthy pics for you beauties!

Rasputina – Ahhhh, Rasputina. With the sweet and raspy contrast of your cellos. This innovative threesome uses distortion with their cellos to take the listener on a dark yet beautiful victorian journey, where opium, and antiquated medical procedures still seem to be relevant topics of discussion. Fun Fact: Rasputina has opened for many bands, most notably Marilyn Manson. Melora also toured with Nirvana as their celloist.

Now, continuing through the timeline we have Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys. Bringing us the hits from 1910-1940, listening to their music (or even seeing them live) is what I would imagine time travel to be like. I have seen them twice at the Steven Allen Theater in Los Angeles, and they were great! The band is so happy-go-lucky and everyone walked out of the theater with a smile on their face.

Next and last on my list (for now) is Camera Obscura. Back in the day when my college roommate’s boyfriend used to spoil her with various mix cds, I would often find myself in her car benefitting from his thoughtful endeavors! Once upon a time we were in her car and this sweet-sounding voice came dancing through the speakers and I was instantly in love. I listen to Camera Obscura when I’m happy, when I’m sad, and when I’m indifferent. They make any drive more enjoyable and for some reason make me want to go thrift shopping.

Now, at a time of economic recession, the LA Theater Ensemble brings us Survived which is the follow up to Wounded, and the second play in what they are calling The War Cycle. As actor, Albert Meijer stated, “As artists, we are not ignoring the headlines that have been buried behind those concerning the economy, politics, and celebrity. We have chosen to bring the overlooked to light.”According to the website:

“Survived is inspired by true accounts of the families of soldiers fallen in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. It follows the lives of the Harper family as they prepare to scatter the ashes of 24 year old Lt. Michael Harper on the anniversary of his combat-related death in the Iraq War. A surprise visit from a soldier who served with Michael at the time of his death ignites a powder keg of emotion and throws the family into crisis as they strive to preserve their memories of Michael while learning to let go.”

The Ensemble holds “Talk Backs” after their Thursday shows where they make themselves available to engage in discussions with the members of the audience. The members of the LA Theater Ensemble are a very accessible group of individuals.  Survived will run through April 25th in Santa Monica, CA. For more information, please visit: http://www.latensemble.com

I had never been there, and definitely want to go back sometime and check out all of the museums in Exposition Park. It seems like a fun place to take my sisters. Anyway, the event was really thought provoking. I learned so much about how many individuals and families are affected by Three Strikes. It was heartbreaking to meet so many mothers who have sons or daughters in prison for non-violent crimes that do not warrant a life sentence. After meeting these families and hearing their stories, it infuriates me to think that Californians could ignore these injustices. According to Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, who was the keynote speaker, African Americans make up 7% of California’s population, yet they represent 45% of those in prison because of three strikes sentencing. Something is definitely wrong here.

The Benefit held a silent auction for artwork made by prisoners at Security Housing Unit — or the SHU, at Pelican Bay State Prison in Northern California. Prisoners are not allowed to use art materials in “the hole” so prisoners improvise and use paper pulp from magazines or toilet paper and place that on drawing paper. Colors are obtained by using the coating of vitamins, candy or coffee.

A lot of individuals and groups were present to support FACTS and it was really great to see so many grassroots and non-profit organizations come together to create visibility for an issue that seems to be so hidden and unspoken. The Youth Justice Coalition was in attendance and a young activist performed a spoken word piece that was as gritty and dark as her experiences on the rough streets of LA. As she said in her poem “we’re the children who rose from Watts in ’65… we’ve had enough, take the system down, and build something, now.”

It is imperative that the three strikes law be amended. The prison industrial complex is flawed, prisons are astoundingly overcrowded, and there are obvious racial implications when looking at the statistics. Funding really needs to go to rehabilitation rather than putting people away for life for non-violent crimes. Until that happens, the injustice will continue, and these individuals and their families will continue to be oppressed by the system.