Thanksgiving.

another reason to continue my obsession with these 2 weirdos.

hillebrities.

Thanks to hommies at Cap to the Hill for the intro to Capitol Hillebrities. New blog.
Another way to continue my obsession with all things CH.

Playlist: Chillazar

1. NYC/Interpol
2. Lounge/Esthero
3. Leisure Suite/Feist
4. Lisieux/Christopher Gunning
5. The Water/Feist
6. Field Below/Regina Spektor
7. Chocolate/Kylie Minogue
8. Sunday/The Cranberries
9. Avientame/Cafe Tacuba
10. All I Need/Radiohead
11. The Eraser/Thom Yorke
12. Transatlanticism/Death Cab for Cutie
13. My Happiness/Ella Fitzgerald
14. Disco/Howie Day
15. Six Underground/Sneaker Pimps
16. Rushing/Moby
17. Spies/Coldplay
18. Heartbeats/Jose Gonzalez
    
19. Aliens/Alex Lloyd
20. Backseat Clause/Alex Lloyd
21. Love Can Damage Your Health/Telepopmusik
22. King of May/Natalie Merchant
23. In The Waiting Line/Zero 7
24. I Go to Sleep/Sia
25. High and Dry (Spanish Radiohead cover)/El Lele De Los Van Van
26. Finally Woken/Jem
27. Carousel/Iron and Wine
28. This Land is Mine/Dido
29. In My Secret Life/Leonard Cohen
30. Simonize/Pete Yorn
31. Blank Page/Smashing Pumpkins
32. Pandora's Aquarium/Tori Amos
33. New Star in the Sky/Air

My solution to the short days of fall/winter. I like to spend the dark evenings and nights at a cafe or in my apartment listening to this. I am obsessed with it at the moment and am falling asleep to it right....now. 'night!

... The ones in bold are the songs you need to download immediately... if you have not already.

Dig It.

Urban Outfitters at Broadway Market
Pipes, holes drilled in 2x4's. Totally urban, industrial, raw, functional and hip.

Better Living Through Design. Yes Please!

Today I received a link and my life will never be the same. I often think design sites are pretentious but BLTD is certainly not among them. It's a design site that is actually designed well and easy to navigate, easy. Prices range form the very expensive but inspirational to the more affordable and realistic for a budget like mine.

My current obsession is finding and affording the perfect coffee table. A few of my favorite from BLBD below.

photos from blbd

PhotoBlog: Sundaze

The day started with breakfast potatoes at Zeena's with Noah. It was nice to get together about last night. Sunday brunch has become a kind of ritual for us. A ritual I like :)
This place is perfect for Sundays and it is 2 blocks from my place so the commute is great.

I was extreamly hungover and I didnt think I would be able to function at all today but the food and coffee made me feel so much better. It must have absorbed all of the booze.


Noah works for the Frye Art Museum and I finally got to see it today. I regret not having gone sooner considering it is free and one of my best friends works there... but even I make mistakes sometimes. Sometimes.

I was mighty impressed. The current exhibit, Napoleon on the Nile: Soldiers, Artists, and the Rediscovery of Egypt is really beautiful. Serious.

I was also impressed by a MCM chair(above) in Noah's office.

Sure, the art was amazing, but I loved this coat rack. The hangers are sleek, and I love the grooves to keep the hangers perfectly spaced. Genius.

Leaving the Frye. I am glad we went... I will go there more often, fo' sho'.


Just for kicks... the sorrento as we walked back home.

PhotoBlog: My Day NOT at the March.

PhotoBlog: Sunrise Sunrise

I went to the gym at 6am today. I was on the bus headed down broadway on my wayback to my end of the hill when the fellow next to me tapped my arm and pointed out the window... "its nice, isnt it?", referring to the sunrise. I was kind of taken by surprise how chipper and friendly someone could be at 7am. I was heading home to crawl back into bed and this guy was probably heading to a long day of work... He put my morning into prospective. I was happy suddenly. It was a beautiful sunrise... Arizona-style.

I am still riding the sunrise wave. Its a good day.

Before/After

There are some really awesome before and after slide shows over on Real Simple. The best thing about them is just that; they are real simple. The afters are practical, affordable and end up being a perfect mix of style and functionality.

Below is the before/after of a young professional named Rachel. I especially like the switching off of the coffee table from the lack coffee table to the expedit shelf. I have been on the hunt for the perfect coffee table... the expedit is definitely on the short-list now. I especially like it on wheels and the narrowness of it would be practical space-wise. The shelves underneath are perfect for magazines and my laptop when I am not using it. I think I might try it. The origional plan was to use the expedit shelf as a tv stand but it makes so much more sense as a coffee table, for me anyway.

Before...

After...

Blogazar on Ikea Hacker

Back in June I sent in a photo of my bathmat made of Ikea decking into Ikea Hacker... This morning I woke up to find that my blog had like 30 times the usual hits. It was then that I noticed that the link to my site was from Ikea Hacker. Wooooot!

The picture they used is aweful but I am glad they posted it. When I origionally posted about this back in June I got some flack about how inpractical this look might be. Allow me to address some of these concerns and how I deal with them.

• What about the stains from the wood?! There is a risk that tannic acid in the wood can stain the floor but so far it has not. I have had them for about 8 months now and so far no stains. My landlord repaints the floor after each tennant so I am not worried about it at all.
• Where does the water go?! Like in a hotel, I keep a small white bath mat hanging over the side of the tub and behind the shower curtain. I pull it out when I shower and drape it back on the tub when I am done.

I stand by my bath mat. I like it. Its different, spa-like and most of all I appreciate how inexpensive it was compared to actual wooden bath mats.

Also, I understand that my pictures are a bit dark, but I live in a basement apartment in Seattle! and I just found out this morning that my camera is no longer working so I took these all with my phone. I need some advice on what camera to replace my old one with! hmm.

More Milk Please.

Tonight I had the privilege of attending an advanced screening of Milk. It was extremely well done. Serious.

The story of politician, human rights activist and bad ass extrordinaire Harvey Milk has always been inspirational to me but tonight there was a real fusion of the movements of today and the movements that paved our way many years ago.

It was moving to see Harvey Milk and California fighting for basic rights some 30 years back ; that we are still struggling to get today. There was an angst in the room ttonight, hat only the kind of injustice that lgbt people are facing at this moment, could have created. We are a community riding a wave of change just like the rest of the country... only, unlike most on this wave, our community has hit a huge wall that we NEED to make it over.

Three Dollar Bill Cinema's Jason Ploured said a few words before the film about how important it is to support Gay films. Ticket sales make it much easier for more to be made. I had not thought about that and although I do go watch most gay films, I had not thought about he significance in why. I hope that all of you will go and see this movie. Bring your family, your friends, anyone! We had our beautiful love story with Brokeback, but now we have a film based on the ltrue ife and events that in many ways set the path for the movement that we have all been called back to with the passing of anti gay laws in Arkansas,Florida, Arizona and California.



on a less serious note... I sat behind Blayne from Project Runway tonight. He really needs a tan. ha! and, YES, he cried too.

Go see the movie when it drops in Seattle, go to the march this Saturday and quit hating on Blayne... sure he is too tan, sure he didnt win, but he is a kid from Yakima with forward style and he is the only semi celebrity that we run into at the bars or the movies.

Stylin' Spirituality.

For only $2,500 you could have 7 sacred texts on display in any room of your home. Mike and Maaike designed this chic chunk of reclaimed wood to display this holy collection of lovely stories.

The shelf is availale through blankblank.

photos from M and M

Seattle, 'cause I love it.

A small collection of some of my favorite photos. Most of them are on the hill. The wolf is on the waterfront and the monorail is, of course, downtown.

Rudy's on Pine Expansion

Rudy's Capitol Hill flagship store got twice as big between my last 2 visits. I like the new set up a lot. They basically moved into the storefront next to the existing space. There is a metal pipe shelf divding the two spaces and an awesome mural by alan hurley in the new space.

My wait was a lot shorter and it all feels a lot less tight than the old set up. My favorite barber, John was in so it was doubly exciting. That guy is like a ninja with clippers. Bad ass.

http://www.rudysbarbershop.com/
614 E. Pine St
206 329 3008

Fundraiser: Red Dress Party

Saturday November 15th! 8pm-2am

Navel Reserve Center (South Lake Union)
Tickets: $20 ($30 door), $40 VIP ($50 door)
Featuring THE PERRY TWINS (LA)
DJ Kyler opens
Buy tickets here!

The Infamous Red Dress Party is coming to Seattle and it will definitely be a party to remember! For those of you who have been to the Portland Red Dress Party, you have an idea of what's coming, but we'll definitely give it its own Seattle flair and style. Fashioned after the Portland party which is the largest in the country we will honor the spirit of community they have promoted and make it a night to remember. Only a few simple rules for this event:

RULE #1: YOU MUST WEAR A RED DRESS. No exceptions.

RULE #2: You will raise money for HIV/AIDS non profits (100% of net proceeds will go to the event's beneficiaries).

RULE #3: You will have fun. C'mon - you're in a dress and surrounded by friends - this one should be easy!

source: www.reddressseattle.org

Oh Em Gee.

So I guess the kids have been all over Adele for months now. I had heard some stuff in passing but tonight I was exploring the youtube and holy shit! I especially love Chasing Pavements but I could not find a version that would allow me to embed it here. So check out this link for the video!

The video below is just as tight and is from a show here in Seattle back in May. Enjoy.



I will most def be at her Seattle show at Neumos in January.

Good Morning Change!

Thanks to my good friend Noah for sharing this photo with me. It represents Seattle so well. The leaves on the ground, the starbucks coffee cup and of course the greatest news of my generation.

My Sorry-Ass Photos

McCain Conceding.

Signs from Asian Pacific Islander Reception... good times.

Chris Gregoire is the lovely red blurr in the middle of these 2 photos. I was a little buzzed so this is pretty much how

Election Day in Seattle (with Arizona on my mind).

I woke up at 4am on election day to watch all the coverage and as soon as I saw Obama voting in Chicago, I was hooked. My morning went on to be spent flipping between MSNBC and local news coverage of Washington elections.

I had to work today so I went into the office and forced myself to stay away from news and election updates until 5pm. I pushed through those tedious hours of my election-fast and once the clock hit five I was switching between npr.org and msnbc. Afterall, someone had to report back to all the boys in my office as the night went on. By the time I was heading out at 8, Obama was at 206 and the west coast states had just closed and no results were in.

I walked from my office on Capitol Hill down to the Westing for Governor Gregoires election party. I figured I would make it down there before any big announcements were made. As soon as I hit downtown there were valet guys, waitresses and people in their cars all screaming in excitement. I knew what was going on and quickly confirmed it via blackberry; Obama had been declared President-Elect by major media outlets.

I made it into the main ballroom at the Westin as soon as Senator McCain began his concession speech. The crowd in the room was beyond intense. There was a real sense of community, relief and excitement and I was sucked right in. After McCains speech from Arizona my phone rang and it was my Mother, also in Arizona. I could tell she was crying immedietly... so , of course...I began to cry. My Father, Mother, Sisters, and Nephews were sitting around the television watching election coverage on spanish language television all night and new that I would be out celebrating. Speaking to them brought all of this full-circle. Not only am I a happy little liberal, but I will get to see this change in the people I love.

The energy at the Westin and the thought of the hope this election has given my folks became almost surreal and I was sweaty, teary and all awkward with emotion ;P

My family has gone through a lot this year and has definitely been affected by the economic crisis. Just a few weeks ago my father was laid off of his job so the idea of change and the importance of a man of color in the Whitehouse is a breath of fresh air to him and I think reminds him why he brought us to this country.

I missed Arizona tonight, I missed home as I knew it. I loved being at the Westin with all of the hardcore democrats who were there but yourned to be in my parents small home in the middle of the desert just a couple of miles from Mexico... eating my Mothers perfect Mexican food and teaching my Father the more P.C. ways to speak about politics.

We elected a man of color but to be honest; I was surprised how few people of color I saw with me at the Westin. It was very upper-middle class white.- Thats a whole different blog post that I wont even get into. Its 3am and I cant get into how white my life is in Seattle and how that makes me feel. We can talk about that in private ;)

I enjoyed tonight. I felt lucky to be there with friends and thousands of other Obama/Gregoire supporters. Lucky to come from where I come from and hopeful about where we are all heading.

Good night!

I enjoy this Woman.

We all went crazy.

booing McCain

Happy Tears

the hope ice bar and a corona got me through the night.

my cell phone pics sucked so I borrowed these from the Seattle PI... They were all of moments that I took blurry, unclear pics. These are much better, right?