It's spring cleaning time! I'm joining forces again with my friend Bri over at Designlovefest to have our annual yard sale on Saturday, March 2nd from 10am-1pm in Atwater Village. And, our friends over at Yeah, Rentals will be selling a bunch of fun pieces...so bring your pickup truck!
If you're in LA and can make it, please click here to RSVP so we can get a head count, and we'll email you with the exact address a few days prior. Hope to see you there!
P.S. The sale is cash only.
UPDATE: We've reached maxium capacity and unfortunately had to close the RSVP for the sale. If you RSVP'ed before it closed, you'll get an email a few days before with location.
{Photo by Kimberly Genevieve.}
Now that Ruby's learned how to give kisses, she likes to give them to everyone...Mama, Daddy, our neighbor's dog, and the baby goat at the farmer's market. (And of course I can't help but kiss her 278 times a day).
Wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day, friends! Hope it's full of kisses from those you love (or at least like!) most...
{Photos by Bob Cho and Oh Joy}
One of the best parts about having good weather year-round are the pop-up carts and trucks that do business on the streets of Los Angeles. Guerrilla Tacos is a pop-up taco stand in downtown L.A. that serves amazing breakfast tacos a couple times a week. I've had a hard time finding tacos here in L.A. that compare to those in San Diego, but Guerrilla really left an impression on me.
And the prices! Seriously, so reasonable and delicious! $3-$4 for probably the best breakfast tacos I've ever had. The chorizo taco was spicy and savory, the mushroom taco was a great vegetarian option, and the tamale—um, out of this world.
It's amazing to me what can be cooked right on the street without the need for a fancy kitchen and equipment. Street food is probably one of my favorite kinds of food because the people who make it focus on one thing, and usually do it really well.
What kinds of pop-up food carts like this do you guys have where you live?
Guerrilla Tacos (at Handsome Coffee Roasters) | 582 Mateo Street| Los Angeles, CA 90013 | 818.640.3033
{Photos by Bonnie Tsang. My shoes are Crew Cuts.}
Last month, we wrote a letter to express our feelings. So this month I wanted to take it one step further and create a song! Now, we're not all songwriters or singers (um, I am completely tone deaf!), but that doesn't mean you can't put some of your thoughts down to a simple melody to sing just for fun. So with the help of my friend, Brooke White, I made a song for my Valentine: my husband Bob.
Here are Brooke's easy song-making tips:
1. Write down a bunch of sentences about your subject to create the lyrics. For example: How did you meet? What does he or she like? What are some of the characteristics you like most about them?
2. String those sentences together to create a verse. Rhyming is always a fun way to make sentences flow together, so for our song, we'd come up with the first line, then write the next line so that the last word rhymed with the last work of the previous sentence. You can even rap this part, like we did!
3. Create a chorus. Also known as the hook, this is the part of a song that repeats over and over in between verses.
4. Make up one more verse with another set of facts—more fun things to say about your subject!
5. Put it all together with simple melody. We rapped the verses and sang the chorus to a very simple tune. Pull out the tambourine, maracas, or just clap your hands to accompany the song!
I hope this inspires you to create and sing a little song for your Valentine.
P.S. A huge thanks to Brooke for lending her talents (even while under the weather)!
{Video by Modshift. Special Guest: Brooke White.}
Right around February, I start craving springy things. Especially with the prediction of an early spring, it's a fun time to think about the longer days and warmer temperatures ahead...
{1. Prabal Gurung for Target sweater, 2. Tulisan storage box, 3. Baggu pouch, 4. Madewell scarf, 5. Rib & Hull tote bag, 6. Bobo Choses onesie, 7. Ban.do glitter bomb bobbi.}
Sometimes I look at my toddler and her chubby baby cheeks and remember she's still so tiny. And then sometimes she does these things that are so adult-like (often things she picked up from us) and that make my mind fast-forward into the future way too fast. The other day Ruby was talking to herself in the mirror, and then pointed to her chest and said, "Boobies!" (I told her once what those are and it obviously stuck with her).
Here are just a few moments lately—taking a "rest" on the sidewalk in the middle of playing, practicing downward puppy, checking out Daddy's computer, and wearing Mama's glasses—that make me so curious (and excited) to watch her personality unfold...
Hope you have a great weekend full of fun peeks into the future!
P.S. If you're looking for some last-minute Valentine's Day inspiration, here are a few of my faves found around the web...
{Photos by Bob Cho}
Valentine's Day is often about getting lovey-dovey with that special someone in your life. But remember when we were kids and we gave those little Valentine's Day cards to all our friends? I miss that gesture, and I thought it would be fun to come up with something to make to show your friends how much you love them, too! So I collaborated with the girls over at Bash, Please, and they came up with the idea of floral friendship bracelets that you can make with just a few materials, in 20 minutes or less, to give to your best of buds...
Bob and I started dating in 1996, when I was 17 and he was 18. We met through mutual friends and were friends first, but after we went to the prom together (I know, crazy right?!?), that friendship turned into the beginning of our future life together. Recently, we partnered together with Banana Republic to recreate our first date in celebration of their new their "Love" campaign. Since we were still in high school, our first date wasn't a fancy dinner out or hanging out at some trendy bar; but it was a day of exploring the city (in our case, Philly, where we're from and lived at the time). We did everyday things like go to the bookstore, get ice cream, and goof off in a photo booth. It was so fun to recreate those moments, captured by Max Wanger, in LA (where we live now) at some of our new favorite spots...
Bob and I used to go to bookstores a ton while we were dating. I'd read about art and dig through fashion and interiors magazines, and he'd check out books about classic cars and dream about owning one some day.
1996 bookstore: Barnes & Noble in Philly | 2013 bookstore: The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles
Bob learned from early on that you really can't go wrong with taking me to get ice cream. I swear, we ended so many dates with an ice cream cone of some sort. Today, we do the same, except now we've got Ruby, our little ice cream lover, in tow.
1996 ice cream spot: good ol' Friendly's in Philly | 2013 ice cream spot: Milk in Los Angeles
There's really nothing more fun than a photo booth; it forces you to be silly and come up with new facial expressions to capture. When Bob and I took our first photo booth photos together, I had no idea he'd eventually be my husband and the father of my future children!
1996 photo booth: The basement of Urban Outfitter's flagship store in Philly (the Anthropologie flagship is there now) | 2013 photo booth: Mohawk Bend in Los Angeles
It was a pretty awesome to walk down memory lane getting and recreate these moments from our past. I highly suggest trying it. What did you guys do on your first date with your significant other? Any out-of-the-ordinary dates you like to recreate regularly?
*This post is brought to you in collaboration with Banana Republic. All content, ideas, and words are my own. Thanks for supporting these sponsors that allow me to create new and special content like this for Oh Joy.
{Photos by Max Wanger; all clothing by Banana Republic}
I'm not really a perfume kind of girl; I usually find it to be too strong or overwhelming. But the fragrances from MCMC are light and beautiful, comprise of rare natural ingredients and unusual combinations to make scents that feel both modern and ethereal. In celebration of Valentine's Day next week, MCMC is giving away a fragrance collection (one eau de parfum, one perfume oil, and one candle in your choice of fragrance) to one lucky reader.
To enter, simply visit MCMC's website, and then leave a comment here telling me which of their gorgeous scents you would pick (my favorites are LOVE, MAINE, and MAUI). Entries must be posted by this Friday, February 8th, at 8 a.m. PST, and one winner will be chosen at random*. Good luck!
P.S. As a special bonus for all Oh Joy readers, use code OHJOYFEB for 15% off anything at MCMC for the whole month of February. Every order comes with complimentary samples of AMARA and SAVANN, their newest fragrances, available exclusively at Anthropologie, as part of the Humanity Project.
UPDATE: Congrats to Caroline W. from Bowie, MD for being our winner this time!
*Sorry, limited to U.S. readers only. Please do not leave your email or web address in the body of the comment, only in the allotted boxes. $188 USD total value. Winner will be contacted by email once comments close, and announced at the bottom of this post soon after.