What day is it? I always loose track. 4 amazing shoots so far today.
Five and Diamond in the Mission was our first shoot...I love this store, and the couple that own it. Both Phoebe and Leighton design their own separate jewelry designs, Tawapa and Bootleg respectively, they also do a line together called Wild Card which is clothing and accessories. I would wear EVERYTHING in this store...oh, so here's the interesting part that just makes this store one of my favorites. Both Phoebe and Leighton are also part of a traveling Burlesque show, The Yard Dogs Road Show that travels the world performing, he eats fire, she dances. Before this, Leighton was part of a sideshow in the circus, where he has collected things like a mummified mermaid, a mummified fairy, a demon's skull and some other damn interesting/freaky oddities.
The store doubles as a museum of objects that the couple has collected from their travels around the world. The jewelry and clothing that the couple design reflect their lifestyle. Bear claw rings, beautiful earings made from bone, the very stylish clothing is very versatile and made to wear in numerous ways, perfect for us San Francisco folk ;)
Their story sounds like a fairy tale to me. Why did a not become a burlesque dancer that travels the world dancing? The life of a gypsy is the life for me. What a perfect life. And then from there to be able to open a boutique with your significant other selling beautiful jewelry and clothing. Damn, I guess it's not too late. If you don't hear from me for awhile, that's where I will have gone.
San Francisco is full of such talent. So many amazingly creative and beautiful people put into one tiny place, its pretty fucking incredible.
Well, this is going to have to be continued...the good old Treo calls...off to Mezzanine to shoot The Cool Kids who are playing with M.I.A ronight....tell you about it later...
Oh wow, a second entry, ok, so maybe I will keep up with this for awhile. Tuesday. Drove back into San Francisco from my parents house this morning where I go to retreat and recuperate from the overwhelming-ness that can be San Francisco (sometimes.)
There is just so much to do, see, eat, and experience that if you don't pace yourself...yeah, you will find that you are never home, broke, drunk most of the time, and beleive me, you will forget who you are, and where you parked your car. I digress.
Listening to NPR this morning, which surprisingly has been an awesome source to learn about new music, I heard a segment on Grizzly Bear, this really cool band out of New York. I had heard about them before, but hearing the segment motivated me to actually check out there music . The story behind the name Yellow House, is that the album was recorded in the home of one of the members. They felt that the house had a lot to do with the way the music came out sounding; giving it old yet new sound. They incorporated different sounds from the house, like the squeaking of floor boards into the music as well. Their song entitled On a Neck on a Spit is awesome.
Three shoots today at work. One of them was this new restaurant, Fish and Farm, that opened up in the good old Tenderloin. Aside from being asked twice for money, once if I was famous, and once to be someone's girlfriend because "I looked like a good Christian girl," (keep in mind this all went down in a time span of 5 min. WTF!!!!) this place is wonderful. You walk into the space which is small and cozy, it only seats 40, and you are surrounded by rich blues, aquas and browns. The interior was designed by Sherri Sheridan, the owner of Swallowtail on Polk (sorry no website, but the store is definitely worth checking out). She did an awesome job keeping it simple, using only a small eclectic mix of unique, and beautiful decorations. Like just about everyone else in San Francisco, they are local, organic and seasonal (if I have to hear those words, in that order one more time...). But they take it one step further. They limit there food supply, produce, fish and meat to a 100 mile radius from Fish and Farm. They also recycle everything, use all parts of the produce, fish and meat, grow there own herbs, donate their used cooking oil to a bio-diesel plant, the floors are reclaimed bamboo, the table tops are recycled marble, cocktails are made from organic alcohol, they even take the clam shells from their clams, smash them up and use them as fertilizer to re-grow produce.
The food. Wow. I wish I could remember the exact names of the dishes, but I tried the swordfish, sardines and the fritters. Swordfish with cranberry beans and fresh wild arugala=yum. The Sardines are served with the head and tail still intact, sounds gross, but really, it wasn't, and I think it's important that we are reminded where our food is coming from. I always thought that sardines are salty and have a strong fish taste, I was wrong. These were delicious. The Fritters, my favorite. So tasty, a little bit of salt, a little bit of sweet from the peppers. The chef and his team in the kitchen, awesome. The experience was definitely a positive and inspiring one. Oh yea, all drinks at the bar, including pumpkin or maybe it was squash, infused gin, rosemary martinis and some other unique cocktails are under $9, I will for sure be hitting this spot up after work.
Gym afterwork, a little bit of kickboxing, a little bit of hip hop which I had to walk out of because I felt like I was in the making of some really cheesy dance-a-long video, and them home.
Until next time...
I'm new to this whole thing. I'm not even sure you will see another post from me. But, I guess, you have to start somewhere. I see a lot of cool things, meet a lot of awesome people, and live a pretty crazy life. I don't get to hang out with all those that I love the most, so maybe this is the way Ill be able to "stay in touch." Not to mention, a way for me to document and remember all that I am fortunate enough to see and learn.
I'm all over the place (which I think will make for a really diverse and interesting blog), for 3 reasons. Reason one; I work for a national online video based lifestyle magazine/guide in which I am in charge of content, produce and host the video segments for the San Francisco Bay Area. (No, we haven't launched yet, and yes, it will be soon.) This translates to, I need to know everything of awesomeness that is going down, at all times; restaurants, nightlife venues, bands, events, people, boutique shops, shows, festivals, EVERYTHING! I get to go to these places to film, interview with these people, and check out all the dope shit that they're are making which is truly inspiring. Some of my favorite past interviews, whether enlightening, entertaining or inspirational have been with Zion-I crew (band), Diplo (DJ), the boys from 21mc (fashion collective), Rachel from Eden and Eden (boutique), Justice (band), All Teeth and Knuckles (band), Dengue Fever (band), Jon Julio and Azikiwee Anderson from D-Structure (boutique), Eric Pollard (pro-skier), Eric from 22Shoes (boutique), Benny Gold (designer/artist), Jonny Moseley (pro-skier), Merkeley??? (photographer) and Larry Little (producer/band manager).
Reason two would be that I am a jack of all trades, a master of none; two degrees in, and a major love for the arts (design, photography, painting), took lessons in every type of dance imaginable, played the piano and sax, I've worked in banks, fast food joints, tv, restaurants, clubs, bars, hotels, for myself, tech offices, on the streets, ice cream parlors, grocery stores, and design firms, and I've had a moment with just about every craft hobby from crocheting to soap making to blowing glass to letterpress to printing cyanotypes.
Reason three for being all over the place, which I believe leads to a very interesting, well-rounded life, is that, if you couldn't already tell...I get bored really easily.
Ok, enough for now. Here's to hoping that I stick with this!
