create: jewelry cabinet

I've seen some gorgeous jewelry cabinets around, but I never found one I loved. When I first moved into my house in Shaw I stopped into Simon Vintage and found lots of unique pieces. I bought a shelf and this awesome drawer that they literally took out of a huge old pharmacist's cabinet. I had explained to them what I wanted to do--make a vertical jewelry cabinet. They said it would be perfect. Once I found the drawer, I took it home, cleaned it and spray-painted it. I picked this green because, well, the hardware store near my house doesn't have that great of a color selection. It's a bit too Easter, but it is growing on me. I then added some nails for necklaces, though I could probably add more. I asked the hardware store how to attach it to the wall and they gave me these hooks and anchor screws. I borrowed a stud finder and found the studs, then attached the anchor screws to the wall. I added some nails on the side for long necklaces. Before I knew it I had a brand new jewelry cabinet attached to my wall! Before I had this piece I didn't wear much jewelry because I never took time to look through what would look best with my outfit. Now I can easily browse everything I own. (I also am less likely to lose jewelry because everything has a place). I've also added nail polish, trinkets, and matchbooks!

Have you ever made a jewelry cabinet? How did it turn out?

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Simon Vintage

1911 9th Street, NW Washington, District of Columbia 20001 (202) 629-2517 Mon-Fri 2pm-7pm Sat-Sun 12pm-8pm

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DC Art Scene: Art all night + (e)merge

One of my dreams is to just travel and attend art shows. I love love love it. We recently had art all night and (e)merge here in DC. They were both fantastic. I took photos at both, but I must have had one to many drinks during art all night (which, I think is understandable considering I hosted a chili+cornbread dinner at my house and the event went until 3am) because this is the only photo I feel ok publishing:

The next weekend we headed over to (e)merge, a huge art event that intends to connect the collector and emerging artist. This year it was at Capitol Skyline Hotel near the Waterfront in SW. Val and I biked over on a Sunday and spent hours wandering the hotel rooms. On the way, we found some public art as part of 5x5.

We said hi to our friend Fawna who does fine art printmaking and is off on an epic adventure right now.

We ran into people we knew, or kind of knew, or lived in places we used to know -- like Ana Schmidt who had a landscape acrylic painting of Arenas on view. AMAZING. I used to live in Sopelana and teach in Getxo when I lived in the Basque Country. Really, quite crazy. I was staring at the painting thinking, this feels familiar, and then I looked closer and recognized the bridge, the maze-like neighborhoods, the port...I looked at the title and sure enough, it was Getxo. I'm still kind of shocked by this coincidence.

We met artists and gallery attendants that sometimes looked bored and sometimes chatted with us, like Justine Otto. I was asking her about Hamburg and she was sharing her experience of DC and apparently we were talking for too long because my sister claimed she went through the rest of the rooms and came back in that time frame (lies!). Anyway, I love Otto's work and I hope you check it out!

We also met Mercedes Teixido who was doing a site-specific letter writing piece where a person reads and she draws two copies of the same thing using a contraption that was used by Thomas Jefferson. Here's Val reading her article about the female body being exhibited so people could learn more about anatomy.

There was a garage, called the 'lower level', that house more installations. We loved this interactive piece:

And this column:

And this:

And upstairs this photobooth set up (where you had to pay to get your picture taken). I really liked the concept, but not the awkward moment when the artist kept asking us to take a photo and us not really wanting to and being confused. Or I was confused, Val just turned around.

When we started to get tired, we got coffee.

Then we got tacos.

Then we went to an opening at Blind Whino and ended the night at DC9.

Me taking photos of myself.

Other people taking photos of us.

WE MISS YOU FAWNA!

October gems

It's fall! It's so exciting! I love leaves! I've been spending my free time exploring DC and sipping on some tasty treats in my neighborhood--like almond milk lattes and rosé with a side of whiskey. Here are our October gems:

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The Washington Memorial the one and only

Walking across the mall and looking up in awe at this monument never gets old. This month we're doing a little site seeing in our city. We hope you explore the gems in your city, too!

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All Souls Bar a corner bar

For Shaw locals, this is a godsend. We love the All Souls special and the cheddar pecan cookies.

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Compass Coffee they have almond milk

It's really awesome to have another coffee shop in the hood that has internet, good vibes and sustainable coffee.

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Check out our August gems post and let us know--Where are you exploring and quenching your thirst this month?

this morning

I took this photo in Copenhagen and I can't stop thinking about the detail in that window and the columns. Sketching in the AM is the best, especially when it's still dark outside. This is what I did instead of go on a run...

current obsession: floral hairstyles

Doing some research. Getting back into pinterest. I used to spend lots of time on their and I haven't in a while.

Ordered a glue gun and some dried flowers for photo shoot prep!

Check out our pinboard: Follow etxe's board floral hair styles on Pinterest.

Los Angeles is not a place

Los Angeles is not a place.

It’s a feeling. A memory. A phase. A thought. A dream. A desire. A living history. A destination. A destiny.

It’s the sensation of driving down the 101 in no traffic and thinking about the intersections and the off ramps and the blood rushing in and out and the interconnected separation that makes it so perfectly juxtaposed.

It’s the ocean breeze that you can feel even under layers of smog on the rooftop of a downtown highrise.

It’s that smell of burning wood when you’re chilling in a hoodie after a day of baking on the beach.

It’s the sound and sight of car chases and sirens. The stairs and hills and lights that illuminate your favorite neighborhoods. The movie stars that are dead and the living screenwriters that are sleepwalking.

It’s the casual bliss of being -- comfortable, aspirational, convenient, but unattainable to everyone else.

It’s the art deco and the western and the overcrowded church with no air conditioning. It’s the glitz and the violence and the mosh pits on the boardwalk.

It’s the mountains and the canyons and the clubs and the beach and the asphalt and the sun and the tacos and the palm trees and the supermarkets and the drivethrus and the old movie theatres.

It’s the ability to drive anywhere and do anything and be anyone at anytime so long as there isn’t traffic.

It’s the expectation and the setting and the pleasure of knowing what you will find. It’s the surprise of the new and the constant reminder of the familiar.

It’s the landing strip and the luggage and that weightlessness that just never goes away.

It’s the way you think it was and will always be even when it’s moving a million miles a minute.

But it’s not a place.

Last night when Nick Waterhouse gave a shout out to that intersection on Echo Park and Sunset Boulevard it reminded of this. That place that isn’t a place. That memory that lives forever and keeps growing every time I return to it. To that thing that won’t stop pulling me back to something I can’t even really define.

"I'm the Mayer Hawthorne-type singer that's perfect for adding sensual tension to any given David Lynch soundtrack," Nick Waterhouse

I met Nick in San Francisco. I don't remember how much we used to talk about LA, but I'm sure we did. I'm sure we talked about how strange it is or was or will always be. He lives there now and I live in DC. It's pretty amazing to see how far he's gotten and incredibly inspirational. A true testament to sticking with it and doing what you absolutely love. I really do miss those walks through the mission, up Potrero hill, with a coffee from that weird coffee shop near that Bart station in hand...those walks to jobs that didn't really care so much when we showed up. Both of us terribly thoughtful about everything. One of the few people who understands why the world is so confusing and with whom I could talk for hours about the intricacies of things people don't normally take the time to ponder.

Anyhow, Nick and his band played an amazing show last night and he just came out with a new record, Holly, which you should definitely buy. If you have any interest in well-thought out melodies, precise rhythms that flow or historically rooted music that sounds familiar and innovative at the same time, then you will love it. Oh, and if you have any interest, desire, or memories of a non-place called Los Angeles, it's kind of essential.