I have a tumbleblog. It is very useful in creating quick little pieces and pictures that are inspiring me right now as I decorate my apartment.

Go here: apartmentpg.tumblr.com/

Every Wednesday at Akbar, nine 'til midnight.

2 drink minimum and a little donation is appreciated ot this group of locals who teach crafts from the kindness of their hearts. They also encourage to BYOS (Bring your own scissors).

Tomorrow night's craft is still TBD but I'm guessing they'll bring their usual supplies for making paper bag puppets.

Make mom happy and make her a pretty frame on May 7th.

All the info on their website and blog.


Akbar
4356 Sunset Blvd.
Silver Lake, 90029
323.665.6810

Labels: bars, DIY, events

My friends Summer School Vampire are playing deep in the valley. Who wants to take the trek with me?

Labels: events, music

My dear buddy Matthew made the Small Cool Apartment Contest this year on Apartmenttherapy.com. Go vote "super cool" for him and he has the chance of winning gift certificates not to mention the accolades of all the design-y people. If you check out Matt's floorplan you may recognize his work from his super great web comic, Isolated Instances of Non-Gravity. He's currently taking commissions, and if the comments on Apartmenttherapy are any indication, Matt's drawings could be quite the hot ticket.

The orange stripe on the wall was a good lesson in what a little painter's tape could do. The shelves were those basic modular kind just painted to match. Matt's vintage finds come from eBay and the Pasadena Rose Bowl.




Pictures of the colorful kitchen and bathroom here.

Labels: design, DIY, www.internet.com

One of my favorite girls is featured on Daily Candy today.

Daily Candy - Sand and Deliver

www.alexandracassaniti.com

Alexandra Cassaniti moved to the neighborhood last year and took over. All the ladies will be trying to dress like her soon and they sort of can since she's launched her own line. It's an online catalog right now so beg all your favorite boutiques to start carrying her summer themed stuff in time for you to hit the beach. She'll even design you a custom surfboard. (That's Alex in the picture showing off a custom lighting bolt pattern on one of our hometown beaches in Encinitas. That's right. I grew up with an up and coming designer, jealous?).




Available in these LA stores:

CURVE
154 N. Robertson
Los Angeles, 90048
310.360.8008

OPENING CEREMONY
451 N. La Cienega
Los Angeles, 90048
310.652.1120

Labels: design, fashion, shopping

PG 2007 Mix CDs are ready!
Wait, you say. Aren't we almost a third into the new year? Please excuse the lateness and send me on your address if you were one of the contributors. 3 full CDs are coming your way.

email: meredith@pudgy-girl.com

Labels: freebies, music

My peeps in the UCLA library sent this on to me today. I think it's one of the best ways to help those affected by the WGA Strike. Anyone who's gone to an industry props & costume sale knows the treasures one might find.


As you may know, a great many people in the film and television industry - especially those "behind the scenes" (grips, techs, designers, etc) - are out of work (and out of an income) due to the ongoing Writer's Strike. To try to counter this effect, the Local 705 Costumer's Guild has set up a "Welfare Fund" to help support it's members who are unable to work during this time.

The 705 is having a HUGE YARD SALE on Saturday, February 9th from 9 a.m. til 2 p.m. The union members will be selling a wide variety of costumes and jewelry (and I'm not talking just the hokey kind of stuff - some awesome, wearable - and often unique - threads & accessories!). Each individual vendor will donate a portion of their sales to the Welfare Fund AND there will be a number of tables full of strictly donated items with 100% of those proceeds going to the Welfare Fund. So do some SHOPPING and help support some of those affected by the WGA strike. Come early to get the grooviest, funkiest and coolest stuff!!


Saturday February 9th, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Local 705 Costumers Union Yard Sale
History for Hire Prop House (a great big parking lot...)
7149 Fair Avenue
North Hollywood, 91605
Just SW of the Sherman Way/Vineland intersection

Labels: local, shopping

Film: Michael Clayton (2007)
Date: 2/1/07
Place: AMC Media Center, Burbank

Advice from me to a film snob: Every once in a while go see a movie at a mall movie theater. It's a much different experience in LA to see an Oscar nominated flick with the Friday night mall crowd than at some other industry hoopla.

Michael Clayton is one damn fine film. It's a fairytale for this modern age. I chalk it up with the other beautifully bleak Oscar contenders from this year (There Will Be Bloood, No Country For Old Men). Tilda Swinton plays a wonderful villain and Tom Wilkinson is consistently stunning. For the first half of the film George Clooney distracted me. His charisma is sometimes too much to take on one screen and fights the smaller character driven moments a film like this demands. But by the end I was hooked. The end title sequence, by the way, is one of the best I've ever seen. There's a silence and lyricism that you don't usually find in Western filmmaking. In fact, it might be a Wong Kar-Wai or Hou Hsiao Hsien rip-off. If not, then filmmakers take note. That is one effective ending.

Michael Clayton comes out on DVD 2/19 for those not lucky enough to have mall movie theaters bring back movies for Oscar season.

Labels: film journal

Only in L.A. would a flea market call their first weekend outing an opening. Indeed, the folks that bring deal-hunters and trend-makers the Fairfax Flea Market will start another flea market downtown. Every Sunday 9am to 4pm, starting this Sunday, a parking lot gets revitalized. Between Olive and Grand, you'll find the entrance on 8th street. DJs and live bands play throughout the day and typical fair food serves the parched. Admission is only $2. Kids and Seniors are free. A Farmer's Market will also be a part of the usual vendors but keep your leashed doggies out of the food section or risk the consequences of a health code violation. There's more info and booth pictures up on the website southparkfleamarket.com. I wonder if they staged a publicity shoot for the booth pics. How L.A.

Sundays - rain or shine
South Park Flea Market
8th & Grand Parking Lot
Downtown, 90014

Labels: events, food, shopping

I have a habit of browsing Craigslist's rentals even when I don't need a new place to live. I like to keep up on what's available in the neighborhood, remind myself how crazy the cost of studio living is, and daydream about the perfect home. But I never knew Craigslist could be a portal to learning about designers, until today. See the ad here.

Labels: design, local

Check out the buzz on CurbedLA and Eater LA.
plus Daily Candy.
plus Thrillist.

The coffee and cigarette drink intrigues me. That's a fine dark roast with tobacco infused whipped cream. Plus the decor is looking awfully sharp. But I dunno if this will be the best place to park a laptop in my yoga sweats and risk the chance of dirty looks. I dare someone to order a venti cafe con panna.


Lamill Coffee
1636 Silver Lake Blvd.
Silver Lake, 90026
323.663.4441

Labels: food, local

Those who know me know I like things - but I am not a material girl - even though my closet says different. I often give in to the fleeting happiness gathered from beautiful clothes, shoes, jewelry and other stuff. These three are on my happy list today:


Atelier Hoodie by Eloise. Available at Anthropologie, just in the stores, not online anymore. Softer than the most expensive terry cloth hoodie and way more flattering. The wide band in the middle hugs the curves in the right spot. The wide bell sleeves and slightly puffed shoulder elevate this to a not-so casual sweatshirt. Plus the crochet details is just right, especially the row on the back, which compliments a lady's lower back just the way we like it. I'm trying out more layering options for this piece because if worn just with jeans the BF thinks I look too much like a Shirley Temple character and calls me good ship lollipop.




Thanks to the eames photostream on flickr I now know the U.S. Post Office will release Eames design stamps later this year. I'm a big fan of commemorative stamps. I'm not a collector, I just really enjoy the trips to the post office when they have a wide selection for you to choose from that doesn't include Christmas imagery or stamps made for weddings. I must plan a Saturday visit to the Eames House in Malibu soon as well as the Eames Office - the gallery/store that's gotta be cooler than the closest DWR.




My inner teenager wants to scribble all over my notebooks I heart Missbehave Magazine. Even though it's New York City centric it's full of sass. Like Jezebel, sometimes the sass needs to be taken like salt in small doses, other days I crave for the foul-mouthed fashionistas in training and say, bring it. I'm indulging in all of their guilty pleasures from ghetto-fab nails to the latest plastic-fantastic accessory. The blog occasionally posts party fliers for the LA area. I'll be checking in often to know which latest trend I'm missing out on.

Labels: design, fashion, shopping