Familiar Faces

I photographed these girls, Lisa Ziven and Dakota Solt, a while ago not knowing who they were at all. They were nice girls with great style that I found hanging around Sunset Junction. Now, these two are popping up randomly. First, Dakota is part of The Tappan Collective, which my sister's best friend/roommate is also part of. And secondly, I just opened up the October edition of Nylon (a bit late, I know) to see an article written about them and their clothing line/artist collective, Crybaby Presents. Who knows where they will pop up next!

23

Earlier this year my grandma shared some information that made quite the impact on me - whatever happens on your birthday will be a reflection of your year. So if you have a crappy birthday, you'll have a crappy year. If you have a great birthday, you'll have a great year. Andddddd I kind of believe that. For the past two or three birthdays, things didn't turn out so well or were a mess (because my birthday is the day after Christmas) and maybe that really did affect my year?! I don't know if that's true or not, but I went into this birthday with an open mind and realized that yeah, having my birthday the day after Christmas will always be kind of tough and I just need to accept that.

And I had a great day! Breakfast at Toast on West Third, a beautiful hike in Temescal Canyon, finally seeing Silver Linings Playbook, dinner at The Churchill, and drinks at Harvard and Stone. I don't think I have ever done that much on my birthday before. Thank you so much to Tianna and Dion for making my day amazing.

Winter-y Street Style Shots

New article on Refinery29 featuring street style pics I've been taking for about the past month. Check it out here!

Susie Homemaker

Although I love photography and I am a photo intern for Refinery29, I didn't want anything photo-related for Christmas. Not one thing. I know photography has kind of been defining who I am lately, but I just have gotten sick of all the camera accessories and lenses and flashes that I've had to get lately.

As you can tell I love desserts and I love baking desserts even more so, so I got a bunch of baking-themed presents this year. Adorable measuring cups, jars to hold sugar/spices/etc., a subscription to Bon Appetit magazine all from my sister; a Cuisinart ice cream maker to add fuel to the fire with my addiction to ice cream - from my mom; and a KitchenAid stand mixer from my dad! I've wanted the last gift for years - any time I was ever in a department store with my mom, I would find myself admiring all the pretty KitchenAid mixers in different colors, but I always said I would want a silver one because it would match any kitchen.

So apparently, turning 23 (on December 26th) was actually like turning 60. I have become an old lady and I will bake all day and talk to my cats while I do it. Fine by me!

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve this year, we had a pretty big dinner with a handful of our friends in attendance. I have a really small family, so inviting friends over for Christmas has become a tradition. SO MUCH food was made... including our Czech pork dish (I have no idea how to spell it, but it's the Czech version of wienerschnitzel). I was in charge of the desserts, so I made fudge, cookies, and a spice cake from a recipe that has been in our family for a while. I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked, but here are some:

The outfit I wore - a random dress I found at Crossroads and Zara heels

Street Style, Bo

Street Style, Joy

This is how southern Californians do 'winter'