Fall Inspiration

From vacay freedom into busy bee overdrive: this week includes work, interviewing some peeps, meeting with lots of peeps, writing, packing, moving and some how clearing some space on this silly laptop for my Baltic Sea photos. So we will just have to marinate on these few feathers and fanciful umbrellas for a bit...

Random Sunday

PHOENIX—At a Dolly Parton look-alike contest, 1979.

I'm Back

I have returned from a lovely holiday on an island in the Baltic Sea and let me tell you those East Germans have a whole lot more free beach behavior then us Americans. Appropriately my vacation reading took place in a commune in the 1960s, so it didn't take me too long to get into the spirit. More stories and of course pics to come.

Tschüss!

Lucky me, I am off to a German beach town on the Baltic Sea for a week and I am going to try my hardest to stay off the Internet and reeelllllllllaaxxxxxxxx — something that has been hard for me to do lately but that's been long overdo. See you when I get back all tanned and serene, hopefully.

It's a Blog World

Tavi at Christian Dior January, 2010

I love being a blogger. It is a consistent hobby — albeit a bit of a narcisstic one — when so many of my others I only dabble in sporadically (sewing, yoga, soccer, learning German eek!) or tried to get into and just failed miserably (lomo photography, baking, hopefully not learning German and most likely my recent fantasy of learning how to play the accordion, don't even ask).

Being an avid personal blogger as well as one professionally has got me pretty good at navigating the Internet and the blogospere and finding things and people that entertain and interest me and hopefully my few readers. Anway, there are actually two things I am trying to say. 

1) Despite this love and maybe addiction to the blogoshpere, it's always nice to make such connections in the real world. Yes, the real world. While I was in Copenhagen I got to meet the lovely Sarah Leigh, who is an avid blogger and fashion hound herself and who has a much more comprehensive tale of Copenhagen Fashion Week over on her blog. You should definitely check it out and get lost in all her style musings.

2) Also, I wrote a story about bloggers — the ones with actual followers, personal invites to fashion shows, design collaborations, marketing campaigns and well their own celebrity status. Check it out here.

Fall Colors

Speaking of fall, this photo I found on Les Mads of the Anywho bloggers at Copenhagen Fashion Week, is a perfect example of my choice color spectrum — rose, tans, browns, and burnt orange — for the upcoming (or already here in Berlin´s case) season. Do you think they coordinated it on purpose?

Chunky Knits

Since it seems that fall decided to start in August this year (WTF!), I have had autumn attire on my mind. Or maybe it's because I told myself I could not buy anymore clothes until I needed to shop for the new season or a curse because I did (these striped bad boys). Anyway, this year (as usual) I will be all about the big knit comfy sweaters — sometimes worn as dresses and sometimes not — and it looks like the mainstream fashion world has decided to join me. Hopefully I can find the thrift store version of this amazing Stella McCartney number. And I am totally into this continuing tan, camel, nude, whatever you want to call it trend too and will be jumping on the bandwagon and purchasing a camel coat as soon as possible.

P.S. Still to do this day I have not been able to find the perfect long coat that makes me happy ever time I slip into it. Hopefully this season will be it.

Copenhagen Shoe Roundup

As I am finally done with the story-that-would-not-write-itself, I do have the time to give you a little roundup of my time in Copenhangen. Sadly, it wasn't quite as glamourous as one would think and actually full of long days and little sleep. So instead of boring you with those details, I will give you a shoe roundup. Which do you like the best?

It is much easier and a lot less nerve-wracking to do street style shots when you don't actually have to talk to the person, but just point down to their feet and shoot. As you can see by the number of shoes I snapped, compared to the one actual full human.


This lovely lady named Annbrith was walking around the gallery where I was interviewing designers, and despite my terrible camera skills and usual tendency to watch from afar, I had to stop her and ask her to take a pic. Serendipitously, she worked for and was dressed head-to-toe in Wackerhaus, a Danish brand whose show I was attending that evening. 


These pictures do not at all do her outfit or the line justice, as you can not see all the beautiful detailing. But I will tell you that watching that show for the short ten minutes it lasted, made the blood rush back into my brain after my grueling day and reminded me why I love fashion. I would wear everything that came down the catwalk from sharply pleated trousers to the lace LBDs, but it still felt like a show— an amazing spectacle that was fluid and entertaining.

Procrastination High

I really need to write this story and I just cannot bring myself to do it. What do you do to to beat procrastination?

Random Sunday

WEST BERLIN—1965.

Copenhagen Flowing Ladies

Snapped last night...

Blogger Camp

I used to go to camp every summer for a week as a kid — now the end of the summer means fashion week. I guess they are sort of similar with all the tents and scheduled activities, but the lemonade is replaced with free martinis, instead of a bunch of adolescents running around we have a bunch of models who look like adolescents, the insecurities are still there but every ounce of baby fat is gone. 

But anyway, the point of all this is that today I get to go to a combination of them both: Fashion Blogger Camp. I am finally getting out of this gallery trade show thing I have been at thus far and am heading over to Terminal 2 to hear Facehunter (who shot the pics above over the last few days) and a few other fashion bloggers talk about my home away from home: the blogospere, then off to some shows. 

If you are in Copenhagen you should come on down and say hi: I will be the one looking really serious and stylish. Check it out.

Typo Tattoo

As an editor, or even a person I think, this is possibly the worst thing ever. It seems Rihanna may have to wear a scarf on the streets of Paris from now on, as her new French neck tattoo has a grammatical error. Eeek, makes me feel terrible even writing that. Read story here.

A Quick Hello From...

Denmark! Surprisingly I am here covering Copenhagen Fashion Week for my new job. It all happened so fast, including getting the job, I can't really believe it myself. But here I am surrounded by all these beautiful tanned blonde bicycling Scandinavians. Truthfully, despite the obvious beautiful biker presence, I haven't experienced much of the city yet and might not really get to as I am here for work and up to my ears in fashion events (I have to be up at 7 am tomorrow!). But I really hope to get at least a few hours off to see something like the picture above and maybe even do a little shopping.  

Style Inspiration: Diane Keaton

(hat: thrift from Humana in Neukölln, shirt: old wife beater, belt: vintage from Garage in Berlin, striped pants: thrift from Humana in Neukölln)

All I really want to wear lately is baggy pleated pants and long skirts, if I throw on a hat it's almost like a real outfit. Maybe next time I'll add the tie, but most likely not. And I have a confession to make: I have actually never seen Annie Hall — but it has now moved up to number one on my must see list.

Berlin Weekend Roundup

Karsten and Megan, August 7, 2010

As I said earlier this week, a year ago I first came to Berlin and in turn met Karsten. So this weekend we did a little celebrating with a special dinner followed by a night dancing with our friend Anne. Berlin is a casual city and although we go out to dinner all the time, it's not usually the fancy kind of foodie restaurants New Yorkers are used to. The cuisine here is fresh and delicious and amazingly affordable, so you don't have to pay a lot to eat well. 

But we took it up a notch on Saturday night and got dressed up and went to Nansen — a restaurant on the canal that I always ride by — and had a "proper" NYC style dining experience with a bottle of fancy wine and steak (I dismissed my red meat ban for a few bites of his and it was so worth it). And even with all that it still had its Berlin low pressure vibe and only cost us 60 euro, somehow a fortune for this city. In other food news, sadly I did not find my taco truck, but we still managed a great weekend that included the fab dinner and what seems to be our new Sunday tradition.

It all went something like this: Anne meetup #1, rainstorm, early Ä Bar, early early bed, house cleaning, failed search for taco truck #1, flea market, cat painting purchase (more on that later), dressed up bike ride, dinner at Nansen, Anne meetup #2 at Konrad Tönz, dancing at Cassiopeia, Sunday breakfast, failed search for taco truck #2, Badeschiff Sunday swim, replacement taco dinner, True Blood.

Random Sunday

SWITZERLAND—Lake Lucerne, 1936.

Choices

Photos from Ffffound! and This Isn't Happiness.

My Daily Not So Daily O

My blog has certainly taken a much less Obama-centric approach as of late, but this is just too good to pass up, even if it did happen a year ago. Look at this pic of Barack and Michelle with the prime minister of Spain and his Goth teen daughters. Yes, Goth teen daughters — some of us were them and one day many of us will have them and now we can all feel a little more amazing about that. I wonder if they are still into it or if the faze is over. Anyone know?

Thanks for the flashback VenaCava blog.

Into It...Short Hair Black & White

Totally feeling Emma Watson's pixie cut. Did you know that she was the highest paid actress in 2009? Weird, right?

Not normally into her, but am digging Jennifer Aniston as Barbra Streisand in Harper's Bazaar.

Young at Heart

Sorry for the clichéd title, wish I thought of the one the Times did. But anyway, I get made fun of for liking old lady things and loving little old men — I used to even coin my style "Grandma Chic." So this, naturally, is amazing!

Read the story here.

Berlin's First...

I am so excited — I got to experience New York's first (pretty sure) taco truck in Williamsburg and now the Mexican street deliciousness has made it's way from my home Cali to NYC to Berlin! Thanks to Sugarhigh, an awesome site I just discovered all about this fair city, I now know that Tacos Berlin will be parked at the Nowkoelln Flowmarket (a flea market by my house that I have been meaning to check out anyway) this Saturday. Not getting my hopes up for the perfect taco or anything, but ordering from the truck (in German?) will be fun and the pic looks pretty delish, no?

Side note: when I first got here, one year ago, getting Mexican food was very unlikely and probably not worth the risk of it being terrible (I am a California Mexican food snob and it was the same way in NYC), but recently I have seen Mexican restaurants popping like little hot tamales all over the place in Berlin. We even went to one for my birthday and had some pretty tasty guac, tacos and margaritas.I wonder if this food trend is just here or if it's spreading throughout Germany and Europe as well. Ooh I need to go make some dinner, tengo hambre.

Happy Anniversary Berlin!

Tegel Airport, August 5, 2009

One year ago today I stepped down on Berlin soil for the first time and was picked up by my brother Michael in his hooptie with the license plate GR81LVR "The Great One Lover" that he actually got for free (only Michael, only in Berlin). Despite the passenger door not being able to open, I certainly had something to smile about.

But little did I know how huge the adventure I was embarking on would turn out to be — that a two month holiday (see I really am European now) would soon turn to three and a trip back for Christmas and in the end an indefinite move. Little did I know I would fall in love with a city and a person (I met Karsten the next day) and everything would change. This photo, shot with my bro's phone after he stuffed my suitcase in his trunk, shows the excited face of someone on the brink of something monumental — I can feel my blind anticipation.

It's crazy to think this was just a year ago because so much has gone down since then. But at the same time, I can recount every detail of that day and the days to come like it just happened, from what I was wearing, to what we talked about, to how I felt about it all. I still daydream about those moments constantly. Is that weird?

I know I am lucky to have had such an amazing experience and even luckier that a year later it still continues each day. Thanks for everything Berlin!

A Bird's Eye View

A much better way of looking down at things.

Photos from Ffffound! and Gawker.

Shopping Lockdown

After spending way too much time and money shopping in the past few weeks and every day our bedroom looking more and more like a women's clothing store, I have put the kibosh on buying any new clothes or shoes until the seasons change (mark my words Karsten!). It will be tough I know, but I think I can do it — especially with the support of all my recently purchased items from Berlin thrift stores and H&M of all places. 

I definitely have a new found or maybe simply a found love for H&M since I moved to Europe. I swear it is so much better over here that it makes it almost worth the risk of wearing the exact same thing as someone else in the street. Another theory is that the thrift stores in Berlin are about the same price as H&M so I am no longer going to them for basics — just unique vintage pieces — and am buying my necessaries, plus a few goodies I find in the mix, at H&M.

So here are the goods:

*Maxi leaf-pattern button skirt: thrift Alexanderplatz Humana (this fall I have decided that I am going to dress like your 3rd grade teacher).
*Gray booties: on sale at Zara 
*Over-sized cropped tees in tan and black: H&M (so good with anything high-wasted)
*80s pattern pleated cotton pants: thrift Alexanderplatz Humana (the absolute perfect fit and comfort and not too saggy in the butt. But I think I might not have the balls to pull off the pattern with confidence, so am thinking of dying them a shade of blue).
*Sleeveless white button-up blouse: thrift Alexanderplatz 
Humana (just what I was looking for).
*Black A-line skirt: H&M
*Gray drawstring pants: thrift Alexanderplatz Humana (obviously I am into super comfy pants lately, but I have to figure out how to wear these without them looking like pajamas).
*Black platforms: H&M (these were a splurge that I normally wouldn't have gone for, but once they were on my feet I knew there was no turning back.  I'm in love).
*Tan vintage tee: in the 4 euro bin at Glad I Never (a cute little new design, vintage and second-hand store where yes, you can get things for 4 euro. And aren't the cut-out shoulders fab!).
*Black & white razorback striped tank: H&M

Listening to the new Arcade Fire album "The Surburbs" on NPR. Thoughts on that later.

Working Class Issue XI: The Relationship Issue

The latest issue of Working Class is out and it happens to be on one of my favorite topics of conversation: relationships! Sweet. I wrote a wee wee something and did some edits this time around, but the big ups goes to Marcel and Megan of course. Check it out here.

Take a read and then maybe donate some cash so we can get this thing in print once again.

Berlin Weekend Roundup

A wonderful thing about the summer in Berlin is that the weekends are often absolutely perfect, with perfect weather and relaxing/or not fun throughout. This one was certainly no exception, especially because the fun started early on Friday afternoon. Despite that, now that it's August I can't help but feel a little bummed out that the summer is ending. But I just have to remember I still hadn't even arrived in Berlin at this time last year and I still felt like I had a whole long amazing summer then. So I am sure there are many more weekends like this one ahead of me.

It all went something like this: bike ride, lunch on Bergmannstrasse, antique perusing, ping pong, pool, pizza, True Blood and Ben & Jerry's, house shopping, very "European" BBQ on the river, meat fest (I'll take the mushrooms please), weeping willows, beautiful moon, serious conversations, serious fun, too much talk of Burning Man (on my part), Michael Jackson "Thriller" dance, violins, sleeping in, avocado toast in bed, Badeschiff, swimming, reading in the sun, sushi, sleep. 

And to continue with the tradition of last week I will tell you the very simple recipe (if you can even call it that) for one of my favorite things to eat. Pictured above (not the meat). So simple, easy, healthy and good.

Avocado Toast Ingredients
Wheat bread 
Avocado 
Tomato 
Red onion 
Cucumber

Directions
*Cut everything in thin slices
*Toast bread
*Spread avo on top of like cream cheese and add all the vegis. 
*Sprinkle with salt, pepper and chili flakes.