It's Stahl, Doll!

There are houses. And then there is the Stahl House, or Case Study House #22. You probably know it from the infamous photograph taken by Julius Shulman. Julius was a fresh young fellow who took brilliant architectural photographs back in the 1960s documenting amazing architecture. But back to Stahl House. This iconic house makes me crazy, it's so good. The clean lines, the expansive glass...the way it looks like it's just floating on that edge. Oh what I would give to have a cocktail party there. Can you imagine?? 

 

Located on a hill in West Hollywood, overlooking downtown LA, it features humongous windows, a stunner of a pool and priceless views. The Stahl Family still owns the place and if you live in the area you can actually take a tour. I'm dying to know how much it would cost to rent the place for a party.

The house is divine, but you have to give it up to Julius Shulman too. His photos made everything look just a little bit cooler. Here is some more of Julius for yer viewing pleasure.

AMAZING! You really can find pretty much everything on YouTube, check out this little video tour. There are some cheesy moments where we have to suffer through tour groups of people mugging it up in the kitchen, but its pretty fun to watch.

Style Files: Casual Friday Crazy Pattern

Aw yeah, it's FRIDAY people! I'm so happy. It's been a nutty week and I'm looking forward to a little relaxin this weekend. Oh yeah, here are the deets:

+ Vintage Dress, possibly thrifted or from a little shop (i can't remember!!)

+ Gap bootleg jeans

+ Cropped cardigan with little birdie applique (from target a few years ago)

+ Black ratty Converse

+ White plastic necklace

+ LOOP NY Andy Warhol Banana Tote

So this is off the subject, but man oh man my skin is feeling dry—and let's not even discuss the dark circles under my poor lil eyes. Any recommendations for skin products? What do you guys use? Do eye cremes even work?? Hmmm. I'd love some recos friends.

It's a Mad Mad World

I love the 60s and I work in advertising...so explain to me why I have never seen an episode of Mad Men?? It makes no sense. It's like this show was tailor made for me. Despite never having seen the show, I'm wise to the antics of Don Draper and his crew. I must say that January Jones (the actress on the show who plays Betty Draper) really has the best name ever.



So this has been making the rounds and I thought you guys might have some fun with it if you haven't seen it already!  It's the "Mad Men Yourself" generator on AMC.com

It's a fun little engine that lets you turn yourself into a stylized little character of yourself as you might appear on Mad Men. The results are a little bit Shag and whole lotta fun. They never have enough options to truly make you look like yourself, but it was fun to think "What WOULD my spazzy hair be like back in the day?"

So this really looks nothing like me, and I certainly don't have the boobage like this lady does, but it was the closet I could come. This is my "evening" look. haha.

The wardrobe on the show is pretty amazing. The dress on the far right is my pick!



The green is pretty divine too, don't you think?


OK gang, let's see YOUR Mad Men character.

It's late and I'm tired.

OK. I have to warn you. Tomorrow may be a day of very lite posting. Why, you may ask? Because it's 11:45pm and I'm still at work. Ugh. I'm tired. So very tired. So to take my mind off the fact that it's pitch black outside and there is a police siren wailing in the distance....let's pretend we're back on the lake in Michigan!



Ahh, there. Much better.








Out of the blue Wolfie said to me, "Mama! Let's make moustaches!" And then this happened:



He's never done that before...I was dying. Wolfie is truly the sweetest, silliest little boy around.







OK, enough boat action. Time for silly photos by the barn.





Now if only I could hop on this sweet bike and ride all the way home...

Don Shank's retro quirkiness.

I like this fella's style! Very retro and dark. His name is Don Shank....I have to look into him.





OK, so the kitty isn't that dark...haha. I really like the second image, like a kooky vintage laboratory. How is everyone today? It looks like rain out here in Cali. Where oh where did the sunshine go??

Style Files: Casual Sundress

Lakeside edition wearin'
+ a lil cotton sundress
+ short sleeved brown cardigan
+ rhinestone butterfly pendant
+ miu miu mary janes

Hand Drawn Hipster

I love hand drawn lettering and sketchy illustrations. I have to admit it's become impossibly trendy—any time someone wants to make something look indie, they hand drawn it. Check out movies like Napoleon Dynamite, the opening scene of Juno and the more recent Away We Go. 

But even though it's popping up everywhere, I still totally dig it. And some  artists still stand out as unique and interesting. Andy J Miller's work is a great example. His stuff is colorful, playful and cool—a little bit psychedelia, and a little bit 70s coloring book.

 Take a looksie:

Images from: Andy J Miller