WEEK IN PICTURES: FOOD TRUCKS & CUPCAKES

Happy Tuesday guys. this week already seems to be flying by. T minus 8 days till Zoe starts school, excited for her although she's not ready for her summer to end!

I have not done a "Week In Pictures" in ages! this segment is pretty much my hobby of photographing or documenting what i've done or seen through-out the week or the things Zoe and I do.

This week i'm starting out with something Zoe said is pretty gross but i was fascinated by. thank goodness i spotted these eggs that were literally right under my door hanging before they hatched. i've ran into these suckers before and right away recognized they were black widow eggs. i did not see mama and i scooted them over to destroy them unfortunately, but i did not need to have these suckers hanging around. one almost bit Zoe already, serious heart attack moment!



i started to burn the eggs and all these small eggs came out, it looked like hundreds of eggs i was so creeped out and fascinated at the same time. their were three egg sacks in total and when i burned the other one hundreds of baby black widows came out. that moment i could not capture because i was busy killing each and every one of them before they hung around my house; i am itchy just thinking of it now. sorry if this seems icky but i am fascinated with things as such; that's why i love watching shark week, reading up on spiders and watching documentaries on the worlds deadliest insects. i'm like that with about most any subject i stumble upon and captures my attention. i have to read up about it and find out everything!

Anyways moving on away from spiders, i had the best Sunday hanging out with a new friend and listening to a great church teaching that went straight to the heart. we also ended up stopping by a flea market in Silverlake in L.A. and met a great gal who transforms found objects into anything she creates it to be. she made some really cool necklaces out of the end of a spoon and also used the other half of the spoon to make other necklaces; talk about letting nothing go to waste! she'e real sweet and i enjoyed meeting her, she just opened an Etsy shop but is till pending setting it up, i'll be linking her when she does.

Family and friend time is always the best!





Then we hit this food truck..


Which i forgot to take a picture of the most tasty hot dog i've had in years. it was a gourmet dog topped with some type of basil leaves, string sweet onions, avocado and a vinegrette; it was delicious all for a mere $6 dollars!

L.A. is known for their gourmet/general food trucks and i heard that every 3rd Fridays of the month over 30 food trucks gather in Venice Beach for a food truck explosion. all types of different foods imaginable are all there! this particular truck is going to try to do "The Great Food Truck Race" from the Food Network Channel next year. i thought this was great, although they scare me a bit i think the gourmet trucks have a higher standard of food service though.

Then we headed to Larks in Silver Lake and had the best cupcakes hands down!





The icing toppings on these were to die for, such a perfect balance of creamy / not to sweet. really it was perfection in the taste buds! if any of you live in L.A. or come visit check it out HERE.

i had a great mini adventure this weekend i could not have ended it any better!

SHOP UPDATE

Hi guys! i have been very bad at blogging these past few weeks and well now that Zoe's gotten home i've gotten even more behind! all i can say is that i am quite enjoying having her back and we are catching up on much missed mother daughter time.

I'm also trying to catch up on updating Bella regularly, i will be taking some time off from my job next week for Zoe's big back to school so that will give me some time to also catch up on the shop while Zoe's at school.

I have allot of vintage coats and sweaters that i will be putting in the shop just in time for fall next month, i can't wait!

Here's what's in the shop now:


80's POLKA DOT DROPPED WAIST DRESS


70's BEADED EVENING DRESS


60's MOD COLORED GLEE CLUB BLAZER


90's CARPET FLORAL VELVETEEN DRESS


70's AZTEC PRINT KNIT FRINGED SHAWL

more coming this week..night!

BUYING VINTAGE

Happy Monday! i am having a good one ever since Zoe got back from her summer vacation from Miami. i am so enjoying my time with her, but was feeling bummed to have to go to work today, i just wanted to keep spending time with her. stay at home mommies are very blessed to do so, that's my big goal to reach with much prayer one day.

As i went on a buying adventure this afternoon i ran across these bales full of clothes and was curious as to what they were going to do with it. i was really more concerned that they would be dumping the clothes or selling them off as rags.





So i asked about it and found out they were being shipped to another country. companies or non-profits buy them at about 0.05 cents an ounce she told me there were about 7,000 pounds in just those bales. the good news is that the purpose for the sale is to give clothes out to those who need it and i was relieved to find out none was going to waist.

The place I buy at is also is a non-profit and they serve the community by housing 28 families daily short term, just to get them off there feet and serve hot meals as well plus provide child care to make it easier to find work. the manager of the facility was kind enough to give me a tour and explain to me the process of what happens to the clothes once they are donated and how they get priced.

The clothes end up in those bales once they are marked down 50% and do not sell after a couple of months, and by the looks of it there is tons and tons of clothes that end up going over seas. it just brought to me the full circle of why i love being a vintage seller. 1st i love vintage clothes, it's construction prints and quality fabrics, 2nd most places i buy from are great organizations that help in the community, 3rd your not letting clothes go to waist because in most cases what they want to go over seas are jeans, work clothes and sturdy shoes; so it's nice to know that you give new life to other wise what might seem like a frumpy dress or a mumu with a wonderful print. i like the whole recycling concept although unconscious, it's just something i've been doing since i was 15.

Just a couple of reasons why buying vintage not only is fun, easy on the pocket and is one of a kind it also helps in many ways we didn't even know about.

ZOE's HOME!!!!!!

Zoe's home!!!!! tanned and looking 5 feet taller. i was so bummed to see the picture came out blurry, i did not have a steady hand when i took it; i was shaking so much from excitement in seeing my beautiful girl!

I missed her so, and held back tears while trying to get a proper hug from her. she was so embarrassed i made such a big deal of her arrival, but her smile on her face said everything.


(picture note: she's throwing a peace sign, almost looked like something else)

We talked all the way home, it felt as if she never left. we picked up pizza from the Village Pizza in town, it was the best tasting pizza ever! got soda and dessert and watched all the recent Project Runway episodes, something we enjoy doing together because we gab about all the garments made. so much fun! so "Chick Night" is back on, can't wait to start the adventures of Gisela and Zoe once again here on the blog.

i'm off to enjoy her her company once again; we are using the yard sale funds to go do some decor shopping for her room and some back to school shopping too!

hope your all having a joyous weekend as i am!

A LITTLE QUIET ON LE BLOG

Happy Wednesday guys! i know it's been pretty quiet on le blog my week started up quite eventful with my mom's surprise visit from Vegas on Monday. it was nice seeing her and seeing pictures of her trip to Honduras which i'll share later about, so needless to say i was unable to blog. then yesterday i built my dress form which was a nightmare because the large metal spring which is suppose to slide to the bottom wouldn't; it was stuck and i battled with it for an 1 hour 1/2..i was pooped and had calluses on my hand from it, good news i got it unstuck after almost coughing up a lung..

and today i started to concentrate on shooting as much items as possible so i can update the shop steadily for the next two weeks with a good 100 items; having the form now will help that goal finally become a reality! i will still have live models because i like showing both perspectives as i mentioned on a previous post but i will get ahead of the game getting as much inventory up as possible in the shop.

it will be quiet on the blog for the next two days, but i will be back to regular blogging this weekend..thanks to you all who support my blog!


wishing you a good night~

WHEN IN MIAMI: MIAMI TWICE

My love for vintage clothing began in the 7th grade (1989/90), when i went to go shopping with my friend Ofie at Miami Twice, it opened my eyes and it was the beginning of my love affair with vintage clothing. Ofie was ahead of her time already loving vintage, she was only 12 and this was in an era when vintage was not as coveted as it is today. you were actually made fun of for wearing it because it was the era of New Kids On The Block, Debbie Gibson, 90210, Swatch Watches, Guess Jeans etc..! and that's what our generation was wearing.

on that day ruffling my little fingers through the clothes, wishing i could afford all the pieces i laid eyes on, not having a clue that two years later i would find myself hunting them down at thrift stores at prices i could afford. but miss's Ofie's brother was treating his little sister to her first vintage piece, a 1920's black flapper dress. i'll never forget.

their was nothing like Miami Twice in the late 80's early 90's in Miami. it was my playground always going to check out new stock, and when i enrolled in fashion design school in 94" it's where i went to get inspiration and study the detailing of how clothing was made.

my favorite part was the bin of $10 and under i found some great treasures there, two pieces i still love and adore; a blue 70's halter disco dress and my 50's yellow lace and bead appliqué cardigan. i don't think i can ever get rid of those two pieces.



they have a huge collection of Pucci dress's and tops.





and lots of vintage western wear, kitschy 50's wear and heavily beaded/sequin tops.






old magazines galore, Life, Voque you name it!




a whole wall full of house wares..




and lots and lots of accessories, LOVE the vintage leather tooled bag and all the costume jewelry..

















to make room for all their vintage on the floor, they have a long spin around hanger where they store even more vintage and archival pieces..check out that white ruffled Mod dress, that looks like the Chloe dress from a few season's ago..



Miami Twice had to add contemporary brands in the store about 15 years ago, since vintage does not sell all that much in a city like Miami; which is driven more by resort/ sports wear/ body conscience clothing. unfortunately or fortunately there is not a huge market for it, which is something me and Diane the owner discussed. but that does not deter her to stop selling her amazing vintage collection, because she knows the treasures that she owns. They also do rentals which is another market that they have pretty much always had, since the stores opening in the 1980's.



Zoe looking oh so cute in a costume mask..



Miami Twice has changed allot since the hey-days of the plethora of vintage clothing, but you can still find some great pieces here especially in their spin around rack. it's pretty much the only vintage store besides C'Madeleines in Miami. so when in Miami check out Miami Twice!



MIAMI TWICE
6562 S.W. 40th St.
Miami, Florida 33155

HELLOS!

Happy Wednesday! i know i say this every week but i'm so glad there is only two days left for the weekend! i wanted to do a big blog post but i'm tired and just want to read and go to bed..i have been beat this week not sure why, but i'v practically have been falling asleep on my way home from work..so blog post will come tomorrow..

in some Bella news, i will be making some changes to the pictures for the shop..i've realized working full time and being a single mom i have very limited time to work during the week on le shop..it's hard only having the weekend to book models to do big shoots, re-vamping the vintage and preparing them to post in Etsy..it's well over 8 hours a day of work, so i will be using a half and halfer..showing the clothing styled on models (like we do now) and on a dress form..this will take a huuuge weight of my shoulders and will make life easier for me to work within my hectic schedule and not lose time in posting new items.

from the very beginning i always intended to use a dress form and bought one back in 2003 for that purpose..i never did start my shop right away and unfortunately my form got pretty beat up between moves..but i'm excited now to get a professional one not only for the shoots but for my own creations! yay! it gets here Monday and i can't wait to start shooting with it!


source: we heart it

any opinions on dress forms vs live models..i think both work in my opinion..i feel you get one point of view seeing it on a model styled and the other view is seeing the clean lines of the garments on the dress form best..but input is always welcome!


night night

I MISS MY 80's GIRL BANDS...

Hello! Happy Monday! i grew up listening to these gals while jumping on my bed, singing and dancing..loved these three bands and they are the reason i thought California looked so cool to live in..i was in Elementary..i begged my mom for clothes like these and i think the closest stuff to it i got was the jelly bracelets, neon splattered paint bangles (still have) and striped shirt with neon tie; but unfortunately i could not do the teased hair..this could be good or bad..but i did sport the wave bangs 5th thru 6th grade!


The Go Go's with their catchy tunes and awesome 80's style..these girls were the ultimate 80's girl band, their lyrics were really good too.















The Bangles these girls rocked! their style was Gypsy/ Rock-n-roll/ New Wave chic..who remembers "Hazy Shade of Winter"? and "Manic Monday"?..









Bananarama my friend Christina and I would play their records all day long and dance while we pretend sing with a comb...i miss those days...now i think of a razer..they had great style too..check out the combat boots in the last picture..pretty awesome!











where have all the cool girl bands gone??








source: google images