A Two-Day Hollywood Vacation

Kyle and I had such a fun weekend in Los Angeles! Where to begin? We packed so much into a one and half-day vacation - a concert at Bar Sinister, sushi in Beverly Hills, the Museum of Death, tons of shopping, and even a strip club!

We took off early Friday morning and arrived at our hotel around 4:30 p.m. I couldn't believe we didn't hit any traffic. I felt really spoiled because normally we choose to stay at a crappy hotel in the central Hollywood area, but instead we stayed at a four-star Hyatt in Beverly Hills (thanks undisclosed hotel deal website)!

Check out this view from our patio!

After getting all dolled up and changing clothes, we headed out to the Beverly Hills shopping and restaurant area for some dinner. I really wanted some fancy sushi.

Wearing: New Rock boots, chiffon tunic tank top, faux leather crop top with shoulder cut-outs, and curly extensions

I had no idea Kyle was taking a picture and apparently I was already drunk before having any alcohol? I just can't figure out why my leg is all crooked like that. Anyways, this photo is an amusing  shot of me stumbling down the hallway looking all uncoordinated, so I included it.

We wound up eating at a place called Yojisan and while the sushi was good quality and fairly priced (so surprising!), dessert really stole the show. I picked out the fanciest dessert on the menu - green tea chocolate lava cake with caramel gelato. It was amazing. Even Kyle liked it!

I mentioned that dinner was affordable, but I apparently can't read street signs, even though I checked before we parked, so we ended up with a $65 ticket. Yuck. So really, dinner was quite an expensive affair after all. :(

My sushi rolls, Kyle's salmon teriyaki (he doesn't eat real sushi), and the green tea chocolate lava cake dessert

The decor in the restaurant was very modern and minimalist. I loved it.

It was a half hour drive to Hollywood Blvd on a Friday night (7 miles but 30 minutes due to traffic) and we had a destination in mind - Jumbo's Clown Room. It's a go-go bar where the chicks are supposed to be alternative. While it was a fun experience and I'm glad we went, I was overall disappointed because the girls weren't really all that alternative. Having a few tattoos does not make you "alternative" these days. That isn't to say the girls weren't talented though. They were quite acrobatic and I can only imagine how in shape they have to be to prance around and do all those upside-down pole tricks.

Saturday afternoon we headed to East L.A. to meet up with our friends Krystel and Jonathan at a little Mexican restaurant called Manuel's Original El Tepeyac Cafe. I had the biggest burrito I've ever seen in my life. Krystel told me that Manuel's has been featured on "Man vs. Food," so that explains it I guess. Needless to say, I couldn't even eat a quarter of it.

Next the four of us headed to a bar with retro arcade games called "82." Parking was a bitch, but it was totally worth it. The bar was located in dual warehouses (one with pinball machines and one with arcade games) with an outdoor patio seating area. They had a DJ playing 80s tunes and the drinks were named after games and gamer terms! The building art was also pretty neat. We left wondering why this hasn't caught on and thinking we should open one in Sacramento or Davis…I mean, who doesn't love booze and video games?

Top right: exterior of the bar; Top left: interior of one warehouse building; Middle right: bar area; Middle left: Krystel, Jonathan, and Kyle playing Doctor Who pinball; Bottom: examples of the games available to play

Drink menu at 82

Saturday evening after some shopping on Melrose Avenue (more on that in a separate post), we headed back to Hollywood Blvd to visit the Museum of Death.

Sign at the entrance to the Museum of Death

The museum was very interesting because it was creepy, informative, and of course, very morbid. There were some areas that were hard to look at, such as the hallway full of car crash photos. To me, those pictures were the worst because it's not very likely you'll get murdered by a serial killer, but you have pretty decent chances of dying in a car crash, even if it's not your fault.

The last room in the museum is a tribute to G.G. Allin. This is significant because one of the employees told us that the owner is getting his "body," whatever that means. In case you didn't know, Allin died of a heroin overdose just over 20 years ago, so I imagine there's not much left of his "body" at this point if he wasn't cremated.

After a brief Italian dinner, we got in line at Bar Sinister for the Julien-K show. On our way inside while we were waiting in line at the merch booth, Kyle was accosted by a very drugged and drunk Mikey from Coal Chamber, a band that we both like. He was entertaining to say the least, literally taking his pants all the way off at one point and talking about the glory days of Coal Chamber and how you shouldn't give your money to Amazon. In his words: "Fuck Amazon." Ah, the joys of booze and drugs and being a rock star. Kinda gross in my opinion.

Me and a very intoxicated Mikey. You can see I'm amused but also somewhat frightened by him. He was very grabby with Kyle and I didn't want to be next on his "grab list."

I'm not a huge Julien-K fan, but Kyle really does love them. I appreciate the old school Orgy stuff that Amir and Ryan worked on far more. But those guys sure do know how to put on a show. It was a tribute concert to their first album, "Death to Analog," and I think that they actually sounded better live than they do on the CD. In person, the music has a more rock and roll vibe to it, whereas on the record it's more synthetic and electronic-sounding. My favorite song they played was "Technical Difficulties."

All I've got are some blurry iPhone pics of the show. Videos came out great, but photos….not so much.

I'd never been to Bar Sinister before, so we checked out the actual club proper after the concert, which ended at like 1:00 a.m. I'm such an old grandma - I was so tired I didn't even want to stick around and dance till the club closed at 2:00. A quick walk-through was enough for me. I would very much love to go back and dance on a future occasion though.

Be sure to check out my upcoming post on all the shopping we did on Melrose Avenue.

Until next time!

Outfit of the Day - Micro Mini Skirt, Studs, and Vegi Leather

Vest - thrifted; Skirt - Serious L.A. Clothing; Crop top - Love Culture; Boots - New Rock

Another work day, another all black outfit.

I own a gazillion mini skirts by Serious L.A. Clothing (now a completely different company that manufactures racing clothing by the way), but the denim and pleather one I wore today is by far one of my favorites. I love the studs on the sides, the chunky exposed zipper on the front and the fishnet pleat detailing on the back.

My vest is thrifted and my garter is actually a pair of shorts ("suspender leggings" with the leg portion unclipped). Those mini skirts don't cover much, and although my bosses are super cool and probably wouldn't care if I just wore pantyhose underneath my skirt, I know what is and isn't work-appropriate attire, even given the amount of freedom I have to be myself, hence the shorts.

I won't be writing until I get back from Los Angeles on Monday night, but you can bet I will have some good photos to post! The plan at this point is to see the concert/go to Bar Sinister and then do other stuff like visit a couple museums and of course, do some shopping. You can bet we'll be hitting up the Kill City store as well as all the cool boutiques on Melrose.

Until next time!

Outfit of the Day - High-Low Hem, Halter Vest, and Heavenly Couture

Sheer tunic tank top - Heavenly Couture; Halter vest - eBay; Boots - New Rock; Bracelets - gifts

It was super hot again today, and while I was feeling adventurous enough to pull one of my many pairs of Black Milk leggings out of their special drawer, I decided I'd rather wear something more lightweight and breathable, even though the shiny spandex was oh so tempting…so the same old same old shredded pantyhose it was.

I got some new sheer tunic tanks from Heavenly Couture in the mail on Monday. They're going to be perfect not only for every day attire but also as swim suit cover ups for when I'm in Hawaii in August! There was so much sheer in this one order - like five or six chiffon blouses for under $15 each…so stoked. Anyhow, it was my first time ordering from this company and so far I am very pleased with what I received, although I wish the sizing was a bit smaller. As you can see, I'm wearing a small in the tunic tank above and it's just bordering on being too big for me.

I'm also wearing one of my favorite vests. It's tuxedo-style with a very feminine halter cut, so I wore it to help give more shape to the nearly-too-big tunic.

Kyle finally had time to color my hair, so I've got no more visible roots! Now I'm just waiting on some tape-in hair extensions to arrive in the mail so I can have them installed. For now, I'm wearing my blonde and black dread clip-ins. I wear so much black that it's hard to see the black dreads in a photo.

I was in a super good mood today because I splurged and had sushi for lunch, so my shoot was a bit more fun that usual. Having freshly bleached hair is also somewhat responsible.

Next on the agenda is what to pack for this weekend. Kyle and I are driving to Los Angeles to see Julien-K at Bar Sinister. Ugh - I hate (sorta) going to clubs out of town because it means I have to pack five times as much since I'm never sure of what I want to wear on any given day, especially out to a club where it's expected that you're to be dressed to the nines.

Until next time!

Leather & Lace LOVES - Luv AJ Accessories

I just stumbled across a really amazing jewelry designer called LUV AJ based out of L.A.

Not only does LUV AJ have unique designs, but their merchandise comes in all sorts of colors and metals. What's more, it's affordable!

I've only included a few images above, which is a sample of what LUV AJ carries. They've got everything from leather jackets to hair clips.

I'm in love! I've got just about one of every piece they make added to my Pinterest wish list. Stay tuned to see if I end up buying anything.

Until next time!

Outfit of the Day - Stripes, Cowlneck, and Mesh Plus New Stuff at Work

Cowlneck top - unbranded; Mesh shrug - CAbi; Garter belt - Foreplay; Headband - Love Culture; Boots - New Rock

Work this week was pretty fun. The store has two new employees - one of whom is actually named Chelsey (same spelling and same name - no joke!), who I have yet to meet. The other gal is young and spirited and I had an easy time training her for the first part of the day.

I wore lots of sheer yesterday and also mixed it up with some stripes, both on my garter belt and my headband…ignore my roots by the way! I haven't had a chance to have Kyle color my hair as he has been so busy. Also, I'm pretty sick of headbands, but my bangs are having a hell of a time recovering and growing back from all the bleaching, so until then, I will pretty much be stuck sweeping them back with a headband.

Purse - Coach; Bracelet - 925 sterling silver; Ring - consigned

One of the cool things about working at French Cuff Consignment is that they offer layaway, even to employees. So when I saw a bag that I couldn't live without with a price point of $200 (WAY cheaper than retail by the way!), I decided to take advantage of this option. I don't usually like Coach bags as they tend to plaster their logo all over everything, but the bag shown above is pebbled leather with only the one plaque logo, which I actually kind of like. I'm also digging on all the chunky silver hardware.

Interestingly enough, my ring and bracelet were also purchased from work. The bracelet I got a year or two ago because I really liked the hinge aspect of it. The ring is nothing special - just a cocktail chunky piece, but I really liked it and it was cheap, so why not?

Anyways, back to work stories! My bosses came in and put up some spray-painted animal heads that turned out really neat. Since they were originally white, I have decided I actually want some for home and Kyle agrees.

Until next time!

Swim Suit Profiles and a Hawaiian Getaway

Bustier style tops

Yesterday my mom called and told me that she was going to purchase airfare for me to come to Hawaii with her in August!!! (I do have to pitch in a little, but it's not much in comparison to the big picture costs). My little sister is currently living on the big island, and so me and her are trekking to the tropics to visit.

As soon as I got off the phone, my first thought was, "What am I going to wear??" I own ONE bathing suit, and it's years old as I never go swimming. I swam competitively in high school, spent half my life growing up in a beach house, and never lived in a house without a swimming pool, so suffice it to say I can hold my own in the water. I've just grown accustomed to living near the water my entire life and sort of take it for granted. However, since I haven't really been to the beach in years and the last time I wore a bathing suit was about a year ago, I'm excited to have the occasion to buy one or two swim suits and live the beach bum life for a week.

I've already started browsing the swimwear sections of all my favorite sites, and I think I have narrowed it down to three styles, which should work out fine for a week on the island.

First, I've picked out a few basic bustier style tops that I would be able to pair with any black bottoms. Based on the pictures in the collage above, I'm leaning towards the Beetlejuice-stripey one.

All Monokinis pictured are from Spurst.com

My second choice is a monokini. My favorite lingerie website, Spurst, has a really nice selection of studs, faux leather, and silver hardware, so I imagine if I go with a suit of this style, I will get it from Spurst. Also, their prices are really reasonable, which is a huge plus. I'll just have to be careful not to get any weird tan lines!

Last option is to go with a suit that has some pizazz to it, whether it's via cut-outs, chains, or studs. I've always been partial to studs and chains, but the cut-outs shown in the collage above are pretty rockin'. Not sure they're appropriate for a married woman out and about with her mom though….hahaha.

I'm going to need so much SPF!!!! I already have olive-toned skin, so I don't want to come home five shades darker than I already am.

Until next time!

Lip Service Cult Web Order

Top left clockwise: Harness cut-out vest, foil chiffon drop-tail blouse in black, mesh crop top, lace moto jacket

It's been a while since I have ordered anything from Lip Service's website. I'm usually pretty cautious about buying online from them since their fits and cuts on garments seem to be all over the place. Sometimes things fit like a glove and other times, they are like burlap sacks. So generally, when I do buy Lip Service (which is not infrequently!), I buy it in person so I can try the garment on.

I made an exception for these sale pieces because honestly, they were just so ridiculously inexpensive. Two of the four pieces shown above were about $10 each!

It's no surprise all the items are black. Even though Lippy does make some really neat colored things, I know I will never wear them, so I stick to the solid blacks and whites.

I got a lot of sheer and light-weight items due to the summer heat. The great thing is I won't have to wait to wear these tops because they are all comfortable to sport in the Sacramento heat.

Stay tuned as I'm sure some of these will be featured in an outfit of the day post soon enough.

Until next time!

E Street Salon Client Appreciation Night and Some Boozing in Downtown Davis

E Street Salon from the exterior. I love their awning. Simple black and white is always the way to go in my opinion.

Chiffon Tank - Forever 21 purchased second hand from FreeStyle Clothing Exchange (midtown Sacramento location); Harness vest - Jakimac; Boots - Demonia

Friday night Kyle's new salon hosted a Client Appreciation event with food, alcohol, and good times. I wanted to dress sort of fancy since I would be mixing with his clientele and co-workers for the evening.

I chose a sheer tunic tank with a high-low hem from Forever 21 (I can't get enough high-low hems lately!) that I got second-hand from FreeStyle Clothing Exchange in Midtown Sacramento. I love shopping there - they've got tons of cute stuff for even cheaper than retail, which is saying a lot.

I hardly wear heels (i.e. weddings only!), but I do have a pair of chunky Demonia boots that I suppose technically qualify as heels. Reserved for special occasions and times when I know I won't be on my feet all night, I felt like breaking them out.

My vest is by Jakimac and I was happy to add a bit of leather into the equation. I thought it paired well with the spikes on my boots, ring, and necklace.

Ring - Gasoline Glamour; Spike Necklace - Gasoline Glamour; Boots - Demonia; Clutch - Unbranded

My accessories are pretty self-explanatory. I just thought I'd mention that 90% of them were items I bought and wore on my wedding day. Yay for re-using accessories!

The event was super fun. I got picked up by my sister-in-law Kacy and her boyfriend Jordan and hung out with them most of the night…(thanks for the ride guys). We snacked on white wine and cheese platters.

The salon was busy with friends, family, and clients. That's Kacy and her little plate of food coming to join me at the cheese platter.

Cheese and figs! So classy!

Kacy and Jordan "playing" hairstylist and client. Also doing silly robot dancing.

Once the raffle was over and things had calmed down, we headed over to De Vere's Pub across the street from the salon for some shots called "Wet Pussies." They tasted like pink lemonade!

The evening ended on a fun note - we had a friend come visit from San Diego and we drank cocktails at Bistro 33 until like midnight.

Until next time!

Outfit of the Day - Freddy Krueger, Chains, and Lip Service

Vest/Crop top - Lip Service; Tunic tank top - thrifted; Studded belt - Hot Topic

Today was one of those days where everything I tried on in the morning felt wrong. I mixed and matched a million things and ended up with a war zone on my closet floor and walked out the door later than I'd planned to work.

I ultimately ended up with a very basic tunic tank top that I purchased from the thrift store and accessorized to give the outfit some character.

My "vest" is really a vegi-leather suspender crop top with a buckle, but one of the tricks I have up my sleeve is wearing things other than the way they were intended to be worn. So instead of zipping up the crop top, I leave it open and transform it into a vest.

The Lip Service crop top as it was meant to be worn. I think my way is more fun!

My studded belt is nothing special - I got it years and years ago from Hot Topic and have just been swapping out belt buckles. Today I added some chains and paired it with a Freddy Kreuger claw buckle…but more on that later.

Belt buckle - Freddy Krueger claw from eBay; Cat skull stainless steel ring - eBay; Stretch spike cuff bracelets - Forever 21

This cat skull ring is one of my favorites! It's fully articulated and the teeth are all really sharp, so I have to be careful when I'm at work that I don't snag any of the clothes.

As for my spike bracelets, they're from Forever 21. I like them because they are simple and easy to mix and match with other bangles and bracelets, plus they're stretchy and can accommodate all wrist sizes.

Freddy Krueger is my favorite horror movie franchise character, and as I mentioned, I keep my belts fresh by swapping buckles, so I love that I can add this small element of horror culture to my ensemble. Freddy's red and green striped sweater is just a bit too garish (and colorful for that matter) for me to sport, so instead I just subtly wear his claw on my hip.

Until next time - thanks for reading!

San Francisco and the Disney Museum

Front view of the Walk Disney Family Museum

San Francisco is just about an hour and 15 minute drive from Sacramento, so Kyle and I make frequent trips there to go to clubs, do some shopping, see concerts, and go to museums. Saturday we went to the Disney Family Museum, which was super interesting to us because we're Disney addicts. In fact, I'm not really sure why we haven't been there earlier since it's been open for a few years.

Black Magic fringe tank from Black Heart Lingerie, Chiffon high-low blouse from FreeStyle Clothing Exchange (midtown Sacramento location), boots by New Rock

Of course, I have to take a slight detour to mention what I chose to wear. Since we would be out and about all day, I had to make sure I would look cute and be comfortable. The weather in Sacramento right now is in the hundreds (YUCK!), but in San Francisco it's comfortable and can even get chilly, especially at the pier area, which we planned to visit. So I layered a tank top with a chiffon high-low blouse over top. I really love the extreme "low" on the back of the blouse, by the way.

We arrived at the museum mid-afternoon (had to get an oil change before we took off which put us a little behind) and we headed straight into the museum.

The admission area before you enter the actual museum proper is filled with awards that Disney has collected, and boy, are there a LOT. The room was filled with tons of obscure little statues and placards and trophies to inspect.

This award shows Mickey riding a turtle?!

An award from Peru - hence the llama

A ton of Oscars, plus me and Kyle in the reflection

The rest of the museum involved a LOT of reading. It starts out detailing Walt's birth and his family history, then detailed his war experiences. There was a lot of information on his early short films and how he got his start in the animation world.

An early accounting of Walt's "Laugh-o-grams" and Kyle taking some photos

Eventually there were areas where you could sit and enjoy clips and snippets from Classic Merry Melodies, war propaganda shorts, and just pieces of every-day recognizable Disney classics. The films were my favorite part.

Wall of TVs at the end of the museum

Interspersed throughout the museum were neat things like a complete case of Technicolor paints and some really creepy old toys.

The creepy toy in the middle was a wind-up contraption.

Wall of Technicolors

There was also an entire section devoted to how WWII affected Disney studios. The soldiers came right on in to the studios in Burbank and basically lived there with Walt's permission. He also helped contribute by animating anti-Nazi propaganda films like "Der Fuehrer's Face," which is quite a hilarious song by the way.

The finals rooms of the museum contained a full-scale miniature of Disneyland as well as some really depressing and sad press clippings and drawings about Walt's death.

After the museum we headed to Pier 39 to do touristy things like check out the sea lions, eat some Bubba Gump's, and scope out Alcatraz across the water.

A zoomed view of Alcatraz. It was quite foggy out there.

This sea lion was the fattest I could find and that amused me.

A view of Alcatraz from a bit further away

It was a really long wait for dinner at Bubba Gumps, so in the meantime we walked around and checked out the cheesy tourist stores. I found the creepiest mannequin in a sports store. I can only guess why its mouth was that big. Ugh…so creepy.

It was a super fun day and I'm very happy we got to go. The museum is a must-see for any Disney fan.

Thanks for reading!