Tread Watch: What's Coming

Without giving away too much, here's a sneak peek at what coming in the next couple months in trends for the fall and winter collections. Anticipating particularly one of our international brands, UK-based RELIGION, which will be coming in November here's what's on the horizon:

American Flags: Election year has inspired a patriotic boom!  

A basic color palette in the greyscale range

This is the PG version of the scantily, but classy, naked women to come! wootwoot! 

Shameless Thoughts

Religious Icons (Mainly Crosses)

Paint Splatter Effect

Portraits of Random People

Over-exposed Photographs

Pumpkin + Spice = Everything Nice

There is no better excuse to throw a party with dope friends, food, drinks, and old movies than Halloween. With it's mid-week timing this year it has been an even a better excuse to hop around from homes to bars for MULTIPLE nights of celebration.

We sure as hell celebrated this weekend and will continue to do so until we have exhausted every last pumpkin flavored drink/food recipe and have emptied Trader Joes of every pumpkin pancake/beer/cake/pie items that our West Hollywood location can carry.

ms. pumpkin awaiting carving

fall sangria (recipe below)

white bean + turkey chili (recipe below)

spooky TJ's cookies

pumpkin chocolate chip squares (recipe below)

pretty pink blooms by the Beverly Center

• Turkey Chili
• 
  
• Ingredients:
  1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 3 15-ounce cans small white beans, rinsed, drained

Directions:

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Sautee onions until light brown. Add oregano and cumin. Increase heat to medium-high. Add turkey; stir until no longer pink. Add chili powder, bay leaves, cocoa powder, salt and cinnamon. Add crushed tomatoes, and mix in stock. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add beans to chili and simmer until flavors blend, about 10 minutes longer. Discard bay leaves. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Serve in bowls over corn tortillas and garnish with sharp white cheddar.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

(adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Add pumpkin puree and mix well. The mixture will look somewhat curdled. Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake bars for 35-40 minutes or until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.

Cool bars completely in pan. 

Fall Sangria

Ingredients:

2 bottles pinot grigio (we used TJ's 2 buck chuck)

1.5 cups bourbon

1/2 cup triple sec

2 cups TJ's apple cider

3 cinnamon sticks

1 tbsp whole cloves

1 granny smith apple

1 orange

1 lemon

**secret ingredient** ---->2 tsp Cholula hot sauce

Directions:
Slice up apples, lemon, and orange. Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Serve over ice.

Charlie Todd: The Shared Experience of Absurdity
*funny Ted talk*

The Secret Gift Catagory to Buy In

The Secret Gift Catagory to Buy In

*The key to gift giving is giving something that is useful (ideally used frequently), fills a niche, and/or better yet, solves a problem (inconvenience or annoyance). 

UNIQUE does not mean RANDOM
It may seem like a good gift has to be something “unique” that the person doesn't have; this however, is not necessarily the best way to go and not very easy. How hard is it to think of something unique for the person "who has everything"? Difficult. What can happen in these cases, is that you get something random that is "cool" idea, but realistically is a shelf-life novelty or gadget that is never used because is so specifically specialized that some other all-in-one gadget (like the iPhone having an alarm clock) does it more conveniently, so that while cool at first, really ends up inconvenient...(and anything that is slightly inconvenient will quickly be eliminated from anyone's life for a more convenient choice). Use "unique" as an adjective, not a noun.

THINGS BOUGHT BECAUSE THEY CAN BE RETURNED = not impressive
Another concern may be “if they will like it” because some gifts cater to taste and style, that is the trouble with buying shoes an clothes… it seems like a good idea because you know (she) like shoes and clothes, and it’s easy to buy something she doesn’t have because there’s an endless supply of fresh product available to meet the trends in flux. The BIG roadblock on this one is that it’s a coin toss if she will like it, and she has to LOVE it to wear it. So, you say “If you don’t like it you can always return it and exchange it for something else”…and in a sense you feel like it’s a win-win because even if she doesn’t like it she can go shopping for free, with birthday monopoly money. So, this whole process is kind of cop-out, you might as well hand her a gift card (Which aren’t bad…but certainly not very distinct, memorable, or thoughtful). Leave the sh*t she’s going to parade around in all day to her and her best friend, this is the most difficult category to actually succeed in.

PERSONAL GIFTS...
So, with out further ado… the best gifts often cater to convenience and can in fact be very common, everyday things.  Some times SO common, they are completely overlooked. This includes household items, like pots and pans and personal use items, like a person's glasses. That may sound lame at first, but wait until you start shopping… there’s a whole world of pots and pans, in fact it’s an entire industry with competition, trends, and technological development.  It’s bazaar to look at every individual thing in your house and think that it has an entire industry responsible for it’s basic-seeming creation. The funny thing is, these everyday items in fact have HUGE industries creating them with intense competition because these items are so frequently bought since everyone needs these common things; the result is a wide variety of choices creatively and leading-edge tech backing them.

Why this is a great gift category: it’s an untouched category to gift from so it’s easy to come up with fresh ideas. Bonus: You won’t have to worry so much about if they will like it aesthetically because your gifting something useful, and will not be a statement they are making to others, which is always a bit touchy. You are gift genius: often the person doesn’t even know they want it until you came up with such a good idea. Why it works: 1) While they may already have one, it's likely that it's worn-out because it is used so much, so a new one would be surprisingly convenient and useful, for example cooking pans or kitchen knives. 2) Some common things are just plain, ugly, or boring because they are “so basic”, like a shower curtain or shoe rack. The reality here however, is that this person sees and uses this item every day. In fact, she probably knows every little speck-of-dirt mark on it that won’t come off.  Spice up the person’s personal living environment with something prettier or more convenient then the one they have now! Make their daily lives interesting and easier. Get online, find a cool-ass shower curtain or shoe rack and gift it…now that is unique. If you want to take it step further, make it personalized for her/him…for example measure her closet and get a custom built cool-ass ­­shoe rack that fits perfectly, how convenient…especially since we all know the closet is too small to begin with. Plus, shouldn’t that shoe collection, which probably has been a huge investment and could be valued at some obscene number, deserve a rack that displays them properly? Give her closet a view and get her that extra couple inches (which likely may make her rearrange her entire wardrobe... which is fun, refreshing, and exciting).

In conclusion, good gifts can items that they already have, just better.

Gifts for the Chef

For the cook....

Chef's Knives:

Victorinox 46892 Fibrox 3-Piece Chef's Knife Set $70 (amazon.com - on sale from $106)
Make cutting tomatoes (which can be a b*tch to pierce with dull knives) and chopping veggies a breeze, and maybe even fun.



Hightech Pans: 
Calphalon Contemporary Nonstick 10- and 12-inch Omelet Pans, Set of 2 $60 (amazon.com - on sale from regualarly priced $165)





Solve a problem (inconvenience): Idea:     
Coupons for your services...such as scrubbing the pots & pans, clearing & cleaning a meal so she can just stand up from dinner and simply walk away to go read her book, or grocery shopping for her.




Fill a Niche: Get something interesting to cook with: Idea:     
Gourmet cooking oils (ex: Macademia Nut, Coconut, Sunflower, Grapeseed, etc.) Place to buy: Whole Foods or Bristol Farms

The Key to Good Gift Giving

 The key to gift giving is giving something that is useful (ideally used frequently), fills a niche, and/or better yet, solves a problem (inconvenience or annoyance) by providing a solution.
USEFUL: It may seem like a good gift has to be something unique that the person doesn't have; this however, is not necessarily the best way to go and not very easy. How hard is it to think of something unique for the person "who has everything"? Difficult. What can happen in these cases, is that you get something random  that is "cool" idea, but realistically is a shelf-life novelty or gadget that is never used because is so specifically specialized that some other all-in-one gadget (like the iphone having an alarm clock) does it more conveniently, so that while cool at first, really ends up inconvenient...and anything that is slightly inconvenient will quickly be eliminated from anyone's life.  So, the best gifts cater to convenience and can in fact be very common, everyday things.  Some times SO common, they are completely overlooked. This includes house hold items, like pots and pans and personal items, like a person's glasses or shoerack.

NICHE: What fills a niche? Example: It rarely rains in LA, so many people don't own a rain jacket...but on the rainy day, how often have they made a mental note to get one but forget, or tell themselves "hmm, I don't really need it..." because when they come across one, it's 75 degrees out and he/she justifies "...I mean really, the rain isn't that bad and it basically never rains anyway. Hm, I don't think I really need one". So, fill that rainy-day niche so when it comes along she/he is so grateful! of your gift.

SOLUTION: What do I mean by solves a problem? Example: a) Their iPad is annoying to type on, but a keyboard is inconvenient, basically defeating the whole purpose of the iPad in its grab and go, toss in your purse convenience. Solution: Ultra light and slim case/keyboard combo. b) Dad wears glasses, but either foregos his vision in exchange for sunglasses outside, or b) is squinting the in sun. Solution: Transitions Lenses (Transitions from being clear indoors to dark outdoors).

Sunday in Sydney

Wouldn't it be great to teleport for a day? Spend the day on the beach in Sydney sippin' on Bundaberg ginger beer, clad in one of MINKPINK's adorable printed bikinis and a pair of cat-eye sunnies? Here are some photos from their Swim 2012 look book. Although there is nothing better than that golden summer glow on your skin, its not such a tragedy to be unpacking those chunky knit sweaters for a much anticipated Los Angeles "Fall."


Also for your sunday enjoyment, some music from these lovely boys of New South Wales - Cave Eaters

images via minkpink.com

Date Spot- Froggy's Topanga Canyon

Froggy's (Topanga Canyon)

1105 N Topanga Canyon Blvd
Topanga, CA 90290

Froggy's is one of the coolest places around LA. It's stunning and a complete surprise. From the road, it looks like a random cute old-school wooden shop up Topanga Canyon. Upon entering and wandering to the back patio, it's jaw droppingly gorgeous...perched up high it looks over a vista of trees with fluttering leaves sparkling in the evening sun. I can't do it justice trying to describe the setting, it's awe-striking though and peaceful. They have misters that sprinkle you and keep it cool. The building has a lot of history and character, once being a school house and and before that a veteran's club. This is an ideal place for a first date because it's relaxed, has good food, can can be turned into a day at the beach.

 Aside from the killer ambiance there is killer food! In fact, the BEST artichoke in Los Angleles....how random and wonderful. And great fish tacos (it is a fish market). Things that stuck out on the menu...Fish tacos (plus other types of tacos), guacamole, artichoke, beet/goat cheese/nut situation / fresh salads....I can't remember it all but it all looked good :)

Ideal Day / How to use a weekend properly:

12/1pm... drive to Topanga/Malibu Beach. Lie on beach, frolic in water, read book, RELAX like the weekend is the real deal.

4:00pm ....getting hungry...

4:45pm... pack up from beach, zip up Topanga Canyon & pull up to Froggy's, be blown away by how cool this place is

images via froggy's facebook page

Check it- CHEEBO

7533 Sunset Blvd., LA CA 90046 (sunset/sierra bonita) WEHO

"The best simple-flavored shrimp dish" is perhaps an odd title, but I'm hesitant to name it "the best shrimp dish" because that is a very strong statement and this is very simple shrimp. The shrimp themselves are just plainly steamed, maybe lightly salted - but that's more of an assumption because 99.999% of things in a kitchen get lightly salted...so one would think... WHAT really makes me happy about the shrimp situation is that it's cooked and cleaned very well so that is simple shrimp meat... not a dissection event where you are wide awake and borderline naming each shrimp for its personal characteristics amidst pulling off the tail, let alone legs and carcass. Additonally, the meat is not fishy tasting as if the entire ocean's waste has been embedded in the flavor profile. Maybe some people would deem this bland shrimp because it lacks all the guts and glory, but, as I am a shrimp amateur, I like simple, plain, basic shrimp. So...

The beauty is in the simplicity and clean-flavor profile of this dish. It's a classic, although completely original. It's a mixture of white beans, cubed potatoes, small bits of greenbean (just for a textural crunch), steamed shrimp, and sliced avocado. It's seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon. The texture profile is distinctly genius***: The mush of the white bean + the crunchy snippets of greenbean + the al dente chomp of the potato + the chew of the shrimp (not chewy- just the one chew bite in) + the buttery smoothness of avocado create a magical mixture that you get lost in for a minute. Temperature wise it's also a fun hot/cold situation with the steamed shrimp meets cold avocado. It feels healthy and light. Very surprising.

Also, Cheebo has a killer Prosciutto/Arugula Pizza.

image via globalblackbook.com

Best Indian Food

Electric Karma

8222 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048 (On 3rd a few blocks west of Crescent Heights)

The best Indian food goes to Electric Karma. Instantly qualifying as an above average restaurant by perfectly cooked chicken. Perfectly cooked chicken is very hard to come by, but when you do...you know it because you realize (sigh) that nearly all other chicken texturally is shameful and overcooked...you just never really think about it because it's nearly always cooked that way. So, while perhaps a bazaar point of judgement, it instantly impresses me. The combination of melt-in-your-mouth textures, richness with out being too heavy, and a very smoothly blended profile is what takes this food to the "Best". The Chicken Tikka Masala is AMAZING...smooth blend with a solid flavor profile. The Sag is also outstanding, also well blended and smooth with great texture. Everything we had was great...some of the best Indian food I've ever had. It's not to heavy, doesn't feel unhealthy, and is just pleasingly wonderful making you smile with glee :)

Opinion:

Dishes should be purposeful; intently affecting each your  senses, not just your taste buds...because truthfully that's how we work. We do not just taste things through taste buds...whether you are fully aware of it, the look, feel (texture), smell, and (occasionally) sounds (ex. sizzling) fully develop and make up the "taste" of anything, and in fact influence your opinion on its taste much more then you may reckon. 

Flavors should generally be either cleanly layered or smoothly blended- for example a salad would have layered flavors while a curries and sauces would have blended flavors. Layered flavor are given a little leeway in that you may not get every "flavor" in one bite, but blended flavors should be the same each bite. There are obviously some exceptions to this, for example if you have a blended (curry) that has chopped bits of chili pepper added in it, then of course bites will differ depending on if you get the chili pepper. From there, you could determine the depth of the flavor profile, blends generally have more impressive depths. A good dish does not have to have great depth in the flavor profile...simple/clean/solid profiles can be equally good, depending on the style of the dish. Example: (Curry)(Blend) A curry could be a single, solid smooth blended flavor and be really outstanding and satisfying OR, a curry could have great depth involving many different layers of flavors (that is interesting to explore and think about..."is that rosemary?" "And I like the subtle mint undertone""That little kick is just enough but not too spicy") and be really great and interesting...either way the curry should be blended...which should on a basic level be obvious just upon looking at it. Does it look the same (hopefully yes)? Is there oil floating on top (not well blended)? Anyway, if it's blended, it should be well blended - stirred, cooked....making all of the components ONE.

images via gotime.com & tripadvisor.com

Star Slinger - Take This Up

Star Slinger - Take This Up by Thissongissick.com

AMAZING song you must check it out.

Trend Inspiration Boards

 Collage trend inspiration boards for the Fall/Winter 2012 and Spring 2013 Seasons. Every wall in my apartment is overtaken.

Truck Hunting

 Upon returning to LA, I started researching the idea. It turned out there were a couple "fashion trucks" on the East Coast in New York ...and surprisingly three in LA. Upon looking at their twitters, I found out that in just a couple days time there was a "festival" of sorts just down the street from where I live, at which the trucks would be. I went, and they were pretty cool...I got some ideas. I spoke with the people who owned the trucks and they had refurbished old stepvans. I went on craigslist and browsed for stepvans...they were sparse but surprisingly cheap, generally under $5000. This was encouraging considering when I had looked up food trucks for sale they were $20,000 up to $50,000. I drove down to Industry, CA to look at a truck. It was parked at a small house. My father had advised that I should get it checked out by a mechanic before I bought it, as well as a bunch of other things that were more technical and I did not completely understand. I found a mechanic in the area, he drove it to the shop and said it would be $50 and to come back in about 3-4 hours. I went to a Starbucks and sat down with a newspaper because I had little else to do. After about 30 minutes I got a call from the mechanic to come back. I returned and the mechanic said I should not buy the vehicle...there were so many things wrong with it before they started even really testing it, but just by looking at the engine, etc. it was no good AT ALL.

So, truck hunting became more of a rarity then I would have liked. Just about when I had really started to give up, and began planning to open an online store at the primary store and then eventually, if luck would have it, get the fashion truck going...I found SAMMY. Sammy was found on craigslist and living in a lot in Pasadena. SAMMY the Stepvan had been sitting still for three years, unmoved and never started, seeming he had been waiting. He was old, a '77 GMC Stepvan, but when I turned him on, he started without hesitation...coming to life proudly, with a youthful roar of excitement. Even as he was checked out mechanics, everyone was surprised at his good condition given his age and the fact that he had been sitting so lonely for a long time. Within a week's time he passed SMOG, was insured, cleared registration and displayed 2012 tags, greatly attributed to our awesome mechanic, Frank. 

Designing the Interior

Deigning the interior... 

...with such a small space, inches have great value. It's a minute-detail awareness involving the measurements of everything from the width of a hanger to heights of tops, jackets, dresses, bottoms, and shoes. The try-on room is based on the measurement of a shower...can everyone change in the space of their bathtub, I wonder...I hope so...because that's what I'm going with? Interestingly, research says that you shouldn't have a mirror facing the entrance of the store where people can see themselves immediately as walking in. I think about this...I concur, I don't think I'd like that. Effect --> must adjust design...frustrating, the mirror worked so perfectly there. Other considerations: as the truck will be traveling from location to location, things must be fairly secure on shelves so stuff won't fall off on the drive...solution: less shelving, more hanging..this works out anyway because, as a shopper, it's easier to browse hanging things then folded things.

Inventory Arrival!

 More inventory arrives! SO EXCITED! Must build more racks to hold it all...hmm! Ah! Inspiration...fortunately a store near my apartments leaves wooden palettes abandoned by the garbage bin...after intensely cleaning them, I combine them with some extra broom stick handles and BOOM I have garment racks...cool ones at that. Very rustic/industrial style.

Ripping out the old for Redwood Floors!

 Fun fun ripping out the old flooring for sexy new redwood flooring! Ouiii! Surprisingly, a rather sticky day...but learning about floor installations is fun. Great for OCD matching those edges up :) Frank, our mechanic & man knows all the tricks and is equally as OCD as me...yay!

Another YAY on the list today is LAUNCHING LA MECCA WEBSITE! wootwoot!!