UNTIL IT’S HOME SWEET HOME FOR 4 MONTHS.
Dang. I haven’t been in one place for that long in years now… Hopefully, physical therapy goes well and I’ll recuperate quick enough to make another trip somewhere before summer concludes. Until then, I’m more than happy to finally take some time for myself.

Jon (NSB) sent over a neat little care package. The 5&A Dime tees are available through their online store, but good luck getting an Evil Monito sticker. I’ve wanted one for so freaking long, I’m going to horde it until I strategically plan out where I wanna put it, hahahah. Thanks again Jon!

I hate flowers, but it’s still sad to see the last bouquet slowly dying away. And like, 5 pounds of hugs/kisses shipped from my best friend out in New York :) Too bad I’d grow obese eating them all…

My apologies for the lack of updates on life; I was involved in a car accident Saturday and broke both bones in my right forearm. Had surgery and am currently recovering slowly but surely… just getting my ambidextrous-ness  on!

Thanks friends/family for the flowers, candy, presents, food, magazines, etc as well as all the text messages and phone calls. Meanwhile, this blogging business will be on haitus; thanks for understanding!

The last few weeks have been intensely busy, and I was in much need of a visit home. This time around however, I took the 6 hour drive up with my friend Becky. There something amazingly therapeutic about vast open space to me.

Ain’t nothin’ like home cooked meals, sleeping in your own bed& midnight drives to SF with your best friends. The creeper in Michael Sun only comes out after 10pm, haha.


Clifford Ho, part-time ninja.

Him&Her. Thanks for dinner Michelle!

My boys Thurzday and Y-O (UNI) will be headlining at The Knitting Factory next Saturday. No RSVP needed!

I’ve been a fan of Cassette since they only had like, 4 pieces in their women’s ‘collection’ and since then, they’ve grown into a full-fledged line with a neat little piece of retail space on Fairfax. It’s been incredible to see both their transformation and their successes over such a short amount of time. I’m truly happy for these folks.
Keely and I meandered out Saturday night for the opening party, and not only did I have the opportunity to share a great conversation with Sarah (Pink Cloud Events), but I met the humble genius behind Cassette, Mister Peter Lee. What an incredible individual. Thank you for the countless laughs and congratulations once again!

“Who’s idea was this??? Who’s brand is this??? Who implemented this??? Who’s photographing this??? Who’s looking at this???” HAHAHA. We all agree the projection on frosted glass is a nice touch, yes?

Joel Madden (Good Charlotte), Rickey Kim (Evil Monito) and Jeff Belizaire (Boost Mobile) in the place to be. Big ups to all seven DJs that made it out- the music was on point throughout the night. People were straight jammin’!

Kizzy and Taylor (MTV Asia) rolled through for a few drinks and a nice chat. Cheers to Hawaii!

Just for the record, Rickey is only taller than me ‘cuz I was slouching. Sarah (Honest Tea) and I were reppin’ trousers hardddd last night! Nice speaking with you girl- we’ll be in touch! (PS- John, my poor imitation of blue steel is for you, haha.)
Angela and Bahar (The Four Hundred) were absolute sweethearts and we bonded over the most random conversational topics, haha. Nice meeting you girls!

Towards the end of the night, I caught Jason (Jason Markk) and his buddy *sorry, forgot your name!* chillin’ across the room. It’s always a pleasure seeing him, but dude’s too good at keeping projects under wraps!! Damn. ahahah just kidding- JM is gonna continue to knock everyone’s socks off in ‘08, just wait. Keely and the attack of the hair.

The night got progressively blurrier.

Pretty smiles all around! Some kid, Sarah, Kizzy, Keely and Taylor.

I’ll conclude with a picture that cracks me up every time I see it: Bahar and Rickey killin’ it on the dance floor! hahahaha

I flew out 4 days earlier than originally planned, so my apologies to everyone I didn’t see in my unexpected visit to San Jose. I wanted to take the weekend to regroup, unpack and collect my thoughts.
The one girl I did randomly meet up with was Akila. We caught up on life, love and our respective pursuits of happiness(es?) over morning pasteries at Bijan Bakery. Hit the spot quite nicely, but I’m still on the prowl for that perfect cafe…

Made it out to the city Monday to catch Kenny ‘working.’ Nice seeing you, kiddo!
Huge thanks to Justin and all the good people at Pepsi/ Mountain Dew for hooking it up with the Green Label Art collection! We do have some to give away, so definitely be on the lookout for that.
I actually drove to SF just for Sophie’s Crepes… without knowing they were closed on Mondays :( Luckily, Kenny recommended Belly Good Cafe& Crepes. Definitely not as good, but worth checking out. Headed back to SJ later in the afternoon for some good ol’ Chipotle with extended family. Thanks a bunch Ivan!

First and foremost to Michelle Tse- the host with the most; thank you for your hospitality! I know you hate the entire west coast, but if you’re ever back and don’t wanna be home, I got you! Another huge, huge thank you to J.Martinez for the wonderful excursion around town. I can’t wait to see you back in the city of angels for Formula Drift. Please extend my regards to Jacqui and tell her that we’ll do a museum trip this summer! Jessica, the big sister from another mister… you already know what’s up. Thank you so much for your guidance, always. ‘Twas nice meeting Igei and those kids you cause ruckus with on the daily. Dante, I’ll be back for more espresso. I can’t thank you enough, but thank you, thank you, thank you. Steph, Courtney, Karina and whoever else was down for Sunday… you kids are incredibly sweet. I truly am sorry for having to depart early. Next time, for sure! Jose, you’re the best for putting up with my shit and I hope to see you in California soon. Don’t forget to try Pinkberry! Tay, who gets pink eye in NY?? I barely see you at home, so it’s no surprise I don’t see you on the other side of America. Tuesday’s meeting though! We’ll catch up back in Cali, Cali. Allison, thanks for the good times- call me up when you’re in the bay! Daria, good looks on everything. I never hit up your ‘friend’ but thanks anyways! Paige, much obliged for the belt, hahahaha! Never even rocked the sweater (the super low V confuses me) but we’ll figure it out one of these days. Azalia, thank you for always being down. I owe you! JP& Victor, I would’ve been miserable without the sigma 12-24. Thanks much and see you back in the office Friday for more Belltech love!
If I missed you, my apologies. And if I missed you, fear not- I’ll be back again soon enough.

The weather was tremendous Wednesday, so Jose (formally of The Green Magazine) and I got our walk on. We started out at Union Square and proceeded to the West Side Highway, where we then caught the train to Chinatown, and then the World Trade Center memorial and finally we walked back up to SoHo and grabbed dinner at Lombardi’s.


Lombardi’s sounded ‘familiar,’ (read: typical Italian name) but apparently, the restaurant has a pretty deep history in NY. I’m no pizza connoisseur, but what I can tell you is that they serve one scrumptious Cesar salad.

Unexpectedly, Thursday became my last night in town so Yoshi and I met up for some scrumptious dessert at Cafe Angelique. Super cute spot with pretty good desserts. I’ve never had a waiter tell me I should order less though. “Does he see how big my stomach is?!” haha
It’s always nice to catch up with Jessica - thanks for making time for me girl :) We’ll do the strawberry cheesecake, chocolate souffle, apple tart shindig AND Max Brenner’s next time, hahahah!

I finally had the chance to fly Virgin America for my trip to New York and I’ve come to realize why everyone’s on their nuts: great service, comfy seats, personalized TVs and neat lighting only brush the surface of how dope the airline is. However, the one bag check-in for coach really needs to get upgraded.



I was starving by the time I got to Michelle’s apartment in Union Square so we meandered out for some Max Brenner’s. The restaurant is known for chocolate, but don’t sleep on the dinners! Not too heavy, but filling and a homey way to jump start a week-long trip. Our bill came in a chocolate tin box… cute presentation.



After dinner, we stopped by the Museum Group showroom for a quick rendez-vous with Yoshi. I better see you before I leave, busy lady!!!

Fast forward a couple days& I finally get a chance to kick it with Jose, our infamous photographer. Dude claimed to be on a “diet” so all he had was a lemonade, but I know he was taking sneak peeks at my banana waffles! hahaha Max Brenner’s again… delicious! :)

On our excursion around the city, we stopped by B&H Photo Video and I finally copped a Canon 50mm f/1.8. It’s ironic that I go to NY and everyone thinks I’ll end up with 204824 pairs of new sneakers& a kajillion tees, but the only thing I’ve bought besides food is a lens for my camera. BUT, I must admit that the new Michael Kors line is lookin’ mighty good ;)

Kermit followed us on our excursion through SOHO.

Jose and I also ran into the CRAZIEST STORE EVER. We were buggin’!! If you have mad ADD (like me) and you’re in New York, definitely peep Evolution. It can keep you entertained for hours, no joke.

I offered Jose $10 to eat one, but he declined. Perhaps next time.
… wtf?

With the exception of a few sprinkles, NY has blessed me with some seriously gorgeous weather. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the week holds in store.

The cool cats at Jason Markk gifted me a cleaning kit some time ago, but I didn’t have the opportunity to try it out until this week. And even despite positive reviews from Yu Ming (Freshness), Rickey Kim (Evil Monito), Jessica (Fatlace), and every other person I know who’s tried it, I was still skeptical. Just one of those, “oh, it’s gonna work for everyone EXCEPT me” type things, you know?
Anyways, I decided to start with some ridiculously beat Converse Chuck Taylors just in case I messed it up somehow. Your typical ‘before’ shots:


And… voila!


Amazing, I know. Fearing this formula to be too good to be true, I commenced with yet another pair of super beat Chucks.

I focused primarily on the toebox and midsole ‘cuz I’m not sure how JM works on cloth. Jason, care to share some insight?

//EDIT: Jason hit me up told me that it does work on cloth too. “Some materials are more difficult to clean because some are more absorbent or harder to reach than others (i.e. cloth, cotton mesh). However, JM will definitely improve the current condition of the sneaker.” Here are a couple pictures Jason sent me of JM on cloth:
Then, it was on to attack my current favorites: Fragment Converse Chuck Taylor.

I like my normal Chucks worn in, but I like these fresh :)


You might be thinking, “Damn, this girl has serious time on her hands to be cleaning all these shoes and taking mad pics!” Oh, but you are deceived. This process took me probably less than 30 minutes to complete. 5 pairs, 30 minutes… I’d say that’s pretty damn good.




Peep the color difference between the left and right shoe.

MAGIC, not like the tradeshow:

And of course, a thank you to Jason and Ric for hooking it up! I enjoy supporting great products, but it’s always nicer when the people behind it are great as well :) You can purchase a kit here.

I finally got around to seeing the Takashi Murakami exhibit at the Greffen Sunday afternoon with Taylor (MTV Asia). The exhibit was absolutely breathtaking and in a sense, overwhelming. I wish we had more time to take everything in.

Since we weren’t allowed to take pictures, I must redirect you to Bobby Hundred’s blog for images of the actual exhibit. It’s probably nothing you haven’t already seen before, but that’s what you get for not making a trip out to LA to see the real deal, sucka.


Murakami’s closing speech was nothing special, but dude is hilarious as all hell. It might just be a matter of miscommunication due to cultural differences, but man is he funny.

After the talk Taylor and I met up with John for a quick stroll through Little Tokyo and a bite to eat. Ain’t nothin’ like piping hot ramen to settle a nasty cold. Thanks for dinner, JP!

… I NEED ME A PANASONIC LUMIX. booooo

Headed over to Rogue Status in Venice Beach on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon for the opening reception of “Maximal Reductions, Minimal Boundaries.” It’s a concurrent exhibition at the Visual Research Gallery in Berlin; both locations are featuring some ill fix-geared bikes so roll through when you get the chance and check it out!



Cliques rolls thique, na’msayin? Just kidding, but the Asian Invasion crew did get some weird looks pulling up, lol. A huge thanks to my beautiful friends Yuki, Tracy, Olivia and Janae for accompanying me!


Sup, Josh! I like that you match your sunglasses with your … uh, rims? Decals? Bike rims? Bike decals? Stickers? Frames??? Whatever.
Josh, Mike and the dudes who’s bikes are being displayed. Sorry I don’t remember your names!

When Victor (The ID Agency) asked me how I assembled the entire Rogue Status team that was present for a group picture, I told him, “Girls have magical powers.” (duh.) Anyways, thanks for everything guys and I’ll catch you all shortly!

For more pictures of the bikes, check out this here FLICKR album.

John and I rolled through SA Studies early Friday morning to meet up with Victor (The ID Agency), Mr.Cartoon and Estevan Oriol for the Adidas x Undefeated x Estevan Oriol release taking place later in the day. The studio/tattoo parlor/ car garage was absolutely gorgeous and Estevan’s photography took my breath away at every turn. It was humbling to be in the presence of such greatness; thank you for your time fellas.
We grabbed burritos the size of a small animal for lunch. (the Motorola Razer looks to be relatively the same size but remember that looks can be deceiving) Please congratulate John when you see him and thank the heavens that he’s still alive after that monstrosity. Best guacamole every though; I’ll post info on the restaurant when I get it.
Finally, it was on to the venue for some fun. Top 8 flicks that best depict the night, starting with DJ Muggs on the left& Mr.Cartoon and James Bond (Undefeated) on the right.
*OK, not gonna lie, I was incredibly intimidated by Cartoon and James when we first met. Their influence in each respective field is unsurpassed and I was overwhelmed by their mere presence. But don’t let the mean muggin’ faces fool you… these two are absolute gentleman.

Estevan’s dad doin’ the do alllllllll night. He was straight up climbing on walls to get shots! It’s easy to see where Estevan gets his magical touch from.

Josh (10 Deep), Dante Ross, Estevan Oriol, Mena Suvari. On some Hollywood shit, foreal.

Before. After.

Then, Jon Phenom miraculously ended up like, 30 times on my camera, hahaha. First with Nick (Diamond), then with Sarah and Rickey Kim (Evil Monito), then with some chick and finally with his third cousin, twice removed, the other JP (Fatlace/ The ID Agency). We shared a wonderful conversation, as always. Good seeing you sir!

Overall a great event with a great turnout. Who knew downtown Los Angeles could churn out something so dope?? ha. Huge thanks to everyone at SA Studios for the love, Victor over at The ID Agency and John P. Check out Jae Bueno’s blog for more photos!

My birthday commenced a night early with the girls at the Class System shop opening in Long Beach. From left to right: Michelle, old geezer, Ashley, Julia, Sydney, Andi and Sinead.

I’d like to point out that I’m roughly 6′1 in heels and Julia and Sydney are both significantly taller than I am. We were pretty much gawked at through the entire course of the night, HAHAh.

Met Steph, Amy and Ray from C’est La Vie and also ran into Jason Markk with his girlfriend Nancy. It’s been a minute since I’ve caught up with Jason so it was nice to share a quick chat. Great seeing you two again! (And happy belated birthday Nancy!)

The upstairs was dope, but I know myself well enough to know that if I lived upstairs of my work, I’d never get any work done, haha. Some old fart with Principle Pudge himself, Amazing Amy and a kid I was never introduced to.

After an hour or so, we rolled through to Silverlake to see U.N.I perform. The club/lounge/bar was pretty much the sketchiest place I’ve ever been to, but a huge shoutout none the less to Thurzday and Y-O for the invite. Good look, fellas.

The night concluded with us grubbing to our hearts’ content at IHop. The boys joined us shortly afterwards, but I must admit… it really doesn’t get much better than that.

OHWAIT, I LIED. Sunday consisted of all-you-can-eat Mongolian BBQ. hehehe :)
Michelle has been one of my best friends since middle school (6th grade, hollllla!) and our friendship has only strengthened over the years. She spent the weekend visiting from UCLA and I felt so incredibly blessed to have such a close friend celebrate one of the most significant milestones in my life with me. My sister from another mister, truth speaking.

Sydney, Allie, Daria, Julia.

And of course, last but not least, a thank you to everyone for the text messages, the Facebook comments, the emails, the IMs, the calls, etc :)

Please excuse the lack of updates for I’m too busy wallowing in complete and absolute misery. Currently:
1) all hope has been lost for my Sony Cybershot;
2) the Macbook Pro occasionally disables the output sound as it pleases, with complete disregard to its owner;
3) it’s raining in Los Angeles;
4) OS X Leopard sucks;
5) about 20% of my contacts were lost when my Blackberry mini-usb port broke on Sunday;
6) it’s raining in Los Angeles;
7) sororities& rush week are taking over LMU;
8) my 3rd gen. iPod has a battery life of exactly 4 hours and 19 minutes, but the iPod touch isn’t big enough for me to upgrade yet;
8) it’s still raining in Los Angeles.

More than anything, this rain is a big, fat damper on my mood. Happy updates when I get my Lumix!

Finally back in LA and finally en route to getting my life moving again. As much as I enjoyed the break, a month home was way too much of a good thing.

I went in to peep the new ID Agency office in Long Beach Monday and was quite impressed. The color schemes rock almost as much as the transformer pool/conference table. And the view out of John’s dirty window is pretty sweet.

HAYFAM will be premiering it’s first show on Friday at the Evil Monito studios so be sure to rsvp (rsvp@evilmonito.com), head out and peep some of Jon Phenom’s latest work. See ya there!

Quick photo recap of the JDM Theory x Fatlace car show Sunday. It was my first time shooting a car show and definitely not what I expected, but I had a fantastic time. A huge thank you to Mark for the veteran advice, Geoff for the invite and Clifford for saving my life countless times. Clifford’s blog has a million infinitely better pictures, so go there for a review from someone who actually knows something about cars, haha ;) Enjoi!



Favorite picture of the day. (Peep the license plate, hahaha)