peeping tom

I meet so many fascinating people and have glimpses into their lives if only for a fleeting moment on a daily basis as my alter ego the Rental Girl. I live vicariously through the glamour of being an artist, a music producer, a film maker, a photographer, a shoe designer, as I wander through different properties with them, helping them on their search of their fairy tale dreamscape, a place to call home. A lot of these people inspire me immensely. I met a French Canadian shoe designer Jerome Rousseau (who by the way happened to be a friend of a friend who is now in London studying shoe design) and I almost met Chloe Aftel, a photographer (and still might), who had to cancel an appointment but stumbled into her world by clicking on her website. I am in awe of how much talent there is all around me and am forever grateful I have moved to my own dreamworld to make it happen.

the art of re-arranging

I was given some flowers and they were not happy in the vase they were put in straight out of the plastic wrap. They simply wanted to be in another vase. In my past life as a geisha, the art of floral arrangement must have been one of my fond past times, as in this life, I often contemplate bouquets and how I can recreate something I have seen in a floral boutique or in a magazine or as an event centerpiece. The next morning, I swiftly took to snipping the flowers and placing them one by one delicately into a smaller vase that seemed to call out to them. Voila! Still life.

pictures of you

I have recently gotten the photo bug. Well, I always loved taking pictures. And with my pretty nifty 8.1 Mega-Pixel Sony Cyber-Shot, I have been able to point and shoot at pretty much anything and get a good snapshot of the moment. On my travels, with friends and by my lonesome, I have been a self-taught photographer. I love the angles, the depth, the asymmetry in a glimpse. But when I was asked to help my friend snap her in her Mom's vintage Versace and Escada ball gowns from the 80's, my little digital dream didn't do the deed just how I would've liked. Not until I discovered the simple edit function on my Mac and played around for a couple hours with the shots did I realize that I really love telling stories with photos. 

My last big story was my China trip - over 500 photos that captured the magic so intensely, only could anyone else but me feel that emotion portrayed? One of my friends who is a great photographer, and is Chinese, shared with me that I should enter some of the photos in contests. And from that moment on, I was hooked. 

I need a good camera - I mean a really good one. The kind that takes multiple frames per second. The kind where you capture the slightest mood shift, and it makes all the difference. I wish I had one of those when I did the photo shoot of "the dresses". But back to the magic of a little color saturation and enhancement with the iPhoto edit  -  I literally felt like a photo genius. I don't know much about photoshopping, although I know I must learn at some point. I just wonder what I could do with a professional camera and a little color editing? 

After 2 hours and 30 photos later, I put together a story about "the dresses" that I wish I could publish. That's how proud I was of figuring out how to edit. And the very last photo took me less than 1 minute to manipulate and it was done -- and it was perfect.

My friend recently updated her facebook profile picture with this one and had a flood of comments on where this shot was taken, how, etc... and how it looks like it's an ad in a fashion magazine. I am pretty proud of it, if I must say so, and it has definitely given me the inspiration to take this hobby to the next level. 

it's all in the name

I have a thing about picking wine off a list that I have no clue about, except for being intrigued by the name. It never fails - and last night at Canele in Atwater Village, a total gem with great ambiance and fantastic food, I did just that. I can't give myself all the credit because it was kind of a joint effort. I was asked to pick out one of several that had really cool names and see if we had made the same selection. I loved the anticipation - was I going to pick the same one he had in mind? I just went on my gut feeling, and bingo! We were curious about the same one... The Prisoner, a 2007  Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon blend from Napa. It was divine. It complemented the Beef Tenderloin perfectly and finished off so beautifully with the creamy cheesecake topped with sour cream. Even the label is rad. Thumbs up!