My bookshelves are overflowing, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to hoard more.  The newest titles to make it to my wish list: Henry Darger by Klaus Biesenbach; Maison Martin Margiela published by Rizzoli; The Marchesa Casati – Portraits of a Muse written by the directors of The Casati Archives; The Velvet Underground – New York Art from Rizzoli; Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress, Frida’s Wardrobe published by Chronicle Books; and Prada, conceived and edited by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli.  Henry Darger is one of my favorite artists.  I’ve written about him here and am always interested in finding out more about his life and his artwork.  I recommend watching the documentary In the Realms of the Unreal – it sheds some light on his fascinating, although somewhat sad background.  Both the Margiela and Prada books rank high on my list due to the fact that I have a deep appreciation for the aesthetics of both designers and their ability to always design what they want and not cater to the masses, yet somehow manage to drive every fashion follower into a frenzy with their smart and highly conceptual clothing and accessories.  Marchesa Casati wasn’t your everyday heiress. Although she did serve as muse to many including Cecil Beaton and Jack Kerouac, she was very creative and held lavish parties, always dressing in elaborate, statement making attire.  She was also the hostess of the Ballets Russes and her influence can still be felt and seen today, most specifically in John Galliano’s creations and in the evening wear line, Marchesa.  Alice Ritter turned me onto the Frida Kahlo book (thanks, Alice!) and being that I regard her as one of the most prominent, feminist artists with amazing style to have ever lived, I am so interested to find out more about her wardrobe.  And I actually kind of wish I had a unibrow – something about hers was so sexy.  Lastly, The Velvet Underground – clearly one of the greatest bands of all time.  They are so fascinating to me and I can’t wait to devour that book.

Anthropologie has just introduced a new website, The Anthropologist, that is centered around inspiration and those who create it.  Three artists are currently featured, each of them sharing projects that they are passionate about and that have a very personal meaning.  Photographer David Eustace embarks on a cross-country journey with his daughter; filmmaker Jane Campion presents behind the scenes images taken from her new film, Bright Star; and filmmaker and photographer, Andrew Zuckerman, shares his Wisdom project that is one of the most heartfelt and honest short films I’ve seen, “inspired by the idea that one of the greatest gifts one generation can pass to another is the wisdom it has gained from experience.” Comprised of an influential and creative group of artists, politicians, activists and more, Wisdom truly is inspiring to watch.  View the trailer below, and a different version dealing with love on The Anthropologist here.

Ami Sioux, a photographer based in Paris, just released her second book in a series appropriately titled, °Books.  This release, Paris 48°49N2°29E, follows the pages of Reykjavik 64°08N21°54W and is the ultimate city explorer guide.  Fifty residents of Paris, some known to Ami and some unknown, were asked to hand-draw a map of their favorite, most personal and significant spots in the city. She then followed each map and took a photograph of each location as shown below, creating a sort of voyeuristic sensibility. I love this concept for different reasons, mainly because I enjoy exploring what is unknown to me.  But I also love it because it reminds me of having a pen pal that you haven’t met yet, but you somehow know them on a very personal level just by exchanging words on paper.  This whole project is crazily romantic.  Looking at the maps, they remind me of one of my favorite books, Stairway Walks in Los Angeles. It’s an out-of-print book that my husband discovered and it’s the ultimate explorer’s guide to Los Angeles.  Filled with maps that take you on beautiful stairway journeys throughout various neighborhoods in LA, this gem is a must for anyone who likes taking long walks and big hikes.  All of the stairways are public – “an urban legacy devoted to pedestrianism.”  The views alone are breathtaking, but the architecture and nature really make me appreciate a city that can be so vast and overwhelming.

You know those weekends that are so amazing that you don’t even think about anything else that you have to do except what you’re doing right then and all the fun things that are about to happen right after?  It’s called living in the present and I highly recommend it.  Not only was it my husband’s birthday, but October 31st marked the 5th anniversary of our first meeting.  We had a lot to celebrate on top of Halloween, which turned out to be the Best Halloween Ever.  I’ve never seen so many amazing costumes.  Our friends really turned it out this year!  Please excuse some of the blurry photos.

I was Frida Kahlo

My husband, Darryl, was Vincent Van Gogh

Matthew was Alex from A Clockwork Orange

This was my second favorite costume of the night.  Sorry for the bad quality photo, but this guy killed it as The Regal Beagle. That’s right – from Three’s Company. Amazing.

But first place, my friends, went to Weekend at Bernie’s.  GENIUS!

Toryn as David Byrne and Nicolette as a paper doll

Emily as a panda bear

Renee’ as Lucille Ball resurrected from the dead

Becky was making me laugh all night as Carol Channing in Alice in Wonderland

Hilarious.  Sara and Katherine as two “Toddlers and Tiaras”.

Drew as Sherlock Holmes

Athena as Ned Flanders

Today is my husband’s birthday and I’d like to dedicate some Altered Images to him. Happy Birthday, D.  I love love love you.  I’ll meet you in the living room for a dance party.

If you’re addicted to reading about fashion on the internet like myself, by now you’ve probably seen the ridiculously adorable cat calendar from United Bamboo.  If not, take a look at these sassy little felines in the finest United Bamboo threads, striking a pose for 2010.  It really doesn’t get better than that, does it?  The calendar was shot by Noah Sheldon, whom I actually just met randomly while having lunch with a dear friend.  I had no idea how brilliant of a photographer he was, nor did I know that he was the genius behind the calendar.  If I would have known, I probably would have bought him lunch.  I’ve been browsing his website and his blog and I’ve become completely enthralled by his work.  He has a keen sensibility for taking the simplest of subjects and turning them into beautiful, grand statements.  Check out some of Noah Sheldon’s work below:

I saw this spread in Teen Vogue not long after I returned from a trip to Peru and I couldn’t decide if I was happy or bummed to see traditional Peruvian attire and arts & crafts in a main stream fashion magazine that caters to young girls.  Part of me smiled as I drifted back to my shopping adventures in Peru while another part of me was a little bitter that such treasures had been exposed to such a wide audience.  I know, I know – Peru does not belong to me and there are plenty of people who travel there just to buy the well-crafted colorful goods that they’re known for, but I couldn’t help but feel slightly selfish for a second as I immediately thought to myself, “Great, now every girl in the United States is going to be rocking a traditional Highlander (the local name for the indigenous people) hat.”  That feeling soon dissipated, mostly because being selfish is so not cool, but also because I had to admit that the styling for this story was right on.  The colors, the tall Highlander hat, the baby lamb being held ever-so-stylishly in the papoose, and the mix-and-match of textures, prints, and accessories – all exactly how Highlander women dress every day.  There is nothing epic about the photos but most of the time I’m drawn to the styling of a shoot or the mood that it evokes.  Now whenever I look at these pictures, I daydream about Peru and its beautiful culture, clothing and accessories included.

My mom came to LA from Houston for a visit and as always, her visit was way too short.  We packed a lot in including two dinner parties, shopping, and a big blowout at my brother’s place.  It was one of those magical weekends where you lose all sense of your responsibilities and just let go and enjoy the present.  Actually, that’s what the next couple of months seem to be all about.  It’s like the holidays begin around Halloween and end at the beginning of January, and during those months there’s a lot of lackadaisical business going on.  For me, these months are really inspiring and I tend to get a lot of creative things done.  Hopefully that remains the same this year…Some scenes from the weekend:

Farmers’ Market at the Grove.  It can be overwhelming because there are way too many food decisions to make.

We went with fish tacos, my favorite food in the world.

Mom was happy with them.

We hit up Anthropologie afterward and my sweet mom bought me this gorgeous oversized ring and two notebooks.  I can never have enough blank notebooks, or any kind of stationary.

My hubs and I took my mom to Mustard Seed for breakfast.  I never tire of this spot.Darryl had the breakfast sandwich recommended by our friend James.  It was mind blowing.

I had the chilaquiles verdes.  This is by far my favorite thing to eat for breakfast, but it’s hard to find good ones.  These were pretty decent, especially for a restaurant that doesn’t specialize in Mexican food.  I ate so much food this day that my back started to hurt.

We went to my brother’s apartment and I was totally impressed with his landscaping skills. My brother is a Merchant Marine and he soars the high seas to Alaska quite often.  He found this whale skull and walrus jaw and had them sent home.  Amazing, no?  Every time I see the whale skull I can’t stop staring.

Went to our “Aunt Jan’s” house for dinner one night.  She has a pretty awesome collection of quilts that I admire every time I visit along with antique objects that she finds in random places.  I love the horse head hanging on the wall.  She stuck an apple in its mouth and it looks even better.

I stopped by Whole Foods today and totally freaked out when I saw these Halloween cupcakes.  I wanted the Cookie Monster.

I came across these insane treehouses the other day and was so excited to find out that someone dedicated a whole flickr set to them.  I feel like life would be very different living in one of these.  Some things just wouldn’t matter anymore.  These treehouses also got me thinking about Badlands and a very naive and young Sissy Spacek playing the part of Holly alongside the handsome Kit, also known as Martin Sheen.  Their getaway treehouse in the middle of the woods, that charming little dance they did, and Holly’s southern drawl are enough to make me love the movie. The best scene and the best treehouses:

I am not a huge follower of astrology, but I would say that when Mercury is in retrograde things can get a little crazy up in here. Emotions are in full swing and I blame everything on the planets.  Well, almost everything.  I used to read a random astrology website on the first of every month, but when the highlights started to revolve more and more around real estate I got bored.   Today an email from Star Pathways was forwarded to me, and apparently Mars has entered Leo (that’s me) for 8 months.  It goes something like this: “It generally stays in one sign about 8-9 weeks, so this is a long time. Mars here is very fiery and dynamic. It wants to move forward. But if you don’t know where you are going, you may end up someplace else. Do you have a clear picture of what is up next for you? Do you have a plan? Are your intentions clear as to the next phase of your life~whether personal or professional? Are you excited about where you are headed?”  Man, I am feeling the pressure here.  I am definitely a planner and I’m excited about where I’m headed, so let’s hope the path stays clear.  Below, some awesome images to give me some clear intentions.

Mariah Robertson (via madrepadre)

Leslie David (via madrepadre)

Today and Tomorrow (via madrepadre)

Tiger Lily and Tiny Teeth (via madrepadre)

Weegee (via My Best Fred)

Sherry & David Benjamin (via My Best Fred)

Soneron (via madrepadre)

Love All Around (via madrepadre)