collared.

This past christmas, when I travelled back home, I embarked on a little fashion accessory project.. involving men's dress shirt collars.  It's super simple, but here's how.

dooo it yourself!!

#1. find a man's button down at your local thrift store - one with a good collar, of course.

#2. With a pair of sharp scissors or fabric sheers cut as close to the seam on the underside of the collar.

#3. Add to your outfit! :)

#4. &repeat

pesto.

Not only is this an elegant video, but nothing gets me like fresh basil, so of course I have a soft spot for homemade pesto.  Watch & enjoy :)

Classic Pesto from Kinfolk on Vimeo.

resolutions.

find the ideal house in silver lake.
move! on the 8th.
order new sewing machine.
sew sheer capes.
buy a bicycle.
get a record player.
exercise daily. in progress!
save $1000 for europe in jan/feb/march.
buy a juicer.
participate in a 5k.
sign up for tough mudder & run 4 your life.
get a feature.
join the costumers union.
cast a collection of rings.
travel europe for at least a month.
work lots!! in progress :)

new year.

It's kind of sad to see 2011 go, it was a wonderful year.  Old friendships grew stronger, new relationships blossomed, but mostly I was introduced to and led down a new career path that will forever change my life.  As a result to 2011, I'm able to start 2012 with both feet on the ground, with foreseeable, exciting goals for myself, along with a sense of comfort and confidence in who I am and where I am going.  Sometimes you're in the backseat, sometimes you're riding shotgun, and sometimes you're in the driver's seat.  They're are all good places to be, you need them all to gain perspective, the key is to not remain in one seat for to long - otherwise you might lose touch with all that you once knew.   I don't mean to get all philosophical here, but I think it's interesting.  You can't appreciate being in the driver's seat if you didn't spend your share of time in the backseat first.  I don't think you can reach your full potential without transitioning from all three either.

Aside from all of that goodness, here's a little video I created on my iPhone from my New Years Night spent with my friends in Los Angeles.  Gotta love the capabilities of an iPhone :)  It was a fun night, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit to missing my three best friends, unfortunately we all reside in completely different states these days.  Miss you guys XOXO

presents.

I hope everyone had a happy Christmas Day with either your friends or family! I was lucky enough to finally catch a flight out of LA and make it into Chicago in the wee early hour Christmas day! After finally making it home from the airport via my brother and his two buddies, I pulled out my presents & got to wrapping them. Unfortunately I couldn't figure out where my mom stashed the wrapping paper so I decided to draw wrapping paper on the plain boxes and gift bags. Half the fun in Christmas (in my opinion) is funny, festive presents. I always sneak the funny in when it comes to my little brother's presents (for example: giving him used iTunes giftcards, cheesy cards, wrapped boxes with no present inside, and socks {cool socks}..etc) :D

:::::SLIDESHOW:::::

more photos after the break!!

in the moment.

Do you take the time to appreciate all the little moments in life?  There is poetry in a moment.  A feeling.  This video I just discovered does a pretty incredible job of capturing that.  If you tend to get caught up in the busy hustle and bustle of city living, don't forget to step back once and a while and enjoy the moment be it good or bad.  It's not a waste of your time I promise :)

xo.

production.

For the last few months I've been whisked away on various productions (from short films, music videos to commercials, and shorts for Funny Or Die).  I only started styling in February of this year, and prior to that the idea of being a wardrobe stylist was simply a far off idea of "oh yeah, that'd be fun.. but I wouldn't even know where to begin" career.  I've always been very keen on knowing exactly what I want and figuring out what I have to do to get it.  And in a general sense it has seemed to work if I've wanted it bad enough.  This is probably on account that I'm somewhat stubborn, determined to do only what I want, and mostly because I know things won't come to me, so I'm not afraid to go after them myself.  

Only thing is, I never really considered being a wardrobe stylist.  I assume because I never really understood what it meant to be one, or that such job existed.  I'm not really sure to be honest.  No one's really given me any good advice on what I could do with my life - creatively speaking.  I've been drawn to film and making movies since I was eleven, when I first discovered my parents old-school video camera.  It makes me laugh thinking about how I saved almost two years worth of birthday and christmas money to buy my first Panasonic camcorder when I was in seventh grade. Or how I used to love browsing through the career book at the library in middle school and then reading about being a "producer" or "director" -not that I plan on being either of those professionally but I think it's interesting how much you figure out so early on.  

Now on the other hand, I grew up dressing dolls, and learning how to stitch and operate a sewing machine at a very young age.  My grandparents came to the US in the 50's, they weren't very wealthy so back in their day you mended your socks, and if you couldn't afford a particular outfit, you got fabric, created a pattern and made it yourself.  That was of life and attitude was passed down to me.  I don't know if thats a European thing in general, or just being old-fashioned.  Anyway, I guess my point there is that it's just in my blood to stitch, be creative, and make things.  In high school I developed my love for fashion.  I was definitely one of the few, due growing up in the mid-west surrounded by cornfields where most of my classmates were content in wearing a t-shirt and jeans or a sweatshirt and jeans.

Why I never considered combining my two passions together (even through film school) is beyond me, but it doesn't matter because I've figured it out and I'm doing it now.  AND I love it more than anything in the whole world :D the end.  <-- I didn't mean to write that much, I only wanted to have an opening sentence to all the pictures I'm posting for the short film I styled on back in Oct and one of the music videos I produced and styled in early Nov.  Sometimes when I start typing, I just get off on all these little tangents. Anyway..

Click on to see LOTS more photos!