Stud Finder

I've been collecting artistic bits and pieces for a while now, yet I never got around to hanging any of my finds. Think I have a phobia of making holes in walls. (It's the Asian in me.) Le cub assured me that it's easy to patch a wall and accompanied me to Target. There, we purchased a stud finder. Le cub kept waving our new gadget over his chest and couldn't resist making "beep" sounds. *lol*

Anyhow, here's one of our finished walls. Well, finished for now.

Works by Matthew Tischler, William Anastasi, Fifi Lapin, She Hit Pauses Studio, and me. The eskimo and embroidered sailboat pieces were thrifted :)

Sex and the City DOS!

Watched Sex and the City II last night with Alexis and Jeff. I, alongside millions of other ladies, have been eagerly anticipating this sequel in spite of the fact that I'm always blabbering about disliking most sequels. The SATC franchise is an exception.

Ladies in the theater squealed the moment the opening theme came on... *lol* But me? I think I squealed (internally, at least) the moment the interior of Carrie and Big's apartment was revealed. Tres chic! I think my mouth was flooding with drool as the camera moved from room to room, revealing each and every Rug Company creatiom used to dress the set. Gorgeous! See some interior shots HERE and HERE. But the room that really left the mostly-female audience gasping was Carrie's dressing room. See above. *swoon*

As faaaaabulous as Carrie and Big's apartment looked, I couldn't help but noticed that it didn't look very comfy. The couch Big lays on to watch tv... just isn't big enough or fluffy enough to cuddle on. An the accent chairs in the same room? Erect, much? Whatever... the entire movie was a feast for my glamour-deprived eyes.

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY

It's my best friend's birthday today. She's turning 25! For the sixth time... *teehee*
Wish you were here, Hammy. Looking forward to seeing you on Friday!

C'mon Baby, Light My Fire

I'm going to set my sets on fire.

Well, no. *sigh* I'm not. *damn you self-restraint...*

This is only because I don't want to accidentally set the rest of my garage on fire. (Yes, that is wise.) Can you imagine my beloved shoes amidst flames? *gasp* I think I would cry. (Like Justin Timberlake when he got Punk'd.) And oh, that my home would be partially destroyed (think "Backdraft")... that would be something to tear about as well. *sniffle*

But duuuude, I do want to find a creative way to chuck all the crap in my garage. The dumpster is way too boring. Am taking suggestions...

YIPPEE!!!

ALL DONE. *fist-pump followed by victory dance to zapp's doo wa ditty* Click HERE to listen if you don't know what song I'm referring to.

Giving Someone the Finger

Wouldn't be so awful if said finger were covered with rockin' felt finger puppets like these!

Hahaha... love it. Jay-Z and Gaga available for purchase via Etsy. Click HERE for more.

Babies

Babies have been all the rage lately, haven't they? Several of my friends are currently preggers - as are several of my blogging buddies. Yes, well, I too, have been productive over these past few months. In fact, my baby's due tomorrow! His very long name can be seen above.

Big Love

This is why I admire Tavi of Style Rookie so...
She had the guts to wear this ginormous bow while sitting front-and-center at a Dior show...
And yes, she has blue hair.
Adorbs.

More Mortimer

Did you know that "Mort" means "death" in French? A classmate of mine told me this. I suppose that makes the name "Mortimer" that much more fitting!!!

Old School

Old Griffith Park Zoo. Cages were awfully small then...

Happy Feet

Paul Smith socks for our groomsmen!

Where to?

Le cub and I have decided upon our honeymoon destination. Well, not exactly. We've decided upon the country. In contention were Greece, Croatia and Italy. We ultimately decided to follow our stomachs... to ITALY! We've both been there before (me, four times), but there's so much more to see. I've never been to the Amalfi Coast... nor have I been to Sardinia. That said, I'm hoping one of the two spots will be appearing on our itinerary!

Celebratory Toast

Finished filming! (Still have to edit.) Celebrated this special occasion along with Doris' birthday over brunch at Figaro Bistro in Los Feliz... Yes, this french toast was as good as this looks.

UGH. UGG. UG?

This is what 4am looks like. NOT attractive. But hey, I'm nearly done getting all my raw footage down. It's about time! I should be celebrating, but my tummy is frowning. Ate a pound of gummies today. Think I misunderstood The Biggest Loser's Pound for Pound Challenge. *d'oh* This film's making me fat.

Frog in a Suit

I'm an official backer of "Launch an All-Cartoon Web Channel called KaboingTV.com with Rocko Creator Joe Murray" by Joe Murray. Check out what I'm gabbing about HERE.

"Lily! I want to make tadpoles with you!"

I sure hope KaboingTV happens...

WOW! WOWIE-WOW-WOW!

Walken. (Yes, I like 'em skinny and albino. Think Paul Bettany. Conan O'Brien. Michael Cera. Robert Pattinson.)

Photo: Found on ffffound.com

Mouse House

Last week, I was fortunate enough to meet Don Hahn. Don't know who he is? WHAT?!? Wiki him! Or click HERE...

Charles Solomon, the professor I TA for, screened "Waking Sleeping Beauty" during class and Don dropped by for a Q&A session once the film was over. Don couldn't have been nicer, and his directorial debut (a documentary) was incredibly entertaining. A wonderful compliment to "The Pixar Story" - another animation-focused documentary - that even folks who don't give a flying fudge about animation would enjoy. One of the highlights of "Waking Sleeping Beauty" was when animator Randy Cartwright shared old home footage of him touring the Disney animation building. Cartwright sports a Justin Bieber-esque bowl cut, and Tim Burton... OMIGOSH... Tim Burton. (Click HERE to see a set of Flick photos posted by Randy of a young Tim Burton! Hehe. Animators.)

Randy will be honored at this year's Festival of Animation. Yes, he'll be there! He's an alumni from the UCLA Animation Workshop :) Yet another reason to stop on by on June 5th...

Photo: Disneyland during the 70s plucked from Randy Cartwright's Flickr account

Running Out of Steam

I wish I were Ethel. No. Take that back. I don't. Enjoyed a lovely dinner with le cub (he's in town!) along with some awesome his and her's retail therapy. (Le cub received an email from Martin + Osa. 50% off the entire store... we couldn't resist.)

Last few shots... Sucking it up.

M&M

Max and Margaux got hitched. Yes, they're adorable.

...

It's three in the morning and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a...

*THUMP*

DAMN YOU, GRAVITY.

My Buddy and Me

Three more shots, and I'll be able to start editing. SO CLOSE. If I stay up tonight, I will definitely have all my raw footage by Friday. GOGOGO. Check out my after-hours cheerleader. I was going to invest in a baby gate, but my boy is so obedient, the combination of a piece of Tumi luggage and an art supplies book will suffice.

Sweet!

Thiebaud wedding cake display. Seriously gorgeous and genius! More HERE.

Taste the Rainbow

Test shots for the train scene.

Set kinda looks like a package of Skittles exploded. Hope y'all dig color.

Handsome

This walnut and brass gentlemen's chest from Reform Gallery is so incredibly handsome... I want. But I can't get.

Satisfaction

The season finale for Gossip Girl. OMG. YES!

Tini Grey will be singing for me and le cub on our big day! Yup. We actually hired a wedding singer! Haha. Preview HERE. *swoon*

Buildings for the train scene are nearly finished. Now for the landscaping...

Crossroads

I'll let you decide whether my subject heading is referencing a Bone Thugs & Harmony song or that wonderful lil' flick Britney Spears starred in before she went crazy.

Set-building for my train scene. Made these two pieces out of wood dowels, clay, cardboard, wire, and plastic discards...

No Dogs Allowed

... on my set. Not even this one.

Plan B

If I don't land my dream internship this summer, I'm going to try to make it to the Shanghai World Expo...

Photo of Shanghai taken from the Park Hyatt by Garance Dore

Pop Rocks

Remember these? I painted them. I think I used too many colors... It's as if these rocks were hit by a rainbow....... JENNY.

P.S. Don't Love Me

I just rented "P.S. I Love You" on iTunes. Was cross-stitching as I watched... what a granny!

Um, le cub, while I heart you very much, please promise me (and I'll promise you the same) that should one of us croak early (hope not), the other will NOT send a zillion letters from the dead as a means of helping the other grieve. Creepy-cute? Nope. Just plain creepy...

I cried twice while watching. Hormones are raging. It's that time of the month... Aaaaaaaah...

I Think I Can

Am in the final haul. Feel like I have been and am still running a mega-marathon... and I'm FINALLY nearing the end! T-12... I think I can... I think I can!

One last scene to build and shoot. The train scene. Don't know what I'm referring to? Watch my super old and rough animatic HERE.

And once that's done, it'll be time for edits... GO-GO-GO!

Friends to the End

My best friend, Pam, is currently touring Europe. She'll be there for 2 weeks. Needless to say, I'm so very jealous and excited for her. Before she left on her lil' voyage, she was, however, my willing "stitch bitch." She helped me cross-stitch some of my credits! I received a package from her earlier today, and enclosed were three panels of her hard-work accompanied by a card featuring the above pictured chipmunks. "Friends til the End", it read...

Aww... I miss you, Pammy.

Chugging

But given my situation (my only assistant is a canine without opposable thumbs), I have no one to rely on but HGTV and me. Inspired by shots of miniature model train set landscapes, I've spent the afternoon painting birdhouses purchased from art supply mecca Michaels in hopes of pulling together a quick small town skyline for the aerial shot in my train scene. Here's a shot of my progress thus far... (I'm carving out window and door shapes with paint!) It'll all look much better when I'm done, but I'm liking how it's coming together as is...

I Will Rock You

I need rocks for my train scene. You'd think that'd it'd be easy to just go outside and find some, but the rocks in my neighborhood just simply aren't cutting it. That said, I've made some using some lightweight hydrocal casting plaster. These babies are now set and waiting for a coat of paint...

Walk in My Shoes

They may be vintage, but they're new to me! $48 for Salvatore Ferragamo spectator wedges (3/4 inch) in my size?! Yes, please! Unbelievable. And in such good condition. They're going to look super cute with ankle grazing jeans... Alas, I own a pair of spectators. My shoe collection is complete! For now...

Oops, I Did it Again

To celebrate my first dress-fitting at Monique Lhuillier's, my bridesmaid, Kathy and I headed for Joan's (yes, again)...

And yes, we ordered "the" cake once again. (Click HERE if you don't understand what I'm referring to.) This time around, I exhibited some self-restraint and snuck a photo in before launching my fork. Omigosh... chocolate on chocolate... just what a menstrating chick needs. TMI?

The Fear

I've developed a fear of white SUVs.

Left the house for a Subway sandwich and was nearly run over by a white SUV filled with giggly Mexican chicks. I actually dodged the speeding vehicle... and as I screamed out of fear, I heard the girls laughing and going, "OMIGOSH, WE ALMOST HIT THAT LITTLE ASIAN GIRL! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!" Seriously, I nearly ran after the vehicle to fuckin' key it, but my good conscience stopped me from doing so... I regret the self-restraint.

I could've died HUNGRY... that's what pissed me off the most!

One More Time

One last scene to build and shoot... and then EDIT, EDIT, EDIT!!! Editing is going to take me an eternity, but I'm really looking forward to getting all my raw footage down...

GO GO GO!

Think I'm going to award myself with a mani-pedi now *GRIN*

Ugly Cute

My best friend, Pam, draws kinda' like Francis Upritchard! Ugly to the point of charming... LOVE.

Bitch Slapped Myself

... bought the above-pictured chunky Marni-esquw necklace and ate a butter-drenched, salt-encrusted Wetzel's Pretzel.

*AHH*

Everything is going to be a-okay.

Stupid Poster

Staring at this image does nothing for me.

I'M FEELING ANXIOUS. AND I CAN'T CONTROL THE ANXIETY.
WHICH EXPLAINS WHY I'M GOING TO START TYPING IN ALL CAPS. YES. LIKE KANYE.

WHAT? DON'T LIKE IT? DOES IT MAKE YOU NERVOUS? YES, WELL, JOIN THE CLUB. I'VE GOT 14 DAYS REMAINING UNTIL THE HD FORMAT DEADLINE. MY FILM'S DUE, BUT I STILL HAVE QUITE A WAY TO GO... OMIGOSH, MY HEART IS BEATING LIKE A WHITE STRIPES' DRUM, AND I CAN'T STOP IT. DIDN'T EVEN HAVE COFFEE TODAY. DOES SPECIAL K WITH RED BERRIES DO THIS TO YOU? FEELING AWFULLY NERVOUS. I THINK I NEED A HUG. BUT LE CUB, ISN'T HERE, AND BEANS TRIES TO RUN AWAY FROM ME WHEN I HUG HIM. HE TREATS ME LIKE I'M ELMYRA (TINY TOONS). UNGRATEFUL DOG... IT'S PAYBACK TIME. LE COUGAR IS STRESSED! HELP... I'M SCARED.

PERHAPS SOME RETAIL THERAPY WILL HELP. SERIOUSLY. I THINK I'M GOING TO HEAD TO A MALL NOW. WILL TIME THE EXCURSION. ONE HOUR, DEBRA. YOU'VE GOT ONE HOUR. AND ONCE THAT HOUR'S DONE (YOU MAY ALSO HAVE A WETZEL PRETZEL WITH CHEESE, IF YOU'D LIKE), YOU OWE THE PEOPLE SOME DELIVERABLES.

*TAKING A DEEP BREATH*

I Am Not a Robot

... but sometimes I wish I were...

Marina and the Diamonds video found via rockstardiaries

THANK YOU

Just wanted to take a moment to thank my beautiful and talented animator friend, Jenny, for saving me from a Blogger coup d'etat earlier today. Somehow the settings of my blog got switched so everything was showing up in Arabic.............. T'was all very beautiful (as Arabic is visually stunning), but I must confess I kinda' freaked out... What do these people want from me and my 5 followers? It must be Beans. They want Beans.

Er, it's that time of the month, and I'm feeling a tad dramatic. Going to finish up my bag o' Nestle Tollhouse semi-sweet chocolate chips now. Yes, I've resorted to eating baking ingredients since I refused to stock any real candy in my home... Yes, I'm pathetic.

Back to Jenny. This bear's for you. I don't know why, but I can't stop staring at him. I think it's because he's pink. AND he has no ears. Hmm.

Eye Like

Holy moly. Click HERE, HERE, and HERE to see a drop dead gorgeous wedding tablescape styled by Rebecca Stone and shot by Joel Serrato. Whatever those two are sniffin', I want some. SO MUCH BEAUTY!!! Rebecca's helping me and le cub plan our big day, and Joel will be documenting the whole thing on Super 8... So yummeh~! So dreamy!!!

Pom Poms

Curtains with pom poms. Perfect for our guest room...

Who Me? You Shouldn't Have!!!

I just found out that I've been awarded the Vincent E. Defrances Scholarship in Animation AND the Card Walker Motion Picture Fellowship... I applied for several donor awards not actually expecting to land any... this is more than I could've ever imagined...

Thank you, Universe.

I'm do dog-gone lucky. Love this shot of a Hungarian sheepdog (Mortimer!) by Tim Flach. It's how I feel...

Burbank

I really enjoy watching House Hunters. Le cub and I have casually been house hunting. We've been browsing properties in Silver Lake and Los Feliz online. But Burbank has really grown on us... our engagement shoot was practically shot in our back yard. (That is if we actually had one. All the grassy shots were taken in the public fire lane where the coyotes once chased me and Beans)...

Photo of us (chasing Beans) by Max. Obvi. Sheesh.

i don't need new luggage. I've been using my lil' black carry-on for as long as I can remember...

But THIS pink and black polka-dotted suitcase is available in a set of 4 for just $135. ADORABLE. I'd be super proud to claim this baby on a luggage carousel... :)

Oh-Oh Fan Club

Alas, boy-genius, Erick Oh (a classmate in the UCLA Animation Workshop) has broken the UCLA curse and landed a much-much-much coveted internship at Pixar!!! The odds? 8 out of 900................. SO well-deserved. See his holy-crap-I'm-unworthy work HERE. Join his fan club HERE.

Still is of Hubo... one of his many fantabulous widely-acclaimed creations...

I Saw the Sign

After a Mother's Day hike with Beans this past Sunday, le cub and I stumbled across a most delicious slice of old fashioned chocolate cake with chocolate cuttercream at Joan's on Third. Twas so delicious, this chocolate-on-chocolate goodness, that we decided THAT's the cake we want to serve on our big day. No ganache. No fondant. And full o' flour, butter, chocolate, and more chocolate. Holy-shit, I'm excited.

Plus, le cub saw some actor he digs his current fav show, "The Wire" at Joan's... and I saw USHER! That's right... Joan's is where it's all happening. Took our sightings as a sign.

Wedding cake? CHECK!

P.S. No photographic evidence of the cake for we drew our forks pretty quickly. Yep, it was THAT good.

Experimenting...

Dear Gravity,

I hate you.

Cheers,
Ethel (and Debra)