Fashion Night Out and Photography!

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Jamie

Last Thursday night was Fashion Night Out.  Last year I heard how awesome it was out in Beverly Hills, and was truly bummed that I missed all the fun so this year I made sure to make it out to an event.

LA has a lot of events, and the hard part was deciding where I wanted to spend my evening.  I chose Santa Monica, it was a chance for me to walk along 3rd street promenade, and browse through the shops to see the latest fashion trends, and possibly pick up a few outfits too (which I did!)

But, one thing, I was unprepared for was capturing the most out of the fashion show.  It was at night, it was outdoors, and it involved movement, and of course, I lacked a tripod.

Needless to say, I captured some photographs, but I am not happy with the pictures.   The pictures are far too grainy for my liking, and I was really struggling like that night as a photographer.

But because it was my first official fashion show I wanted to make sure I captured what I could.

So I’m going to leave you with some of my favorite outfits of the night:

Bloomingdales Collection

To start things off for the evening, Bloomingdales showed us their fall collection.

I was impressed they even had men in the show…. but I was struggling with some of them.  They were walking too fast or were hardly posing 😉

Outfit from True Religion.  They definitely had the attitude with these outfits for the evening, and I loved it.

I fell completely in love with the Johnny Was outfits, and this is a new store I must check out.  Their flowing dresses and outfits had my name all over it.

It’s still pretty surreal to me that Kitson sells clothes because when I’m in there I’m always looking through the books and the fun stuff they have around.

White House Black Market always have some beautiful clothes.

I had never heard of G Star Rail prior to this evening.  What do you think of the outfits above?

This beautiful dress by Kenneth Cole has femininity written all over it.

Nordstroms was by far my favorite collection of the evening as they were rocking the sweater dresses.  The purple dress above was my favorite outfit of the evening.  I’m just not sure if I could pull it off.

What did you think of the collections?  Did you see any favorites?

 

 


Categories: Fun Stuff, Life, Photography | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Rosenthal Malibu Wines!

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Jamie

A few weekends ago I ended up in Malibu with a good friend, and on the way back from the beach we decided to stop by for some wine.  Along the way we ran across Rosenthal, Malibu Wines.  It was not their actual estate, but their tasting room.  Their estates are located further north.

We pulled in and were surprised to see how easy parking was, and then walked in.  It was a very casual and comfortable environment, and we walked up to the tasting table.

The hostess explained to us how it all worked and we briefly browsed through their menu.  We decided on a flight, which included 6 tastes (of course, we got a taste of muscat at the end too!)

They started us out with their Surfrider Rose, in which that pale pink color came to life as you sipped on your glass.  We quickly moved onto their 2 chardonney’s.  The first was my favorite with their Surfrider Chardonney, a taste of vanilla was brought into the wine which I absolutely loved.  My friend’s favorite was the Rosenthal Chardonney, in which you could taste a bit of lemon and pear mixed together.

We then moved onto the reds.  When I started my wine journey I had no taste for reds.  The past few months I have slowly begun to find reds that I enjoy, and that’s telling me my taste for wine is starting to improve, and I’m beginning to appreciate more of it.

The first red we tried out was their Surfrider Merlot, and let me tell you, I can’t do Merlot’s quite yet.  They’re far too much for me yet.

There were two other reds given to us, their unique variety the “Petit Verdot” and then their Caberet.  I really enjoyed their caberet and was happy to walk away with a red I enjoyed.

But my favorite came after the tasting was over with the sweet, sweet muscat, and I even walked home with a bottle of my own.

Rosenthal has a great backyard where you sit out back.  You’re invited to bring food into the establishment and make a day hanging out with friends as you sip on your favorite bottle of wine or two or three.   They even had a stage where performers were putting on a show.

So, Rosenthal has become my new favorite place to stop by after a day of work to sit back and unwind.

Have you been to Rosenthal’s before?  What are your thoughts?

Disclosure: I was in no way compensated for this post.  I just enjoyed this visit and the environment of Rosenthal’s that I thought I’d share it with all of you.

 

 


Categories: Fun Stuff, Wine | Tags: , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

A hidden GEM at the #LaCountyFair

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Jamie

Nestled behind food vendors and across from the shopping pavilion lies the “Fairplex Garden Railroad.”

This railroad was first established in 1924, and moved to its present location in 1935.  Today, there is well over 10,000 feet of operating track, which is now double the amount since 1996.  There’s up to 30 different sections that are operating at the same time.

One of the scenes found around the railroad

The track goes through a variety of scenes intermixed with California’s history from the 1850’s to present day.

As you enter the railroad you are greeted by railroad docents that will walk with you as you embark on your adventure with the railroad track.  They are very knowledgeable and eager to share with you what they know.

But soon, your focus will shift fast to the trains and the scenes surrounding you as you observe more and more.  You’ll be amazed at the details that are found in each scene, and what they’ve thought of.  Sights of a horse barn, a dairy barn, the Valley Blvd Drive in Theater, and new this year is their own renaissance fair.

It is a sight to see, and truly something worth stopping in for.

The track is run by volunteers which is a group of men and women and young adults dedicated in assisting with the development and maintenance of the track year round.  Every Wednesday and Sunday throughout the year they are working on the track, except they do take the month of October off (to recover from the fair!)

Renaissance Faire

They are open every day the fair is open from 1pm to 8pm.  So the next time you’re headed to the fair make sure to stop in and say hi.

Disclosure: The Fairplex Garden Railroad was here long before the fair, however is apart of the Fairplex complex and is run by volunteers connected with the Fairplex.  Their work, dedication, and passion is amazing to watch.


Categories: Fun Stuff, Life | Tags: , , , , , | 6 Comments