things i did in august

images by gothamist

1. eat at gloria restaurant, nyc

fish and seafood galore a.k.a. my kind of place. 

the restaurant is small and humble, and the windows let in this really nice light. 

it was no surprise that every dish was stellar. really recommend if you love non-meat things and dashi-butter mushrooms.

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images by melissa joulwan

2. make paleo oven-fried salmon cakes

with more time on my hands, i've been cracking down on trying new recipes.

these salmon cakes with almond flour and mashed sweet potato by melissa are actually so great. i stored them for a few days and re-fried them on a pan right out of the fridge. 

threw it on a salad, dressed it as a burger, ate one for a snack. 

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image by carnegie museum of art

3. visit hélio oitica + history of protest at the whitney, nyc

honestly, whenever i go to the whitney i'm always at least a bit disappointed. 

but, last week was definitely an exception to that. my friend hannah and i roamed every floor, carefully and thoughtfully looking at every piece (especially those of the "incomplete history of protest" exhibit). 

first time in a long time that i was just in awe of an entire collection. 

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4. see dunkirk in 70mm

god, this film was spectacular, which is no surprise because of nolan and zimmerman's unified genius. every shot was stunning, every track was incredible, the entire interweaving of shots and events was brilliant.

i have no complaints. see it in 70mm. 

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5. binge-watch avant garde vegan on youtube

i actually did binged these videos this morning. 

i'm not a vegan anymore, but i have loved gaz oakley's recipes nonetheless. the kitchen in this squash risotto video is goals. 

happy august, everyone.

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r/AccidentalWesAnderson

isle of capri motel, new jersey. 

sketch restaurant, london

petra, jordan

ostel hotel, east berlin

wildwood crest, new jersey

rhone glacier, switzerland

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i have an obsession with wes anderson and reddit. i love fantastic mr. fox and moonrise kingdom and the grand budapest hotel, but especially fantastic mr. fox. i feel like each setting of each film is intentional in the grander color scheme of the entire work (as i'm sure every director tries to achieve -- but most obvious in wes anderson films). 

i love the pastels and the tones and the "is this real or am i just dreaming?" feel of all of his works that can't really be replicated anywhere else. it's surreal. wes makes fantasy in real places, a dreamy reality. 

naturally, when i found the subreddit r/AccidentalWesAnderson i was reminded of how magical the real world can actually be, according to what magical means in the world of wes anderson.

these places exist. these colors exist, and i want to have the chance to explore all of them.

"that's the kind of movie that i like to make, where there is an invented reality and the audience is going to go someplace where hopefully they've never been before. the details, that's what the world is made of." - wes anderson

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this is a post about eggs

i am a big fan of eggs. i really like eggs (like really, really).

why am i writing a post on eggs? because eggs are important to my existence as a living being, and i believe they deserve to have a post dedicated to them. 

also, let's get down to some scientific business here. eggs are super duper rich in vitamins, nutrients, good fats, and protein. they contain all 9 essential amino acids, and minerals and nutrients like iron, phosphorous, selenium, and vitamins A, B12, B5 and others. in other words, eggs are a superfood that don't contain the words "acai," "spirulina," "grass," or "baobab." nice.

they're pretty great. 

eggs come in all forms in recipes, so i want to share with you my favorite things to do with this beloved ingredient. 

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shakshuka (especially from greenkitchenstories) is both an eggs-for-dinner and dinner-for-breakfast sort of dish. it's a good share (or just eat entirely by yourself) food. so in other words, it's pretty great for basically anything you want.

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these simple scrambled eggs. there is little known to me that is as great as simple scrambled eggs. this recipe has a few extras that make the scramble so, so fluffy. aka the best scrambled eggs ever.

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i'm pretty sure you know of izy. her baked eggs with spinach, ricotta, and leeks is one of my favorites for a lazy sunday brunch. like the shakshuka, these eggs are great for sharing, but also great for some solo breakfast-ing. RICOTTA is always the answer.

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this french toast is indeed eggy and fancy. heck, throw in some orange zest on top and you got a fancy one-fourth of a four course breakfast. the roasted almonds give this toast a nice crunchy finish. so, i dig it. 

i hope you enjoy my egg rant

viven los huevos. 

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street parallels

keannumartinez + that-hal + riversdiliscia + mikelyon + facultybacteria 

jenschmitz + joji + vincentjamesv + febsmatic

it's almost thanksgiving break. i'm tired and sleepy and drained. 

a lot has happened in the past month. a lot of which i have a lot to say, but not a lot i want to say here. i've been waking up stronger. i'm waking up stronger every day.

on other notes

i've been inspired by more raw photographs lately. open ones. real ones. and i think the easiest way to embody this rawness is through street photography. i think the coolest thing is seeing parallels between street photography from different cities and photographers, and how colors and lines and shapes overlap. 

i tried to show that. 

i'm ready for gravy.

happy saturday.

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found artists: ben clement

this is ben clement. i'm not really sure how i stumbled upon him, but i think i'm in love with the website as much as the photographs. 

photog rapher   ''' / creativ     e  director      ' '  i;///   jj                editor

cool.

happy friday

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i've been watching stuff

1/ on work – ryan o'connor

simple. eccentric. awesome. funny. i love it. i love helvetica. 

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2/ upstate – jorge cuevas jr

15 seconds of joy and beauty.

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3/ onward internet – sander van dijk

the internet is cool. right.

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4/ pulse - traceloops x shigeto

a favorite song + a favorite artist. the perfect video.

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it seems like it's been forever since i last wrote here. it has, actually. i've been busy with my summer job and trying to be creative in other aspects of my life. i'm more confident now. i'm more confident in my life and actions as a creative. it almost feels like i know what i want to do and grow to be in the future. it's crazy. i'm turning 17 in 2 months and even though i always say i don't know what i want to be, i do know what i want to be. i am who i want to be. i think for me, that's really powerful.

good evening.

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what's going on

what's goin' on guys? i've come here to say that we have T-minus 2 days left until the end of the school year. do you know how good that feels? that feels pretty great. 

i've been taking some weird photos lately. like cool weird? alex says that they're cool weird. that means that they really are cool weird. that's good. i love flash now. to kinda celebrate these photographs, i made some weird collages.

1. got a new shirt from my dear friend that says "matriarchy now!" i love it. you can buy one (and look at all of her cool projects) here. 
2. i painted my nails like i always do when i choose to do them once in a millennium 
3. a cool water-chemical stain that i found today waiting for the bus
4. my kefir yogurt ice cream with rainbow sprinkles that i had for dinner last night
5. a brownie cake with very sad decorating by me (for my friend's chinese teacher)

and because it's been awhile, here are some links that i've found from the last 12 days.

1/ all of the pretty colors

2/ this awesome wallpaper (yes, real paper that goes on walls)

3/ buy all of the patches!!

4/ OK.

5/ what are you talking about?

happy hump day, everyone

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let's be creative

an image by tim schutsky + other unknown sources

i look at a lot of stuff on the internet. i like looking at art (in all of its forms) a lot. 

i'm constantly inspired. i've recently found a few "things" that i've really, really enjoyed + i've been motivated by. here: 

1/ from sketch to screen

the other day i stumbled upon yours truly, a unit dedicated to telling the stories of artists (and more specifically, musicians). i found this piece they did on chaz bundick, an artist / producer / creative. i just loved everything about this.

image by bea policarpio

2/ the crossroads of should and must

i've loved elle for awhile now. i talked about the difference between "should" and "must", but i'm pretty sure you'd much prefer her explanation over mine. she just gets it. 

3/ ok gO!

you all know that okgo is my favorite band. this is also my favorite concert opening. i get chills every time i watch it (also like post-concert sadness). it just makes me want to make something awesome.

images by yours truly

4/ wet

don't wanna be your girl. creative processes + art + music + everything that happens in-between. this is the story of wet (the band, if you didn't know).

4/ our solar system

a group of friends recreated the solar system in real proportion because they wanted to. i just found this whole things insane/cool/beautiful/wonderful/thought-provoking. there's a new perspective that i had formed. 

night

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on film

still from 2001: a space odyssey. my favorite film.

i've spent a lot of time watching films in the past few days. short films, long films, films of my own, i've been watching them. we're on this weird road-trip-not-road-trip trip in california right now, so i've queued a list of little films for the rides. 

i love film (i'm talking about motion pictures here, but i love actual film also). i love the ability to tell a story without words. i hope by now you know that i like to understand things visually, so it shouldn't be surprising when i say that i love movies. 

i wanted to share some of my favorite films that i've found and that i'm currently watching during our car rides. some of them are weird, some inspiring, some cool, some beautiful, but all incredible. they are all worth watching, promise.

i love film. 

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1/ the sound of film . robert marshall

the sounds that often are missed when we replace film with digital media.

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2/ michael cina – a century of artifice . VSCO

a short film on the life of one of my favorite graphic designers.

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3/ august in paris . sage

an eccentric music video with lots of legs and no faces.

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4/ can you read my lips? . little moving pictures

i come back to this video a lot– it explores the difficulty of lip-reading in a world of hearing.

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5/ opening titles to semi-permanent design conferences . marx

a really beautiful opening title to a conference (?). cool. here are the behind the scenes.

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6/ greenland . tim kellner

tim + travel films = awesomeness.

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7/ the uses of envy . lara lee

bold, graphic animations with a bold narrative.

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8/ casey neistat, words of wisdom . jack harries

casey neistat's words of wisdom. what's better than that?

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have a great thursday, everyone.

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found arists: gabriela "hansolo"

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i love gabriela.

that is all.

have to study for exams now. BYE!

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hideaways

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1/ room 304 at the michelburger hotel in berlin

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it's like a modern, live-in cubicle. which is incredible . 

love: neutrals, wood + concrete details, "secret" doors, geometry

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2/ azukashi house in japan

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(some) antiques x modern details- swoon. although i don't know what that bird's doing there 

love: plants (+), wood details, house-silhouettes, open

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3/ watt rooftop apartment in belgium

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okay this is what i've always wanted my bedroom to look like: bed, dresser, mirror, PLANTS. 

love: PLANTS PLANTS PLANTS, focus on plants, green from plants, completely open space, that antique ladder, exposed light fixtures

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4/ 5th floor apartment in copenhagen

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okay and this is what i want my house to look like: minimal, simple palettes, midtone oranges, blues, and greens.

love: natural light, leather detail, exposed books, plants, open

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5/ artist's studio in amsterdam

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this was built in a renovated tower and is pretty much the epitome of what a hideout/hideaway is.

love: bareness, tall ceilings, neutrals, spiral staircase. so minimalist.

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ever since i was a kid, i've had this obsession with "hideaways" or secret passageways in houses or between rooms. i still have that obsession, but i've matured it a bit.

in 2006, we took a vacation to amsterdam, berlin, and paris, and i remember that the most memorable part of our 2 week-long trip was this / this (we stayed there two different times). my favorite part of our entire trip was our hotel room(s). yep. that's also the only part that i remember and reminisce about now: the interior design. i cannot describe to you how much i loved those rooms. i was/am fascinated by small, modern spaces (i have a folder of pictures dedicated to the them). 

i'm pretty sure that everyone shares this fascination with eclectic, homey, minimalist, cozy, visually-appealing spaces, or at least i hope they do. 

"i wish i could retreat to one of these small safe cozy havens and never come out. like a hermit crab. bye." - alex 

happy wednesday

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2015 + a video

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photograph by austin schmid

i hope you all have had a wonderful holiday. i celebrated mine with a trip to the west village (shot in the video above). there's been a lot of resting, reviving, creating, and laughing in the rael household. it feels great. 

as 2015 nears its close, i decided to share a few of my favorite things:

1. favorite songs that i've listened to this year

2. favorite photographs taken this year

3. favorite youtuber that i found this year

4. favorite video that i found this year

5. favorite music video that i found this year

6. favorite blog of the year

7. favorite tumblr post of the year

8. favorite shop of this year

9. favorite source of inspiration of the year

10. (one of many) favorite photographers of the year

 

you can listen to the playlist of my favorite-songs-that-i've-listened-to-this-year below.

that's all i wanted to share this week. 

have a wonderful day everyone.

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for the minimalist in me

as you probably know from my tumblr, i absolute adore minimalist, copenhagen-styled homes. bright spaces, beautiful furniture and fixtures. like serge mouille fixtures. i mean, i grew up with two design-centered, selective architects, so it's pretty clear why that i'm this way. there's something really satisfying about minimalist spaces and i can't really explain why... but you get what i'm saying right? i thought i would share these spaces with you to spread the minimalism-home-love around. you're welcome.

on another note, i'm on my ninth (and counting!) day of school and i'm pretty much done. i'm starting new projects within school (a magazine!) and starting to finish others (my book!). but you know what? i am so incredibly excited for the events and cool stuff that's going to be thrown at me this year. college tours (already!), starting an internship (maybe!), learning new stuff (you betcha!)– just doing all sorts of new things and being completely busy, but completely organized at the same time. i'm so excited (and petrified!) for it all. 

i'm going to leave it at that. goodnight. 

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while i'm gone

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[shots from plant food and wine]

the past couple of days have been spent relaxing in los angeles. emphasis on the relaxing. i've been enjoying it tremendously. we're home for about 31 hours before we make our connecting flight to london and then to stockholm early in the morning. there are no words to describe how much i'm looking forward to our scandinavia trip; however, i'm a little tired. 

it's always worth it though. traveling.

this was a small check-in before things start picking up again. you'll hear from me next in europe!

have a great thursday, everyone.

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things i've learned + jazz camp

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unfortunately, i didn't take many pictures at campus, so you're going to have to deal with more portland photographs (disgusting, i know...)

i was pretty weary of going to camp; but, what's new? i'm pretty weary about doing anything.

so that small worry that started on monday grew like an epidemic until wednesday and most likely caused all of the innumerable health issues i had this week.

i don't even know what i was worrying about. probably stuff i shouldn't be worrying about... like always.

but despite the fact that this flaw pretty much f*cked up most of my week, i learned some things too. 

and trust me, camp was in so many ways more awesome than it was stressful (as i believed i've accidentally implied above).

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i've learned that (music-wise + life-wise) 

...practicing for 15 minutes every day can get you places (even if that is all you can fit into your terrible high school schedule)

...worrying = terrible thing to put yourself through. don't do it.

...at the end of day (literally at the end of the day for campers), you just have to let go and some of your best sounds and music will become of it. (reiterating the "stress = bad" logic)

...the people that you meet now could be the people you'll encounter (probably in new york city) later (and you'll probably have to host some of them. i'm getting ready now!!)

...listening to depressing music at dinner can make you feel like crap for a few long minutes, but can actually urge you to play better throughout the night (who knew?!)

...talking to new people = fantastic

while all of these things pretty much apply to me and jazz camp, if you take them out of context, they are relevant to every-day-social-life-things-you-should-be-doing-anyway qualities. so this applies to everyone.

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so to wrap this all up, i'm going to share my favorite albums and selective songs from the slowly rising jazz world for all of my new camp followers out there (and to my already existing ones, of course). au revoir for now.

songs from the analog playground - charlie hunter quartet

favorite songs/ mitch better have my bunny, percussion shuffle, creol

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fact finding mission - trichotomy

favorite songs/ strom, fact finding mission

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the gentle war - trichotomy

favorite songs/ chase, wrestle, cute

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the house that trane built - various artists

favorite songs/ stolen moments, alamode, hard work

have a great week, everyone!

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i think i've made it

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“1. iced coffee for summer / 2. raspberry sorbet for aesthetic / 3. pool scenes / 4. 4D tesseract in 3D / 5. celebrate! / 6. the view from abby’s”

yesterday was my last day of classes of my first year of high school. it doesn't even feel like it's ended, but rather that it's just starting all over again. bad? meh. i think it's time that i reflected on 10 things that have happened this year, (like i did last year).

1. i turned 15
2. i started and finished my first year of high school
3. i became comfortable with wearing a uniform every day (yep.)
4. i started a plant-based diet (yeah!go vegetables!)
5. i got hired for my first real photography commission (it never really went through...)
6. i became comfortable with not having extra time to do the stuff i want to do
7. i learned that it's good to keep in touch with old friends
8. i learned that speaking up for myself is extremely valuable
9. i realized that baking (although tedious at times) is a stress-reliever
10. i grasped that i really take sleeping for granted

so yeah. 10 things that definitely weren't as deep as last year, but, you know, it's still constructive. 

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so. for the final moments before summer, i will share some cool stuff things magic thingamabobs:

/ such a cool air purifier + planter + design piece 

/ beet tart tart tart

/ 2-ingredient buckwheat pancakes (bc PANCAKES)

/ i'm very intrigued by this instagram

/ chill sounds

/ i dig this

have a fabulous weekend, everyone.

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cool things

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i know i've been gone for a while now. it's finally all slowing down. school is approaching its end and i am not stressed as much as i used to be. it's nice having a few extra hours of free time to just enjoy myself and curl up with a nice episode of the newsroom and a large cup of iced coffee. i know that during this short period of time until summer, i will surely savor these moments.

i never realized until this year how much i love to do nothing. how much i love to sleep and to relax and just lay in bed and think philosophical things.

so here are some pretty cool things for you to explore until i come back.

/ awesome balloon mirrors

/ (cool) diy projects for the summer

/ magnificent interactive projections for the win

/ light + hanger = hank

/ super chill matcha brownies

/ gorgeous maple + lemon + meringue pies

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grey

i've been thinking about summer lately and about all of that precious free time i'll have to spend so loosely. it's kind of warm feeling i get thinking about all that time (which, when you think about it, isn't actually all that much). it's the final stretch now. i have all of these projects i'm trying to keep up on (both school-wise and photography/design-wise). at this point, i feel as though my brain is about to collapse on itself and fold into a cheese-less calzone. a good feeling? meh, i would say i've felt better. 

i just glanced out the window and realized how beautiful it looks. maybe i'll go outside today to enjoy it? we'll see. 70˚ sounds quite nice. i'm waiting for the weather to become consistent again. bleh. anyways enough blah blah blah. i haven't done a link-love in awhile, so i thought now would be a great time.

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1/ give me all the flatbread

2/ my absolute new favorite song - it's been on repeat all morning

3/ drool (not literally)

4/ probably the coolest website for telling time

5/ yoga, photography, and recipes combined? swoon!

6/ the brilliance of this photograph is unreal. like seriously.

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have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

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the time

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* image from cancaramelo

a new season is just around the corner and i am getting prepared culinarily and mentally for the relief of spring. 

i thought it would be nice to pull together a set of delicious, spring-y recipes for you to all enjoy in the upcoming months ahead. 

plus all of the photographs are gorgeous, so enjoy those as well.

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1/ asparagus + sugar snap pea pasta (w/ ricotta)

this is one of my favorite pasta recipes. the combination of asparagus, basil, ricotta, and lemon zest is the epitome of spring feels. 

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2/ blood orange + fennel + beet salad

oranges? fennel? beets? this simple, warm salad is the perfect transition dish between winter and spring. it's also very pretty to look at, which is a definite plus.

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3/ spring pea toast

avocado toast with a nice twist: spring pea hummus! a slice of ezekiel toast with this green hummus and slices of avocado would be the perfect breakfast or lunch. holy yum.

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4/ cold soba salad

soba is my favorite noodle. made of buckwheat, soba is light, healthy, and just sooooo good. i usually julienne snow peas, carrots, and edamame and toss it with a sweet soy sauce and the soba. this is a slight variation of what i make, but it looks just as good.

have a great week everyone!

subwaves

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i stumbled across some beautiful photographs taken by stephen mallon of old new york city subway cars being dumped into the ocean. i spot old C train cars that i used to ride to school. kind of nostalgic in a way.

i was somewhat dubious about the idea of discarding these cars in the ocean, but after i read the article about the purpose of doing such a thing, my thoughts changed.

after several years at the bottom of the ocean, the train cars become a part of the ecosystem, serving as an artificial coral reef system for sea life. 

at first glance, stephen's work seems to reveal an act of pollution, while in truth it is something more beautiful.

have a happy thursday, everyone. 

* credit to my best friend a-rad (alex) for the punny, yet relevant title.