Los Angeles Travel Diary: Day One

We started off our trip on the West Coast in downtown LA whilst our nephews were at class at the Colburn School of Performing Acts. It took an architectural spin as we wandered through the magnificent Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, and then over at the beautiful, ultra-modern Cathedral of the Our Lady of the Angels:

DVF at LACMA

We had Martin Luther King day off work so S and I flew out to Los Angeles for the long weekend. 

While I've been to LAX numerous times on SYD-JFK flights, it was my first visit to the palm-tree-and-sunshine-filled City of Angels. We saw plenty in three days and I have lots of photos to share. Throwing chronology out the window, I would like to begin with the most colourful portion of our trip - our visit to the Diane von Furstenberg "Journey of a Dress" exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 

Pink walls greet you as you enter the gallery, with vintage DVF print ads, movie stills and pictures of herself and other luminaries in various iterations of the dress:

Cybil Shepherd in Taxi Driver 

Clover Canyon Christmas

2013 was a great year for me - a fresh job, a fitter lifestyle and a wonderful new husband. Ending the year on a high made making 2014 goals a little contrived. Regardless I like thinking about style resolutions - which on a fundamental level really means shopping a little less. I pledge to, however, continue to be smart about my purchases, and only add items to my wardrobe that are like nothing I currently own. 

Ergo, you saw the new kicks and hat, now let me introduce you to my latest obsession - Clover Canyon. This is a brand I've known of for months but while they appealed to my print-loving personality, their initial designs didn't quite rock my boat. Also the scuba-like fabric that appears in a lot of their designs can be rather unforgiving when used on slim silhouettes. 

Then they go and release an art-deco-inspired collection. Boom, dead. Come at me, neoprene. 

Robert Indiana

After a gruelling Soul Cycle class this morning, S and I headed up to the Upper East Side for a bout of museum-hopping.

First stop, food. 

We had a hearty meal of pasta, eggs and the yummiest stuffed pancakes at The East Pole, picked solely based on photos on Nicole's website. Said pancakes will have us back again for brunch (especially since this place takes reservations). Curiosity about the rest of the menu will have me back for dinner. 

Fueled up, we trudged through yucky grey slush towards the Frick, in the hopes of picking up day-of tickets to view the Dutch collection on display (I wrote about it here). Silly me however forgot that Fabritius' Goldfinch was also part of the exhibit, so the lines to enter stretched around the block. Even the The NY Times was on it, while I most certainly wasn't. 

No line is worth standing in frigid temperatures. As such, we moved on to the Whitney for Robert Indiana's retrospective. While we knew the exhibition was more than of his famous "Love" series, my heart swelled when this large, lit-up installation greeted us at the entrance:

NYC Social - January 2014

Happy new year everyone! This series took an unintentional two-month hiatus but it's back. While this post always takes a while to put together, I love writing it and plotting out my weekend plans at the same time, so I do hope you enjoy reading it too.  

We have a bumper issue this month, including a bunch of events which wrap up this weekend. Layer up, grab a hot chocolate and get yourselves out there stat: 

1. Robert Indiana Beyond Love: through January 5

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You might know Robert Indiana from his famous "Love" series of art. This broader retrospective attempts to reveal reasons Indiana is one of America's most prolific artists, showcasing various paintings and sculptures from post-war 1960s. The bulk of the exhibition is non-"Love" but fans will not be disappointed as there is an original 1966 version and a recent re-creation of a 6-foot, 3D sign that lights up.