california – Ann Street Studio

Dom Pérignon P2 1998

April 26, 2016October 6, 2016Posted in TravelTagged 1998, california, chamange, champagne, champagne vintages, Dom Pérignon, dom perignon 1998, Dom Perignon P2 1998, DomPérignon, drinks, food and wine, Joshua tree, joshuatree, lifestyle, p2, p2 1998, palm springs, palmsprings, plentidues, second plentitude, travel, wine2 Comments

From the fields of France to the tables in Barcelona, we have been on some amazing journeys with Dom Pérignon. The latest adventure has us standing over the Californian desert horizon of Joshua Tree, drawing parallels between a 100 million year old natural park with its rich history of change and Dom Pérignon’s 1998 vintage which is now, according to Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy, entering its Second Pléntitude on its own journey through time and change.

The Second Pléntitude, or P2 as they call it, happens around year fifteen in the champagne aging process. According to Geoffroy, champagne has three peak stages: The first at around seven years, the second at fifteen and the final stage around thirty. For the sake of comparison, a typical champagne is aged around three years. When you contrast the aging of Joshua Tree and how it has had many stages created and affected by nature you see how the stages of champagne are a small mirror to a vast landscape, both displaying their beautiful triumphs as a result of mother nature.

I love champagne, of course, it is greatly heightened by the master craft and artisanship of a wine like Dom, but I don’t drink it because of the name on the label. I love champagne because I’ve never had a bad time with it. It evokes memories of celebration, joy, friendship, laughter, perfect sunsets and even perfect sunrises. When we toast with champagne it is that sparkle in our eyes that effortlessly compliments the golden movements of the silent symphony inside that golden glass leaving your memories to float up into the night-sky and dance among the stars.

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EAT L.A.

March 8, 2016February 22, 2018Posted in TravelTagged B&W, black and white, blackandwhite, california, Dining, film, food, guide, L.A., la, list, los angeles, losangeles, restaurants22 Comments

It’s that time of year in which every New Yorker says… “Maybe I should move to L.A.”. I’ve been very resistant to the idea of the perpetual perfect 72 and sunny day, being the proud New Yorker I am I declare things like “I like seasons” and “I hate driving”. But…. when it’s 18 degrees and dark most of the day I find myself singing a different tune.

So, I decided to focus on something I do best: eating well. I love food. I love GOOD food. I love beautiful food. I love weird food. And if I’m going to ever really consider making the popular migration west, I want to know what’s the skinny on one of my favorite activities… and here is what I found when you Eat L.A.

Favorite Food Spots in Los Angeles

Salazar || Cafe Stella || Milo & Olive || Malibu Farm || Alimento || KazuNori || Rose Cafe || Republique || Petit Trois – ||Odys and Penelope || Bestia ||Cassia || Trois Familia || Guisados || Salt Air ||Guerrilla Tacos ||Tasting Kitchen || Verve || Love & Salt || The Bunglow || Salt & Straw ||Redbird || Gjusta || Sqirl || Sycamore Kitchen || Osteria Mozza || Jon & Vinny’s || Rustic Canyon || Maré || Sugarfish || Destroyer || Pizzeria Mozza || Sotto || Eightfold Coffee || Ostrich Farm || Baco Mercat || Las Perlas || Mercado || Father’s Office

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L.A. Lady

May 11, 2015May 13, 2015Posted in LifestyleTagged california, L.A., la, lifestyle, los angeles, losangeles, NYDJ, personal style, personalstyle, santa monica, santamonica19 Comments

I was recently introduced to one of the most successful jean brands in the country, NYDJ. The relationship started when they sent me a pair of jeans to try out, which have now become my go-to photoshoot pants not only for their comfort but the fact they stretch slightly, making moving more functional and my job easier. I also like the fact they are slightly high-waisted and when she complimented me on the fit I knew there was something here.

Furthering the relationship, NYDJ sent me on a west coast adventure around Southern California with a suitcase full of their new summer looks to try on and wear out. For a week I lived in NYDJ and here is what I have to say – not only do the clothes travel well, they are easy to dress up or dress down making the unexpected travel plans manageable while still appearing completely put together on the outside and incredibly comfortable on the inside. What you don’t see is how they manage to do that. On the inside of the dresses they have a built in second layer that is similar to shape-wear, but not uncomfortable or constricting. It makes a flattering support system that keeps everything smooth and pretty while still allowing you to move, eat, sit and play with ease. It actually gave me more confidence while wearing dresses that showed off my natural figure.

I’ll be honest, this was a brutal winter in New York causing me at one point to actually take a cab four blocks home because I was too cold to carry on. This, in contrast to the endless snapchats of L.A. friends wearing tank tops and having backyard pizza parties in mid-February, was just cruel. I was happy to get out of New York which still seems to be slowly awakening into spring. I wanted to be surrounded by a color other than gray and something to do other than work 28 hours a day. Funny enough, I’m not the only one that feels this way. While in L.A. I woke up to a handful of texts, emails, tweets, snaps saying “did you read this!?”, with a link to a New York Times article on just the sentiment I was living. It also didn’t help the case for New York that we were able to borrow a Jaguar F-Type convertible and spent the entire week with the top down, wind in our hair, and that sweet smell of honeysuckle wafting by.

Here are some of my favorite NYDJ summer looks and the great discoveries to be had along that gorgeous California coast….

Above and below- watching the sunset in a Jaguar F-Type convertible in the canyons in NYDJ’s Rosella Stretch Crepe Drape Dress, Phillips House earrings, and Phillips House “Love Always” bracelet before heading to dinner at Giorgio Baldi

We chose to stay in Santa Monica, just a few blocks from the ocean, at the Palihouse which we loved. Below, leaving in NYDJ’s Maia Jumpsuit (FAVORITE), Maiyet gold bangle, Schutz Juliana heels and Kotur clutch to meet friends at Jones Hollywood for a cocktail and then live show of our NYC friend that happened to be out in L.A. Matt Sucich.

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Big Sur

November 5, 2014Posted in TravelTagged B&W, big sur, bigsur, black and white, blackandwhite, california, delta 100, delta100, film, ilford, landscape, linhof technika, linholf, pacific coast, pacific coast highway, pch, travel10 Comments

I’ve always wanted to drive along Big Sur, the dramatic edge of the western United States. While in Pebble Beach with Lincoln Motor Company, it seemed like the appropriate time to do that all-American activity of going for a drive, listening to old Beatles songs and Elton John favorites, pulling over every two miles to look in awe at the real picture show that is Big Sur.

Captured on 4×5 black and white Ilford Delta film

Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

October 29, 2014November 3, 2014Posted in LifestyleTagged 1920s, automobile, B&W, black and white, blackandwhite, california, car, cars, concours, film, mercedes, pebble beach, pebble beach concours d'elegance, pebblebeach, prewar, rolls royce, tri-x, tri-x 400, vintage, vintage cars11 Comments

It’s an interesting thing, the world of luxury cars. Growing up in Texas, luxury meant the biggest pickup truck on the road…but that was not for me. I dreamed about the cars they drove in Sabrina and what was in Jay Gatsby’s garage. I knew these cars were aesthetically special but beyond that my knowledge ended. Lord help me when it’s time to change the oil or, heaven forbid, a flat tire with the old car I just bought last fall. I’ll def be pulling one of these when that day comes…

So here I found myself at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance as the guest of one of my favorite clients, Lincoln Motor Co. which as you know has a great history of classic motoring in America and I felt so honored to be their guest, diving into this world of antique perfection.

Here are 10 things I learned in the lap of luxury:

Do not touch the cars.
These car owners give a new meaning to “spotless“… the smallest particle of dust was no match.
Men will totally lose any logical thought in their head when one of these cars or if any of the new concept cars is present…or even in ear shot. (yes, we could hear them driving around from our hotel room)
Racetracks are LOUD. Earplugs next time… I wonder if Donna Karan makes a chic pair?
You don’t know rich until you know car culture rich. Jay Leno has said “Concours is where simple millionaires come to rub shoulders with billionaires.”
Once you show your automobile at the Concours, you can not enter again for 10 years.
One example I found through sly eavesdropping of how much it cost to restore an antique car: $500,000.
Cars in the 1920s (Duesenberg) had hidden bars stocked with crystal decanters and tumblers. I literally screamed when he opened the back of the seat to show me.
The prize car at auction while I was there went for $23 Million…. a car that I can’t figure out how it would ever make it past a speed bump.
After driving around Monterey Peninsula next to Lamborghinis, McLarens and classic Ferraris any other roadway in America looks disgusting… including the Hamptons. #gamechanger

It was an intoxicating passion to be around, and only something as perfectly beautiful as these cherished pieces of automobile history could distract from the ravishing California coast…

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Napa Valley & Beyond

July 16, 2014July 18, 2014Posted in TravelTagged bouchon, california, honeymoon, luxury, napa, napa valley, napavalley, personal, travel, trip, wine, wine train18 Comments

Even though our private little cottage at Carneros Inn was the perfect hideaway for newlyweds in love, we did find the “courage” to venture out into the hills of California’s Napa Valley. So what does one do in this stunning American wine region? … drink and eat. A LOT. It was so much fun hopping on bikes and bouncing from one winery to the next, sometimes making a picnic and sometimes trying world-famous restaurants such as Bouchon. My absolute favorite winery was James Cole, where we bought a case of Merlot we gave to family members as Christmas gifts…and saved some for ourselves (for special occasions, like this past Thanksgiving). We played tourists on the Napa Valley Wine Train and spent a day in Santa Rosa, the city one of Kevin’s favorite beer breweries, Russian River, calls home. The details are foggy with the passage of time (or maybe it was the wine) and now only the highlights of my memories remain and these very few snapshots on film of the time in our lives when we were newlywed ~

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Carneros Inn

July 15, 2014July 16, 2014Posted in TravelTagged california, Carneros, Carneros Inn, CarnerosInn, honeymoon, hotel, luxury, luxuryhotel, napa, napa valley, napavalley, personal, travel, trip, wine7 Comments

I was always enchanted with the quaintness of John F. Kennedy & Jackie’s California retreat on the 2nd leg of their honeymoon after Acapulco. Though we chose to start out on a once-in-a-lifetime Safari, we wanted to really take time to also slow down and take in our new roles as husband & wife with as many sunsets as possible. I found our private retreat in Carneros Inn in California’s Napa Valley, a gorgeous rolling hill estate surrouned by fields of grapevines and tucked away rows of little tin-roofed cottages, a literally home away from home. I pulled these old color film snapshots out of the archives as Kevin and I recently celebrated our 2nd anniversary to remember that place, those sun-filled days of baths outside in our walled garden, nights by the outdoor fireplace drinking wine and mornings with time to read the newspaper. It was magical, it should be magical and I hope it was or will be for you…

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Lake Tahoe

June 12, 2013June 14, 2013Posted in TravelTagged california, lake tahoe, laketahoe, landscape, mark twain, nature, tahoe, travel30 Comments

“It was the end of August, and the skies were cloudless and the weather superb…It seemed to me that nothing could be so fine and so romantic.” – Mark Twain

What is it about water that has such an effect on us? An afternoon of endless gazing we give to a vista of water so vibrantly blue it is as if a child colored it. Deep breaths… the simple joy of clean air fills your lungs and your body feels connected to the earth, this mesmerizing place of peace and tranquility. We walked on pine needles and felt the mist of roaring rapids vapor kisses on our faces and discussed how magnificent Mother Nature truly can be. A few days at Lake Tahoe, a few photographs to remember…

“…at last the Lake burst upon us — a noble sheet of blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea, and walled in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft full three thousand feet higher still! It was a vast oval, and one would have to use up eighty or a hundred good miles in traveling around it. As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole earth affords.”

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Rachel Roy Spring Campaign

April 25, 2013November 18, 2014Posted in Fashion EditorialTagged american exotic, american west, americanexotic, americanwest, ann street studio, annstreetstudio, california, cougar buttes, editorial, fashion, fashion editorial, gabriella lopez, gloria noto, jamie beck, jamiebeck, Joshua tree, kelly framel, model, Rachel Roy, RachelRoy, rrexotic14 Comments

We traveled out west with trucks of beautiful clothes from Rachel Roy‘s spring line. We brought our muse, Gabriella Lopez, to the gorgeous locations we had found.

Everything was in place to make our dream story a reality: the story of a girl lost, looking for something in the desert sun, something exotic…American Exotic.

Rachel Roy Spring 2013 campaign starring Gabriella Lopez, styled by Kelly Framel, hair & makeup by Gloria Noto, shot in California’s Joshua Tree and Cougar Buttes Park

Clift Hotel

April 3, 2012October 29, 2013Posted in TravelTagged CA, california, Clift, hotel, san francisco, SF, travel, tumblrLeave a comment

We are out on the west coast and after hearing so much about this hotel’s lobby and bar, I had to know what it was like behind the doors of the Clift Hotel in downtown San Francisco.

Beautiful rooms with amazing views and my favorite kind of space; historic, simple and beautiful.

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The Malibu Dream

February 7, 2012December 12, 2014Posted in VideoTagged california, fashion, glamourai, kelly framel, kelly wearstler, kelly2011, malibu, mymovies, sam winter, theglamourai, think/feel, videoLeave a comment

Tucked away in Kelly Wearstler’s Malibu mansion three artists talked about what it meant to create, how we dreamed we could and what we’ll do next. We drank champagne and talked all night, we played in the light, we queued the wind, and she danced to the music while the cameras were rolling…

January 25, 2012August 20, 2012Posted in Cinemagraphs, Fashion EditorialTagged CA, california, cinemagraph, fashion, fashion editorial, gif, kelly framel, kelly wearstler, malibu, resortLeave a comment

“things can get a little strange out in california; all that lingering light plays tricks on life. pods of dolphins slip into sight; birds sing, unseen. the shackles are gilded and the cages palatial. yet the colors are lovely, and there’s always the promise of escape on the PCH…”

(Source: http://cinemagraphs.com/malibu/)

Shipwrecked

January 10, 2012January 2, 2013Posted in Cinemagraphs, Fashion EditorialTagged california, cinemagraph, fashion, fashion editorial, favorite, kelly framel, kelly wearstler, malibu, ocean, portrait, the glamourai, wicked games, wickedgames1 Comment