“Instructions for living a life.

Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”- Mary Oliver

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”-Mary Oliver

“to live in this world
you must be able
to do three things
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go”- Mary Oliver

One very cold gloomy day at the beginning of January, Camilla and I went up the hill from our house to one of our favorite places. The views go on for miles, there you can sit and watch the surfers paddle out to find the perfect wave. You have to climb down over a small walk way to get to the caves situated high on the cliff. The sky was full of silvery clouds, the ocean a deep blue-grey, the air cool and wet with quiet stillness all around us and just the seagulls and waves to listen to. It is a great place to clear your head or like we decided to do, take photos and be immersed in the beauty that surrounded.

As though I had Wings
Features: Free People
Quotes: Mary Oliver
via Pinterest

Last weekend my husbands friend Mike Dytri, gave him a box of cool threads from his amazing men’s clothing line Ludwig Van. I have been wanting for some time to shoot a group of guys and also go to the infamous Banks that Emmett and his friends skate.  Emmett has been asking me to shoot Camilla at the banks for a while, but considering that you have to hop a fence and truck way down train tracks to get there we have never made the trek.  Since I finally had a crew of willing guys ready to be photographed and some great gear, now was the perfect time.

The inspiration for the shoot was a cross between Stand by Me and Dogtown. I wanted the togetherness of friendship to show through and still carry the true culture of a Southern California skate day.

Can You Dig It
Curated by: A Butterfly By Day
Features: Ludwig Van
Stylist: Skot Werner
Focus: Menswear
Models: Conner,Emmett,Harry,Khidhar and Mario
Quotes: Lee Wilson Dodd
Special Thanks to Mike Dytri

all clothes by Free People, sunglasses vintage, jewelry Urban Outfitters and vintage, shoes Jeffery Campbell

xx Valerie and Camilla

Happy New Year!

XX

If you haven’t heard of Lana Del Rey yet, allow us to get you acquainted with her. The New York native, born as Elizabeth Grant, gained her recent fame via Internet by posting her songs through youtube, quickly turning her into the newest “internet sensation” (similar to that of Justin Beiber but most definitely not similar in terms of content or soul). Lana’s videos, authentically made by herself with the help of her sister who would film her with a laptop, are a visual collage of various film clips to accompany her own vocals.

Her voice is hauntingly beautiful, deep, dreamy and real, the type that can get stuck in your head for days on end without having listened to a song of hers more than once. In an interview by Wonderland Magazine, Del Rey’s voice was compared to sounding like “Mazzy Star with Stevie Nicks Vocal Range and Nancy Sinatra’s fragile strength.” Her song “Video Games” has reached some 14 million views and is said to be “everywhere”, having been featured on both CW’s The Ringer and Gossip Girl, which has in turn brought her even more press. Del Rey’s latest single, “Born To Die” is her first music video that was professionally made and her Album Born To Die will be released sometime in January 2012.

Lana Del Rey’s raw, unmistakable talent and lyrics that effortlessly put a spell on her listeners are the reasons why masses of people are relating her to being the next shining star in the music industry. Needless to say, we’re convinced she will be too.

Here are a couple of her songs, try and see if she won’t abduct you as well.

Born To Die

Video Games

Blue Jeans

We’ll let you be the judge.

XX, Camilla & Valerie

“Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me” -Louis Armstrong

“Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper “I love you”
Birds singing in the sycamore trees
Dream a little dream of me”-Louis Armstrong

“A Smile is the best makeup any girl can wear.”

“If you keep on believing, the dream that you dream will come true.”  -Cinderella

“Well, we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah, we all shine on
C’mon and on and on, on, on” – John Lennon

“Yes you’re lovely, with your smile so warm
And your cheeks so soft,
There is nothing for me but to love you,
And the way you look tonight.” – Frank Sinatra

Well the Holiday season is in full bloom! Being a personal shopper it has to be the busiest time of year. Everyone is looking for gifts, planning parties in which they’ll need to be dressed fabulous for and of course all their other events!

Getting together with Camilla this Thanksgiving to do a Holiday shoot for Lori’s Shoes brought us both out of our blogging hiatus and completely into the festive spirit. When we received the Jeffery Campbell, Midler pumps we knew our newest vintage acquisition, a 1970′s multi colored sequin jacket, would be the perfect companion. Our inspiration became the combination of Jerry Hall circa studio 54 meets woodland fairy princess. We decided to shoot very late in the day giving an atmosphere of a romantic dreamscape. A glittering fairy waiting for her date to arrive and take her off to the party.

During the Holidays my favorite type of music is not the usual HO!HO!HO! but instead I like to play the music of Frank, Louis, Ella and John to get me into a happy, festive mood.

So go ahead an shake yourself a cocktail and enjoy the season!

The Outfit:

A black Silk Chiffon maxi skirt from Free People, Jewel toned cropped silk top from Free People, Vintage Sequin bolero jacket, Wine tights by Hue and Jeffery Campbell Midler pumps. To complete the look we used vintage rings and a golden and ruby necklace.

XX

Valerie and Camilla

Camilla popped it on as soon as she saw it, when she dropped home last weekend and I snapped a few photos. We both love the way it drapes on the body and how the silk lining feels against your skin. Perfect on gloomy fall day to perk you up! Planning to wear this beauty with  jeans and a tee shirt, simple – but a touch of glitz to make you sparkle.I also found another beautiful sequin jacket that I am saving for a shoot as soon as we both have a full day together. So look for it in the near future.

It feels like a long, long time ago now that we went downtown to Occupy LA at City Hall to Photograph the happenings of Global Take Action Day. We wanted to capture the overall feeling, the people of the movement, and aimed to document a time in history. With so much talk constantly in the news on the topic, many have formed opinions about who these people are and what they are protesting about. What we saw was a unity for peace and love, listened to some great music and speakers with passion for their beliefs. The following photos are a compilation of portraits and images from the movement as seen through the eyes of Camilla and myself. Meant only to give pause and take a moment to reflect on who you are, what you want for yourself, your world and your life.

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream, a dream you dream together is reality.” -John Lennon

“One love, One blood, and One Heart
One people, One World, and One God
We gotta come together united for one cause
Put ya hands up in the air for peace!”-Luminaries“Peace worldwide starts from inside”

“Peace world wide starts from inside
We gotta find a better way that we can be
Peace world wide starts from inside
Go head and let cha mind body soul be free
Peace world wide starts from inside
the answer and solution always starts with me
Peace world wide starts from inside
If you want to save the world,
BE THE CHANGE YOU WANNA SEE! “-Luminaries

silk blouse J Crew, skirt Vintage, boots Jeffery Campbellshoes Chia Mihara, jeans J Brand, plaid jacket Vintage, boucle vest Leifsdottir
Ed Ruscha-1977

Follow us into the exhibit and see a few of the artists we found the most inspiring.

ZUMA BEACH

John Divola, Zuma Beach, 1977-78

He photographed vacant beach front properties documenting the destruction and using them as his canvas while framing amazing sunsets in his color saturated photos.

RICH AND POOR

Jim Goldberg – late 1970′s,  Rich and Poor

The photos of Jim Goldberg confronts the diversity of economic classes. Each photo has a handwritten note by the subject he photographed, some are very though provoking.


xx

valerie & camilla

One of my favorite meals is so easy and yummy at the same time. Simple ingredients and quick prep make it easy for even a week night meal.

Roasted Chicken with Garbanzo Beans – Bon Appetit

Served with Greek yogurt on Israeli Couscous. So easy and good… you can relax.

Enjoy!