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Why It’s Okay To Be Sad About Whitney

Dear Diary, I was in the car on Sunday after the Rose Bowl Flea Market and a Whitney medley came on the radio. At which point tears started streaming down my face. I was a little confused as to what I was so upset about. After all, it’s not like I was besties with Whitney Houston or that I was one of her biggest fans. Quite the contrary, I made fun of her crazy antics along with everyone else. But upon further investigation I’ve decided what bothers me so much about her death is the loss of something so beautiful,…

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Chili: The “Gumbo of the Midwest”

By Contributing Food Editor Jared Levan Dear Chili, We’ve historically recognized you as a spicy stew made of beef, red chilies/chili powder, tomatoes and beans, but these days it seems you’ve lost that straight-forward sense of identify. When you look at any number of recipes today, the combinations aren’t limited to just beans and beef. On the contrary, the combinations are practically endless yet they all retain the name chili. Some have meat and no beans. Some have vegetables and no meat or beans…it reminds me of gumbo, actually. A wise man once described gumbo to me as follows: “If…

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Wherefore Art Thou Roman Shade?

Dear Roman Polanski, I know you’ve been quite controversial recently, and I’m not going to comment on that. What I will comment on is the fact that you share a name with my favorite type of window covering (Roman Shades). And perhaps that counts for something. Actually, no it doesn’t… Roman Shades are a great alternative to drapery for a few reasons. Firstly, if you’re a dude (or a butch lesbian), they’re way more masculine in appearance than a flowing drape. Having them in your apartment and/or home will make you look way less ladypants than a house full of…

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I Want Something From To Do Something

Dear Furniture & Cabinetry Company To Do Something, I was at the home of one of my favorite clients today and she told me about you and showed me your stuff and I was instantly in love. I love the clean, modern lines, the playful color, the clever legs. I love the beautiful woods, the generous scale, the masculine shapes. Therefore, To Do Something, you are my favorite discovery of the day. Thank you for existing. Let’s start with the sexy chairs. Hay chair! I’m not usually a fan of plywood, but I love how it’s juxtaposed with white lacquer…

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Sofa’s Choice

Dear Sophia Loren, You know, if you were my daughter I would have named you Sofa Loren. I really love a good sofa. I’ve been searching for a new one for quite some time. My old sofa was great. Totally big mid-century piece. But it took up way too much space in my living room because it was 110″ wide. Which I loved but it left no room for side tables, which I believe to be a necessary part of having a sofa if you want to host parties because where else will people put their drinks? I loved the…

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Dollhouse Update: Back the Drawing Board…

Dear Everyone, I know a lot of you have been curious WHAT was up with my dollhouse. Well, here’s the scoop. When we started the I’m A Giant challenge, Emily and I were very busy starting our design company and working on clients all over LA and New York. So, to make a long story short, my poor dollhouse sat at Corbett’s house for months, languishing on in the cold garage. Until a few weeks ago when I realized that it was supposed to be done February 1. Clearly that’s not happening, construction is taking much longer than expected (as…

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My So-Called Ugly Shower

Dear Bathroom, When I moved into my apartment, the showerbath looked like this: That was ugly, so I put up a white shower curtain. This made the room look much more clean and fresh (I promise. It looked good in real life. This is a terrible photo): But the white curtain was boring, so I replaced it with a shower curtain I stole from my mother’s linen closet. The good thing about my mother is that she hoards sheets, towels, and all sorts of linens. Continuously buying linens gives her a sense that everything is under control and the world…

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Whoopie!

By Contributing Food Editor Jared Levan Dear Pennsylvania, On behalf of everyone (save the residents of Maine and Massachusetts…look it up) I’d like to thank you for contributing the most delightful sweet treat of my childhood years–the whoopie pie. Rumor has it that Amish women living in Lancaster, PA would make whoopie pies and sneak them into their husband’s lunch pails prepared for a day of work in the fields. When the unsuspecting men, famished from a morning of hard labor, opened their lunches they’d be thrilled at the sight of these sweet, fluffy little goodies to which they would…

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Out With The Old…

Dear Apartment, You know, every once in a while it’s a good idea to freshen things up. Lately I’ve been noticing that every single thing that surrounds me is vintage. Which is great. I love vintage pieces because they are so much more interesting than new, mass manufactured furniture. But I think it’s good to have a balance of old and new so my place doesn’t look like it belongs to a grandpa (not that I have anything against grandpas, I love mine). Thus, I decided to add something new to my living room. Here’s what it looked like before…

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Going to LACMA: Such A Burden!

Dear Jennifer Love Hewitt, I’ve been promising to tell you about what my favorite place in Los Angeles is and, well, here it is. I love LACMA (the Los Angeles County Museum of Art). There, I said it and I’m not ashamed. It’s my favorite place in this city. It gives me a sense of peace in a world full of chaos. I visited recently to check out the new Chris Burden installation (‘Metropolis II’) I was hearing so much about. It’s pretty amazing. But don’t take my word for it. Watch this mini documentary about it: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llacDdn5yIE] We went…

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Five Things I Loved And Bought

Dear Anjelica Huston, I know you’ve been concerned about my wardrobe lately, so I did a little shopping and here are some of the things I purchased. I was in desperate need of some new shoes so my search started there. I found these delightful Vans on sale for $40 (they’re supposed to be $90). As you my know, I was raised in Yosemite Valley and I’ve never seen a Yosemite shirt this cool. I got this on sale for $15. Apparently I really like Vans, because I bought these too. They were also on sale for $40 (from $80)….

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Hungry? Why Not Have a Sandwich?

By Contributing Food Editor Jared Levan Dear Incredible-Edible Sandwich, I love the way you look sitting there on the plate, begging to be eaten. And though I’m not quite sure how, you possess some strange power over me to which I am utterly helpless. Never in all my years would I have imagined you’d look so delicious sliced in-two and slapped on top of a photocopier. Jon Chonko, of Scanwiches decided to capture the beauty of the almighty sandwich using nothing but a xerox–no photoshop here. Their philosophy is simple, it’s all about the true beauty of the bread and…

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Awkward Space? Put A Bench On It!

Dear Benches, You have no idea how handy you are in home decorating? Awkward empty wall? Add a bench! Weird space at the end of the bed? Put a bench on it! Empty space in the bathroom that keeps reminding you how empty your life is? Bench! I think you get the picture. Thus, Emily and I are always looking for benches. Often, we enter stores and flea markets screaming at each other in terror about how there just aren’t enough benches. For some reason flea markets have been dry as a bone when it comes to benches, so I’ve…

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Shopping With Emily / Give Me That!

Dear Everyone, Look at these new chairs I found for my apartment at the Long Beach Flea Market! See them and more of my finds in my shopping post on Emily’s Blog today. It will be the most important thing you do in your whole life. Love, Orlando P.S. Here is the link to my shopping wrap-up.

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Beautiful Photography / Melancholia & Gregory Crewdson

Dear Kirsten Dunst, I loved your work in the film ‘Melancholia,’ which I just got around to seeing last week. While your acting was quite amazing, the thing that struck me most about the film was its opening sequence. The first eight minutes of the film are so beautiful and enthralling they could stand alone as a short film. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWQ2YZG8kcA&feature=related] The imagery in these opening scenes will probably seem familiar to anyone who has seen the work of Gregory Crewdson, a photographer who specializes in dramatically lit, color-rich, surreal images. I didn’t really make the connection until a friend of…

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Why Do I Deny Myself The Thing I Love Most?

Dear Diary, If you did a scan of my brain, it would look something like this: Everything in my head is neon and bright and beachy (this is one reason why I love Los Angeles so much). I tend to shy away from using these colors in my apartment because my deepest fear (aside from dying alone, surrounding by cats) is making my apartment look like a gay cartoon rainbow explosion. But I can’t stop fantasizing about having this kind of color in my apartment: Meanwhile, I just painted my walls this color (Benjamin Moore Half Moon Crest). Snore. Oh,…

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Jared Levan / Veggies For Dessert

By Contributing Food Editor Jared Levan Dear Dessert Loverz, Something tells me that more than handful of you would be down-right frightened if you were ever served crudités for dessert whilst dining out and about. And while that tray of celery and carrots may not an ideal dessert make, it’s actually not that far from something delicious (not to mention sweet). That’s right, I’m talking about desserts that call for vegetables and this past week at In Food We Trust, we’ve been sharing our favorite veggie-laden recipes for all to taste. Why vegetables you may ask? Well, in most recipes,…

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Diesel, I Will Always Love You Even Though You Ripped Off Levi’s

Dear People Who Grew Up In A Normal Place, You know, often when people ask me what it was like growing up in a National Park (Yosemite), they say things like “Were you raised by wolves? Did you live in a teepee? Are your parents forest rangers?” Unfortunately, the answers to those questions are “No,” “Kind of,” and “Almost.” I did, however, grow up in a “rustic”  cabin in the middle of the woods right next to a huge waterfall. And you’d probably imagine I was running around wearing overalls whilst biting on a piece of straw all the time….

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The Rose Bowl: My Heart Will Go On And On!

Dear Kate Winslet, Remember that scene in Titanic where you and Leonardo Dicaprio are so cold that you look like this? Yeah, me neither. It’s been ages since I saw that movie. But the above picture describes perfectly how cold Emily and I were when we showed up to Rose Bowl on Sunday at 5:45 AM. I was pretty much wearing a speedo and a backpack and my teeth were chattering (I think I need to hire someone to dress me in the morning, I’m a total idiot). Emily was dressed more sensibly, but by the end of the morning…

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I Am A Teenage Girl From Japan Who Likes Weird Things

Dear Diary, Like many teenage girls in Japan, I love all things graphic, bright, and cartoony. Yesterday, I went on a crazy shopping spree at Target and was reminded how much I like cartoon-inspired objects. In particular, I was struck by a mug in the shape of a whale (which happened to be in my favorite color aqua). It titillated me because I find it both revolting and completely necessary. At first I thought it was too cheesy and disgusting to buy, but then I thought to myself that if I saw it at Cerealart, I’d totally want it. This…

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Hommemaker Jared / Hommemade Meatballs + Brussels Sprout Arrabiata

By Contributing Food Editor Jared Levan Dear Meatballerz, Winter is the best season to enjoy a nice juicy meatball and some delicious brussels sprouts. Unless of course you’re a vegan (in which case avoid the meatballs). If I could eat brussels sprouts every day, I totally would. So I’ve put together these wonderful recipes for you to enjoy over the weekend. Or whenever you want. It’s up to you! Homemade Meatballs Recipe created by Jared Levan 1 Lb. Ground beef tips 1 Clove fresh garlic, minced 1 Tbsp. fresh oregano, finely chopped 1 Tbsp. pork fat, rendered & chilled 1 Cup…

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I’m Seriously Sweating These Seven Sweaters

Dear Los Angeles, How do I love thee, let me count the ways… Except I have a bone to pick with you. Why is it 85 degrees in January? Here I am sweating in my apartment, trying to come up with design plans and all I want to do is wear a sweater and maybe see a raindrop or two. I know this whining is probably totally annoying to anyone reading this in a cold place, sitting in front of their computers shivering like the Little Match Girl, but I really wouldn’t mind a few more months of wintry weather…

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Around The Apartment

Dear Apartment, I’m enjoying you these days after I spent a full 24 hours cleaning you like a crazy person (think Annette Benning in that crazy cleaning scene in “American Beauty” or the crazy mom vacuuming in “Requiem For A Dream). You got really dirty over the last month of New York travel, holiday hoopla, and work craziness. Below are a few of my favorite spots in my apartment. My very favorite place is my bed. Because it’s so comfortable and cozy. This is the view I see every morning. The palm tree outside my window is named “Henry” and…

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Shopping With Emily: Get Your Hand Off My Brass!

Dear Emily, Well it certainly was a fun and exciting holiday season this year. It was the best of times, it was the best of time, but thank goodness it’s over. I mean, REALLY. We have so much to do it’s not even funny. And by “so much to do” I mean so much to buy. One of our clients is really into gold and brass. In fact, Emily and I spent three days in her house going crazy with gold accessories, gold spray paint, and gold leafing. I have a secret desire to paint every single thing in my…

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