Gems of South LA: Bacaro LA

When I moved south of the 10 freeway, I moved into unfamiliar territory.  As part of my renewed love for the neighborhood, the last two years or so have been ones of discovery--discovering the beauty in South LA.  Many hear "South LA" and make automatic assumptions about what they think they know about this area.  I won't lie, before I moved here, I made the same assumptions.  

I've spent many hours and walked many miles, and basically falling in love with South LA.  Sounds cheesy, I know, but that's a big deal, especially when I wanted to leave South LA so badly a couple of years ago.  I hope that this blog series, Gems of South LA, captures some of the love that has been renewed for South LA.

One of the restaurants that I first heard about from people at my church was Bacaro LA.  They called it "the date place" because it was the nicest restaurant in the area where couples could go on dates.  

I want to be mindful of gentrification in South LA as I want to advocate for our indigent neighbors.  Bacaro LA is not what I would call a "cheap eat" restaurant, but I still want to highlight it because they are mindful of the community.  It is a splurge to go there, so it's especially a treat.  Anytime they have a groupon or Living Social deal for Bacaro, I always snap it up.  

It is a quality restaurant with delicious and creative tapas, or small dishes.  Enjoy and go try Bacaro LA sometime, especially when you want to get dressed up and look swanky on a date!

Outside shot.  Love this entire little strip mall.  Bacaro LA owners also run the coffee/tea place down the street called Nature's Brew.  That's for another Gems of South LA post.

Inside shot with fun chalkboard walls with wine menus, etc.  It was pretty crowded that night as usual, lots of USC students.

We ordered my usual favorite tapas that are of course, gluten free.  I'm a gluten free gal in case you didn't know (more future posts on getting AFFORDABLE gluten free), so it can make eating out a bit of a challenge at times.  From top to bottom: caprese salad, pork belly skewers, polenta with eggplant puree, cauliflower with amazing chipotle sauce, the Bacaro burger on a bed of greens, and hanger steak.  All delicious!

My friend and date for the night, Lindsay Modrow!  Amazing woman!

This post would not be complete without some outfit pics.  A night at Bacaro LA called for sparkly tops (from the clothing swap), my vintage silk pants, gold wedges, and of course the amazing beaded bag (it was my mom's!)!

Enjoy your weekend and PEACE.

OOTD: St. Patty's Day, Easy Being Green

I guess it was inevitable.  I was bound to be the first customer for Sonshine Shop Vintage.  That's the tough part of having first dibs on all of these amazing items.  When you're the first to get your hands on them, it's hard to not want to buy them all for yourself!!

When I saw these green silk pants, I knew that I would eventually buy them.  And when I did, I wore them for three days in a row practically.  They are so light and comfortable.

Of course, I wore these lovely green pants on St. Patrick's day!

This amazing beaded purse was...my mother's!  If you couldn't tell by my outfits, I've been really into the style and fashion from the era of Downtown Abbey.  The long beaded necklaces, loose sparkly tops, and delicate, fancy hairstyles.

Aside from wearing green on that day, I've learned some about St. Patrick and his life and have a huge amount of respect and admiration for it.  This article tells you a little more about the patron saint of Ireland, and the movement through Celtic Christianity that changed the world.  Celtic values and love for nature, community, and hospitality were the heart of their spirituality, which is so inspiring.  

I had the privilege of visiting Ireland at a very young age, and I really sensed these values.  Everyone I met smiled at me, and I felt so welcomed.  I fell in love with their culture and people.  Maybe because Irish culture and history feels so close to home, to Korean culture.  A friend posted this article on Facebook which is hilarious, but is completely true!  Koreans and the Irish have much in common that we are called the Irish of the east!  Peace!

It Was My Mom's

The day that I had my Bless the Balcony/Chalk It Up Porch Party, I wore this lovely vintage outfit. The matching top and skirt were my mom's and I remember her wearing it when I was younger.  It was a perfect day to wear it because it was really warm outside, and the material is fairly light and airy.

It's a lovely pattern!  I don't usually wear much purple, but I love the different shades of purple that this pattern has.

One of these days I will get that picture of my mom wearing a cute sweater dress back in the 70's or 60's so you all can see how fashionable she was.

I love vintage clothes because things made back in the day are better quality, better stitching, hence why they last so long, and become vintage.  Because they are vintage, they are often unique or rare, so I bet that not many people have clothes/dresses with this pattern!  There are many reasons why I love vintage items and I will share more of them soon.  Peace.

OOTD: Walk Like a Man?

I love having a little masculinity in outfits sometimes.  In the winter, I actually prefer to wear pants most of the time, simply to stay warm and it just feels more comfortable.

I wanted to take some photos while I still had my my Christmas decorations up in my office.  They will be coming down since tomorrow is the Day of Epiphany, the last day of Christmas, I believe.  Ever since I looked to celebrate Advent and Christmas in terms of their genuine meaning, I decided to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas until Epiphany to remind me of the joy of the season, and in a way, to prolong it.  

The cute framed Snoopy cross-stitch was a gift from my cousin from when I was very little.  I can't believe that I still have it, but I decided to pull it out and decorate my office.  

When I saw this turqoise velvet blazer at the Sonshine Shop, I couldn't resist.  It was in such great condition, and the color is lovely.  Plus, velvet is so soft and warm, although we certainly didn't need it today in Southern CA!  So sunny and warm today, and very much welcomed by me compared to last week's temperatures in the 30's and 40's (at night, that is).  Apparently, it's going to be 80 tomorrow!  The pants are so comfortable and make me think of men's trousers.  You can't tell by the photo but they are herringbone pattern, which I've always loved for formal work pants.  

I love this necklace.  It was my mom's.  She bought a set of three of these ivory necklaces a long time ago when she was single, and she gave me two of them.  Lovely, isn't it?  I will definitely be wearing the other one sometime soon.

I will never be a minimalist in terms of style.  I just love to accessorize too much, especially with jewelry.  The chunky flower bracelet, the peacock hairclip, and one of the rings is from one of my favorite jewelry vendors called Love MM Couture.  Their costume jewelry style is so gorgeous, I never thought I would love chunky, sparkly jewelry like theirs so much.  I will definitely be featuring more of their jewelry that I own.

Lastly, these amazing shoes are SSS finds as well and they were completely brand new, even still in the box.  Again, the whole outfit came together as slightly masculine, but with a few feminine jewelry pieces.  By the way, the white ceramic birds were also from the SSS, I love them as office decorations, and you will soon see that I have a thing for flowers and birds in my style! 

It appears that the SSS is closed for maintenance so I'm not sure when they'll open again this week, but I'm excited to give you all a preview of some of the items we'll be selling from Sonshine Vintage very soon!  Peace.

OOTD: Outfit of the day

Happy New Year, ya'll!  I'm happy to post my first OOTD (outfit of the day) blog post, as I'm finding that every day practically, I am wearing something from the Sonshine Shop (SSS) thrift store.

The white cable knit sweater and the heart sweater are from the SSS, both under $5.00, in great condition, and super cute, no?

Every time I wear this skirt, I get compliments.  I call this skirt my "peacock skirt" because as you can see, it's so full of colors that remind me of bright peacock feather coloring.  If you can tell by the photo, there are some strands of iridescent silver/gold thread throughout the skirt as well.  Plus, I love that it has thin pleats all throughout.  And guess who gave it to me?!  My mom!  My mom has incredible fashion sense, and she has given me many clothes and items since she is so generous, and she just doesn't wear them anymore, she says.  I plan to showcase these clothes and jewelry in a blog series, so stay tuned.

Can you believe that I've had these adorable gloves for over 20 years?  Talk about vintage!  They were a gift from a good friend from overseas.  They are not only still in great condition but they are so cute with the seasons represented on them--spring, summer, fall, and winter.  I will be wearing them quite a bit this winter, that's for sure.

Lastly, my boots that I've worn a TON this winter so far.  They are super comfortable and go with everything.  These were also a thrift store find, practically brand new, and only $6.  I am usually wary of buying used shoes, but as I checked them out, I saw that they were hardly worn and didn't smell, which is always a plus with shoes, isn't it?  

The outfit total = free scarf (a gift) + SSS heart sweater (about $5) + SSS sweater vest (about $5) + my mom's skirt (a gift) + four season gloves (a gift) + thrifted boots (about $6) = less than $20!  This is why thrift store shopping is the way to go, people.  I'm excited to share more about the good finds that are possible.  In the meantime, go shop at the SSS located at 1971 S. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90007, at the corner of Vermont Avenue and 20th Street directly north of the 10 freeway!  Peace.