Part 2 of our Foodie Friday adventure was a quick stop into Hotcakes Bakes. We were craving something sweet after finishing the savory sandwiches from Earl’s, so cupcakes were definitely in order. We’ve been disappointed by many a cupcake here in L.A., but Oh. My. Goodness. Hotcakes does it right! Their cupcakes are moist and delicious, with amazingly real flavors and the perfect cake-to-frosting ratio. Continue reading…
Did y’all have a nice 4th of July weekend? We celebrated with made-from-scratch waffles (I’ve been tweaking the recipe for a couple years and it’s finally perfect), topped with homemade whipped cream and tons of berries. We set up a table in the backyard and basked in the nice warm sunshine– it was lovely! I have a feeling our little 4th of July brunch might just become a yearly tradition.
We watched fireworks (LOTS of them) from the top of the parking structure at the Grove. It’s a great spot for a panoramic view of L.A. and when 9:00 hits there are fireworks shows in every direction. I think I counted 13 different shows! AND it wasn’t super crowded so we didn’t have to deal with grumpy crowds and insane traffic. WIN.
Where do you go to watch fireworks (or fire off your own)?
- Jessica
P.S. last year’s 4th of July post
Check out these impressive animation and type skillz of Like Minded Studio, an Aussie branding, design, and motion graphics outfit that helped pull together this slick ad for a boring client.
- Curt
Last Friday we both got to leave work early, so we grabbed Beans and hopped in the car for a quick foodie adventure. First stop was Earl’s Gourmet Grub in Mar Vista. We had a groupon, but forgot to use it when we ordered–oops! We must have been too distracted by the menu. My croque monsieur was the perfect meaty/salty/cheesy/melty comfort food. I love me a fried egg on a sandwich! Curt nommed on a turkey sandwich with pickled red onion and maytag blue cheese. Yum! Plus crunchy chips and real Mexican cokes in the glass bottles. We like you, Earl’s. We like you a lot.
Stay tuned for Foodie Friday part two!
- Jessica
I recently purchased a bike off of Craigslist to ride around town and get to my InDesign class from a recent UCLA grad. Not gonna lie, it can get pretty stressful out there on the mean streets of car-centric LA. I’ve got the required front and read LED lights, but Project AURA takes it to another level. Born from two current Carnegie Mellon Industrial Design undergrads, this ingenious safety system takes into account that according to 2008 bicycle accident records about a third of all fatal collisions occurred at intersections. This project seeks to make cyclists significantly more visible from the side and I’d say they pretty much nailed it. The only issue I see with this system is when paired with a front and rear flashing light you may end up looking like some schmuck that got lost on his way to Burning Man, but I guess that’s the price you pay for safety. The system is regenerative (i.e. battery-less) and fully automatic that way the rider can’t forget to turn it on or off. Another nice touch is how the lights turn from red to white indicating speed of the rider and acting like pseudo break lights. Be sure to check out both Ethan Frier and Jonathan Ota’s VERY impressive design portfolios.
- Curt
Nothin’ like an epic Rube Goldberg machine to kick off this holiday weekend! This chain-reaction piece named Melvin the Machine was developed by the HEYHEYHEY design team. Melvin performed for ten days during the Dutch Design Week where around 14.000 people came to see him perform.
From Melvin’s Website:
“Besides doing what Rube Goldberg’s do best – performing a simple task as inefficiently as possible, often in the form of a chain reaction – Melvin has an identity. Actually, the only purpose of this machine is promoting its own identity.
Melvin takes pictures and makes video’s of his audience which he instantly uploads to his website, facebook and twitter account. Besides that he makes his own merchandise.”
- Curt
seen on Nalden. Images from HEYHEYHEY’s flickr
