It's Not About Pretty

photos via DL Skateboards As we all know in skateboarding, what’s old is now new. And I can totally remember the days when guys in my Hermosa Beach neighborhood  would make their own boards out of wood. In fact if you were really lucky, you took wood-shop at school and this being a surf community, one of the shop teachers would let you make a skateboard instead of a cutting board shaped like a pig (yeah, I talked my way into wood-shop rather than the girls cooking class, so I know all about the “pig” shaped cutting boards). Kids making their own skateboards boards are far and few between now, but you can get a hand cut/painted board made out of solid oak slab from Derek & Lauren at DL Skateboards and feel like you are right back in the 60’s again. The designs are retro, as is the style. And they come with Tracker Trucks so that’s a plus right there. I’m kinda digging the lightning bolt design myself.  

 all images shot with my iPhone 4s Last night was one of those nights in skateboarding that we girls live for.  A $12,000 total purse and an entire day and evening devoted to women’s skateboarding – which at times in the past 30+ years has been tough to come by.  It was a total rager &  the girls were throwing down HARD, not one of them was holding back. Back to back tricks on every wall, and airs so high that at times my camera only caught the bottom of the board. It was a privilege to watch them ride. This event just keeps getting better and better each year which just proves to me that women’s’ skateboarding is on the rise again.  And I am happy to be here to see it. With an under 14 division we were able to see the future of skateboarding charging hard and blowing minds. Little Poppy Starr Olsen came all the way from Australia to compete and I have to say, I was stoked to finally see her skate in person. The masters division showed that the girls are still pushing hard and stay

photos via tomboy style ,  belmodo , lovemore , style saint “TOMBOY”.  I think when I was growing up it was meant as a put-down, yet I never took it as such. I knew that boys always seemed to get to do the cooler stuff and wondered why not the girls too? So that’s what I did. I tagged along with every boy in my neighborhood whether they liked it or not. And I got to do “cool” stuff. Like building forts, learning to make bottle rockets, climbing the highest tree I could find, swimming waaaay out into the ocean in front of my house until we felt like we couldn’t see the houses on the shore, and of course, surfing and skateboarding. And during all of these adventures, I adapted what the boys all wore and gave it my own twist. And I still do. So now that I am an adult (am I really??), I am very proud to have been featured a couple of times one of my favorite blogs, TOMBOY STYLE.   If you haven’t read Lizzie’s book or checked out her site – it is a MUST!  In fact the quote in the photos abo

Some days it’s about a mix of gritty x pretty for me. Case in point with this army jacket with the (faux) fur hood, teamed up with a faded gray, old school style tee and a glitter necklace layered on top. The perfect balance for my work day is usually something that screams tomboy x girlie and is functional. This is the best of both worlds, soft, comfy, warm and a little glamor thrown in… Army Jacket by Gap    /   Gray “broken in” Tee by Current Elliott   (v-neck version via link) /  Necklace Anthropologie  

Tried another little DIY, thanks to my friend Jen at Red Sole Diary . She saw this DIY on gold glitter feathers and thought it would be something I’d be interested in trying – or maybe she was trying to see if I would go insane with yet another DIY, or perhaps get drunk trying?  But as usual, Jen knows what I like, and she was right – it was easy!  I swear there was no drinking or pain involved (mental or otherwise) doing this DIY.. Do this:   Hit up Michael’s or some other crafty place to buy some cheap feathers, glitter and gold paint. These things are not expensive and there is none of that  “running to 3 different crafty places” like usual. Thank god. Getting it done: I will say that you should us a brush to put the gold paint onto the feather. The whole “dipping” the feather into the paint (as mentioned in blog link above)  is messy and makes it all f-‘d up. So just grab a small paint brush, slap some gold shit paint on the tip of the feather (both sides), dump   sprinkle some

Photographer: Michael Darter / Stylist: Cindy Whitehead YES! I can finally share the photos from that shoot I was on in Malibu that was so “hush hush” a few months ago – yep, it was an awesome day working with photographer Michael Darter to shoot actor Patrick Dempsey for Bicycling Magazine . The fact that they ran two covers that are so very different than each other was an added bonus. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Malibu, we were outside shooting the entire time, and had a great crew – pretty much a dream job.  

Coco is 8 years old and shreds like someone 3 times her age – jealous anyone?  And btw – this is what “real” skater girls look like, not those models posing as skaters in the fashion mags lately. Pretty bitchin huh? Check out more of her, and read the in depth interview on I Skate Therefore I Am.  

Sometimes “work” is the same as pleasure in my book. Sending the day at the Agenda Trade Show was one of those days. Got to see a lot of old skater friends, friends in the fashion industry and people at various brands I am lucky enough to work with. Checked out some cool new stuff in the skate and surf industry and had a killer time at the Concrete Wave Magazine BBQ. Pretty much a rad Friday. Oh yeah and I got in a little surfing. lol Hope your weekend was awesome!