I apologize in advance for making fun of my mother

but I can't help it.  Did you read my post yesterday?  Wellll . . . my mama did.  And I received this email yesterday morning, first thing:

Clairey
I just read your blog and I am dead serious--DO NOT GO HANGING OUT WITH MOTORCYCLE GANGS
I'm not kidding.  Do not go to any party of theirs.
Mama

Haven't laughed that hard in a while.

USA: Gold reserves vs Gold price - Réserves d'or vs prix de l'or (1960 - 2011)

Insurance Companies and Greece - La Grèce et les compagnies d'assurance

My Obsessions Run Deep

So as many of you know, my recent obsession with the FX show Sons of Anarchy has evolved into an obsession with all things motorcycle.  And when I obsess over something, I do it hard.  


Exhibit A:
Last night, I feel asleep reading this.

Exhibit B:
Collaborative artwork with three-year-old Milo:


Exhibit C:
Hours of research of local motorcycle clubs have led me, repeatedly, to the East Bay Rats.  Fortuitously, their clubhouse is about a mile from my apartment, which has led to a couple "lurking" incidents:

taken from my car, parked conspicuously outside

Lucky for me, my friend Audrey is a damn good sport, and agreed to go prowling for bikers with me tonight.  Our first stop was Godspeed, which was unfortunately closed.  After driving by the Rats' clubhouse (no one home), we headed to the Ruby Room, a reliably "Rat"-infested watering hole, which was a straight-up gold mine.  First of all, the president of the MC was the doorman.  Secondly, the bartender had a huge EAST BAY RATS MOTORCYCLE CLUB tat on his forearm.  Thirdly, two dudes approached us at the bar, revealed that they were Rats prospects, and invited us to a biker party Saturday night at their warehouse.  Let the investigative research begin!

I should have been one of those undercover journalists.  Wish me luck!  And if you have any inside info on where the Hell's Angels hang out, holler at your girl.

Ratio Dow / Gold (1978 - 2011)

Nyasha Matonhodze || LOVE Magazine

Boots with the Fr

Two things you should know about my nephew, Ethan (my cousin Jennifer's son) to set up this story:

1. He is six years old and working on writing in his class;
2. He's been a hip hop fan since birth.


The other day, Jennifer and her mama (my aunt KK) were driving to our Nana's house with Ethan in his car seat in the back.  Prior to getting in the car, Ethan requested his notebook so that he could use it in the car.

All the way to Nana's, he was quietly scribbling away in his notebook, practicing his writing, except for when he paused to ask, "How do you spell big?"

When they got to Nana's, Jennifer asked Ethan what he'd been working on, and he proudly presented her with this:


Enlarge it if you can't read it.

I don't think Ethan understood why Jennifer burst out laughing . . .

Europe: Gold production - Production d'or

Source: Oro y finanza

Girlfriends, Good Food, Wine, and Jax Teller

How lucky am I that Micaela, Marianne, and Jessie chose to spend vacation time here with me in San Francisco last week?  And let me just say that our trip was everything we dreamed it would be.

four girls in Napa

Marianne is the sweetest person I've ever met.  And she's incredibly beautiful, loyal, and says the cutest things. ♥

Jessie can party like a rockstar.  She's a hot & hilarious bad ass with some amazing stories.  She and I could get into some pretty serious trouble if we lived near each other.

And Micaela is my girl.  I feel closer to her every day, and am so thankful this trip gave us so much time together.  This woman could fill oceans with the love she has to give.  It's pretty unreal.

at Rubicon Estates (Niebaum-Coppola)

Texas/Oklahoma girls in Golden Gate Park 

Jessie stopping in for a quick tattoo on Haight St., ha!

foggy day at my favorite beach

wine!

Marianne was such a good sport since she doesn't really like wine :)

happy

one of my favorite pictures from our trip

at Vesuvio in North Beach.  BEWARE!

on this trip to City Lights, I discovered a new poet
with whom I'm now a little obsessed: Evie Shockley

the Golden Gate Bridge was actin' up a little with the fog

Other things we did:
*Visited my neighborhood restaurants and wine bar
*Watched (and re-watched) super hot Jax Teller sex scenes at Cari and JJ's house
*Stayed up till 4 am with laughter, a few tears, and lots of stories
*Had a bit of a traumatic experience running into my exbf's good friend, who told me that my exbf is getting married (still coping, y'all)
*Ate authentic Italian food in North Beach
*Spent some time on my back porch
*Saw the Painted Ladies (or as I like to call them, the Full Houses) and busted out the Full House theme song 
*Drank lots of coffee!




Hurry back, girls!  My house is so empty without you.

GDP, Pre/post default growth - PIB, Croissance avant et après la faillite

Elite Model Look II Isle of Wight Festival









Our scouts are going to be hitting all the festivals this summer for this year’s Elite Model Look competition and we kicked off the summer in style at the Isle of Wight festival. The Elite Model Look scouts worked hard and wow did we find some beautiful girls and boys for this year’s competition. After a day’s scouting, the Elite crew chilled out to a mix of Kings of Leon, Pulp, Kasabian, Hurts, Two Door Cinema Club and Plan B. Scouting AND amazing music…what a dreamy weekend.

My Heart is Full

Yesterday marked the end of the most incredible girls' trip imaginable.  I will post all about my time in San Francisco with Micaela, Marianne, and Jessie tomorrow; for now, I'm running off to work from the nonprofit office today.

And so I leave you with some Monday man candy.  Thanks to my friend Cari, who is responsible for my obsession with Tim Riggins as well, I can't stop thinking about Jax Teller:



JAX IN A MANBUN.


Suffice to say, the four of us indulged in some Sons of Anarchy-watchin', beer-drinkin', lustful-fantasizin' about good ol' Jax.  Have any of you seen Sons of Anarchy?  I'm totally willing to get past the violence in order to see this man walk around like the ultimate good-hearted bad ass in a bullet proof vest.

Trip update tomorrow!

Link up with Leeann:

Benjamin Eidem II Prada





Check out the gorgeous Benjamin Eidem opening and closing the Prada show in Milan. How proud are we!

Use of Silver - Usage de l'argent (1999 - 2011)

A Claire and Micaela Evening

Micaela arrived yesterday evening!  After I picked her up at the airport, we dropped her stuff off at my house and had a quick beer before walking up the street to dinner at Burma Superstar.  We shared a carafe of red sangria, samosa soup, rainbow salad, coconut rice, and platha, along with long-overdue stories and laughs.

Marianne and Jessie were scheduled to arrive this morning, but they had a little incident on a country road involving Jessie's car and a deer around 4:30 am, so we'll be picking them up at SFO at 4:45 pm instead. ;) Everyone's okay except Jessie's car . . . and the deer. :(

Micaela and I are off to lunch & a little shopping before picking up the girls, but I just wanted to say a quick hello.  More updates to come from all four of us!

Lowell Tautchin II Lanvin Fall 2011



Misha Patel II Topman Dust Bowl





Dust Bowl by Topman takes a romantic look at traditional labourer clothing. Mischa recently shot the campaign with photographer Laurence Ellis, and Elite favourite stylist Stevie Westgarth. Misha's adorable smolder provides the perfect complement to the vintage inspired, Native American influenced clothing.

USA: Bank Failures - Faillites bancaires (2008 - 2011)

Cliquez ici pour voir l'animation graphique (lien vers le WSJ)

Andrew Jones & Jonny Alderton || Elite Playlist

Ahh they've done it again girls and boys, this time Jonny and Andrew have put together their list of 'summer anthems'. It's like when you hear Lumidee on the radio and it reminds you of sunshine filled days...that probably never existed (when do they in England), only this is way cooler. Obviously. It was made by Elite boys after all.

Have a listen HERE and let us know what you all think!

World: Gouvernment spending - Monde: dépenses des gouvernements (1960 - 2010)

Being a Tourist in Your City

One of the many perks about living in San Francisco is that lots of people want to come visit you. :)  One of the many perks of having frequent visitors is that while showing them around, you re-fall in love with where you live.

When Jennifer was here last week, we had a very "San Francisco" day:

We started with a drive through Chinatown to look at all the buildings, color, and livelihood:


"Chinese Laundry"--heehee

After which we did a figurative 180 and stopped on Union St. in the Marina for a little shopping:

Ambiance--my favorite boutique--I behaved and only bought earrings

And then we took a trip down the crookedest street in the world . . . 

Lombard St.

And hopped over to North Beach for a trip to City Lights Bookstore, lunch at Cafe Zoetrope (a Coppola restaurant), and drinks at the famous Beat-hangout, Vesuvio.

with Sofia champagne at Cafe Zoetrope

Jennifer in front of City Lights

behind the bar at Vesuvio,
where we made friends with the bartender & his drunken regular

With more visitors coming in on Tuesday (Micaela! Marianne! Jessie!), and Leeann hopefully coming back July 4th weekend, I'm wondering what you all love about San Francisco and any ideas you may have for impressing tourists. ;)  I will obviously take my Texas/Oklahoma girls up to Napa for a day, and we'll hit all the requisites: Haight/Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, Baker Beach, the Mission, North Beach . . . but what are the best crowd-pleasers?

Happy Sunday!