holiday shopping

The Poketo Annual Holiday Sale and Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Sale are going on this weekend in Downtown LA. I'm looking forward to scoring some awesome gifts for my friends and family. Both events are free admission with lots of free goodies for shoppers, so come on down if you're in the area!

the right stripes

striped backpack from zara
zig zag card set from wit and whistle

coney island crop top and pantomime plié dress from spotted moth

cha-ching purse bag from deep dark africa

vintage red & white striped skirt from hunt gather fashion

that's just my bag

I love my bag. It's classic, unassuming, goes with everything, and fits all my essentials. It was also a gift from my grandmother, which makes it very special to me (side note: this photo is fairly old; I have since replaced my ancient RazR with a BlackBerry). Lately, though, I've been wanting something new. So, of course, I turned to the internet. I was looking for a bag that was neutral enough to go with any outfit, but that also had details that made it stand out. I also wanted something a bit roomier than my Coach bag, something that could easily hold a book or two, and maybe a light sweater. After a bit of searching, I came across these bags by Hoakon/Helga on Etsy:

Each bag is handmade from repurposed leather jackets. There are currently nine different designs. The Monarda (first bag) is my personal favorite, but I love the oversized houndstooth fabric on the Willow bag.

This electric blue Monarda is already sold, which bums me out so much. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it while browsing Hoakon/Helga's "sold items" section. Such a beautiful shade of blue. I'm crossing my fingers that the next batch of bags that are added to the store will include something similar to this.

shadow puppets

from Orange Moon Toys

grizzly bear

Grizzly bears (Ursos arctos horribilis) hold the number 3 spot on my Top 5 Bears list (future posts will be dedicated to the others). Here are some of my favorite grizzly bear-inspired things.

Be Prepared for Bears necklace from Erica Weiner

Brown Bear brooch from Fun is Cool

Hibernating Bear sleep mask from Mary Green (on sale! I bought one.)

Reflecting Bear tee from Poketo

Rawr! tee from Foe Paws

Of course there's also the band Grizzly Bear, and the excellent Werner Herzog documentary, Grizzly Man. You can "adopt" a grizzly bear, and learn about other endangered and threatened animals, at the WWF.

sirena con jersey

The ladies behind Sirena con Jersey make tote bags that feature mustachioed gentlemen, happy worms, and pink-haired unicorns. I recently discovered (via Supermarket) that they also make some pretty awesome sweaters.

I'll take one of each, please.

sunday

I went to Unique Los Angeles on Sunday and had a great time. The space was huge and there was so much to look at; it was a bit overwhelming. I ended up buying an adorable dress from Misha Lulu for my baby cousin and some other gifts for people who I won't mention because, unlike my baby cousin, those gift recipients can read and might stumble upon this blog. I also bought some "Brave Girl" band-aids from the lovely Ariel of Sticker Sisters because I've been procuring an ungodly amount of paper cuts lately and have been going band-aid-less for months. My friend got me the famous Sandwich Dinosaur tee from the Seibei booth (we were informed that Amy Sedaris is a fan, which makes it that much more awesome). We sipped on complimentary tea and bought some yummy treats from Cake Monkey. The whole atmosphere of Unique LA was so positive and fun (and the DJ was pretty good, too!). I can't wait to go again next year.

unique los angeles

If you're going to be in the LA area this weekend, you should check out Unique Los Angeles. This is a marketplace of 200 local vendors, selling everything from t-shirts to beauty products to housewares to cute little plush toys. Find one-of-a-kind gifts for your loved ones, support independent artists and businesses, and help out a good cause (50% of ticket proceeds go to Create Now!) all at the same time. Plus, there will be cake! All in all, a great way to spend a weekend afternoon.

Visit uniquelosangeles.com for more info.

totes around the world

I was browsing Cut+Paste today and stumbled across these great tote bags by Maptote. They're screen printed with illustrated maps of different cities. It's such a simple but clever concept, not to mention practical. I love the colors and the font choices for each city. They're also very affordable, at only $15.

top 5

1. these guys

2. neneee wallpaper dress

3. envirosax reusable shopping bags

4. keep company new fall designs

5. Michael Cera in Superbad

(and everything else he's been in or will be in, ever.)

I love makool

I recently discovered makool clothing by way of cut+paste, and I am completely and utterly smitten. In addition to their lovely screen-printed clothing (the faux cross-stitch alphabet print is so clever), makool also carries cute fabric birds (each with its own distinct personality) and a collection of whimsical circus-inspired bags. It's difficult to decide on my favorites because I literally love everything on the site, but here are a few notable pieces:

nautical nonsense

The weather has finally been getting sunnier and warmer (time to invest in some good sunscreen!) in my neck of the woods and it's got me looking forward to Spring and Summer. So apparently, nautical is IN this Spring. I've been a fan of nautical clothing for a couple of years, and now sailor-inspired Spring/Summer collections are popping up everywhere, from A.P.C. to Built by Wendy. I shouldn't be surprised that the look is so popular - it's clean, classic, and fits in perfectly with warm weather. After this past winter, which was unusually cold for Southern California, the recent sunshine has sort of rekindled my love for all things nautical. This will definitely be evident in the next Ninja Vintage update, coming this weekend.

In the meantime, I rounded up a little list of my favorite seaworthy pieces (both vintage and not) from all over the internet.

Sunset Sailorette Dress

from V for Vintage

Come Away With Me Necklace

from V for Vintage

Sailor Tank

from Built by Wendy

DIY Seagull Print Top

from PrettyRaccoon Clothing

Anchor Duffel

from fredflare.com

Pirate Ship Tunic

from day-lab

Whale Necklace

from Erica Weiner Jewelry

Sailor Shorts

from Chocosho