Curator’s Corner #2: Nan Lawson

April 6, 2013 Nina Penalosa2 Comments

I don’t quite remember how I came across the art of Nan Lawson (I think it might’ve been a random Etsy find), but I just remember immediately falling in love with it! She’s very well known for her super quirky/nerdy art style and pop culture pieces from the likes of Harry Potter, Star Wars, Downton Abbey (I used her Lady Mary shirt in my Thoroughly Modern Mary post awhile ago), The Avengers, Doctor Who, Wes Anderson, etc. The Academy Awards also commissioned her earlier this year to create some pieces for their website of iconic cinematic couples for Valentine’s Day that people could send as virtual greetings (The Sound of Music and Gone With the Wind are pictured below). Nan’s work has also appeared in Timeout New York, Zooey Magazine, GadChick, and art galleries such as Gallery 1988.

I hope you all enjoy her work just as much as I do! Be sure to check out where to follow her on the interwebs and buy her prints, t-shirts, and other thing-a-ma-bobs at the end of the post. 🙂

“I’m Not a Hipster, I Just Dress Like One”

The Oscars Love Letters – “The Sound of Music” & “Gone With the Wind”

L-R: “The Rest of Our Lives” & “I Love You, But You Don’t Know What You’re Talking About”

Follow Nan on…

Etsy (prints)
Soceity 6 (prints, t-shirts, tech wear, etc)
Twitter
Facebook
Tumblr
Pinterest
Instagram

Cheers,
Nina

Lions, and Tigers, but no Bears. Aww man!

January 14, 2013 Nina Penalosa2 Comments

outfit details – bomber jacket: Espirit // polar bear pullover: Forever 21 (buy here) // purse: Coach // necklace: Swarovski // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here) // jeggings: Vera Wang // boots: Steve Madden

‘ello! Hope you all had a lovely weekend, I know I did (on account of Saturday being the anniversary of my birth)!

To celebrate my entry into my late 20s (oh my god, I was 17 ten years ago?!), Tim and I went to the Sacramento Zoo to hang out with the animals! I had never been there before, plus the thought of being able to feed a giraffe was too exciting. That’s actually something I wrote on a bucket list I created when I was in high school — feed a giraffe. I’m obsessed with tide pools and stingrays at aquariums, I suppose I’m just really enticed by the idea of being able to interact with wild animals. But alas, when feeding time came the giraffes weren’t interested in the food. Apparently during the winter they just don’t care that much about om noms because they’ve already stored enough energy or something like that.

But I WILL feed a giraffe one day! It’s gonna happen, dammit!

Fun fact time: Betty White helped raise money for the zoo’s giraffe exhibit in 2009. BETTY WHITE INTERACTED WITH THE GIRAFFES I SAW WITH MY OWN TWO EYES. <– I’m also obsessed with Betty White. Who isn’t?

I’m trying to get back into the habit of bringing little toys with me to document the places I go, so I brought Rarity and my little Rory Williams action figure that Jennifer got me for my birthday! I also wore my polar bear sweater to go along with the zoo theme of the day, but to my surprise the Sacramento Zoo doesn’t have any sort of bear exhibit. 😦

The lack of bears didn’t ruin my trip though, I saw tons of other interesting animals like the singing gibbons (Google them, they’re all kinds of entertaining), a pensive primate (pictured above), an eastern bongo (pictured above), and some wild kitty cats! I couldn’t get any decent shots of the lions, the tiger, or the snow leopard (it was so small, it looked like it was as big as a Border Collie), but I managed to take a picture of the jaguar. 🙂

The red panda was by far the cutest critter there, it totally reminded me of Rory (my dog, not the action figure)! But my new favorite zoo animal has to be lemurs because they were ridiculous amounts of fun to watch — I think Tim and I spent a good 10 minutes watching them run around and sun bathe. Especially since one of them kept holding their arms out in a way that said both “come at me bro” and “look at me, I’m fabulous!”

And speaking of fabulous, anteaters (Tim’s new favorite animal) look like they’re ready for the red carpet. I don’t know, there’s just something glamourous about them. Oh, and we totally saw some anteater action of the bow-chicka-bow-wow kind… y’know what I’m sayin’? It was so weird.

Overall, it was a good birthday! After the zoo we went to Old Town, ate dinner at Tower Cafe (if you’re in Sac you’ve gotta try the Malaysian Chicken Sandwich, holy crap!), did some shopping, and had a pizookie at BJ’s. Om nom nom.

Cheers,
Nina

pup life

It’s a boy!

August 7, 2011 Nina Penalosa3 Comments

I’m gonna be a mama [to a little puppy]!!!

Last week my dad had me look up different dog breeds after he saw a picture of a Pomsky (Pomeranian/Husky mix), he even asked me if I wanted a dog, which I thought was weird since I always assumed that we just weren’t a pet family (even though I begged for one for YEARS when I was a kid). I think my only issue with having a dog is having to constantly clean its crap. Whenever I’m out and about, I’m always on doodie patrol — meaning, I always watch where I step in case there’s dog poop. Would you believe me if I said I’ve only stepped in dog poop once? Well, it’s true.

Anyway, that same night my dad had me do doggie research, my aunt told me her co-worker’s dog just had puppies and offered one to her. I said I’d think about it since they’re Havamalts (Havanese/Maltese mix) — not exactly my dream dog (I like Mini Schnauzers, Corgis, & French Bulldogs), but then again I didn’t expect my first boyfriend to be a ginger (me gusta dark haired lads).

I did some research, deemed it a good fit and felt that I was ready to take on the responsibility, but figured I needed to meet the puppy before I seriously considered getting it.

So I met the litter today and this little dude was handed to me…

He was such a sweetheart! And he’s pretty tame compared to the other pups. I fell in love immediately. 😀

I’ll probably be able to take him home in two months since he’s still getting fed by his mama, which gives me ample time to figure out this problem: What am I going to name him?

I’ve been toying with naming him after some of my favorite TV characters, such as Rory Williams Pond from Doctor Who or Dr. Simon Tam from Firefly. I really want to name him Rory, but…

I’m not sure if he looks like a Rory. Havamalts are really cutesy, and Rory is a badass.
My dad and grandpa would have a really hard time saying his name.
I might have a hard time saying his name. x___x

My mom keeps saying she likes the name Chuck, as in the nerd turned super-spy that Zachary Levi plays on the show of the same name. She asked me to put the name into consideration, so I have.

I’m leaning towards Simon since he’s a pretty boy, and the dog will end up looking pretty too. It makes sense! But I’ll be visiting him every now and then to better bond with him, so I’ll see what name I think suits him best as I get to know him.

Here are the possible namesakes of my puppy: