Monday, September 28, 2009

The Abbot Kinney Fair

On Sunday, the trendy Abbot Kinney boulevard in Venice greeted visitors for its annual fair, a strange and festive event featuring all kinds of food trucks, several live music stages, Venice's usual zoo-like throngs of weirdos (Venice - where Art meets Crime, one sign proclaimed), happy dogs, as well as little stands of all ilk, from sellers of wonderful handmade jewelry and apparel to representatives for all kinds of noble causes, vintage bike displays, a smiling veiled woman giving out Korans, and much more. I loved the posters above.
Valet parking for bicycles was offered - only in Los Angeles!

Follow that truck! A few trendy food trucks drive around Los Angeles, updating their location via Twitter to allow devoted gourmets to track them down for a treat. The Coolhaus is one of those, and it appeals to lovers of ice cream and architecture: their house-shaped ice-cream sandwiches have names such as Mies Vanilla Rohe (Mies is possibly my favorite architect ever), I.M. Pei-nut butter, or Frank Behry... At the Abbot Kinney fair, a long, snaking line of visitors awaited their cool design sweets.

Among the many wonderful items for sale were some children's clothes. Of course, for some mysterious reason, baby apparel is always adorable, eliciting ooooooh's and aaaaaaw's. These colorful little tees were no exception, with their simple and charming images, ranging from the playful (the electric guitar for a teeny rock star) to the poetic (the dandelion in the wind...).
Note to my friends and relatives: please make more babies! I want to have little ones to spoil!

Benjy did not attend the event, but lo and behold! I ran into a little fairy in her stroller with two of Benjy's darling cousins, black dachshunds just like him!
And if you're into adorable pooches camera loves, check out Sam's post about a book I absolutely want, Dogs In Vogue.

26 comments:

Laura in Paris said...

Reading your post I felt as if I had been to the fair! And I can't believe how much like Benjy look the two "cousins" in the pram ..

Sam said...

It looks like it was such fun! Wonderful description! Love those sausage dogs cadging a lift with the bubby!! Thank you so much for the link - It's a gorgeous book, isn't it? I am seriously hinting to my nearest and dearest that this book would be an ideal present for me for Christmas!

marie-louise said...

I like the screenprints!

Rebecca said...

It does sound like a very exciting atmosphere! And I would love to have one of those ice cream sandwiches... :)

Mary-Laure said...

SAM - yes well I have been dropping hints too since yesterday and have added the book to my wish list on Amazon...

REBECCA - they did look delicious but I didn't want to stand in line for ever. Next time maybe.

Taocito said...

Considering my owner is your only child bearing age relative I am going to interpret this as a personal message.
My owner would like to make the following comment:
"We agree that considering our brains and looks we should indeed reproduce for the sake of improving humanity, however we have decided to wait a little bit before bestowing treasures unto this world. In the meantime we will focus on our adorable Tao"

Anonymous said...

Oh, those cards are fun. Did you put them up in your place? Nina

Mary-Laure said...

TAOCITO - you're a perfect spokesdog!

NINA - no, I didn't buy a single poster; I don't want to over-decorate my room with too many images and also I wouldn't have known which poster to choose.
But I saved their card with the name of their website in case I want a cool poster some time.

sealaura said...

love those shirts, the bike one is so cute. Benjy's cousins are so cute, I bet it made you want to run home and give Benjy a hug!

BTW yes only in LA would you see valet parking for bikes LOL!

Maria | Vintage Simple said...

That sounds like a great time..! I loved reading your description and accompanying photographs...it really did feel like I was there, if only for a few minutes... Thank you. I had a blast. :)
-maria

Taocito said...

Indeed as a PR (pooch relations) I have indeed extensive experience being a spokespooch on behalf of the canine community to improve relationships between often misunderstood humans and our quadruped race. I am also available for private parties and bar mitzvahs.

Mary-Laure said...

SEALAURA - actually, they made me wonder if I had indeed left Benjy at home or if he had escaped and joined us at the fair...

VINTAGE - thank you so much for your sweet comment! I'm really happy you had a good time visiting Aurea.

TAOCITO - thanks for the info, I had no idea you offered such a wide range of services!

~h~ said...

Valet parking for bicycles is somehow rather cute and I love those signs and little t-shirts. But the ice cream names are the most clever. Which reminds me that I know so little about architecture at the end of the day. :)

Angie Muresan said...

Those are some way cool posters! They remind me of this postcard exchange I'm participating in. And that book, Dogs In Vogue, is certainly on my list of gifts to my dog lover friends.
By the way, thanks for stopping by and leaving a lovely comment.

Debra said...

You always take us along to the most fabulous places. This fair sounds amazing- what fun.

Joyce said...

This looked like a lot of fun! I have a feeling I would have been like a kid in a candy store at this far. I love spotting the trucks. The last photo too cute how the Benjy look alikes are resting their paws and taking to the stroller.
Have a golden day my friend. xoxo

Kwana said...

So much coolness at the fair. Love the tees.

Mary-Laure said...

ANGIE - of I'd love to hear more about the postcard exchange...

Giulia said...

Fun, as usual, ML. I wondered also if Tacocito does PR outside of the LA-area? There is a need for T's services here in DC. Next time you're over this way, persuade Tacocito to take a meeting. Julie & I will be waiting.

As for the postcard exchange...I wonder if Angie is in the same one as moi.....the Benevolent Postcard Society. Through Lori Langille of automatism blog. I shall go find out.

ciao-meow!

Giulia said...

Just so ya know...took the dog quiz. I'm a Jack Russell! Uh oh.

xoSusan

Mary-Laure said...

GIULIA - oh but I just love Jack Russells, they have a lot of energy and personality.
The postcard exchange sounds great, I need to find out more about it.
As for Taocito, he lives in Amsterdam, that lucky little one, but he could go international!

Giulia said...

Oh, don't mistake me. I adore them. I was talked out of getting one a few times due to apartment & need to the little devils to run like mad. But if I had a back garden (in which to let a lil devil out at 6am/late evening, rather than walking outside...not the best idea here), I'd do it in a second. GG/Julie loves dogs...but the list of JR "people" is a little nerve-wracking. A good end, they did not have. Yikes.

The BPS is indeed the exchange. We're about to mail our 2nd cards tomorrow. You might want to contact Lori & see if there happen to be any openings. This was a done deal in August, but I think some people might have had to bail. Not sure.

Have a good evening to all....Tacocito is no doubt in bed asleep in Amsterdam.

xo

Susan & Julie the Cat

Candace said...

This link shows the U.S. release date for Dogs In Vogue as February 1, 2010.

Books: Dogs in Vogue (Hardcover) by Judith Watt (Author)

::slowly getting caught up with your posts::

:)

Candace said...

This is a link to a post from the Fashion Tidbits blog, which includes additional photos from Dogs In Vogue.

Fashion Titbits: Dogs in Vogue

Candace said...

CORRECTION: The link to the Fashion Tidbits post includes photos that MIGHT appear in Dogs In Vogue.

Fashionable Earth said...

We had a great time at the Festival as well !! Here is a link to our gallery of photos - see if you can spot yourself in them :)
http://fashionableearth.org/blog/2009/10/05/abbot-kinney-festival/