Little Tokyo & The Arts District

Hi yous! Last weekend my mamma wanted to see where I worked and after I showed off our office view, we headed deeper into Downtown. We ended up wandering through vintage shops in Little Tokyo before crossing the street into the Arts District where you literally can't take a step without seeing some piece of art. I really liked all the stencil graffiti on the sidewalk. There's sooo much to see in LA. I've already been here for five months and I still feel like whenever people ask me if I've been certain places I have to say no. This city feels like a giant maze with cool new stuff at every turn. So happy to be here. :) 

feliz friday 

Mariamma

Rare LA Rain

Bodysuit - Lulus.com | Jeans - Fashion Nova | Dr. Martens Boots - Thrifted | Coat - American Eagle

These photos were taken last weekend when we got a sudden and rare bout of rain. It was perfect timing because all I really wanted to do was chill at home - and that's what I did except for going out Saturday night with Ryan and John in Huntington Beach and hitting the LB Flea Market on Sunday. This weekend is going to feel extremely long because I won't be back in the office until Wednesday. I'm working from home for the Lulus Cyber Monday sale. How luxurious, right?! Happy Friday! 

xx 

Mariamma

Thanksgiving

Hello! It's been a busy week, but it always bugs me when it takes this long for me to post again! My mamma is visiting this week. I picked her up from the airport late Monday after dance class and she'll be here until Sunday. I realized this is the first time I've really hosted her. She's been taking full advantage of the hot tub and the kitchen ... no complaints here ;).

Yesterday, Thanksgiving, was really nice - and not our typical family holiday. Raoul came over for waffle breakfast in the morning, then I baked the pumpkin pie while we waited for Jackson, my roommates dog, to be dropped off. We all went to the 80 degree dog beach in Long Beach for a few hours. That puppy loves to run! We ran so much and at one point he got completely soaked by a wave, but I couldn't tell if it was on purpose. He didn't seem mad about it and I laughed pretty hard. We came home and ate a delicious dinner and pie! Such a sweet day. 

Happy belated Thanksgiving 

Mariamma

Zavala Wedding

What an awesome weekend! I got to go home to Northern California for my dear friends' wedding. It was an absolutely magical evening. Weddings are always happy and fun, but this one was especially beautiful. Oh how I love love! I was so happy to see all my friends and spend the night dancing away under the oaks and the ridge. And of course, there were lots of funny occurrences that made reminiscing this morning at brunch quite fun. That being said, I need to go to sleep because I didn't do much relaxing this weekend and I've got to get up early mañana.

Congratulations Shaylyn & Zane! 

xo

Mariamma

Naked

I am freaking out about the election results right now so I decided to distract myself for a few moments with a blogpost. WTF is going on right now USA?!!! Tomorrow is moving day at the office. We spent the last bit of the day packing up our desks and movers will come tomorrow to carry it all over to the new location. I'm so excited to be in a new, more spacious place! However, I may need to move outside the U.S. shortly if Trump wins ... so I won't get too settled ;). This slip dress was sent to me by StyleWe.com and I really like it. It looked a bit pinker in the photos but I prefer the (naked) champagne color in-person. It would definitely require a slip to wear in public - doesn't leave much to the imagination if you know what I mean. 

let us pray 

Mariamma

Living For the Weekend

Hi babes! I had a bit of a rough week. I got really sick at work on Wednesday and left early.  I was out of commision Thursday too but was back by Friday. I decided to cut my cleanse short because I'm not sure if the herbal pills I was taking were the cause. Either that or they were working and I just really needed to be cleansed haha.  Friday night I hung out with Jackson on the couch and watched Love & Basketball and The Notebook back to back. Whatever channel that was, thank you ;). Saturday I did laundry, cleaned, visited a really cool plant nursery near my house that is only open one day a week, and then went on a lovely adventure with Carolina. Afterwards, she came over for a girls' wine/pizza/sleepover night  with my roommate and some of her friends as well. Today I went to dance class and then caught up on some work so I'm not behind tomorrow after missing a couple days. If only Monday was part of the weekend ... life would be perfect. 

muito amor 

Mariamma

 

Sábado Gigante

StyleWe.com was kind enough to send me this top, along with a slip dress that I will feature soon.

Hey hey. I haven't been very good at keeping up with the blog the last couple weeks - sorry! I have been in a bit of a lull, probably somewhat related to the rainy weather, but I know LA/California needs it. I had a really great weekend last week though. I went out with some friends in Long Beach Saturday night. First stop was a gorgeous bar with high ceilings and chandeliers that had a speakeasy below ground. You literally had to knock on a door and give a password to enter the bar - all moody lighting and red velvet. On Sunday I spent the whole day with my brother at Disneyland. Tonight I'm staying in and taking a break from the hustle and bustle.  I'm on a cleanse for the next few weeks that includes six Chinese herbal pills every morning and prohibits me from drinking alcohol or coffee and eating sugar or fried foods. No partying for me until my friends' wedding! 

love ya 

Mariamma

Flea Market Finds

I'm a woman of my word! Here are photos of my 2 flea market finds. I know, not a ton of stuff, but quality over quantity ;). I have been wanting a good sized purple geode but they are often expensive or just not exactly what I'm looking for. I feel like it has to speak to me haha. It has to have good juju, and this one does. I love how it wraps around to the back and it's cut so it can lay in a lot of different ways. The earrings were only $4 and they hang really nicely and are very light. I definitely want to go back to the flea market. There are always such unique things! 

xo 

Mariamma

Flea Market

My friend Stevi was in town this weekend from New York City and I spent a very fun 24 hours with her and Carolina. On Sunday, the three of us explored the Long Beach Flea Market before an essential trip to In-N-Out. I'll show you the things I got at the market soon!

kisses

Mariamma

SoCal So Good

Like my cheesy title? ;) I've been antsy to share tidbits from my weekend because it was OH so good. It deserves documentation. Saturday afternoon I drove a little South and met up with my childhood friend Ryan who lives only about 30 minutes from me.  He took me to this super dope brunch spot in Newport where you get free bottomless mimosas when you order off the brunch menu ... SUCH a steal! After catching up over chicken & waffles and eggs benedict, we sauntered on over to the beach and swam! Highlight of my life! I haven't been full-on swimming, diving under ocean waves since Rio, and something in my soul was screaming Hallelujah!!! Ugh, so good. Usually it feels too cold, maybe it was the champagne haha, or maybe it actually was warmer. That night we drove into Downtown LA and went to an improv comedy show that was awesome. Sunday was less packed, but after a day like that, a relaxing day is perfect. I chilled at home until the evening when I got dinner with my friend Dani in Long Beach.

Old friends & new adventures. I'm so down. 

xoxo

Mariamma

Mascot

Ayy bae bae. I'm currently posted up in a coffee shop in Culver City, headed to a dance class in a sec. This past weekend was my coworker Liz's birthday (so many birthdays!) and I went a little too hard Friday night. I woke up at noon on Saturday, got water, and went back to bed 'til three. The weekends already seem fast so when you sleep a whole day away practically ... Monday comes too quick. I think I'm going to take a break from going out haha. Sunday was nice though. I went to dance class and there was a guest teacher: a woman I danced with in Brazil! She's pretty famous in the dance community and I went up after class to thank her and she remembered me! I was very flattered. Then I met up with my brother and we went back to my place to cook a delicious spicy noodle stir fry. I was so excited to take some to work with me for lunch until Raoul went back for 2nds, 3rds, etc. I forget how much that kid can eat! Oh well, my mom will be happy I got some veggies in him. 

smooches 

Mariamma

Brunch with a View

This past Sunday I got to catch up with my friend Stacey who I haven't seen since we studied abroad together in Rio! It's been three years! It was yet another birthday brunch - this time up in the hills with a beautiful view. A breakfast buffet, bottomless mimosas, and lots to catch up on is a recipe for a good time. I was watching my roommate's dog Jackson this week so after brunch I scooped him up at home and we went on a little hike along the beach. He just wanted to run and run. He's a tiny yorkie so I didn't expect him to be as fast as he was - a fun surprise :). And the sunset was the perfect end to one of my favorite weekends I've had in LA thus far. 

<3 

Mariamma

Traffic

When people think of LA, they think of Hollywood, palm trees, the beach, beach babes ... and TRAFFIC. I wasn't sure how I'd adjust to all the time spent in the car, and honestly, I was hoping everyone was just exaggerating. I was prepared for it to be similar to taking buses in Rio which just required me to factor in 30 minutes to an hour to get anywhere. And I was right! My commute to work has quickly become my "me" time and I even look forward to it. I've been listening to a wide variety of podcasts that keep me interested and entertained. Especially now that I know my routes by heart, I really get lost in the stories. 

If you too have a commute, check these: Strangers, RadioLab, This American Life, The Moth, Snap Judgement, Mortified, and BackStory 

I highly recommend them all!

xo

Mariamma

Photos from the Week

Hello lovelies! We're oh-so-close to Friday and I can already feel the relief coming on! It has been yet another crazy week at work. We've been making so many new orders and it is my job to make sure all the info is entered into our system properly so I have been a busy bee. Cross your fingers for me that I don't have to stay late tomorrow! I just got home from my favorite hip-hop class in Torrance. Nothing makes me as happy as dancing ... and nothing makes me as sore! I love it. After not having a real variety of classes to take for the last few years, I can't imagine that I will ever take for granted how many amazing teachers/classes are at my fingertips in LA. I feel so fucking lucky. 

Cheers! To doing what you <3

Mariamma

Autumn's B-day Brunch

Miss Autumn's birthday is on Thursday and we decided to celebrate a bit early! She spent the night and plans changed from going out to watching Love Actually on the couch. We got up this morning and went for brunch in Long Beach at a place called Nick's on 2nd. It was absolutely delicious (probably the best waffles I've had - besides my mamma's). Afterwards we walked to the ocean, only a block away, and quickly discovered that it was a dog beach. Literally everyone had a puppy and we were very entertained by all the cute creatures. Autumn did a little handstand on the beach and came down right on my head haha. I have a little kink in my neck but it should be fine by tomorrow for dance class. It was a lovely day!

I hope you are all having a great weekend! 

xo 

Mariamma

That New New

New earrings from Nasty Gal and new top from Fore Collection

<3

70 Degrees

dress: Lulus/boots: Thrifted

Today was actually kind of blustery, but still pretty warm in true LA fashion. At work we looked at a potential new office space. It's right across the street from the building we're in now, but it's on the top floor and has a roof deck and a view of Downtown ... so it's way better! We all got pretty excited about it, but nothing is locked down. I went to a hip-hop class this evening and now it's time for sleepzzzzzz.

kisses 

Mariamma

Weekend

Happy Monday folks! Let's just take a second to remember our blissful weekends ... 

Saturday was spent at Disneyland with my brother and his gf. All the Halloween decorations were up already! So fun! I've never been to Disneyland around this time and a lot of the rides get a little spookier :). 

Sunday I met up with a new friend and her posse for some beers and beach time. She showed me this awesome bar in Hollywood with a front door that looks like a refrigerator.  The inside was 70s themed with carpet on the ceiling, old lamps, a record-spinning DJ, and a bar in a trailer out back. I'll def be revisiting it. 

xx

Mariamma