Road.Trippin.

American road trips – livin’ the dream?

I have recently been learning to drive which I very much enjoy (although in truth I think it’s more the 2 hours spent in close quarters with my rather hunky driving instructor who’s leg I occasionally brush when changing gear – but that’s another story – than the actually act of driving) I have yet to pass my test & so when I chat about our LA road tripping I must say that I didn’t spend a moment at the wheel & it was Kimberley who had to deal with all that driving-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road crazy business, while I had the luxury of gazing out of the window at all the oh-so-American-dream-world which is in all the Hollywood chick flicks & such.

Cruising along with the radio blasting tunes & the sun blasting rays, there were some pretty chilled vibes in our little automobile & I was immensely enjoying the surrounding scenes. So the first weekend we drove from LA to Palm Springs which was such an insane experience – desert, sand, palm trees and wind turbines as far as the eye could see. They danced in the air to the music we played like rhythmic & obedient soldiers. It was spectacular.

LA playlist: Team by Lorde Pompeii by Bastille Happy by Pharell Counting Stars by One Republic Burn by Ellie Goulding Dark Horse by Katy Perry Cooler than me by Mike Posner NaNa by Trey Songz Brave by Sara Bareilles and most importantly LET ME TAKE A SELFIE by Chain Smokers. Bloody brilliant.

AND THEN THERE WAS A SANDSTORM! After a day pool party in Palm Springs we hopped in the car as the sun was setting & drove through the strongest wind ever. Wound down the windows & felt the air on our hands - it was like sandpaper! A good bit of exfoliation. The experience was too amazing not to experience to the full so we pulled over & danced around in the wind.

We met a group of 'all-American-gals' who instantly became our 'best-friends' in the all-American-way & we cruised back to their motel to chill before an evening party. In an all-Bella-way, I snuck off as the others talked about all-American-things for a swim as the moon took it's spot in the sky.

 

LOVIN' THE ALL AMERICAN DREAM

Bella.LA.land.

Now this post may slightly confuse those of you who are used to hearing my tales of drawing naked people, taking things out of bins & generally being rather unconventional, but it simply must be written about and this is why – I went to LA – and although there was certainly much flesh on display in the city with no seasons other than summer, I didn’t once get a pen out. I did get a camera out, however, so that's good news.

True to form, I jumped headfirst into accepting the kind invitation of my friend to accompany her on a stateside adventure when she used the word ‘Coachella’, filling my mind with - festival festival festival YES PLEASE. Kimberley warned me that Coachella isn’t your typical knee-deep-in-mud-greasy-hair-I-can’t-remember-last-night type of vibes – it’s more a ‘place to be seen..’ and thus it transpired that we didn’t in fact see any live music, but rather boogied, bounced & flounced around at some of the most glamorous-festival-chic affairs one can imagine.

The first festival party was sponsored by Old Navy - there was a pool, inflatable balls and hotdogs.

It was - I'm sure you'll all agree - the unbeatable trio.

Hotdogs with hashtags? I guess it must be a 'thing'

Kimberley is a swimwear designer & has a beautiful range of bikini's & swimming costumes. I absolutely love her cut-out one pieces & with the sun in full glow we had the chance to model these at Coachella. Above I am wearing the Kimberley London 'Fiji' costume. Rather saucy! The denim shorts are Old Navy & are one of the many free Old Navy clothing items I was lucky enough to take away with me..A denim jacket, wrap-around, bag, towel, hat, denim jeans, shirt...

For all the freebies I simply had to Instagram a picture of me #oldnavyoasis - oh modern day, sometimes the virtual world take over isn't so bad...

#OLDNAVYOASIS

 

 

 

Party number two was held by Lacoste & was really rather stunning (and I'm not only referring to the other party guests...see above)

This was another pool party with pretty ideal crocodile inflatables, coconuts with straws, ice-cream biscuit 'sandwiches' & crocodile themed mini-golf.

Love a good inconspicuous photographer...

 MY COMPLIMENTARY LACOSTE HAT. SO FLUORESCENT RIGHT NOW. IDEAL.

Bella.is.back.to.blogging.business.

Virtual world, will you take me back?

Actually 'blogging world, will you take me back?' because let's be honest, despite not blogging for over a year, I havn't exactly given up on the virtual world. Indeed, it may frighteningly have become more prominent with the invention of Twitter & Instagram which I very much succumbed to. We are in a new age, an age in which the words 'selfie' and 'hashtag' are in the dictionary...

Virtural reality is becoming more real than reality. Put that in your virtual pipes and smoke it, my friend. 

Ceci n'est pas une pipe. Rene Magritte.

So to welcome myself back to the blogging world where anything unreal could happen, I will begin with some hashtag-selfies which are not exactly 'selfies' as they were taken by my wonderful friend Maya Korn but they are of my-self-ie.

Maya is one of the most wonderfully creative & driven people I know, forever initiating projects & creating magical happenings wherever in the world she goes...most recently organising/curating/creating an immersive production called 'One of Us' in a Church in Williamsburg, NYC (which was a sequel to One of Us in a Georgian townhouse in Whitechapel, London in 2013)

As part of this, she has taken a number of photoshoots of her creative friends along with their work to showcase talent. Very kindly Maya chose to photograph me on a film camera one sunny morning - below are some photos from this...

The colours are a little funky because Maya use a strange film (the technical term, I am sure)...I think it makes me look a bit cooler than I am. I like it.

Dress is from a vintage shop in NYC, bowler hat from Angels costumes, feathered headdress if from Glastonbury Festival, long red velvet boots from Retro Clothing in Notting Hill and last but not least - the fairly lights from the Christmas tree.

 I am surrounded by my paintings, drawings & sculptures of naked people. Oh, how I love naked people...

 In the end I ate a gold sequin pear. 

It is the virtual world, after all....