Sherpa Season / November 20, 2017 by Ryen Mikel

sherpa 1 — *Sherpa*
*Season*

A Winter Jacket Essential

“I like cool jackets, a nice fall or winter coat. You can get a lot of use out of it, and you’ll wear it frequently, so it can really set the tone of your uniform for the season.”

— John Legend

- A Classic Jacket -

It's that time again where we store away our lightweight jackets, trench coats and break out our winter outwear jackets. Past winters, my garment rack had been full of heavy peacoats, bulky parkas, and that's when I noticed I was missing a more casual/fitting go-to jacket capable of keeping me cozy and stylish. I've collected casual bomber jackets over the past 4 years, but I've grown tired of them and I needed a fresh look. My brother and I had a conversation a month ago about past iconic trends that have been current and we couldn't get over talking about the classic Levi's Denim Sherpa Trucker Jacket. The first time I've seen the iconic Levi's Original Denim Sherpa was truly when my father was rocking it when I was a child. I love the fact that my father's style twenty plus years ago has helped influenced my winter jacket collection.

My Father rocking the Canadian Tux....Eh!

- Alternatives & Details -

Now my father's look gave me the idea of what I needed, but I didn't want to buy the same denim sherpa because I wanted my own personal taste to standout, so I opted for the Levi's Sherpa Buffalo Wool and Black Corduroy Jackets. Being from the Northwest, the buffalo is well suited for those adventures up in the mountains, while the black cords would go great going around the city. Levi's detailed signature seams on the front that run down to form a V are simply amazing and they're exactly the same as my dad's jacket. The sherpa lining in the inside is very soft and well insulated through out. I'm glad the sherpa is part of my weekly rotation, I've had the buffalo sherpa for a while, but I'm definitely going to wear my black corduroy sherpa a lot this season and future winters to come all thanks to my dad's style in the late 80s/90s.

- Where to Shop -

Levis

Amazon

Right now, Levi's currently have a 30% off deal when you use the code 30SAVE, while on Amazon prices run on average from $60-90. Reviews on the Levi's and Amazon site are a strong 4 to 5 star rating. The only thing that some might not like about the jacket is that it may feel a little small, for me the medium fit perfect with my built, and I believe that it was made to be true to size, but to be on the safe side go a size up. This jacket would be a great gift to give someone with Christmas approaching! Thanks for reading and stay cozy!

other Style Inspo

Halloween Wedding Styled Shoot / October 22, 2017 by Ryen Mikel

“I loved her not for the way she danced with my angels, but for the way the sound of her name silenced my demons!”

— Gomez Addams

- Dark & Beautiful -

Last week Sunday, I had a great time doing a little modeling for the first time for a Halloween wedding inspiration shoot. Tori Dany, a fashion designer from Seattle created the bride and bridesmaid outfits. Tori, also led the event at Berry Acres and had the vision to bring such talented artists, designers, models and photographers to come together for this wonderful collaborative effort. The bride and bridesmaids looked stunning that evening and worked it for the cameras with ease, all thanks to Tori's styled piece sets, the lovely flowers by Erika, Shelby and Julie for an amazing job with hair and makeup. I'm excited to share Thais Photography's portraits because boy did she do a terrific job capturing the beauty of this shoot! Enjoy Thais's photos below and please check the links above to these amazing creators websites and Instagram accounts in the credits above! Have a fun Halloween and stay creative!

Coffee + Pastries: General Porpoise / Anchorhead Coffee Co Seattle / January 16, 2017 by Ryen Mikel

- GENERAL PORPOISE -

If you want some delicious doughnuts in Seattle then General Porpoise is the place to go! This pastry shop has five delectable doughnuts to choose from filled with curds, custards, jellies and seasonal jam. The vanilla custard, chocolate marshmallow (both my favorite) and Lemon curd are their classics and for their seasonal picks they have coconut cream and quince plum jam which are very, very good!

To go along with their very tasty doughnuts, General Porpoise has some great coffee available from their rotating line up of featured coffee roasters. The roasters I noticed were Verve, De Lâ Paz which both are from San Francisco and Dapper & Wise from Portland. You can either choose from having an espresso, latte, pour over and drip. Besides coffee they also have draft soda, sparkling iced tea and champagne to choose from as well. Environment is very pleasant, I noticed this is a place to really socialize, meet up with people or maybe stop in by yourself for 15-30 mins and enjoy. Hands down General Porpoise's doughnuts are the best that I have ever had, I usually eat one at the shop, take three to go and if you're with me there is absolutely NO SHARING... they are that good! All jokes aside, I'll share one, but just one!

- ANCHORHEAD COFFEE CO. -

Downtown Seattle I have three cafes that I usually hang-out, but I've been wanting to try a new coffee bar for a long time and Anchorhead Coffee Co is that fresh coffee shop that I'm really glad that I took a chance on. Anchorhead Coffee started as a coffee roaster and cold brew company in Duvall, WA and they've opened their first coffeehouse a few months ago located along 7th avenue in the CenturyLink Plaza Downtown Seattle.

My brother and I decided to try their slow pour over coffee. Usually, I go for coffee that has a toffee, chocolaty and nutty flavor, but since I was at a new coffee bar, I opted for the Ethiopia coffee roast which had a blackberry, blueberry and marshmallowy taste and it was amazing. My brother was very satisfied with his coffee, his roast was from Guatemala and had a chocolate, grape and hibiscus taste to it. Anchorhead also offers delicious pastries, waffles, teas, delightful beans to take home and smooth ready to drink cold brew. Glad we finally tried Anchorhead Coffee Co. because as of now it's my favorite coffee shop in Seattle!

DIY Home Project: Garment Rack / September 13, 2016 by Ryen Mikel

Farewell summer 16, hello autumn! It's time to start breaking out those jackets, beanies and boots. So for this fall/winter season, I wanted to update my garment rack in my apartment. A couple years ago, I made a simple garment rack made out of industrial pipes and fittings to hang my jackets and a solid base to place my shoes. I was satisfied with it at first, but I felt like a few things were missing. As the seasons passed, I realized right after I walked my dog, Rooney, that it would be real nice to have a convenient place to hold his leash, set my keys and hang my jacket all in one organized area, so it hit me to upgrade my garment rack.

For all the materials, I bought it at Home Depot for around $85.00. If you have a smaller budget than that, you can opt out of purchasing a couple pipes, fittings, not applying paint and also not purchasing interior stain and polyurethane, which would save you at least $30.00 and give you that Urban Outfitters store look, haha. The thing I like about using industrial pipes and fittings is that you can customize it the way you want and you can reuse them for other projects. Plus, I've always liked that modern/industrial loft look.

Assembling the garment rack is fairly easy. If you have someone to help you out, I would start with connecting the fittings and pipes altogether, which only takes 5-10 mins to do. Next, measure evenly and screw on the casters. From there your friend can hold the garment rack frame up, while you screw on the bottom flanges to the wood base and so on with the top shelf and you're DONE!

My favorite part is adding my personal style with some decor and details. Top of my list was to add a mirror because I always want to make sure I look well for work and fresh on the weekends! Hopefully, this DIY has challenged you to make a garment rack of your own and if you do decide to make one, I would like to see your personal take on it. Enjoy!