street style

some of my favorite male street style shots from my favorite style blog, jak & jil.

love a man dressed all snazzy in tailored clothes...

but equally as hot is a man in a t-shirt...with a little (or in this case, a mountain of) personality.

marked and proud.

see how his t-shirt is elevated to another level with a rough edge blazer, nice slacks, an awesome belt (end tucked in) and accessorized to the max...

rugged yet simple; effortless but looks like he made an effort.

xoxo,

courtney

for the fellas...

spring 2011 menswear collections...high fashion embraces the t-shirt.

louis vuitton

dior homme

acne

(images courtesy of style.com)

xoxo,

courtney

behind the scenes

if you haven't seen the results of our first photo shoot, what are you waiting for? go here and here. cute, right? just for some shirts & giggles, here are some candid snapshots of the day...

*photographer: derrick jang*

drop us a comment and let us know what you think...maybe i'll send fresh baked cookies to my favorite commenter!

xoxo,

courtney

fresh baked cookie recipes: the legend of the neiman marcus cookie

we'll be featuring some of our favorite cookie recipes so you are allowed access to the freeberkeley fresh baked flavor in the comforts of your own home. get your taste buds prepped for adventure overload!

neiman marcus chocolate chip cookie recipe

anyone that knows me is aware that neiman's is one of my favorite places on earth; i can roam around from level to level admiring all of the textiles and fabrics for hours on end...all while munching on some of the delectable treats they offer (hello popover with strawberry butter).

the neiman marcus chocolate chip cookie recipe is an urban legend, and while most believe that the story actually was cooked up from a marketing department rather than from the tale of of a poor victim...it doesn't matter. because in the end, this cookie will quickly become one of your staple recipes.

2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal and blend in blender to a fine powder)
24 oz. chocolate chips
1 tsp. salt
1 8 oz. hershey bar (grated)
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
2 tsp. vanilla

cream the butter and both sugars. add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and soda. add chocolate chips, hershey bar and nuts. roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. makes 112 cookies (yes you can half the recipe but your friends will beg you to make large batches so they can partake in the yummy goodness)!

double fresh baked overload: i was wearing one of our fresh baked tees while whipping these up in my kitchen. maybe i can convince art to design a fresh baked apron for me? ;)

xoxo,

courtney

shoot the breeze

i've already given you a sneak peak at our most recent photo shoot and now, without further ado, i present the rest of the images brought to you by the brains behind freeberkeley and fantasy t-shirts.

julie is wearing our je'taime eiffel tower shirt (pink vinyl on a super soft and versatile american apparel loose crop top). wear as pictured here over a summer dress, socks and wedges for an adorable, coquettish look or pair the crop top with a pair of denim cutoffs and a leather jacket for an edgier feel.

steph is wearing our stayfreeinberkeley shirt (white vinyl on a fantastic, almost sheer american apparel viscose tank). throw this on and play peek-a-boo with a lacey bra, sequined shorts and a white sheer shirt as we did here, wear as a dress (belt and tights required), or with a simple pair of high-waisted shorts. fun fact: to jazz up this long strand of pearls, i just clipped on a vintage clip-on earring from the back of my jewelry drawer. simple makeover!

wear the shirts frontwards or backwards...cute either which way!

socks...i mean, who doesn't love them right? and how could you resist these cutesy, vinyl printed bow and heart socks (american apparel thigh highs)? must. order. everything. now.

*photographer: derrick jang*

xoxo,

courtney

Shrimp n' surf......

Today we woke up early to head out to beautiful Turtle Bay located in the upper North Shore of Oahu... There we had a great opportunity to check out more of Area Surf's products at the local shops. "The North Shore Barrel Tees, in particular, have been selling real well out in this area," says founder of AREA Surf Denis Scott. "We're in the works of coming out with several new designs in the near future."

Denis brought along three of his surfboards and gave Mike and I the chance to surf in some gnarly waters.....well... more like baby 2 footer waves...but they were tremendous waves in my mind nevertheless..... Notice with great detail in the following picture how fierce and dangerous the currents were....

 The day couldn't have been more perfect as we stopped off at Giovanni's, the original shrimp truck of Kahuku. Famous for its delicious lemon butter shrimp scampi and garlic rice, Giovanni's is one of North Shore's traditions and is easily one of the most popular eateries in the area....not to mention most delicious...

I couldn't pass up this photo op. While ordering our lunch, I happened to look underneath Giovanni's truck and saw one of most hilarious things... a cat sitting upright with his front paws balancing his body....I mean.. what else can you do in that position but lick yourself and fall asleep... Hawaii must be proud with their mascot....

a bit of aloha....

We finished up day 2 in Honolulu with some shopping on the Waikiki shopping strip   ....my sister and Mike decided to support the cause and pick up a few of AREA surf's new line of shirts exclusively made by Fantasy and for the islands.

 

Mike is at a small shop in Waikiki called Coco Cove checking out Area Surf's Heading Out tee.

We finished up the day with an authentic Hawaiian luau at Paradise Cove. I have to say..... the food was amazing. The Kalua pork with rice was juicy and full of flavor. I went up for seconds and found myself heading back to the line later for thirds. The fresh salmon poke' was delicious with a little bit of zest and definitely complimented the rest of the meal....not to mention my mai tais....

....but what is a Luau without any hula dancers... We couldn't have asked for a better performance as the hula girls for the evening danced away with the beautiful sun setting perfectly behind them......

Tomorrow? .......surf lesson @ Turtle Bay in the Northeast side of Oahu with the man himself, Denis Scott. Catch you in a few!

Day 1 on the island......

Definitely by far one of the most relaxing "first days on a trip" I've had in a while. Not more than an hour after we touchdown into Honolulu International Airport, we find ourselves posting up at a beach to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. We settle down quite nicely at a beautiful location called Kahala Beach where we enjoyed 83 degree weather and crystal clear blue skies. The water was no colder than 70 on the button. Couldn't get any better.....

A custom made sand cooler was created by yours truly and stocked to the brim with local brews from Kona Brewing Company. Quarter fades on the The Big Wave and Fire Rocks.......

Denis and Wendy treated us to something special at the end of the day....they took us to East Honolulu at the Eastermost end of Maunalua Bay to a place called the China Walls. A favorite among locals to catch a late evening wave, China Walls was the perfect spot to mingle with others and to gaze upon the sun as it sets for the night.

wanna getaway?

So it is a few hours before my flight takes off.... and I am already contemplating how many plates of garlic shrimp I will be ordering from the Kahuku shrimp trucks on Oahu's North Shore. Yes, I will be taking a much needed vacation to Hawaii--I can really use the sun and relaxation.

I will be meeting with Denis Scott, founder of  AREA Surf clothing company, who will give us a tour of the island (not to mention free surf lessons......pictures to follow) ......I am also super excited to drop by the local stores and boutiques to check out the new AREA inventory. There have been rave reviews on all the custom shirts we have produced and I definitely want to follow up to see how they are doing in the local scene.

And on another different, yet still very important note.... if you happen to come upon our newly acquired fashion blog editor Courtney strolling around, do wish her a happy birthday. She will be enjoying a festive  weekend in Napa Valley. Might I suggest BV Georges De Latour, Courts?

free berkeley presents...

(original designs: je t'aime/eiffel tower shirt - pink vinyl on an american apparel loose crop tee; stayfreeinberkeley shirt - white vinyl on an american apparel oversized viscose tank; photographed by derrick jang)

how much do you LOVE these shirts from our first ever freeberkeley photo shoot? here's the scoop on these beauties: we dreamt these designs up to add some spice to a couple of the new pieces from the ever popular and always on point american apparel line. don't you want one...like now? we almost had to pry the shirts off our adorable models as they had already fallen head over heels for the designs...but who could blame them?

stay tuned for more looks and ideas on how to style and wear all of these pieces! j'adore!

xoxo,

courtney

FREsh bakEd: think love tee!

(think love original design, black vinyl print, american apparel white 4.3 oz ladies' cut tee)

if i had my way, i would have hearts on EVERYTHING...curtains, screensaver, notebooks, blankets, every article of clothing in my closet and permanently inked onto my body (if i wasn't such a baby and could actually get a tattoo).

what better way to celebrate the ubiquitous and iconic heart symbol then to put it on a fabulous tee like this one (where you can be literally wearing your heart on your sleeve...err, on your chest). do you remember when the coolest thing to do on the playground was to exchange halves of a heart necklace between best friends? well, now that we're older, why not buy a shirt for yourself and for your bff/that special someone? what an amazing way to tell someone how much you love them with a unique and 100% original t-shirt, designed and made with LOVE.

xoxo,

courtney

p.s. like any of the other fresh baked shirts featured here, feel free to contact us if you have any questions about personalizing t-shirts and making your designs come to life. we'd love to hear from you!

hello summer!

some people don't associate sun and fun with the bay area, but little do they know that outdoor summertime activities here are abundant...you just have to know where to look for them. one of my favorite things to do when the fog has disappeared is to hunt for treasures outdoors - at street festivals, estate/garage sales, flea markets, and random city corners. with an iced ecstatic coffee from philz in one hand, a camera in the other and a loved one at your side, life couldn't be any sweeter.

(my pics from some of my favorite outdoor shopping haunts:

sf indie mart - next one is on july 18th,

the alameda flea market, & pac heights estate sale:

yes i'm that girl that balances bags of clothes in one hand while

still trying to snap pictures in the other...

all while trying to shop even more!)

xoxo,

courtney