March 2012 archive

March 21, 2012

So you wanna be a Pin Up??

Well, ya…

I have always loved the style and when I discovered a class at one of my favorite bars taught by Bettina May I HAD to go ! It was a fun day as expected. It ran from 12-6pm with a Happy Hour after !

Before…

@Beauty Bar NYC

Clothes and accessories were brought in by Meredith Peltz of Vintage Variety in New Jersey that you could rent or buy if you wanted something just for the photoshoot or to add on to what you already had. Hair was done by the lovely Monica Lopez.

We each received a handbook with all the tips and more that were given in class. Also besides what you were going to wear in your shoot we had to bring a small list of items as we were learning makeup and hair it’s best to use your own tools ! I didn’t have hot rollers but luckily those were provided if you didn’t bring (or forgot to bring) them. Bettina also sells a DVD version of the class if your not able to come in person or want a refresher. (I recommend the class!! SO FUN)

Once we were given the tips and instruction (aka live demo of makeup and hair) it was time to begin ! All the women there were so different and it was so fun meeting them all, seeing the transformation of everyone was even better! What a bunch of bombshells ! Not to mention there was even a mother daughter duo in attendance that rocked out a shoot together! I love seeing things like that, it made me want my Mommy too.. hahaha…

Once everyone was a blast from the past we each began our individual shoots and while waiting shopped, ate, and got to know each other, it was a unique group of women indeed, all enjoyable company. Once the class was finished the bar opened and cocktails and music (provided by Miss May) carried the days atmosphere into the night perfectly.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gycGHE9Se2s]

A video I found of another Beauty Bar class…..

Overall it was a great time and I’d gladly do it again, I made some wonderful contacts and got some pictures to prove to people when I’m old and grey I was once young… haha.

Also I have been obsessed with learning how to curl my hair to do all the hairstyles (Now that I finally know the secrets!) So I bought this set today from Conair .. I haven’t mastered it but today was the trial run and it went well considering I have…. shall we say…. limited hair skills, basically I’m lazy..but.. NO MORE ! Hey, if I can do it, you can do it. Cheers all you Ladies and Gents! Stay Beautiful. Stay Dapper.

(After.)

P.s. An era appropriate video from a band I re-discovered and will be playing all beachy summer long. All you need is leather and hairspray. A cute boy ain’t bad either.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvUtidZkqw4]

March 13, 2012

What is Woman??

I should be sleeping. I’ve had a ridiculously long day at work but here I lay (yes I did make it half way to dreamland) contemplating the mysteries of the universeeee… erm- or more or less, What is it to be a Woman?

Tank Girl

Pin Ups with Sass

Now I am not an adolescent who has just hit puberty (nor did I ever care to become a “Woman”) but with all the images and messages sprayed all over our daily lives like so much graffiti, what the hell?? I mean, lets see…. there is Cosmo (My least favorite of all time) dishing out useful *cough* USELESS *cough* information.. at least in my opinion. Then there are the fashion mags, the everyday gossip smut, Victorias Secret ads… *Insert Marge Simpson groan here* etcetera etcetera… All have their own soap box on which to stand but which one do you subscribe to, if any?? Which ones do you identify with… more so believe? I fall somewhere in between, having spent years as a tomboy with a girl still intact then in my latter years drifting more towards “girl-ness” then ever ( I actually don’t have an all black, blue and grey wardrobe anymore !! Fancy that.) However I readily admit to suppressing it more at times because I didn’t want to, nor believe in the media portrayal and more often then not, the exploitation of women. I’m not a feminist per say but I do believe women have dropped the ball on this one…I mean you should at least make money off of your own exploitation rather then let pervy masterminds profit…. C’MON!! …. All joking aside.. I see and hear and read all about what a struggle it is to be a girl with all the shit floating around and your best bet is hopefully you were raised well and can decipher enough not to get shit on your shoe… if not.. then hope you find a good role model or public voice.. I think all that is wonderful but.. how about not just how to be this or that type of woman but be YOU. Its cliche to say, yes, yes, I know.. but maybe where we go wrong is not so much listening to the media but that the basic message of love has been lost in the shuffle.. people don’t like themselves, people had parents- or- perhaps no parent from which they properly were shown and taught (Love is learned, truth.) love. I don’t care so much about the steady stream of media crap coming thru the window as I do about the realization that to be a Woman, at least to me is to be.. myself…Because I’m finally starting to believe the compliments I receive(even the ones from my Mom). Not like I cared what people thought before but that was more rebellion and well.. I really didn’t care, but couple that with actual self love and Whammo !! Recipe for world take over Ladies !! If I wanna wear pink from head to toe, I’ll fucking well do it AND if I wanna wear a leather jacket and ride a motorcycle I’ll do that too… In fact, I’ll do whatever I want because that is ME and I am a Woman. Nothing a magazine or movie or advertisement can dream up will affect that. So maybe if we could help other little girls grow into themselves too the media onslaught that looms over our heads creating background noise will become just that- noise. Sex sells… but maybe if we demand more, self respect will sell more.

Cheers! Heres to you,

P.s. Here is a very funny article.. xojane

March 12, 2012

Flower Power.

Happy Weekend ! Well I hope you all had a happy one (= This weekend the weather was lovely save for a bit of cold Saturday but thats okay.. Today made up for it. I was lucky enough to have a stellar weekend with the beau. Since its springtime I have caught spring fever and my usual black clad self actually went the flower route… Naomi from Hello Beautiful Salon fixed me right up.. I met her years ago on a visit to Brooklyn and was fortunate enough to find she still works out of HB sometimes, appointments have to be booked a month in advance however because since I last met her she has blown up and does nails for the likes of Madonna, Lady Gaga, Courtney Love (!?!?) Topshop Makeup and various publications… needless to say I stumbled upon a nail genius ha. The inspiration for these were Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette and spring..of course.

Magnolia Bakery Orange Chocolate Cupcake.

My weekend was filled with good eats, good friends and good weather. I couldn’t ask for more !! Besides springing up my nails I recently restocked my parfume supply with Daisy… Anyone ever try it ?? Its much lighter and less spicy then I usually go but its… nice and clean.. not to mention I got a free umbrella covered in cute flower illustrations to keep the April showers at bay.

Now not everything I did this weekend involved flowers … All Saints is basically the best thing ever ha. Really though, a place that bases their design aesthetic off of Jack the Ripper and Old London?? Sold. Below is a video of their Soho shop..

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ovjvd21_Ao]

I highly highly recommend their leather jackets and boots, they are great quality and not over priced PLUS their Damisi Boot is perfect and you can just get it resoled when it wears out, I am done with cheap boots. Investment pieces are a better.. well.. investment ! Don’t waste your money on multiple cheap pairs when you could just have one awesome pair….. makes more sense.

Also if your ever in the Brooklyn area please stop by Muddy Paws on a Sunday and adopt a kitty !! AND grab a spicy mexican mocha from the tasty coffee cafe next door.. cats & coffee= RAD! And swing by Enids in Greenpoint if you want a mimosa and brunch.. make a day of it !

Sweet Potato and Wild Rice Cakes.

Cheers! Flowers and Leather,

P.s. Here is a picture from a gentleman that uses his pet lizards, positions them like humans on little doll couches and photographs them. Apparently when they are warm enough and comfy they “just sit still like that.” Entitled- Lounge Lizards. Hilarious.

March 2, 2012

Okcupid, your pretty Okstupid.

Online Dating… ah yes… formerly reserved to Craigslist creeps and sad desperate souls… fast forward to the new millennium in NYC and it’s nearly the only way to meet people, as a friend of mine said “It’s the wave of the future.” Is it?? I avoided and refused to do it for so long convinced it was pathetic.. and in a city of millions how the F&*$ can you have a hard time meeting people?!?! Well… you can… in fact in a romantic sense its damn near impossible here. Why? Well most people here are following a dream or career goal, are already involved, or since the singles scene is dominated by many 20 somethings to early 30’s and there are plenty of fish abound.. rarely if ever do people stick around. Especially (let’s face it) testosterone filled dudes in a sea of women, why stop with one?? At least this seems to be the case, many if not all of my single friends and random girls I meet complain of this exact problem… so after much consideration last year I gave in and joined Okcupid.

I gotta say maybe since it was free I got a slew of ridiculous messages but also had fun with it too, I actually did go on a few dates which was all new to me (see also: I hated the idea of dating and successfully avoided it for nearly my entire life) and lo and behold I did meet someone.(Impossible! you say) I have long since disabled and then deleted my account, although the messages you get can be pretty damn amusing (perhaps a social experiment should be done) you also get a lot of junk mail, not to mention I have since decided although entertaining and even though I did meet someone…I will never online date again… not that I had a bad experience but it really is kind of ridiculous and 99% of the time ( I do hope you are in the 1% though !) you just won’t find quality… especially if it’s a free site, maybe people on the paid ones are more serious..? Who knows…Overall I really believe even if it seems hopeless and your too busy to “look”, if its meant to happen it will happen, and while online dating can be fun if you are looking to be serious, well, best of luck with that hunt….I still like the old fashioned way and the element of serendipity best. I wanted to share a link of a fellow blogger who posted about her experience and its pretty damn funny and entirely true. ~~READ !~~

Now to bring this round’ to my second point: You actually meet someone online dating.. (Holy Smokes Batman!!) When is it appropriate to declare to the rest of the online dating world your taken? When do you delete or disable your profile?

…Hmmmm… well personally the minute I was feeling more I got rid of mine, also just like facebook and myspace (where you experience the “Why am I not in your Top 8??” drama, online can create real life problems as it sometimes is a reflection, but sometimes it’s not..) Did you know I googled these questions and there are threads upon threads and even forums, YES! Forums! with slews of girls (and some guys) discussing this very thing… after reading way too many of them, it seems that the majority of you out there in cyber space agree once exclusive and after a few months of dating it is more than reasonable to delete/change status blah blah blah and no matter how many funny quiz’s or tests you like to take, (see also: excuses excuses) a dating site is not a facebook or any other social networking site, it’s a DATING site, duh. There is no excuse. Another opinion was to just get over it and having one up means nothing, actions speak louder than words after all.. but isn’t keeping it and especially logging in still an ACTION!?!?

It’s reasonable to be bothered by it, whether it’s an insecurity issue, a respect issue, a sign that your just not the one to said non-deleter of dating profile, they forgot about it, etc etc.. who knows. It could be any of these things..Personally it was a huge problem for me, to me it just seemed a given to get rid of it and I was highly upset by the presence of it.. to me its weird to keep one active/still log in if your involved, I mean.. why??? It’s a big WTF dude and I think if you ever find yourself in a similar situation its ok to ask to take it down when things have gotten to another level, if said person doesn’t even after your obvious problem with it… well that is not okay and excuses of “I hardly ever log in, I use it for the quizzes, I keep in touch with people, blah blah blah..” BULLSHIT. If your feelings are remotely important they will not hesitate or have a problem complying with your request, even if its crazy lol I think for some people it’s an issue of control or the idea of having it there is like a subconscious plan B and makes them feel better ?? I don’t know. Has anyone had any online dating experiences they’d like to share?? I’d love to hear some! Also opinions and thoughts are always welcomed and appreciated!

Cheers and cyber hearts <3 !

P.S.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_HQqHLdjvQ]